Tour de Suisse stage 7: Thibaut Pinot scores mountaintop victory, Sergio Higuita grabs GC lead
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This article originally appeared on Velo News
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama FDJ) chased down breakaway rival Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and took solo victory in the Tour de Suisse.
The victory was Pinot’s first WorldTour win since the 2019 Tour de France and a timely booster ahead of this year’s French tour.
Oscar Rodriguez (Movistar) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) took the next steps on the Suisse podium after Izagirre’s push for the stage lost steam.
Pinot is set to return to his home grand tour this summer for the first time since his crash-blighted 2020 challenge.
“This is great for me. I wanted that win and went to get it myself. By finishing with the best Friday, I knew I was in good form,” he said.
Pinot rides toward a Tour de France co-captaincy role with teammate David Gaudu and looks back at his best after finally shaking the injuries that torpedoed his 2o21. The 32-year-old also savored an emotional comeback victory at Tour of the Alps this spring.
“This confirms all the work I have done since the start of the season. This is good in view of the Tour de France,” Pinot said. “The goal is to win stages there too.”
Behind Pinot, a flurry of attacks from the GC group in the final summit saw Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) take a slender lead over Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in the classification.
Overnight yellow jersey Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) struggled to hold the wheels in the final and dropped to third at 19 seconds.
Neilson Powless (EF Education EasyPost) was resilient in what has been another standout week for the young American. After being left with just one teammate after a swathe of abandons Friday, Powless did enough to hold on to his fourth place overall ahead of the closing TT.
The peloton likely breathed a sigh of relief Saturday morning when there were just three non-starters after the COVID chaos that contributed to nearly 30 DNSs on Friday.
Pinot and Clement Berthet (Ag2r Citroen) were two of the oversized breakaway group that got away in the fast downhill start to the stage.
The two Frenchmen went clear on the towering Lukmanierpass and edged a small gap over a handful of chase groups on the marathon-distance descent.
The day's decisive 14-rider move eventually came together at around 100km to go as breakaway riders caught across to Pinot and Berthet.
Top talents like Lutsenko, Izagirre, Clement Champoussin (Ag2r-Citroen), Fausto Masnada (Quick-Step) and the points-hunting Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) were among the escape.
The bunch of GC favorites gave the break plenty of space in anticipation of the severe summit finish to come. The lead group toyed with five to seven minutes for much of the middle of the race.
Pinot makes hay on Malbun summit
Israel Premier Tech did most of the work keeping things in control for Fuglsang. The gap to the break reduced through the closing hours, but the 14 riders still enjoyed more than three minutes when they arrived at the 13km climb to Malbun.
Izagirre and Lutsenko followed the initial moves in the break and the two kicked away, but Pinot made a hot pursuit.
Pinot caught and dropped Lutsenko after Izagirre kicked clear and went on a mission to bridge a 40-second gap to the solo Spaniard.
The Groupama captain caught Izagirre at 2km, sat on the wheel for the briefest of moments, then flew solo for the victory in a pre-Tour de France statement of intent.
Higuita makes GC move
Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) tried to crack the GC deadlock in the bunch at around 8km to go after being a casualty of the “queen stage” Friday. The Belgian didn’t get far as Daniel Martinez set the pace for Ineos teammate Thomas.
Martinez kept pulling all the way through to the final kilometers of the steep ascent and only a small bunch of favorites could hang on.
Higuita pounced as soon as Martinez pulled off, and the group blew to bits.
Thomas sat on Fuglsang’s wheel and left the Dane to chase after Higuita. The Welshman finally pounced inside the final kilometer to drop his GC rival and went motoring after Higuita.
Higuita didn’t let off all the way to the line as he hunted the GC lead. The Colombian climber started the stage 10 seconds down on Fuglsang and did just enough to gain the time he needed to take a two-second race lead with his fourth-place finish.
The final yellow jersey of the race will be awarded after a flat 25km TT on Sunday’s stage 8. All eyes will be on Thomas to go faster than Higuita and Fuglsang and claim the Suisse trophy for the first time in his career.
From there, the road leads to the Tour de France and the more famous yellow garment.
Tour de Suisse Stage 7 Results
Stage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
1 | PINOT Thibaut | Groupama - FDJ | 5:06:39 |
2 | RODRIGUEZ Oscar | Movistar Team | 0:25 |
3 | LUTSENKO Alexey | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:38 |
4 | HIGUITA Sergio | BORA - hansgrohe | 1:19 |
5 | THOMAS Geraint | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:30 |
6 | PRODHOMME Nicolas | AG2R Citroen Team | 1:40 |
7 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Israel - Premier Tech | 1:48 |
8 | POZZOVIVO Domenico | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 1:59 |
9 | REICHENBACH Sebastien | Groupama - FDJ | 2:09 |
10 | POWLESS Neilson | EF Education-EasyPost | 2:19 |
11 | JUNGELS Bob | AG2R Citroen Team | 2:24 |
12 | EVENEPOEL Remco | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 2:30 |
13 | IZAGIRRE Ion | Cofidis | 2:32 |
14 | VAN WILDER Ilan | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 2:37 |
15 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | 2:43 |
16 | SCHACHMANN Maximilian | BORA - hansgrohe | 2:53 |
17 | MARTINEZ Daniel Felipe | INEOS Grenadiers | 2:53 |
18 | KUNG Stefan | Groupama - FDJ | 2:59 |
19 | LEKNESSUND Andreas | Team DSM | 3:42 |
20 | GROssSCHARTNER Felix | BORA - hansgrohe | 3:42 |
21 | HOULE Hugo | Israel - Premier Tech | 4:02 |
22 | MANNION Gavin | Human Powered Health | 4:44 |
23 | PEDRERO Antonio | Movistar Team | 4:44 |
24 | KRON Andreas | Lotto Soudal | 5:03 |
25 | MONIQUET Sylvain | Lotto Soudal | 5:14 |
26 | SWIRBUL Keegan | Human Powered Health | 5:18 |
27 | VOISARD Yannis | Switzerland | 5:50 |
28 | WARBASSE Larry | AG2R Citroen Team | 6:02 |
29 | THALMANN Roland | Switzerland | 6:50 |
30 | OLIVEIRA Nelson | Movistar Team | 8:11 |
31 | BERTHET Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 8:27 |
32 | MASNADA Fausto | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 9:20 |
33 | MATTHEWS Michael | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 9:31 |
34 | ROCHAS Remy | Cofidis | 9:38 |
35 | HERRADA Jose | Cofidis | 9:38 |
36 | SMITH Dion | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 10:12 |
37 | OURSELIN Paul | TotalEnergies | 10:52 |
38 | SCHAR Michael | AG2R Citroen Team | 12:13 |
39 | PASQUALON Andrea | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 12:51 |
40 | PELLAUD Simon | Trek - Segafredo | 12:51 |
41 | TORRES Albert | Movistar Team | 12:51 |
42 | DUCHESNE Antoine | Groupama - FDJ | 14:20 |
43 | REUTIMANN Mathias | Switzerland | 15:01 |
44 | DECLERCQ Tim | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 15:01 |
45 | VITZTHUM Simon | Switzerland | 15:01 |
46 | RUTSCH Jonas | EF Education-EasyPost | 15:01 |
47 | AASVOLD Kristian | Human Powered Health | 15:01 |
48 | HOLMES Matthew | Lotto Soudal | 15:27 |
49 | CHAMPOUSSIN Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 16:25 |
50 | COSNEFROY Benoit | AG2R Citroen Team | 16:25 |
51 | GRUZDEV Dmitriy | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 17:08 |
52 | BEVIN Patrick | Israel - Premier Tech | 17:11 |
53 | NIBALI Antonio | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 19:28 |
54 | GILBERT Philippe | Lotto Soudal | 19:34 |
55 | BAUER Jack | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 19:34 |
56 | HOELGAARD Markus | Trek - Segafredo | 19:34 |
57 | NEILANDS Krists | Israel - Premier Tech | 19:34 |
58 | COQUARD Bryan | Cofidis | 19:34 |
59 | VAN MOER Brent | Lotto Soudal | 19:34 |
60 | VAN BAARLE Dylan | INEOS Grenadiers | 19:43 |
61 | ARNDT Nikias | Team DSM | 20:20 |
62 | FRAILE Omar | INEOS Grenadiers | 20:49 |
63 | BADILATTI Matteo | Groupama - FDJ | 21:51 |
64 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 22:36 |
65 | JACOBS Johan | Movistar Team | 23:00 |
66 | KNOX James | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 23:19 |
67 | KAMP Alexander | Trek - Segafredo | 23:50 |
68 | DENZ Nico | Team DSM | 24:45 |
69 | SIMMONS Quinn | Trek - Segafredo | 24:45 |
70 | HAGA Chad | Human Powered Health | 26:25 |
71 | FROIDEVAUX Robin | Switzerland | 26:25 |
72 | ASKEY Lewis | Groupama - FDJ | 28:03 |
73 | OSS Daniel | TotalEnergies | 28:36 |
74 | MOSCON Gianni | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 28:36 |
75 | BOHLI Tom | Cofidis | 28:36 |
76 | TURGIS Anthony | TotalEnergies | 28:42 |
77 | MANZIN Lorrenzo | TotalEnergies | 28:42 |
78 | KRISTOFF Alexander | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 28:50 |
79 | SAGAN Peter | TotalEnergies | 29:10 |
80 | IMPEY Daryl | Israel - Premier Tech | 30:47 |
81 | PETIT Adrien | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 30:53 |
GC | |||
|---|---|---|---|
1 | HIGUITA Sergio | BORA - hansgrohe | 32:38:38 |
2 | THOMAS Geraint | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:02 |
3 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Israel - Premier Tech | 0:19 |
4 | POWLESS Neilson | EF Education-EasyPost | 1:16 |
5 | POZZOVIVO Domenico | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 1:37 |
6 | REICHENBACH Sebastien | Groupama - FDJ | 2:09 |
7 | KUNG Stefan | Groupama - FDJ | 2:19 |
8 | JUNGELS Bob | AG2R Citroen Team | 2:31 |
9 | GROssSCHARTNER Felix | BORA - hansgrohe | 2:47 |
10 | LEKNESSUND Andreas | Team DSM | 2:59 |
11 | SCHACHMANN Maximilian | BORA - hansgrohe | 3:11 |
12 | MARTINEZ Daniel Felipe | INEOS Grenadiers | 3:16 |
13 | EVENEPOEL Remco | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 4:09 |
14 | KRON Andreas | Lotto Soudal | 4:34 |
15 | PINOT Thibaut | Groupama - FDJ | 4:40 |
16 | HOULE Hugo | Israel - Premier Tech | 5:17 |
17 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | 5:50 |
18 | PEDRERO Antonio | Movistar Team | 7:08 |
19 | LUTSENKO Alexey | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 10:29 |
20 | MASNADA Fausto | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 14:45 |
21 | HERRADA Jose | Cofidis | 17:12 |
22 | BERTHET Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 17:57 |
23 | MATTHEWS Michael | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 19:13 |
24 | WARBASSE Larry | AG2R Citroen Team | 20:10 |
25 | THALMANN Roland | Switzerland | 24:31 |
26 | OLIVEIRA Nelson | Movistar Team | 26:59 |
27 | ROCHAS Remy | Cofidis | 27:18 |
28 | CHAMPOUSSIN Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 28:40 |
29 | RODRIGUEZ Oscar | Movistar Team | 32:32 |
30 | VAN WILDER Ilan | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 36:06 |
31 | ARNDT Nikias | Team DSM | 37:10 |
32 | MONIQUET Sylvain | Lotto Soudal | 38:25 |
33 | PASQUALON Andrea | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 38:57 |
34 | MANNION Gavin | Human Powered Health | 40:06 |
35 | SCHAR Michael | AG2R Citroen Team | 41:15 |
36 | IZAGIRRE Ion | Cofidis | 42:00 |
37 | VOISARD Yannis | Switzerland | 43:13 |
38 | PRODHOMME Nicolas | AG2R Citroen Team | 46:31 |
39 | NEILANDS Krists | Israel - Premier Tech | 47:58 |
40 | SMITH Dion | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 50:15 |
41 | HOLMES Matthew | Lotto Soudal | 53:04 |
42 | RUTSCH Jonas | EF Education-EasyPost | 53:25 |
43 | BADILATTI Matteo | Groupama - FDJ | 55:16 |
44 | GILBERT Philippe | Lotto Soudal | 56:53 |
45 | DUCHESNE Antoine | Groupama - FDJ | 57:59 |
46 | SIMMONS Quinn | Trek - Segafredo | 58:55 |
47 | PELLAUD Simon | Trek - Segafredo | 59:01 |
48 | OURSELIN Paul | TotalEnergies | 1:00:54 |
49 | SWIRBUL Keegan | Human Powered Health | 1:03:14 |
50 | VAN MOER Brent | Lotto Soudal | 1:05:23 |
51 | DENZ Nico | Team DSM | 1:05:41 |
52 | IMPEY Daryl | Israel - Premier Tech | 1:08:20 |
53 | GRUZDEV Dmitriy | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:10:09 |
54 | BEVIN Patrick | Israel - Premier Tech | 1:11:59 |
55 | COQUARD Bryan | Cofidis | 1:13:58 |
56 | BAUER Jack | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 1:15:56 |
57 | AASVOLD Kristian | Human Powered Health | 1:16:53 |
58 | DECLERCQ Tim | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 1:20:37 |
59 | VAN BAARLE Dylan | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:20:46 |
60 | HOELGAARD Markus | Trek - Segafredo | 1:21:04 |
61 | VITZTHUM Simon | Switzerland | 1:21:23 |
62 | NIBALI Antonio | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:21:27 |
63 | MOSCON Gianni | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:22:11 |
64 | TORRES Albert | Movistar Team | 1:24:34 |
65 | COSNEFROY Benoit | AG2R Citroen Team | 1:28:21 |
66 | KAMP Alexander | Trek - Segafredo | 1:31:01 |
67 | REUTIMANN Mathias | Switzerland | 1:32:36 |
68 | JACOBS Johan | Movistar Team | 1:33:50 |
69 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 1:33:53 |
70 | TURGIS Anthony | TotalEnergies | 1:36:59 |
71 | HAGA Chad | Human Powered Health | 1:41:55 |
72 | OSS Daniel | TotalEnergies | 1:42:16 |
73 | FRAILE Omar | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:42:45 |
74 | FROIDEVAUX Robin | Switzerland | 1:45:01 |
75 | KRISTOFF Alexander | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 1:47:36 |
76 | ASKEY Lewis | Groupama - FDJ | 1:49:57 |
77 | SAGAN Peter | TotalEnergies | 1:52:20 |
78 | KNOX James | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 1:54:46 |
79 | BOHLI Tom | Cofidis | 1:54:58 |
80 | PETIT Adrien | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 1:55:44 |
81 | MANZIN Lorrenzo | TotalEnergies | 2:09:33 |
Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MATTHEWS Michael | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 30 |
2 | LEKNESSUND Andreas | Team DSM | 20 |
3 | SIMMONS Quinn | Trek - Segafredo | 18 |
4 | PINOT Thibaut | Groupama - FDJ | 13 |
5 | DENZ Nico | Team DSM | 12 |
6 | IMPEY Daryl | Israel - Premier Tech | 12 |
7 | SAGAN Peter | TotalEnergies | 12 |
8 | HOLMES Matthew | Lotto Soudal | 12 |
9 | THOMAS Geraint | INEOS Grenadiers | 10 |
10 | SCHACHMANN Maximilian | BORA - hansgrohe | 10 |
11 | CHAMPOUSSIN Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 9 |
12 | POWLESS Neilson | EF Education-EasyPost | 8 |
13 | LUTSENKO Alexey | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 8 |
14 | RODRIGUEZ Oscar | Movistar Team | 8 |
15 | COQUARD Bryan | Cofidis | 8 |
16 | KRON Andreas | Lotto Soudal | 7 |
17 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Israel - Premier Tech | 6 |
18 | PASQUALON Andrea | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 6 |
19 | KRISTOFF Alexander | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 6 |
20 | REUTIMANN Mathias | Switzerland | 4 |
21 | HIGUITA Sergio | BORA - hansgrohe | 4 |
22 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | 3 |
23 | MASNADA Fausto | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 3 |
24 | THALMANN Roland | Switzerland | 3 |
25 | HOELGAARD Markus | Trek - Segafredo | 3 |
26 | VAN WILDER Ilan | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 2 |
27 | MONIQUET Sylvain | Lotto Soudal | 2 |
28 | VAN BAARLE Dylan | INEOS Grenadiers | 2 |
29 | KAMP Alexander | Trek - Segafredo | 2 |
30 | JACOBS Johan | Movistar Team | 2 |
31 | HAGA Chad | Human Powered Health | 2 |
32 | ASKEY Lewis | Groupama - FDJ | 2 |
33 | VITZTHUM Simon | Switzerland | 1 |
34 | HERRADA Jose | Cofidis | -4 |
Youth | |||
|---|---|---|---|
1 | HIGUITA Sergio | BORA - hansgrohe | 32:38:38 |
2 | LEKNESSUND Andreas | Team DSM | 2:59 |
3 | EVENEPOEL Remco | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 4:09 |
4 | KRON Andreas | Lotto Soudal | 4:34 |
5 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | 5:50 |
6 | BERTHET Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 17:57 |
7 | CHAMPOUSSIN Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 28:40 |
8 | VAN WILDER Ilan | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 36:06 |
9 | MONIQUET Sylvain | Lotto Soudal | 38:25 |
10 | VOISARD Yannis | Switzerland | 43:13 |
11 | PRODHOMME Nicolas | AG2R Citroen Team | 46:31 |
12 | RUTSCH Jonas | EF Education-EasyPost | 53:25 |
13 | SIMMONS Quinn | Trek - Segafredo | 58:55 |
14 | VAN MOER Brent | Lotto Soudal | 1:05:23 |
15 | JACOBS Johan | Movistar Team | 1:33:50 |
16 | FROIDEVAUX Robin | Switzerland | 1:45:01 |
17 | ASKEY Lewis | Groupama - FDJ | 1:49:57 |
Mountains | |||
|---|---|---|---|
1 | SIMMONS Quinn | Trek - Segafredo | 60 |
2 | MASNADA Fausto | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 31 |
3 | PINOT Thibaut | Groupama - FDJ | 28 |
4 | DENZ Nico | Team DSM | 20 |
5 | RODRIGUEZ Oscar | Movistar Team | 16 |
6 | CHAMPOUSSIN Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 15 |
7 | BERTHET Clement | AG2R Citroen Team | 14 |
8 | GILBERT Philippe | Lotto Soudal | 12 |
9 | LEKNESSUND Andreas | Team DSM | 10 |
10 | KAMP Alexander | Trek - Segafredo | 10 |
11 | VITZTHUM Simon | Switzerland | 10 |
12 | LUTSENKO Alexey | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 10 |
13 | THALMANN Roland | Switzerland | 10 |
14 | HOLMES Matthew | Lotto Soudal | 9 |
15 | MATTHEWS Michael | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 8 |
16 | RUTSCH Jonas | EF Education-EasyPost | 8 |
17 | REUTIMANN Mathias | Switzerland | 8 |
18 | THOMAS Geraint | INEOS Grenadiers | 7 |
19 | REICHENBACH Sebastien | Groupama - FDJ | 6 |
20 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Israel - Premier Tech | 6 |
21 | JACOBS Johan | Movistar Team | 6 |
22 | HIGUITA Sergio | BORA - hansgrohe | 6 |
23 | OLIVEIRA Nelson | Movistar Team | 5 |
24 | TURGIS Anthony | TotalEnergies | 5 |
25 | VAN WILDER Ilan | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 4 |
26 | PASQUALON Andrea | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 4 |
27 | SCHAR Michael | AG2R Citroen Team | 3 |
28 | POWLESS Neilson | EF Education-EasyPost | 2 |
29 | SCHACHMANN Maximilian | BORA - hansgrohe | 2 |
30 | EVENEPOEL Remco | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 2 |
31 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | 2 |
32 | BADILATTI Matteo | Groupama - FDJ | 2 |
33 | HOELGAARD Markus | Trek - Segafredo | 2 |
34 | HAGA Chad | Human Powered Health | 2 |
35 | IZAGIRRE Ion | Cofidis | 1 |
36 | VAN BAARLE Dylan | INEOS Grenadiers | 1 |
37 | MANZIN Lorrenzo | TotalEnergies | 1 |
38 | HERRADA Jose | Cofidis | -6 |
Teams | ||
|---|---|---|
1 | Groupama - FDJ | 98:00:04 |
2 | BORA - hansgrohe | 0:33 |
3 | AG2R Citroen Team | 16:03 |
4 | INEOS Grenadiers | 33:18 |
5 | Israel - Premier Tech | 36:47 |
6 | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 37:47 |
7 | Movistar Team | 37:47 |
8 | Cofidis | 58:26 |
9 | Lotto Soudal | 1:13:57 |
10 | Team DSM | 1:26:32 |
11 | Intermarche - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux | 1:38:39 |
12 | Switzerland | 2:03:13 |
13 | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 2:04:43 |
14 | Trek - Segafredo | 2:14:55 |
15 | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 2:14:58 |
16 | TotalEnergies | 2:30:49 |
17 | Human Powered Health | 2:36:06 |
Results provided by ProCyclingStats.
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