Soon after the official start of the stage was given, a group of 12 riders got a small gap on the peloton. Amongst the riders at the front were the Swiss champion Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling), Fränk Schleck (Trek), Michael Albasini (Orica GreenEdge) and the world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx Quickstep). In fact, both Trek and Etixx Quickstep had no less than three riders in the break. Tinkoff-Saxo had big plans with Peter Sagan today and therefore, they weren’t interested in letting the break get away. After a furious chase, it was all back together again.
The attacks continued on the following kilometers with many prominent names trying to distance the peloton. Finally, 19 riders managed to get away. This time, Tinkoff-Saxo had a rider amongst the escapees, leaving the rest of the team to sit back and relax in the pack. Kwiatkowski and Albasini made the break once again. So did other strong riders like Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), Jan Bakelants (Ag2r), Winner Anacona (Movistar) and Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal).
In the peloton, FDJ started to work. With Barguil being only 4:52 minutes behind Thibaut Pinot in the general classification, the French team couldn’t allow him to get too much of a gap. Team Sky also contributed to the work in order to not jeopardize Geraint Thomas’ second place overall. Together with Cannondale Garmin, they made sure that the breakaway never got more than two and a half minutes on the pack.
Out on the last lap around Bern, the riders at the front group started attacking each other. The former U23 world champion, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), put in a powerful move with about 20 km to go. The pace turned out to be too fast for Kwiatkowski who had to let go on the following ascent. Bakelants was quick to bridge the gap to Lutsenko but he didn’t have enough power to contribute much to keeping the chase group at bay. However, Lutsenko proved to be having a great day. Thanks to his hard work, the duo managed to stay clear. Despite his big effort, the young Kazakh had no problems winning the final sprint. Bakelants finished second, while Barguil crossed the line in third place 17 seconds later.
Due to a split in the peloton, once again Pinot lost a few seconds to the nearest rivals in the general classification. The Frenchman still leads overall but he’s now just 34 seconds ahead of Thomas. Simon Spilak (Katusha) is third, 47 seconds down.
The last stage of the race takes place on Sunday. Thirty-eight undulating kilometers against the clock will determine who will be crowned king of Tour de Suisse 2015. For the last two years, the overall winner didn’t wear the leader’s jersey at any point until the end of the last stage. It will be interesting to see if this odd tradition continues tomorrow.
Results
1. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 3:28:11
2. Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01
3. Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:17
4. Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha 0:22
5. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
6. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica GreenEdge
7. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
8. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team
9. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
10. Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
11. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:40
12. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha 1:53
13. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14. Jonathan Fumeaux (Sui) IAM Cycling
15. Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
16. Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
17. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step 1:58
18. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 2:11
19. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
20. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky
21. Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
22. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Esp) Team Katusha
23. Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 2:14
24. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge
25. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
26. Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
27. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr
28. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
29. Sergio Luis Henao (Col) Team Sky
30. Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
31. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr
32. Sébastien Reichenbach (Sui) IAM Cycling
33. Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin
34. Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
35. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
36. Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 2:19
37. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 2:21
38. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
39. Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida
40. Francis De Greef (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
41. Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
42. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar Team
43. Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
44. Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 2:34
45. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky 2:36
46. Larry Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling
47. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
48. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
49. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team
50. Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 2:45
51. Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre-Merida 3:14
52. Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ.fr
53. Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
54. Grégory Rast (Sui) Trek Factory Racing 3:44
55. Martin Elmiger (Sui) IAM Cycling
56. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
57. Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge
58. Francisco Ventoso (Esp) Movistar Team
59. Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
60. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team
61. Sylwester Szmyd (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
62. Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
63. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step 3:46
64. Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
65. Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
66. Michal Golas (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step
67. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 3:51
68. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 3:54
69. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
70. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 4:01
71. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 4:12
72. Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Team Katusha 4:29
73. Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 4:36
74. Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling 4:44
75. Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team 5:05
76. Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling
77. Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
78. Silvan Dillier (Sui) BMC Racing Team 5:09
79. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
80. Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 6:02
81. Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 6:30
82. Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing
83. Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 7:16
84. Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:17
85. Thomas Danielson (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
86. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
87. Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
88. Matej Mohoric (Slo) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
89. Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
90. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
91. Bert Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
92. Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
93. Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge
94. Michael Morkov (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
95. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
96. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:13:01
97. Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
98. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Trek Factory Racing
99. John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
100. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
101. Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Etixx – Quick-Step
102. Branislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
103. Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
104. Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
105. Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
106. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
107. Vegard Breen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
108. Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
109. William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr
110. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr
111. Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
112. Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
113. Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
114. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
115. Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida
116. Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
117. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
118. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx – Quick-Step
119. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
120. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida
121. Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
122. Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
123. Grega Bole (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
124. Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky
DNF Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky
DNF Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Mario Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida
DNF Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
DNF Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Igor Anton (Esp) Movistar Team
DNF Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
DNF Kenny De Haes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
GC after Stage 8
1. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 29:25:28
2. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky 0:34
3. Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 0:47
4. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:50
5. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 1:14
6. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:24
7. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr 2:29
8. Sébastien Reichenbach (Sui) IAM Cycling 2:43
9. Sergio Luis Henao (Col) Team Sky 2:46
10. Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 2:51
11. Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 2:52
12. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 2:59
13. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge 3:12
14. Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 3:22
15. Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida 3:28
16. Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 3:54
17. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 4:11
18. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Esp) Team Katusha 4:30
19. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 4:34
20. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky 5:57
21. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 6:22
22. Francis De Greef (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 8:09
23. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 8:47
24. Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 9:02
25. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:11:25
26. Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:13:10
27. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:14:14
28. Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:16:02
29. Larry Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling 0:17:38
30. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team 0:19:02
31. Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:21:32
32. Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:22:13
33. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar Team 0:22:30
34. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:23:15
35. Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing 0:23:18
36. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:24:18
37. Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling 0:26:01
38. Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre-Merida 0:26:34
39. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica GreenEdge 0:27:13
40. Jonathan Fumeaux (Sui) IAM Cycling 0:27:15
41. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:29:05
42. Thomas Danielson (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:30:40
43. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team 0:31:45
44. Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge 0:32:14
45. Martin Elmiger (Sui) IAM Cycling 0:35:21
46. Silvan Dillier (Sui) BMC Racing Team 0:35:43
47. Michal Golas (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:38:45
48. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:39:40
49. Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:42:39
50. Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:43:06
51. Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:43:23
52. Sylwester Szmyd (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:43:26
53. Branislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:44:33
54. Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
55. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team 0:45:20
56. Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:46:33
57. Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:46:51
58. Francisco Ventoso (Esp) Movistar Team 0:46:53
59. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:47:13
60. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:48:29
61. Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:49:13
62. Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:50:19
63. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:51:26
64. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:52:09
65. Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:53:43
66. Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:54:58
67. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 0:55:04
68. Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:55:59
69. Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:57:17
70. Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:57:48
71. Vegard Breen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:58:07
72. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:59:07
73. Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:59:14
74. Matej Mohoric (Slo) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 1:00:50
75. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step 1:01:51
76. Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Team Katusha 1:02:33
77. Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:02:45
78. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha 1:02:50
79. Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha 1:03:00
80. Grégory Rast (Sui) Trek Factory Racing 1:03:05
81. John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:03:56
82. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:04:52
83. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 1:05:13
84. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:05:54
85. Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:07:08
86. Michael Morkov (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
87. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step 1:07:13
88. Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:07:38
89. Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team 1:09:17
90. Bert Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:10:35
91. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:11:12
92. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:14:14
93. Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 1:15:06
94. Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:15:55
95. Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 1:16:17
96. Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha 1:16:56
97. Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing 1:16:58
98. Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:17:05
99. Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 1:17:18
100. Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 1:18:19
101. Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge 1:20:38
102. Grega Bole (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:21:11
103. Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:21:58
104. Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:22:54
105. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team 1:24:12
106. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 1:24:55
107. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:24:56
108. Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 1:26:46
109. Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Etixx – Quick-Step 1:29:19
110. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx – Quick-Step 1:30:26
111. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 1:30:47
112. Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:31:52
113. Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 1:32:16
114. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha 1:33:50
115. Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:34:28
116. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida 1:36:02
117. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 1:37:07
118. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Trek Factory Racing 1:39:48
119. Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky 1:41:20
120. Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:42:07
121. Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 1:42:23
122. Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 1:46:13
123. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:46:17
124. William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:48:13