Geraint Thomas claims third top-10 finish at Tour de Suisse
Last Updated: 16/06/15 6:30pm
Geraint Thomas claims his third successive top-10 finish at the Tour de Suisse by sprinting to sixth place on stage three.
Geraint Thomas claimed his third successive top-10 finish at the Tour de Suisse by sprinting to sixth place on stage three.
Thomas was well positioned with Sergio Henao as a reduced peloton contested the victory on the uphill drag to Olivone, but despite their best efforts, it was Peter Sagan who emerged triumphant after a dominant display of power.
The Tinkoff-Saxo rider latched on to Daniel Moreno’s wheel in a twisting finale, but surged past his Katusha rival on a technical corner before wrapping up his fifth win of the season. Thomas and Henao both battled behind, and crossed the line in sixth and ninth places respectively.
Despite being credited with the same time as Sagan, bonus seconds meant Thomas dropped to fourth place in the overall standings despite remaining seven seconds behind race leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), who finished fifth on Monday.
Solid start
The action had got off to a solid start with the hors-categorie Gotthardpass coming almost as soon as the peloton had rolled out of Quinto.
Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) and Marco Marcato (Wanty - Groupe Gobert) escaped on there, and they were joined by Branislau Samoilau (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) shortly after they’d crested the summit.
The trio formed a productive alliance, and their lead had stretched to almost seven minutes before Giant-Alpecin started putting the pressure on back in the peloton. When Tinkoff-Saxo and Team Sky added their muscle, that gap began to tumble, and their advantage had shrunk to just over a minute when Lars Petter Nordhaug led the peloton onto the penultimate climb.
Marcato was immediately swept up, but Denifl and Samoilau survived until the final ascent before their days were numbered.
Further attacks came thick and fast on the gradual drag the finish, and Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge)’s move was the last to be annulled before Sagan swept past Moreno for a well-timed triumph.
