Tour de Suisse 2016 Stage 7: Van Garderen wins Queen Stage, Barguil new leader

Stage 7 is the Queen Stage of the 2016 Tour de Suisse. At 224 kilometres, the race features two mighty passes halfway, yet the big showdown is saved for last. At the steep slopes leading up to the Rettenbach Glacier leader Kelderman gets dropped, while Van Garderen attacks to solo to victory. Warren Barguil finishes in third and is the new overall leader. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 7th stage Tour de Suisse

1. Tejay van Garderen (usa)
2. Miguel Angel Lopez (spa) + 0.16
3. Warren Barguil (fra) s.t.
4. Jarlinson Pantano (col) + 0.31
5. Andrey Talansky (usa) + 0.33
6. Simon Spilak (rus) + 0.43
7. Rui Costa (por) + 0.49
8. Ion Izagirre (spa) s.t.
9. Victor de la Parte (spa) + 0.59
10. Jan Hirt (cze) s.t.

11. Geraint Thomas (gbr) + 1.08
13. Wilco Kelderman (nld) + 2.07

GC after the 7th stage
1. Warren Barguil (fra)
2. Miguel Angel Lopez (spa) + 0.21
3. Andrew Talansky (usa) + 0.24
4. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 0.55
5. Jarlinson Pantano (col) + 1.06
6. Simon Spilak (slo) + 1.07
7. Tejay van Garderen (usa) + 1.31
8. Geraint Thomas (gbr) + 1.36
9. Wilco Kelderman (nld) + 1.39
10. Rui Costa (por) + 1.55

Race report
Iljo Keisse and Matthias Brändle are the first to get clear, while KOM leader Antwan Tolhoek chases them down after a long effort. The trio races to a lead at over 12 minutes.

Tolhoek is the first to crest the Hochtannberg Pass, so he now has 104 KOM points. His team mate Weening sits in second with 50 points.

With 75 kms to go Tolhoek gets dropped. Small wonder, the 22-year old Dutchman has been in the break for five days.

When hitting the last climb Keisse and Brändle enjoy a 7 minutes lead over the peloton. Soon the Austrian goes solo. Yet his gain goes down fast.

Sky is setting the pace. Kelderman is dropped and with 5.5 kms left Brändle is reeled in. 1 km later Van Garderen attacks and with 3.5 kms to go Barguil tries to bridge the gap, but to no avail. Pantano and López join him.

Van Garderen powers on to solo to victory, while López tries to shake of the other two. Barguil jumps to his wheel and they finish second and third, while they now are one and two in the overall. Talansky limits his losses and he now sits in third, at 0’24” a good position to attack in tomorrow’s ITT.

Title defender Simon Spilak and GC favourites Rui Costa and Geraint Thomas can’t live up to their reputation and will have a hard time to finish on the podium.