USA's Larry Warbasse biggest career win with Tour de Suisse stage 4

Aqua Blue Ride Warbasse win from Breakway. The Terrain and temperature start to take their toll as Tour de Suisse hits the high mountains

While the Tour de Suisse is famous for its climbing, today saw the first official mountain stage – the tough stages already completed classed only as ‘hilly’, giving an idea of just how testing the big mountains are .After a challenging day in the saddle, where the sole survivor of the day’s break held out to take the win, it was clear that nobody found the day easy, with signs of suffering clearly on the faces of the peloton. Pushing hard and trying to save his legs for the later stages, BORA - hansgrohe’s Patrick Konrad crossed the line in 15th position, looking ahead to the race still to come.

Almost at the halfway point of the race, stage 4 took riders into the mountains for the first time. The parcours showed an ominous lead up to the two climbs of the day – with 109km of the 150.2km stage covered before reaching the summit of the first climb. It would be difficult for those with their eye on the stage win to decide whether to try and attack early on, or to wait and see how the day panned out once they hit the climbs – by which point it may have been too late. Today also saw the race’s first summit finish, with a Hors Catégorie ascent into Villars-sur-Ollon to test riders as the Tour de Suisse entered some of its toughest terrain and set the tone for the days still to come.

The break of the day took some time to form, with riders biding their time on what was to be a hard day in the saddle. The weather on previous stages had been hot, and many riders, suffering from the heat, would be reluctant to go off too early. Four riders took up the challenge, and having started out with a slim advantage, quickly managed to build up a healthy lead that peaked at eight minutes. However, this advantage was soon to change when the climbs of the day came into view on the horizon. As the road pointed upwards, the break began to shed riders.

While attacks came from the peloton, the trio managed to maintain their lead. After cresting the first climb, a fast descent into Aigle helped them to increase the time gap again and hold the bunch at bay. At the foot of the climb to the finish, the gap was sitting around 4:10, but with an Hors Catégorie climb, averaging 8%, separating them and the finish, there was no guarantee the break would stick. With two of the break dropping off the pace, it was up to the last remaining rider to push on to the finish.

While attacks came from the peloton, the trio managed to maintain their lead. After cresting the first climb, a fast descent into Aigle helped them to increase the time gap again and hold the bunch at bay. At the foot of the climb to the finish, the gap was sitting around 4:10, but with an Hors Catégorie climb, averaging 8%, separating them and the finish, there was no guarantee the break would stick. With two of the break dropping off the pace, it was up to the last remaining rider to push on to the finish. Further back,

BORA-hansgrohe’s Patrick Konrad was holding on as the heat and the gradient took their toll, as it was clear that the whole peloton was suffering in the final few kilometres with only a few mustering the strength to contest the finale.

Lawrence Warbasse, the solo breakaway rider, took the win for Aqua Blue Sport, with Patrick coming in to finish the day in 15th.

From the finish in Villars-sur-Ollon, Patrick Konrad gave an insight into how challenging the day was. “It was a very hard stage with a tough final climb. I gave my best but my legs weren’t at 100% today. At the start of the climb, with 10km to go, I wanted to ride at my own rhythm and kept a steady pace when all the attacks started. I held on really well for most of the climb, but the last two kilometres were very tough. The race isn’t over yet – we still have a few hard days ahead of us and I think my legs will get better.”

2017 Tour de Suisse Stage 4 Results Top Ten

1 Larry Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport 3:48:55 
2 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:40 
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo   
4 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin   
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:44 
6 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:47 
7 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:59 
8 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:01:07 
9 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:20 
10 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:34

2017 Tour de Suisse GC after Stage 4

1 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 12:08:35 
2 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:15 
3 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:24 
4 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin   
5 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:31 
6 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:33 
7 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:09 
8 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:10 
9 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:20 
10 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:01:25

VIDEO: 2017 Tour de Suisse Final Kilometres

 
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