Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) took his second straight victory at the Tour de Suisse with a commanding sprint in a rain-soaked Rehinfelden. Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) came a close second with Silvan Dillier (BMC) taking third after the three held off the peloton by a mere three seconds.
It proved a vital three seconds for Sagan, who now sits at the top of the standings with a three-second advantage over Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Soudal), who had started the day in the leader’s jersey.
Having helped with the chase for most of the day, Sagan was left with no teammates as the stage reached its conclusion. With Dillier having made it away in the day’s break and a stinging attack from Albasini on the penultimate ascent, Sagan had to take matters into his own hands. The world champion initially took up the chase on the front of a diminishing peloton before launching his move near the top of final ascent of the day.
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As Roelandts found himself off the back of the bunch, Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) set off in chase of Sagan. The Australian didn’t have the legs, and once they were on the descent he didn’t stand a chance. Sagan utilised his famous bike handling skills to make mincemeat of the gap between himself and the pair out front.
Behind, the peloton weren’t relenting and Lotto-Soudal, having brought Roelandts back to the main group, began reeling in the three escapees. The three had a maximum advantage of just over 30 seconds but that was reduced to little more than a handful inside the final 10 kilometres. Feeling the peloton on his back, Sagan decided to try another attack with five kilometres to the line. He distanced his Swiss friends initially but realised quickly that he wasn’t going to shake them too easily.
Sagan was brought back and the three worked together as the peloton became tantalisingly close. Albasini was the first to show his cards inside the final kilometre but when Sagan wound up his own sprint, the Orica man had no answer. Sagan stormed to his second win of the 2016 race and his 13th in the race’s history, jumping to the top of the overall standings as well.
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