During eight days starting from this Sunday, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux will participate in the Tour de Suisse (2.UWT). It will be the fourth participation of the World Team, just after the GP Gippingen in which the team placed two riders in the top five.
For the first time since 2008, the leader’s jersey won’t be awarded at the end of an opening time trial. Instead, the riders have to climb Pfannenstiel (4km at 5%) and Kusnachter Berg (3 km at 8%) four times on a hilly circuit around Küsnacht (Zürich).
The three following days are quite similar with a difficulty not far before the finish. The first uphill final takes place on day five, with not less than twelve climbs in the second race half. The last one brings the riders to the finish line in Novazzano (2 km at 6%), close to Mendrisio.
Two mountain top finishes in the heart of the Swiss Alps follow on the sixth and seventh day, each one containing two main difficulties. The sixth stage brings the riders to an altitude of more than 2000 meter on the Nufenenpass (14 km at 8%) and Moosalp (18 km at 8%).
The next day, the col du Lukmanier (39 km at 5%) precedes the final climb in Malbun (12 km at 9%) on territory of Liechtenstein. It is in the capital of this Principality that the event is concluded with a flat individual time trial of 25 kilometer.
Domenico Pozzovivo, the eighth in GC of the Giro, returns to one of his favorite races. The Italian rider finished four times in the top ten of the final classification, with a sixth place last year and a stage win in 2017 in La Punt.
Double stage winner Alexander Kristoff will be accompanied by his teammates of his sprint train Andrea Pasqualon and Adrien Petit. Two days after the GP Gippingen, also Simone Petilli, Baptiste Planckaert and Georg Zimmermann will be present under the direction of Steven De Neef and Pieter Vanspeybrouck.
« The succession of the Tour of Italy and the Tour de Suisse suits me well in general. This year, I chose for a training camp on the Passo dello Stelvio to fill the gap between those races. The final week of the Giro was particularly challenging, so I benefited from a couple of days with snow on the Stelvio to recover well. I feel good and I am very motivated to achieve a good general classification in this Tour of Switzerland. Each year, the event offers beautiful but hard stages. The fifth stage is ridden close to home around Lugano. I also know several other stages and important climbs. At first sight, we can say that the mountain top finishes will be decisive for the general classification, but as there are no pure sprint stages, we'll have to be attentive every day! »
Tour de Suisse :
Stage 1 (12/06): Kusnacht – Kusnacht (178km)
Stage 2 (13/06): Kusnacht – Aesch (199km)
Stage 3 (14/06): Aesch – Granges (177km)
Stage 4 (15/06): Granges – Brunnen (191km)
Stage 5 (16/06): Ambri – Novazzano (193km)
Stage 6 (17/06): Locarno – Moosalp (180km)
Stage 7 (18/06): Ambri – Malbun (196km)
Stage 8 (19/06): Vaduz – Vaduz (25,6km) (= TT)
