Image 1 of 21
Mattias Skjelmose celebrates as Tour de Suisse winner (Credit: Getty Images)Remco Evenepoel rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Credit: Getty Images)Stefan Bissegger rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Getty Images)Remco Evenepoel rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Credit: Getty Images)Kasper Asgreen rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Getty Images)Wout Van Aert rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Credit: Getty Images)Stefan Bissegger rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Getty Images)Wout Van Aert rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Credit: Getty Images)Juan Ayuso after the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Credit: Getty Images)Juan Ayuso rides the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Credit: Getty Images)Juan Ayuso wins the final time trial of stage eight of the 2023 Tour de Suisse (Credit: Getty Images)Mattias Skjelmose riding the final of stage eight of the Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Getty Images)Mattias Skjelmose riding the final of stage eight of the Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Getty Images)Mattias Skjelmose riding the final of stage eight of the Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Getty Images)Remco Evenepoel is second in the stage eight time trial behind Juan Ayuso (Credit: Getty Images)Remco Evenepoel finishes second in stage eight time trial (Image credit: Getty Images)Overall race winner, Mattias Skjelmose, stage 8 time trial winner, Juan Ayuso, on the final day of the Tour de Suisse race (Image credit: Getty Images)Overall race winner Mattias Skjelmose finishes the time trial of stage eight in third place (Image credit: Getty Images)Wout Van Aert celebrates as winner of the Tour de Suisse points jersey (Image credit: Getty Images)Mattias Skjelmose celebrates as Tour de Suisse winner (Credit: Getty Images)Juan Ayuso wins the final time trial of stage eight (Image credit: Getty Images)
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) mastered the final time trial of the Tour de Suisse and won the stage in Abtwil. His winning time of 32:25 wasn’t enough to take the overall title, however, as Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) finished third on the day, nine seconds back, winning his first WorldTour stage race.
The 22-year-old Dane appeared to be out of contention at the first checkpoint on the 25.7km course as he came out of the yellow phase a second behind Ayuso. He rallied everything to make a comeback in the hilly middle part of the stage, regaining valuable seconds and claiming a big win.
Ayuso, 20, finishes second overall after his second stage win of the week, nine seconds down on Skjelmose. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) jumped onto the podium with a time of 32:33 and finished 45 seconds back, while Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) dropped from second to eighth with a slow time of 35:51.
“I thought it was possible. I always race to win and I think even if I was at a disadvantage in the skinsuit I proved my form is good and I’m ready for the Tour. I’ve always believed in that,” Skjelmose said after the stage, before paying tribute to Gino Mäder.
“There are a lot of great emotions. It’s a combination of great sacrifice for me and of course Gino is dead and I think it all just made me really emotional. It just had to come out past the finish line.
“The most important thing for me was that Gino’s parents and family wanted the race to continue and we raced as usual. That calmed me down.”
Ayuso, meanwhile, said he had mixed feelings after the stage – winning and losing at the same time while also thinking about girls.
“[My feelings are] a bit mixed. Of course not because I won the stage; It’s my second TT win this year so I’m happy to keep improving in this kind of racing style. The primary goal was to win the GC and I finished second so it’s a bit of a shame but Mattias was super strong and we just have to congratulate him.
“Of course I wanted to get Gino the GC, but he would also be happy for me on the stage. Of course, that also applies to him. Racing is a bit more incidental. You don’t feel like celebrating. It doesn’t matter what happens to you, but I think everyone here did their best for Gino. Mattias is certainly thinking about giving the overall win to him and I’m happy with the win to honor his memory.”
How it evolved
The final stage of the Tour de Suisse would see the conclusion of the GC battle with a challenging 25.7km time trial from St Gallen to Abtwil with a tough 1.6km 8.2% climb midway through the stage. With a good margin at the top of the standings, this day would decide the final podium of a tragic week of racing in Switzerland following the death of Gino Mäder.
Samuel Watson (Groupama-FDJ) set the pace early with a time of 34:02, but the neo-pro’s time in the hot seat didn’t last long before Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) stormed through the checkpoints 26 seconds faster with a time of 33:36.
However, the Dane’s time was surpassed in quick succession by Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) at 33:33 and then Jeremy Cabot (TotalEnergies) at 33:31. But the Frenchman barely had time to get in the hot seat as his time was squandered by Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep) who was 30 seconds ahead with a time of 33:01.
Half an hour later, Asgreen’s time was beaten when European Time Trial Champion Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) rode a negative split to come back from a two-second gap and set a 13-second quicker time of 32:48.
Over the next half hour, the Swiss rider would fend off challenges from Finn-Fisher Black (UAE Team Emirates), who was 33:07, 19 seconds back, as well as Matteo Sobrero (Jayco-AlUla), who was another two seconds faster than Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who was only five seconds behind with a time of 32:53.
Attention then turned to the GC fight, with top contenders Evenepoel, Ayuso, Gall and Skjelmose kicking off just moments later, two minutes apart.
At the first checkpoint, Evenepoel was fastest of all, setting a time of 12 minutes to place 55 seconds ahead of Gall and 24 seconds ahead of Skjelmose. Ayuso, meanwhile, was just five seconds behind the Belgian and 19 seconds clear of Skjelmose and was effectively yellowed.
In the hilly middle section of the stage, Evenepoel gained even more time and crossed the second checkpoint in 26:12, 16 seconds ahead of Bissegger. However, Ayuso flew and was even faster – with 26:06 to get into the driver’s seat.
But by the time Skjelmose passed the checkpoint, he had made up time instead of losing any more. The Dane crossed the finish line 10 seconds behind Ayuso while Gall suffered minutes behind.
At the finish line, Evenepoel beat Bissegger by 15 seconds and was briefly in the hot seat before Ayuso squeezed out another eight seconds to secure the stage win. Skjelmose, meanwhile, completed his defense of the yellow jersey, reclaiming another second and safely finishing third on the day, nine seconds behind Ayuso, and winning the Tour de Suisse title.
Results
Results provided by FirstCycling