Second uphill finish in a row at Tour of Switzerland 2024. The fifth stage of the Swiss race will take place entirely in the Canton of Ticino and will be another tough battle in the mountains between the men in the classification. There are three very tough GPMs on the program, two close to the start of Ambribut the decisive one will be the final one, which will lead the group to the finish line of Dear. Some riders aiming for the final podium could suffer a lot along the final ascent and say goodbye to their high ranking ambitions once and for all. This very tough stage, 148.6 kilometers long, could also be suitable for some particularly courageous and strong climbers.
DEPARTURE TIME: 1.05pm
ARRIVAL TIME (EXPECTED): 4.49pm-5.12pm
LIVE TV AND STREAMING: 3.00pm-5.40pm Eurosport, Discovery+ / 4.00pm-5.15pm Eurosport 1
OFFICIAL HASHTAG: #TourdeSuisse
Fifth stage route of the Tour of Switzerland 2024
Immediately after the departure of Ambri we will start to climb towards the first GPM of the day, the second category Ronco (5.9 km at 7.4%). Although it is the easiest asperity of this stage, it will start to put a strain on the riders’ legs and will probably cause a strong and numerous breakaway to break away, dreaming of victory on the day. A short downhill stretch leads to the entrance to the second climb, the steep first category GPM of Cari, 7.6 kilometers long and with an average gradient of even 10%. Even if very far from the finish line, this challenging climb, the final 4 km of which will have an average gradient of 12%, could weigh down the legs of many runners and definitely skim the top group.
A very long descent to the valley floor will be the prelude to a stretch of approximately 60 kilometers of substantial plain, where the runners will be able to rest and relax their legs in view of the final climb which will once again lead up to Dear, but climbing from the slope previously tackled on the descent. The official climb will begin 10.5 km from the finish line and will have an average gradient of 8%, but the road will begin to climb about 10 kilometers before, with a long and irregular slight slope. This climb could be decisive for the composition of the final podium and will almost certainly be tackled at a really high pace, which will only allow the strongest and fittest climbers to survive.
Favorites Fifth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
Today’s stage, the first high mountain one with arrival on the San Gottardo Pass, gave us some precious indications on who the favorites of the fifth stage could be. Among the big names in the general category who particularly shone on the long cobbled climb were Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) finished second today, his teammate Joao Almeida and the reigning champion Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl Trek). The Briton was the first to make a real selection among the men in the standings, showing that he is the man to beat, especially now that he is wearing the leader’s jersey. The Portuguese, currently second in the general, could have carte blanche to go in search of the stage victory only in the event that his rivals collapse heavily. The Dane, on the other hand, is the captain of his team and won’t be able to think too much, other than attacking his direct rivals.
Another runner who appears to be in great shape is Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers). The Colombian finished fifth in today’s stage and seems to be constantly growing this season which could mark his rebirth at high levels. The Carì climb suits him perfectly and he knows it. The Spaniard was the one who managed to limit the damage in the first uphill finish Enric Mas (Movistar), the Austrian Felix Gall (Decathlon Ag2r La World), the young Briton Oscar Onley (dsm firmenich-PostNL), the Belgian Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) and the surprising American Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech). All of these have what it takes to win the fifth stage, except perhaps the 22-year-old American who could suffer from the very tough final climb.
Among those who held out on the San Gottardo climb, but could instead pay the price on the more difficult Carì climb are the long-distance climber Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike), who will put himself at the service of captain Uijtdebroeks, the very talented Mexican Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) who still doesn’t seem to be a full-fledged climber and all-round phenomenon like Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) who could work for Bernal. Those who could find something to match their skills in the fifth stage are classy grimpeurs like the Frenchman Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), two Colombians like Einer Rubio (Movistar) e Sergio Higuita (Bora-hansgrohe) and the other French Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon Ag2r World Championship). All pure climbers who need to make up a few seconds in the standings and who are at ease on long, steep climbs.
The very expert Dutchman also showed a good leg on the climb of the San Gottardo Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) who is looking for certainty in view of the Tour de France and wants to show off all his skills in the mountain stages. The same goes for the New Zealander George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech) and for Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), which however suffered slightly more than expected today. Runners like this could do well David de la Cruz (q36.5 Pro Cycling) e Harold Martin Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan) who can hope for another good placing.
Those who could win by breaking away from the first climb are those who attack from afar. Thinking about this scenario, the names of the Cofidis couple formed by come to mind Jesus Herrada And Ion IzagirreKazakh Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan), German Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), the Italians Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) e Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) but also strong climbers who also tried in today’s stage, as Lilian Calmejane (Interamrché-Wanty) e Roland Thalmann (Tudor Pro Cycling).
Bag of the Favorites Fifth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
***** Adam Yates
**** Joao Almeida, Mattias Skjelmose
*** Lenny Martinez, Enric Mas, Egan Bernal
** Richard Carapaz, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Sergio Higuita, Einer Rubio
* Felix Gall, Oscar Onley, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Wout Poels, Tom Pidcock
Predicted weather for the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2024
Mostly sunny. Chance of precipitation: 10%. Humidity: 54%. Wind direction S up to 16 km/h. Expected temperature: minimum 6°, maximum 18°.
Major pitfalls Fifth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
Today we won’t go above 2000 meters but there will be three real climbs, and they will be steeper and well spread over the entire length of the stage. For this reason, the teams of the men in the ranking will have to work hard to keep the day’s breakaway under control and then keep the pace high on the final climb to avoid attacks from rival teams.
Altimetry and Planimetry Fifth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
Timetable Fifth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
Tour of Switzerland 2024 Stage 5 Timetable
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