The British Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) wins the 87th edition of the Tour of Switzerland (photo below) thanks to a report w/Kg record in 20′ and the collaboration of teammate João Almeida.
The Portuguese is 2nd at 22″.
In addition to two stage victories and the general classification, Yates wins the Maglia Nera (points classification) and the Maglia Rossa as best climber. Absolute dominance consolidated thanks to impressive uphill performance.
Is it the best performance ever?
The one staged last Friday was supposed to be the queen stage of this edition of the Swiss race. Instead the cancellation of the Nufenen Pass from the route of the 6th stage changed the cards on the table.
Alone 42.5km of the race for 848 meters of difference in altitude, always with the treacherous uphill finish a Blatten Belap (7.1 km, at 9.1%).
Thus the race almost became a sort of incremental test thanks to 34.5 km without particular difficulties which ended up outlining a real heating.
The pace set by UAE Team Emirates from the first ramps with Jan Christen And Isaac del Toro he ended up preparing the ground for Yates’ attack who broke through when there were 3.5 km left to the finish line.
Behind alone Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) e Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) led by João Almeida tried to resist the British’s forcing.
It should be noted that according to the data broadcast live on TV, Bernal rose to 418 w 1.7 km from the finish line!
Almeida’s push in the last kilometer ended up setting up an almost parade finish for the UAE pair.
TO Blatten Belap 1st Almeida, 2nd Yates at 4″ who takes home what has in all respects been labeled as the “best performance ever over 20 minutes”.
Yates, in fact” climbed the final ascent in 7.31pm achieving a weight/power ratio equal to 7.19 w/Kg. Something never seen this season, values that are difficult to trace in the history of cycling.
Thanks to these numbers, Yates also ended up beating Pogačar, Paris-Nice 2023 format. Below is our news.
Col d’Eze at 7 w/Kg: one of the best performances ever for Pogačar
Almeida’s performance (stage winner) stood at slightly lower values: 7.13 w/Kg.
Skjelmose was at the same level with a time of 19:36. 7.02 w/kg for Bernal (19:42).
W/kg record for Adam Yates: impossible 10 years ago
Remember when Team Sky released the physiological data of Chris Froome following the Tour de France 2015? Then the peak power detected in the laboratory was 7.51 w/kg with performances that on the road at the Grande Boucle were around between 6.5 and 6.8 w/Kg always around 20′.
It is clear that the bar has been raised, and quite a bit, in less than ten years.
Vingegaard gave us a further demonstration last year.
Vingegaard destroyed the Col de Marie Blanque record: monstrous data
Adam Yates’ record w/kg ratio achieved a week before the start of the Tour is a clear signal: the one starting from Florence will be an edition in which several records could be shattered.
Because Adam Yates and João Almeida in France will be called upon to act as wingmen for a certain Tadej Pogačar. Wingmen of 7 w/Kg…
For more information on the Tour of Switzerland: tourdesuisse.ch
Top photo: Buchli Fotografie | Sam Buchli SoMedia @buchlifotografie / Data: Gabriel Stróżyk (@NaichacaCycling), Graph: Kārlis Ozols (@CyclingGraphs)
HERE are all our analyzes on the performances of professionals.
