Diego Ulissi won the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse, proving fastest on the uphill finish in Leukerbad ahead of a small group of fifteen riders. He launched his sprint from 300 metres out to take the 30th victory in his career and his first in 2018.
Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) placed second and Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) third. Ulissi moved up the overall, and now sits in eighth at 40 seconds from the new race leader Richie Porte (BMC Racing). The Team Sunweb pair of Wilco Kelderman and Sam Oomen sit in 2nd and 3rd places respectively, 20″ down on Porte.
“Today’s win carries much weight, the Tour de Suisse is a prestigious race and it makes me proud to win here” Ulissi said. “I was able to come out of the Giro d’Italia with good condition, I remained concentrated knowing that in Switzerland I’d have stages suited to my characteristics.
“The stage today was one of those, and I pulled it off. The race was hard, in the end, I was worried about not catching Mikel Landa, who shot out quite early, but luckily, I closed in on him and kept my speed.
“I’m going to try to keep fighting all the way through the end of the Tour de Suisse given that on the climbs I feel good and in the time trial I can defend myself”.
TOUR DE SUISSE – STAGE 5 RESULTS
1 Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) 3h37’31”
2 Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) s.t.
3 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) s.t.
TOUR DE SUISSE – GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 5
1 Richie Porte (BMC) 17h03’53”
2 Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) 20″
3 Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) s.t.
super win. #freelanda