Jakob Fuglsang took the yellow jersey by surprise right before the
Tour de Suisse entered the mountains, however he emerged out of them in third place after he struggled in the queen stage into Malbun.
Israel - Premier Tech were left to do the chasing on the final day in the mountains, as a large breakaway broke off the very slim peloton with Mathieu Burgaudeau only just over four minutes behind the Danish climber. Despite having only five riders, the Israeli team controlled the day well, however the decisions were to be made on the final ascent.
INEOS Grenadiers once again took over the responsibilities of the pacing in the peloton, leading eventually to an attack from third placed rider Sergio Higuita. “Sergio Higuita made an attack and Geraint Thomas stayed glued to my wheel. I did my best to keep Higuita's advantage within limits," Fuglsang said after the stage, displeased with the outcome - more so with the fact that Thomas did not help in chasing the Colombian down. He lost 29 seconds to Higuita and 18 to Thomas, and will be trying to protect his third place in tomorrow's time-trial in Vaduz.
"I want to have a good time trial, but I'm not sure how it goes with that bike. So it will be a good test," he concluded. Although he has a large buffer, the two minutes he has over Stefan Küng will not be easy to defend, but either ways the Dane will bring very important UCI points to Israel - Premier Tech who are battling for survival in the World Tour.
