PREVIEW | Tour de Suisse 2025 stage 8 - Can João Almeida hunt down Kévin Vauquelin in brutal mountain time-trial?

From the 15th to 22nd of June the World Tour peloton will tackle the Tour de Suisse, one of the hardest races in the calendar and the last of the 'big 7' one-week stage-races in the calendar. We preview stage 8, what might be the decisive day of the race, with the hardest in the entire route coming in the form of a mountain time-trial.

The final day of racing is a mountain time-trial which should also coincidentally be the queen stage. The ITT is 10 kilometers long, and 9 of them will average 9% uphill as the climb to Stockütte will be the most difficult of the race and will be setting big differences likely.

There isn't much to judge or gauge in this effort, the climb is rather constant and very steep all around. Because of it's difficulty, it's unlikely that riders will decide to take a time-trial bike or even extensions in the first flat kilometer, but instead focus fully on the ascent itself.

After the action that has been taking place in the fight for the yellow jersey, this final day of racing is set to be exciting with João Almeida and Kévin Vauquelin battling for the yellow jersey; Julian Alaphilippe and Oscar Onley fighting for the final place in the podium and Felix Gall as an ever-present threat for both the podium and stage win.

The riders will have climbed the first part of this Sunday's ascent already on Saturday as part of the final climb, but they will go to a much higher area of the mountain.

*** João Almeida
** Felix Gall, Oscar Onley, Kévin Vauquelin
* Felix Grossschartner, Joe Blackmore, Ilan van Wilder, Lennard Kämna, Clément Champoussin, Ben O'Connor, Pablo Castrillo, George Bennett

Pick: João Almeida