Tour de Suisse 2024: Joao Almeida leads home Adam Yates for another UAE 1-2 on reduced stage 6

On a much reduced stage of 6 of the 2024 Tour de Suisse, Joao Almeida and Adam Yates again proved the two dominant forces at the race as the Portuguese took the stage win.

Just a 42.5 kilometre stage, the tactics were very interesting going into this one, especially for race leader Adam Yates and UAE Team Emirates. In the end, three riders managed to attack and get themselves free with that trio being Stefan Bissegger, Frank van den Broek and Anders Foldager. UAE Team Emirates weren't allowing much of a gap to form however.

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With just the final climb proving any sort of a test for the riders, as the three leaders reached the foot of the final climb, 1:12 was their advantage over the peloton with 7.5 kilometres to be climbed on a brutally steep finale. It didn't take long for the trio to become a duo either as Team Jayco AlUla's Foldager almost immediately lost the wheel of his companions.

Van den Broek proved the strongest of the break, soon dropping Bissegger on the climb. With UAE Team Emirates setting a strong pace behind however, his chances of victory were still very much in the balance with 5km to go as he led by just 42 seconds. Sadly for the lone leader, it proved not to be his day as with 3.5km to go, the Maillot Jaune attacked and Yates was immediately riding clear of all rivals yet again, quickly catching and passing Van den Broek.

Mattias Skjelmose was leading the chase, with Joao Almeida and Egan Bernal on the wheel and slowly but surely the reigning Tour de Suisse champion seemed to be bringing back Yates. Sensing the gap was bridgeable, Bernal attacked from that group with 1.7km to go. As Yates went through the Flamme Rouge, just 4 seconds was his gap and the Maillot Jaune soon had company from his own teammate as Almeida did what both Bernal and Skjelmose failed to do and bridged the gap.

With the duo working in tandem, the gap began to stretch out further again to the leading chasers with Yates and Almeida again proving strongest in the race. In the final few hundred metres, Yates even allowed Almeida to ride off ahead and take the stage win himself.

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