In the opening time trial of the Tour de Suisse 2024, Belgian rider Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step) snatched the stage victory and with it the leader’s jersey. The best Swiss rider, Stefan Bissegger (EF Education EasyPost), narrowly missed out on the win by 3.18 seconds in Vaduz. Two more Swiss riders, Stefan Küng and Mauro Schmid, finished in the top ten.
This year’s Tour de Suisse started in Vaduz with a short 4.77km Time Trial. As the weather forecast was variable, teams allocated early starting numbers to their GC favourites and the best Time Trial riders. Unfortunately Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) was unable to repeat his opening victory from last year. The Thurgau Time Trial specialist fell short of his best form: “I already realised it during the race that my legs weren’t ideal”, explained Küng at the finish, “I was in bed all last weekend with bronchitis and couldn’t recover enough for today”.
The overall classification remains wide open
Switzerlands Stefan Bissegger (EF Education EasyPost) aimed to step into the breach. After a strong ride on the short course with some treacherous sections on the Vaduz Rhine dam, Bissegger narrowly missed the win, and had to settle for second place on the day. He did, however, receive the award for the most combative rider. Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step) completed the course inb5:05.58 minutes to secure victory on Stage 1.
As far as the overall classification is concerned this first time trial did not yet offer any major surprises. Last year’s overall winner Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) finished 11th only11.16 seconds in arrears. Switzerland’s Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) placed strongly 19.74 seconds behind. His sights are set on a Stage win and as he revealed in an interview, his main focus is on the hilly stages tomorrow and on Tuesday.