Masnada enlivens the Tour de Suisse

Sitting more than nine minutes behind the top of the general classification, Fausto Masnada had nothing to lose on the queen stage of the Tour de Suisse, which took the peloton over the Nufenenpass – the country’s highest paved road pass – before a tough summit finish on the 17.7km long Moosalp, a climb averaging 7.6%.
Winner of a stage at the Tour of Oman this season – a race which he concluded runner-up – the man who came close to winning Il Lombardia last year joined the breakaway and was one of the most active riders there, as the group built an eight-minute margin over the peloton. On the descent, the chasers clawed back time, but the escapees still had enough by the time they got to the bottom of the last ascent.
Fausto turned up the heat there several times, his powerful accelerations dropping all but one rider with three kilometers to go. Three of his former companions found a way back, and as a result, five riders went under the flamme rouge. Masnada led out, and despite giving his best, he ran out of steam after the huge effort he had produced the entire stage and finished fifth as Nico Denz (Team DSM) took the win.
“It wasn’t easy to go in the breakaway, but I did my best in the first part of the race. Then, on the last climb, I tried to drop the others, at one point I remained only with Denz for company, we had a good gap, but those guys who we initially distanced came back. In the sprint, I had nothing left in the legs. It’s not the result I wanted, but it’s still a good result after so much time without racing. It’s nice to be at this level and it encourages me to work even more in this direction”, the 28-year-old Italian said at the finish.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Nico Denz Team DSM |
5:11:14 |
2 |
Clément Champoussin AG2R Citroën Team |
0:00 |
3 |
José Herrada López Cofidis |
0:00 |
4 |
Quinn Simmons Trek - Segafredo |
0:00 |
5 |
Fausto Masnada
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
0:11 |
6 |
Quentin Pacher Groupama - FDJ |
1:33 |
7 |
Roland Thalmann Switzerland |
1:46 |
8 |
Geraint Thomas INEOS Grenadiers |
2:14 |
9 |
Sergio Higuita García BORA - hansgrohe |
2:14 |
10 |
Jakob Fuglsang Israel - Premier Tech |
2:14 |
22 |
Remco Evenepoel
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
3:06 |
48 |
Tim Declercq
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
14:33 |
68 |
James Knox
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
21:44 |
75 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
24:52 |
DNS |
Louis Vervaeke
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
-05:11:14 |
1 |
Jakob Fuglsang Israel - Premier Tech |
27:30:30 |
2 |
Geraint Thomas INEOS Grenadiers |
0:01 |
3 |
Sergio Higuita García BORA - hansgrohe |
0:10 |
4 |
Neilson Powless EF Education-EasyPost |
0:26 |
5 |
Felix Großschartner BORA - hansgrohe |
0:34 |
6 |
Andreas Leknessund Team DSM |
0:46 |
7 |
Stefan Küng Groupama - FDJ |
0:49 |
8 |
Andreas Kron Lotto Soudal |
1:00 |
9 |
Domenico Pozzovivo Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux |
1:07 |
10 |
Sébastien Reichenbach Groupama - FDJ |
1:29 |
15 |
Remco Evenepoel
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
3:08 |
19 |
Fausto Masnada
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
6:54 |
37 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
35:00 |
66 |
Tim Declercq
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1:07:05 |
86 |
James Knox
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1:32:56 |
1 |
Michael Matthews Team BikeExchange - Jayco |
22 pt |
2 |
Andreas Leknessund Team DSM |
20 pt |
3 |
Quinn Simmons Trek - Segafredo |
18 pt |
4 |
Daryl Impey Israel - Premier Tech |
12 pt |
5 |
Nico Denz Team DSM |
12 pt |
6 |
Peter Sagan TotalEnergies |
12 pt |
7 |
Matthew Holmes Lotto Soudal |
12 pt |
8 |
Maximilian Schachmann BORA - hansgrohe |
10 pt |
9 |
Geraint Thomas INEOS Grenadiers |
8 pt |
10 |
Neilson Powless EF Education-EasyPost |
8 pt |
19 |
Fausto Masnada
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
3 pt |
1 |
Quinn Simmons Trek - Segafredo |
60 pt |
2 |
Nico Denz Team DSM |
20 pt |
3 |
Fausto Masnada
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
19 pt |
4 |
Clément Champoussin AG2R Citroën Team |
15 pt |
5 |
Philippe Gilbert Lotto Soudal |
12 pt |
6 |
Andreas Leknessund Team DSM |
10 pt |
7 |
Alexander Kamp Trek - Segafredo |
10 pt |
8 |
Simon Vitzthum Switzerland |
10 pt |
9 |
Roland Thalmann Switzerland |
10 pt |
10 |
Matthew Holmes Lotto Soudal |
9 pt |
23 |
Remco Evenepoel
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
2 pt |
1 |
Sergio Higuita García BORA - hansgrohe |
27:30:40 |
2 |
Andreas Leknessund Team DSM |
0:36 |
3 |
Andreas Kron Lotto Soudal |
0:50 |
4 |
Remco Evenepoel
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
2:58 |
5 |
Mathieu Burgaudeau TotalEnergies |
4:26 |
6 |
Clément Berthet AG2R Citroën Team |
10:49 |
7 |
Clément Champoussin AG2R Citroën Team |
13:35 |
8 |
Sylvain Moniquet Lotto Soudal |
34:32 |
9 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
34:50 |
10 |
Quinn Simmons Trek - Segafredo |
35:29 |
1 | BORA - hansgrohe | 82:32:46 |
2 | Groupama - FDJ | 2:13 |
3 | AG2R Citroën Team | 13:18 |
4 | INEOS Grenadiers | 16:33 |
5 | Israel - Premier Tech | 21:07 |
6 | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 30:41 |
7 | Movistar Team | 31:48 |
8 | Cofidis | 43:59 |
9 | Team DSM | 45:06 |
10 | Lotto Soudal | 55:34 |