João Almeida from the UAE Team Emirates - XRG team celebrated a strong victory on the seventh stage of the Tour de Suisse with his sprint on the final climb. Thanks to his team's preparation, which set a fast pace with just under 57 kilometres to go, the peloton fell apart on the penultimate climb. Almeida had a lead of just a few metres over second-placed Oscar Onley at the finish. Third place went to the overall leader, Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin.
At 3.9 kilometres, the last climb to the finish was not a long one, but it had an average gradient of 8.1 per cent. As early as the Bürgenstock, the penultimate climb, the peloton was selected down to a small group of favourites. Almeida took the lead at the start of the final climb and stepped up the pace. Overall leader Kévin Vauquelin launched a strong attack a few hundred metres before the finish, but was outsprinted by Almeida and Onley shortly before the finish line. Afterwards, Almeida was satisfied with his performance and that of his team.
My team did a great job on the day, this win is also for them - João Almeida
How the 7th stage of the Tour de Suisse 2025 went
Stage 7: Neuhausen am Rheinfall - Emmetten
Tour de Suisse 2025: Stage 7, Neuhausen am Rheinfall - Emmetten
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 04:38:25 |
| 2 | Team Picnic PostNL | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | +00:00:04 |
| 5 | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | +00:00:08 |
| 6 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | +00:01:07 |
João Almeida was exactly 39 seconds behind the overall leader Kévin Vauquelin. However, it was questionable whether the Portuguese rider wanted to save his attack for victory in the overall classification for the final day of the mountain time trial.
The breakaway group of the day formed after just a few kilometres of the race. Quinn Simmons, Aleksandr Vlasov, Junior Lecerf, Felix Engelhardt, Frank van den Broek, Tiesj Benoot and Hugo Houle built up a lead of up to three minutes over the course of the race. With 57 kilometres to go, UAE Team Emirates - XRG took matters into their own hands for the first time. The lead of the seven breakaway riders decreased second by second. The group was then kept on a long leash until the penultimate climb of the day, around a minute ahead of the peloton.
UAE Team Emirates - XRG gets serious
Almeida's intentions could already be seen before the penultimate climb. His team reduced the gap between the breakaway and the peloton by a few seconds, but there was no sign of UAE Team Emirates - XRG as the climb began. Meanwhile, the gap to the peloton became too small for Quinn Simmons, which is why he launched an attack out of the group and immediately gained a few metres. Within a few minutes, the American increased his lead and confirmed his good form from the previous days.
Attack on the Bürgenstock
It wasn't just on the final climb, but already on the climb before that the pace increased, whereupon a group of the strongest riders formed. Quinn Simmons quickly caught up with this group and was then riding in a group of seven. After reaching the top of the penultimate climb, Simmons left to help the German Lennard Kämna, whose good position in the overall classification was in danger of slipping away. The six remaining riders held on to their 20 seconds on the first chasing group until the final climb.
Uphill sprint to stage win
After Felix Gall sought to escape to the front and also gained a few metres on the other riders, Almeida took over and was able to catch Gall again. With just 500 metres remaining, the leader Vauquelin took off and flew past his rivals. Oscar Onley went after him first, followed by Almeida. Both overtook Vauquelin a few metres before the finish, with Almeida also overtaking Onley.
Leon Weidner
Working student
