Tour de Suisse: Mollema climbs to Crans Montana victory

Reels in Hesjedal with 500m to go on punchy summit finish

Bauke Mollema (Blanco) bided his time on the final 16km climb in stage two of the Tour de Suisse, and his patience and timely attack resulted in the victory at the top of the Crans Montana climb. Mollema pulled back Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), who had been on the attack for more than ten kilometres on the climb.

The Canadian was hauled back by the Dutchman with less than 500 metres to race, with a failed move by home favourite Johann Tschopp (IAM) also behind him. Mollema finished with a handful of seconds on a select group behind him, led home by Mathias Frank (BMC Racing) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).

Overall race leader Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) dug deep to remain with the overall favourites until the Mollema acceleration, finishing 22 seconds behind the Blanco rider, retaining his yellow jersey by three seconds overall Hesjedal, who hung in to finish fourth on the stage. Tschopp rounded out the top five on stage two.

“For sure I am happy to win, because it was a long time ago that I last won a race,” Mollema said in near perfect English after the stage. “It’s great to win here. The Tour de Suisse is a great race, so I’m really happy I won. From that moment [after passing Hesjedal] I knew I was going to win, because I had distance on the riders behind me. I knew on the entire climb that Ryder was in front.

“I hope to do a good general classification ride and I think I’m in a good position now, with two or three hard mountain stages left, and the time trial. I hope to be on the podium.”

Yet another day shortened by snow:

What was originally to be a 168km day became a 132km stage a few days ago, when race organizers removed the HC-rated Nufenenpass, set early in the stage, due to snow cover. The race start was moved to the town of Ulrichen, at the bottom of the steep Nufenenpass descent, giving riders 117km of downhill and flat to begin the stage, and just the summit finish on Crans Montana to climb.

The elimination of the first big climb was a relief to some, including hometown hero Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Leopard), who tweeted in his noted ‘Fabianese’ broken English before the stage: “Today we can call us rider in the #TDSuisse lucky.!!!!!!!! No Nufenenpass due snow on top. 30km uphill I don’t like straight after the start.”

Lotto Belisol’s Maarten Neyens also expressed his happiness, tweeting, “Today we go through the #Nufenenpass instead of over. Sweet!!”

So with most of the stage’s early kilometres ridden downhill, a number of riders blazed off the front in a high-speed first hour, and it wasn’t long before a successful quartet was granted some room. Enrique Sanz (Movistar), Christophe Riblon (Ag2R La Mondiale), Adrian Saez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Johannes Frohlinger (Argos-Shimano) picked up 55 seconds on the field after 20km of racing. They pulled out a maximum advantage of 2’50” with 50 kilometres gone, but the peloton got down to business and kept the quartet within two minutes heading toward the climb.

With 35km to go as television coverage kicked in, the break was working well but had just 1’10” to work with. Ten kilometres later, the veteran Riblon moved away, and the peloton left the break to dangle for a while longer. The Ag2R La Mondiale rider rode solo with a ten-second lead on his three chasers, until they hauled him back with 19km to race and the Crans Montana climb in sight.

The escapees were pulled back just as the climb kicked up, and FDJ were anxious to support Pinot, the bookmakers’ odds-on-favourite for the stage. Pinot’s team-mate Arnold Jeannesson briefly pulled him clear of the reduced peloton, but Orica-GreenEdge and Michael Albasini kept calm with Meyer tucked behind them. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Sky Procycling) was one of the first big names dropped on the climb, along with de facto points jersey wearer Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

Jorge Azanza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was the first to launch a move from the peloton, but the Basque rider was picked up by Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp), which had Orica-GreenEdge vigilant and quickly on top of the duo. With 12km to climb, Martin attacked again, and this time was given some room. Albasini was the only man left to support Meyer, and the Swiss rider buried himself to keep a growing breakaway close, as Martin was eventually joined by team-mate Hesjedal, along with Jesús Herrada (Movistar), Tanel Kangert (Astana), and Brice Feillu (Sojasun). Herrada was dropped as soon as they had joined. With 9km to go, and with a 16-second gap, Feillu also succumbed to the pressure and dropped off.

Hesjedal took up the pace-making and Martin couldn’t hold it, leaving just the Canadian and Kangert up front. Ag2R La Mondiale and Blanco were leading the peloton, and Meyer was still present, though without Albasini, who had pulled off.

At 7km to go, Hesjedal and Kangert had a 25-second advantage, though Hesjedal was doing all the work as the Estonian had yet to pull through. Oliver Zaugg (Saxo-Tinkoff) took a pull for the main bunch, but with 6km left, and with Blanco and Ag2R still pitching in, Hesjedal and Kangert had expanded their lead to 30 seconds. Blanco’s Steven Kruijswijk moved off the front of the bunch in an odd move, lasting barely a minute, before he sat up and was soon dropped by the peloton.

With five undulating kilometres left to climb, Kangert pulled through for a turn for the first time. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Blanco) and Maxime Bouet (Ag2R La Mondiale) were taking turns for the shrinking bunch of favourites, who were finally getting closer, just as Hesjedal attacked away from Kangert. The 2012 Giro d’Italia champ was riding away solo, 29 seconds ahead of the peloton with 4km to go. BMC Racing had been inconspicuous up to this point, but sent Amael Moinard and another lieutenant to the front to pull for team leader Tejay Van Garderen. Their control was short lived, because with 3km to go, Simon Spilak (Katusha) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2R La Mondiale) attacked, coming around Kangert and eating into Hesjedal’s advantage.

Pozzovivo continued his acceleration with Martin and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) in his wheel, and Hesjedal was brought back to within 17 seconds. Van Garderen briefly took up the pace with Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) behind him, until Tschopp attacked under the 1km banner. The Swiss rider pulled out an advantage until Mollema emerged for the first time, digging quickly across to Tschopp as Kreuziger pulled the rest of the peloton.

Mollema was soon up to and around Tschopp, and was quickly closing in on Hesjedal. Tschopp continued to dangle just behind as Mollema bridged to Hesjedal with 500 metres to race. The wispy Canadian was tiring and Mollema was still fresh, and the Dutchman accelerated away from the remaining fragmented bunch.

Tour de Suisse (WorldTour)

Stage 2: Quinto – Crans-Montana:

1, Bauke Mollema (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) 117.2 kilometres in 2 hours 43 mins 0 secs
2, Mathias Frank (BMC Racing Team) at 11 secs
3, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ)
4, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp)
5, Johann Tschopp (IAM Cycling)
6, Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp)
7, Roman Kreuziger (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
8, Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida)
9, Giovanni Visconti (Movistar Team) at 19 secs
10, Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale)
11, Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) at 24 secs
12, Moreno Moser (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
13, Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) at 27 secs
14, Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar Team)
15, Janez Brajkovic (Astana Pro Team)
16, Simon Spilak (Katusha) at 29 secs
17, Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale)
18, Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (Sky Procycling)
19, Igor Anton Hernandez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) at 36 secs
20, Sébastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling)
21, Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling) at mins 38 secs
22, Wilco Kelderman (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
23, Tanel Kangert (Astana Pro Team) at 40 secs
24, Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana Pro Team)
25, Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team)
26, Thomas Lövkvist (IAM Cycling) at 44 secs
27, Nicolas Roche (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 52 secs
28, Joshua Edmondson (Sky Pro Cycling)
29, Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale)
30, Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Movistar Team) at 55 secs
31, Brice Feillu (Sojasun) at 1 min 8 secs
32, Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Euskaltel – Euskadi) at 1 min 15 secs
33, Maxime Monfort (RadioShack Leopard) at 1 min 20 secs
34, Lars Petter Nordhaug (Team Blanco)
35, Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) at 1 min 29 secs
36, Luis León Sánchez Gil (Team Blanco) at 2 mins 5 secs
37, Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing Team) at 2 mins 16 secs
38, Steven Kruijswijk (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 41 secs
39, Damiano Caruso (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
40, Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale)
41, Eduard Vorganov (Katusha)
42, Oliver Zaugg (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
43, Jesus Herrada Lopez (Movistar Team) at 2 mins 57 secs
44, Rémi Pauriol (Sojasun) at 3 mins 16 secs
45, Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
46, Tom Dumoulin (Team Argos-Shimano)
47, Georg Preidler (Team Argos-Shimano) at 3 mins 28 secs
48, Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling)
49, Stefano Agostini (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
50, Andrey Kashechkin (Astana Pro Team)
51, Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
52, Jorge Azanza Soto (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
53, Francis De Greef (Lotto Belisol)
54, Andy Schleck (RadioShack Leopard) at 3 mins 32 secs
55, Jens Voigt (RadioShack Leopard)
56, Mickaël Chérel (AG2R La Mondiale)
57, Maxime Mederel (Sojasun)
58, Jérémy Roy (FDJ)
59, Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) at 3 mins 38 secs
60, Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) at 4 mins 5 secs
61, Robert Vrecer (Euskaltel-Euskadi) at 4 mins 25 secs
62, Kevin De Weert (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) at 4 mins 30 secs
63, Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) at 4 mins 49 secs
64, Matti Breschel (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 4 mins 50 secs
65, Michel Koch (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
66, Patrick Gretsch (Team Argos-Shimano)
67, José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Movistar Team) at 5 mins 2 secs
68, Stijn Devolder (RadioShack Leopard) at 5 mins 8 secs
69, Evgeny Petrov (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 5 mins 24 secs
70, Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling)
71, Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar Team) at 6 mins 2 secs
72, Johannes Fröhlinger (Team Argos-Shimano) at 6 mins 22 secs
73, Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
74, Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
75, Grega Bole (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
76, Julien Simon (Sojasun)
77, Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Sharp)
78, Matteo Tosatto (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 6 mins 56 secs
79, Simone Stortoni (Lampre-Merida) at 7 mins 39 secs
80, Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) at 9 mins 27 secs
81, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
82, Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale)
83, Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha)
84, Michael Morkov (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
85, Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida)
86, Sébastien Minard (AG2R La Mondiale)
87, Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun)
88, Vladimir Karpets (Movistar Team)
89, Andreas Klöden (RadioShack Leopard)
90, Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge)
91, Simon Geschke (Team Argos-Shimano)
92, Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
93, Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
94, Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha) at 10 mins 52 secs
95, Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team)
96, Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
97, Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
98, Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto Belisol)
99, Brian Bulgac (Lotto Belisol)
100, Michael Schär (BMC Racing Team)
101, Simone Ponzi (Astana Pro Team)
102, Maarten Neyens (Lotto Belisol)
103, Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
104, Boy van Poppel (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
105, Edward King (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
106, Yoann Offredo (FDJ)
107, Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
108, Davide Vigano (Lampre-Merida)
109, Paolo Longo Borghini (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
110, Gabriel Rasch (Sky Procycling)
111, Reto Hollenstein (IAM Cycling)
112, John Degenkolb (Team Argos-Shimano)
113, William Bonnet (FDJ)
114, Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ)
115, Ricardo Mestre (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
116, Adrian Saez (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
117, Yannick Talabardon (Sojasun)
118, Enrico Gasparotto (Astana Pro Team)
119, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Sky Procycling)
120, Thomas Peterson (Team Argos-Shimano)
121, Jean-Marc Marino (Sojasun)
122, David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) at 11 mins 12 secs
123, Mathew Hayman (Sky Procycling)
124, Lachlan David Morton (Garmin-Sharp)
125, Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ) at 11 mins 49 secs
126, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) at 14 mins 23 secs
127, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
128, Martin Kohler (BMC Racing Team)
129, Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
130, Grégory Rast (RadioShack Leopard)
131, Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling)
132, Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling)
133, Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard)
134, Arman Kamyshev (Astana Pro Team)
135, Hayden Roulston (RadioShack Leopard)
136, Wesley Kreder (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
137, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp)
138, Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Sharp)
139, Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale)
140, Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge)
141, Sam Bewley (Orica-GreenEdge)
142, Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
143, Matthew Harley Goss (Orica-GreenEdge)
144, Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol)
145, Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
146, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana Pro Team)
147, Mark Renshaw (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
148, Enrique Sanz (Movistar Team)
149, Thomas Leezer (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
150, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha)
151, Ben Swift (Sky Procycling)
152, Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha)
153, Cédric Pineau (FDJ)
154, Baden Cooke (Orica-GreenEdge)
155, Jens Debusschere (Lotto Belisol)
156, Jonas Ahlstrand (Team Argos-Shimano)
157, Luke Rowe (Sky Procycling)
158, Daniele Bennati (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
159, Fabian Wegmann (Garmin-Sharp)
160, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida)
161, Arnaud Demare (FDJ)
162, Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida)
163, Kenny Dehaes (Lotto Belisol)
164, Stuart O’Grady (Orica-GreenEdge)
165, Cyril Lemoine (Sojasun)
166, Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida)
167, Frederique Robert (Lotto Belisol) at 15 mins 48 secs

1, IAM Cycling, at 8 hours 40 mins 31 secs
2, Movistar Team, at 29 secs
3, Astana Pro Team, at 40 secs
4, AG2R La Mondiale, at 43 secs
5, Blanco Pro Cycling Team, at 1 min 18 secs
6, BMC Racing Team, at 1 min 43 secs
7, Team Saxo -Tinkoff, at 2 mins 32 secs
8, Katusha Team, at 4 mins 2 secs
9, Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 4 mins 25 secs
10, Garmin-Sharp, at 5 mins 26 secs
11, Cannondale, at 5 mins 29 secs
12, Radioshack Leopard, at 7 mins 4 secs
13, Sojasun, at 7 mins 7 secs
14, Lampre-Merida, at 7 mins 59 secs
15, Team Argos-Shimano, at 10 mins 39 secs
16, Sky Procycling, at 12 mins 14 secs
17, Orica GreenEDGE, at 12 mins 32 secs
18, FDJ, at 13 mins 26 secs
19, Omega Pharma-QuickStep, at 15 mins 40 secs
20, Vacansoleil – DCM Procycling Team, at 16 mins 5 secs
21, Lotto-Belisol Team, at 24 mins 55 secs