Tadej passed another test with flying colors ahead of the Tour, which will start on July 4 in Barcelona. He celebrated victory in the 4th stage of the Tour de Suisse, a 23.7-kilometer time trial in Aarburg.
His win could hardly have been any closer. Tadej rode the flat course in 26:37.99 (average speed 53.392 km/h) and beat Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Premier Tech) by 31 hundredths of a second. In 3rd place, Tobias Foss (Netcompany Ineos) was six seconds back.
»It was very hot and the course was very fast. I felt great, my legs were good. I didn’t know I was fighting for the win, I just wanted to give it everything. I knew I was close, but after the intermediate time check I didn’t have any new information. I tried to go all out to the finish, it worked out well and I’m extremely happy with the win,« Tadej said at the finish.
This is his second win at the Tour de Suisse and the third for his team UAE Team Emirates – XRG, as yesterday’s 3rd stage was won by Tadej’s teammate Jhonatan Narvaez. »I really like this race, I’m happy with the second win, tomorrow we’ll fight for another one. The stage will be brutal, completely different from the ones in the last few days. I’d like to see how my legs work in the mountains. We’ve had a flat time trial, and now we’re facing one one of the toughest mountain stages ever. I’d like to see where I am,« Tadej added after his 11th win this season and his 119th career victory.
Before the queen stage, he holds a 4:22 lead in the general classification over Richard Carapaz (EF Education Easy Post) and 4:27 over Mathias Vacek (Lidl Trek). The test that still awaits him is extremely demanding. The start and finish will be in Villars-sur-Ollon, and over 150.7 kilometers the riders will have to overcome 4,451 meters of elevation gain, or three ascents of the Col de la Croix (19.1 km, 7 percent average gradient).