The German cyclist Lennard Kämna keeps up in the favorite group, the American Quinn Simmons gets the day’s victory: The Lidl-Tek team presented itself in good shape on the third stage of the Tour de Suisse.
Kämna crossed the finish line on the 195.6 km long stage from Aarau to Heiden at the same time with the other classification drivers. The 28-year-old took 22nd place behind 22 seconds. Teammate Simmons rewarded himself as a outlier for his courage.
The overall ranking continues to lead Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), who became fourth. Kämna is in seventh place with 1:18 minutes behind the French. Felix Engelhardt (Jayco Alula) was left behind before the final descent and came to 85th place. But he retains the mountain jersey.
Simmons drives 20 km alone
Simmons was long part of an outlier group, drove the last 20 kilometers on the 80th birthday of cycling legend Eddy Merckx single-handedly. The Portuguese João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG) took second place, the podium completed Oscar Onley (Great Britain/Team Picnic Postnl).
On the home stretch, the American flew to the day’s victory. The unusual gesture explained the reigning US champion at the Europsport Mikrophon as follows: “The eagle was for me. The last time I drove in this jersey, I didn’t win a single race, that was a terrible season.”
Dedicated to the late teammate
He also devoted the victory to his former team -mate Gino Mäder, who had death at the Tour de Suisse two years ago. “Actually, I wanted to win yesterday because we lost it exactly two years ago. Now I’m doing it a day later,” said Simmons.
A 193.2 km long stage from Heiden to Piuro (Valchiavenna) is waiting for the peloton on Wednesday. In total, the 88th edition of the Tour de Suisse comprises eight stages, the traditional tour ends on Sunday with a mountain time trial in Stockhütte.