Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) survived a late charge from Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) to take his first professional victory on stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse.
It marked a remarkable moment in his career having been diagnosed early with testicular cancer thanks to an anti-doping test, which allowed him to receive treatment and announce he was cancer-free in July 2022.
The 28-year-old dropped his last breakaway companion Roland Thalmann (Tudor) 10km from the finish up the final Gotthardpass climb after they got in the early breakaway with over 140km to go. Træen made his move with a 3:46 lead on a seemingly uninterested peloton after a small chat and refuel at the team car and looked set for victory.
However, a powerful late move from Yates saw his lead melt away and a nervous run to the line ensue. Yates showed he was more than ready for the upcoming Tour de France, powering away from a top-tier GC field inside 5km to go and just scorching his way up the 8.1km climb to finish 23 seconds down on Træen at the line.
Last year’s winner in Switzerland Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Yates’ teammate Almeida were the next best GC riders on the climb, losing 25 seconds to the Brit with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) rounding out the top five.
Yates took firm control of the GC with a 26-second lead over both Almeida and Skjelmose. A crash earlier in the day saw Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) start to struggle inside the finale 5km of the day and he would cross the line some 3:16 down on the winner.
Alongside netting his first WorldTour win, this was actually Træen’s first top-10 finish of the entire 2024 season, perhaps surprising himself the most with such a big victory.
“To be honest, no,” said Træen when asked if he realised what he had achieved. “The [team] doctor came into my room and he asked how I was, I said ‘I am good but I don't have legs’."
Træen also took the prize for being the first over the highest point of the 2024 Tour de Suisse which was dedicated to Gino Mäder, who died tragically during last year’s race. Despite the pair not riding for Bahrain-Victorious together, Træen still recognised the importance of the day for Mader's team.
“It’s obviously special, it’s for Gino no? On the Gino mountain, rideforgino. It means the world, he was still a colleague and you still miss him,” said Træen. “Obviously, in this team, it’s super special and we always want to ride for him, and on a day like this when his day was his mum is also here, it’s super special.”
How It Unfolded
The first summit finish stage of the 2024 Tour de Suisse kicked off from the finish location of stage 3, Rüschlikon, on Lake Zurich, with 171km on the menu.
With riders warming up on the rollers before the day, it promised early action. And that was delivered as the race headed straight from the flag drop onto the first categorised climb of the day - the category 3 Albipass (5.2 km at 5.9%).
A furious fight for the break ensued in the opening phase of racing. Multiple riders and teams were interested with the likes of Soudal Quick-Step and Q36.5 the first to show their hands.
They had some success and crested the first climb in the lead through Louis Vervaeke and Matteo Badilatti. However, their time in front was short-lived as racing came back together 157km from the line.
The move that eventually stuck got away 20km into the fourth stage with eight riders: Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty), Træen, Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Gerben Kuypers (Intermarché-Wanty), Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), Thalmann, Jan Sommer (Swiss Cycling) and Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Their advantage quickly went out from 30 seconds to 3:30 as they entered the much flatter and less exciting middle section of the route, with Lidl-Trek and EF Education-EasyPost coming to the front.
There was no urgency in the chase by the American teams, with the most threatening rider on GC in the break being 2 winner and sprinter Bryan Coquard stage(Cofidis). They let the break’s lead grow out to as big as 6:40.
Race leader Bettiol hit the deck away from the cameras but it was obvious that he had come down on his backside with rips to both sides of his shorts. He thankfully continued but it wasn’t the day for him as he ceded yellow to the GC favourites.
With the easy opening 135km of the stage completed, full focus for the break and the peloton turned to the duo of climbs that would characterise the finish - Schöllenen (4.5km at 7.6%) and the Gotthardpass (8.1km at 6.7%).
Calmejane was the first to bite on the climb to Schöllenen when the break started climbing for the finish but he was given no freedom and quickly chased down by six of the seven remaining riders in the break, with Sommer struggling.
Despite a small dig by Matthews and some by Dillier, Træen and Thalmann showed themselves as the strongest as the attacks continued in the break inside 20km to go.
Træen left Thalmann behind without much resistance from the Swiss rider and set off with a big lead on the peloton 10km from the line.
The action in the break was kicked off by Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale who tried to launch both Felix Gall and Valentin Paret-Peintre without success, and it was UAE Team Emirates who took control inside the final 5km.
Yates launched off the front of the bunch with Oscar Onley (DSM Firmenich PostNL) and Gall trying to chase but they had to give up, unable to follow his pace. Skjelmose worked well to limit the losses with Almeida in his wheel.
Træen made it over the crest of the Gotthardpass with just enough of a lead to prevent Yates from breaking his heart. However, the Brit did take firm control over the GC as those behind him fought to avoid crisis with lots more climbing to come.
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