Albanese shows his class and speed in thrilling final kilometer in Switzerland

On Sunday, the opening stage of the Swiss stage race was immediately chaotic, with the race breaking up very early on. A very large group rode away, after which Grégoire ultimately proved strongest on the wet roads. On day two, there was another stage for punchers, although the gradients were a lot less steep than the day before.

From the start of the 177-kilometer stage, three riders took the lead. Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), and Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty) were two home riders and one German. In the relatively flat opening phase, the trio gained a few minutes' lead over the peloton.

In what was otherwise a fairly monotonous race, the attackers were suddenly faced with a surprise. The railroad crossing barriers were closed, forcing the trio at the front to wait. Once the Swiss train had passed, the breakaway group set off again with a lead of one and a half minutes.

On the Guggisberg (5.3 kilometers at 4.3%), the pace was too fast for Dillier, and Schmid and Rutsch continued without the Alpecin rider. The peloton gradually crept closer: at the top of the climb, with 50 kilometers to go, the two in front had a lead of 1:47 minutes.

That lead quickly dropped to a minute as Tudor took control at the front of the peloton. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was forced to let the peloton go on the Swiss hills, setting up a thrilling finale for the home team. With 17 kilometers to go, Rutsch could not keep up with Schmid's pace, leaving the Swiss champion to continue alone.

The Jayco AlUla rider soon had company, as the final really ignited at that point. Fabio van den Bossche (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was the first rider to make the move, but the peloton was close behind. With 14 kilometers to go, everything came back together, with the EF Education-EasyPost riders at the front of the pack. Lotto was also well positioned at the front.

In the final kilometers, it became clear that many teams thought they had the stage winner in their ranks, as there was a lot of pushing and shoving at the front. An attack did not seem likely, but Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG) had other ideas. The home rider broke away with 2.6 kilometers to go, forcing other teams to chase.

However, Christen was caught again, overtaken by all kinds of attackers. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) went all out, as did Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ). Nevertheless, Albanese had the best legs on the climb. After a powerful sprint, the Italian recorded his third professional victory, rewarding EF Education-EasyPost for their efforts. Grégoire kept his leader's jersey.