Stage 8 was the final stage of the 2024 Tour de Suisse. The stage was designed by the race organizers as an individual time trial in mountainous terrain. The route was 15.7-kilometer long and started with a flat section before entering the climb to the finish line in Villars-sur-Ollon.

Adam Yates led the General Classification before today’s final stage of this year’s Tour de Suisse. The rider from Great Britain had an advantage of 31 seconds over his UAE Team Emirates teammate Joao Almeida. Egan Bernal was in third for Ineos-Grenadiers, 01:51 minutes behind the leader, while Denmark’s Matias Skjelmose, who won last year’s race, was fourth and hoped to fight his way to a podium spot in today’s time trial.

Kamil Malecki (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) set an early fastest time in the individual time trial, which started from the UCI World Cycling Headquarters in Aigle. The Polish rider entered the hot seat as current leader, but many other cyclists were yet to start their time trials.

Mark Cavendish set the third-best time at the Tissot Intermediate Timing Point 1. But Swiss rider Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) was faster and pushed the Manx Missile down to fourth.

Ethan Hayter (Ineos-Grenadiers) and then Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) set the fastest time at the finish and entered the hot seat. Caruso hadn’t won a race since the Giro di Sicilia 2022 but did finish third in the GC of last year’s Tour de Romandie.

Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) shined on the roads of Switzerland and was the fastest rider at both Tissot Intermediate Timing Point 2 and when he crossed the finish line. He was now in the hot seat.

The top five riders in the General Classification were now starting their time trials. The riders were Matthew Riccitello (Team PremierTech), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers), Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates). There were great expectations and high hopes for the riders to deliver remarkable performances of the challenging route.

Bernal was eighth at Tissot Intermediate Timing Point 1. Skjelmose was 18th and it appeared the Dane would not be able to grab the third spot on the General Classification podium from the Colombian rider. Almeida was tenth. Meanwhile, Thomas Pidcock (Ineos-Grenadiers) set the fastest time at Tissot Intermediate Timing Point 2.

Skjelmose set a new fastest time at Tissot Intermediate Timing Point 2. He was fighting hard and definitely wanted the third spot on the podium in one of his favorite races.

Pidcock set a new fastest time at the finish. Martinez had to bid farewell to the wonderful hot seat.

Defending Tour de Suisse Champion Skjelmose set a new fastest time at the finish in Villars-sur-Ollon. The Dane had fought incredibly hard and was sweating heavily. He almost fainted after crossing the finish line.

Bernal proved unable to successfully defend his third place in the General Classification as he was more than a minute slower than Skjelmose on today’s time trial route. Skjelmose would take the third spot and a bronze medal on the final General Classification podium.

Almeida delivered an even faster performance than Skjelmose in today’s stage 8 and took the stage victory ahead of Adam Yates and Skjelmose. Almeida was nine seconds faster than Yates and twenty-one seconds faster than Skjelmose.

Adam Yates won the final General Classification 22 seconds ahead of teammate Almeida. Skjelmose completed the final General Classification podium with a finish time that was 03:02 minutes slower than race winner Yates. Bernal finished the Tour de Suisse 2024 in fourth, just ten seconds behind third-place finisher Skjelmose.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for additional coverage from the 2024 pro cycling season.

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