2009 Tour de Suisse
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Tour de Suisse was the 73rd edition of the Tour de Suisse
stage race. It took place from 13 June to 21 June and is part of both the 2009 UCI ProTour
and the inaugural World Calendar
. It began with a short individual time trial
in Liechtenstein
and ended with another time trial, in Bern. The race was won by Fabian Cancellara
.
event, all 18 ProTour teams were invited automatically. They were joined by two Professional Continental teams, and , to form the event's 20-team peloton.
The 20 teams participating in the race were:
(Liechtenstein) to Ruggell
(Liechtenstein), 7.8 km (ITT
)
The course for the brief individual time trial was deceptively difficult, with a categorized climb coming after 5 km and a technical descent down twisting, turning roads to the finish following it.
Two-time former world time trial champion and reigning Swiss national champion Fabian Cancellara
was the winner of the opening individual time trial, taking the course 19 seconds faster than Liquigas' Roman Kreuziger
. Despite the large gap Cancellara had over the man in second, most of the other times were tightly bunched, with 88 riders within a minute of Cancellara.
, 150 km
This stage began at 1400 m in elevation, descended to around 500 m, and ended back around 1500 m. After a small climb that came just after the beginning of the stage, there was a 35 km descent to the valley below and over 60 km of flat racing. At that point, the race went back uphill, with both a first- and a third-category climb coming before the finish.
The day began with a breakaway involving Javier Armendia, Josef Benetseder, and Hervé Duclos-Lassalle
, though their maximum advantage over the peloton was only 2'30". The three were caught with 25 km left to race, at which point Tony Martin
launched a solo escape that got him over the first category climb before the finish in first position, giving him the lead in the mountains classification and its pink jersey. Martin was himself caught with 6 km to race as the teams of the sprinters worked to get the field together for a mass sprint finish. The sprint was so close between Bernhard Eisel
, Gerald Ciolek
, and Óscar Freire
that even the riders themselves were unsure which of them had won. The photo finish showed Eisel to be the winner. Ninety-five riders had the same time as the stage winner, on a course that was not expected to produce a mass sprint finish.
to Lumino
, 195 km
This course was undulating for about 100 km, before the first-category climb of Lukmanier Pass
at nearly 2000 m in elevation. The descent from this height took about 40 km, with another 30 km of flat racing before the finish.
The day's escapees were Will Frischkorn
, Enrico Gasparotto
, Samuel Dumoulin
, and Marlon Pérez. Their lead was three minutes at the top of Lukmanier Pass, but with the teams of the sprinters working to get another sprint finish and Gasparotto threatening the overall race lead of Fabian Cancellara
(he began the stage 48 seconds back), the peloton caught them with 3 km remaining in the stage. Ryder Hesjedal
tried a solo move when the catch occurred, but he was caught with a little over 1 km to go. A bunched sprint was the finish, with Mark Cavendish
winning after a successful leadout from Bernhard Eisel
, Tony Martin
, and George Hincapie
.
to Stäfa
, 197 km
This was a mountainous course, which is marked by the outside-categorization climb of Tremola coming almost immediately. At 2108 m, it was the highest point reached in the 2009 Tour de Suisse. There was also a second-category climb later on in the course, the descent from which left close to 40 km of flat racing prior the stage conclusion.
The stage began with a very large early breakaway, with 26 riders coming clear, representing every team except Rabobank. The best-placed man in the group was Columbia-High Road's Tony Martin
, who began the day 34 seconds behind race leader Fabian Cancellara
. Martin, however, was unable to make the second selection of the day, as 9 of the 26 came clear and wound up contesting the stage together, while the other 17 returned to the peloton.
Tadej Valjavec
was the first to try for the stage win, attacking solo from the group of nine with 6 km remaining in the stage, but the Saxo Bank duo of Matti Breschel
and Andy Schleck
chased him down, uniting the group again. Thomas Rohregger
was the next to try his luck, but was caught in the final 150 meters. Maxim Iglinsky
looked like he was in line for the win, but Breschel came around him and pipped him at the line for the stage win. The race lead transferred to Valjavec, whose time bonus for third place on the stage outweighed the bonuses Schleck had gotten for winning the intermediate sprints. Schleck wound up in the blue jersey after the stage.
to Serfaus
(Austria
), 202 km
This was considered the queen stage of the 2009 Tour de Suisse. There were four categorized climbs on the course, two each in the first and third categories. Two of these climbs occurred within the stage's final 10 km, with only a brief false flat between the first-category climb and the third-category summit finish.
There were numerous breakaways during this stage. The first came from Pascal Hungerbühler, who was away alone for the race's first 150 km, holding a maximum advantage of eight minutes. When he was caught, another escape effort involving Marcus Burghardt
and Björn Schröder
took shape, but they were caught with 10 km left to race, their maximum advantage having been only 46 seconds. Rein Taaramäe
and Tony Martin
then tried their luck, but were caught by the yellow jersey group with 5 km remaining. The group tried repeatedly to attack and isolate race leader Tadej Valjavec
, but his Ag2r team worked to keep the favorites in the same group on the road. Fifteen riders were indeed together for a sprint finish, won by Michael Albasini
as he edged out countryman Fabian Cancellara
at the line. The day saw a big loser in time, as Andy Schleck
lost over a minute to the yellow jersey group, finishing 25th on the stage and dropping from second all the way to 13th on GC after the stage.
to Bad Zurzach
, 178 km
This was a flat stage. After a second-category climb 10 km into the stage, the profile was very flat, with only two small third-category climbs later on. There was a perfectly flat stretch of about 8 km before the finish.
Reto Hollenstein of the continental team managed to break away after 50 km, and stayed solo until 19 km from the finish. Thor Hushovd
moved to the front on the wheel of George Hincapie
, but was unable to hold off Hincapie's teammate Mark Cavendish
. Cavendish took his second stage win of the tour. Fabian Cancellara
earned five bonus seconds in intermediate sprints to move into second place in the general classification and trail race leader Tadej Valjavec
by only 9 seconds.
to Vallorbe Juraparc
, 204 km
For 180 km, this looked like a perfect sprinters' stage, as the course didn't so much as undulate during that time. In the last 24 km, there were two categorized climbs, a third-category climb which preceded a shallow descent before a second-category summit stage finish.
After several unsuccessful breakaway efforts, José Joaquin Rojas
, Marcus Burghardt
, and Gerald Ciolek
succeeded in their escape attempt. Damien Gaudin
joined them after a lengthy solo chase, and the four were together as a group for much of the stage, gaining a maximum advantage of six minutes by the 130 km mark. The yellow jersey peloton caught them on the ascent of the third-category climb before the finish. The yellow jersey group stayed together through the first cliumb and the intermediate sprint that came right after it. On the ascend to the stage finish, beginning 3 km from the finish, Roman Kreuziger
and Michael Albasini
both tried to escape for the stage win, but Kreuziger was fresher, as only he was able to stay away for any length of time. He built an advantage of 17 seconds and appeared poised for the stage win. Maxime Monfort
drove the yellow jersey group to a pace that allowed Kim Kirchen
to attack next and catch Kreuziger in the stage's final meters for the win.
to Crans-Montana
, 182 km
This stage started at 1000 m and descended to a valley at 400 m about 50 km later. For the next 90 km, the course was perfectly flat. There was then an uncategorized "wall" of about 200 m in height before a third- and a first-category climb just before the finish.
This stage saw another four-man escape group, Marcel Wyss, Pavel Brutt
, Lars Boom
, and Hervé Duclos-Lassalle
. Their maximum advantage was five and a half minutes, after 132 km. By the beginning of the third-category climb of Botyre, their advantage was just thirty seconds. They were easily caught on that ascent. Team Saxo Bank drove the peloton, to protect Fabian Cancellara
from attacks, chiefly from the Liquigas duo of Roman Kreuziger
and Oliver Zaugg
. In the final kilometer, mountains classification leader Tony Martin
and Damiano Cunego
attacked and got a small gap over the yellow jersey group, with Martin holding off Cunego in the sprint to give Team Columbia-High Road its sixth stage win in this Tour de Suisse.
)
The course for the final individual time trial was gently undulating, without any categorized climbs. The finish came on a perfectly flat stretch about 3 km in length; there was a similar perfectly flat stretch about 6 km long earlier in the course.
The early time to beat was set by Silence-Lotto rider Thomas Dekker
. His time held up against most of the top riders on GC, as he finished the stage third. The first man to beat him was mountains classification winner Tony Martin
, winner of the previous day's stage. His ride was good enough to propel him from fourth overall onto the event's final podium, in second. The second-to-last man to take the course was the stage winner. Time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara
dominated the field, with no rider finishing inside a minute of his winning time. Race leader Tadej Valjavec
finished 59th on the stage, almost four minutes back of Cancellara, to drop from the race lead to seventh in the final standings. Cancellara wound up as Tour de Suisse champion by over two minutes, after trailing coming into the final day.
Additionally, there was also a points classification
, indicated with a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing in the top 12 in a stage. The stage win awarded 15 points, second place awarded 12 points, third 10, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for twelfth. In addition, some points could be won in intermediate sprints.
There was also a mountains classification, indicated with a pink jersey. In the mountains classifications, points are won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. All climbs were categorized, with most either first, second, third, or fourth-category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. There was also an outside categorization climb at the beginning of Stage 4, which awarded even more points than the first-category climbs.
The fourth classification was the sprint classification. Riders earned points based on their placings in intermediate sprints (which also awarded points toward the green jersey). Points were awarded to the top three in each sprint, six for first, three for second, and one for third - same as for the green jersey. The leader of the sprint classification received a blue jersey.
There was also classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage are added, and the team with the lowest time is leading team.
Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions:
If a cyclist leads two or more competitions at the end of a stage, he receives all those jerseys. The next stage, he can only wear one jersey, and he wears the jersey representing leadership in the most important competition (yellow first, then pink, then green, then blue). The other jerseys that the cyclist holds are worn in the next stage by the second-placed rider (or, if needed, third- or fourth-placed rider) of that classification.
Tour de Suisse
The Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
stage race. It took place from 13 June to 21 June and is part of both the 2009 UCI ProTour
2009 UCI ProTour
The 2009 UCI ProTour was the fifth series of the UCI ProTour. Two new teams, the American and the Russian , joined the ProTour, effectively taking over the licenses of and . Two existing teams changed title sponsors: from Denmark became , and changed name to . As in 2008, the races organized by...
and the inaugural World Calendar
2009 UCI World Ranking
The 2009 UCI World Ranking is the first edition of the ranking system launched by the International Cycling Union , replacing the rankings previously part of the UCI ProTour. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 20 January, and consists of 13 stage races and 11 one-day...
. It began with a short individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
in Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
and ended with another time trial, in Bern. The race was won by Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
.
Teams
As the Tour de Suisse was a UCI ProTourUCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...
event, all 18 ProTour teams were invited automatically. They were joined by two Professional Continental teams, and , to form the event's 20-team peloton.
The 20 teams participating in the race were:
Stage 1
13 June 2009 - MaurenMauren
-History:It was first called "Muron" in documents from 1178. It has a memorial to the Liechtenstein educator and historian Peter Kaiser .-External links:**...
(Liechtenstein) to Ruggell
Ruggell
Ruggell is the most northerly and low lying of the Liechtenstein communities/municipalities, with population of 1,932 in 2007.-Overview:The name is said to be from the Latin for "clearing the land." Most known for conservation areas and the historic St...
(Liechtenstein), 7.8 km (ITT
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
)
The course for the brief individual time trial was deceptively difficult, with a categorized climb coming after 5 km and a technical descent down twisting, turning roads to the finish following it.
Two-time former world time trial champion and reigning Swiss national champion Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
was the winner of the opening individual time trial, taking the course 19 seconds faster than Liquigas' Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger is a Czech professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Kreuziger is an all-rounder, with climbing and time trial abilities, becoming a contender for the General Classification of stage races...
. Despite the large gap Cancellara had over the man in second, most of the other times were tightly bunched, with 88 riders within a minute of Cancellara.
Stage 1 Results
|
General Classification after Stage 1
|
Stage 2
14 June 2009 - DavosDavos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
, 150 km
This stage began at 1400 m in elevation, descended to around 500 m, and ended back around 1500 m. After a small climb that came just after the beginning of the stage, there was a 35 km descent to the valley below and over 60 km of flat racing. At that point, the race went back uphill, with both a first- and a third-category climb coming before the finish.
The day began with a breakaway involving Javier Armendia, Josef Benetseder, and Hervé Duclos-Lassalle
Hervé Duclos-Lassalle
Hervé Duclos-Lassalle is a French professional road bicycle racer. His father is Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle. He was the first rider to leave the 2008 Tour de France after breaking his left wrist on the first stage.- Palmares :...
, though their maximum advantage over the peloton was only 2'30". The three were caught with 25 km left to race, at which point Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
launched a solo escape that got him over the first category climb before the finish in first position, giving him the lead in the mountains classification and its pink jersey. Martin was himself caught with 6 km to race as the teams of the sprinters worked to get the field together for a mass sprint finish. The sprint was so close between Bernhard Eisel
Bernhard Eisel
Bernhard Eisel is an Austrian professional road bicycling racer who currently rides for . He will join Team Sky for the 2012 season.-Career:...
, Gerald Ciolek
Gerald Ciolek
Gerald Michael Ciolek is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . In 2005, Ciolek won the German National Championship road race at age 18, the youngest ever rider to do so....
, and Óscar Freire
Óscar Freire
Óscar Freire Gómez is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, riding for the UCI ProTeam Rabobank. He is one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship a three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx...
that even the riders themselves were unsure which of them had won. The photo finish showed Eisel to be the winner. Ninety-five riders had the same time as the stage winner, on a course that was not expected to produce a mass sprint finish.
Stage 2 Results
|
General Classification after Stage 2
|
Stage 3
15 June 2009 - DavosDavos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
to Lumino
Lumino
Lumino is a municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-History:Lumino is first mentioned in 1168 as locus Lugomini. In German it used to be known as Lugmin. The convenient location at the entrance to the Val Mesolcina and the ancient fortifications in the...
, 195 km
This course was undulating for about 100 km, before the first-category climb of Lukmanier Pass
Lukmanier Pass
Lukmanier Pass is a pass in the Swiss Alps.The road from Disentis/Mustér in the canton of Graubünden leads through the Val Medel across the pass to the Blenio valley and Biasca in the canton of Ticino.The Pass is kept opened during the winter.-See also:* List of highest paved roads in Europe*...
at nearly 2000 m in elevation. The descent from this height took about 40 km, with another 30 km of flat racing before the finish.
The day's escapees were Will Frischkorn
Will Frischkorn
William "Will" Frischkorn is a former professional road bicycle racer, who finished his career with UCI ProTour team...
, Enrico Gasparotto
Enrico Gasparotto
Enrico Gasparotto is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team , which he joined in 2009...
, Samuel Dumoulin
Samuel Dumoulin
Samuel Dumoulin is a French professional road bicycle racer who rides for Cofidis.-Amateur career:Dumoulin rode as an amateur for the TCCT . He won the national youth championship in 1996, then the éspoir Paris–Tours and Paris-Auxerre in 2001. He turned professional in 2002 for Jean Delatour...
, and Marlon Pérez. Their lead was three minutes at the top of Lukmanier Pass, but with the teams of the sprinters working to get another sprint finish and Gasparotto threatening the overall race lead of Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
(he began the stage 48 seconds back), the peloton caught them with 3 km remaining in the stage. Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal is a Canadian professional racing cyclist for . He is a former mountain biker, winning a silver medal at the 2001 Under-23 world championship...
tried a solo move when the catch occurred, but he was caught with a little over 1 km to go. A bunched sprint was the finish, with Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
winning after a successful leadout from Bernhard Eisel
Bernhard Eisel
Bernhard Eisel is an Austrian professional road bicycling racer who currently rides for . He will join Team Sky for the 2012 season.-Career:...
, Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
, and George Hincapie
George Hincapie
George Hincapié Garcés is an American professional road bicycle racer currently riding for UCI ProTeam . Hincapie resides in Greenville, South Carolina...
.
Stage 3 Results
|
General Classification after Stage 3
|
Stage 4
16 June 2009 - BiascaBiasca
Biasca is a town of the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-History:Biasca is first mentioned in 830 as Aviasca in the Liber viventium of Pfäfers Abbey. In 1119 it was mentioned as Abiasca.-Early history:...
to Stäfa
Stäfa
Stäfa is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Stäfa has an area of . Of this area, 46.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 34% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
, 197 km
This was a mountainous course, which is marked by the outside-categorization climb of Tremola coming almost immediately. At 2108 m, it was the highest point reached in the 2009 Tour de Suisse. There was also a second-category climb later on in the course, the descent from which left close to 40 km of flat racing prior the stage conclusion.
The stage began with a very large early breakaway, with 26 riders coming clear, representing every team except Rabobank. The best-placed man in the group was Columbia-High Road's Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
, who began the day 34 seconds behind race leader Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
. Martin, however, was unable to make the second selection of the day, as 9 of the 26 came clear and wound up contesting the stage together, while the other 17 returned to the peloton.
Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Continental team Zheroquadro Radenska. He is well known as a good climber due to his rides on mountain stages in the Giro d'Italia...
was the first to try for the stage win, attacking solo from the group of nine with 6 km remaining in the stage, but the Saxo Bank duo of Matti Breschel
Matti Breschel
Matti Breschel is a Danish professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam .-Career:He got his breakthrough with small Danish Team PH, finishing 6th at the U/23 Cycling World Championship in Verona in 2004 where he helped fellow Dane Mads Christensen finish 3rd...
and Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
chased him down, uniting the group again. Thomas Rohregger
Thomas Rohregger
Thomas Rohregger is an Austrian professional road bicycle racer. He currently rides for UCI ProTeam Leopard Trek.-Palmarès:2006...
was the next to try his luck, but was caught in the final 150 meters. Maxim Iglinsky
Maxim Iglinsky
Maxim Iglinsky is a Kazakh road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTour team , who he joined in 2007. Iglinsky turned professional in 2005 with Domina Vacanze and rode for in 2006. Iglinsky won stage 6 of the 2007 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.He is the elder brother of Valentin Iglinsky.-...
looked like he was in line for the win, but Breschel came around him and pipped him at the line for the stage win. The race lead transferred to Valjavec, whose time bonus for third place on the stage outweighed the bonuses Schleck had gotten for winning the intermediate sprints. Schleck wound up in the blue jersey after the stage.
Stage 4 Results
|
General Classification after Stage 4
|
Stage 5
17 June 2009 - StäfaStäfa
Stäfa is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Stäfa has an area of . Of this area, 46.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 34% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
to Serfaus
Serfaus
Serfaus is a municipality in the district of Landeck in Tyrol, Austria. It is located at , with a population of 1,091 .-Geography:Serfaus is a small town located on a plateau in the upper Inn valley in Tyrol, Austria. It is well known for its connection to the Ski-Area "Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis" and its...
(Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
), 202 km
This was considered the queen stage of the 2009 Tour de Suisse. There were four categorized climbs on the course, two each in the first and third categories. Two of these climbs occurred within the stage's final 10 km, with only a brief false flat between the first-category climb and the third-category summit finish.
There were numerous breakaways during this stage. The first came from Pascal Hungerbühler, who was away alone for the race's first 150 km, holding a maximum advantage of eight minutes. When he was caught, another escape effort involving Marcus Burghardt
Marcus Burghardt
Marcus Burghardt is a German professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .Burghardt turned pro in 2005, having already raced as an amateur in the U-23 Wiesenhof team, with which he had already tasted success in the shape of the overall win at the Bundesliga Gerlingen in 2004...
and Björn Schröder
Björn Schröder
Björn Schröder is a German professional road bicycle racer for Team Nutrixxion.- Palmares :* Bayern-Rundfahrt - 1 stage * Sachsen Tour - 1 stage * Circuit des Mines - 2 stages...
took shape, but they were caught with 10 km left to race, their maximum advantage having been only 46 seconds. Rein Taaramäe
Rein Taaramäe
Rein Taaramäe is an Estonian road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental cycling team .-Career:Taaramäe turned professional in 2008 for after riding for the team as a stagiaire in late 2007 and winning a stage at the Circuit des Ardennes early in the season. In 2008 he won two stages of...
and Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
then tried their luck, but were caught by the yellow jersey group with 5 km remaining. The group tried repeatedly to attack and isolate race leader Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Continental team Zheroquadro Radenska. He is well known as a good climber due to his rides on mountain stages in the Giro d'Italia...
, but his Ag2r team worked to keep the favorites in the same group on the road. Fifteen riders were indeed together for a sprint finish, won by Michael Albasini
Michael Albasini
Michael Albasini is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Albasini began his career in 2003 with , moved to at the beginning of 2005, and signed with for the 2009 season...
as he edged out countryman Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
at the line. The day saw a big loser in time, as Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
lost over a minute to the yellow jersey group, finishing 25th on the stage and dropping from second all the way to 13th on GC after the stage.
Stage 5 Results
|
General Classification after Stage 5
|
Stage 6
18 June 2009 - OberrietOberriet
Oberriet is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Oberriet is first mentioned in 891 as Cobolo. About 1290 it was mentioned as Chobilwalt and in 1417 it was first mentioned as Oberriet.-Geography:Oberriet has an area, , of...
to Bad Zurzach
Bad Zurzach
Bad Zurzach is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district.Bad Zurzach was previously known as Zurzach; the population voting for the official name change in a referendum of 21 May 2006. Located on the Rhine, Bad Zurzach has a...
, 178 km
This was a flat stage. After a second-category climb 10 km into the stage, the profile was very flat, with only two small third-category climbs later on. There was a perfectly flat stretch of about 8 km before the finish.
Reto Hollenstein of the continental team managed to break away after 50 km, and stayed solo until 19 km from the finish. Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding . He has signed for from 2012 onwards. He is known for sprinting and time trialing and is the 2010 Norwegian and world road champion. He is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road...
moved to the front on the wheel of George Hincapie
George Hincapie
George Hincapié Garcés is an American professional road bicycle racer currently riding for UCI ProTeam . Hincapie resides in Greenville, South Carolina...
, but was unable to hold off Hincapie's teammate Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
. Cavendish took his second stage win of the tour. Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
earned five bonus seconds in intermediate sprints to move into second place in the general classification and trail race leader Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Continental team Zheroquadro Radenska. He is well known as a good climber due to his rides on mountain stages in the Giro d'Italia...
by only 9 seconds.
Stage 6 Results
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General Classification after Stage 6
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Stage 7
19 June 2009 - Bad ZurzachBad Zurzach
Bad Zurzach is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district.Bad Zurzach was previously known as Zurzach; the population voting for the official name change in a referendum of 21 May 2006. Located on the Rhine, Bad Zurzach has a...
to Vallorbe Juraparc
Vallorbe
Vallorbe is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Vallorbe is first mentioned in 1139 as de valle urbanensi. In 1148 it was mentioned as de valle urbe.-Geography:...
, 204 km
For 180 km, this looked like a perfect sprinters' stage, as the course didn't so much as undulate during that time. In the last 24 km, there were two categorized climbs, a third-category climb which preceded a shallow descent before a second-category summit stage finish.
After several unsuccessful breakaway efforts, José Joaquin Rojas
José Joaquín Rojas
José Joaquín Rojas Gil is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam . He turned professional in 2006 with the Liberty Seguros-Würth team. His older brother Mariano was a professional cyclist as well, riding for ONCE until 1996...
, Marcus Burghardt
Marcus Burghardt
Marcus Burghardt is a German professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .Burghardt turned pro in 2005, having already raced as an amateur in the U-23 Wiesenhof team, with which he had already tasted success in the shape of the overall win at the Bundesliga Gerlingen in 2004...
, and Gerald Ciolek
Gerald Ciolek
Gerald Michael Ciolek is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . In 2005, Ciolek won the German National Championship road race at age 18, the youngest ever rider to do so....
succeeded in their escape attempt. Damien Gaudin
Damien Gaudin
Damien Gaudin is a French road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team .-Palmares:2003...
joined them after a lengthy solo chase, and the four were together as a group for much of the stage, gaining a maximum advantage of six minutes by the 130 km mark. The yellow jersey peloton caught them on the ascent of the third-category climb before the finish. The yellow jersey group stayed together through the first cliumb and the intermediate sprint that came right after it. On the ascend to the stage finish, beginning 3 km from the finish, Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger is a Czech professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Kreuziger is an all-rounder, with climbing and time trial abilities, becoming a contender for the General Classification of stage races...
and Michael Albasini
Michael Albasini
Michael Albasini is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Albasini began his career in 2003 with , moved to at the beginning of 2005, and signed with for the 2009 season...
both tried to escape for the stage win, but Kreuziger was fresher, as only he was able to stay away for any length of time. He built an advantage of 17 seconds and appeared poised for the stage win. Maxime Monfort
Maxime Monfort
Maxime Monfort is a Belgian racing cyclist with UCI ProTeam . Monfort is a climbing specialist.-Palmares:2004...
drove the yellow jersey group to a pace that allowed Kim Kirchen
Kim Kirchen
Kim Kirchen is a former Luxembourg road racing cyclist.-Career:Kirchen signed as a professional cyclist in 2000 with De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa, and went on to join in 2001...
to attack next and catch Kreuziger in the stage's final meters for the win.
Stage 7 Results
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General Classification after Stage 7
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Stage 8
20 June 2009 - Le SentierLe Sentier
Le Sentier is a village in the Vallée de Joux in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Part of the municipality Le Chenit, the village has 3,000 inhabitants....
to Crans-Montana
Crans-Montana
Crans-Montana is a ski resort in western Switzerland, in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais. It is located on a plateau above Sierre at an elevation of about 1500 m above sea level, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and Weisshorn in particular...
, 182 km
This stage started at 1000 m and descended to a valley at 400 m about 50 km later. For the next 90 km, the course was perfectly flat. There was then an uncategorized "wall" of about 200 m in height before a third- and a first-category climb just before the finish.
This stage saw another four-man escape group, Marcel Wyss, Pavel Brutt
Pavel Brutt
Pavel Brutt is a Russian professional track and road bicycle racer. He currently rides for UCI ProTour team Team Katusha the first Russian-owned team to compete in European cycling's elite,...
, Lars Boom
Lars Boom
Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom is a professional cyclo-cross and road racing cyclist who was born in Vlijmen in the Netherlands. Boom rides for UCI ProTeam Rabobank cycling team, having previous ridden for the junior and continental teams. Boom won the cyclo-cross world championships in 2008...
, and Hervé Duclos-Lassalle
Hervé Duclos-Lassalle
Hervé Duclos-Lassalle is a French professional road bicycle racer. His father is Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle. He was the first rider to leave the 2008 Tour de France after breaking his left wrist on the first stage.- Palmares :...
. Their maximum advantage was five and a half minutes, after 132 km. By the beginning of the third-category climb of Botyre, their advantage was just thirty seconds. They were easily caught on that ascent. Team Saxo Bank drove the peloton, to protect Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
from attacks, chiefly from the Liquigas duo of Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger is a Czech professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Kreuziger is an all-rounder, with climbing and time trial abilities, becoming a contender for the General Classification of stage races...
and Oliver Zaugg
Oliver Zaugg
Oliver Zaugg is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He has previously ridden for , , and .Zaugg won his first major race in 2011, when he won the Giro di Lombardia.-Palmares:2006...
. In the final kilometer, mountains classification leader Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
and Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Italian UCI ProTeam . His biggest wins are the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007, 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the...
attacked and got a small gap over the yellow jersey group, with Martin holding off Cunego in the sprint to give Team Columbia-High Road its sixth stage win in this Tour de Suisse.
Stage 8 Results
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General Classification after Stage 8
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Stage 9
21 June 2009 - Bern, 39 km (ITTIndividual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
)
The course for the final individual time trial was gently undulating, without any categorized climbs. The finish came on a perfectly flat stretch about 3 km in length; there was a similar perfectly flat stretch about 6 km long earlier in the course.
The early time to beat was set by Silence-Lotto rider Thomas Dekker
Thomas Dekker (cyclist)
Thomas Dekker is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer for Garmin-Cervélo’s development team, Chipotle Development Team. His career highlights include winning Tirreno-Adriatico in 2006 and Tour de Romandie in 2007...
. His time held up against most of the top riders on GC, as he finished the stage third. The first man to beat him was mountains classification winner Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
, winner of the previous day's stage. His ride was good enough to propel him from fourth overall onto the event's final podium, in second. The second-to-last man to take the course was the stage winner. Time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
dominated the field, with no rider finishing inside a minute of his winning time. Race leader Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec
Tadej Valjavec is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Continental team Zheroquadro Radenska. He is well known as a good climber due to his rides on mountain stages in the Giro d'Italia...
finished 59th on the stage, almost four minutes back of Cancellara, to drop from the race lead to seventh in the final standings. Cancellara wound up as Tour de Suisse champion by over two minutes, after trailing coming into the final day.
Stage 9 Results
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Final General Classification
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Riders' jersey progress table
In the 2009 Tour de Suisse, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass start stages, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Tour de Suisse, and the winner of the general classification is considered the winner of the Tour de Suisse.Additionally, there was also a points classification
Points classification
The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning intermediate sprints. The points classification is the top prize for many cycling sprinters and therefore is often known as the Sprint Classification;...
, indicated with a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing in the top 12 in a stage. The stage win awarded 15 points, second place awarded 12 points, third 10, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for twelfth. In addition, some points could be won in intermediate sprints.
There was also a mountains classification, indicated with a pink jersey. In the mountains classifications, points are won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. All climbs were categorized, with most either first, second, third, or fourth-category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. There was also an outside categorization climb at the beginning of Stage 4, which awarded even more points than the first-category climbs.
The fourth classification was the sprint classification. Riders earned points based on their placings in intermediate sprints (which also awarded points toward the green jersey). Points were awarded to the top three in each sprint, six for first, three for second, and one for third - same as for the green jersey. The leader of the sprint classification received a blue jersey.
There was also classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage are added, and the team with the lowest time is leading team.
| Stage | Winner | General classification |
Mountains classification |
Points classification |
Sprints classification |
Team classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
no award | Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
no award | |
| 2 | Bernhard Eisel Bernhard Eisel Bernhard Eisel is an Austrian professional road bicycling racer who currently rides for . He will join Team Sky for the 2012 season.-Career:... |
Tony Martin Tony Martin (cyclist) Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion... |
Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
|||
| 3 | Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season... |
Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Gómez is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, riding for the UCI ProTeam Rabobank. He is one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship a three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx... |
Enrico Gasparotto Enrico Gasparotto Enrico Gasparotto is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team , which he joined in 2009... |
|||
| 4 | Matti Breschel Matti Breschel Matti Breschel is a Danish professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam .-Career:He got his breakthrough with small Danish Team PH, finishing 6th at the U/23 Cycling World Championship in Verona in 2004 where he helped fellow Dane Mads Christensen finish 3rd... |
Tadej Valjavec Tadej Valjavec Tadej Valjavec is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Continental team Zheroquadro Radenska. He is well known as a good climber due to his rides on mountain stages in the Giro d'Italia... |
Andy Schleck Andy Schleck Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974... |
|||
| 5 | Michael Albasini Michael Albasini Michael Albasini is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Albasini began his career in 2003 with , moved to at the beginning of 2005, and signed with for the 2009 season... |
Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
Enrico Gasparotto Enrico Gasparotto Enrico Gasparotto is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team , which he joined in 2009... |
|||
| 6 | Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season... |
Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season... |
||||
| 7 | Kim Kirchen Kim Kirchen Kim Kirchen is a former Luxembourg road racing cyclist.-Career:Kirchen signed as a professional cyclist in 2000 with De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa, and went on to join in 2001... |
|||||
| 8 | Tony Martin Tony Martin (cyclist) Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion... |
Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
||||
| 9 | Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
||||
| Final | Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
Tony Martin Tony Martin (cyclist) Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion... |
Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist... |
Enrico Gasparotto Enrico Gasparotto Enrico Gasparotto is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team , which he joined in 2009... |
||
Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions:
If a cyclist leads two or more competitions at the end of a stage, he receives all those jerseys. The next stage, he can only wear one jersey, and he wears the jersey representing leadership in the most important competition (yellow first, then pink, then green, then blue). The other jerseys that the cyclist holds are worn in the next stage by the second-placed rider (or, if needed, third- or fourth-placed rider) of that classification.
- After stage 1, Fabian CancellaraFabian CancellaraFabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
received the yellow jersey and the green jersey, because he was leading both the general and the points classifications. In stage 2, he wore the yellow jersey, and the green jersey was worn by the second-placed cyclist in the points classification, Roman KreuzigerRoman KreuzigerRoman Kreuziger is a Czech professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Kreuziger is an all-rounder, with climbing and time trial abilities, becoming a contender for the General Classification of stage races...
. - In stage 3, Josef Benetseder wore the blue jersey.
- In stage 3, Bernhard EiselBernhard EiselBernhard Eisel is an Austrian professional road bicycling racer who currently rides for . He will join Team Sky for the 2012 season.-Career:...
wore the green jersey.