David De La Cruz and Matteo Trentin were part of a large group which snapped the elastic soon after the start.
Stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse took the peloton to Tiefenbachferner, at 2780 meters, by far the highest ever finish in European cycling, a 13.8km-long climb averaging 10.1% which decimated the field, leaving the riders to fight hard in order to limit the damages.
Before coming down to crunch time, a big breakaway took center stage on Friday afternoon, not long after the peloton rolled out from Zernez, a small town in the Graubünden canton. David De La Cruz, a Paris-Nice and Vuelta al Pais Vasco, and Matteo Trentin were the two Quick-Step Floors riders to book a place in that group, from which the 27-year-old Italian attacked in the run-in to the climb.
Trentin was caught a few kilometers later by his former companions, before the peloton swept past all of them and unleashed a series of attacks on Tiefenbachferner, where Simon Spilak (Katusha) went clear with around eight kilometers remaining, soloing to the win and the yellow jersey.
Philippe Gilbert continues to be the best-placed Quick-Step Floors rider in the overall rankings, with two stages (a hilly one and an individual time trial) to go.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
