After a rainy stage three, the 23-year-old Quick-Step Floors rider edged closer on the points jersey.
Fernando Gaviria impressed again at the Tour de Suisse on a stage crammed with five hard hills in the last 66 kilometers which together with the rain and cold temperatures thinned out the peloton and inspired many riders to throw caution to the wind and go on the attack. None of these brutal surges could drop Gaviria, who is riding the Suisse race for just the second time in his career, but instead made a selection in the bunch before the fast and wet descent to Gansingen, where the stage concluded.
When the finish line came within sight, the sprint kicked out and Fernando decided to take the right side of the road and open his acceleration with 220 meters to go, while the others lined up on the wheel of Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe). The uphill finish which came at the end of a grueling day in the saddle eventually played out in favour of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida), who took the win for less than half a wheel.
Runner-up for the second consecutive day, Gaviria has made significant inroads in the points standings – which at the moment seems to be a three-horse affair – and shrugged off any disappointment, looking instead on the bright side of things: "Yesterday I started too early, today I waited too much, but ok, this is cycling. The final was very hard with that climb very close to the finish and the rain which complicated matters, but having survived all these hills in these two days feeds my confidence ahead of my Tour de France debut."
The Tour de Suisse will resume on Tuesday – with Quick-Step Floors' Enric Mas in tenth overall – when the riders will travel between Gansingen and Gstaad, a 189km stage spiced up by a second-category climb (7.3kilometers, 4.6%) which tops out eight kilometers from the finish located in the charming town renowned worldwide for being a major ski resort.
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