Nico Denz (Team DSM) is more of a rouleur than a climber but the German rider suffered up the 17.7km climb to the finish and then sprinted to the line to win the Queen stage of the Tour de Suisse atop the Mooslap.
After holding onto Fausto Masnada (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) on the long climb, Denz came from behind to beat Clement Champoussin (AG2R-Citroën) with a bike throw to the line.
Jose Herrada (Cofidis) was third and the USA’s Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) was fourth after all being in the break of the day. Masnada, arguably the best climber, was fifth.
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) brought home the overall contenders group 2:14 behind Denz, fighting for every second.
However, race leader Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech), who took the yellow jersey at the start of the day when overnight leader Aleksandr Vlasov tested positive for COVID-19, was right behind him.
The Dane kept the yellow jersey but Thomas is now only one second behind him before Saturday’s mountain stage to Malbun and Sunday’s 25.6km time trial around Vaduz.
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