Tour de Suisse 2016 Stage 9: Colombian party - Pantano stage win, López takes the overall

At 57.3 kilometres, stage 9 is a shortened version of the Davos-Davos stage that was scheduled. A flat section, a climb up the Flüela-pass, and then a 17.5 kilometres drop to the line. Ángel López is the first to crest, while he is caught in the drop by an elite-group. Pantano outsprints Chernetskii to take the stage win, while 22-year old López takes the first UCI World Tour win in his young career. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 9th stage Tour de Suisse

1. Jarlinson Pantano (col)
2. Sergei Chernetckii (rus) s.t.
3. Ion Izagirre (spa) s.t.
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (col) s.t.
5. Tejay van Garderen (usa) s.t.
6. Rui Costa (por) s.t.
7. Warren Barguil (fra) s.t.
8. Andrew Talansky (usa) + 0.56
9. Victor de la Parte (spa) s.t.
10. Joe Dombrowski (usa) s.t.

GC after the 9th stage
1. Miguel Angel Lopez (col)
2. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 0.12
3. Warren Barguil (fra) + 0.18
4. Jarlinson Pantano (col) + 0.42
5. Andrew Talansky (usa) + 1.02
6. Tejay van Garderen (usa) + 1.26
7. Rui Costa (por) + 2.09
8. Wilco Kelderman (nld) + 2.38
9. Simon Spilak (rus) + 2.48
10. Sergei Chernetckii (rus) + 5.08

Race report
Attacks galore in the flat section leading to the climb. Richeze is among the most active riders and with Stuyven and Nielsen he takes a 1 minute lead. But at the lower slopes of the Fuela the gap goes down fast and Stuyven is reeled in as the last rider.

On the climb David Lopez Garcia is ahead until he is accompanied by Dupont. Spilak and Rui Costa join them before Pantano, López and Van Garderen bridge the gap. 2 kms under the top the leader goes solo. Just under the pass Izagirre and De La Parte join Van Garderen and Pantano. At the top they are half a minute down on the leader. Chernetskii joins them in the drop. The four chase López down.

Once in the valley Costa and Barguil are close en they manage to hook up in the dying metres of the race. It’s too late to sprint for glory, that’s a battle between Pantano and Chernetckii with the Colombian outsprinting the Russian. López’ overall victory is not endangered.