Jordi Meeus sprinted to victory on stage six of the Tour de Suisse, beating Davide Ballerini and Great Britain’s Lewis Askey in Neuhausen am Rheinfall on Friday.
After the day's three-man breakaway - containing Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost) - was finally caught within the final two kilometres, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe wound it up as the peloton got set for a high octane sprint finish.
Following a flawless leadout from Red Bull’s Danny van Poppel, Meeus launched his kick for the line and was unmatched, taking his second victory of the season over Ballerini of XDS Astana and Askey of Groupama-FDJ.
It initially appeared that Belgian national champion Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) was in the mix to contest the win, although Van Poppel’s injection of speed in the final 400 metres forced the 23-year-old out of contention.
Speaking afterwards, Meeus said that it had come as a relief to finally secure a second victory at WorldTour level, his last coming at the Tour de France two years ago. "My legs didn’t feel great earlier in the week," he said. "During the last days, they gradually felt better and better so I felt straightaway that I had good legs today and was super happy to finish it off."
Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) finished safely in the pack to retain his overall lead ahead of the final two stages.
How it happened
Several riders were on the attack from the moment the flag dropped; many sensed this could be the final opportunity for the breakaway to have their say before the final two stages in the high mountains.
EF Education-EasyPost’s Harry Sweeny, Groupama-FDJ duo Stefan Küng and Romain Grégoire, and Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) formed a small move, along with Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), which held for much of the afternoon across the undulating 186 km course between Chur and Neuhausen am Rheinfall. Mohorič eventually dropped away from the attack as the riders took on the two categorised climbs that came early on.
With 45 kilometres left to race, former race leader Grégoire dropped away from the leaders having worked tirelessly for his Swiss teammate, Küng, in a bid to tee him up for a potential victory on his local roads. As the lone trio dropped under the 30 kilometre to go marker, it appeared that any form of cohesion amongst them was starting to wane. The break’s lead dropped to just 50 seconds and the peloton were well within sight on the long, arrow-straight roads alongside Lake Hutwil.
Küng reestablished some togetherness amongst the leaders as they approached ten kilometres to go. The Swiss rider repeatedly moved to the front, rapidly upping the tempo in order to give them a chance of victory as the sprinter’s teams smelled blood and massed at the head of the main field. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lotto and Picnic PostNL brought the gap to just 20 seconds with eight kilometres to the line.
With two kilometres to go, it was all over and the break was finally caught as the peloton began to wind it up for a sprint finish. Belgian champion Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) was right in the mix for the win, although a sterling leadout from Danny van Poppel perfectly set up Jordi Meeus to seal the victory for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Results
Tour de Suisse 2025, stage six: Chur > Neuhausen am Rheinfall (186 km)
1. Jordi Meeus (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4:10:24
2. Davide Ballerini (Ita) XDS Astana
3. Lewis Askey (Gbr) Groupama-FDJ
4. Madis Mikhels (Est) EF Education-EasyPost
5. Nicolo Buratti (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
6. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
7. Pavel Bittner (Cze) Picnic PostNL
8. Paul Lapeira (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale,
9. Marius Mayrhofer (Ger) Tudor Pro Cycling
10. Stefano Oldani (Ita) Cofidis, all same time
General classification after stage six
1. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkea-B&B Hotels, in 20:12:10
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +29s
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +39s
4. Oscar Onley (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +1:21
5. Lennard Kämna (Ger) Lidl-Trek, +1:44
6. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +2:16
7. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, +2:20
8. Pablo Castrillo (Esp) Movistar Team, +2:40
9. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech, +3:08
10. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +3:17
