IPT’s climbing stars ready for “unpredictable” Tour de Suisse
Could this year’s Tour de Suisse, the final UCI WorldTour event before the Tour de France, be one of the most exciting races of the season?
Mike Woods and Matthew Riccitello – who have both finished fifth overall in the mountainous race – lead IPT in the eight-day, which begins by the Lakes of Lucerne and Zug in Küssnacht on Sunday.
This year’s parcours features finishes on Santa Maria in Calanca (stage 5, 4.5 kilometers long, 9.8% average) and Emmetten (stage 7, 3.9km and 8.1%), alongside a final day mountain time trial at Stockhütte. Alongside those are several stages that could feature fascinating battles between breakaway riders and the peloton, raising the possibility of a memorable edition of a race that dates back to 1933.
“It feels like this is a different edition of Suisse,” says IPT sports director Pat McCarty. “There are a lot of in-between days: there are a number of stages where, depending who’s in control and the race dynamic, things could get out of hand. The GC days aren’t too crazy, either – there are short, steep climbs, but not too many long, back-to-back mountains.”
Suisse marks Woods’ first race since the Canadian road champion suffered a non-displaced left clavicle at Milano – Torino in March. Riccitello’s fifth-place finish in last year’s edition was the Amercian’s best WorldTour GC result. He posted five top-10 finishes across the week, and almost won the under-23 classification.
“I’m looking forward to going back to Suisse this year,” says Riccitello. “It’s a race I really enjoy. It will be hard racing – I think a lot will be decided on the last day TT.
“Training has gone well and I’m feeling good ahead of the second part of the season. I’ll be aiming for the best result possible in the general classification. We’ve got a strong team and can look to be in the mix every day.”
Alongside the team’s GC hopefuls, Joe Blackmore and George Bennett will be in action for the first time since the Ardennes Classics. Hugo Houle</strong> and Simon Clarke – who both helped Derek Gee as he finished fourth overall at the Giro d’Italia – will return to racing here, with Chris Froome completing the line-up.
McCarty adds: “I think it will be an exciting race, and we have a good team for it. Woodsy and Riccitello are both going well. But we also have ambitions across several stages, starting on the opening day, where the category two climb late will be really interesting.
“Stage 5 looks like being the first GC day on paper, and the stage 8 time trial is really good for Matthew. But stages 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 could be really interesting depending on how they’re raced. The middle part of the week features a lot of long stages, too – this could definitely impact stage 5, which has the most climbing of any day.”
IPT at the Tour de Suisse (Sunday June 15 – Sunday June 22)
Riders: George Bennett (NZL), Joe Blackmore (GBR), Simon Clarke (AUS), Chris Froome (GBR), Hugo Houle (CAN), Matthew Riccitello (USA), Mike Woods (CAN)
Sports Directors: Pat McCarty (USA), René Andrle (CZE), Steve Bauer (CAN)
