Greig Leach

When the peloton finally caught up with first Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quickstep) it was on the only categorized climb of the day. It took another five kilometers to catch his teammate, Tony Martin. The problem was that they caught the two teammates too soon. Usually, the teams of the sprinters will wait until 10 or 15 kilometers left to race. The reason: to prevent attacks from other opportunistic aggressive riders. With the catch coming before the 20 K banner, sure enough it was Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) who jumped clear of the peloton. The former World Champion hoped to hold off the chase through the narrow twisting cobbled roads of Bern. But there were far too many sprinters and puncheurs who had yet to claim a stage to let this move go to the line. Spoiler alert, he did manage to stave off the inevitable for just over 15 kilometers.