Lessons from the Tour de Suisse MyZA

Nine days come and gone, seven stage winners who have stood atop the podium in Switzerland. Nine days closer to the Tour de France and nine days worth of information about how riders are or are not performing in the final weeks before the biggest show in the sport.

The Tour de Suisse is come and gone, riders departing for final altitude training camps before the Tour de France or preparing for their national championships races over the next weekend.

It is that time when all eyes are turned towards Corsica and the start of le Tour in just under two weeks time and race results are viewed primarily through the lens of what they portend for a few weeks into the future. So, in that spirit, what can we take away from the Tour de Suisse?

First, Rui Costa has confirmed his talent as a stage racer with a second consecutive victory after climbing well and decisively winning the final time trial that included a stout 9 kilometer climb.

This is not too surprising news, but it does prompt some interesting questions for Movistar in the upcoming weeks. Should they adopt a two-pronged leadership for the Tour, or should it be all in for aging veteran Alejandro Valverde?

Valverde recently placed seventh at the Critérium du Daupiné, just over three minutes behind Chris Froome, though the question is really whether Costa is on the rising form trajectory Valverde must be counting (and planning) on.

Costa cannot be considered a first tier contender for the Tour yet (though in a few years…?), but Valverde is an outside bet to win as well, so Movistar might be better off by letting them both share leadership and try for top-10 overall placings.

Thibaut Pinot receives a confirmation of sorts as well, finishing fourth overall and sixth in the final time trial, which was only half uphill.

With this year’s Tour de France suiting the young climber (the youngest rider in last year’s Grand Boucle) much more than last year’s parcours, The Next French Hope is on track to better his 10th place in last year’s general classification.

That is, Pinot looks to have the form, though whether he can perform through the desperate expectations of a whole nation and in the role of a team leader rather than an opportunistic pup is a different story. Either way, July just got a lot more interesting. – Douglas Ansel