Top 10 for Ilan Van Wilder in his first race with the team in six weeks.
The hilly 177.6km opening stage of the Tour de Suisse put on the table a terrain very much to the attackers’ liking, and our team just couldn’t miss this rendez-vous. As a result, Tim Declercq moved to the front of the peloton to take over the reins soon after the breakaway formed, and produced another huge effort, gradually chewing into the seven-man breakaway’s three-minute gap and bringing them into the bunch’s view on the final lap of the Küsnacht circuit, consisting of two hard climbs.
At the bottom of the last of the day’s eight ascents, Fausto Masnada – who returned with the Wolfpack for the first time in more than two months – pushed an insane tempo with Liège–Bastogne–Liège Remco Evenepoel at all times in his wheel, before peeling off once his job was done and the peloton was reduced to some 20-odd riders. When the attacks came, Evenepoel was the first to answer, making a selection in an instant.
That small group was caught by what was left from the peloton before Remco went again, at 1500 meters to go and with only one other rider for company. For a brief moment there, it looked like they would go all the way to the line, but the chasers joined them with just 500 meters left, and the stage came down to a sprint, which Ilan Van Wilder tried to anticipate. The 22-year-old Belgian went all-out and almost made it, only for the group to catch him inside the last 50 meters. Stephen Williams (Bahrain Victorious) won, while Ilan still had something left to finish sixth.
“It was a hard stage to kick off a race, but we did a good job, staying together, controlling things and answering all the dangerous moves. The list climb was demanding, but Remco gave it a go, while I stayed with the rest. When he got caught the second time, I went for it, but the others were faster. Still, to finish top 10 in my first race in a while is a good and encouraging result”, said Ilan, who in Switzerland made his first appearance with the Wolfpack since crashing out of “La Doyenne” at the end of April.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Remco Evenepoel 
