Soudal Quick-Step reaches twenty victories this year.
Yves Lampaert took his first success of the season, and the 16th of his career, on the opening day of the Tour de Suisse, which consisted of a 4.8km flat but technical stage held on the streets of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein.
The former Belgian Champion of the discipline was among the early riders to roll down the ramp and produced a fantastic ride despite the strong headwind in the second part of the course, averaging a stunning 56.19km/h and stopping the clock in 5:05, which put him firmly in the hot seat. Having set the benchmark early, Yves had to wait for more than two long hours to see if anybody could better his time, but none of the riders who finished after him improved Lampaert’s result.
It was Soudal Quick-Step’s 16th success at the Tour de Suisse – one of the oldest World Tour stage races – and one that saw 33-year-old Yves take not just the yellow jersey, but also the one awarded to the leader of the points classification.
“It’s a big result for me, as I have never expected to beat the Swiss time trial specialists, so that makes me really proud. I am happy for myself and for the team who believed in me, it feels great to get a World Tour victory, it’s something that gives me a lot of confidence. The prologue wasn’t easy, but I gave my best and found from the start a good tempo which I could keep until the finish. From that point on, I had to wait quite a lot in the hot seat, but it was worth it. It’s an honour to have the yellow jersey in a prestigious race such as the Tour de Suisse”, explained Yves, the first Belgian rider in eight years to lead the general classification here.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Yves Lampaert 
