GB’s Yates holds off team-mate Almeida to win Tour de Suisse

British rider Adam Yates held off team-mate Joao Almeida in stage eight to win the Tour de Suisse.

Yates finished second in Sunday’s time trial, but it was still enough to claim overall victory by 22 seconds.

It was the fourth stage in a row in which the Team Emirates riders have occupied the top two places.

Lidl-Trek rider Mattias Skjelmose finished third.

The time trial was a largely uphill 15.7km course to Villars-sur-Ollon and it was Almeida who recorded the fastest time of 33 minutes and 23 seconds.

But the nine-second advantage was not enough to challenge the 32-second lead Yates had following his stage seven win in Villars-sur-Ollon.

Britons Tom Pidcock and Oscar Onley finished sixth and eighth respectively in the overall standings.

Both Yates and Almeida will soon turn their attention to the Tour de France, where they are likely to be support riders for UAE team-mate Tadej Pogacar when the event begins on 29 June.

Stage eight result

1. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) 33mins 23secs

2. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +9secs

3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +21secs

4. Matthew Riccitello (US/Israel-Premier Tech) +38secs

5. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +51secs

6. Lenny Martinez (Fra/FDJ) +56secs

7. Pelayo Sanchez (Spa/Movistar Team) +1mins 22secs

8. David De La Cruz (Spa/Pro Cycling Team) +1mins 26secs

9. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +1mins 30secs

10. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1mins 41secs

General classification

1. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) 20hrs 18mins 49secs

2. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +22secs

3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 2secs

4. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +3mins 12secs

5. Matthew Riccitello (US/Israel-Premier Tech) +3mins 31secs

6. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +4misn 36secs

7. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +5mins 1secs

8. Oscar Onley (GB/Dsm-firmenich PostNL) +5mins 40secs

9. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) +6mins 31secs

10. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) +6mins 35secs