Felix Gall of AG2R-Citroen climbed to a maiden professional win on stage four of the Tour of Switzerland on Wednesday to claim a narrow lead in the overall standings.
The 25-year-old Austrian was part of an early breakaway that opened a gap on the Crans Montana climb in the mountainous second part of a hotly contested 152km stage from Monthey to Leukerbad.
Gall held on to finish 1min 2sec ahead of Belgian favourite Remco Evenepoel with overnight leader Mattias Skjelmose a second further back.
Stage-Win & new Race-Leader; Felix Gall (@AG2RCITROENTEAM ) pic.twitter.com/kD0xOp9JKx
— Tour de Suisse (@tds) June 14, 2023
Vuelta and world champion Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step admitted he found the fast pace challenging.
"I'm not in my best shape at the moment and I feel that I need to ride at my own pace on these climbs," said the Belgian, who pulled out of the Giro with Covid in May when leading.
The Belgian chased Gall home, standing out of his saddle as he accelerated over the final section, clawing closer to the overall lead.
Gall leads Skjelmose by just two seconds with Evenepoel at 16sec but Thursday's daunting, mountainous 'queen' stage and its downhill finish should shake up the standings again.
First pro win for Felix Gall today in Leukerbad???? @AG2RCITROENTEAM
— Tour de Suisse (@tds) June 14, 2023
.#tds #tourdesuisse #tds2023 @PrimeoEnergie pic.twitter.com/IgXa5LAPzd
Evenepoel said he was hoping to "overcome Thursday's stage", which he predicted would be a tough one.
Two hilly stages then follow before a 25km individual time-trial closes the race on Sunday.
STAGE FOUR RESULTS
1. Felix Gall (AUT) AG2R - Citroën Team 3:42:22
2. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step +1:02
3. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN) Trek - Segafredo +1:03
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks (BEL) BORA - hansgrohe +1:05
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Jumbo - Visma "
6. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain Victorious "
7. Romain Bardet (FRA) Team DSM +1:07
8. Sylvain Moniquet (BEL) Lotto - Dstny +1:10
9. Harold Tejada (COL) Astana - Qazaqstan Team +1:36
10. Maximilian Schachmann (GER) BORA - hansgrohe +1:49
11. Alex Aranburu (ESP) Movistar Team +1:51
12. Rigoberto Urán (COL) EF Education - EasyPost "
13. Magnus Sheffield (USA) INEOS Grenadiers "
14. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates "
15. Dylan Teuns (BEL) Israel - Premier Tech +1:56
16. Clément Berthet (FRA) AG2R - Citroën Team "
17. Ion Izagirre (ESP) Cofidis +2:00
18. Gorka Izagirre (ESP) Movistar Team +2:05
19. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) INEOS Grenadiers +2:20
20. Welay Hagos Berhe (ETH) Team Jayco - AlUla +2:34
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Felix Gall (AUT) AG2R - Citroën Team 11:19:50
2. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN) Trek - Segafredo +2
3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step +16
4. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain Victorious +57
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Jumbo - Visma +1:12
6. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates +1:18
7. Romain Bardet (FRA) Team DSM +1:25
8. Cian Uijtdebroeks (BEL) BORA - hansgrohe +1:26
9. Magnus Sheffield (USA) INEOS Grenadiers +1:33
10. Rigoberto Urán (COL) EF Education - EasyPost +1:50
11. Ion Izagirre (ESP) Cofidis +2:08
12. Sylvain Moniquet (BEL) Lotto - Dstny +2:11
13. Harold Tejada (COL) Astana - Qazaqstan Team +2:21
14. Dylan Teuns (BEL) Israel - Premier Tech +2:29
15. Clément Berthet (FRA) AG2R - Citroën Team +2:47
16. Maximilian Schachmann (GER) BORA - hansgrohe +3:00
17. Callum Scotson (AUS) Team Jayco - AlUla +3:34
18. Michael Storer (AUS) Groupama - FDJ +3:52
19. Gorka Izagirre (ESP) Movistar Team +4:07
20. Romain Grégoire (FRA) Groupama - FDJ +4:49