The 2025 Tour de Suisse continued Saturday with stage 7 – a 207.3-kilometer race from Neuhausen am Rheinfall to Emmetten. The stage will be contested in hilly terrain and will include two category 2 climbs before concluding on a Category 3 climb to Emmetten. The stage would feature two Category Two climbs in the second half of the stage and culminate with a category 3 climb to the finish line in Emmetten, where the general classification favorites were expected to battle for important time.

The start list for this year’s Tour de Suisse included Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), and Tudor Pro Cycling Team’s Marc Hirschi and Julian Alaphilippe.

A seven-man breakaway group got established early in stage 7. The breakaway optimists included newly crowned US national champion and Tour de Suisse stage winner Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Aleksandr Vlasov, Junior Lecerf (Soudal-QuickStep), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-Alula), Frank van den Broek (Picnic-PostNL), Hugo Houle (Team PremierTech), and Tiesj Benoot (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) who was showing initiative despite crashing in yesterday’s stage.

The front group had fought its way to a lead of almost three minutes when 130 kilometers of the stage remained. Riders from UAE Team Emirates were controlling the chase work in the front part of the main peloton.

The Category 2 Schwändi climb did not cause any significant changes to the race situation, despite its steep sections. 

The seven frontmen increased their advantage in the following kilometers and were 03:30 minutes ahead of the main peloton when 85 kilometers remained.

When 72 kilometers of the stage remained, the lead of the front group had been reduced to 02:20 minutes as the speed in the main peloton had increased significantly as the riders prepared for the stage finale. This year’s Tour de Suisse will conclude with an individual time trial on Sunday, so today’s stage 7 would be the final chance for many riders to shine on the roads of Switzerland.

Denmark’s Julius Johansen and Mikkel Bjerg worked hard for UAE Team Emirates captain Joao Almeida at the front of the main peloton. The advantage of the seven frontmen had been reduced to 01:30 minutes with 45 kilometers to the finish line.

The advantage of the breakaway group had dropped to one minute before the final twenty-five kilometers of the stage. The riders entered the Bürgenstock climb, which was a Category 2 challenge that featured significant incline percentages.

Quinn Simmons launched an attack from the front group early on the climb and Aleksandr Vlasov and Felix Engelhardt tried to follow. The main peloton group had also been significantly reduced early on the climb.

Quinn Simmons continued solo up the climb with a lead of twenty seconds over a chase trio featuring Vlasov, van den Broek, and Houle.

Joao Almeida attacked from the main peloton and Felix Gall responded as did Kevin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley.

With three kilometers of the climb remaining, Simmons was solo in front, with Vlasov chasing sixteen seconds behind. A GC favorites group featuring Almeida, Vauquelin, Gall, Onley, and Julian Alaphilippe was thirty seconds back. Van den Broek and Houle had dropped further back.

Simmons got reeled in by Almeida and his fellow GC favorites with twenty kilometers left. Julian Alaphilippe appeared to be suffering in the pedals. The Frenchman would give his all to preserve his position on the GC podium.

Almeida, Vauquelin, Gall, Onley, van den Broek and Alaphilippe had a lead of 25 seconds over the chasers when the riders reached the summit. Quinn Simmons had been ordered to wait for teammate Lennard Kämna, because his fifth place in the GC was in jeopardy. A descent on narrow roads now followed.

The six-man front group, which included Almeida, Alaphilippe, and Vauquelin, entered the final climb to the finish line. Four kilometers remained and the group had a lead of twenty-five seconds.

Frank van den Broek had done the hard work for teammate Oscar Onley and got dropped from the group. Five men continued.

Austrian Felix Gall attacked when a little more than three kilometers of the stage remained. Gall opened a small gap.

Gall was still in front when two kilometers remained before the finish line would be reached. The chasers were just seven seconds away and now featured Almeida, Vauquelin, Onley, and Alaphilippe.

Alaphilippe was suffering when one kilometer remained and proved unable to keep up with Almeida and co. Gall got caught by Almeida, Vauquelin, and Onley. Alaphilippe fought to hang on to the group.

Kevin Vauquelin launched an attack when five hundred meters remained. Oscar Onley responded as did Joao Almeida.

Joao Almeida passed Vauquelin and Onley in the final meters to win the stage. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) has won stage 7 in 04:38:25 ahead of Oscar Onley (Team Picnic-PostNL), while Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea B & B Hotels) completed the stage podium. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R) reached the finish line four seconds later, while Julian Alaphilippe finished fifth for Tudor Pro Cycling Team.

Kevin Vauquelin remains general classification leader following stage 7, 33 seconds ahead of Joao Almeida, while Julian Alaphilippe is in third place, 41 seconds back. Oscar Onley is fourth, Felix Gall fifth, while Lennard Kämna dropped to sixth in the GC. Ben O’Connor is seventh in the GC.

Sunday’s stage 8 of Tour de Suisse 2025 will be the final stage of this year’s Tour de Suisse. The stage will be contested as a 10-kilometer individual time trial on an uphill route from Beckenried to Stockhütte. Look for the general classification favorites to fine-tune the GC to perfection and for time trial experts and climbers to prove their worth in the final opportunity before this year’s Tour de France.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Tour de Suisse.