João Almeida completes epic comeback to win the Tour de Suisse

João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) claimed the 4th WorldTour-level GC victory of his career after winning the final stage of the Tour de Suisse to secure the general classification victory. Almeida delivered a strong and measured performance to win the tough mountain time trial to Stockhütte, which was enough to topple former race leader Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) to the title.

It marks the completion of an epic comeback after Almeida had lost minutes to plenty of dangerous riders, after a large breakaway stayed clear of the peloton on a rain-soaked opening stage. It’s the third stage victory for Almeida at this year’s Tour de Suisse, and he became the first rider since Geraint Thomas to win the general classification without being the race leader until the end of the final stage.

At the start of the stage, Almeida had a deficit of 33 seconds to close over Vauquelin, but the Portuguese rider was more than up to the task and was able to flip the general classification standings. His winning margin over runner-up Vauquelin was 1:07, whilst Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) finished 3rd at 1:58.

There was a lengthy spell in the hotseat for Harry Sweeny (ED Education-EasyPost) who had a strong ride. There were earlier signs of good form from the Australian who featured in a strong breakaway on stage 6 that nearly held off the sprinters.

Through the intermediate checkpoint, Almeida set the joint fastest time alongside Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). Things were hanging on a knife edge for Vauquelin who came through the checkpoint 21 seconds down, leaving him with only 12 seconds left to defend.

It was clear that Gall was on a super day, as the Austrian climber smashed the great time set by Harry Sweeny, by 1:29. However, that would not be enough for the stage win, as Almeida proved that he was the strongest rider in the race to finish 24 seconds ahead of Gall at the line.

Vauquelin fought valiantly and gave a great account of himself to finish 4th on the stage, but the margin he ceded to Almeida was too heavy, 1:40 which confirmed that the Portuguese rider had toppled the Frenchman in the standings on the final stage. Vauquelin slipped to 2nd, whilst Oscar Onley, who finished 3rd on the stage at 1:11 behind Almeida, did enough to jump ahead of Julian Alaphilippe to round out the general classification podium at the 2025 Tour de Suisse.

“One mistake can cost you a lot, but luckily we made it up,” Almeida said speaking about overcoming the opening stage time loss. “For moments, I thought my power meter was not calibrated because it was showing high numbers, so I’m super happy.” “The team did amazing, we did a perfect job, we fight for the win, never gave up, always believed and we did it.” “Plenty of time to enjoy this one, then I’m ready for the Tour de France to support Tadej [Pogacar], and hopefully we can get more wins there,” said Almeida as he looks ahead to the upcoming Tour de France in July.”