A Swiss duo narrowly misses the stage win at the Tour de Suisse – Kevin Vauquelin remains overall leader

(sda) Meeus prevailed in a mass sprint after 186 km from Chur to Neufelden am Rheinfall, ahead of Italian Davide Ballerini and Briton Lewis Askey. Fabio Christen finished 12th as the best Swiss rider. His younger brother Jan Christen had to abandon the tour on the way to northeastern Switzerland, marked by injuries from a fall on Sunday.

Two local riders, Stefan Küng and Mauro Schmid, were part of the four-man breakaway group that broke away from the main field shortly after the start in Chur. The Swiss duo was joined by Küng's French teammate Romain Grégoire, who had lost the leader's jersey on the queen stage the previous day, and Australian Harry Sweeny. The quartet's maximum lead was two and a half minutes.

As Grégoire's strength eluded him around 45 km from the finish, a thrilling chase developed between the remaining breakaway trio and the long, stretched-out peloton on the approach to Schaffhausen. The trio's lead – which was still at one and a half minutes – melted away second by second before the field equalized in the final kilometer. Even a final push by Schmid remained unrewarded, so the day's winner was crowned in a bunch sprint.

There were no changes in the overall standings. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin continues to lead by 29 seconds over compatriot Julian Alaphilippe and 39 seconds over favorite João Almeida of Portugal.

From the Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe, the route continues toward Lake Lucerne, where the 88th Tour de Suisse will conclude this weekend. Saturday features the longest stage of this tour, 207.3 km, culminating in a nearly 4 km final climb to Emmetten. The following day, the final mountain time trial from Beckenried up to the Stockhütte follows.