Tour de Suisse: Leader change after the queen stage in Graubünden

(sda) After four days of the Tour de Suisse, the leader's jersey passes from Frenchman Romain Grégoire to his compatriot Kévin Vauquelin. Briton Oscar Onley wins the queen stage.

Onley, along with Portuguese favorite João Almeida, proved to be the strongest rider on the final climb to Santa Maria in the Calanca Valley. In the uphill sprint, the Briton ultimately prevailed by a whisker ahead of yesterday's stage winner. Austrian Felix Gall completed the podium 23 seconds behind.

Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin crossed the finish line at the mountain finish in Graubünden in fourth place, just under a minute behind the leading duo. This was enough for the 24-year-old from Team Arkéa - B&B Hotels to take the lead in the overall standings. He is now 29 seconds ahead of his compatriot Julian Alaphilippe , who is now second. Top favorite Almeida follows 39 seconds behind. Stage winner Onley is 1:21 minutes back in fourth place overall.

Former leader Romain Grégoire, who had been wearing yellow for four days since his victory in the opening stage, had to abandon his hopes of overall victory in the 183.8 km stage, which started in La Punt and crossed the Julier and San Bernardino passes. The Frenchman was no longer able to keep up with the group of favorites with just 23 km to go and crossed the finish line almost seven minutes behind.

Of the Swiss , Mauro Schmid performed best on Thursday. The Zurich native, wearing the national champion's jersey, finished 23rd, 6:19 minutes behind. Jan Christen provided important pace work for his captain Almeida on Team UAE Emirates, which allowed them to keep a breakaway quintet on a tight leash.

After two days in the Alps, the terrain flattens out again on Friday. Stage 6 covers 186.7 km from Chur to Neuhausen am Rheinfall, offering the sprint teams a chance to win at the foot of Europe's largest waterfall. A short ramp just before the finish line outside Schaffhausen adds to the excitement.