Ben O’Connor attacked to third place on stage four of the Tour de Suisse, gaining time on several of his general classification rivals ahead of a key mountain stage.
The stage exploded over the major climb of the day, the Splügen Pass, with João Almeida going solo over the top. O’Connor was part of a select group chasing the Portuguese rider down the sweeping descent on the other side.
Inside the final 25 kilometres, the Team Jayco AlUla rider attacked several times in an effort to close the gap on Almeida and gain time on the other GC contenders. With a little over five kilometres to go, O’Connor followed a dangerous move by Oscar Onley that would go all the way to the line.
The attack saw him reduce his gap to the leader’s yellow jersey by 22 seconds, while he also moved up to fourth place overall and is now 28 seconds away from the overall podium. Meanwhile, Felix Engelhardt kept his lead in the mountains classification for a fourth consecutive stage after moving into the lead on the opening day.
Ben O’Connor
“The stage was amazing, I had a really good day and I am really happy to have slipped away and managed to gain a little bit more time. I lost a little bit to Almeida, but all in all, I’m in a really good spot for the rest of the week. I’m ready to crack on and finish off the rest of the stages.”
Tour de Suisse 2025 stage four results
1. João Almeida 04:10:19
2. Oscar Onley +40
3. Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) +42
General classification after stage 4
1. Romain Grégoire 15:37:20
2. Kévin Vauquelin +25
4. Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) +56
Photo: Sprint Cycling
