Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz won stage five of the Tour de Suisse on Thursday to take the overall lead in the race at
a summit finish at Leukerbad.

In a statement of intent for the Tour de France which starts in two weeks,
Ineos' Carapaz showed dazzling form to seize the overall leader's yellow
jersey with a gutsy stage win.

The 2019 Giro d'Italia winner caught Astana's Jakob Fuglsang on the final
ascent and edged a two-man dash for the line.

Thanks to his stage win, Carapaz now leads the race by 26 seconds from
Fuglsang, with world champion Julian Alaphilippe in third at 33sec.
Carapaz is being supported at the Tour de Suisse by Ineos teammates Rohan
Dennis, Luke Rowe and Eddie Dunbar.

Ineos have yet to name their final line-up for the Tour, but Carapaz as
co-captain with Geraint Thomas looks likely.

Alpecin's Dutch sensation Mathieu Van Der Poel started the day in yellow
after two stage wins so far and attacked from 155km out, only giving up the
fight 30km from the line.

Frenchman Alaphilippe was unable to follow Carapaz when he made his move on
the penultimate climb but crossed the finish line 37sec adrift of the winning
pair.

Esteban Chaves of Bike Exchange actually led the race over that penultimate
climb before missing a corner and running his bike into someone's front garden
on the descent, while under pressure from the chasing Fuglsang.