Dubai, UAE, June 14, 2018:   Within minutes of each other, UAE Team Emirates were celebrating two victories on Wednesday afternoon. Italian Diego Ulissi took control of the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse, breaking away on the uphill finish in Leukerbad ahead of a group of 15 chasing riders. Ulissi timed his attack perfectly and, from 300metres out, romped home to pick up the 30th win of his career and first in 2018.

 

Just moments later, UAE Team Emirates’ Simone Consonni out-sprinted his opposition at the Tour of Slovenia to earn his first ever professional win and take the lead in the General Classification (GC). The 23-year-old Italian took charge of the first stage, narrowly avoiding two crashes in the last kilometre to secure first place. 

 

Commenting on his victory, Diego Ulissi said: “Today’s win carries a lot of weight. The Tour de Suisse is a prestigious race and it makes me proud to win here. I was able to come out of the Giro d’Italia in good condition and I remained focused knowing that in Switzerland I’d have stages that suited my characteristics. The stage today was one of those, and I pulled it off. The race was hard and I was worried about not catching Mikel Landa, who shot out quite early. But luckily, I closed in on him. I’m going to try to keep fighting all the way through the end of the Tour de Suisse given that on the climbs I feel good and I can defend myself in the time trial.”

 

Reflecting on his win, Simone Consonni said: “What joy, finally! I have been waiting for this moment for some time. I was talking with my girlfriend before leaving to this race, that I miss the feeling that you get only when you cross the line first. I knew that I could do it, it was only a question of time. I want to thank the UAE Team Emirates staff and teammates who have helped me and given me this opportunity. Today was hard and I was lucky. There are high-level sprinters here. This morning, looking at the sprinters on the line, I was impressed and I knew that I felt good. I was smart in the sprint and I was able to keep my speed through the curve and into the final metres. I was using Bonifazio and Pelucchi as my reference point, and I passed them. Now I just want to live in this moment and enjoy the victory.”

 

TOUR DE SUISSE – STAGE 5 RESULTS

1 Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) 3:37:31

2 Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) “

3 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) “

 

TOUR DE SUISSE – GENERAL CLASSIFICATION 

1 Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) 17:03:53

2 Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) +00:20

3 Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) “

8 Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) +00:40

 

TOUR OF SLOVENIA – STAGE 1 RESULTS

1 Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) 3:32:05

2 Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-hasngrohe) “

3 Niccolò Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) “

 

TOUR OF SLOVENIA – GENERAL CLASSIFICATION 

1 Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) 3:32:05