Bern was the start and finishing city of the 8th stage of the Tour de Suisse. The riders covered a hilly circuit four times for a total distance of 150 km which was suitable for the attackers.

In fact, for most part of the race there was a battle between a group of 19 riders who attacked in the early kilometers of the stage, and the bunch: the result of the fight was positive for the breakaway, since the peloton never caught them, giving Lutsenko who counter-attacked from the front group, the opportunity to take the victory.

Lampre-Merida did not succeed in being represented in the breakaway and this fact kept the blue-fuchsia-green team from the top positions of the stage standing.

The first rider from Lampre-Merida at the finish was Durasek, 39th at 2’21”. The Croatian climber is 15th in the general classification, with a gap of 3’28” to Pinot.

“The course was suitable for breakaways, that’s why we had planned to try to be in the attacks,” sports director Simone Pedrazzini explained. “Unfortunately, after the opening 25 km of the race full of attack attempts, we had not enough energy to join the good breakaway which was the winning action."