Remco Evenpoel paid homage to Gino Mader after his solo victory on stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse.

The world champion proved to be the strongest of an elite group that formed on the final climb of the day, just after passing the marker where GC times were measured with 25km to go.

The riders were then able to choose how they would fight in the final the day after Mader's death; EF Education-Easy Post, Jumbo-Visma, and Ineos Grenadier set the pace on the Ottenberg, but just after the summit, Evenepoel clinched victory.

The victory, Evenepoel's seventh of the season, came after a quiet opening 170 km, with no attacks until the 25 km mark, when the peloton ran together.

"It was clear to everyone that the race was in a kind of neutral state until 25km to go," Evenepoel told CyclingPro after his victory. "And for Tim Merlier, the plan was to go over the climb and try to sprint. But the climb was very hard. Wout and his team were super hard on the climb."

"At first I wanted to help Tim and Bart on the climb, but as soon as they saw that I was feeling really good, they yelled that I should go myself. I'm not the kind of guy to stop racing when things are very, very hard for everybody."

"In my opinion, this was the best way to honor Gino."

Evenpoel met resistance from Jayco Aroura's neo-pro Wellai Berhe, but the Belgian soon pushed on alone down the descent. He built a 30-second gap to counter the chase by Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), and Nielson Powles (EF Education Easypost).

Evenepoel said he was able to "let my emotions subside" as they entered the short, flat section to the downhill finish, adding that his "only goal was to win for Gino."

After a touching tribute in the last few meters of the stage, with Evenepoel kissing his hands and pointing to the sky, attention turned to Sunday's closing stage and the final blow in the GC battle with a 25.7 km time trial to Abtville.

Evenpoel is in fourth place overall, 46 seconds behind race leader Matthias Skjelmors (Trek-Segafredo), 38 seconds behind second-placed Felix Gall (AG2R Citroen), and 28 seconds behind third-placed Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) This gap is not insurmountable, but will be difficult to reverse on the final day.

"I think it will be very difficult to take him out of the leader's jersey. He's a good time trialer. I'll ride to my maximum and try to win the stage. We'll see what happens.

"Hopefully I'll be on the podium. I don't want to jinx it. I think I showed everyone and myself that I am getting better every day. I hope tomorrow will be my best day of the week and I will try to get another win.

Even if he doesn't come from behind to claim his 12th career stage win, Evenpoel can be happy with his week's work in his return to the race since catching COVID-19 at the Giro d'Italia last month.

"But I'm super proud of what I've shown this week after being out of shape and taking a mental kick after the Giro.

"But after being out of shape and being on a mental kick after the Giro, I'm super proud of what I've shown this week. It's a hard TT. There are ups and downs, steep climbs, descents, and finishes.