Lemco-Evenpoel has not shone as brightly as he did this spring when he won Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but he is in contention to win the Tour de Suisse after finishing second on the fourth stage to Leukerbad.

As in Villars-sur-Ollon the day before, Evenpoel was unable to catch Felix Gall's (AG2R Citroën) solo ride on the final climb to take the stage win and the overall lead. Belgian Evenpoel finished second, 1:02 behind Matthias Skjelmoes (Trek-Segafredo).

After the finish, Evenpoel said that instead of responding to his rival's acceleration, he mimicked the tactics of his former teammate Joan Almeida. The Tour de Suisse will mark the return of Evenpoel, who was wearing a maglia rosa at the Giro d'Italia due to a positive test for COVID-19.

"It was Almeida's tactic," said Evenpoel according to Het Nieuwsblad. 'At the moment I can't do anything else. I'm not good at changing tempo, but I can keep up the pace. With my form right now, surviving is the only right tactic."

Evenepoel struggled at times on the first of the two climbs to Dolben, but fought rather well on the second, outpacing Skjelmors on the final kick to the Leukerbad line.

"The last 10 km of the climb went much better, so that's certainly a sign that I'm not doing too bad," Evenpoel said.

"It's been a good week, I've been in second place twice and yesterday I was fourth. Of course, I haven't reached the peak where I can play with the pedals like I did in the Giro and Catalunya."

With a 25.7km time trial coming up on Sunday, Evenpoel remains in contention for the overall win.

"By rough calculation, Gal lost 1:10 in the opening time trial. 'But I can't lose any more time tomorrow,' he said. But we can't afford to lose any more time tomorrow.

The 2,433-meter-high Furka Pass appeared early in the stage, followed soon after by the Over Alpas. The summit of the Albula Pass (17.4 km, 6.8%) is just 10 km from the finish at La Punto.

"There are three long, high climbs, which suits me best right now," Evenpoel said of stage 5. It will be a completely different race than the last two days. It will be a completely different race than the last two days.