Few cycling constituencies have enjoyed such success in 2014 as Colombia and Orica-GreenEDGE.
With both parties flying high, there was a sense of inevitability when the two combined with victory for the south American, Johan Chaves, in the green, white and blue of Australia’s only WorldTour team.
The diminutive 24-year-old rode away from some of the biggest names in the sport with just 3km of a gruelling 219km stage remaining.
As the 1,474m summit of the haute categorie climb into Verbier drew near, the latest in a line of Colombian climbing talents raced clear, joined only momentarily by Cannondale’s Davide Formolo, who soon fell back.
Chaves’ podium smile said everything, and others, including race leader, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), will look back on their day’s work with satisfaction.
For Team Sky, however, it was another day of mixed fortunes, with a fine sixth place for Ireland’s Philip Deignan, but abandonment for Manxman, Peter Kennaugh.
The British WorldTour team is due a change of fortune. A fortnight today and the Grand Départ of the 2014 Tour de France would be timely.
Enjoy this gallery of images from stage eight of the 2014 Tour de Suisse from official UCI WorldTour photographer, Stefano Sirotti.
