Stage 7 delivered another exciting mountain showdown at the Tour de Suisse, and the Team Picnic PostNL riders were once again right in the thick of the action. Early in the stage, a strong breakaway of seven riders formed, including Frank van den Broek. The group worked well together and built up a lead of over three minutes. As the race approached the mountains, the peloton gradually brought the gap down, and by the base of the penultimate climb, the lead was reduced to 1’19”.
As the road tilted upward, the GC battle kicked off. Oscar Onley was well-positioned in the front of the peloton and followed a sharp acceleration from Felix Gall. Around the same time, out front, Quinn Simmons went solo from the breakaway with Van den Broek continuing to chase hard behind. With the pace ramping up in both the break and the peloton, Van den Broek was caught by the GC group, but he didn’t stop there. After digging deep to rejoin the front, he immediately turned to support duties—passing bottles and gels to Oscar and then going to the front of the group to help drive the pace heading into the final climb. On the final 3.9 km ascent to Emmetten, Onley showed his strength once again. Responding to the key moves, he rode a composed and determined climb, ultimately sprinting to second place—securing his fourth podium finish of the race.
