For the second day, Eddie Dunbar was up the road only this time hung on for the vast majority of the stage (Karen Edwards - Aqua Blue Sport)
Eddie Dunbar hangs on til the death at Tour de Suisse
His escapade off the front of the Tour de Suisse may have been snuffed out today, but once again Eddie Dunbar’s fighting spirit was on show.
The young Irishman was among four riders who broke clear from the gun on the penultimate stage. And with a short leg in front of the riders, the escapees were kept on a tight leash.
They pulled out a maximum of two minutes, though the gap was lower than that for much of the day.
Dunbar, though one of the youngest riders in the pro peloton, contributed generously to the workload.
His ambition to push on and impose himself is always in evidence; today no different when he was on the attack.
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For company he had Willie Smit (Katusha-Alpecin), Nathan Brown (EF-Drapac) and Paul Ourselin (Direct Energie).
As they crossed the finish line for the first time, with five laps and 108km remaining on the 123km stage into Bellinzona, they had a gap of 1:30.
However, with a number of sprinters back in the peloton, their teams were on the front of the bunch from early in the stage.
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Demare wins the stage. The bunch hunting down Dunbar's escape on the circuit.
Lotto Soudal, Bora-Hansgrohe and QuickStep were those most keen to take on the workload for their fast men.
While the gap went out to just under two minutes on that first lap of the circuit, it had halved with 50km to go.
And with 25km remaining was just under one minute for the first time since the early kilometres.
Just a few kilometres further down the road, and with the riders now onto the final lap, Ourselin was the first to attack in the breakaway.
Further attacks would occur as the bunch closed in, with Dunbar and Smit he last men standing out front.
They had just 15 seconds as they dipped inside the 10km to go marker. And with just over 8km to go, Dunbar attacked to lead alone.
He was joined again by Smit and they would dangle off the front together for a few more kilometres before their recapture with some 5.5km to go.
That paved the way for a big bunch sprint; Arnaud Demare (FDJ Groupama) popping up to win from a 64-rider bunch.
Fernando Gaviria (QuickStep) was next, followed by Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).
Dunbar ended the day in 82nd place at 39 seconds after his breakaway heroics.
Race leader Richie Porte (BMC Racing) finished safely in the main pack. He retains his 17 second lead over Nairo Quintana (Movistar) with just tomorrow’s 34km TT remaining.
Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) is 3rd overall, some 52 seconds Australian Porte.
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