After three stages of the Tour de Suisse, Sepp Kuss is 10 seconds back and in sixth place of the general classification while Quinn Simmons is dominating the King of the Mountain race.

On the first stage, Simmons of Trek Segafredo was part of a group of seven riders that formed a leading group. Simmons then out-sprinted Simon Vitzhum of Switzerland to score the tour’s first king of the mountain points. Simmons finished the day with 12 KOM points and has worn the red climber’s jersey since.

Kuss of Team Jumbo-Visma finished ninth on the stage, keeping up with the classification riders on the last climb and then sprinting to a top 10 place in the elite group

The first stage consisted of four laps around Küsnacht. The leading group’s four-minute lead proved not enough, and on the last climb of the Küsnachter Berg, the classification riders accelerated. There was no chance of breaking away, but the pure climbers created a gap to the strong sprinters. Kuss rode uphill at his pace and kept up at the front before finishing ninth in the sprint. Stephen Williams if Bahrain-Victorious won the stage and leads the general classification by six seconds after three stages.

“It was a tough stage,” Jumbo-Visma sports director Marc Reef said. “The pace was very high. The classification teams were already in control today and on the last climb, it completely exploded. The strongest remained, and Sepp could follow and compete with the others. That gives us confidence for the coming days. We can build on that. The other guys also showed a good level today.”

On the second stage Monday, Andreas Leknessund of Team DSM, who was in the breakaway, managed to finish the 198-kilometer stage on his own, 38 seconds ahead of the peloton.

After a speedy opening phase, 10 riders formed the day’s breakaway. They built up a five-minute lead, and Leknessund went solo on the last of the three climbs. Although the peloton did everything it could to close the gap, the second place turned out to be the maximum. Simmons and Kuss both finished in the peloton, with Simmons crossing 11th and Kuss finishing 20th. Kuss moved up to seventh in the general classification after the stage, 10 seconds behind Williams.

“We came through the day well,” Reef said. “It wasn’t up to us to take responsibility; it was up to other teams. Our goal was to stay with Sepp, and we did that well.”

Simmons didn’t add to his KOM total, but his 12 points kept him in the red jersey. In the general classification, he moved into 85th.

On the third stage, which had the most climbing so far, roughly 3,000 meters, Simmons had a huge day and racked up another 21 KOM points. Simmons now leads the climbing competition with 34 points while Phillipe Gilbert of Lotto Soudal is in second place with 12.

Simmons was part of a six-man that made a strong break early and took a four-minute lead. He remained in the lead group, which dwindled to four, with 35 kilometers remaining and a 49-second lead on the peloton.

With 11 kilometers to go, the final leader was caught. Peter Sagan of Total Energies got the stage win, his 120th, but Kuss finished in the peloton with him to not lose any time. Kuss ended up finishing 28th on the day, but moved up into sixth in the general classification, still trailing Williams by 10 seconds.

After a dominate performance on the hills, Simmons finished 105th on the day and is in 86th in the general classification, 13:04 back.

Mike Teunissen led Jumbo-Visma on the day, finishing ninth. The Dutchman aimed for the podium in the first real bunch sprint, but fell short in the narrow streets of Grenchen.

Pascal Eenkhoorn helped Theunissen get to the front in the final kilometers, but he could not get involved in the battle for the stage win. “Mike was a bit too far behind at the entry of the last two corners, and he didn’t manage to make up for it on his own,” Reef said.

“It was too difficult for Timo and Rohan to do anything for Mike in the final. It meant Mike only had Pascal with him. We were well-positioned when necessary, but in the end, the ninth place was the highest we could achieve.”

On Wednesday, the riders will be presented with another set of climbs. According to Reef, there is a good chance that the breakaway will last until the end.

“We must be prepared for all possible scenarios and hope to be able to battle for the stage win,” Reef said. “We also want to make sure that Sepp arrives at the finish without losing any time.”