Etixx-QuickStep had played the key role in bringing back the day’s breakaway group of Ireland’s Matt Brammeier, the Netherlands’ Nick van der Lijke, France’s Jérémy Maison and Switzerland’s Lukas Jaun.

The four-man move went away during the opening kilometres of what proved a wet day on the Swiss roads, but with the stage providing the sprinters with their final chance of victory in the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race they were never able to establish a big enough advantage to threaten a victory.

However the quartet, whose lead peaked at around four minutes, worked together well in the closing stages to take a small advantage into the final five kilometres.

They were eventually swept up by the main field, who were reading their respective sprint trains for the day’s finale.

With a sharp right hand turn leading into the last 100 metres, having control of the lead-out would prove crucial to claiming the stage victory.

Etixx-QuickStep were able to achieve the feat by placing Richeze and Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria, the reigning world champion in the men’s omnium on the track, at the head of the race.

Richeze was able to remain in front to become the first Argentine to win a stage at the race, as the 33-year-old finished in a time of 5hr, 8min and 21sec.

His team-mate Gaviria was awarded the same time in second, while overall race leader Peter Sagan of Slovakia claimed third, ending two seconds adrift.

The world champion was fortunate not to be brought down when tackling the final bend by Dutch rider Danny Van Poppel, who also avoided crashing despite misjudging the corner.

Sagan was able to extend his general classification lead to nine seconds over Belgium’s Jurgen Roelandts and Switzerland’s Silvan Dillier due to his third place finish.

Tomorrow will see the first of three mountain stages with the peloton due to ride 126km from Brig-Glis to Carì.