Tour de Romandie
Stage 2
Today’s stage is the only hilly stage in the entire race. Although I’m not great on the hills, I still have a good chance at getting in the top ten thanks to the lack of competition. I’ll be looking to limit my losses and save energy for the mountains in stage 4 and 5. The riders today will be made of 8 circuits of 22 km each. There will be a lot of King of the Mountain points up for grab today, which is why we tried to get Lewis in the early morning break.
He was successful in most of the mountain sprints and was able to get himself a lead in the King of The Mountain classification that will last until at least Stage 4. He joined 4 other riders, all of which were no threat to the GC, so they were allowed to get a considerable gap.
Their lead peaked at around 9 minutes, which is when Fuji – Servetto decided to real them in. Fuji was working for one of the race favorites, Fredrik Kessiakoff.
With around 30 kilometers left the first favorite to make an attack was Carlo Scognamiglio. I, with most of the other favorites, decided to sit back and wait for a while before we attacked.
With about 20 kilometers left, I saw Popovych making a break for it, so I also attacked.
Despite an unorganized peloton, Scognamiglio was only able to build up a minute lead. Eventually most of the favorites formed in the lead.
As we approached the finish line, Ten Dam made the first move and sprinted for the line. I tried to follow but I lost his wheel and fell back. Rovny, however, was able to catch up with Ten Dam. With 1 kilometer left he pulled away from everyone else and took the win, and the leader’s jersey.
I was able to hold on to 6th place and managed to avoid losing any time. Today’s stage was a complete success as I am only 8 seconds behind Rovny, which can be easily taken back on the mountains. Next up is a flat stage before we head to the mountains.
Also, shout out to Chris Froome who was a big help today. He was able to protect me for 150 km. Thanks bud.
Stage Results
1 Ivan Rovny Team Katusha 4h31'39
2 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram s.t.
3 Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank s.t.
4 Vasil Kiryienka Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
5 Fredrik Kessiakoff Fuji - Servetto s.t.
6 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
7 Matthew Lloyd Team Katusha s.t.
8 Andreas Klöden Française des Jeux + 37
9 Mathieu Sprick Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
10 Simon Spilak Lampre - N.G.C s.t.
11 Maxim Belkov ISD s.t.
12 Iker Camaño Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
13 Robert Kiserlovski Liquigas s.t.
14 Dimitri Muravyev Astana Cycling Team + 1'09
15 Dmytro Grabovskyy ISD s.t.
16 Murilo Fischer Liquigas s.t.
17 John Gadret Astana Cycling Team s.t.
18 Walter Pedraza ISD s.t.
19 Florian Stalder Cervélo Test Team s.t.
20 Anthony Geslin Française des Jeux s.t.
21 Alexander Kvachuk ISD s.t.
22 Valerio Agnoli Liquigas s.t.
23 Massimo Iannetti Liquigas s.t.
24 Bauke Mollema Rabobank s.t.
25 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux s.t.
26 Jérôme Coppel Française des Jeux s.t.
27 Maarten Tjallingii Rabobank s.t.
28 David López Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
29 Francesco Masciarelli Quick·Step s.t.
30 Alberto Fernández Fuji - Servetto s.t.
GC
1 Ivan Rovny Team Katusha 4h37'16
2 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 8
3 Fredrik Kessiakoff Fuji - Servetto + 32
4 Vasil Kiryienka Caisse d'Epargne + 39
5 Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank + 44
6 Mathieu Sprick Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 50
7 Iker Camaño Euskaltel - Euskadi + 53
8 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram + 56
9 Simon Spilak Lampre - N.G.C + 58
10 Matthew Lloyd Team Katusha + 1'03
11 Brian Vandborg Liquigas + 1'18
12 Andreas Klöden Française des Jeux + 1'19
13 Joost Posthuma Rabobank s.t.
14 Tejay Van Garderen Rabobank CT + 1'22
15 Christian Meier Garmin - Slipstream + 1'24
16 Diego Tamayo CarmioOro - A-Style + 1'28
17 Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 1'29
18 Maxim Belkov ISD + 1'32
19 Chris Froome Garmin - Slipstream + 1'34
20 David López Caisse d'Epargne + 1'35
21 Robert Kiserlovski Fuji - Servetto s.t.
22 Johnny Hoogerland Rabobank CT s.t.
23 Marcel Wyss Cervélo Test Team + 1'36
24 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha s.t.
25 Sammy Close Garmin - Slipstream + 1'40
26 Carlo Scognamiglio Liquigas + 1'47
27 Amets Txurruka Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'48
28 Isidro Nozal Fuji - Servetto + 1'50
29 Gatis Smukulis AG2R La Mondiale + 1'51
30 André Steensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
Points
1 Ivan Rovny Team Katusha 35
2 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream 25
3 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram 20
4 Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank 16
5 Mathieu Sprick Bbox Bouygues Télécom 15
6 Vasil Kiryienka Caisse d'Epargne 13
7 Brian Vandborg Liquigas 12
8 Fredrik Kessiakoff Fuji - Servetto 11
9 Joost Posthuma Rabobank 9
10 Iker Camaño Euskaltel - Euskadi 9
KOM
1 Craig Lewis Garmin - Slipstream 22
2 Bram Tankink Rabobank CT 12
3 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom 11
4 Gatis Smukulis AG2R La Mondiale 8
5 Domenik Klemme Team Saxo Bank 7
U25
1 Ivan Rovny Team Katusha 4h37'16
2 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 8
3 Simon Spilak Lampre - N.G.C + 58
