The second stage of the Tour de Romandie will take the riders from Ascona through Italy and back to Switzerland through the valley of the Rhone river. The riders will have to tackle the climb to the Simplonpass in the first part of the stage and will have a flat section before climbing to Lens. This second climb has its top only 18 kilometers from the finish line and is raced after the first passage through the finish line. It should be an interesting stage but the last climb is not hard enough to cause big gaps at the finish line among the favorites.
There was a lot of headwind in the climb to the Simplonpass and the riders in the break suffered against it. The group of 4 was formed by Tejay van Garderen (Trek), Sergio Henao (Katusha), Thomas de Gendt (Tinkoff) and Alessandro Ballan (BMC). They had a big gap of 8' 30'' against the main bunch but they still had 117 kilometers to go to the finish line in Sion. Lotto and Ag2r were setting a pace in the bunch but it was quite easy and the favorites were not suffering as they were protected from the wind by staying in the middle of the bunch.
Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) and Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) attacked a bit before the intermediate sprint in Uvrier. They crossed the sprint 2 minutes behind the break, which meant that they barely had any options as they still had 43 kilometers to race. The peloton was only a few seconds behind and only Cameron Meyer (Trek) seemed interested in collecting points for the green jersey. It was not a difficult stage for the favorites as they were protected at all times from the strong wind and most will reach the start of the climb to Lens with their energies intact.
It did not take long for the first outsiders for the stage to attack. Dries Devenyns (Euskaltel) was the first to do it, when they were still in the streets of Sion. It did not take long for him to bridge the gap to Simone Ponzi and Alexandre Vinokourov. With 30 kilometers to go they had also caught up with Sergio Henao and were riding 50 seconds behind Tejay van Garderen and Alessandro Ballan. Meanwhile, Rui Costa (Ag2r) was leading the group of the favorites, where around 70 riders were surviving. Sky and Lotto were close to the front of the group.
There were other movements in the climb as Frank Schleck (Etixx) joined Dries Devenyns and Simone Ponzi with 5 kilometers to the top of the climb. They were already heading the race at that point as all the riders from the break had been caught back. Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) had also tried to break from the group but he was a rider that is never allowed to open a gap easily and even though he tried a couple of times many teams were ready to react. The peloton was 20 seconds behind the front group with Mathias Frank (IAM), Johann Tschopp (BMC) and Philippe Gilbert leading the chase.
The toughest part of the climb was the last 3 kilometers. It was in that part where Philippe Gilbert attacked really hard and was only followed by 4 other riders: Frank Schleck, Vasil Kiryienka (IAM), Cadel Evans (Lotto) and Tiago Machado (Tinkoff). The Portuguese was even having difficulties to follow the pace at the front group as they crossed the KoM sprint with 18 kilometers to go. Jerome Coppel (Etixx) was chasing 30 seconds behind, while the group of the leader was losing 45 seconds at the top with Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel) working at the front.
There were 10 kilometers of flat before the finish line after the descent of Lens. That was a terrain that might be used to open gaps or to be closed by the chasers. The group that was behind the 5 leaders had around 40 riders at the bottom of the descent and Ag2r was the team most committed to the chase as they had Rui Costa, Miguel Rubiano (Ag2r) and Jose Serpa (Ag2r) working at the front. Other teams like Sky and BMC were also collaborating but the gap was still 40 seconds with 6 kilometers to go. It was difficult to make a prediction as to who would be the favorite to take the stage win.
A group of 4 riders attacked from the chasing group and made contact with the leaders shortly before the last kilometer but the main group was also very close behind and looked set to catch up as well. However, the riders at the front did not wait to start the final sprint and Tiago Machado was the first to attack. The finish line was slightly uphill so it would be tricky final meters of the stage. The Portuguese was swiftly followed by Philippe Gilbert, while Vasil Kiryienka, Cadel Evans, Frank Schleck and Chris Froome (Lampre), who had just made it in the group, followed.
Philippe Gilbert wins in Sion! The Belgian was the fastest in the final sprint and, even though the group was caught, he managed to hold on to his lead and cross the finish line in the first place. Vacansoleil might not be having the best of the seasons but Gilbert has won twice for the team in a few days after taking the Amstel Gold Race last week. The second place in the stage was for a fast finishing Chris Froome, who edged Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil) in the sprint. It is clear that Froome got to Switzerland with the GC in his sights and the bonus seconds means he is only 11 seconds behind.
The top 5 of the stage was completed by Mauro Finetto (Katusha) and Frank Schleck. In the end there were no time differences among the favorites but the group had only 41 riders, which already reduced considerably the number of riders that may opt to the top places in the GC. This stage is always quite difficult to predict and is usually quite entertaining for the fans. Tomorrow's stage is one of those few in the route that should be favorable for the sprinters. However, the route is not flat by any means and whoever makes it in the group will have to suffer a bit to get there.
The third stage will be the first one where the favorites will not have to be that aware. The stage is meant to finish in a mass sprint but it is by no means completely flat. The first part of the stage is quite easy but the second part includes the climbs to Chatel-St-Denis and to Peney-le-Jorat. However, the difficulties do not stop there as the terrain after the last climb of the day will be very difficult to control for the main bunch. Nevertheless, the sprinters have to try their best to make it in the front group as they do not have many opportunities in the Tour de Romandie.
There was not much of a battle to form the early break and a group of 4 soon settled at the front of the race: Yoann Offredo (IAM), Gianni Meersman (Orica), Adriano Malori (Trek) and Manuele Boaro (Astana). At the climb to Chatel-St-Denis they already had a gap of 6' 30'' over the bunch but the distance to the finish line, 88 kilometers, meant that the peloton was not worrying too much yet. Vacansoleil, Euskaltel and Lotto were the teams setting the pace in the main group but it was an easy day so far for many riders. At the top of the climb, it was Boaro who took the maximum points.
The main bunch had the race more or less controlled as they went through the KoM sprint at the top of Peney-le-Jorat. The group had reduced the gap of the break to only 3' 30'' and with 44 kilometers to go they did not look like such a threat. The group was led during the climb by Andy Schleck (Vacansoleil), Zdenek Stybar (Euskaltel) and Rohan Dennis (Lotto). A few kilometers before the climb Jerome Coppel (Etixx) had suffered a crash and a few of his teammates had to help him get back in the bunch but he might be slightly injured.
The second intermediate sprint of the day was placed in Chardonne, only 12 kilometers before the finish line. Gianni Meersman was first ahead of Adriano Malori as the break still held a 50 seconds gap over the bunch. Considering that part of the run towards the finish line was downhill that was a gap that the peloton should be worried with. Riders like Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel), Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil) and Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) were working at the front of the group. Meanwhile, the sprint in the group was won by Mauro Finetto (Katusha) as the sprinters were saving energies for the final sprint.
The break was eventually reeled back in and with 3 kilometers to go there were 2 sprint trains already formed. Euskaltel had Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel) leading Elia Viviani (Euskaltel), while Chris Sutton (Lotto) was right behind the Italian. On the right hand side of the road it was Bauke Mollema who would be the last riders for Ben Swift (Vacansoleil). They had Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) on their wheel, a very dangerous rider in this kind of sprint. Among the other sprinters that were in the mix we could see Mark Cavendish (IAM), Andre Greipel (Lotto) and Peter Sagan (Sky) well positioned.
It was a difficult time for the sprinters to get a good position and Ben Swift was completely left out of position on the turn with 2 kilometers to go. The fact that Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil) was also sprinting for himself left a bad impression of the Dutch team tactics. On the other hand, Gorka Izagirre was doing a good job for Elia Viviani to deliver him in a good position for the sprint. Meanwhile, Chris Sutton was trying to bring Andre Greipel to the front of the race but they had to be quick about it as the sprint was close to starting.
Elia Viviani had been the sprinter best positioned ahead of the final sprint but with 600 meters to go Andre Greipel had already taken the lead of the sprint. However, the sprint was really close and there were a couple of other riders that could still fight for the win, like Ben Swift and Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre). Simone Ponzi was also close to the front of the race. The sprinters had taken a long time to start the final sprint, so Bauke Mollema and Gorka Izagirre were still in the mix but quickly fading away as other sprinter joined the fight.
Andre Greipel wins in Montreux! The German was the quickest today in the mass sprint and takes his first win of the season. The Tour de Romandie has been really good for Lotto so far as they didn't really bring any rider for the GC but they have won 2 stages so far. The second place went to a surprisingly fast Francesco Gavazzi. The Lampre rider is not meant to be among the fastest in a sprint but looked in good shape. Elia Viviani was third in the end, while Luca Paolini (Astana) and Ben Swift completed the top 5.
The stage was more or less as expected but the worst news were for Tiago Machado (Tinkoff). He crashed with around 5 kilometers to go and lost a few minutes, which leaves him without a chance in the GC. Other riders in the crash were Romain Bardet (IAM), Johann Tschopp (BMC) and Diego Ulissi (Lampre). Machado is now 4 minutes behind in the GC but can still play for the stage win tomorrow as he will not be as controlled as other riders. Tomorrow's stage should give us a clearer picture as to who will be in the top positions of the GC as the stage is quite hard.
It is a day for the climbers as the fourth stage of the Tour de Romandie is the Queen stage. It is a really tough mountain stage with the climbs to the Col des Planches, Champex-Lac, Les Giettes and Villars-sur-Ollon. Nevertheless, the fact that the finish line is in Aigle, 16 kilometers from the top of the last climb of the day, makes the prediction of what could happen quite difficult. It should be a difficult day for the leader, Tony Martin (Lotto), as he is not the best climber on the field and he is expected to lose the jersey at the end of the day.
The break of the day was a big stronger than what the favorites would have wanted, especially considering that a few riders were close in the GC. The group of 8 riders included Simon Gerrans (Trek), Alessandro Ballan (BMC), Rinaldo Nocentini (Euskaltel), Peter Kennaugh (Tinkoff) and Pierre Rolland (Etixx). Close to the top of the Col des Planches they had a gap of 7 minutes on the main bunch, which should make some teams start chasing. Lotto and Vacansoleil were the teams leading the group but they were not setting a high pace yet.
The second climb of the day, Champex-Lac, was tackled right after the descent of the first difficulty of the day. Champex-Lac was placed 100 kilometers from the finish line in Aigle but the pace of the peloton started to be a bit more demanding. Ian Stannard (Sky) was leading the group over the top of the climb as Sky decided to set the pace at the climb. Jonathan Castroviejo (Lampre) also collaborated with them and that brought the gap down a bit to 6' 20''. Rinaldo Nocentini had been the first at the top. Meanwhile, there were already riders dropping from the back of the main bunch.
Davide Formolo (Astana) was leading the early break halfway through the climb to Les Giettes, the third climb of the day. However, they did not have much hope of making it to the finish line as the gap had come down considerably to 2' 40''. Lotto had increased the pace in the flat between climbs and had Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lotto) and Cadel Evans (Lotto) at the front of the group in the climb. Tony Martin was still quite comfortable close to the front of the bunch. However, at the rate riders were dropping from the group not many would remain at the top.
Cadel Evans increased the pace considerably in the last couple of kilometers of the climb to Les Giettes and he managed to break the group in 2 just before the top of the climb. A few riders were caught napping, like Peter Stetina (BMC), Jerome Coppel (Etixx), Chris Froome (Lampre) and Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil). Their group crossed the KoM sprint around 40 seconds behind the Lotto group, which only had 17 riders. Meanwhile, the break still held 1' 50'' over the group of the leader but with 46 kilometers to go it was rather difficult for them to make it to the finish line.
There was a nice chase in the descent and the flat between the climbs but at the bottom of the last difficulty of the day, Villars-sur-Ollon, the groups came together and the early break had been caught back. Peter Stetina decided to attack rather early in the climb and he was followed by Mathias Frank (IAM) and Franco Pellizotti (BMC). However, Tony Martin still had Cadel Evans and Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) with him and they did not let them go far. Around 30 riders survived in the front group with 8 kilometers to the top of the last climb of the day.
An attack by Bauke Mollema triggered the problems for Tony Martin and with 4 kilometers to the top of the climb only 6 riders stayed at the front alongside the Dutch: Chris Froome, Peter Stetina, Robert Gesink (Ag2r), Tanel Kangert (Katusha) and Mathias Frank. They had 15 seconds over a group of 3 riders: Franco Pellizotti, Michele Scarponi (Astana) and Bart de Clercq (Etixx). Martin was lucky that Lotto decided to make Cadel Evans and Jelle Vanendert work for him and he was only 30 seconds behind the leaders alongside other riders like Frank Schleck (Etixx) and Marco Pinotti (Sky).
Tony Martin did a great climb to get himself up the climb to Villars-sur-Ollon only 50 seconds behind the leaders. He will have to say thanks to Cadel Evans and Jelle Vanendert after the stage as the two riders always waited for Martin in the climb. Chris Froome and Robert Gesink were at the front of the race as they left the other 4 riders in the front group 15 seconds behind. They still had 16 kilometers to the finish line but most of them were descent. The British was looking particularly good in this Tour de Romandie and was clearly chasing the leader's jersey.
Chris Froome and Robert Gesink were caught again in the descent by the group of chasers. With 4 kilometers to go it seemed clear that the 6 of them would fight for the stage win in the streets of Aigle. Meanwhile, Simon Spilak (Tinkoff) had tried to attack from the group of the leader in the descent of Villars-sur-Ollon but he had not been allowed to go away. Cadel Evans was leading the group of the leader, who was losing 40 seconds against the front group and would most likely lose the leader's jersey today to one of the riders at the front.
It took a while for the final sprint to start at the front group but the riders did not have a lot of time to prepare for it as the gap they got against the chasing group was most important. There would be a decisive time trial in the last day of the race and they needed a gap as big as possible. Chris Froome was leading the way with 700 meters to go ahead of Robert Gesink and Peter Stetina. The other riders in the group looked quite tired already and seemed to have few chances on the fight for the win. Meanwhile, the gao to Tony Martin's group was 35 seconds.
Chris Froome wins in Aigle! The British looked really good during the stage and he managed to win the sprint in the group of 6 that got ahead to the finish line. This is his 2nd win of the season, following the one that he got in the Volta a Catalunya. The second place went to Peter Stetina, who has not had such a good season so far and looks way off his peak of performance from a few seasons ago. Robert Gesink was third ahead of Mathias Frank and Tanel Kangert, who completed the top 5. This is a good performance for Kangert, who is still looking for his first podium on a stage race.
The group of the leader crossed the finish line 43 seconds behind. That means that the 6 riders at the front will take the first places in the GC. Chris Froome is the new leader of the race. However, even though Tony Martin is now 37 seconds behind in the GC he should not be discarded as he can potentially open a big gap over other riders in the final time trial. It remains to be seen how good he can be in the last stage given the efforts that he has been making during the week to protect his yellow jersey.
The mountains are over in the Tour de Romandie and the penultimate stage should be a bit easier for the favorites in the GC. The stage will be raced entirely in a circuit of around 30 kilometers on the surroundings of Fribourg. The stage is catalogued as flat but the profile is a bit more difficult than what you would expect for a flat race. The climb to Ependes is the most difficult in the circuit and has 2.3 kilometers averaging 5.5%. Nevertheless, it will be difficult for any attacker to make it to the finish line ahead.
There was a bit of a battle to form the break of the day. In the end, it was formed by 6 riders, including Yoann Offredo (IAM), Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff), Davide Formolo (Astana), Maxim Iglinskiy (Sky) and Johann Tschopp (BMC). At the third climb to Ependes, with 106 kilometers to go, they had built a gap of 4' 30'' over the bunch. Unfortunately for them, the climb only awarded points for the KoM classification in the last 3 laps and therefore none would be able to get to the front. Lampre was setting the pace in the bunch but they did not have any intention of bringing the break back.
At the first intermediate sprint, in Marly, Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) won the sprint of the group ahead of Mauro Finetto (Katusha). Most of the sprinters did not care too much about the points as their chances in the points' classification in the Tour de Romandie were slim at best. With 62 kilometers to go the gap for the break had come down to 3' 30'' as Euskaltel, Vacansoleil and Lotto were all chasing towards a mass sprint. However, we could not discard attacks from outsiders as the route was not as flat as the sprinters would have wanted.
The break was close to being caught at the last climb to Ependes, with 17 kilometers to go, and Robert Gesink (Ag2r) seized the chance to attack in the hardest part of the climb. He managed to open a gap and at the top of the climb he was 35 seconds behind the leaders. Peter Stetina (BMC) and Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel) were also trying to break away but Andy Schleck (Vacansoleil) was working hard at the front of the group. They crossed the KoM sprint 55 seconds behind the break. Gesink was very ambitious but that might be his only option to win the Tour de Romandie.
Robert Gesink could not consolidate the gap he had and was caught along with the earl break. However, the attacks did not stop there and a group of 3 formed by Peter Stetina, Tanel Kangert (Katusha) and Cadel Evans (Lotto) had a small gap of 10 seconds over the main bunch with 8 kilometers to go. The gap was tiny but even Chris Froome (Lampre) had to collaborate in the chase as he could not allow some of these riders to get a gap at the finish line. The sprinters would surely be suffering as the short climbs were tackled at a very high pace.
It was a good effort by the attackers but they were caught back with 5 kilometers to go. At the 3 kilometers mark the sprint trains were taking shape. Euskaltel had Gorka Izagirre ready to work for Elia Viviani, who was followed by Tanel Kangert. The Estonian apparently thought that he may have a chance. On the other side of the road it was Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil) who would lead out Ben Swift (Vacansoleil). Andre Greipel (Lotto) had found his way to the front of the bunch and was right behind. Among the rest of the sprinters we could see Peter Sagan (Sky), Tom Boonen (BMC) and Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre) close to the front.
Bauke Mollema was taking Ben Swift in a perfect position to the final sprint when their teammate Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil) decided to attack in the very short but steep climb at the 1 kilometer mark. Euskaltel was also a mess as Gorka Izagirre seemed to be leading out Tanel Kangert once Elia Viviani had lost the wheel of the Spaniard. Meanwhile, Andre Greipel was staying on Swift's wheel and was looking quite good for the stage. Nevertheless, it was a very chaotic preparation of the sprint and it was obvious that the stage had been quite difficult.
The sprint was even more chaotic with 600 meters to go. Two Vacansoleil men were leading the way: Bauke Mollema and Philippe Gilbert but they were battling against each other and their sprinter, Ben Swift, had been dropped. Meanwhile, Cameron Meyer (Trek) was making huge progress on the left-hand side of the road proving that the stage finish was probably too hard for the sprinters. Tom Boonen and Peter Sagan were also getting close to the front of the race. Andre Greipel also found the last short climb too hard and was dropping places.
Mauro Finetto wins in Fribourg! The sprint was probably started too early by many riders and in the last few hundred meters of the stage Mauro Finetto and Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) showed up on the right-hand side of the road. It looked like Ponzi was going to take the win but he was denied almost over the finish line by his fellow Italian. This is the first win of the season for the Katusha rider while Ponzi will have to keep searching for a win that he has been deserving for a while. The third position in the stage was for Cameron Meyer, while the top 5 was completed by Tom Boonen and Francesco Gavazzi.
It was clear from the final classification of the stage that this was not really a stage for the sprinters and the riders that can go over the hills and were fast in the sprints were the ones that took the top positions. Even though the terrain was not enough for any attacks to make it to the finish line they contributed to make the stage more difficult than what the sprinters would have liked. Most of the riders have basically finished the Tour de Romandie today as they have nothing to fight for tomorrow in the time trial.
The last stage of the Tour de Romandie is again a time trial, this time quite a bit longer than the opening prologue in Asconca. It will start and finish in Neuchatel, which lies alongside the Lake of the same name. The route is a bit less than 19 kilometers long and it will not be completely flat as it will have the climb to Le Maley halfway through. It is a climb 2.3 kilometers long but at an average slope of 7.7%. The climb should mean that the stage is not that good for the pure specialists but they should still come out at the top of the classification.
The current World Champion, Cameron Meyer (Trek), was the first of the favorites to start as he lost a bit of time in the mountain stage finishing in Aigle. The early pace had been set but Rui Costa (Ag2r) but the Portuguese was not a match for Meyer, who easily beat his time. The gap between the two was as big as 22 seconds, which suggests that the time trial for Meyer was quite good and he should be fighting for the stage win at the end of the day. It was a shame for him that he was not able to stay with the group of the leader in all the previous stages.
Marco Pinotti (Sky) was meant to be one of the pre-race favorites but his chances were dealt a blow when he could not go with the best riders in the stage finishing in Aigle. That meant that he was facing this last time trial starting in the 10th position in the GC. Nevertheless, he meant to make up for the lost time and surprisingly improved on Cameron Meyer's time to get the best time so far in the finish line. He was 6 seconds quicker than the Australian and was obviously the leader at the finish line, which guaranteed him a place in the final top 10 of the race.
Trek had may options to be the leader in the Tour de Romandie and they chose Michael Rogers (Trek) above Tejay van Garderen (Trek). However, none of them performed to the level that they were expected and this was underlined by Rogers only taking the 7th provisional position as he crossed the finish line. He was 25 seconds slower than Marco Pinotti and was not expected to make any progress in the GC. The rest of the riders still on the road would have to have really poor performances to fall behind the Australian in the GC.
Tony Martin (Lotto) had won the prologue and was the clear favorite to take the win in this time trial as well. The climb in the middle of the stage did not favor him but otherwise he should be strong enough. He proved it by improving on Marco Pinotti's time by 24 seconds. The gap was so big that it was going to be a problem for the riders at the top of the GC to hold him behind. Chris Froome had 37 seconds on the German but the riders in the podium could only lose 26 seconds, barely more than what Pinotti lost and the Italian is a very good time trialist. Martin has been outstanding in this Tour de Romandie.
Mathias Frank (IAM) started the day in the 6th place of the GC and was the first of the riders that were in the front group in Aigle to start. The Swiss is a decent time trialist but not up to the level of some of this rivals. At the finish line, he took the 11th provisional place, 58 seconds behind Tony Martin. This gave a sense of how dominant Martin had been. With that time, not only Martin was going to get ahead of Frank in the GC but also Marco Pinotti would end the race ahead. Frank has not had such a good season so far and he cannot be too happy about the race in Switzerland either.
The next rider to start was Peter Stetina (BMC). The American is still the leader of the BMC team but with 31 years of age he is giving signs of being beyond his best years. He can still contend with the best but the last time he was in a podium of a stage race was in 2015. Today's time trial was another proof of that trend. He could only get the 14th provisional time, 1' 01'' behind Tony Martin. That will most probably leave him in the 8th final position of the GC, far from what should be demanded from the reference rider for BMC in the stage races.
Robert Gesink (Ag2r) was the 4th before the stage and rather good against the clock. Like Peter Stetina, he has not had any decent results this season so far and the Tour de Romandie was his first chance to get a podium. He stopped the clock with the 8th provisional time in the stage, 49 seconds behind Tony Martin. That meant that, even though he was beaten by the German in the GC he took the provisional 2nd place in the GC with only 3 more riders to cross the finish line. The podium was a very real option for Gesink in Switzerland.
Tanel Kangert (Katusha) was the next up. The Estonian rider is very young, 23, and obviously has the win in the young's classification almost guaranteed. However, he is also keen to do well in the final GC and he proved it by recording the provisional 5th time. It was a very good effort for the Katusha rider, who has not been around for that long. He lost 43 seconds to Tony Martin but that puts him as the provisional 2nd rider in the GC among those that already finished. Kangert already had a 7th in the GC of the Volta a Catalunya but this result is going to improve clearly on that.
The penultimate rider to start was Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil), the defending champion of the race. However, even though he had been outstanding in the past 2 years in this last time trial including taking the win in 2015, he could not match that kind of pace today and finished with the 11th time. The 50 seconds he lost against Martin mean that he will not be in the final podium of the race and it guaranteed that Tanel Kangert will take his first podium in a stage race. Nevertheless, this will be the best week of racing for Mollema this year and a good reference for targets further in the season.
Chris Froome (Lampre) was the last rider on the road. He probably had not expected Tony Martin to have such a great performance in the time trial and he could only be only a few seconds slower than Jerome Coppel (Etixx), 4th at that time, if he wanted the overall win. However, even though he took the 5th place in the final time trial Froome was 4 seconds too slow and lost the race in a very surprising manner to the German powerhouse. The British was the big favorite for the win going into the final time trial and he did a good stage but it was not enough.
This is clearly the breakthrough win for Tony Martin, who had only ever performed close to this level in the 2009 Paris - Nice, where he was 2nd. He had started to show how much he had improved in the time trials last year when he took the Bronze medal in the World Championship but to be able to stay close to the best in a mountain stage was beyond his capabilities. He will have to say thanks to both Cadel Evans (Lotto) and Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) as without them he would have probably lost the race in the climb to Villars-sur-Ollon. It was a surprising podium in the end as Tanel Kangert was also quite a surprise.
It has been a month since the Tour de Romandie finished and the riders are set for the run towards the Tour de France. The Criterium du Dauphine is normally the most popular race for the favorites for the Tour to prepare and measure how good their preparation is. However, the race is a target in itself for many riders as it is one of the most important races of the season. The route is normally plagued with mountain stages but a long time trial is also normally scheduled. This year's route will be a repetition of last year. It includes a flat 33 kilometers long time trial before the important mountain stages, like the stages finishing in Valmorel, Superdevoluy and Risoul.
There has not been a clear dominating rider in the Criterium du Dauphine in the last few years as the race normally gets a mixture of riders coming from the Giro, preparing the Tour of for which the Dauphine is a target in itself. The only pattern in recent years is that the winner is normally an all-round stage racer that can time trial as well as climb. Bauke Mollema, Tejay van Garderen and Jean-Christophe Peraud all fall in that category. However, Mollema decided to race the Tour de Suisse this season and he will not be at the start of the Dauphine.
Favorites:
- Tejay van Garderen (Trek - Segafredo): The Criterium du Dauphine has always been a race that fits Tejay van Garderen as they have scheduled a long flat time trial in the recent years. He was the winner in 2014 but last year he had a bad day on the stage finishing in Superdevoluy and lost his chances to get a good place in the GC. The Dauphine is a target for Tejay but also his last preparation race before the Tour de France, which repeats the same route where he won back in 2014. Van Garderen should be motivated to produce the kind of result that we missed from him the last couple of years.
- Jerome Coppel (Etixx - Quickstep): Coppel has been doing a good job in the current season, his first with the Etixx squad but is still missing a podium in a stage race. His best performance of the season so far was the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, where he was 4th and he won the time trial. Frank Schleck will also start for Etixx but he is meant to go for stages as the time trial is too long for him to have a chance in the GC. Coppel also has his sights set on the Tour de France but the Dauphine is also a home race for him so he will surely strive to do well.
- Chris Froome (Lampre - Merida): Froome had a very good Tour de Romandie a month ago and it will be interesting to see how he could retain that form ahead of the Dauphine and the Tour de France. The British has only appeared sporadically in the season but already has two wins in the bag and the 2nd place in Romandie. Tony Martin will also be in the startlist in the Dauphine but there are more mountain stages in the race and it should be easier for riders like Froome to distance him in the tougher stages. Nevertheless, Froome has said that his target is the Tour and he is not at his best yet.
- Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale): Robert Gesink has been slightly disappointing this season so far. His only decent result was a 4th place in the Tour de Romandie but in truth he was expected to have grabbed at least a podium. It seems like Gesink is the perennial outsider but he can never break through and get a win in a stage race. The closest he was to doing it was in last year's Dauphine, he was 2nd behind Jean-Christophe Peraud. Therefore, the team is very hopeful that this might be the time when Gesink can give them a big win.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Tony Martin (Lotto - Soudal), Marco Pinotti (Team Sky), Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery Channel), Vasil Kiryienka (IAM Cycling), David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) and Levi Leipheimer (Trek - Segafredo).
The French race is not very attractive for the sprinters but we will have at the start Simone Ponzi (LottoNL - Jumbo), Peter Sagan (Team Sky), Tony Gallopin (IAM Cycling), Stefan van Dijk (Vacansoleil - DMC), Jure Kocjan (Team Katusha) and Matthew Goss (Movistar Team).
The start of the Criterium du Dauphine has been very interesting in the last few years with an initial stage that although very short is quite difficult to predict. The stage starts and finishes in Champery, in the French-speaking Switzerland. Nevertheless, the stage will take place predominantly in France as the riders will go back and forth through the Pas de Morgins. The stage also features the Col du Crobier, a 1st category climb only 45 kilometers to the finish line. It will be difficult for a solo attacker to make it back to Champery but the front group should not be too big.
The climb to the Cote de Morgins from Switzerland is quite hard, catalogued 1st category. Ruben Plaza (BMC) was leading the race at the top alongside Stefan Schumacher (HTC) and Fabio Aru (Trek). Nevertheless, the break had not settled at the front as Rafal Majka (Lotto) and Peter Kennaugh (Tinkoff) were among a few other riders trying to join the front group. Arthur Vichot (Ag2r) was working at the front of the peloton to try to close the gap to the break, which was 2 minutes at the top. This meant that there were riders already dropping from the back.
The break eventually consolidated at the front with the riders that were ahead at the Cote de Morgin plus Ben Hermans (Katusha), who managed to bridge the gap a bit later. With 60 kilometers to go they had already started the way back towards Champery but they would have to face the Col du Corbier first. The peloton was already chasing but they were still 4 minutes behind. Astana had a few riders at the front as the group had to increase the pace not to gift the stage to the break. The stage was quite dangerous for many riders due to the small out-of-limit. There were groups that had not made it back to the peloton.
Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL), Mikel Nieve (Katusha) and Emanuele Sella (Movistar) crossed the top of the Col du Corbier a few seconds ahead the main group but it looked as though they had only attacked to grab some KoM points. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Dani Moreno (Euskaltel) were leading the bunch and not letting anyone get a significant gap. The group was really stretched and about to break into pieces at the top of the climb, with 45 kilometers to go. Meanwhile, the break still had a gap of 3 minutes and Peter Kennaugh had been the first at the top of the climb.
The intermediate sprint was placed in La Chapelle-d'Abondance, 29 kilometers from the finish line in Champery. Rinaldo Nocentini (Euskaltel), Dani Moreno and Vincenzo Nibali (Lampre) were leading the chasing group but the gap for the break was still 2' 30''. The riders in the break have a real opportunity of making it to the finish line. However, the pace in the main group was quite hard as we could see riders dropping from the group of 90 in the flat section before the Pas de Morgins. That could give an idea of how fast the group was racing.
Emanuele Sella was the first rider to attack at the bottom of the Pas de Morgins but it was Jurgen van den Broeck who managed to get a gap. The Belgian even managed to catch some of the riders from the break by the time they crossed the KoM sprint. Ruben Plaza was leading the race alone with a gap of 30 seconds over the first chasers. The group of the favorites had not climbed that fast and they were losing 2' 25'' at the top. Sergey Chernetskiy had also tried to jump with Sella but they had not been allowed to make any progress. There were around 55 riders at the top, with riders like Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) dropping close to the top.
Ruben Plaza was still in the lead with 5 kilometers to go but he was being closed down by the group of the favorites, which had already caught the rest of the attackers. Davide Rebellin (Astana) was only 10 seconds behind the Spaniard and the group of the favorites was 20 seconds behind. It was difficult to control the race with few domestiques and Robert Kiserlovski (Discovery) seized the opportunity to attack. He was quickly followed by other riders like Jurgen van den Broeck, Jerome Coppel (Etixx) and Andrew Talansky (HTC). Lampre was the only team trying to keep it all together.
None of the attackers that we mentioned managed to hold a gap. It was not until they were getting close to the finish line that Tejay van Garderen (Trek) attacked alongside Jelle Vanendert (Lotto). They both opened a gap quite quickly and got to the final kilometer with a gap of 20 seconds over the group of the favorites. Domenico Pozzovivo (Trek) was leading the chasing group but he was not really pushing hard as he did not want to catch his team leader. He was followed by Dani Moreno, Jerome Coppel and Steven Kruijswijk. However, it looked like the stage was at the front of the race.
Tejay van Garderen wins in Champery! This is the 2nd win of the season for the winner of the 2014 Tour de France, following the last stage of the Paris - Nice. It was quite of a surprise that he managed to beat Jelle Vanendert in the sprint as the Belgian is supposed to be a much faster finisher. They both crossed the finish line a bit ahead the group of the favorites but they were not awarded any time difference as the gap was quite small. Michele Scarponi (Astana) won the sprint in the group ahead of Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) and Jerome Coppel.
In total, only 41 riders managed to finish in the same time as the winner. There were some rather big names that ended up losing 1 minute at the finish line, like Emanuele Sella, Levi Leipheimer (Trek) and Denis Menchov (Tinkoff). All in all the stage was more or less as expected and luckily no rider fell to the time limit even though Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) was quite close due to crashing in one of the descents. Tomorrow's stage will be quite hilly in the latter part of the stage but the favorites should not be as involved as today.
