With many riders using the race as their final warmup for the Giro, Esteban did very well in the Tour de Romandie.

It may be a bit steep, but I can definitely impress here.

Fabio Melani


Jeffry Johan Romero


Esteban Chaves


Juan Pablo Valencia


Alexis Camacho


Duber Quintero

A pretty big 9 man break formed today.


The attacks started on the long downhill 25km before the line. We made our customary train, but Esteban wasn't up to it. We didn't get away.


The two favourites sent teammates up to test the waters. Losada (KAT) and Anton (EUS) were the chosen ones.


Ignatenko managed to get away solo with a nice attack. He was chased by the tiring Chaves, with me in his wheel.


We got caught, and the Russian stayed away, having almost 2 minutes under the 5km banner. I was out of water at this point, but was soldiering on.


Win for Katusha! Ignatenko came up big, and now the fight was on for 2nd. I was trying to hard, and was empty for the sprint.


I was last in my group - 9th place for the 2nd consecutive outing.

Not a bad race, but I certainly could've done better. I will travel up to Scandinavia to race the Glava Tour of Norway next, where I could be looking for a win.

Fabio Melani


Jagoba Aurrekoetxea


Esteban Chaves


Juan Esteban Arango


Jeffry Johan Romero


Juan Pablo Valencia


Alexis Camacho

A flat stage for Jagoba. Hopefully he can make something happen.

The break consisted of 4 riders.

Sokol
Stevensen
Quaade
Sterebo


Romero's leadout was quite terrible, and left the other sprinters in a tough situation.


With 300m to go it was Morkov leading, but many other riders were coming fast from behind.


And on the line it was Van Asbroek ahead of the Dane, with Jurgen Roelandts in 3rd, Jagoba 7th and Juan in 9th.

Not a terrible day, but had the leadout train been better, we could've had a much better result.

Another sprint stage. Hopefully our fortunes will be better.

The break today consisted of 3 riders. Alexis tried to join them but for some reason unknown to us he was not allowed to stay away. Stevenson and Quaade were there again, this time joined by Saxo's Anders Lund.


Our sprint preparations had started BUT NO! CRASH! Luca Paolini of all people went down near the front, and I was down. This was bad, very bad. The GC was slipping away.


I was the first back on my bike and I immediately started to give it my all to try and catch up. Alexis dropped back and tried to help but honestly he was useless. I overtook him straight away and continued towards the peloton.


We worked extremely hard, but it didn't seem like we would make it.


We had to turn our attention to the sprint train. Again Romero was terrible and blocked the whole train. He and Juan Esteban were already empty.


Roelandts took a very easy win, while we couldn't even break the Top 10.

Terrible, terrible day. I lost 2'49" in the end. The GC is probably over, but hopefully Esteban can be strong enough to lead our charge for a decent result.

Another sprint stage. After yesterday's disaster, just avoid time losses.

We had a 2 man break of Sobrino and Duret.


With 600m to go, Jagoba was doing well, but could he get past the riders in front of him without getting blocked?


Nope! Roinas decided to drop back and get in the way. Of course it was too good to be true


Impey won it ahead of Roelandts.

Oh F*CK! Esteban got dropped and lost 1'14. I'm the new leader, but I'm not sure what can happen.

The Queen Stage. Hopefully I can take back some time and put myself in position for a Top 10 in the final GC.

A 6 man break formed today, but surely the GC men wouldn't let them stay away.


The first attacks of the favourites came from Fraile, Meyer and Moreno on the penultimate climb.


Esteban and I got away, as usual, without an attack. The pacing was going well, but of course he was tiring.


I joined the 3 leaders in what looked like the selected group, but we were caught at the base of the final climb.


Meyer was very strong today, while I was also fighting to stay clear of the pack, but to no avail.


The Australian held a big lead going into the final gap. With me out of energy, the gap with 5km left was 1 minute.




I started the sprint up front, but was soon swamped by much better sprinters.


The fight was always for 2nd, as Cameron Meyer took a fantastic solo win.


Again no Top 10 for us.

An alright day. I feel that if I didn't spend my energy on Day 2, it would've been a different story today. Oh well, what can you do?

I am still the leader, and will try to make something happen on this stage that suits me well.

The break today consisted of 4 riders. Kuschinski, Stevenson, Zaballa and Wilson.


Esteban and I got away on the last climb and started our chase of the breakaway.


I caught the remaining 3. We had a 25 second gap with 2.5km to go. Could it happen?


I started the sprint on top again, but, as yesterday, I was swamped by the true fast men.


Roelandts took the win with no Top 10 again for us.

That's the end of a disappointing tour, which could've been oh so different had it not been for a crash. My last Tour de France preparation race is the Criterium du Dauphine, which I have up next. See you there,