Marcus Burghardt (BMC) rode his way into the King of the Mountains jersey Friday and Danilo Wyss scored the BMC Racing Team's second straight top 10 finish at the Tour de Romandie with sixth place in the field sprint that concluded the 181km race.
Burghardt was part of day's main breakaway for the second straight stage and earned maximum mountain points by being first over the top of the first two climbs. With two days of the race to go – and a major mountain stage up next – he leads Garikoitz Bravo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) by one point in the classification. But his time in the pink jersey might be limited. "It is normally not my style of racing to go in the main breaks – 99 percent of which don't make it to the finish," Burghardt said. "And tomorrow, they are expecting snow, so that might change the route anyway." Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) took the stage win ahead of Francesco Gavazzi (Astana Pro Team) and Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE).
Blythe, Frank Withdraw
Assistant Director Yvon Ledanois said he was pleased with Wyss' finish and Steve Morabito's positioning on the final climb. Morabito remains the BMC Racing Team's best-placed rider overall in 20th, 32 seconds behind race leader Chris Froome (Sky Procycling). "The course was just not hard enough today for a climber like Steve; tomorrow's stage will be better for him," Ledanois said. Adam Blythe (fatigue) and Mathias Frank (illness) withdrew from the race. "Mathias has been fighting a bit of a cold all week and it looks like he has developed a sinus infection, BMC Racing Team Doctor Scott Major said.
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