Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE) kept his streak of stage wins in the Tour de Romandie running by taking a victory for the third year in a row on the hilly final stage of the race. Having spent the day in a formidable 10-rider breakaway, the Swiss stayed calm in a hugely confusing finale to neutralize a late attack from Tom Bohli (BMC) and hold off both his breakaway companions Andrey Amador (Movistar) and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) and the fast approaching sprinters to take his sixth stage win in just three years. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) retained his 19-second advantage over Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) while his teammate Ion Izagirre completed the podium.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Nairo Quintana: I hope to keep the Romandie-Tour legend alive

After Sunday's 177km from Ollon to Geneva, Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) notched up overall success in the 70th Tour de Romandie. It marks the sixteenth win of the 2016 season, Betancur's in Asturias was the 17th, crowning an impressive last month for the Blues with eleven victories in only 29 days.

 

Following a long, successful breakaway by Andrey Amador, only beaten by local hero Michael Albasini (OGE) over the line, Quintana and his team-mates were able to celebrate their tremendous results of the week, the yellow (Quintana) and green (Ion Izagirre) jerseys, the teams' classification, a third spot overall for Ion Izagirre and the undisputed lead of the race from start to finish - yet with Izagirre absent. The Basque allrounder crashed in the final kilometre and was moved by ambulance with blows over his body and a cut to his lip, and couldn't attend the podium ceremony. Checkups ruled out any major injuries.

 

Romandie joins from today the list of WorldTour stageraces claimed by the Movistar Team, now only missing the Tour Down Under in their glorious palmarès. It's also the end to a memorable early campaign for Quintana, for the fourth time on the overall podium in as many multi-day events he's ridden since January - 3rd in San Luis, winner of the Volta a Catalunya, 3rd again in the Vuelta al País Vasco. A boost of morale before he heads back to Colombia in order to keep preparing himself for the quest of the Yellow Dream.

 

"It wasn't a calm day at all,” he said. “I was feeling a bit nervous due to the weather. It was so cold in the early morning, we even woke up to snow in our hotel. It's not easy to defend oneself in such a situation, you start the stage unprepared and require more time to get into the right temperature. However, the team was at the correct place all the time, the forecast changed a bit and things ended up well. It's a bittersweet day, since Ion crashed and couldn't join us for the podium. Let's hope it's nothing serious for him.

 

“At times this victory seemed like it would be way harder to claim than it was at the end, especially before the TT, considering how strong our rivals for that day we thought they would be compared to us. Fortunately, both in Sion and yesterday in Villars my legs responded well; the team was fantastic all week and we covered the final stage without any complications. Compliments for what they did in Romandie are more than deserved and I've won this one thanks to their tireless effort.

 

“But we must not relax. The Romandie win gives us confidence and calmness, and the whole group is strong, so no matter who we bring to the Tour, we'll be well protected. However, things can change before July and surely our rivals will bring powerful squads to the Tour. We will be just one team between many contenders.

 

”You ask me about the myth about one winning Romandie and going on to win the Tour - I hope that legend is true, so we can make the 'Yellow Dream' become real.

 

"I was glad to see all the Colombians happy for what I did this week, both those at home and the ones joining us here in Switzerland. This passion and excitement we always put at everything we do is a way to show the beautiful side of our country. This victory is a tribute to all of them.

 

”Now I'm heading home to stay with my family for some weeks and train in Colombia before the Tour. Later on, we will decide which race suits me best for the month of June. Why not riding the Tour de Suisse? I like this country, they've always treated me well here. I've still not decided what to do, though.

 

”What is clear to me is we've got a goal, we know how to work for it and we don't have to worry about what others do. We'll do our thing as good as we can so we can reach the start of the Tour in the best possible condition.

 

“I won the Tour of Catalonia and the Tour de Romandie in bad weather and it will be hot during the Tour de France.  I've done good performances on several races where it was very hot, especially the Tour, and I confess now that I prefer heat over the cold. I was a little nervous because of the weather forecast. It was very cold this morning and was had snow close to the hotel. It is never easy to defend a leader's jersey in the rain and in the cold. In the end the team was in a good mood, the forecasts changed slightly and it favored us.

 

“This is a race that I like and that is part of my preparation for the Tour de France. I will return next year. There are beautiful roads, good hotels with good food. This year we came with a great team like always. I'm just a little disappointed that my teammate did not join me on the podium because of the crash in the final that put him in a bad state.

 

“The years pass and I learn every time. It is true that this year I am calmer and I do my best efforts and it is noticeable every season that I mature. I hope to maintain this form now and get in condition for the Tour.

 

"Yesterday Froome proved that he is ready. He was superior to his rivals in the breakaway. We saw that he had a high level and that his form was getting better. He has been protagonist of a long breakaway that we couldn’t catch. This shows his strength and confirmed his quality.

 

Michael Albasini: Believe me, it is not simple to win here three years in a row

Swiss rider Michael Albasini has continued his excellent record of stage wins at the Tour de Romandie for Orica-GreenEDGE by taking a stunning victory on stage five today after spending most of the day leading a ten-man breakaway.

 

Having won five stages in his home race over the past two years, today's final stage win made it three consecutive years of success and also saw Albasini walk home with the green jersey for the points classification. After an agonisingly close second place at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and a third place on the first stage of Romandie, Albasini was happy to finally capitalise on his strong form.

 

“I heard on the race radio that the gap was 17seconds so I didn’t expect to see the BMC guy come flying past me but I thought his effort may die in the last 500metres," Albasini said. “I launched my sprint a bit early with around 400metres to go and thankfully it was just about enough.

 

”It’s been a tough week but I’m really happy with today’s result and the team have ridden well throughout the race.

 

"After catching Tom Bohli (BMC), I took the risk of launching the sprint very early. This is my sixth win in the last three editions, I'm very happy. It was fantastic. From the outside it looks easy, but believe me, it is not simple.

 

"It's always nice to win of course. When you're a professional cyclist, your goal is always to win. In the end I succeeded. I'm really happy. During this time I was really good, but I missed the victory and to get it here is fantastic.

"I did not expect that the group would catch us and I was surprised to see Bohli past me. I thought it was a sprint between the escapees, but in the end everything changed. At that point, I risked everything by doing an early sprint, giving the opportunity to the riders behind to hold my wheel. But in the end, I had the best legs. As in the first stage, I did a long sprint and this time it went well.

 

"I had tired legs and even a tired. I only wanted to get to Geneva because the family was there. Initially I did not think about or even attacking. Then I saw my teammates get busy and I told myself that I should do something. In the end, everything went perfectly. "

 

Despite the difficult conditions throughout the week-long race the team achieved their objective of winning a stage and giving oppurtunities to young riders such as Damien Howson and Jack Haig.

 

Howson was the team’s best placed rider in the overall general classification in 16th position behind race winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar), rounding off an excellent week for the 23-year-old Australian who also spent a day in the best young rider's jersey.

 

Sport director Neil Stephens was proud of the team’s performance over the course of the race.

 

“It was a fantastic day for us today, Michael (Albasini) really produced the goods," said Stephens. "He was out front all day long and we were actually preparing to put Daryl (Impey) into position for the sprint when Michael attacked again and held on for the win.

 

“We started the day with the objective of maintaining Damien’s (Howson) position on the overall and we ended going one better and Damien moved up two places to finish 16th overall.”

 

“Obviously it’s a very difficult race,” continued Stephens. “The parcours and the weather combined to make the conditions quite brutal but we have performed superbly as a team.

 

“It’s a great feeling to be going away from the race with a stage win, the points jersey and a 23-year-old in the top twenty of the general classification keeping company with some of the best riders in the world.”

 

Lucky Thibaut Pinot escapes late crash on final day in Romandie

"I was not far from the guy who crashed 500 meters from the line. It was close,” Pinot told L’Equipe. “The balance is very good. Second behind Quintana is great. I prefer to win the time trial than a mountain stage, because this is an area where I work a lot. It makes me want to persevere.”

 

Wilco Kelderman bounces back from disappointment with great ride in Romandie

Wilco Kelderman fought all day in an escape today and rewarded himself with third place in the final stage of the Tour de Romandie. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s leader just stayed in front of the peloton, but could not stop Michael Albasini (Orica - GreenEDGE) and Andrey Amador (Movistar). Moreno Hofland sprinted to fifth.

 

“We’re ending this Tour de Romandie with a little bit of a better feeling after this stage,” Sports Director Frans Maassen said. “We knew that it was a 50 per cent chance today that the breakaway was going to make it and Wilco Kelderman acted on that very well. You must be a little lucky, but he was in the right place at the right time.”

 

Wilco Kelderman was thinking about this breakaway already when he eased off in Saturday’s stage.

 

“But it’s never easy to be in the first group,” he added. “I was in the right break, but I didn’t feel that strong. I wasn’t confident about my chances to make it into the stage’s final, but I almost won eventually. It’s a pity that I wasn’t able to take my chance in the end, but I wasn’t fast enough in the final sprint.

 

"I’m finishing this stage race with a positive feeling anyway. This wasn’t what I came for obviously, but it went wrong already in the prologue. I wasn’t good enough in the end and that’s frustrating. My body had to recover from that crash and that took a lot of energy.”

 

Behind Kelderman, Moreno Hofland delivered a strong final sprint.

 

“Our riders worked hard for Moreno and he delivered a good sprint,” Maassen added. “Besides that, Wilco showed character. It wasn’t for him yesterday, but he reacted on that today.

 

"I’ve seen some good things this week. Steven Lammertink improved and the riders who’re heading towards the Giro d’Italia were able to have a good preparation. Your front man decides what the verdict is in the end and we have to conclude that we wanted more that this final result.”

 

Ilnur Zakarin: I can say that I am ready for the Giro

After a solid week of racing in the 70th Tour de Romandie, Team Katusha riders come away with good condition and solid teamwork before starting the Giro d’Italia next week. Team leader Ilnur Zakarin and co-captain Simon Špilak both showed good legs, racing awareness and competitive spirit as they ended up fourth and 7th on the general classification.

 

“This was a successful week for Team Katusha with two guys in the top ten.  Nobody crashed and nobody is sick. Unfortunately, they took our victory with Ilnur in stage two, but for the rest I am happy with what I saw, especially the condition from him. Also, Simon has been on the podium four times here in Romandie, and he also looked strong here, but maybe not quite on the same level as last year. Now we look forward to the Giro d’Italia. More or less this is our team, and they are such a good group and know how to work well together – we saw that good teamwork yesterday. We are ready,” said team director Dmitry Konyshev.

 

“I am pretty satisfied with my performance here. I wanted to work well here and I succeeded. Now I will have few days of rest and after I will go to Holland for the main race of my season, the Giro d'Italia. I can say I am ready for the Giro. The team was very strong here in Romandie. I had a great support from the guys during the whole week, and I am sure we have a very strong team for the Giro,” said Ilnur Zakarin.

 

Zakarin finished fourth behind classification winner Nairo Qunitana of Movistar. Thibaut Pinot of FDJ (+0.19) and Ion Izagirre (+0.23) rounded out the podium just ahead of Zakarin at 26-seconds. Simon Špilak retained his seventh position at 1.16.

 

As result of the Tour de Romandie, Ilnur Zakarin moved up to 5th place in the UCI WorldTour individual ranking.

 

Small 3-rider Trek team costs strong Niccolo Bonifazio victory in Romandie

Niccolo Bonifazio fell short of the victory by meters as the day's escape group successfully held off the peloton to pinch the top three spots, leaving Bonifazio the best of the bunch, in fourth.

 

A 10–man escape group led stage five for most of the 177 kilometers, until attacks pared it to four with around 15 kilometers remaining. The four worked together and managed to hold off the peloton breathing down their backs.

 

Michael Albasini (Orica GreenEdge) won the sprint and a fast-charging Bonifazio tagged the back wheels of three of the front-runners, but ran out of road to overtake them.

 

"In the final, I was well placed for the sprint, but we couldn't catch the breakaway," explained Bonifazio. "It was hard today because of the cold. Yesterday was also cold, and a very difficult stage and that left us with three riders for today. We did our best; we still tried to win the stage with what we had. My teammates supported me very well, and I want to thank them. I am looking now to the next race – I will try and do a good sprint in the Tour of California."

 

Bauke Mollema finished in the peloton to hold his 9th overall despite feeling under the weather. He managed to take the start and finish the race, a testament to his fighting spirit on a day where the thermometer hovered between three and five degrees Celsius with rain. Julien Bernard was a non-start due to illness that seemed to knock a bunch of riders off the start line Sunday.

 

With only three riders taking the start, Trek-Segafredo had little choice but to play off the work of other teams, and in the end, the peloton was unable to bring back the last relics of the breakaway.

 

"Twenty meters more and Niccolo wins the stage," pointed out director Alain Gallopin. "It’s a pity today that Bauke was sick during the night. We managed the most possible to keep him in the game today.

 

"We missed someone to pull as Julien was also sick and could not start. It was very difficult with the weather here and when you look back at Pays Basque, Catalunya, and now Romandie there was not even one day easy, not one day to relax. I think maybe it's not the best to come here ahead of the Giro. I see today that a lot of guys who are doing the Giro, they stopped.

 

"Our focus this week was to put Bauke top 5 and win a stage. Okay, we were close to both goals: Bauke was 9th and Niccolo 2nd behind Kittel and today close again. It was good to see Bauke riding strong here, and Peter (Stetina) too, he will be good for California. And this young Niccolo… it is only a matter of time for him."

 

Tom Dumoulin: I wanted the victory but fifth place is good

Giant-Alpecin were visible at the front supporting Tom Dumoulin and keeping him out of trouble. In the last km, there was a big crash in the peloton with Johannes Fröhlinger involved. Fortunately, no serious damage was done and he was able to get back on his bike.

 

Georg Preidler was the first to finish for the team in 17th place. The leading position of Nairo Quintana was not threatened during the final stage as he finished in the main group while Dumoulin maintained his 5th position in the general classification.

 

Tom Dumoulin said: “It was a fast stage today with a strong breakaway. We were never in trouble with the other teams taking the responsibility to chase the break. In terms of the general classification, it was never hard day as the team protected me very well and I was always in a good position in the peloton.

 

“Overall the team did a good job throughout the whole week. Fifth in the final general classification is very good. We would have liked a victory but we came here with the GC goal in mind and we succeeded.”

 

“We had only one goal today and that was to protect the GC of Tom,” explained coach Arthur van Dongen. “I think we managed to do that in a positive way and the teamwork of the team was very satisfying. Unfortunately, the only bad note of the day is that Johannes crashed in the last kilometer but as far as we can see he only has lost some skin.”

 

Rui Costa escapes major injury in Romandie crash

It was at thrilling final part of the 5th and last stage of the Tour de Romandie for Rui Costa and Lampre-Merida. The Portuguese champion was involved in a crash which occurred in the final kilometer. Luckily, he did not suffer any consequence and he did not lose seconds in the general classification.

 

Rui Costa obtained 6th place in the overall classification, at 1.12. In the Tour de Romandie, he also was 3rd in the 4th stage and 7th in the 5th stage. For Lampre-Merida, it was very good performance by the Ethiopian champion Tsgabu Grmay, who joined the break.

 

“In the last km, with the confusion of the sprint and the wet roads, I crashed,” Costa said. “They fell in front of me and I could not avoid it. My hip is quite bruised and swollen. It is nothing serious and I do not worry. Overall it was a nervous day with much cold and some rain.

 

“As the crash took place inside the last km we have been assigned the same time as the winner and so I finished in 6th place.”

 

Lampre-Merida is now 11th in the World Tour ranking (189 points).

 

Strong team effort unrewarded for Kristian Sbaragli and Dimension Data in Romandie

The Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka squad were looking to set up Kristian Sbaragli for the sprint and so the African Team took responsibility for the chase. With no help from any other teams, they kept the gap around 2'00" for the majority of the stage.

 

It was only with around 20km to go that a few other teams decided to lend a hand in the chase. Unfortunately, it would be too little too late as Albasini, Amador and Kelderman just survived to take the podium positions respectively. As the peloton came sprinting toward the line, Sbaragli proved to be one of the fastest as he took 3rd from the bunch and 6th on the stage.

 

After doing some solid chase work throughout the stage, Merhawi Kudus would finish with the same time as the main group despite being caught up in a crash with 1km to go. This would mean that the young Eritrean finished the race 17th overall and 3rd in the young rider classification. A promising result as Kudus is set to start his first Giro d'Italia next week.

 

Kristian Sbaragli said:

 

“I was focused on this stage and we did our best to try make it finish in a sprint. The team was amazing and I must say thanks to all of them. In the sprint we just couldn't catch the final 3 riders from the break. I did a good sprint and finished in the first 3 positions from the bunch but it wasn't a podium result.”

 

Merhawi Kudus said:

 

“It was a good week for the team and for me. I did some good training in Eritrea at altitude before this race, preparing for the Giro. I am happy with the sensations I have going into my first Giro.”

 

Sports director Oli Cookson said:

 

“To say it was a tough day is an understatement. The weather conditions were pretty bad from the start. We missed the big break on the first climb, it went away really quickly with some big riders in there. As soon as we knew, we reacted and tried to close the gap. We worked the whole day, the whole team was on the front with each rider doing his turn. Everyone gave all they had right to the end and we saw with the result at the end, Kristian almost catching them on the line.

 

”Of course, we are not happy but we are proud of the spirit, grit and determination shown by the team. No other teams helped us until the last 20km and as we saw, it was a bit late. The whole team should be proud, guys like Songezo Jim pulled, got dropped, came back and then pulled some more. So we are not happy but definitely proud of how we rode this week.”

 

Mathias Frank laments amateur mistake in Romandie

“The race was successful for us given the high level of competition,” Michel Thétaz, founder of IAM Cycling, commented when asked to take stock of his teams participation in the 70th edition of the Tour of Romandie. “We saw we have a united team, and that can give us hope for the rest of the season.”

 

“I made an amateur’s mistake during Saturday’s queen stage by not keeping a jacket with me in order to protect myself from the cold,” admitted Mathias Frank, who still managed to take 8th place at the Tour of Romandie. “However, I will come away remembering all the good sensations I felt throughout the week, excepting of course that last climb where I froze. I will be able to recover, certainly, and return to 100% for the Tour of Switzerland.”

 

IAM Cycling sports manager, Rik Verbrugghe was of two minds when he took some time to analyze the team’s participation at the Tour of Romandie: “On one hand, I am satisfied with the performances of Mathias Frank and Jérôme Coppel, but I did not see everything I expected from the team. There is still a lot of work to do, but the season is far from over.”

 

IAM Cycling will hardly take the trouble to exhale before kicking off in the first grand tour of the 2016 season. The Giro begins Friday, May 6th, in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, and will end May 29th in Turin. The participating riders and staff will already be convening in the Dutch city on Tuesday, May 3rd. 



 

IAM Cycling earned 20 WorldTour points during the Tour of Romandie, which means that the Swiss professional team has acquired a total of 114 points as of May 1st. Mathias Frank recorded 20 points for taking 8th place in the overall classification.

 

Not recovered from the monumental efforts he made on the stage that finished in Villars, Vicente Reynes. had to withdraw from the race before he was able to see the great fountain in Geneva.

 

Tejay van Garderen: It’s been a race of highs and lows

Tour de Romandie wrapped up today with a flat stage from Ollon to Geneva which saw Tom Bohli launch a blistering attack with one kilometer to go before being caught just meters before the line. Bohli crossed the line to finish in eighth place and Tejay van Garderen finished safely in the peloton to hold onto his tenth place on the General Classification.

 

Stage 5 capped off an eventful week of racing, from which the team has experienced highs and lows.

 

Tejay van Garderen said:
 

“It’s definitely been a week of highs and lows but I think I can take a fair bit away from the Tour de Romandie. I had two solid time trial performances and then had a good day on stage 4 to launch the attack with Froome, so I’m happy. It was a good test of the legs and another step towards the Tour de France in July.”

 

Tom Bohli nearly upsets the stars with surprise attack in Romandie

Tom Bohli said:

 

“To be honest I have mixed feelings between being happy and being really disappointed. I’m really happy that I got the chance from the team, that they all trusted me to deliver a good job and that they were prepared to help me. I’m disappointed that it didn’t work out and I really suffered in the last few hundred meters. But the important thing is that I had a good try and know what I need to work on and how to improve. I hope I was able to show the team what I am capable of doing at the WorldTour level.”

 

Yvon Ledanois, Sports Director, added:
 

“During the race meeting we discussed our options and I asked the riders to do what they could. We tried to get in the breakaway with Brent Bookwalter but there were a lot of attacks and strong heads winds so this didn’t work out. We were confident that Tom could do a job in the final with the support of Danilo Wyss and the rest of the team and he did a super job.

 

“The whole team worked really well. We had Brent, Amael Moinard and Peter Velits working on the front with 25 kilometers to go to pull the breakaway back and they did a great job. I think Tom showed what he can do and I’m sure that next year he will be winning a stage like this one.

 

“It was a good week of racing. With Tejay in the top ten on GC and the strength the team showed, we can walk away happy from the race. The guys showed they have a good team spirit.”

 

Jungels and Kittel abandon Tour de Romandie on final day

The 70th Tour de Romandie was one of the toughest stage races of this Spring, not only because of the course, but also due to a serious outbreak of bad weather. Many riders suffered because of it and retired from the event, among those being Luxembourg champion Bob Jungels, third in the Sion individual time trial, and stage 1 winner Marcel Kittel, who came down with a cold following the winter-like weather on Saturday.

 

Carlos Verona was the one who flew the flag for Etixx – Quick-Step on the final day of the Swiss race (Ollon – Geneva, 177.4 km), attacking after less than 20 kilometers from the start. Shortly after, the talented 23-year-old was joined by Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge), Andrey Amador (Movistar), Sander Armee (Lotto-Soudal), Romain Bardet (AG2R), Jerome Coppel (IAM Cycling), Chris Froome (Team Sky), Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida), Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Moreno Moser (Cannodanel). Despite being such a strong group, their maximum advantage didn't exceed 2:30, as they were kept on a leash by a peloton who wanted the stage to end up in a bunch gallop.

 

Inside the final 20 kilometers, as the gap was dropping, the leading group split, only five men managing to stay at the front, Verona – the best placed GC rider of the escapees – being one of those to make the cut. With the finish in Geneva looming on the horizon, they began to play cat and mouse, but no one could take a handful of seconds and go solo. Behind, the peloton was approaching, and came close to fight for the stage, missing on the win for just a matter of meters.

 

Although caught by the pack in the closing meters of stage 5, Carlos Verona still had the energy to mix it up with the sprinters and finished in 9th position, recording his second World Tour top 10 of the season. In the general classification, won by Nairo Quintana (Movistar) ahead of Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and teammate Ion Izagirre, the Etixx – Quick-Step rider was 18th, a strong result which comes as extra confirmation of the improvement he has made since winter.

 

Wanty-Groupe Gobert: We have proved that we can play a role in WorldTour stage races

Wanty-Groupe Gobert took part this for the first time in its history in the Tour de Romandie, a stage race of World Tour-level. With Enrico Gasparotto 21st in the general classification and a top ten result in the first stage, the team can look back with happiness upon the week in Switzerland.

 

"It was a really good test. It confirms the good performances of the previous weeks," sports director Hilaire Van der Schueren said.

 

The Tour de Romandie started with a prologue in the streets of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Enrico Gasparotto was the best finisher with a 17th place at 15 seconds from the winner Ion Izaguirre.

 

"I didn’t want to take too much risk because the roads were not so dry », Enrico Gasparotto reflects.

 

Shortened because of the snow, the first stage was the only chance for the sprinters. The German Marcel Kittel won the stage. With Marco Marcato as a lead-out man, Enrico Gasparotto took the eighth place. Marco Minnaard featured all day long in the chase group.

 

On the second stage, the GC contenders could battle for the first time on the summit finish in Morgins. Nairo Quintana won the stage and got the yellow jersey. Enrico Gasparotto climbed with the best riders and only conceded 1’49” on Nairo Quintana.

 

On day four the Wanty-Groupe Gobert’s riders did not play any important role in the individual time trial in Sion (15,1 km). Enrico Gasparotto lost 1’32” on Thibaut Pinot (FDJ). On Saturday’s queen stage with summit finish in Villars-sur-Ollon it was again very difficult for the riders with the poor weather. Enrico Gasparotto did again a very good job and secured a top 25 GC. 

 

On Sunday’s last stage, Enrico Gasparotto and Dimitri Claeys crashes with many riders in the last few kilometres. They could not sprint for the victory. Wanty-Groupe Gobert had two riders in the first twenty with Marco Marcato, 12th and Gaëtan Bille, 16th. 

 

"I think the top five was possible today. It was a huge opportunity for us. There weren’t many sprinters left in the bunch," Hilaire Van der Schueren regrets.

 

Enrico Gasparotto finishes 21th in the GC. Wanty-Groupe Gobert takes the 12th place in the team classification.

 

"I’m proud of my riders. It is a great result for a first participation. Enrico Gasparotto was of course in form after the Ardennes classics. Guillaume Martin’s performance (42th) is also promising for the future. We dominated some World Tour teams. It shows our strength and our capacity to play a role in World Tour-stage races," Hilaire Van der Schueren concludes.

 

The team Wanty-Groupe Gobert rode the whole week with special helmets to support the Greenhope foundation against cancer.

 

Romain Bardet bounces back from gastroenteritis on final day in Romandie

"Yesterday I really wanted to do my best (despite the gastroenteritis he has suffered from, ed.),” Romain Bardet said. “I still had a bad night. Today I did not have much left. If I had not joined the break at the beginning, I would have stopped in the first feed zone.”

 

Pierre Latour wins white jersey in Tour de Romandie

Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) was 13th overall and best young rider: "I came here to help Romain (Bardet) but he was ill and the goal became the jersey of best young rider. The team did a great job for me to get it.

 

"Initially, my mission was to work for Romain. As he fell sick on Wednesday, I could take my chance. Thursday, after the first mountain stage, I was close to the white jersey. Stéphane Goubert motivated all the team to get the win. 

 

”Everyone has done a great job and on Saturday, I could get it. I really suffered in difficult conditions because it was not easy." 

 

Consistent Sander Armee wins mountains jersey in Romandie

At the top of the climb, the first rider could pick up five points each time, important for Sander Armée who wanted to take home the KOM jersey. In the classification he was only two points down on Quintana. The Belgian had a mission and he managed to join the right breakaway.

 

He was in the company of nine others, among them Amador, Bardet and Froome. On the first climb Armée gained five points and so he became virtual leader of the KOM classification. Also on the second climb he conquered the five points and so his mission was accomplished! Armée already collected important points in the first stage which was shortened due to snow.

 

Armée rode a long time alone in front that day and so he picked up the maximal amount of points on all three climbs of third category. The organisation also noticed his fighting spirit this week and so he was awarded the prize of the most combative rider of the stage race.

 

Sander Armée said:

 

“I didn’t actually plan on winning the combative prize. The goal was to take the king of the mountains jersey because after the first stage, I had a few points in that competition, and at that point, I thought I might be able to take the overall mountains classification. Then I got into the breakaway again, and collected even more points, so that I was only two points short of taking the lead that was held by Quintana.

 

”I knew that today my goal was to add to my tally of points up on the mountain after the 30 kilometre mark, which I was able to do. We went hard in the breakaway, and I ended up staying with the group and taking even more points on the second climb. In the end, I had used up all of my energy and got dropped from the group, but ultimately that didn’t matter, because I had achieved the goal we had planned for today.”

 

After Armée got dropped from the front group Lotto Soudal helped chasing. Albasini, Amador, Kelderman and Verona managed to enter the final kilometre together. A crash created chaos in the peloton. Some riders still came close, but Albasini could win. Unfortunately, there was no stage win for Lotto Soudal on this final day. Rafael Valls is the first rider in the overall ranking, as fourteenth, more than three minutes behind Nairo Quintana.

 

Marc Wauters, sports director Lotto Soudal, said:

 

“This was a good week for the team. Sander rode very well, and he managed to get into the breakaway three times throughout the course of the race, and of he also ended up taking the king of the mountains jersey as well as the overall combativity prize. So this was a great effort from him.

 

”In terms of our other goals at the race, we tried to always bring Tosh into a good position for the bunch sprints. The first time, he finished in fourth position, so that was a good result. We tried the same tactic today as well, however, because there was a crash, we ultimately weren’t able to execute our plan. H

 

”However, I think that the team produced good results this week, particularly with Sander’s victory in the king of the mountains competition as well as the overall combativity prize, so it was a good week for us. “

 

Rafal Majka skips final stage in Romandie

After six challenging days of racing, the Tour de Romandie came to a close today. The race had exposed riders to undulating routes and relentlessly-tough mountain stages, both in good weather and atrocious conditions. On the final day, Pawel Poljanski and Yuri Trofimov were the first Tinkoff riders home in a bunch sprint ended the stage after a long breakaway threatened to stay away until the end, in 36th and 38th positions respectively. With strong performances both individually and as a team, the Tour de Romandie puts the team in a good position to take on the Giro d’Italia.

 

After a hard-fought week working on the GC, the decision was made for Rafal Majka and Ivan Rovny not to start the final day, as Sport Director, Patxi Vila, explained.

 

“After yesterday during the night some of the riders weren’t feeling great and were sick. We took the decision for Ivan Rovny and Rafal Majka not to start so they didn’t go too deep, and then Manuele and Jesus weren’t feeling good during the race so stopped. It was a really hard stage and not worth pressing on. It’s always super hard to stop the race but sometimes you have to be smart and look what is important when you’re not healthy, with the Giro d’Italia just around the corner.”

 

After racing in challenging conditions the rest of the race, the wet and freezing conditions on yesterday’s mountain stage were the tipping point, and this saw many teams withdrawing riders from the race, both during the mountain stage itself, and during today’s final stage, Vila confirmed from the finish.

 

“Until yesterday everything was going as planned but today was the result of the tough day out yesterday. The stage itself was really hard, and the bunch was really small as a lot of riders didn’t start and a lot of guys stopped on the road.”

 

Overall, the Tour de Romandie served as excellent preparation for the Giro d’Italia. With strong performances both individually and as a team, it was clear that the team’s early season training camp had prepared riders well for the first Grand Tour of the 2016 season. Rafal Majka had performed well in his GC race, with the team as a whole working well to deliver the Polish rider to the right position at the right time, as demonstrated by strong finishes on the mountain stages. Additionally, Manuele Boaro’s strong finish in stage 3’s time trial showed individual form that could challenge for the stage wins.

 

After this week’s strong performance, Vila was looking forward to the Giro.

 

“I think the team for the Giro are in good race shape though and on the right path for the race. That’s the main plus point of the race as one of the objectives here was to get ready for the Giro, and with an easy week ahead now they can recover well and be ready for next weekend.”

 

Aggressive Chris Froome: I just wanted to see what would happen if I attacked

Chris Froome continued to work hard and build form at the Tour de Romandie with a day out in the final stage breakaway.

 

The Brit pushed on up the road early into the 177.4-kilometre finale and became a key cog in a 10-man group up the road.

 

With the race heading for a sprint finish in Geneva, Froome dropped back into the bunch in the final kilometres to help with the chase efforts, as Team Sky looked to set up a sprint for Ben Swift.

 

With a crash inside the final kilometre causing carnage and opening up gaps, it was Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) who narrowly held on out front to take the victory.

 

Andrey Amador (Movistar) and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) also prevailed to round out the podium places, with the sprinters arriving on the scene just fractions too late. Swift was caught up in the crash, and despite crossing the line alongside Froome, the Brit headed to hospital post race for checks which ruled out any major injuries

 

With the gap coming down to the break, at 35km Froome launched an acceleration in a bid to string out and reinvigorate the move. But with so many interested teams back in the bunch the gap fell, setting up a thrilling finish.

 

Salvatore Puccio and Geraint Thomas pushed hard on the run-in in a bid to add to Froome's success on Saturday.

 

"We were not sure that this last stage would end in a sprint,” Froome told VeloPro.fr. “We said in the team it would be a good idea to have someone in break. The legs responded well this morning so I thought I would try and see what would happen. "

 

"In the end I think it was a good race weekend for us. I am happy. I hope this race has allowed me to mae a step in my preparation for the Tour. I am now looking forward to taking some rest at home before starting another altitude training camp. In any case, I am on track. "

 

Miguel Angel Lopez left frustrated by cold conditions in Romandie

“I’m young but I know I can already do good things on the climbs,” Miguel Angel Lopez said.

 

“I suffered so much with the low temperature here at Tour de Romandie and this is quite normal for me: I’ve never felt comfortable riding in wet and cold conditions,” explained the Colombian. “It’s a pity because my legs weren’t that bad but I couldn’t express what I wanted to express.”

 

“Let’s leave this race behind us even if it has been a great experience that could be useful in the future, and let’s focus on the next goals of this season: I will ride the Tour de Suisse where I hope for better weather because I would like to demonstrate my real value as a climber. Then I will rest for a couple of weeks and then I will start the preparation for the last part of the season: I could do the Vuelta but, in agreement with the Team Management, we will decide in June after Suisse about this,” concluded Lopez.