After 5 days of racing in Switzerland, in one of the vital hotly contested editions of the race in years, 23-year-old Carlos Rodríguez emerged victorious on the Tour de Romandie, as he sealed the general victory with a 3rd place end on the queen stage to Leysin.
Having already completed within the top-10 at each the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España in his profession, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was a well-respected GC contender previous to this season and he has continued to go from energy to energy in 2024. Earlier this month, Rodríguez completed second general at Itzulia Basque Nation with a win on the ultimate stage of the race.
The Spaniard’s win within the basic classification on the Tour de Romandie marked the primary general victory of his profession, establishing him as a high contender for his upcoming races for the remainder of the season, together with the Tour de France.
With Geraint Thomas set to race the Giro d’Italia forward of the Tour de France and Egan Bernal focusing solely on the Vuelta a España, Rodríguez has actually staked his declare to guide Ineos Grenadiers at La Grande Boucle this summer season.
Two mountaintop finishes and two particular person time trials meant that the route for this 12 months’s Tour de Romandie was well-suited to the attributes of Rodríguez, however with a number of different succesful riders on the beginning listing, it was all the time going to be a hard-fought battle for the final classification.
RACE SUMMARY
The normal opening prologue was quick and sharp, because the stage winner Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Professional Biking) flew across the 2.28km-long course in underneath three minutes to take the largest win of his profession to date.
Stage 1 eased the riders into the race with a bunch dash, which was received by Dorian Godon in a 1-2 victory for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, as Andrea Vendrame completed second behind his teammate after they moved up late within the finale following a number of makes an attempt from different riders to go clear.
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The primary mountaintop end of the race got here on stage 2, with the ultimate ascent being a Cat-2 climb to Les Marécottes ski resort within the city of Salvan. It was an surprising winner on the day, as Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) took his maiden WorldTour victory in his first race of the season following a protracted break after the cyclocross season.
Vendrame took one other runner-up spot on the stage in a shock end result for the Italian rider, while Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) propelled himself up the general standings with a 3rd place end on the stage, after he bridged throughout to the main duo from the peloton within the ultimate 2.5km.
There nonetheless was not a lot between the favourites within the general standings although, as they went into the 15.5km-long particular person time trial round Oron on stage 3, the place Brandon McNulty (UAE Group Emirates) and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) made it an American 1-2, with McNulty getting the higher of his countryman by 12 seconds.
McNulty’s teammates Felix Großschartner and Juan Ayuso completed third and fourth respectively on the stage, with the younger Spaniard going into the general lead of the race, while Rodríguez, Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Fast-Step) have been the opposite basic classification contenders that managed to crack the top-10.
Stage 4 marked the queen stage of the race with a Cat-1 summit end to the city of Leysin, the place we noticed the favourites go on the assault for the primary time within the race, as Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) set the tempo on the entrance of the primary group for Rodríguez, earlier than Florian Lipowitz (Bora-Hansgrohe) went on the assault with Richard Carapaz (EF Training-EasyPost) in his wheel.
Rodríguez managed to bridge throughout to them, with Ayuso distanced behind and the general lead immediately up for grabs. Carapaz then attacked once more and went solo on the head of the race, as he regarded to ensure himself the stage win.
The Ecuadorian rider held off a late surge from Lipowitz to take the victory, while Rodríguez restricted his losses to simply ten seconds to maneuver himself into the lead of the final classification by simply seven seconds over Vlasov, who completed in fifth place on the stage. Lipowitz additionally moved himself up right into a podium place in third place, an additional two seconds behind his teammate.
The riders confronted torrid climate on the ultimate stage, however with no main climbs on the profile it posed little or no risk to the final classification. Ultimately, the stage resulted in a bunch dash, the place Godon took his second stage win on the race, which additionally gave him the victory within the factors classification, while Rodríguez completed safely within the peloton to seal his general victory.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION – TOUR DE ROMANDIE 2024
1. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers, in 15:44:46
2. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe, +7s
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, +9s
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Fast-Step, +21s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Group Emirates, +27s
6. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar, +38s
7. Richard Carapaz (Eu) EF Training-EasyPost, +49s
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +52s
9. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Lidl-Trek, +1:02
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:23
