In Stage 3, which Dorian Godon won yesterday in a sprint (Tadej finished 4th), Tadej saved the strength of his teammates from UAE Team Emirates – XRG for today’s queen stage of the Tour de Romandie. And they did an excellent job on the 149.6-kilometer test from Broc to Charmey with 3,583 meters of elevation gain.
First, they controlled the breakaway of eight riders, and then on the final climb to Jaunpass (8.1 km, 8.3%) they closed all the way in on Primož Roglič (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and Valentin Paret Peintre (Soudal Quick Step), who were still hanging on at the front. Tadej accelerated 3.2 kilometers from the top of Jaunpass, and only Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) could follow.
The German held on to Tadej’s wheel until the final kilometer of the climb, when Tadej again pushed harder on the pedals and rode away alone toward the finish. But the task wasn’t easy: there were still 17 kilometers of descent and flat to the end of the stage, and Lipowitz didn’t let up. The gap between the two leaders hovered around 20 seconds the whole time, and Tadej rode into the finish 14 seconds ahead of Lipowitz. The rest of the chasers finished more than a minute and a half back.
»It was pure teamwork. We said that if we get over the first two climbs with seven riders, we can go for the stage win. Chapeau to everyone on our team. The first hour was so hard, then they brought the breakaway back on the climb, all my teammates were fantastic. I’m super happy that I could finish it off with a win,« Tadej said after his third win at the 79th Tour de Romandie, adding that his rivals, especially Lipowitz, really put him through his paces.
»The competitors today were very good, very strong. In the end it was hard to drop Florian, he was very strong. He also gave me a hard time on the downhill; it wasn’t easy to keep the gap the same all the time. It wasn’t easy, it was super hard, and I’m happy with my performance today,« Tadej added.
With his seventh win this season and the 115th of his career, he extended his lead in the yellow jersey; Lipowitz, second overall, now trails him by 35 seconds, while third-placed Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) is 2:23 back. The Tour de Romandie will finish tomorrow with another demanding mountain test: in Stage 5 from Lucens to Leysin (178.2 km), the riders will have to overcome 3,487 meters of elevation gain. The winner will be decided by the 14.4-kilometer-long finishing climb to Leysin with an average gradient of 5.9 percent.