Thomas holds station in the rain

02 May 2019

Thomas holds station in the rain

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Tour de Romandie - Stage two: Le Locle - Morges, 174.4km

Geraint Thomas and Team INEOS came through a soaking wet stage two without issue at the Tour de Romandie.

The Welshman was well protected by his team-mates on a tricky day, to remain in fourth place overall. With attention slowly turning to Saturday's queen stage, Thomas sits just 13 seconds back on leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) after a day which saw little movement on the general classification.

Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) pulled off an impressive solo win, driving clear of his breakaway counterparts in the closing stages. Despite a number of top sprinters in the bunch the peloton were unable to put together a cohesive chase effort, eventually coming home 59 seconds down. Ben Swift was the first Team INEOS rider home in 21st as he continues his return from injury.
Xabier Zandio

Xabier Zandio

It was important to avoid the crashes and come through the day without issue. So we’re happy about that.
Reaction

- Xabier Zandio (Sport Director)

"It was a complicated day for the bunch. We expected a few more teams to pull on the front but in the final it didn’t happen. It was important to avoid the crashes and come through the day without issue. So we’re happy about that. 
 
"We’ve got a good position with Geraint for the GC so we have plenty of options going forward. Obviously there's a lot of focus on Saturday but each day it’s important not to lose opportunities. Tomorrow we need to get through the day before the queen stage, then we will see what happens."
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Stage two result:

1. Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) 4:10:59
2. Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) +59"
3. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) s.t.
4. Simone Consonni (UAE-Team Emirates)
5. Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
21. Ben Swift (Team INEOS)

Overall standings:

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 8:32:13
2. Rui Costa (UAE-Emirates) +10"
3. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +12"
4. Geraint Thomas (Team INEOS) +13"
5. Carlos Betancur (Movistar) +14"