03 May 2019
Unlucky Thomas misses out late on
Related riders
Geraint Thomas
Tour de Romandie stage three: Romont-Romont, 160km.
Geraint Thomas dropped down one place to fifth overall at Tour de Romandie after suffering an unfortunate start and end to stage two.
Thomas recovered from an early crash which saw him tumble after another rider fell infront of him, then in the finale he was forced to take evasive action to avoid a crash in the final sprint, which saw him unclip from his pedal and lose three vital seconds overall.
With the General Classification picture so tight, it was an unfortunate end to an otherwise positive day for the 2018 Tour de France winner, who looked strong on the final climb to and was contesting the stage when his seconds setback struck.
Thomas recovered from an early crash which saw him tumble after another rider fell infront of him, then in the finale he was forced to take evasive action to avoid a crash in the final sprint, which saw him unclip from his pedal and lose three vital seconds overall.
With the General Classification picture so tight, it was an unfortunate end to an otherwise positive day for the 2018 Tour de France winner, who looked strong on the final climb to and was contesting the stage when his seconds setback struck.
Elissonde pushing forward in the break
Xabier Zandio
"G is looking forward to a tough test tomorrow and is confident and focused ahead of Saturday's big stage and Sunday's TT."
Earlier, Kenny Elissonde had put Team INEOS on the front foot by joining the early break on the 160km test.
Elissonde was joined by Nikita Stalnov (Astana), Michael Storer and Lennard Kamna (both Team Sunweb), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Merida), Andrey Amador (Movistar) and Michael Albasini, until the Mitchelton-Scott rider returned to the peloton with 100km remaining.
Elissonde was joined by Nikita Stalnov (Astana), Michael Storer and Lennard Kamna (both Team Sunweb), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Merida), Andrey Amador (Movistar) and Michael Albasini, until the Mitchelton-Scott rider returned to the peloton with 100km remaining.
The group worked hard together until Team Lotto-Jumbo pushed the pace on the front of the peloton and closed the gap to protect Primoz Roglic's leader's jersey.
Ahead of the final categorised climb, Thomas De Gendt attacked from the reduced bunch with less than 10km remaining, but was unsuccessful which allowed Thomas to counter following strong work from Dylan van Baarle to lead him out.
Ahead of the final categorised climb, Thomas De Gendt attacked from the reduced bunch with less than 10km remaining, but was unsuccessful which allowed Thomas to counter following strong work from Dylan van Baarle to lead him out.
Thomas led the GC contenders onto the final kick to the line, then slowed the pace as he anticipated the sprints to come from his competitors. Once the attacks reigned in, Thomas was able to react, but was forced to take evasive action to avoid Michael Woods' (EF Education First) wheel, which stalled his sprint and saw him lose valuable seconds in a very tight GC battle.
Reaction
DS Xabier Zandio
"Geraint had a crash in the beginning of the race on a small downhill when a Mitchelton-Scott rider fell infront of him. However, it did not affect him much, he was absolutely fine and was able to continue without any issues.
"In the final, G was feeling good and when he was sprinting he was close to Woods and Rui Costa and, I think Woods came closest to him, which forced Geraint to take his foot out of the pedal to balance. He recovered and continued to sprint but it meant he lost three seconds.
"He is looking forward to a tough test tomorrow and is confident and focused ahead of Saturday's big stage and Sunday's TT."
DS Xabier Zandio
"Geraint had a crash in the beginning of the race on a small downhill when a Mitchelton-Scott rider fell infront of him. However, it did not affect him much, he was absolutely fine and was able to continue without any issues.
"In the final, G was feeling good and when he was sprinting he was close to Woods and Rui Costa and, I think Woods came closest to him, which forced Geraint to take his foot out of the pedal to balance. He recovered and continued to sprint but it meant he lost three seconds.
"He is looking forward to a tough test tomorrow and is confident and focused ahead of Saturday's big stage and Sunday's TT."
