Rodriguez finishes fifth on queen stage in Romandie

Carlos Rodriguez finished fifth on the fourth stage of Tour de Romandie to move up to sixth on the GC with one stage remaining.

Rodriguez followed an attack up the Thyon 2000 - the final 20km climb of the day -, and kept calm and composed to finish in fifth, 31 seconds behind the winner Lenny Martinez (Bahrain -Victorious).

Geraint Thomas put in a huge effort up the Thyon with 11km to go, while earlier shifts from Michael Leonard, Victor Langellotti and Ben Swift meant Rodriguez was well looked after on the mountainous 128km queen stage.

With 7km remaining, Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) attacked, going clear with teammate Jay Vine, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) and Martinez, with Rodriguez chasing close behind.

Pushing on solo, Rodriguez bridged over to Fortunato and Vine, with Martinez and Almeida 30 seconds up the road.

Rodriguez continued to ride steadily and crossed the line in fifth position to move up eight GC places to sixth, with tomorrow’s 17km time-trial stage the last to be contested.