Tour de Romandie 2018 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

April 29, 2018

Tour de Romandie 2018 – Stage 5 – Mont-sur-Rolle – Genève : 181,8 km

The 72nd edition of the Tour de Romandie has attracted an impressive field with defending champion Richie Porte lining up alongside a strong BMC Racing squad that includes Tejay van Garderen and Rohan Dennis. 



In a repeat of last year’s race, the Tour de Romandie begins with a short individual test against the clock. There are few opportunities for the sprinters, with the route heavily stacked towards the GC contenders and strong all-rounders. There may not be any true mountain summit finishes in the race but every stage, bar the time trials, has over 1,000m of climbing with the queen stage in Sion set to shape the fight for the leader’s jersey. The individual uphill time trial to Villars will be just as important.

Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) has won the overall classification at the Tour de Romandie, beating Team Sky’s Egan Bernal to take the title. Meanwhile, Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) took victory ahead of Michael Morkov (Quick-Step Floors) in a sprint finish in Geneva on the final day of racing.

Roglic had all but sealed his overall success on Saturday’s queen stage when he eked out a couple of extra seconds over Bernal by beating him in the sprint to the line. The final stage did not have the terrain to really test the general classification riders, but the LottoNL-Jumbo rider still had to keep an eye on his rival, particularly in the final when it looked like Bernal might try something before moving off in the final kilometre. As the sprinters battled it out for victory, Roglic eased over the line to take the title by eight seconds over Bernal.

“I think we are all really happy with this win. With the whole team I think that we showed we are really strong, we have really strong guys and it was a pleasure to work with them and to win in the end,” said Roglic.

“Every day was a really hard day. I think that the prologue helped to decide things and then the next day was hard, and of course, the mountain time trial and yesterday completed the racing here in the Tour of Romandie. “I was optimistic before [the time trial]. I was really strong before and it was nice to see that I could do a good job.”

Ackermann had been relatively anonymous throughout the Tour de Romandie as he battled to hang on in the mountains. With many sprinters heading home after missing the time cut in Friday’s time trial, the German was one of the major favourites for success on the last day of racing. He was given an inch-perfect lead-out by Rudiger Selig and backed that up with a powerful sprint to take his first win of the season.

“I never will forget it. Two weeks ago after the Amstel Gold Race, I said to my team manager that I will win one stage in Romandie. I’m so happy. It’s amazing,” Ackermann said after the finish. “The team made an amazing job not only today but on the other days because they had to carry me all over the mountains and it was not just about today.

“After yesterday, when we finished the stage we said now we win tomorrow. I had the best lead-out man in the race and he did an amazing job and the rest of the team did an amazing job. It was perfect. It was horrible the last days, I was dying every day but my team said we have to go and we made it to the finish.”

How it happened

After a relentless mountain stage on the penultimate day of action, the organisers allowed for a stage for the sprinters to close out the race. It wasn’t a straightforward day for the fast men, with three categorised climbs and undulating roads right until the finish.

Roglic started the day with the yellow jersey still on his back after withstanding multiple attacks from Bernal on stage 4. There’s never an easy day out at the Tour de Romandie but all the Slovenian had to do was finish to be crowned the 2018 champion. His team marshalled the start before eventually allowing five riders to form a breakaway. Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky), Winner Anacona (Movistar), Carlos Verona (Mitchelton-Scott), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) and Michael Storer (Team Sunweb) moved clear after 10 kilometres of racing.

They were allowed to build an advantage of just over 3:30 before the peloton brought it back down to a more manageable 2:45 for the large part of the day. With the three categorised climbs dispatched within the first half of the stage, Bora-Hansgrohe and Bahrain-Merida took over the pace-setting from LottoNL-Jumbo for the remainder of the day.

With 30 kilometres remaining, the gap was hovering at just over a minute before Bahrain-Merida eased up and allowed it to grow out once again. Despite their best efforts, the break was eventually brought back with 11 kilometres to go. The sprint finish seemed inevitable, but EF Education First-Drapac had other thoughts and William Clarke launched a short-lived move with eight kilometres to go.

Once Clarke was back in the fold, the teams shuffled into colour order before the fast sprint into Geneva. Bahrain-Merida did a big turn to position Sonny Colbrelli but the Italian found himself out of position when the other sprinters kicked out. Ackermann had no such bad luck after a great effort from his own team to deliver him into the perfect position. All he had to do was charge for the line and he did that, beating second-placed Morkov by a long way.

Results :
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:09:51
2 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Floors
3 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
4 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
5 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
10 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
11 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
12 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
13 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
14 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
15 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
16 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
17 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky
18 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
19 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
20 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
21 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
22 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
23 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
24 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
25 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
26 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
27 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
28 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
29 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
30 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
31 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
32 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
33 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
34 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
36 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
37 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
38 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
39 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo
40 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
41 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
42 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
43 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
44 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
45 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
46 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
47 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
48 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
49 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
50 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
51 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
52 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
53 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
54 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
55 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
57 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
58 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
59 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky
60 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
61 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
62 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
63 Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
64 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
65 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
66 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
67 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
68 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
69 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
70 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
71 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
72 Stef Clement (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
73 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
74 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
75 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
76 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates
77 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates
78 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
79 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
80 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
81 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
82 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
83 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
84 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
85 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
86 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
87 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
88 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
89 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
90 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo
91 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
92 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
93 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
94 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
95 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
96 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
97 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
98 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:18
99 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:22
100 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:24
101 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
102 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:29
103 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:38
DNF David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky
DNS Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Final General Classification :
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 17:09:00
2 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:08
3 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:35
4 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:16
5 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:23
6 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:32
7 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:02:49
8 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:09
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:12
11 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:22
12 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:03:34
13 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky 0:03:37
14 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:05
15 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:06
16 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:07
17 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team 0:04:11
18 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:15
19 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:04:18
20 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:04:36
21 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:04:37
22 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:47
23 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:50
24 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:54
25 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:05:20
26 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:05:21
27 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:05:53
28 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:06:04
29 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:06
30 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:06:48
31 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:53
32 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:21
33 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:07:22
34 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:07:43
35 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:07:51
36 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:11:03
37 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:11:14
38 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:15
39 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:11:47
40 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:11:57
41 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates 0:12:33
42 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:12:56
43 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:13:07
44 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:26
45 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:14:18
46 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:24
47 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:14:39
48 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:46
49 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:15:32
50 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:15:39
51 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
52 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:16:42
53 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:17:17
54 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:18:13
55 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:19:06
56 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:19:08
57 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:20:38
58 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:21:23
59 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:23:33
60 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:23:36
61 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:24:30
62 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:24:50
63 Stef Clement (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:25:06
64 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:25:46
65 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:26:13
66 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:27:17
67 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:27:39
68 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:27:44
69 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:27:48
70 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:29:41
71 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:31:09
72 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:31:56
73 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 0:32:23
74 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:33:13
75 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:35:55
76 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:37:39
77 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:38:19
78 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:38:44
79 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Floors 0:40:08
80 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:40:46
81 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:41:02
82 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:41:07
83 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:41:35
84 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:43:04
85 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:44:19
86 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:45:29
87 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:45:48
88 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:46:23
89 Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:47:45
90 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:49:06
91 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:49:57
92 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:54:26
93 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:55:07
94 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:55:51
95 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:57:24
96 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:59:34
97 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
98 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 1:01:45
99 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:07:15
100 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:07:27
101 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:07:28
102 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data 1:07:50
103 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo 1:08:40