Froome fourth in Romandie TT
Saturday 30 April 2016 17:05, UK
Chris Froome rebounded well at the Tour de Romandie with a strong ride to fourth place in the stage three time trial.
Chris Froome rebounded well at the Tour de Romandie with a strong ride to fourth place in the stage three time trial.
After a setback due to a puncture on Thursday, the Brit set an impressive benchmark time of 20 minutes and 30 seconds on the 15.1-kilometre course to briefly occupy the hotseat in Sion.
Bob Jungels (Etixx - Quick-Step) went fractionally quicker to take third on the day, with the GC battle accounting for the top two on the leaderboard.
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) put in his most impressive TT performance to date to claim victory, two seconds ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin). Sixth spot was enough to allow Nairo Quintana (Movistar) to extend his overall lead, with the Colombian heading into the weekend holding a 23-second margin over Pinot.
Geraint Thomas dug deep out on course to retain 14th place overall, now 1:48 back on yellow. Earlier Froome set off with purpose and, on a course featuring 280 metres of climbing, set a strong intermediate split on the climb. Mikel Nieve (55th, 1:22) and Salvatore Puccio (75th, 1:34) were the next men home for Team Sky.
Stage of two halves
"It was a really good effort from Froomey today in the time trial," said Sport Director Nicolas Portal after the stage.
"It was a course of two halves. The climb at the start was key, and then the descent was also really important, so it was not easy to pick the correct gearing. The descent was not particularly technical it was just very, very fast. There were a couple of really quick corners and in a couple of places the fastest line was between two traffic islands. There were just a few guys quicker than Froomey on the climb and then he was able to take some time out of Quintana on the descent. It's all good practice.
"Tomorrow it's a mountain stage so we will speak to the guys and look to make a plan. For us the GC is no longer possible so we'd really like to go and there and try to fight for a stage win. We will see how Froomey and G are feeling during the stage and see what we can do."
