Alex Baudin is the new leader of the Tour de Romandie. The Frenchman replaces sprinter Matthew Brennan in the second stage. Italian Lorenzo Fortunato takes the stage win.
01.05.2025, 17:57
SDA
The riders went on the attack on the hilly section with 2800 meters of climbing over 157 km above Lake Neuchâtel. Although the approach to the finish in La Grande Béroche led over 30 flat km along the lake, there was no mass arrival - the sprinters had long since lost touch.
In particular, the team around double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel blew up the field. However, the leader from Belgium was unable to take full advantage of the situation. He missed the breakaway of a group of five around Baudin and Fortunato on the flat, which pulled away by another minute.
Evenepoel mastered the first small chasing group in the sprint and finished sixth on the day. The champion is sixth overall, 52 seconds behind Baudin, and keeps all his options open for the difficult second part of the tour.
Jan Christen, the greatest Swiss hope with regard to the overall classification, did not compete on Thursday despite his good starting position. The rider from Aargau had already felt unfit on Wednesday.
All Swiss riders crossed the finish line on Thursday with a considerable gap.
