EsCiclismo.com · Road Competition · 04/27/2024
Richard Carapaz, Ecuadorian cyclist from the EF-Education-EasyPost team, has won the fourth stage of the 77th edition of the Tour de Romanda, a day considered the queen stage of 151.7 kilometers disputed this Saturday between the Swiss towns of Saillon and Leysin.
In a heart-stopping finish, Carapaz won the high finish at Leysin (1 Cat. with 13.8 km at 6%) ahead of the German Florian Lipowitz (Bora-Hansgrohe). Third, 10 seconds behind the first two, finished Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and fourth, 14 seconds away, Enric Mas (Movistar).
The Spanish cyclist Juan Ayuso, who started as leader after his good performance in the individual time trial, could not maintain the leadership that passed into the hands of Carlos Rodríguez.
Fight for the stage and the general
The Spanish Ral García Pierna (Arka-B&B Hotels), the Portuguese Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), the Dutch Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike) and the French Clment Berthet and Dorian Godon (both from Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) opened the race from the escape of the day.
The ascent to Les Giettes (3 Cat. with 4.1 km at 8.2%), with its summit 45 kilometers from the end, took its toll on the group of adventurers, leaving Clment Berthet alone. Behind, Carlos Rodríguez’s Ineos Grenadiers had noticeably increased the pace, but the lead remained around one minute and 10 seconds.
The Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale cyclist arrived at the foot of the ascent to Leysin with 1 minute of advantage, but the strong pace imposed by an already reduced main group ended his options 5.3 kilometers from the finish.
It was the moment when the roosters began to move, with attacks from Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), among others, while Juan Ayuso began to show signs of weakness.
Carapaz managed to open a gap and appeared on the finish line with a lead of one meter against an offensive Lipowitz, who was about to catch up with the Ecuadorian.
In the general classification, Carlos Rodriguez now leads with 7, 9 and 21 seconds ahead of the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), Florian Lipowitz and the Belgian Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step). Juan Ayuso now occupies fifth place, 27 seconds behind the new yellow jersey.
He Romanda Tour reach its conclusion tomorrow, Sunday, with the dispute of its fifth and final stage, a day of 150.8 kilometers starting and finishing in Vernier. The stage has a moderately undulating profile with a total of 1,607 meters of elevation gain, which could favor sprinters or a small group in the fight for stage victory.
Tour de Romanda 2024 Classifications – Stage 4 [Clasificaciones completas]
Classification of stage 4:
1. Richard Carapaz (ECU/EF Education-EasyPost) – 4:06:03
2. Florian Lipowitz (GER/Bora-Hansgrohe) – mt
3. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP/Ineos Grenadiers) at 0:10
4. Enric Mas (ESP/Movistar) at 0:14
5. Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS/Bora-Hansgrohe) at 0:14
6. Egan Bernal (COL/Ineos Grenadiers) at 0:27
7. Ilan Van Wilder (BEL/Soudal-Quick Step) at 0:31
8. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR/Lidl-Trek) at 0:40
9. David Gaudu (FRA/Groupama-FDJ) at 0:41
10. Cristian Rodríguez (ESP/Arka-B&B Hotels) at 0:44
General classification:
1. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP/Ineos Grenadiers) – 12:22:46
2. Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS/Bora-Hansgrohe) at 0:07
3. Florian Lipowitz (GER/Bora-Hansgrohe) at 0:09
4. Ilan Van Wilder (BEL/Soudal-Quick Step) at 0:21
5. Juan Ayuso (ESP/UAE Emirates) at 0:27
6. Enric Mas (ESP/Movistar) at 0:38
7. Richard Carapaz (ECU/EF Education-EasyPost) at 0:49
8. Lenny Martinez (FRA/Groupama-FDJ) at 0:52
9. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR/Lidl-Trek) at 1:02
10. Egan Bernal (COL/Ineos Grenadiers) at 1:23
Next stage, 5 (last): Vernier – Vernier / 150.8 Km.
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