Richard Carapaz wins the queen stage in the Tour de Romandía with Egan Bernal 6th and Carlos Rodríguez as new leader – Mundo Ciclístico Magazine

The queen stage of Tour of Romandie 2024 was left in the hands Richard Carapazafter being the strongest in the tour of 151.7 kilometers between Saillon and Leysin. The Ecuadorian remained ahead of the German Florian Lipowitz in the final meters and achieved his second victory of the season after the one obtained in the Colombia Tour.

The Spanish Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) He entered third and snatched the leader’s jersey from his compatriot Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates)who lost a lot of ground in the final part and finished in 11th place, 44 seconds behind the winner.

As for the Colombians, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) He had an outstanding performance, finishing in 6th place after doing a great job for his teammate Carlos Rodriguez. Another of those who arrived with the best was Iván Ramiro Sosa (Movistar Team)who reported in box 17 at 1:32.

After the time trial on Friday, the fourth stage had the mountains as the protagonist with the climb to Leysin of final judge (13.4 km at 6.1%), that were definitive in selecting the group of favorites.

In the first stages of the race they attacked, Nelson Oiveira (Movistar), Raúl García Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Bart Lemmen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). They were joined a little later Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Joseph Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step) and Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R), which had to go through the Ovronnaz (9.1 km at 9.5%)the first climb of the day.

In closing, Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) He tried it alone, but INEOS Grenadiers took command in the platoon in Les Rives (9.6 km at 5.4%)a second category climb and prevented the Frenchman from distancing himself.

However, the advantage of Berthet on the platoon was very limited. Thanks to the pursuit of Thymen Arensmanthe corridor of the Decathlon AG2R reached the top of Les Giettes (4.1 km at 8.3%) with a lead of one minute and twenty seconds. This was the penultimate climb of the day, with the summit 45 kilometers from the finish line. On that same slope, Luke Plapp he had to let the other favorites go.

On the journey towards the final climb, Berthet held firm, but with only a minute lead, it was an impossible mission to stay ahead of the favorites. Still, he bravely defended himself. The platoon, led by Ineosapproached little by little and five kilometers from the finish, the adventure of the French runner term.

Minutes later, Egan Bernal attacked and immediately opened a gap with his rivals. Ayuso did not have an immediate response. While Rodriguez He saw that his compatriot was struggling and went to the wheel of the Colombian, who worked tirelessly for the Spaniard. Ayuso recovered and was able to reach themlike Pavel Sivakov, Richard Carapaz, Aleksandr Vlasov, Florian Lipowitz, Enric Mas and Ilan Van Wilder.

About three kilometers from the end, Lipowitz changed pace and alone Carapaz and Rodriguez They were able to follow the surprising German. While Ayuso couldn’t keep up and stayed.

Less than 2,000 meters from the finish line, Carapaz attacked and stepped on the accelerator fully. The Ecuadorian stayed ahead of his rivals, but a few meters from the finish he saw how the German Florian Lipowitz He was approaching him, however, the German could not pass him and entered behind the South American.

Tour of Romandie 2024 (2.UWT)
Stage 4 results | Saillon – Leysin (151.7 km)

Individual General Classification