The summit finish at Salvan/Les Marécottes made a first, slight selection among the favourites on Thursday. The GC men didn’t put on a fight in the second stage of the Tour de Romandie, and about fifteen of them finished together sixteen seconds behind Thibau Nys, a winner from the early break. Lenny Martinez (10th) and David Gaudu (18th) secured their position up front. The youngest now sits sixth place overall, his teammate seventeenth, while a decisive time trial awaits them on Friday.
The GC contenders faced a first test this Thursday in Romandie. After more than 160 kilometres, the climb of Salvan/Les Marécottes (7.6 km at 7.5%) was supposed to create some differences between them. Beforehand, a breakaway including Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Roger Adria (Bora-hansgrohe), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R), Sean Flynn (DSM-firmenich PostNL), Nikias Arndt (Bahrain Victorious) and Xabier Azparren (Q36.5) managed to go clear and get a six-minute lead. Seventy kilometres from the finish, the riders tackled the first – and penultimate – climb of the day, towards Les Mosses, and the gap was reduced to three minutes. A long valley then loomed to reach the final climb, and the Groupama-FDJ team took its responsibilities and positioned itself at the head of the peloton. “First of all, we wanted to be careful because we knew the Col des Mosses, and we sometimes witnessed some splits on the descent,” explained Jussi Veikkanen. “Then, there were twenty-seven kilometres of valley between Aigle and the last climb. The bunch miscalculated a bit because the tailwind was stronger than expected, so the breakaway managed to resist”. The fugitives then take on the final ascent with a lead of two minutes and thirty seconds.
“We are in a very good situation”, Jussi Veikkanen
The selection slowly occurred in the bunch, even though the latter was still quite big halfway up through the climb. The last men from the break still had a one-minute lead three kilometres from the summit, while the attacks were just beginning in the pack. Simon Yates and Oscar Rodriguez went for it, and Lenny Martinez followed every time. “It was very fast on the climb, but it was quite rolling, so there were still quite a few riders there,” explained the young man. “I tried to follow the attacks a bit, but I thought that someone was going to go on the flatter portion, which is exactly what Luke Plapp did.” The Australian went clear from the rest of the pack, caught the last three leaders one kilometre from the line, and was able to compete for victory sixteen seconds ahead of the rest of the favorites. Thibau Nys eventually took the stage and the yellow jersey, while Lenny Martinez (10th) and David Gaudu (18th) finished with their rivals. “We expected more moves before the time trial,” said Jussi. “In the end, it didn’t happen. That’s racing.” “It was a single climb, and no one managed to make any difference because everyone was more or less at the same level since we arrived fresh at the bottom,” explained David. “It was a first test and I’m happy I could follow. I had decent legs and the team did a great job positioning us.”
“It exploded a bit at the end, but I think the climb wasn’t steep or long enough to make a difference,” added Lenny. “I followed the wheels and tried to sprint. I still had good legs in the last kilometre, that’s a good sign”. The young climber now is sixth overall, twenty-seven seconds behind Nys, while his Breton teammate is seventeenth, thirty-four seconds back. “The first half of the Tour de Romandie is done,” Jussi said. “We are in a very good situation currently with our two leaders. We must now focus on tomorrow’s time trial which will make real gaps. Then there will be a really hard mountain stage on Saturday.” “The time trial will establish an initial hierarchy, then Saturday’s stage will surely suit me better than today with the fatigue and a longer final climb,” David added. “I can’t wait to see how the legs will be tomorrow, and we’ll see after the time trial where I’m at,” Lenny concluded. The race against the clock will be held in Oron, over fifteen kilometers and across a bumpy course.
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