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Albasini triumphs in the Tour de Romandie’s Stage 1

Albasini's seventh stage win in home tour, Felline still in lead

April 26, 2017
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It was a Swiss winner for a Swiss race on Wednesday, as Orica-Scott’s Michael Albasini prevailed in the first summit finish of the 2017 Tour de Romandie. Albasini earned his second triumph of the season and seventh Tour de Romandie stage victory. Prologue winner Fabio Felline (Italy/Trek) kept the yellow leader’s jersey.


The organizers threw a lot of climbing at the riders straight away, with five categorized climbs, including a Cat. 1 ascent to the finishing town of Champéry. Conditions were wet and cold.


With a profile like that, the route was sure to draw out early protagonists in the King of the Mountains competition. Six riders lit out in a breakaway, and by the first climb at the 40-km mark, they had a 5:30 lead. Sander Armée (Belgium) of Lotto-Soudal took the maximum KOM points on the first two Cat. 3’s of the day. The sextet became a quintet along the way.


The Cat. 2 Vex climb, 8.9-km at 6.3%, was too much for one of the fugitives. At its peak, coming at the 93.8-km mark, the gap was 7:30. This time it was Eritrean Mekseb Debesay of Dimension Data earning the maximum points.


There would be 48-km of descent and flats before the next clamber, a sharp Cat. 3 called La Rasse, 2.1-km of 9.1%. LottoNL-Jumbo, working for the best placed GC contender after the opening prologue, Slovenian Primož Roglič, led the chasing peloton. The gap plummeted and the rain tipped down.

By the foot of La Rasse, the gap was only 2:20. Once more, it was the Belgian getting the better of the Eritrean at the peak. One of the other fugitives, Dutchman Marco Minnaard of Wanty-Groupe Gobert, snagged the day’s second intermediate sprint, as he had the first.

The final climb was 14.5-km in length, but only 4.2% on average. Its steepest slopes came at its beginning. With a 1:30 gap, Debesay tried to tear off on his own once the road tilted up. BMC led the way in the bunch, the team’s pace thinning the numbers.

With six-and-a-half soggy kilometres to go, the break was brought to heel and LottoNL’s Robert Gesink was the first to attack. Six riders were able to go with him.


Orica’s Roman Kreuziger bolted from this new move, but the very streamlined peloton brought the front of the race back together. A further decanting under the direction of Tejay Van Garderen created a leading squad of ten riders. Sky hunted it down.

Roglič then put in a surge. But by then the slopes had mellowed and it was hard to maintain a gap. David Gaudu, the diminutive neo-pro whose acceleration in La Fleche Wallonne unhitched Canadian Michael Woods from the Valverde train on the Muy de Huy, tried one last desperate move all for naught.

But Orica took up the reins and delivered Albasini to the proper spot where he took the victory. Just previous to the Tour de Romandie, Albasini had a fine Ardennes Week, with third in the Amstel Gold Race, fifth in La Fleche Wallonne and seventh in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Hugo Houle was 86th on the day, +3:15.

2017 Tour de Romandie Stage 1
1) Michael Albasini (Switzerland/Orica-Scott) 4:33:10
2) Diego Ulissi (Italy/UAE-Team Emirates) s.t.
3) Jesus Herrada (Spain/Movistar) s.t.
86) Hugo Houle (Canada/AG2R) +3:15

2017 Tour de Romandie GC
1) Fabio Felline (Italy/Trek-Segafredo) 4:39:07
2) Maximilian Schachmann (Germany/Quick Step) +0:08
3) Jesus Herrada (Spain/Movistar) +0:08
82) Hugo Houle (Canada/AG2R) +3:35