Michael Woods sixth in Tour de Romandie’s queen stage, moves up to 11th on GC
Bora-Hansgrohe takes the one-two on Swiss summit finish
Photo by:
Sirotti
Michael Woods earned his best stage race result of 2022 with sixth place in Saturday’s queen stage of the Tour de Romandie, a race he led last season. While Bora-Hansgrohe pulled off the one-two on the Swiss summit finish, Rohan Dennis remained in charge, leading the race with Sunday’s time trial remaining. Jumbo-Visma’s Australian is a two-time chrono world champion.
Sixth place for @rusty_woods on the line!
? “I didn’t have more left in the legs.”
____
?? #TDR2022 pic.twitter.com/OTGcHDhWcq— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) April 30, 2022
The Course
There were several Cat. 1 and Cat. 2 climbs on the way to the final ascents of the day. The last climb was like a staircase, starting with Cat. 1 Les Pontis (7.8 km at 6.2 percent), and then Grimentz (6.2Km at 7.1 percent), before the final haul to Zinal, 3.9 km at 5.2 percent.
It's not just the longest stage of #TDR2022, it's also the toughest one, with the roads between Aigle and Zinal packing six classified climbs and a demanding uphill finish. pic.twitter.com/dm7eiGBcno
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) April 30, 2022
A quality, dozen-strong breakaway bounced away early in the stage before Nax, the first Cat. 1 of the day. Latvian fugitive Toms Skujiņš (Trek-Segafredo) was on a mission: to yank the King of the Mountains jersey away from compatriot Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech). He took maximum points atop the first three Cat. 1s of the day, the third one, Saint-Luc, fragmenting his escape group.
By the foot of Cat. 2 Les Ziettes d’en Bas, Skujiņš’ group was 2:45 ahead of the Jumbo-Visma-led peloton. Quinten Hermans, only 37 seconds behind Rohan Dennis, was in between the break and the yellow jersey (well, teal blue jersey) group. Skujiņš added some more points at the peak.
Gimme Three Steps
When Les Pontis kicked up, the Skujiņš group had a 3:30 advantage. The lead shrank as rain started to fall on the race.
??#TDR2022
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— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) April 30, 2022
Skujiņš couldn’t hang until the peak of Les Pontis. James Knox crested first, 2:00 clear of the field. Twenty kilometres remained.
The first ramps of Grimentz saw the break down to a Spanish duo, with the pack closing in one minute in arrears. Jumbo-Visma continued with the yeoman’s service for Dennis, Woods positioned right behind the race leader. Twenty riders were left. When the Spaniards were hauled back, a Colombian from Movistar rider attacked. The defending champion, Geraint Thomas, dropped away.
The Colombian, Einer Rubio, had only a 7-second gap tipping over Grimentz. Ineos couldn’t dislodge Dennis in the small favourites group. Rubio kept grinding into the headwind. Rubio was caught with 300 metres to go. Higuita attacked on the left with 200 metres remaining and his teammate Vlasov launched on the right for the one-two.
? @HiguitSergio ? @ale_vlasov ?? pic.twitter.com/n6jZjpLTA4
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) April 30, 2022
2022 Tour de Romandie Stage 4
1) Sergio Higuita (Colombia/Bora-Hansgrohe) 4:58:52
2) Alexandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) s.t.
3) Juan Ayuso (Spain/UAE-Emirates) s.t.
6) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) s.t
2022 Tour de Romandie GC
1) Rohan Dennis (Australia/Jumbo-Visma) 17:27:01
2) Juan Ayuso (Spain/UAE-Emirates) +0:15
3) Alexandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:18
11) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +0:47
