Rusty Woods finishes 17th in Tour de Romandie after concluding time trial

Having vaulted up to 11th after Saturday’s queen stage, Michael Woods clung to the top-20 after Sunday’s concluding uphill time trial. Woods was 13th in his last WorldTour stage race, Itzulia Basque Country. Last season, Woods went into the final time trial in the leader’s jersey and was fifth overall at its conclusion. Alexandr Vlasov’s first season riding for Bora-Hangrohe continued to be a hot one, as he snatched the GC crown from Rohan Dennis with the stage victory. Vlasov won the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in February, came fourth in the UAE Tour and placed third in La Flèche Wallonne.

Rohan Dennis arrived at Sunday’s stage with a 15-second gap over Juan Ayuso and 18 seconds over Alexandr Vlasov.

The Course

After a flat 6 km approach, the climb was 10.2 kilometers long at 8 percent.

Despite being just 15.8km long, the #TDR2022 ITT will be one of the hardest stages against the clock of the year and has the potential to open up some significant gaps between the general classification contenders. pic.twitter.com/2eWO5Fv2Xa

— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) May 1, 2022

Hoping to stay in the top-20 Michael Woods stopped the clock with 36:25. In the end, his time was 31st fastest.

At the end of the day, Michael Woods had to settle for 17th place in the GC. Paddy Bevin finished in 16th place on the stage.
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?? #TDR2022 pic.twitter.com/6Fhb5koVi6

— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) May 1, 2022

With Simon Geschke leading the race at 34:11, Vlasov set the best intermediate time, Dennis 28 seconds slower at the time check.

Vlasov drew close to his two-minute man, Ben O’Connor, as the finish line approached. The Bora-Hansgrohe rider then knocked Geschke off the hot seat with 33:40. Dennis won’t be pleased with the 22nd fastest time that saw him tumble to eighth on GC.

The next WorldTour stage race is the first Grand Tour of the season, the Giro d’Italia, which begins on Friday in Budapest, Hungary.

2022 Tour de Romandie Stage 5
1) Alexandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) 33:40
2) Simon Geschke (Germany/Cofidis) +0:31
3) Gino Mäder (Switzerland/Bahrain-Victorious) +0:35
31) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +2:45

2022 Tour de Romandie Final GC
1) Alexandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) 18:00:59
2) Gino Mäder (Switzerland/Bahrain-Victorious) +0:50
3) Simon Geschke (Germany/Cofidis) +0:55
4) Juan Ayuso (Spain/UAE-Emirates) +1:22
5) Ben O’Connor (Australia/AG2R-Citroën) +1:47
6) Damiano Caruso (Italy/Bahrain-Victorious) +1:51
7) Steven Kruijswijk (The Netherlands/Jumbo-Visma) +1:52
8) Rohan Dennis (Australia/Jumbo-Visma) +1:54
9) Luke Plapp (Australia/Ineos Grenadiers) +2:08
10) Einer Rubio (Colombia/Movistar) +2:13
17) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +3:14