Tour de Romandie (final stage)
Colombian leader from Movistar Team struggles into rainy, final TT in Lausanne, ends just over a minute and a half behind surprising winner Ilnur Zakarin (KAT)
Ilnur Zakarin (KAT) claimed overall honours in the 69th Tour de Romandie after solving a mechanical failure and holding off the other main GC favourites in the 17km individual time trial showdown in and around Lausanne. Slovenia’s Simon Spilak and Briton Chris Froome completed a podium unsuccessfully contested by Nairo Quintana, who closed the first part of this 2015 season with an 8th spot overall.
Quintana entered the day’s top-20 into a difficult, technical course, with a flat part followed by a slippery, cobbled ascent into the city, which the rain made more dangerous. At the end, a 1’41” loss took the Colombian rider from the Movistar Team three places down, as Jonathan Castroviejo (7th, back to the fore in ITTs) and Andrey Amador (close to a top-ten finish) led Arrieta and Laguía’s squad.