Looking forward to Queen stage
26 April 2013

Tour de Romandie (st. 3)

Race caravan pending confirmation on Col de la Croix, under snow forecast tomorrow. Meersman (OPQ) takes second sprint win; Costa, Valverde still within top ten

No changes happened in the 2013 Tour de Romandie’s general classification after stage three covered 181 kilometers in and around Payenne, with Belgian Gianni Meersman (OPQ) claiming his second victory of the week after notching up the sprint in Renens last Wednesdya. Movistar Team stays with three of their riders into the best fifteen in the overall: Rui Costa (6th), Alejandro Valverde (9th) and Rubén Plaza (15º), all of them less than half a minute behind race leader Chris Froome (SKY) and part of an elite group that did not feature neither Capecchi, left behind after three days at the front in his comeback race after crashing in Catalunya, nor Szmyd, whose crash in the final slopes of Aumont -15k from the end- left him just seconds from bridging back.

Saturday will see the Swiss race tackling its biggest day: 189km between Marly and Les Diablerets, with the Cat. 1 cols of Les Mosses, Morgins and the Col de la Croix, the latter one being passed twice. However, the race route could be modified by the organisers, into alert due to forecast of cold (temperatures below zero, minimum at -9ºC) and snow in the tops of the climbs. A decision will be taken at mid-evening on Friday, though details might be confirmed only in the hours prior to the race.