Tour de Romandie: Ackermann sprints to victory on final stage; Roglic wins overall

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Pascal Ackermann took the biggest race of his young career when he sprinted to victory on the final stage at the Tour de Romandie. Michael Morkov (Quick-Step Floors) and UAE Team Emirates veteran Roberto Ferrari rounded out the podium for stage honors. Lotto Jumbo’s Primoz Roglic took the general classification win eight seconds in front of Sky’s Egan Bernal, with Richie Porte (BMC) in third.

Final General Classification, Top Ten

• 1. Primož RogliČ, (SLO) TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, in 17:09:00
• 2. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez, (COL) TEAM SKY, at :08
• 3. Richie Porte, (AUS) BMC RACING TEAM, at :35
• 4. Jakob Fuglsang, (DEN) ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:16
• 5. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa, (POR) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 1:23
• 6. Steven Kruijswijk, (NED) TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 2:32
• 7. Rohan Dennis, (AUS) BMC RACING TEAM, at 2:49
• 8. Pierre Roger Latour, (FRA) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 2:49
• 9. Emanuel Buchmann, (GER) BORA – HANSGROHE, at 3:09
• 10. Daniel Martin, (IRL) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 3:12

The final stage proved to be a formality for the overall classification, with the podium unchanged from the previous day. The heavy lifting of Roglic’s first Romandie overall win occurred yesterday when he was forced to respond to searing attacks from Bernal in the final kilometers.

Roglic has emerged as the preeminent week-long stage racer in the past year and his Romandie victory only adds to an already impressive collection of wins. Despite his strong week, the Slovenian cut a subdued figured and downplayed his individual performance in the post-race interview.

“I think we are all really happy with this win. With the whole team, I think that we showed we are really strong, we have really strong guys and it was a pleasure to work with them and to win in the end.”

The impressive performances by both Roglic and Bernal continue speculation about their potential in grand tours. Roglic is currently slated to start the 2018 Tour de France but is currently downplaying any chance at overall victory, citing stage wins as his only goal. With Geraint Thomas looking off his best all week, and Chris Froome facing a possible suspension, Bernal could see his shot at grand tour leadership come much earlier than expected.

Ackermann’s stage win followed a day that saw a group of riders including Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky), Winner Anacona (Movistar), Carlos Verona (Mitchelton-Scott), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) and Michael Storer (Team Sunweb) get clear 10 kilometers into the rolling 182-kilometer course. They built an advantage of just over 3:30 over the peloton but were never given a significant gap that would have imperiled the chances of a sprint finish.

After a valiant fight, the breakaway was reeled in by the peloton with ten kilometers remaining. With no dominate sprinters remaining in the race, the finale was chaotic as Bahrain-Merida tried to control the front of the peloton for their sprinter Sonny Colbrelli, but attacks inside the final kilometer left the Italian boxed with 200 meters to go and Ackermann was allowed to get a clean run at the line and polished it off with an emphatic victory.

Visibly giddy in his post-race interview, Ackermann said he was motivated to win by the work his team had done to nurse him through the high mountains featured throughout the past week, “The team made an amazing job not only today but on the other days because they had to carry me all over the mountains. After yesterday, when we finished the stage we said now we win tomorrow. I had the best lead-out man in the race and he did an amazing job and the rest of the team did an amazing job. It was perfect.”

Stage 5 Full Results

• 1. Pascal Ackermann, (GER) BORA – HANSGROHE, in 4:09:51
• 2. Michael MØrkØv, (DEN) QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00
• 3. Roberto Ferrari, (ITA) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00
• 4. Timothy Dupont, (BEL) WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00
• 5. Rüdiger Selig, (GER) BORA – HANSGROHE, at :00
• 6. Sonny Colbrelli, (ITA) BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 7. Benjamin Thomas, (FRA) GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00
• 8. Jens Keukeleire, (BEL) LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 9. Michael Albasini, (SUI) MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00
• 10. Samuel Dumoulin, (FRA) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
• 11. Antoine Duchesne, (CAN) GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00
• 12. Tom Bohli, (SUI) BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 13. Danilo Wyss, (SUI) BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 14. Baptiste Planckaert, (BEL) TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00
• 15. José GonÇalves, (POR) TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00
• 16. Merhawi Kudus, (ERI) TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00
• 17. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez, (COL) TEAM SKY, at :00
• 18. Pierre Roger Latour, (FRA) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
• 19. Tobias Ludvigsson, (SWE) GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00
• 20. Pavel Kochetkov, (RUS) TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00
• 21. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul, (ERI) TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00
• 22. Sander Armee, (BEL) LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 23. Xandro Meurisse, (BEL) WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00
• 24. Hugo Houle, (CAN) ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 25. Guillaume Martin, (FRA) WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00
• 26. David Gaudu, (FRA) GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00
• 27. Rudy Molard, (FRA) GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00
• 28. Alex Dowsett, (GBR) TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00
• 29. Nathan Brown, (USA) TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00
• 30. Dayer Quintana, (COL) MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 31. Joseph Rosskopf, (USA) BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 32. Primož RogliČ, (SLO) TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 33. Lucas Hamilton, (AUS) MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00
• 34. Emanuel Buchmann, (GER) BORA – HANSGROHE, at :00
• 35. Daniel Felipe Martinez Poveda, (COL) TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00
• 36. Remy Mertz, (BEL) LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 37. Andreas Schillinger, (GER) BORA – HANSGROHE, at :00
• 38. Fabien Doubey, (FRA) WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00
• 39. Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay, (ETH) TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 40. Steven Kruijswijk, (NED) TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 41. Maxim Belkov, (RUS) TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00
• 42. Kristijan Đurasek, (CRO) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00
• 43. Odd Christian Eiking, (NOR) WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00
• 44. Jakob Fuglsang, (DEN) ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 45. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa, (POR) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00
• 46. Silvan Dillier, (SUI) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
• 47. Axel Domont, (FRA) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
• 48. Richie Porte, (AUS) BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 49. Thomas Degand, (BEL) WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00
• 50. Andrey Amador, (CRC) MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 51. Eduardo Sepulveda, (ARG) MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 52. Pierre Rolland, (FRA) TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00
• 53. Jesper Hansen, (DEN) ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 54. James Shaw, (GBR) LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 55. Jaime Roson Garcia, (ESP) MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 56. Tejay Van Garderen, (USA) BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 57. Rohan Dennis, (AUS) BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 58. Nico Denz, (GER) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
• 59. Jonathan Castroviejo, (ESP) TEAM SKY, at :00
• 60. Tanel Kangert, (EST) ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 61. Eros Capecchi, (ITA) QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00
• 62. Gorka Izaguirre Insausti, (ESP) BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 63. Matteo Bono, (ITA) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00
• 64. Hermann Pernsteiner, (AUT) BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 65. Simon Špilak, (SLO) TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00
• 66. Damien Howson, (AUS) MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00
• 67. Léo Vincent, (FRA) GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00
• 68. Julien Bernard, (FRA) TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 69. Nicholas Dlamini, (RSA) TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00
• 70. Daniel Martin, (IRL) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00
• 71. Brendan Canty, (AUS) TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00
• 72. Stef Clement, (NED) TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 73. Kilian Frankiny, (SUI) BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 74. Jaco Venter, (RSA) TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00
• 75. Andrey Grivko, (UKR) ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 76. Anass Ait El Abdia, (MAR) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00
• 77. Jhon Darwin Atapuma Hurtado, (COL) UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00
• 78. Alexis Gougeard, (FRA) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
• 79. Pawel Poljanski, (POL) BORA – HANSGROHE, at :00
• 80. Rob Power, (AUS) MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00
• 81. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski, (USA) TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00
• 82. Mathias Frank, (SUI) AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
• 83. Mikel Nieve Iturralde, (ESP) MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00
• 84. Laurens Ten Dam, (NED) TEAM SUNWEB, at :00
• 85. Matteo Fabbro, (ITA) TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00
• 86. Geraint Thomas, (GBR) TEAM SKY, at :00
• 87. William Clarke, (AUS) TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00
• 88. Nicola Conci, (ITA) TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 89. Jon Izaguirre Insausti, (ESP) BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 90. Gregory Daniel, (USA) TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 91. Kristijan Koren, (SLO) BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 92. Pavel Sivakov, (RUS) TEAM SKY, at :00
• 93. Winner Andrew Anacona, (COL) MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 94. Thomas De Gendt, (BEL) LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 95. Carlos Verona, (ESP) MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00
• 96. Enrico Gasparotto, (ITA) BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 97. Hugh John Carthy, (GBR) TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00
• 98. Bram Tankink, (NED) TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :18
• 99. Johann Van Zyl, (RSA) TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :22
• 100. Peter Kennaugh, (GBR) BORA – HANSGROHE, at :24
• 101. Michael Storer, (AUS) TEAM SUNWEB, at :24
• 102. Luke Rowe, (GBR) TEAM SKY, at :29
• 103. Simon Geschke, (GER) TEAM SUNWEB, at :38
• DNF David Lopez Garcia, (ESP) TEAM SKY
• DNF Marco Minnaard, (NED) WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT