Romandie, stage 1: Fraile wins tough sprint; Roglic takes lead

Published April 25, 2018 09:59AM

After surviving a tough final circuit around Delemont, Switzerland, punctuated by a category 2 climb, Omar Fraile (Astana) won stage 1’s sprint finish at Tour de Romandie Wednesday.

Race leader Michael Matthews (Sunweb) was dropped on the final lap, opening the door for Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) to take the overall lead after his third-place result the day prior in the prologue. BMC’s Rohan Dennis moved up to second overall, with Sky’s Geraint Thomas third.

Top 10, stage 1

Top-10 overall

Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Marco Minnaard (Wanty Groupe Gobert) were the final survivors of the early breakaway in the 166.6km race.

Behind, the peloton ramped up the pace on the second and final 29-kilometer circuit around the finish village.

Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) tried an attack on one of the late climbs. However, he wasn’t able to escape the peloton, which by that point had dropped the yellow jersey, Matthews.

The peloton caught the French escapee in time to set up a sprint finish, which proved quite difficult with a short climb to the line.

Fraile said he knew Sonny Colbrelli was fastest. So the Spaniard waited patiently until the final 300 meters and uncorked his acceleration side-by-side with Bahrain-Merida’s sprinter. In the final 50 meters, Colbrelli faded dramatically, leaving Astana’s Spaniard to take victory.

“I knew Sonny Colbrelli was my biggest rival today since he is a very fast guy,” said Fraile. “So, I followed his wheel and started my sprint with around 300 meters to go. It was a good decision, since at the last 100 meters there was a small uphill.”

Stage 2 should also afford an opportunity for the sprinters with a relatively flat finish in Yverdon-les-Bains after 173.9km of racing.

After his win, Fraile assured the media that he was riding on behalf of Astana’s GC leader, Jakob Fuglsang, who will have his chance to take the overall lead in the second half of the six-day race.

Stage 1 results

1. Omar Fraile Matarranz, ASTANA PRO TEAM, in 4:03:42

2. Sonny Colbrelli, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00

3. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00

4. Rudy Molard, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00

5. Gorka Izaguirre Insausti, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00

6. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez, TEAM SKY, at :00

7. Pierre Roger Latour, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00

8. Xandro Meurisse, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00

9. Merhawi Kudus, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00

10. Eros Capecchi, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00

11. Andrey Amador, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00

12. Rohan Dennis, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00

13. Primož RogliČ, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00

14. Jaime Roson Garcia, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00

15. Geraint Thomas, TEAM SKY, at :00

16. Simon Špilak, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00

17. Emanuel Buchmann, BORA – HANSGROHE, at :00

18. Diego Rosa, TEAM SKY, at :00

19. Damien Howson, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00

20. David Gaudu, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :00

21. Thomas Degand, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00

22. Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00

23. Mathias Frank, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00

24. Steven Kruijswijk, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00

25. Jonathan Castroviejo, TEAM SKY, at :00

26. José GonÇalves, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00

27. Daniel Felipe Martinez Poveda, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00

28. Mikel Nieve Iturralde, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00

29. Kristijan Đurasek, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00

30. Daniel Martin, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :00

31. Marco Minnaard, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00

32. Guillaume Martin, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00

33. Eduardo Sepulveda, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00

34. Nathan Brown, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00

35. Tanel Kangert, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00

36. Jakob Fuglsang, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00

37. Carlos Verona, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00

38. Winner Andrew Anacona, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00

39. Tejay Van Garderen, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00

40. Carlos Betancur, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00

41. Dayer Quintana, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00

42. Pierre Rolland, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00

43. Jesper Hansen, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00

44. Dario Cataldo, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00

45. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00

46. Nicola Conci, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00

47. Hermann Pernsteiner, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00

48. Richie Porte, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00

49. Jon Izaguirre Insausti, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00

50. Pavel Kochetkov, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :00

51. Hugh John Carthy, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :00

52. Rob Power, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :00

53. James Knox, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00

54. Alexis Gougeard, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :17

55. Lucas Hamilton, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :30

56. Julien Bernard, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 1:14

57. Axel Domont, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:14

58. David Lopez Garcia, TEAM SKY, at 1:14

59. Matteo Fabbro, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 1:14

60. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 1:35

61. Victor Campenaerts, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:35

62. Antoine Duchesne, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 1:35

63. Fabien Doubey, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at 1:35

64. Hugo Houle, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:35

65. Andrey Grivko, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:35

66. Sander Armee, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:35

67. Pavel Sivakov, TEAM SKY, at 1:35

68. Stef Clement, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 1:35

69. James Shaw, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:35

70. Danilo Wyss, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:35

71. William Clarke, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at 1:41

72. Anass Ait El Abdia, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 3:11

73. Thomas De Gendt, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 3:11

74. Kilian Frankiny, BMC RACING TEAM, at 4:38

75. Jhon Darwin Atapuma Hurtado, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 4:56

76. Pawel Poljanski, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 5:00

77. Léo Vincent, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 5:08

78. Simon Geschke, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:09

79. Michael Matthews, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:14

80. Louis Vervaeke, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:14

81. Jens Keukeleire, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 6:03

82. Joseph Rosskopf, BMC RACING TEAM, at 6:03

83. Maxim Belkov, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 6:03

84. Brendan Canty, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at 6:03

85. Laurens Ten Dam, TEAM SUNWEB, at 6:03

86. Remy Mertz, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 7:09

87. Tobias Ludvigsson, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 8:31

88. Kristijan Koren, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 9:34

89. Enrico Gasparotto, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 9:34

90. Fumiyuki Beppu, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 9:34

91. Timothy Dupont, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at 9:34

92. Benjamin Thomas, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 9:34

93. Nicholas Dlamini, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 9:34

94. Michael MØrkØv, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 9:34

95. Alex Dowsett, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 9:34

96. Silvan Dillier, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 9:34

97. Michael Albasini, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at 9:34

98. Svein Tuft, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at 9:34

99. Baptiste Planckaert, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 9:34

100. Tom Bohli, BMC RACING TEAM, at 9:34

101. Bram Tankink, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 9:34

102. Luke Rowe, TEAM SKY, at 9:34

103. Peter Kennaugh, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 9:34

104. Davide Martinelli, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 14:07

105. Jaco Venter, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 14:07

106. Fernando Gaviria Rendon, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 14:07

107. Nicolas Dougall, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 16:18

108. Christopher Hamilton, TEAM SUNWEB, at 16:18

109. Michael Storer, TEAM SUNWEB, at 16:18

110. Matteo Bono, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 16:18

111. Enzo Wouters, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 18:03

112. Ramunas Navardauskas, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 18:03

113. Nico Denz, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 18:03

114. Samuel Dumoulin, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 18:03

115. Boy Van Poppel, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 18:03

116. Lars Boom, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 18:03

117. Fabio Sabatini, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 18:03

118. Andreas Schillinger, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:03

119. Robert Thomas Wagner, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 18:03

120. Gregory Daniel, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 18:03

121. Elia Viviani, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 18:03

122. Erik Baska, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:03

123. Odd Christian Eiking, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at 18:03

124. Floris De Tier, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 18:03

125. Johann Van Zyl, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 18:03

126. Pascal Ackermann, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:03

127. Rüdiger Selig, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:03

128. Roberto Ferrari, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 18:03

129. Tom Stamsnijder, TEAM SUNWEB, at 26:39

130. Stephen Cummings, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 26:39

131. Davide Cimolai, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 26:39

DNS José Rojas, MOVISTAR TEAM

General classification

1. Primož RogliČ, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, in 4:09:16

2. Rohan Dennis, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00

3. Geraint Thomas, TEAM SKY, at :04

4. Diego Rosa, TEAM SKY, at :05

5. Pierre Roger Latour, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :05

6. Gorka Izaguirre Insausti, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :08

7. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez, TEAM SKY, at :10

8. Jonathan Castroviejo, TEAM SKY, at :10

9. Pierre Rolland, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :10

10. Richie Porte, BMC RACING TEAM, at :13

11. José GonÇalves, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :13

12. Jon Izaguirre Insausti, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :14

13. Daniel Felipe Martinez Poveda, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :15

14. Nicola Conci, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :15

15. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :15

16. Hugh John Carthy, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :16

17. Emanuel Buchmann, BORA – HANSGROHE, at :16

18. Rob Power, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :17

19. Steven Kruijswijk, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :18

20. Andrey Amador, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :18

21. Daniel Martin, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :18

22. Omar Fraile Matarranz, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :19

23. Damien Howson, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :19

24. Dario Cataldo, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :19

25. Simon Špilak, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :20

26. Tejay Van Garderen, BMC RACING TEAM, at :21

27. Rudy Molard, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :21

28. Eduardo Sepulveda, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :21

29. Tanel Kangert, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :22

30. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :22

31. Xandro Meurisse, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :22

32. Mathias Frank, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :23

33. Carlos Verona, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :24

34. Jakob Fuglsang, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :24

35. Carlos Betancur, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :25

36. Jaime Roson Garcia, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :25

37. Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :26

38. David Gaudu, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at :26

39. Nathan Brown, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at :26

40. Eros Capecchi, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :26

41. James Knox, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :26

42. Pavel Kochetkov, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at :26

43. Guillaume Martin, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :28

44. Alexis Gougeard, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :29

45. Hermann Pernsteiner, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :29

46. Winner Andrew Anacona, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :29

47. Jesper Hansen, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :30

48. Thomas Degand, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :31

49. Sonny Colbrelli, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :31

50. Merhawi Kudus, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :31

51. Mikel Nieve Iturralde, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :36

52. Dayer Quintana, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :40

53. Marco Minnaard, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :41

54. Kristijan Đurasek, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :45

55. Lucas Hamilton, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at :51

56. Julien Bernard, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 1:34

57. Victor Campenaerts, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:39

58. Matteo Fabbro, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 1:41

59. David Lopez Garcia, TEAM SKY, at 1:43

60. Axel Domont, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:44

61. Andrey Grivko, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:45

62. William Clarke, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at 1:46

63. Pavel Sivakov, TEAM SKY, at 1:57

64. Stef Clement, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 1:58

65. Antoine Duchesne, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 1:58

66. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 1:59

67. Hugo Houle, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 2:03

68. Fabien Doubey, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at 2:05

69. Sander Armee, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 2:06

70. Danilo Wyss, BMC RACING TEAM, at 2:08

71. James Shaw, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 2:12

72. Thomas De Gendt, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 3:23

73. Anass Ait El Abdia, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 3:50

74. Kilian Frankiny, BMC RACING TEAM, at 5:12

75. Michael Matthews, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:13

76. Pawel Poljanski, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 5:21

77. Louis Vervaeke, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:28

78. Simon Geschke, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:30

79. Jhon Darwin Atapuma Hurtado, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 5:36

80. Léo Vincent, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 5:41

81. Jens Keukeleire, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 6:26

82. Joseph Rosskopf, BMC RACING TEAM, at 6:26

83. Brendan Canty, TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST – DRAPAC P/B CANNONDALE, at 6:28

84. Maxim Belkov, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 6:30

85. Laurens Ten Dam, TEAM SUNWEB, at 6:37

86. Remy Mertz, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 7:43

87. Tobias Ludvigsson, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 8:48

88. Tom Bohli, BMC RACING TEAM, at 9:34

89. Silvan Dillier, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 9:47

90. Alex Dowsett, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 9:50

91. Michael MØrkØv, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 9:55

92. Enrico Gasparotto, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 9:59

93. Michael Albasini, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at 10:00

94. Luke Rowe, TEAM SKY, at 10:02

95. Kristijan Koren, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 10:04

96. Benjamin Thomas, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 10:05

97. Peter Kennaugh, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 10:06

98. Baptiste Planckaert, TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, at 10:07

99. Fumiyuki Beppu, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 10:08

100. Bram Tankink, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 10:13

101. Svein Tuft, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, at 10:18

102. Timothy Dupont, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at 10:20

103. Nicholas Dlamini, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 10:22

104. Davide Martinelli, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 14:20

105. Jaco Venter, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 14:41

106. Fernando Gaviria Rendon, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 14:54

107. Christopher Hamilton, TEAM SUNWEB, at 16:55

108. Michael Storer, TEAM SUNWEB, at 16:59

109. Nicolas Dougall, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 17:04

110. Matteo Bono, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 17:12

111. Odd Christian Eiking, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at 18:25

112. Nico Denz, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 18:27

113. Erik Baska, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:29

114. Samuel Dumoulin, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 18:31

115. Lars Boom, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 18:34

116. Ramunas Navardauskas, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 18:35

117. Andreas Schillinger, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:36

118. Elia Viviani, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 18:36

119. Pascal Ackermann, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:38

120. Rüdiger Selig, BORA – HANSGROHE, at 18:41

121. Johann Van Zyl, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 18:44

122. Floris De Tier, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 18:44

123. Gregory Daniel, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 18:47

124. Boy Van Poppel, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 18:49

125. Roberto Ferrari, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 18:57

126. Fabio Sabatini, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 18:57

127. Enzo Wouters, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 18:59

128. Robert Thomas Wagner, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 19:02

129. Stephen Cummings, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 26:57

130. Davide Cimolai, GROUPAMA – FDJ, at 27:23

131. Tom Stamsnijder, TEAM SUNWEB, at 27:25