Tour de Romandie: Aleksandr Vlasov blitzes final TT, swoops on overall victory

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) scored a huge stage win that overturned his GC deficit to Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) and scooped overall honors at the Tour de Romandie.

Vlasov rode the TT of his life in Sunday’s mountain test, going 2:12 faster than overnight classification leader Dennis and sealing his second GC win of the season.

The 26-year-old has been on a tear since he joined Bora-Hansgrohe this winter, winning Volta a la Valenciana and finishing top-4 in both UAE Tour and Itzulia Basque Country.Tour de France dark-horse? Could well be.

Simon Geschke (Cofidis) and Gino Mäder (Bahrain-Victorious) filled out the stage podium in a TT that saw some huge time differences and upturned the GC after the top-5 started the day separated by just 30 seconds.

Mäder and Geschke’s and massive rides saw them vault several spots up the classification to slot in to second and third overall, 50 and 55-seconds back on Vlasov.

Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates) slid off the podium after starting the day in second overall. The young Spainiard finished eighth on the day and fourth overall in a standout week for the 19-year-old.

Ayuso’s fellow young star Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers) also slid out of podium contention, dropping from fifth to ninth overall.

And Dennis? The Aussie finished the TT well out of range and dropped seven slots to finish eighth overall.

Sunday’s time trial out of Aigle proved a race where climbing chops and bike-change skills proved just as important as TT talent. The 16km test offered just 6km of flat before a relentless eight percent climb to the line.

Rémi Cavagna (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) was the first TT specialist to sit in the hotseat. The Frenchman was early down the ramp and gambled on taking the TT bike to the line, setting the fastest time of the day so far at 36.30.

Cavagna didn’t last long as riders followed behind on their road bikes, most of who swap off a TT bike at the start of the climb.

Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty) held the fastest time at the point when the GC contenders began to roll down the Aigle start ramp.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) crushed Taaramäe’s time by 17 seconds, and from there the fastest times kept getting faster. Grand tour stalwarts Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and then Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) showed their pedigree by being the next to go fastest.

By the time all the riders were on-course, Caruso sat in the chair with a time of 34.44.

Geschke surprised with a huge ride that left him as the rider to beat by the point only Vlasov, Dennis and Ayuso were yet to come to the finish.

Vlasov put the race on a knife-edge with a red-hot race to the intermediate that proved 27 seconds faster than Dennis. The Russian started the stage 18 seconds behind the Jumbo-Visma rider, and the GC looked set for a shake up.

Vlasov didn’t let off all the way through the uphill back-half of the stage, churning a huge gear in the final 500 meters to set the fastest time and put Dennis under huge pressure. Vlasov crossed the line and collapsed over his bike after stopping the clock with the winning time of 33:40.

Dennis was last rider on the road and looked labored as he tried to keep on top of the gradient. The TT ace suffered all the way through to the line, but it proved insufficient to land him a spot on the podium.

🇨🇭 #tdr2022 @s_kruijswijk and Rohan Dennis eventually finished this year’s Tour de Romandie in 7️⃣th and 8️⃣th place. pic.twitter.com/JYH09CaH4N

— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) May 1, 2022