2013 Tour de Romandie Preview

 

Tomorrow is the start of the Tour de Romandie, this six days Swiss stage race is part of the WorldTour. The race begins with a prologue of 7,45 kilometers on Tuesday, the finish is on the top of a climb of third category. The fifth and final stage is a time trial of 18,7 kilometers. Saturday the toughest stage is programmed with four climbs of category one. The biggest favourites to win the race are Team Sky’s Richie Porte and Chris Froome who’ll defend teammate, Bradley Wiggins’ win in the 2012 edition of the race. Team Saxo-Tinkoff’s Roman Kreuziger has had some big moments in the race and won overall in 2009 while Chris Anker S?rensen won the king of the mountains classification in the 2011. Team Sky return to the Romandie region as defending champions after Sir Bradley Wiggins won the race en route to Tour de France victory in 2012. With Wiggins making final preparations for the Giro d?Italia it is Chris Froome who steps up to lead the team over six tough stages in the scenic French-speaking region. Running without a summit finish as in 2012, the race will be a tight and keenly-contested affair with capturing bonus seconds a target for the big names. Team Sky line-up: – Josh Edmondson – Chris Froome – Peter Kennaugh – Vasil Kiryienka – David L?pez – Richie Porte – Gabriel Rasch – Chris Sutton Jurgen Van den Broeck is one of the eight Lotto Belisol riders standing at the start, he aims for a good GC. With Andrew Talansky and Rui Costa the second and third of last year are present as well. Chris Froome will try to succeed his teammate Bradley Wiggins. Kenny Dehaes is the man for the sprint at Lotto Belisol. In Romandie he’ll battle with Mark Cavendish and Matthew Goos. Kurt Van De Wouwer will make his d?but as sports director at the pros. He’ll keep on working for the U23 team, but now and then he’ll assist the pro team. Lotto Belisol: Ga?tan Bille, Brian Bulga?, Francis De Greef, Kenny Dehaes, Jurgen Van de Walle, Jurgen Van den Broeck, Dennis Vanendert and Frederik Willems. Sports directors: Mario Aerts and Kurt Van De Wouwer An uphill prologue, a marquee finish in front of the new Velodrome Suisse, and a challenging mountain stage offer a number of opportunities for the BMC Racing Team to excel when the Tour de Romandie begins Tuesday in Switzerland, Assistant Director Yvon Ledanois said. “This is an important race for a lot of the guys and for the team as a whole, especially,” Ledanois said. Three BMC Racing Team riders ? Mathias Frank, Steve Morabito and Danilo Wyss ? will be competing in their home country, which offers a bit of a competitive advantage. “I’ve done some reconnaissance and studied the profiles and talked to guys like Danilo, who knows a lot of the roads that are close to his home,” Frank said. “I think everybody will have their chance every day and the prologue should suit me well.” Morabito said he looks forward to taking a shot at the overall after previously helping teammates to success at Romandie including Cadel Evans’s overall win in 2011. “This year will be the first time I will not have to work for a leader,” Morabito said. “After the Volta a Catalunya, I spent two weeks at altitude, so I am really motivated to have a good ride.” Marco Pinotti also has a good feel for Romandie, having finished third in 2008 and fourth in 2011. He is competing in only his second stage race since breaking two ribs and his collarbone in February. BMC Racing Team:?Adam Blythe (GBR), Brent Bookwalter (USA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Mathias Frank (SUI), Steve Morabito (SUI), Dominik Nerz (GER), Marco Pinotti (ITA), Danilo Wyss (SUI). After most of their riders went to a team training camp at their training base in Altea, Spain, Team Argos-Shimano riders are ready to tackle the challenge. ?With Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE) and Tom Dumoulin (NED) we have two guys who will be eager to show their progression in the general classification. Tobias made a step up in the preseason. During the training camp last week the training was focused on improving his climbing so that he can also handle stages like the fifth day of Romandie. We will also be aiming for a top result in several stages and will use an aggressive strategy,? said sports manager Aike Visbeek. Argos-Shimano Tom Dumoulin (NED) Johannes Fr?hlinger (GER) Patrick Gretsch (GER) Yann Huguet (FRA) Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Luka Mezgec (SLO) Georg Preidler (AUT) Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE) Team LAMPRE-MERIDA selection that will take part in Tour de Romandie will be?Matteo Bono, Damiano Cunego, Kristijan Durasek, Roberto Ferrari, Adriano Malori, Manuele Mori, Jos? Serpa Perez and Simone Stortoni. “Tour de Romandie always gave honor to top riders and so this year too the quality of the cyclists that aim to win will be very high – sport director Piovani pointed out – Cunego will end the first part of his season: his goal will be to give satisfaction to his fans and to obtain World Tour points for the team. With Damiano, there will be Bono, Cattaneo, Mori and Stortoni who all raced in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Durasek, Serpa and Ferrari realized good performances in Giro del Trentino and they’d like to continue on this level. Malori’s target will be the final individual time trial in Geneve”. Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team has announced the selection that will take part in Tour de Romandie. “We have riders for each race situation,” Sport Director Brian Holm said. “There is a prologue and a final TT for Tony Martin, and then some mixed stages for the other guys ? for example, a stage hunter like Gianni Meersman. It’s also a good preparation for the Giro d’Italia. If there is a sprint, we have Cavendish who is tuning up his condition for the Giro. We have a balanced team, so I think we can be a protagonist throughout the race. That is our objective, but we will see each day.” For the Blanco Pro Cycling Team, the Tour de Romandie is a dress rehearsal for the Giro d?Italia. The lion?s share of the riders who will race in the Giro will be at the disposal of Sport Directors Jan Boven and Michiel Elijzen in Switzerland. ?Six of our riders trained at altitude the past couple of weeks in Tenerife and we are going to see what that did for them,? said Boven, referring to Steven Kruijswijk, Wilco Kelderman, Robert Gesink, Stef Clement, Jack Bobridge and Juanma Garate. ?It is important that they build up game readiness ahead of the Giro. We don?t have a definitive lead rider so were counting on the trio of Kruijswijk, Kelderman, and Gesink.? Kruijswijk approaches the Tour de Romandie the same as the Sports Director. ?I have the idea the we have significantly ratcheted up our level in Tenerife. Romandy is a prep run for the Giro, the race that we have our sights set on. If we wanted to peak here, we should have headed home a bit earlier. Nevertheless, we want to get the maximum out of the coming week. After our training camp in Tenerife, we are looking for validation.? Blanco Pro Cycling:?Jack Bobridge, Stef Clement, Juanma Garate, Marc Goos, Robert Gesink, Bram Tankink, Wilco Kelderman and Steven Kruijswijk ??Sports Director:?Michiel Elijzen and Jan Boven. Cannondale Pro Cycling will start eight riders: Ivan Basso, Elia Viviani, Moreno Moser, Alessandro De Marchi, Paolo Longo Borghini, Alan Marangoni, Fabio Sabatini and Cameron Wurf. Directeurs Sportif Dario Mariuzzo and Biagio Conte will lead the team. The hard route of Tour de Romandie will be useful for Basso to continue on his build up to the Giro and to improve his form. ?The result at Giro of Trentino was expected,? explained Basso. ?Since January I worked on resistance and less on the quality of the performance. I don?t have many race days in my legs, which is a handicap for following the accelerations of those already in race form. In Romandie I?ll work hard to take another step. Results won?t be so important: I?m confident to take them at the Giro d?Italia.? As well as Basso, Viviani will race the Tour de Romandie to be at the top for the Giro d?Italia, who play the role of main sprinter for Cannondale Pro Cycling. After the Ardennes Classics, Moser will attend the race in search of the form that took him to prior results. Astana Pro Team brings climbers to the Tour de Romandie this week, fielding a squad of riders fresh from the Ardennes Classics in Belgium and Giro del Trentino in Italy.?Dyachenko, Brajkovic will lead the squad. Astana Pro Team riders:?

• Janez Brajkovic – SLO
• Alexandr Dyachenko – KAZ
• Enrico Gasparotto – ITA
• Francesco Gavazzi – ITA
• Andrei Grivko – UKR
• Dmitriy Gruzdev – KAZ
• Egor Silin – RUS
• Andrey Zeits – KAZ

Route

Tuesday 23 April – Prologue: La Chable to Bruson, 7.45km The race kicks off with an opening prologue blast, albeit one with a twist as the riders tackle the third category climb of Mayens de Bruson against the clock. Following a twisty run out of La Chable the 310 metre rise kicks up after the intermediate split, and criss-crosses the hillside before a leg-burning run to the line. At 7.45km the time gaps will not be significant but the test will show from early on who has the legs to contend for the victory. Wednesday 24 April ? Stage one: Saint-Maurice to Renens/Ouest Lausannois, 176.4km The first road stage proper doesn?t skimp on the climbing, with three categorised ascents which should thin out the field ahead of a reduced bunch sprint. The action kicks off in Saint-Maurice as the peloton head north towards Lausanne, riding alongside the picturesque Le Leman lake. Two third category climbs (Chatel-St-Denis and Martherenges) act as the build-up to the 1174m Col du Mollendruz. A steep descent brings the riders back into Lausanne to complete a tricky opening test. Thursday 25 April ? Stage two: Prilly/Ouest Lausannois to Granges, 190.3km Leaving the site of Wednesday?s finish the race continues north-east for a relatively straightforward opening 60km, much of which sees the riders pass along almost the entire length of the Lac de Neuchatel. From there the action kicks up sharply with short, steep second category peak at Chaumont. The route then descents in stages ahead of a final loop around Granges which features the sting in the tail of the Plagne climb. Attacks on the descent are likely but with 20km remaining things should come back together for another reduced group finish. Friday 26 April – Stage three: Payerne to Payerne, 181km The peloton is taken on three hilly loops all starting and finishing in the town of Payerne, on the eastern banks of Lake Neuchatel. Four categorised climbs ? two category twos and two category threes ? punctuate the parcours, providing both a test of the legs and platforms for attacks. The most pivotal will be the final climb to Chables, which arrives inside 20km from home and will likely whittle down a select group ahead of a reduced-bunch sprint to the finish. That is if the day?s breakaway has not managed to stay, which it will have a good chance of doing. Saturday 27 April – Stage four: Marly to Les Diablerets, 188.5km The race?s queen stage takes the riders over no fewer than four category-one climbs, including two ascents of the Col de la Croix, and is likely to establish which select few riders will contest overall victory at the following day?s race-ending time trial. Heading south from Marly towards the right-hand corner of Lake Geneva, the peloton will have to tackle Les Mosses, the first ascent of Col de la Croix and then the Pas de Morgins. The route then drops down and heads back for another ascent of the Col de la Croix from the longer, opposite side. After the summit, the leaders will have a sharp 8.5km downhill to the finish. Sunday 28 April – Stage five: Geneva (individual time trial), 18.6km The race ends with a scenic and almost entirely flat time trial around the shoreline of Lake Geneva. There are only two slight lumps in the road to disrupt the pedal rhythm, so it should be a straight shootout between those vying for overall victory. For the most part, the course flows nicely around the shoreline, with the only testing corners being the hairpins at each end of the loop and a 90-degree left-hander as the road crosses the Rhone in central Geneva.