Spilak soars in Chatel

Image 1 of 9

Simon Spilak (Lampre-Farnese Vini) claimed a hard-fought solo victory in the fourth stage of the Tour of Romandie on Saturday afternoon. The Slovenian attacked a late-race, four-man escape group with 10 kilometres to go and crossed the line 13 seconds clear of Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Doimo) and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Spilak was able to distance Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo), Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) and Morris Possoni (Sky), who had joined him after his initial attack with 15 kilometres remaining in the stage. It was the first victory of the season for Spilak and his first win since the 2009 Tour of Slovenia.

"I like to race under the rain and today was an important confirmation," said Spilak after the stage. "This is my first victory of the year and I'm very happy because it came in an exciting way; I tried to attack until I could be on my own. I'm tired, but there are still some climbs to come and maybe the overall classification could change."

The stage win also moved the 23-year-old Spilak into third place overall. He now sits five second behind race leader Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia). Rogers maintained his overall advantage over Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), but saw his margin cut to just one second after the Spaniard claimed a bonus second at the final sprint point of the day.

Second place-getter Sagan threw his own victory salute, clearly unaware that the stage had already been won by his Lampre rival. However, the Slovakian rider had reason to celebrate as his margin over the peloton saw him shift back into the top-10 overall.

Wet, wet, wet

After three days of sunny skies, the peloton was faced with the polar opposite on Saturday as the raincoats got a workout beneath heavy rain.

Stage two animator Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) was again anxious to attack. The Russian escaped with Jaroslaw Marycz (Saxo Bank), Maxim Gourov (Astana), Andreas Stauff (Quick Step), Matthew Busche (RadioShack), Martin Elmiger (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Juan Jose Oroz (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

The leaders worked well together and had the slopes of the first of two Category 1 climbs, the Pas-De-Morgins to themselves. Cresting the summit with their lead still intact,  they headed down the other side with more than a three-minutes advantage over the peloton.

With 55 kilometres to go, the break's lead was 3:25, but by the 40-kilometre mark, the gap had dropped to 2:13. The torrential rain saw the seven leaders descend gingerly off the Morgins. Stauff was the most nervous of the group as he yo-yoed from his companions through the sodden corners.

Behind them, Caisse d'Epargne were leading the peloton, as the Spanish squad worked to defend Alejandro Valverde's second place overall. With a little over 32 kilometres to go, the two groups were separated by just 1:27.

The start of the Col du Corbier spelled disaster for the leaders as they commenced what would be a largely uphill route to the finish line. In the peloton, Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Eros Capecchi (Footon-Servetto) took the rise in gradient as their cue; the two attacking what was then a one-minute gap to the leaders.

The Caisse-led peloton weren't enthusiastic about Gilbert and Capecchi's move and shut it down quickly. One-by-one, the leaders were met by a similar fate, however, Oroz elected to prolong his time in front. The Euskaltel rider attacked, with Busche and Marycz the only ones able to follow.

The injection of pace from Oroz held the lead at a minute, but it again began to drop. With little more than 30 seconds to cross, Mauricio Ardila (Rabobank) attacked the peloton. Ignatiev clung to the Spaniard's wheel, but both were dragged back to the main group.

Rabobank wasn't done yet, though. With 27 kilometres to go, Denis Menchov launched a powerful attack. The Russian closed the gap to the leaders and soon found himself alone as the exhausted early escapees faded away.

Caisse d'Epargne were still in control of a truncated peloton, Valverde sitting second wheel. Hubert Dupont (AG2R-La Mondiale) set off in a solo pursuit of Menchov, who was the first to crest the Corbier.

Menchov's attack came to naught as a short descent off the Corbier gave Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) a launch pad to attack. Menchov slipped into line in the first group, which also included Valverde, race leader Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Doimo).

Valverde led Rogers over the final sprint point of the day. Simon Spilak (Lampre-Farnese Vini) was the next to go on the offensive, and he was joined by Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne), Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) and Morris Possoni (Sky).

The quartet built itself a lead of 30 seconds with 10 kilometres to go. Moreau's presence out front meant Caisse d'Epargne could hand responsibility for the pace in the peloton to Euskaltel-Euskadi and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Spilak didn't appear happy with his company as he shot out of the lead group. Bass was the first to cross before Moreau and Possoni hauled their way back. A third attack from Spilak broke his companions for good. With eight kilometres to race, he was in possession of a 26-second advantage over the peloton.

Three kilometres later, Spilak had managed to hold his lead and looked smooth as he continued the ascent towards the finish in Chatel. With 4000m left to race, Spilak had managed to eek out a further six seconds, his lead 0:32.

The steep switchback ramps into Chatel appeared to chip away at Spilak's advantage, but behind the peloton was covering the required distance at much the same pace. Dupont again tried his luck, but with three kilometres to go and 30 seconds to close, the Frenchman appeared to have left his run too late.

Dupont was joined by Sagan and Gilbert, but as they united, Spilak was heading under the flamme rouge with 18 seconds in hand. Just over a minute later, he rose his arms in victory. Sagan crossed in second, out sprinting Gilbert.