Chris Froome (Team Sky) secured overall victory at the Tour de Romandie with a dominant performance in the final stage time trial around Neuchatel. The Briton started the 18.5km hilly time trial one second behind Simon Spilak (Katusha) but blasted up the mid-stage climb in his tucked aero time trial position and then dived to the finish to win the stage and take overall victory.
Froome set a time of 24:50 to beat world time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) by less than a second. Kiwi Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing) was third at eight seconds. Spilak fought hard and held onto to second place overall and finished the race 28 seconds back. After a close fight for the final spot on the podium, world road race champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) climbed onto the podium with Froome and Spilak. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) headed home defeat by his Tour de France rival, finishing the race fifth overall.
It was Froome's second consecutive victory at the Tour de Romandie, the third consecutive victory for Team Sky after Bradley Wiggins won in 2012 and the team's 150th victory.
Froome was happy after his performance in the time trial and after securing overall victory. He proved to his Tour de France rivals that he is back on track for July.
"I'm really happy to have this result. Spilak is not a time trial specialist like Tony Martin and I'm happy to have beaten him today. It was a close race. I didn’t feel confident, it was flat out and so it wasn't easy," Froome said after pulling on the winner's yellow jersey.
"This year was a different race; there were no hilltop finishes, so it made the race different. The time trial was extremely hard; on a very tough circuit but I think the climb was good for me. But with one second to gain on Simon Spilak it was really difficult. He was strong in the mountains the other day and I wasn't sure how it would go. I'm just so happy to be back in the yellow jersey. It's a great feeling."
Froome will now take a break from training but continue to train for the Tour de France after a difficult spring.
"This has been difficult period for me, I had a chest infection and problems with my back, it's not been easy but I've worked really hard to get back to this level. I'm really happy and now I just hope I can build on this to the Tour de France," he said.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | 0:24:51 |
| 2 | Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:01 |
| 3 | Jesse Sergent (NZl) Trek Factory Racing | 0:00:08 |
| 4 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:15 |
| 5 | Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:20 |
| 6 | Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing | 0:00:29 |
| 7 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 8 | Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:31 |
| 9 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:00:35 |
| 10 | Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
| 11 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:00:36 |
| 12 | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
| 13 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin Sharp | 0:00:37 |
| 14 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin Sharp | 0:00:38 |
| 15 | Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:40 |
| 16 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | 0:00:42 |
| 17 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:43 |
| 18 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
| 19 | Stef Clement (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:44 |
| 20 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:45 |
| 21 | Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:00:46 |
| 22 | Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin Sharp | 0:00:49 |
| 23 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:00:51 |
| 24 | Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:01 |
| 25 | Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:01:04 |
| 26 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:01:07 |
| 27 | Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling | 0:01:08 |
| 28 | Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:09 |
| 29 | Jack Bobridge (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
| 30 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:01:10 |
| 31 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida | 0:01:13 |
| 32 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 0:01:14 |
| 33 | Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:01:15 |
| 34 | Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:21 |
| 35 | Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:01:25 |
| 36 | Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge | 0:01:26 |
| 37 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:01:31 |
| 38 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:01:32 |
| 39 | David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky | 0:01:37 |
| 40 | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
| 41 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:01:38 |
| 42 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:46 |
| 43 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:01:49 |
| 44 | Johann Tschopp (Swi) IAM Cycling | 0:01:52 |
| 45 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
| 46 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:01:54 |
| 47 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
| 48 | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:01:55 |
| 49 | Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:57 |
| 50 | Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Team Sky | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
| 51 | Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky | 0:01:58 |
| 52 | Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:02:01 |
| 53 | Jens Voigt (Ger) Trek Factory Racing | 0:02:02 |
| 54 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:02:04 |
| 55 | Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
| 56 | Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:05 |
| 57 | Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:02:07 |
| 58 | Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:02:08 |
| 59 | Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
| 60 | Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Team Sky | 0:02:09 |
| 61 | Dominik Nerz (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:10 |
| 62 | Nino Schurter (Swi) Orica GreenEdge | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
| 63 | Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:02:11 |
| 64 | Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:12 |
| 65 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team | 0:02:13 |
| 66 | Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
| 67 | Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 0:02:17 |
| 68 | Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Belisol | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
| 69 | Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:02:18 |
| 70 | Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre-Merida | 0:02:20 |
| 71 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
| 72 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:02:22 |
| 73 | Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:23 |
| 74 | Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling | 0:02:26 |
| 75 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge | 0:02:28 |
| 76 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale | 0:02:29 |
| 77 | Dmitry Kozontchouk (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:02:31 |
| 78 | Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing | 0:02:32 |
| 79 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
| 80 | Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:02:33 |
| 81 | Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale | 0:02:34 |
| 82 | Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
| 83 | Andre Fernando S Martins Cardoso (Por) Garmin Sharp | 0:02:36 |
| 84 | Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
| 85 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) Trek Factory Racing | 0:02:40 |
| 86 | Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Lampre-Merida | 0:02:41 |
| 87 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team | 0:02:43 |
| 88 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:02:45 |
| 89 | Romain Guillemois (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:02:46 |
| 90 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale | 0:02:47 |
| 91 | Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
| 92 | Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:02:48 |
| 93 | Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:02:49 |
| 94 | Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
| 95 | Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:02:55 |
| 96 | Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin Sharp | 0:02:56 |
| 97 | Caleb Fairly (USA) Garmin Sharp | 0:02:57 |
| 98 | Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ.fr | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
| 99 | Eduard Beltran Suarez (Col) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
| 100 | Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale | 0:02:58 |
| 101 | Pirmin Lang (Swi) IAM Cycling | 0:03:00 |
| 102 | Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:03:01 |
| 103 | Mickaël Chérel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:07 |
| 104 | Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team | 0:03:09 |
| 105 | Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | 0:03:10 |
| 106 | Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Belisol | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
| 107 | Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Movistar Team | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
| 108 | Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 0:03:15 |
| 109 | Gang Xu (Chn) Lampre-Merida | 0:03:25 |
| 110 | Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 109 - Cell 2 |
| 111 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | 0:03:30 | <