Albasini doubles up at Tour de Romandie

A case of déjà vu all over again on stage 3 of the Tour de Romandie, as Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) out manoeuvred Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) in a reduced bunch sprint to land his second successive win and double his overall lead into the bargain.

The rolling 172-kilometre trek from Moutier to Porrentruy featured four categorised climbs and a long, fast descent towards the finish line. In short, it was a day typical of the Tour de Romandie – too tough for the pure sprinters but not quite difficult enough for the general classification contenders to make the difference. When the final climb of the Côte de Lure failed to splinter the leading group, a sprint was inevitable, despite a flurry of attacks on the drop towards the finish.

Albasini helped himself to three very similar stages last year and after his win in Saint-Imier on Wednesday, he was the logical favourite here, although he would again face stiff opposition from Alaphilippe in the sprint. Alaphilippe got the better of Albasini on the Mur de Huy at Flèche Wallonne last week (though both men were soundly beaten by Alejandro Valverde), but Albasini has had the better of their exchanges on the flat finales in Switzerland.

Alaphilippe had Tony Martin and Rigoberto Uran to shepherd him through the final kilometre but that impressive Etixx-QuickStep train was outflanked by the canny Simon Gerrans who dived ahead of Uran to lead into the final left-hand bend. Albasini, meanwhile, was glued to Alaphilippe’s wheel, and he peeled off just as the young Frenchman began to open his sprint.

Albasini’s fierce acceleration saw him open an immediate gap, and he crossed the line with time to savour his win. Alaphilippe came home in second place, while Damiano Caruso (BMC) was a – very – distant third, just ahead of Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida).

"It’s really great what my team did for me today," Albasini said afterwards. "They did a really great job. Ivan Santaromita controlled the attacks in the finale and then I had one of the best riders in the peloton to lead me out in Simon Gerrans. I knew this was a tough stage, but I know it could suit me too, because not a lot of fast riders were going to be able to make over the climbs."

Albasini’s win netted him a ten-second time bonus that has doubled his lead atop the general classification. He is now 20 seconds clear of his teammate Santaromita, while Chris Froome (Sky) – who finished alongside Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in the front group – remains in third place, also at 20 seconds.

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