Tour de Romandie: Pinot wins time trial in Sion

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Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) won the stage 3 time trial at the Tour de Romandie, once again proving that he has made significant improvements against the clock this season. The Frenchman covered the 15.11km course in 20:21, two seconds faster than runner-up Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and nine seconds faster than Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep) in third.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) finished the time trial in sixth place, also nine behind Pinot, and held onto his lead in the overall classification. Pinot’s performance bumped him up into second place overall, 23 seconds behind the Colombian, while the previous day’s relegated runner-up Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) slipped into third place, 26 seconds back.

Pinot also put forth a winning time trial at the Criterium International where he went on to secure the overall title.

In Switzerland, the day’s course included a challenging climb at the mid-point followed by a descent to the finish line in Sion.

Dumoulin and Jungels both held the fastest times throughout the day but were overcome by Pinot’s commanding performance.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) also had a strong ride, finishing fourth at nine seconds behind Pinot. The Briton lost a significant amount of time in the overall classification the previous day when he had an untimely flat tire before final 10km climb and he never made it back to the leaders.

Like Pinot, Jerome Coppel (IAM Cycling) has put together a series of strong time trials this season with a win at Etoile de Besseges, second places at Criterium International and Circuit Cyclist Sarthe, and third at the Vuelta a Andalucia. Although he likely wanted to win at Romandie, he can be happy with fifth place and another good performance among a world-class field.

Quintana may not have won the time trial but he did more than enough to maintain his lead in the overall classification, even extending his gap by five seconds.

Zakarin, who crossed the stage 2 finish line first but was relegated to second for irregular sprinting, started the day in second place overall at 18 seconds behind the Colombian. He had the most to be disappointed about after finishing the time trial in seventh place, 17 seconds behind Pinot, and slipping to third overall, 26 seconds behind Quintana.

The Tour of Romandie will continue with stage 4 on Saturday with a 173.2km race from Conthey to Villars.

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