Tour de Romandie: De Gendt wins in Yverdon-les-Bains

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Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) added to his portfolio of breakaway wins on stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie, going clear in the opening kilometres with four others before dropping them all in turn to celebrate a solo victory in Yverdon-les-Bains.

Sonny Colbrelli, whose Bahrain-Merida teammates had led a panicked chase, took second place from the bunch, which came in just over two minutes down, while Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) finished third.

De Gendt, one of a dying breed of breakaway specialists, once again showed himself to be adroit in picking out the right days and moves. Thursday's 174km trip from Delémont to Yverdon-les-Bains was, on paper, the only real chance for the sprinters at the Tour de Romandie, but an upset was on the cards when the Belgian went clear on the early climb of the Col des Rangiers with Nathan Brown (EF-Drapac), Andrey Grivko (Astana), and Matteo Fabbro (Katusha), and - crucially - his own teammate Victor Campenaerts.

As the roads undulated over the subsequent 80 kilometres, the gap back to the peloton yawned out to nearly eight minutes, and once up and over the second-category Col des Etroits - where Grivko was dislodged - they took to the undulating 35km finishing circuit with a lead of five minutes. For reference, De Gendt had predicted at the start of the day that two minutes might suffice at that point.

After burying himself for his teammate, Campenaerts was soon dropped, while De Gendt made use of the second of three uncategorised climbs to drop Brown with 25km remaining.

From there, with the gap still at well over four minutes, victory was pretty much a formality, though it remained to be seen if the leader’s jersey would change hands. De Gendt had started the day just over three minutes down on Primoz Roglic’s (LottoNL-Jumbo) overall lead and the GC teams committed riders to the cause in the latter stages, though the greater threat was probably Brown, who'd started the day just 26 seconds down. In the end, the American was caught in the final kilometre.

Roglic, therefore, retains the yellow jersey ahead of Friday’s stage 3 time trial, with little change at the top of the standings. Rohan Dennis (BMC) is tied for time with the Slovenian, with Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) third at four seconds. The only change to the top 10 saw Sky’s Jonathan Castroviejo drop out, and Pierre Rolland (EF-Drapac), Richie Porte (BMC), and Jose Goncalves (Katusha-Alpecin) all move one spot up.

How it unfolded

With so little on offer for the sprinters at this Tour de Romandie, it was thought they wouldn't want to let this opportunity slip through their fingers, despite the constantly undulating roads and accumulated elevation gain. A five-rider breakaway might not seem so dangerous on a 174km stage but any move with De Gendt in is by definition a dangerous one.

The Belgian rider used the third-category Col des Rangiers, which began almost from the gun, to forge clear with Grivko, Brown, and Fabbro, while time trial specialist Campenaerts would prove a vital resource, despite the limited slipstream benefits of his compact frame.
By the top of Les Rangiers the quartet had 2:38 over the peloton and that would only continue to grow and grow, even without the help of Fabbro, who lost contact after a mechanical. The remaining four hit the base of the Col des Etroits, with 75km to go, with a lead of 7:40, and it was soon down to a trio as Grivko was quickly dropped.

The problem for the chasers was that while they needed to use the climb to reduce the gap - with a long descent to follow - they also needed to manage their effort so as not to put their sprinters in difficulty. Perhaps Elia Viviani was suffering, because Quick-Step Floors contributed virtually nothing all day, leaving Bahrain-Merida pretty much alone in pursuit.

The peloton crested the climb just under six minutes down, and Bahrain’s onslaught continued on the descent, causing brief splits in the bunch, but almost no time was clawed back on the 15 downhill kilometres.

With De Gendt, Brown, and Campenaerts five minutes clear as they passed the finish line and took the bell, with 35km remaining, it was clear they had the upper hand, and only a committed, multi-party chase - and a furious one at that - would bring the race back together. Unfortunately for Bahrain, no one else seemed interested in the sprint, though LottoNL, Sky, AG2R, and BMC did all commit a couple of riders to make sure that neither Brown or De Gendt gained the kind of advantage that would make them a threat for the overall victory.

Campenaerts emptied the tank ahead of the trio of uncategorised climbs and it wasn't long after he'd stepped aside that De Gendt went it alone, resoundingly dropping Brown on the second short ascent, leaving the American in the wind, his dreams of the yellow jersey quickly evaporating.

De Gendt lost ground all the way to the line but had so much in hand he could enjoy a modicum of comfort - enjoyment even. That turned to elation in the final kilometre as De Gendt basked in his latest heist - the 13th of his career and the second of this season after his triumph at the Volta a Catalunya earlier this month.

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