Rui Costa second again in Romandie on the queen stage

Former world champion Rui Costa came close to winning the Tour de Romandie’s queen stage, albeit shortened by 60 kilometres due to bad weather but maintaining the summit finish in Torgon. The Portuguese was beaten in the sprint by the leader of overall Primoz Roglic, who consolidated his leadership ahead of the final stage. Third place of the day for the winner of the last year’s Tour de France, Geraint Thomas, now in fourth position in the standings at 26″ from Roglic. Rui Costa regains second place just 12″ back with French Gaudu now third at 16”.

“I knew I was good,” said Rui Costa, “but such a long climb was an unknown factor for me too. In the last period, I had prepared myself more for the classics and I concentrated on the more explosive climbs. I’m therefore satisfied with my performance and in the end, I also had the strength to make a good sprint, even if against such a fit Roglic it was practically impossible to win. Now, I’m back in second place in the standings and the hope is to make a good final time trial to keep at least the podium.”

Tomorrow the final stage covers 16.85km, with cyclists racing individually in a time trial, mostly flat, around Lake Geneva.

Fourth stage

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 2:42:21

2 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates s.t.

3 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos s.t.

General classification after the fourth stage

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 15:05:13

2 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates + 12’’

3 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ + 16’’

4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos + 26’’

5 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe + 29’’