Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) seized control of the Tour de Romandie during stage 4 on Saturday, playing the long game by jumping away from the peloton with about 20km remaining and then out-kicking Richie Porte at the finish in Lesyn after the BMC rider bridged to him in the closing kilometres.
Yates and Porte finished 30 seconds ahead of Bora-Hansgrohe’s Emanuel Buchmann and 43 seconds ahead of Porte’s teammate, Tejay van Garderen. The rest of the overall contenders were nearly a minute in arrears.
Yates now leads the general classification by 19 seconds over Porte and 38 seconds over Buchmann. Race leader Fabio Felline, who led the race since the opening prologue, dropped to fourth, 44 seconds down.
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Yates and Porte both had time to make up after losing crucial seconds earlier in the week. The Orica-Scott rider jumped away from the peloton on the penultimate climb, mopping up the remnants of an early breakaway as he made his way to the final 5km climb to the finish.
Porte waited longer to make his move, attacking with about 5km to go as the road pitched upward again toward the finish. Although Yates won the stage and the leader’s jersey, Porte’s blistering acceleration away from his potential Tour de France rivals may have been the most significant statement of the day.
Team Sky’s Chris Froome was active earlier in the stage chasing down moves on the penultimate climb of the day, but the defending Tour de France champion ended up 33rd on the day, losing 1:15 to Yates and Porte. He’s currently 33rd overall, 1:36 down on Yates.
How it unfolded
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