Egan Bernal (Team Sky) won stage 3 of the Tour de Romandie after he mastered the mountain time trial at Villars, while Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) produced a storming performance in the final kilometres to place second on the stage and retain the yellow jersey of overall leader.
Roglic recouped ground in the finale to limit his losses on Bernal to 4 seconds, and thus carries a lead of 6 seconds over the Colombian into the final two days of racing, while Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) now lies third overall, 27 seconds down.
Friday's 9.9km test was a difficult one to gauge, but Bernal seemed to pace his ride perfectly on the road from Ollon. Porte had the quickest time at the 4.5km mark, and when Bernal came through the same point some 9 seconds down, it looked as though the Australian was set for the stage victory.
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Bernal took flight on the upper slopes, however, and he would recoup considerable ground by the summit. He rose repeatedly from the saddle in the closing kilometres and hit the finish line some 18 seconds quicker than Porte to depose the Australian from the hot seat. Bernal explained afterwards that he had raced according to his power-meter, and was not influenced by the time checks he heard out on the course.
"My coach told me you need to do your own numbers. It doesn't matter about the times of any other riders," Bernal said. "I just tried to do my numbers and I won, and I am so happy for that."
Even with six riders left to finish, it was already clear that only Roglic could deny Bernal the stage win. The race leader reached the checkpoint some 18 seconds behind Porte and nine behind Bernal, but he dosed his effort well over the closing kilometres. Although he was unable to prevent Bernal from winning the stage, Roglic did enough to retain his yellow jersey and maintain his hopes of final overall victory.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-romandie-2018/stage-3/results
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