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Sunday, May 4, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools. - John Muir

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Plato's dialogue Phaedo is available in both audiobook & Kindle eBook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• April 27 - May 4: Tour of Turkey
• April 29 - May 4: Tour de Romandie

Upcoming racing:

• May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia
• May 11: Tro-Bro Léon

Latest completed racing:

• May 1: Rund um den Finanzplaz Eschborn-Frankfurt
• April 27: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• April 24 - 27: Vuelta Asturias
• April 21 - 25: Tour of the Alps
• April 23: La Flèche Wallonne
• April 20: Amstel Gold Race
• April 20: Tour du Doubs
• April 15 - 18: Giro d'Abruzzo
• April 18: De Brabantse Pijl

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Tour de Romandie stage four reports

We posted the report from stage winner and new GC leader Lenny Martinez's Team Bahrain Victorious with the results.

Here's the report from second-place Joao Almeida's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:

Portuguese climber João Almeida delivered a stellar performance in today’s Queen Stage of the 2025 Tour de Romandie, finishing second atop the demanding Thyon 2000 climb. The 128.4 km stage, renowned for its grueling ascent, saw Almeida battle fiercely against Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), who narrowly clinched the stage victory.

Almeida and teammate Vine strategically positioned themselves to the front, setting a relentless pace on the final ascent and narrowing to favourites group down to a handful of riders. Despite a valiant sprint for the stage win, Almeida was edged out by Martinez in the final meters, with Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team) securing third place.

Lenny Martinez & Joao Almeida finish stage four. It was a close one. Sirotti photo

The Queen Stage, often the decisive point in the Tour de Romandie, lived up to its reputation with intense competition and dramatic shifts in the general classification.

As the race approaches its conclusion, all eyes will be on Almeida and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad as they prepare for the final stage in Geneva. With a strong showing today, Almeida remains a key figure in the battle for the overall title which will be decided in the 17km hilly time trial tomorrow, sitting in third overall at just +3” off the lead of Martinez.

Jay Vine, who was victorious on stage 3 yesterday, will also be hoping for a good showing against the clock as he sits in fourth on GC at +32”.

Almeida: “I think overall today was good, the team did an amazing job. Since the start my teammates were controlling and that gives you a lot of motivation to push harder and keep going to finish the job to the end. I feel like we maximised our situation.

"I was good but maybe not feeling 100%  and in the end Lenny was stronger so congrats to him. We’ll go all-in tomorrow for the time trial. In terms of the GC guys I think myself and Jay have a good chance to do well but we still need good legs and  to push as hard as we can.”

Here's the Romandie Tour report from third-place Lorenzo Fortunato's Team XDS Astana:

XDS Astana Team rider Lorenzo Fortunato delivered a strong performance on Stage 4 of the Tour de Romandie, finishing third on the summit finish in Thyon 2000. After today's stage Lorenzo is second in the overall classification.

Lorenzo Fortunato responded to the decisive move with eight kilometers to go and followed up with a smart ride during the final four kilometers from the summit. Showing tactical awareness and good form, Lorenzo secured a solid podium on the stage and improved his GC standing by finishing third.

Lorenzo Fortunato finishing third in stage four. Sirotti photo

"Everything went well today. I missed the leader’s jersey by just two seconds, but I’m feeling optimistic. I’m happy with my form. This was actually the first real mountain stage of the entire season where I could truly test my legs, and I’m quite satisfied with the result. I’m looking forward to what comes next", — said Lorenzo Fortunato after the finish.

Here's the Tour de Romandie report from fifth-place Carlos Rodriguez's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Carlos Rodriguez finished fifth on the fourth stage of Tour de Romandie to move up to sixth on the GC with one stage remaining.

Rodriguez followed an attack up the Thyon 2000 - the final 20km climb of the day -, and kept calm and composed to finish in fifth, 31 seconds behind the winner Lenny Martinez (Bahrain -Victorious).

Carlos Rodriguez finishes fifth. Sirotti photo

Geraint Thomas put in a huge effort up the Thyon with 11km to go, while earlier shifts from Michael Leonard, Victor Langellotti and Ben Swift meant Rodriguez was well looked after on the mountainous 128km queen stage.

With 7km remaining, Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) attacked, going clear with teammate Jay Vine, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) and Martinez, with Rodriguez chasing close behind.

Pushing on solo, Rodriguez bridged over to Fortunato and Vine, with Martinez and Almeida 30 seconds up the road.

Rodriguez continued to ride steadily and crossed the line in fifth position to move up eight GC places to sixth, with tomorrow’s 17km time-trial stage the last to be contested.

Here's the report from eighth-place Jorgen Nordhagen's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Jørgen Nordhagen showcased his talent in the tough queen stage of the Tour de Romandie. After tackling multiple climbs, the young Norwegian managed to stay with the group of favorites on the final ascent, eventually crossing the line in eighth place. The stage was won by Lenny Martinez.

Early on the first climb of the day, three riders broke away, but due to the high pace in the peloton, the breakaway never gained much of a gap. The escapees were eventually reeled in on the final climb by the bunch, where the young squad of Team Visma | Lease a Bike was still well represented and firmly positioned near the front.

On the last climb of the day, several riders were quickly dropped, but Nordhagen managed to hold his place near the front. The 20-year-old Norwegian stayed with the group of favorites for a long time but had to let go with seven kilometers to go as the group—by then already significantly reduced—pushed on. Nordhagen ultimately finished in an impressive eighth place.

The peloton early in the stage on the Anzere climb. Sirotti photo

“We’ve achieved a really strong result", said sports director Maarten Wynants. “Of course, we were hoping Jørgen would deliver a good performance today, but finishing eighth in such a strong field is really impressive—especially considering he wasn’t feeling great the past few days. It’s truly a result to be proud of.”

Tomorrow, the riders face one last challenge with an individual time trial, but Wynants is already very pleased with what the team has achieved so far. “With this very young squad, we managed to win a stage and showed ourselves every day. It’s great to see how well the guys are developing and making their mark in the WorldTour. This group definitely has a lot of potential.”

Here's the Tour de Romandie report from David Gaudu's Team Groupama-FDJ:

On the long climb to Thyon 2000, David Gaudu and his teammates got a taste of the next Giro this Saturday. In the queen stage of the Tour de Romandie, featuring three major climbs, the French rider was able to test himself and ultimately secured 32nd place after completing the final climb at his own pace. On Sunday, the Swiss race will conclude with a time trial in Geneva, where Stefan Küng and Rémi Cavagna will have some ambitions.

The Tour de Romandie’s “main course” was expected this Saturday. A proper mountain stage was laying ahead of the riders heading towards the Thyon 2000 resort. Despite a relatively short distance of 118 kilometres, they indeed had to cover 4,000 meters of elevation gain across five categorized climbs, including three first-category ascents. One of these climbs actually launched the stage for the peloton, towards Anzère (14.5 km at 7%), where the day’s breakaway developed around three men.

The peloton early in the stage in the town of Sion.

However, the bunch never really eased off and maintained a maximum gap of two minutes. On the second major climb of the day, towards Nax (11.5 km at 7%), the selection began to take place and the peloton was reduced by half before descending to Sion and tackling the long, final climb of Thyon 2000 (20 km at 7.7%). Still represented by five riders at the bottom, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was however unable to compete when the pace picked up significantly after a few kilometers of climbing.

David Gaudu and then Rémy Rochas were both dropped, and the climber from Brittany eventually crossed the line in thirty-second position, while Lenny Martinez secured the day’s victory. “It was really a big mountain stage,” emphasized Stéphane Goubert. “Rémy did everything he could. As for David, he tested himself for a bit with the best, then worked for the Giro. He wanted to get close to his limit, then take a deep breath and do the climb at his own pace, which he managed to do. He was able to get his second wind, and that’s positive going forwards. It was a hard day, but a good test for those heading to the Giro”.

Now out of the battle for the Tour de Romandie’s general classification, the French team will however have real ambitions tomorrow on the seventeen-kilometre time trial around Geneva. “Stefan and Rémi managed the last climb in anticipation of tomorrow, and we will now be fully focused on that,” concluded Stéphane.

And here's the Tour de Romandie report from Junior Lecerf's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Junior Lecerf will enter the final day of the Tour de Romandie in ninth place overall, after a strong ride from his side and a selfless effort of Soudal Quick-Step teammate Remco Evenepoel, who was there to help him in a crucial moment on the most important climb of the race, when the going got tough.

Thyon 2000, a 20.8km regular climb averaging 7.6%, made an appearance for just the fourth time on the route of the Swiss race, and it came as no surprise that the favourites showed early their intentions on the winding roads taking to an altitude of 2090 meters. With eight kilometers to go, just as white jersey wearer Junior Lecerf was being distanced following an injection of pace at the front, Evenepoel dropped back and paced his countryman, working hard in order to help him limit the losses.

Looking worse for the wear, Remco Evenepoel finishes stage four. Sirotti photo

That considerable effort, while braving the rain and the low temperatures, wasn’t for nothing, as it helped Lecerf conclude in the top ten the stage won by Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), who became the new leader of the Tour de Romandie.

“I still have a lot of work to do, I think that is clear after this week, but there’s no need to panic. We couldn’t hold the pace halfway through the climb, so we rode our own tempo. I asked Junior what pace he wanted and we continued like this all the way to the top. Junior is well-placed in the standings and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow, when we will once again try to give our best”, said the Olympic Champion.

In the standings, Lecerf is now an impressive fifth, while Remco sits in ninth place. The race concludes on Sunday, in Geneva, with a 17.1km individual time trial, which can still bring some changes to the general classification.

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