April 29, 2015 (Saint-Imier, SUI) – Three-time 2014 stage winner Michael Albasini has once again shown his strength at the Tour de Romandie, claiming the second stage in Saint-Imier today. Despite some struggles earlier in the day, the 34-year-old crested the final climb alongside ORICA-GreenEDGE teammates Simon Yates and Ivan Santaromita in a group of around 50 riders and was too strong in the final sprint, finishing ahead of Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx – Quickstep).
The victory also moved the Suisse, who showed his current form with a third place at La Fleche Wallonne last week, into the race lead.
“I actually was hurting a lot on the second last climb out here in Saint-Imier,” Albasini said. “But (the final climb) was quite a regular climb. After a really fast first part, the second part was more regular and I could stay in the bunch so I knew I had a good chance in the sprint.”
“I placed myself well, I always like a little fight going on and I was maybe a little bit too far in the front too early so I was happy the guys from Garmin came around me and I could jump on them.
“Still I had to do a long long sprint so I was happy to keep (the lead).”
The victory was a sweetener for the Australian outfit who narrowly missed out on the first stage team time trial victory yesterday, beaten by the day’s final finishers, Team Sky, by less than one second.
“It was disappointing yesterday so I am super happy that we can have the first win today,” Albasini said. “It makes it a little bit better for the 0.63 of a second we lost yesterday.”
Asked after the win if he can back it up like last year’s effort of three stage wins, Albasini was content with enjoying the days effort for now.
“Last year was the first time I won a stage at Tour of Romandie and I thought winning three, I am fine for the next two years,” he joked. “But I am happy to win again, it’s my first win this season so it’s great and especially to win in Switzerland, it’s always nice.”
With memories of last year’s opening stage victory in mind, the team knew Albasini was a real chance going into today’s stage, and if not, ably backed up by British climber Yates.
“The stage finish was a similar terrain to the first stage he won last year,” sport director Neil Stephens noted. “Once he forced himself over the climb with that group, there was no one that could beat him.”
“Michael put in some great preparation for the Ardennes so he is in great shape and everyone has their good races, ones that suit them well, and his just happens to be in his home country as well so that makes it even more special.”
As the action got underway at the start of the day there was no reaction from the peloton as Jonathon Fumeaux (IAM Cycling) and Maxim Belkov (Team Katusha) worked off the front from the flag, the duo rapidly gaining almost four minutes advantage in the first ten kilometres of racing.
They remained in front for much of the day, albeit closely monitored by Team Sky who managed the front of the peloton in defence of the leader’s jersey worn by Geraint Thomas.
As they tackled the final climb of the stage, the duo’s time in front came to a close as a number of attacks, including one involving ORICA-GreenEDGE’s Santaromita, on the ascent with 22km to ride saw the peloton break into pieces.
Over the descent and into the finish, a group of 50riders came together for a sprint finish, Albasini perfectly placed and too crafty for the group that consisted mainly of general classification contenders.
Tomorrow’s stage three is another punchy day with riders to negotiate four classified climbs on the 173.2km journey from Moutier to Porrentruy.
Results
1. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica GreenEdge 4:21:43
2. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling
3. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
4. Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
5. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida
6. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
7. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha
8. Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica GreenEdge
9. Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
10. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
11. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
12. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
13. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar Team
14. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
15. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
16. Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
17. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff-Saxo
18. Maxime Mederel (Fra) Team Europcar
19. Mathias Frank (Sui) IAM Cycling
20. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
21. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
22. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
23. Christopher Froome (Gbr) Team Sky
24. Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling
25. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
26. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
27. Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha
28. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step
29. Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica GreenEdge
30. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Soudal
31. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
32. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
33. Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
34. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing
35. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky
36. Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha
37. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
38. Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
39. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr
40. Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar
41. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr
42. Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
43. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team
44. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team
45. Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
46. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
47. Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
48. Thomas Danielson (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
49. Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana Pro Team
50. Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 01:41
51. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
52. David De La Cruz (Esp) Etixx – Quick-Step
53. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
54. Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
55. Marcel Wyss (Sui) IAM Cycling
56. Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 02:06
57. Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal
58. Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Team Europcar
59. Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida
60. Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 02:49
61. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
62. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin 03:13
63. Carlos Betancur (Col) AG2R La Mondiale
64. Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
65. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team
66. Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 04:12
67. Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
68. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr
69. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky
70. Campbell Flakemore (Aus) BMC Racing Team
71. Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre-Merida
72. Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo
73. Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin
74. Bryan Naulleau
75. Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
76. Romain Guillemois (Fra) Team Europcar
77. Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
78. Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
79. Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
80. Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
81. Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Trek Factory Racing 05:49
82. Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
83. Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing Team
84. Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 06:31
85. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 06:58
86. Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha
87. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
88. Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ.fr
89. Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
90. Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
91. Brian Bulgac (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
92. Sam Bewley (Nzl) Orica GreenEdge
93. Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar
94. Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing
95. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
96. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
97. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr
98. Peter Kennaugh (Gbr) Team Sky
99. Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
100. Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar
101. Reto Hollenstein (Sui) IAM Cycling 09:04
102. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing
103. Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin
104. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
105. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
106. Larry Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling
107. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha
108. Janier Acevedo (Col) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
109. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
110. Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
111. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar Team
112. Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr
113. John Gadret (Fra) Movistar Team
114. Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Team Katusha
115. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
116. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
117. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team
118. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
119. Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
120. Greg Henderson (Nzl) Lotto Soudal
121. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Giant-Alpecin
122. Jonathan Fumeaux (Sui) IAM Cycling
123. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
124. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr
125. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr 14:17
126. Fabio Silvestre (Por) Trek Factory Racing 15:13
127. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
128. Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
129. Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Alpecin
130. Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
131. Ruben Plaza Molina (Esp) Lampre-Merida
132. Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
133. Rick Flens (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
134. Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky
135. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
136. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
137. Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
138. Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Soudal
139. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling
140. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
141. Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky
142. Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge
GC after Stage 2
1. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica GreenEdge 4:42:52
2. Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica GreenEdge 00:10
3. Christopher Froome (Gbr) Team Sky
4. Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica GreenEdge
5. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 00:15
6. Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
7. Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha
8. Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha
9. Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
10. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step 00:20
11. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step 00:24
12. Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
13. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 00:27
14. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
15. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
16. Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana Pro Team
17. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 00:28
18. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 00:29
19. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
20. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team
21. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr 00:32
22. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr
23. Mathias Frank (Sui) IAM Cycling 00:34
24. Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling
25. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 00:50
26. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar Team
27. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
28. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
29. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
30. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team
31. Thomas Danielson (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
32. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 00:51
33. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
34. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing 00:52
35. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 01:05
36. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff-Saxo
37. Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
38. Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
39. Maxime Mederel (Fra) Team Europcar 01:17
40. Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar
41. Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
42. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 01:22
43. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44. Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 01:28
45. Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 01:32
46. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
47. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
48. Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 02:10
49. David De La Cruz (Esp) Etixx – Quick-Step 02:12
50. Marcel Wyss (Sui) IAM Cycling 02:15
51. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 02:23
52. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 02:32
53. Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 02:52
54. Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 02:56
55. Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida 02:57
56. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step 03:13
57. Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal 03:28
58. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 03:34
59. Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 03:39
60. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team 03:42
61. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin 04:13
62. Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Team Europcar 04:14
63. Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 04:20
64. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky 04:22
65. Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 04:36
66. Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
67. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 04:44
68. Carlos Betancur (Col) AG2R La Mondiale 04:45
69. Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre-Merida 05:03
70. Campbell Flakemore (Aus) BMC Racing Team 05:06
71. Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin 05:12
72. Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
73. Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo 05:17
74. Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
75. Bryan NAULLEAU 05:29
76. Romain Guillemois (Fra) Team Europcar
77. Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 05:44
78. Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 06:18
79. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 06:23
80. Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Trek Factory Racing 06:41
81. Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing Team 06:43
82. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 07:08
83. Peter Kennaugh (Gbr) Team Sky
84. Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha 07:13
85. Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ.fr 07:30
86. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 07:42
87. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 07:50
88. Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing
89. Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 08:03
90. Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 08:07
91. Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar 08:15
92. Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 08:17
93. Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 08:20
94. Brian Bulgac (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 09:03
95. Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 09:06
96. Sam Bewley (Nzl) Orica GreenEdge 09:12
97. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky 09:14
98. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida 09:42
99. Janier Acevedo (Col) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 09:54
100. John Gadret (Fra) Movistar Team
101. Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
102. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 09:56
103. Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 10:04
104. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Giant-Alpecin
105. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
106. Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 10:05
107. Reto Hollenstein (Sui) IAM Cycling 10:06
108. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 10:09
109. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 10:13
110. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team 10:19
111. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar Team
112. Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Team Katusha 10:20
113. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 10:22
114. Greg Henderson (Nzl) Lotto Soudal 10:26
115. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 11:12
116. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr 11:14
117. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 11:18
118. Larry Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling 11:21
119. Jonathan Fumeaux (Sui) IAM Cycling
120. Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 11:40
121. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha 12:01
122. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida 12:14
123. Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 12:34
124. Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr 13:48
125. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr 14:49
126. Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 15:23
127. Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky
128. Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge
129. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 15:40
130. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 15:47
131. Fabio Silvestre (Por) Trek Factory Racing 16:05
132. Ruben Plaza Molina (Esp) Lampre-Merida 16:16
133. Rick Flens (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 16:18
134. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
135. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
136. Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
137. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 16:41
138. Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 18:30
139. Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky 18:35
140. Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Alpecin 18:39
141. Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 18:43
142. Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Soudal 20:23