Australians Michael Rogers and Richie Porte upset the leader board in the third stage of Tour de Romandie on Friday, as Porte sped to surprise stage win while Rogers took over the yellow jersey.
Porte, a former triathlete, left second-placed Alejandro Valverde, one of the race favorites, 26 seconds behind in the 23.4km time trial.
Rogers took over the overall lead after finishing fourth behind Russian Vladimir Karpets.
PHOTO: EPA
Porte took advantage of changing weather at the western Swiss town of Moudon as rain showers moved in.
“I can’t believe it, I was 30 seconds down on some pretty big names after the check, but the wind must have changed,” the Tasmanian said afterwards. “It’s a massive surprise for me. I crashed in the prologue on the first corner, but I knew I had good form.”
The changes in the overall standings sets the stage for a thrilling weekend of racing over the mountains. Valverde was just two seconds behind Rogers in the overall standings, followed by a Russian trio of Karpets, Artem Ovetschkin and Denis Menchov, the reigning Tour of Spain champion. Porte is seventh 17 seconds behind the leader.
The stage marked a big setback for the Liquigas team, which had dominated the race until Friday.
Peter Sagan lost the yellow jersey and was far behind, along with Italy’s former Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso and last year’s Tour de Romandie winner Roman Kreuziger.
British rider Mark Cavendish, of the HTC-Columbia team, meanwhile, issued an apology on Friday for the defiant, two-finger gesture that accompanied his victory on stage two.
“I did want to make a statement to my critics, but I realize that making a rude gesture on the finish line is not the best way to do that,” Cavendish said. “I apologize to everybody watching the race and especially the kids. I am not proud of releasing the feelings in that way.”
“I hope I can redeem myself and show my feelings and passion for cycling with some exciting results in the next couple of months rather than with gestures such as the one yesterday,” Cavendish said.
In related news, as Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer kept their focus firmly on upcoming races, under-23 Trek-Livestrong rider Jesse Sergent seized the time trial third stage of the Tour of the Gila.
Gila
New Zealand’s Sergent, the world pursuit silver medalist, won the 25.9km Tyrone time trial in 34 minutes, nine seconds — 14 seconds ahead of overall leader Leipheimer, who is riding with seven-time Tour de France-winning teammate Armstrong in the kit of Mellow Johnny’s in the national-level race.
RadioShack’s Leipheimer and Armstrong, who are using the event as preparation for the Tour of California and the Tour de France, were among the starters who opted for low-profile spoked wheels front and rear in the windy conditions, rather than risking rear disk wheels.
“I definitely lost time in the faster parts,” said Leipheimer, who said the handicap was worth it if it avoided a crash like that suffered by Belgian Gert Steegmans in windy conditions at the Paris-Nice prologue last month.
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