Fotoreporter Sirotti
The 65th edition of the Tour of Romandie began Tuesday, with Euskaltel’s Jonathan Castroviejo taking the race’s first leader’s jersey with a win in the technical 3.5-km Prologue through the streets of Martigny.
For years, Romandie was the final piece of the pre-Giro puzzle for anyone hoping to contend for the maglia rosa in the season’s first Grand Tour, but lately—thanks largely to the Giro’s earlier start date—more of the Italian race’s top favorites have chosen to pass on this 6 day event in the French-speaking region of Switzerland in exchange for the shorter, harder Giro del Trentino two weeks before the start of the Italian Grand Tour. The start list for this year’s event is no different, with only two of the men expected to contend for the overall title at the Giro participating in Romandie—Roman Kreuziger and Denis Menchov. But don’t let that fool you—the race is not lacking in star power.
As far as contenders are concerned, last year’s “winner†Simon Spilak takes the start for again Lampre, alongside Damiano Cunego. 2010 Dauphiné-winner Janez Brajkovic will also do his best to add another weeklong stage race title to his palmares, while his Radio Shack teammate Sebastien Rosseler targets the race’s two time trials. HTC-High Road brings Marco Pinotti and Tony Martin—the former to put the finishing touches on his Giro fitness and the latter to begin building for the Tour de France. Both should be considered favorites for the overall win, with Martin the likely winner of Saturday’s Stage 4 time trial.
For Rabobank, Luis Leon Sanchez is a rider to watch for the overall—he’s ridden a rather anonymous 2011 so far and is due for a win at some point, while Oscar Freire is always a good bet for a stage win or two. In fact, with a gentler course profile than in years past, Freire could prove to the fastest on all but the hilliest of the event’s four road stages. Meanwhile, at Garmin-Cervelo, youngsters Jack Bobridge and Andrew Talansky are the riders to watch—in the ITT’s and overall classification respectively.
Leopard Trek brings Daniele Bennati to fight for stage wins and Linus Gerdemann to try for a high GC finish, while BMC brings Cadel Evans and Taylor Phinney. Evans missed the Ardennes classics with an injury, while Phinney’s been struggling all season to make his presence felt (he finished second Tuesday though and looks to be back on track). Steve Morabito’s another BMC rider to watch following an impressive Giro del Trentino—he always performs well on home soil.
Searching for a dark horse winner? Look no further than Movistar’s Benat Intxausti. The young Basque finished fourth in Pais Vasco and should easily finish inside the top-5 here. The same can be said of Saxo Bank’s Australian Richie Porte, the winner of last year’s Romandie ITT and a revelation in the Giro d’Italia weeks later.
And speaking of the Giro, 2010-winner Ivan Basso heads to this year’s Tour of Romandie as part of his preparation for the 2011 Tour de France. While Basso is likely just seeking some high-intensity training miles, his teammate Sylvester Szmyd is a better bet for the overall.
Last but certainly not least, Astana comes to Romandie with a former winner in Roman Kreuziger and a 2011 contender in Alexandre Vinokourov. After finishing fourth in Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Kreuziger is likely looking ahead to the Giro, but Vino could snag the team its first major win of the post-Contador era. And speaking of Contador, Geox-TMC’s Denis Menchov is using Romandie as a final test to determine whether or not he’ll prove able to challenge the Spanish Grand Tour star in Italy—look for him near the top of the results following Saturday’s time trial.
In the end, I expect we’ll see Cadel Evans, Alexandre Vinokourov, and Simon Spilak battling for the overall title, with Vinokourov emerging victorious by the time the race ends in Geneva this Sunday. From there, all signs point to the Giro and what should be one of the most stunning Grand Tour battles we’ve seen in years.
Share your picks and comments below!
What about Sky's Bradley Wiggins? Third (or was it fourth?) in paris nice this year, a good time triallist and if hes got the form he could possibly stick with the good riders on the harder climbs and not lose too much time then win in the final time trial. Not a dead cert for the win but a possibility.
Otherwise I'm thinking martin after his performance at paris nice, Roman Kreuziger after LBL if on good form, and Cadel Evans IF he has the form