THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Perez Sanchez revenged in Romandie
Spaniard Francisco Perez Sanchez (Milaneza-MSS) took the lead in the Tour of Romandie on Saturday after winning the 146.5km stage between Monthey and Chatel-St-Denis on the penultimate day of the event.
Perez Sanchez cruised home alone on the final kilometer after overtaking second-placed Italian Eddy Mazzoleni (Vini Caldirola-Sidermec), who eventually finished 21 seconds behind, on the final mountain climb.
Swiss riders Fabian Jeker (Milaneza-MSS) and Alexandre Moos (Phonak), finished third and fourth. American Tyler Hamilton (CSC) was fifth.
The start was delayed by three minutes as the motorcyclists involved in the tour held a minute's silence for a support rider killed in a crash on Friday.
A number of riders got into difficulty during the first mountain challenge, but a group headed by Milaneza's David Bernabeu broke away.
The lead riders were caught 14km from the end, and Mazzoleni took off, building a 10-second lead with 9km remaining. But Perez Sanchez overtook him in the run to the line.
In the overall, Perez Sanchez now leads Swiss rider Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) by 29 seconds, with Moos six seconds further behind. Dufaux had taken a slender lead in after winning Friday's stage, but on Saturday could only manage sixth, 31 seconds behind Mazzoleni.
Hamilton remains in contention, 43 seconds behind, going into Sunday's final 20.4km time trial around Lausanne. Jeker and Hamilton's teammate Carlos Sastre are the only other riders within a minute of the lead.
