Team Sky’s Chris Froome put in a solid final time trial at yesterday’s Tour de Romandie for a third place (34 seconds behind winner Tony Martin, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) to secure an overall victory. With a winning time of 19h 24’51”, Froome clinched the win ahead of Katusha’s Simon Spilak in second and Movistar’s Rui Costa in third. The result ensured a second consecutive victory in the Swiss WorldTour event following the success of Sir Bradley Wiggins last year; holding yellow since the opening prologue on Tuesday, it also represented the first time Team Sky have led a stage race from start to finish.
Commenting on his win, Froome said, ‘It has been a really good week for us I am really happy with my condition now in the build-up to the Tour de France,” said the race winner. This week I couldn’t have done it without the help of a really strong team around me. Every day since the prologue, they have protected me and kept me at the front of the race. I owe it to them this week.’ And on his Tour de France prospects he cautiously added, ‘It is definitely a good omen, but the Tour is still two months away and I need to do a lot of hard training before then.’
