Aleksandr Vlasov wins Tour de Romandie after dominating win in final mountain time-trial

BORA - hansgrohe have taken the second stage in a row. After Sergio Higuita won the sprint finish at yesterday's mountainous stage, Aleksandr Vlasov today put in a gruelling time in the final time-trial to conquer the Tour de Romandie as Rohan Dennis was unable to defend the race lead.

The 15.8-kilometer long time-trial ended up being the crucial day for the overall classification, as the climbers were unable to distance themselves throughout the week. The ascent to Villars meant riders had nowhere to hide, and the gaps could be big towards the finish. The race lead frequently changed in the opening hours, as more and more climbers took to the start.

Times started to get quite challenging to beat with Rein Taaramae setting a time of 35:05. In quick succession, the time was slightly improved by Thibaut Pinot, Steven Kruijswiijk and Damiano Caruso - separated by only three seconds. Simon Geschke put on a storming performance to remove 33 seconds off the time of Caruso. Gino Mader came close only five seconds behind, as many struggled to lower the 35-minute mark, leading to big GC changes.

Aleksandr Vlasov was on a superior level to the competition though, taking off 31 seconds on Geschke's time. With Juan Ayuso and Rohan Dennis struggling, the Russian took the title as the former race leader arrived at the finish having lost 2:12 minutes.