PREVIEW | Tour de Romandie 2023 stage 3 - Scary fast descent, tough climb and rain to make for crucial time-trial

Preview. Stage 3 of the Tour de Romandie will be a key day for the overall classification. With the GC riders not yet creating differences on the road, another time-trial will further develop the fight for each second, and Ethan Hayter will look to defend his race lead.

Before the mountains, the fourth stage of the race features over 18 kilometers of individual time-trial. It will be in Châtel-St-Denis that this will take place, it's a long time-trial for the race's size however not a flat one. It's a tricky day where the uphills and downhills will be a serious challenge and many riders can surprise.

Estimated start and finish times for Tour de Romandie stage 3: 14:10 - 17:30CET

It is absolutely a difficult effort to manage, an and unusual time-trial. The first five kilometers are mostly flat, but then lead to an inconsistent ascent where the main gaps of the day will be created. This one will go up to 13% near it's start, however most of the climb is within more gentle slopes where the TT bike will with no doubt be the better option.

The whole ascent is 4.3 kilometers long at 5.7% and summits with 8.5Km to go to the end of the effort. The riders find a plateau right after, before a classic Swiss descent. In the TT bikes it will be treacherous and incredibly nervous. The descent back into Châtel features gradients of over 10%, it's not a mostly straightforward descent with a couple of tricky corners, riders will need a lot of caution, only the final few hundred meters flatten out.

Some wind from the south, however that shouldn't affect the outcome of the day. It's Switzerland however, the weather can play a big role and here that could definitely happen. The rain will be falling, it's never a certainty when it will start but most likely it'll intensify over the afternoon.

Tobias Foss - The World champion has a better challenge here. Against the clock he seems good, but we can't be fooled by the rainbow stripes he is not the man to beat. This is a more suited day than the prologue however, and the motivation of being second in the GC could see him ride that little extra.

Ethan Hayter - However he will have to match Ethan Hayter. Over the year I feel he's missed out on several wins or good results due to positioning but in a time-trial that won't be an issue. He showed today that he does have the form and his prologue result indicates he's got the pure speed too, and on his day he could easily take a climb like this at high level.

Rémi Cavagna - Rémi Cavagna sits third in the GC and will be in search of that lead. He will want a win and this is a good opportunity. In the climb he can suffer, but at the same time he definitely has the pure speed for the flat sections and in the descent he's certainly improved quite a lot when in comparison to previous years.

Matteo Sobrero - Perhaps his big opportunity? Sobrero has won in the big stage but he can do it again. His descending is very good and that can see him take some time on the competition, but in the climbing itself he's certainly in a position to ride at great speed. He'll be a good card to play on the day.

In the fight for the GC the splits will happen too. The riders will need to be at their very best before the queen stage and there is serious time to make here. Juan Ayuso, Matteo Jorgenson, Adam Yates and Ion Izagirre would be among contenders for the stage in case the time-trialists can't climb fast enough.

However this day will be far from just climbing. Outsiders have their chances and specially the early starters could have a dream day if they get lucky with the weather. Within some of the second-liners however we can find riders like Josef Cerny who won the prologue, Nelson Oliveira, Lawson Craddock, Mikkel Bjerg and Nico Denz.

*** Matteo Sobrero, Tobias Foss, Juan Ayuso
** Rémi Cavagna, Ion Izagirre
* Ethan Hayter, Matteo Jorgenson, Adam Yates, Nelson Oliveira, Mikkel Bjerg

Pick: Juan Ayuso