PREVIEW | Tour de Romandie 2023 stage 5

Preview. After the mountains comes an easier finale to the race. Stage 5 of the Tour de Romandie is far from a simple day, however the sprinters will have the opportunity to succeed as the GC riders take a step back.

The final day of the race sees the most suiting day for the fast men. From Vufflens-la-Ville to Genève, the peloton will tackle a day that features two categorized climbs, however they should not be too hard or close enough to the finish to deal serious damage.

Estimated start and finish times for Tour de Romandie stage 5: 11:55 - 15:55CET

There is a hilltop right at the start of the day where those looking to succeed off a breakaway will try to escape right away and build a strong group. The profile is very suited for an escapee move, featuring these two ascents. Grand Fuey is the first of which, 5.8Km at 7.5% ending with 75 kilometers to the finish, which precede a long and steep descent.

Right as the descent ends, the riders take on the final climb of the day - and the race - which is Le Molard. It's 3.3 kilometers at 6.8%, not something to shrug off. The summit comes with 51 kilometers to the finish line but the summit of the climb is in theory a few kilometers after, as there will be some rolling terrain following.

The final 45 kilometers have a mostly downhill trend, descending 400 meters in altitude. They will be very fast and it'll be hard to bring back a group out front. However the roads won't be technical, and will lead into the center of Genéve. The finale will be fast, mainly with a tricky right-hander with 250 meters to go making it a sprint where being in the first positions is incredibly crucial.

The Weather

A slight northeastern breeze, but not strong enough to influence the day. The skies will be grey but it appears as if the rain will spare the riders on this occasion.

The Favourites

Ethan Vernon - Winner of the only true bunch sprint so far, Vernon is in a good place. Benefiting from the lack of pure sprinters here he can perform, he's shown to be able to climb decently well and Soudal - Quick-Step have done quite good leadout work. With Casper Pedersen leading him out he can surely be in prime position and he can jump into the win.

Ethan Hayter - A question point. The team have Elia Viviani who is a pure sprinter but at this point would even struggle against this kind of competition. INEOS will likely try to support Ethan Hayter who is also in the lead of the points jersey, however if he continues to struggle with positioning this will be a difficult one to manage.

Fernando Gaviria - Likely the fastest sprinter in the race, but this stage is more than that. Positioning will be tricky and Movistar don't exactly have a prime leadout here. Additionally he has struggled climbing on the past sprint stage which is not a good sign. Still, the Colombian ends up having here his only chance to sprint in this race.

Magnus Cort Nielsen - He isn't at his best form, but the Dane has good speed. The day features some climbs which will still favour him against several others, he will be looking to get a good one before travelling to the Giro d'Italia.

When it comes to the more pure sprinters you could see outsiders pop up such as Niccolò Bonifazio, Clément Venturini, Giacomo Nizzolo, Lionel Taminiaux and Luca Mozzato.

As for other riders who have a fast finish and could favour from a strong day there would be Thibau Nys, Milan Menten, Quinten Hermans, Nikias Arndt, Alexander Kamp and Kristian Sbaragli.

Breakaways could also be threatening to the stage result, although they have rarely resulted this season the chances exist, the explosive start and hilly profile will see some action for sure. Here riders such as Rémi Cavagna, Nikias Arndt, Matteo Sobrero, Lawson Craddock, Chris Juul-Jensen, Nans Peters, Jesús Herrada and Thomas de Gendt could find their way into the front and in the fight for the win.

Prediction Tour de Romandie 2023 stage 5:

*** Ethan Vernon, Fernando Gaviria
** Ethan Hater, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Niccolò Bonifazio
* Elia Viviani, Lionel Taminiaux, Luca Mozzato, Giacomo Nizzolo, Thibau Nys, Milan Menten, Rémi Cavagna, Thomas de Gendt

Pick: Ethan Vernon