Tour de Romandie

[Eugene Oppelt]

36.5km remaining from 187km

All together!

[Eugene Oppelt]

With a catch made this early, we could well see further attacks being made and another breakaway forming before we come back into Payerne.

[Eugene Oppelt]

31km remaining from 187km

The grouped peloton hit the final climb of the day at Sassel. It's a third-category ascent but it still packs gradient of over 12 per cent.

[Eugene Oppelt]

And here come the counter attacks...

[Eugene Oppelt]

28km remaining from 187km

It's Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal) and Sebastien Reichenbach (FDJ), who have set off in pursuit. And they're across.

[Eugene Oppelt]

So, the four men up front are:

 

Simon Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac)

Sebastien Reichenbach (FDJ)

Arnaud Courteille (FDJ)

Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal)

[Eugene Oppelt]

Cmon Green Machine ☘️☘️☘️

[Eugene Oppelt]

Another flurry of attacks in the pack as Andrey Amador accelerates away. It's a bit disorganised in there now.

[Eugene Oppelt]

Sander Armée, leader of the KOM classification, accelerates now. Bob Jungels fancies it, too.

[Eugene Oppelt]

25km remaining from 187km

Jungels drives again and gets a gap. There are plenty of riders looking round, wondering how to play this rather chaotic race situation.

[Eugene Oppelt]

Alex Dowsett is the next to go and the Briton immediately gets a sizeable gap. He's a time trial specialist and will be hard to peg back.

[Eugene Oppelt]

The bunch is strung out. Where are Bahrain-Merida? They're certainly not all gathered together on the front like they were not too long ago.

[Eugene Oppelt]

Van der Sande was first over the top of that climb, meaning Lotto Soudal have bagged the maximum KOM points at all five climbs. That protects the KOM classification lead of Armée if nothing else.

[Eugene Oppelt]

21.5km remaining from 187km

Here come Bahrain again, with Grmay on the front. Three others, including Colbrelli and Izaguirre, are there.

[Eugene Oppelt]

Brilliant, Movistar

 

Dowsett is off the front with a lead of 17 seconds

[Eugene Oppelt]

Dowsett loses a couple of seconds on a false flat but the Bahrain riders fan across the road and knock off the pace slightly, causing the Movistar man's lead to rise to 25 seconds again.