Adam Yates edged Thibaut Pinot after a mountain-top battle in the fourth stage of the Tour de Romandie on Saturday to take the overall race lead.
The ‘Queen’ stage of this 75th edition of the race scaled five peaks over 161.6 km from Sion to the ski resort at Thyon.
Yates launched his attack 4km from the finish, on the long final climb on high roads hemmed by walls of snow, the peloton’s first taste of high Alpine passes this season.
He built a lead of 10 seconds over Pinot before the Groupama-FDJ climber counter-attacked and slashed the lead but could not catch up.
Yates took the yellow leader’s jersey from teammate Juan Ayuso, who won the time trial on Friday despite nursing tendinitis in his heel.
“It’s a really good performance from the team,” said Yates. “Juan gave me the green light to go for the win. It has been important for me to win, and now I am here celebrating this success,” said Yates, who is scheduled to ride the Tour de France alongside two-time winner Tadej Pogacar this year.
Egan Bernal showed some form as he rides off an injury coming eighth on the day, a result that lifted him back into the top ten in the GC.
The race finishes with a 170.8km stage from Vufflens-La-Ville to Geneva on Sunday.
