Jonathan Castroviejo wins the opening stage of Tour de Romandie
Jonathan Castroviejo of Euskaltel-Euskadi team won the first stage of Tour de Romandie prologue time trial in Martigny. It was his first victory of this season and last year Castroviejo grabbed a second place in a time trail at the Vuelta Asturias.
Castroviejo covered the distance of 3.5 kilometres in 3 hours, 40 minutes and 42 second. Taylor Phinney of BMC Racing team was in second spot with the difference of 27 seconds. Leigh Howard of HTC-Highroad team finished third with 73 seconds adrift.
After winning the stage, Castroviejo said “I’m very happy! Tomorrow is my birthday, so it’s been an amazing gift, we will double the celebration.” Castroviejo was quite humble about his win, he always shows his best result in the time trail and again with
the help of his team he crossed the finished line without any difficulty.
He further added that his team-mates have given him some advice “they told me to do all I can at the bends, which I did.”
Before starting the race, Phinney was worried about the cobbled section but when he was on them, he felt good and covered all the distance without any problem.
In the beginning of the race, the 24-year-old Dennis Van Winden of Rabobank team was first rider who built a very strong time trail. But in the end, he grabbed a sixth position with the difference of 2min and 98 second behind Geoffroy.
David Millar also put in a very good ride, but after some times he could not control the whole situation and was fifth place in the end. The former World champion, Cadel Evan of BMC racing team who missed this month Ardennes Classic race due to his knee
injury, grabbed 25th position in the stage.
The second stage will start from Martigny to Leysin and the total distance will be 173.6 kilometres. The last stage will end on Sunday, May 1, 2011.
A quick view of the top five in the Tour de Romandie so far, is as follows;
1. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi team, 03:40.42
2. Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team, 27
3. Leigh Howard (Aus) HTC-Highroad team, 73
4. Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) RadioShack team, 01.95
5. David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Cervelo team, 02.10
General classification after prologue
1. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi team, 0:03:40
2. Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
3. Leigh Howard (Aus) HTC-Highroad team, 1
4. Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) RadioShack team, 2
5. David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Cervelo team