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Bono sprints to Romandie win; Savoldelli keeps lead
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Italian rider Matteo Bono (Lampre-Fondital) won the third stage of the Tour de Romandie on Friday, but his breakaway group narrowly failed to deprive Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) of the yellow jersey after they squandered a 19-minute lead.
The experienced Savoldelli held on to his overall lead by just a handful of seconds over fellow Italian Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile) after his rivals tired and hesitated in the final kilometers. Pinotti had been more than four minutes behind Savoldelli in the overall standings, in 98th place, at the start of the day.
Bono and third-placed Pinotti had led for most of the 162.7km stage between Moudon and Charmey en Gruyere along with Japan's Fumiyuki Beppu (Discovery Channel), who finished second.
The three riders broke away from the peloton just minutes into the race, building up a huge lead, which then melted to less than four minutes by the finish line.
"I wasn't calm. On the final climb I saw Marco was tiring. I knew I was quicker and I waited until the finishing line," said Bono, who had recorded his first big professional win earlier this year with a stage in Tirreno-Adriatico.
"I knew the Japanese rider was good because I raced against him as an amateur," he added. Beppu is a two-time Japanese road racing champion.
Frenchman Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) led the main pack to pick up fourth place on the stage.
Once again Savoldelli's Astana team, which is trying to find its mark ahead of the Giro and the Tour de France, successfully defended its team leader by powering the peloton forward over the final half of the stage into the Alpine foothills.
Savoldelli has held the overall lead since he won the prologue on Tuesday.
The riders face their biggest test on Saturday with a 155.9km stage through the Swiss mountains, which includes four major climbs.
The Tour de Romandie ends on Sunday with a 20.4km time trial in and around the Swiss city of Lausanne.
Tour de Romandie
Stage 3
1. Matteo Bono (I), Lampre-Fondital, 162.7km in 4:04:15
2. Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn), Discovery Channel, s.t.
3. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile, at 0:02
4. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r, at 3:51
5. Thomas Dekker (Ned), Rabobank, s.t.
6. Andrea Tonti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, s.t.
7. Theo Eltink (Ned), Rabobank, s.t.
8. Roger Beuchat (Swi), Team LPR, s.t.
9. Markus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, s.t.
10. Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas, s.t.
Overall
1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 12:23:20
2. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile, at 0:04
3. Roman Kreuziger (Cze), Liquigas, at 0:05
4. Christopher Horner (USA), Predictor-Lotto, s.t.
5. Markus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, at 0:06
6. Sandy Casar (F), Française des Jeux, s.t.
7. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), Astana, at 0:09
8. Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas, at 0:10
9. Francisco Perez (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, s.t.
10. Hubert Schwab (Swi), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:11
