Tour de Romandie

Ilan Van Wilder cemented his place in the top five of the Swiss race at the end of Saturday’s 151.7km queen stage, which featured five classified climbs – including the hard Leysin summit finish (13.8km, 6%) – and more than 3500 vertical meters, that poured led in the riders’ legs long before the final showdown.

Sporting the white jersey on his shoulders following his solid display in Friday’s time trial, Ilan was delivered by his Soudal Quick-Step teammates in a good position at the bottom of the last ascent, where the peloton counted only some 40-odd riders. The status quo continued until five kilometers to go, when some of the riders began showing their intentions. Van Wilder was briefly distanced, but he made it back soon after thanks to a fantastic effort, glueing himself to the wheel of the yellow jersey, which he then dropped when the big attacks came on the steepest part of the climb, pulverising the favourites’ group.

Not panicking on the gruelling gradients of Leysin, which ended up having a major impact on the rankings, Ilan decided instead to pace his effort very smartly, and this paid off nicely at the end of the stage won by Richard Carapaz (Ef Education-EasyPost). The 23-year-old concluded in seventh place for his third consecutive top ten of the week, and will now go into the final day of the race in fourth overall, the same result he got in the beginning of the season at another World Tour race, the UAE Tour.

“It was a brutal day with a hard pace from the first climb. I was lucky to have the support of the team, and especially Julian’s, who was with me almost the entire day. It was difficult for everyone on the last ascent and I missed a bit there to follow the best guys, but I quickly found my tempo and kept it until the finish. Overall, I am satisfied with this result, because it shows that I’m improving in World Tour races”, Ilan explained after the stage.

Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images