Wednesday 28 April, 2021
Alessandro Covi made a promising return to competition with 5th place on stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie for the young Italian.
The undulating day from Aigle to Martigny ( 168.1km) ended in a reduced group sprint of 50-60 riders with Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) taking the win on the flat run-in with Covi in 5th and Rui Costa and Marc Hirschi further back in 11th and 12th respectfully.
In the General Classification Marc Hirschi now sits in 9th spot just 15’’ off race leader Rohan Dennis (Ineos-Grenadiers). The Swiss rider will also wear the white jersey as leader of the best young rider classification on stage 2.
Stage 2 takes the riders from La Neuveville to Saint-Imier (165.7km) which should see an opportunity for the climbers and puncheurs.
Covi : “We knew that from a reduced group we had a chance. Me and Marc spoke about attacking coming into the finish but decided to hold on for the final sprint where we both came home at the head of the peloton and I managed to take 5th. The next stages will be hard but we have the team here to be competitive.”
Hirschi : “The headwind played a big part today and it made it quite hard to fight for position. The next days are good for us as we have guys who can climb and are fast without being pure sprinters, so we’ll look for opportunities on the next stages.”
Stage 1 results
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 4:12:40
Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Victorious) s.t
Patrick Bevin (Israel Start Up Nation) s.t
- Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t
General Classification after Stage 1
1.Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) 4:18:06
2.Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +9’’
3.Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) +9’’
- Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) +15’’
