Rui Costa races to third place in Tour de Romandie stage

Former world champion Rui Costa took third the Tour de Romandie’s first stage today, 166.6km from Fribourg to Delémont.

Costa stepped on to the podium thanks to a sprint behind stage winner Omar Fraile (Astana) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida). Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) commands the general classification.

“We raced with the right mentality, according to the indications that the sports directors gave this morning in the pre-race meeting,” Costa said. “In the final, we controlled the race with Bono and then on the last climb I tried first and then Dan Martin tried, and he created a good gap.

“We had to stay alert watching the small groups that were forming, also on the descent and the flat finish. In the end, the other teams kept it together and we arrived in a sprint. I gave it my all and took a good third place.”

Tomorrow they face the third day, or the second road stage from Delémont to Yverdon-les-Bains. The 173.9km day covers two climbs, one third and one second category, with 1988 climbing metres.

Stage results:

1 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana 4:03:42

2 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida s.t.

3 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates s.t.

Overall classification after the stage 1

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 4:09:16

2 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team s.t.

3 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky +4’’

15 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates +15’’

21 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates +18’’