The third stage of the Tour de Romandie is the prey of Marc Soler. The Spaniard reigns solo in Estavayer and thus also secures the yellow top jersey.

After 168.7 km in the run, Dane’s Magnus Kurt Nielsen and Slovakian Peter Sagan followed him by 22 seconds in the first group of pursuers. In the overall standings, Soler is now 14 seconds ahead of concurrent Ineos professionals Girante Thomas and Richie Porte.

Also former Commander-in-Chief Rohan Dennis of Australia lost the leaders’ shirt as he fell on the penultimate slope in heavy rain and was unable to catch up with the chasing group in adverse conditions.

Stefan Kong with a lot of luck

In the same descent about 15 km from the end, Stefan Kong also fell earlier. The guy from Thurgau, who was in the lead with Belgian Kobe Goossens at this point, was very lucky. The Swiss champ slid down the wet road in the Mediterranean and crashed into a protective carpet at the edge of the road at high speed. Küng suffered abrasions, but managed to finish the stage.

Kong originally belonged to an upper group of seven, including Stefan Besiger, Johan Jacobs, Mathias Reutmann, and three other Swiss members. In the circle around Estavayer one by one lost contact in the final. Küng might not have reached the finish line without incident. As the last of the refugees, the Goossens were placed by the top group about ten kilometers from the end.

And instead of the Swiss or the Belgian, the Spaniard celebrated with Marc Soler at the end. Movistar’s 27-year-old Jacobs teammate won the overall standings from Paris-Nice in 2018 and won a stage in Vuelta last fall.

“Queen’s Stage” on Saturday

It remains to be seen whether Soler will also compete for an all-out victory in western Switzerland. In any case, the challenge for the Spaniard is great. Because Saturday “King’s Theater” from Sion to “Theon 2000” ski station is in the program. Professionals must handle two Class A climbs and the final climb of approximately 21 km at 161.3 km.

The Sunday solo experience in Freiburg comes at the end of the tour.