UAE dominates the field, but not Martinez as young Frenchman doubles up in queen stage of Romandie

After a week of challenging terrain, the race headed into its decisive phase with the final two stages. Sunday’s time trial will settle the overall standings, but Saturday was a pure test for the climbers. Over 4000 meters of elevation gain were packed into the route, making it a crucial day for the GC contenders. The early break featured some usual suspects in this race: Julien Bernard (Lidl Trek), Louis Barré (Intermarché Wanty), and Ben Zwiehoff, who was protecting his lead in the mountains classification.

Zwiehoff did just that. While Bernard tried to challenge him, the German rider from Red Bull BORA hansgrohe picked up enough points to stay in the KOM jersey. A stage win was never in reach for the break, as UAE Team Emirates XRG controlled the pace and kept the gap under two minutes. The trio reached the top of the Suen climb together, but the focus had already shifted to the main field with Thyon 2000 looming in the distance.

After cresting the penultimate climb, Zwiehoff called it a day. The German had done his job, securing the mountains jersey, and rolled back into the peloton with satisfaction. His French breakaway companions tried to push on a little longer, but by the time they reached the base of the final climb, their lead had shrunk to just 45 seconds. Bernard launched a solo move on the early slopes, but Lotto Dstny took charge of the chase. That acceleration quickly proved too much for race leader Alex Baudin, who was dropped early. A new yellow jersey was guaranteed.

With 14 kilometers to go, Bernard was caught. Around the same time, David Gaudu lost contact. The Frenchman had been invisible all week and now cracked completely. He was not the only dark horse to falter. Alexander Vlasov also had to let go midway through the climb. Junior Lecerf, who had briefly been the virtual race leader, was also in trouble. The Belgian started the day high on GC but could not hold the pace. Remco Evenepoel stayed by his side to help, which meant the Olympic champion also lost touch with the lead group. Up front, João Almeida kept driving the pace, thinning out the group of contenders.

After a powerful lead-out, it was Jay Vine who turned up the pressure even more. The Australian, wearing the points jersey, drove a fierce tempo that whittled the front group down to just a handful of riders. Among those dropped were Lennert Van Eetvelt, Jørgen Nordhagen, and defending champion Carlos Rodríguez. The Spaniard paced himself back into the race impressively, but UAE Team Emirates XRG was going full gas. Vine and João Almeida launched attack after attack, trying to shake off the last remaining challengers: Lorenzo Fortunato and Lenny Martinez.

Despite the relentless surges, both Fortunato and Martinez were still there. Martinez in particular looked calm and composed on the wheel. Another kick from Almeida finally cracked Fortunato, but Martinez refused to budge. Vine had now been distanced, setting up a head-to-head between Almeida and the Frenchman. The Portuguese rider did most of the pulling and appeared to be the stronger of the two. He set the pace and forced the 21-year-old to dig deep more than once, often leaving a small gap. But Martinez hung tough and stayed in contention.

They hit the final kilometre together, with Rodríguez closing in fast from behind. The gap suddenly dropped, prompting Almeida to accelerate again. But once more, he couldn’t shake Martinez. It came down to a sprint, and the Frenchman had just enough left to edge out Almeida. Fortunato crossed the line in third, a strong ride that wasn’t quite enough to take the yellow jersey from Baudin. That honour went to the stage winner. With a time trial on the menu tomorrow and the top three in GC separated by just three seconds, the race is wide open.