Tour de Romandie: Yates wins queen stage, Ayuso collapses: "Nobody wanted to believe me"

The 30-year-old Brit left no doubt as to who was the strongest in the final and overtook the competition with a good three kilometres to go. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), Max Poole (Team DSM), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) - the group decided the places among themselves, with Pinot finishing second as a soloist after an attack like Yates.

Yate's team-mate Juan Aysuo, who was beaten by the Victory in the time trial who had taken the lead in the overall standings the day before, lost contact with the leaders midway through the final climb and ended up around three and a half minutes behind. "I had already said in the last few days that I wasn't really in form," the 20-year-old Spaniard told Eurosport. "But because I won the time trial, nobody wanted to believe me."

20-year-old Uijtdebroeks saves Bora

Meanwhile, another 20-year-old, Uijtebroeks, saved the race for Bora with his sixth place in the day's classification, which moved him up 22 places in the overall standings and also to sixth place. "I had problems with the attacks, but I was always able to catch up with my rhythm," said the Belgian talent in a team statement. "Yates was simply the best today. But I'm super happy with my performance. Fighting for victory with all the big names at the end is a special feeling."

His sporting director, Rolf Aldag, was also impressed: "He simply lacks the explosiveness to be part of these attacks, but it's impressive to see how he still manages to keep up. The result was pretty much the optimum for us and we're happy." Especially as Bora was also represented in the group of the day. Ben Zwiehoff had made it to the start of the final climb with a group of breakaway riders, but was then dropped there.

Results stage 4 Tour de Romandie

1. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) 4:40:41
2. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +0:07
3. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:19
4. Max Poole (Team DSM) +0:21
5. Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) +0:21
6. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:23
7. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +0:45
8. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:54
9. Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:54
10. Thomas Gloag (Jumbo-Visma) +0:54

Overall ranking Tour de Romandie

1. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) 13:14:41
2. Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) +0:19
3. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:24
4. Max Poole (Team DSM) +0:34
5. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +0:41
6. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:21
7. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +1:26
8. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:53
9. Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco-AlUla) +1:53
10. Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates) +2:07