Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky controlled the second stage of the Tour de Romandie to keep their leader in yellow at the end of the 149.1km stage from Montbéliard to Moutier.
The stage was won by Saur-Sojasun’s Jonathan Hivert, who outsprinted Rui Costa (Movistar) and Rabobank rider, Luis Leon Sanchez, for the victory.
Wiggins retained his seven second lead in the general classification over teammate, Michael Rogers, and a nine second advantage over third placed Bauke Molena (Rabobank).
The Londoner paid tribute to his teammates, describing their performance as “incredible”.
“You are nothing in this sport without a good team and the last two days they’ve shown they are probably the strongest team in the race and hopefully we can keep it going again tomorrow,” said Wiggins.
“It’s all about tomorrow when you are riding GC and we’re taking it day by day.
“When I do race, I race to win, and that’s very much the case here as I hope I showed yesterday.”
An early break saw Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) and Christian Meier (GreenEDGE) build a lead of 3.50, but when the riderz reached the Col de Ranjiers, Wiggins moved to the head of the bunch and quickly reeled in Meier.
Bak was joined by Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur-Sojasun) and Peter Stetina (Garmin-Barracuda), but was soon dropped, and the duo rode on to fight a private battle for King of the Mountains points, a contest won by Jeandesboz, who strengthened his hold on the pink jersey.
The pair continued to lead on the approach to the finale in Moutier, but BMC Racing and GreenEDGE assumed pace setting duties from Team Sky, and hauled in the pair. Stetina survived to within five kilometres from the finish.
Garmin-Barracuda’s Ryder Hesejdal looked well placed for victory, heading the pack with just 200 metres to go, but Hivert sprinted to victory, narrowly defeating Costa.
Tour de Romandie stage two – result
1) Jonathan Hivert (FRA) – Saur-Sojasun – 3.48.11
2) Rui Costa (POR) – Movistar
3) Luis Leon Sanchez (SPA) – Rabobank
4) Gianni Meersman (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol
5) Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) – Garmin-Barracuda
6) Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA) – Radioshack-Nissan-Trek
7) Daniele Pietropolli (ITA) – Lampre – ISD
8) Eduard Vorganov (RUS) – Katusha Team
9) Allan Davis (AUS) – GreenEDGE
10) Roman Kreuziger (CZE) – Astana
General classification
1) Bradley Wiggins (GBR) – Team Sky – 8.42.02
2) Michael Rogers (AUS) – Team Sky +7”
3) Bauke Mollema (NED) – Rabobank +9”
4) Stef Clement (NED) – Rabobank
5) Andrew Talansky (USA) – Garmin-Barracuda +11”
6) Luis Leon Sanchez (SPA) – Rabobank
7) Wilco Kelderman (NED) – Rabobank
8) David Zabriskie (USA) – Garmin-Barracuda +12”
9) Simon Spilak (SLO) – Katusha Team
10) Molina Ruben Plaza (SPA) – Movistar
