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Rohan Dennis in Romandie lead after mountain slog / Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI - AFP
Rohan Dennis in Romandie lead after mountain slog
Australia's Rohan Dennis is on the verge of delivering his first title for Jumbo after emerging from a mammoth Swiss mountain slog with the overall lead in the Tour de Romandie on Saturday as diminutive Colombian Sergio Higuita won the stage.
Dennis climbed the final mountain alongside teammate and climb specialist Steve Kruijswick to finish just three seconds behind a group of ten riders who crossed the line in 4hr 58min 52sec.
The former Ineos and Bahrain rider was presented with a hunk of the Alpine cheese of the Valbroye region.
The double time-trial world champion can now look ahead to Sunday's last-day uphill individual time-trial with confidence of taking the Tour de Romandie.
Higuita of Bora Hansgrohe was followed over the line by Aleksandr Vlasov and Juan Ayoso, with Ben O'Connor and Thibaut Pinot rounding out the top five.
In the overall standings, Ayoso trails by just 15sec, with Vlasov third at 18sec and O'Connor at 25, so any slip from Dennis will likely be punished.
Sunday's test is a 15.8km run up a constant incline with 875m altitude gain.
Q.Weiss--BlnAP
