Patrick Bevin sprints to Tour de Romandie Stage 3 Victory

New Zealand's Patrick Bevin of Israel Premier Tech won stage three of the Tour de Romandie as Australian Jumbo-Visma rider Rohan Dennis extended his lead ahead of the Mountainous Queen Stage

After a 165km rolling run on Friday over six small hills the 31-year-old Bevin won the bunch sprint ahead of Ineos rider Ethan Hayter while Dennis took four bonus seconds by coming third.

Rohan Dennis finished third in the third stage of the Tour de Romandie. In the company of his teammates, Dennis rode attentively in the front throughout the day. With his third place, the classification leader grabbed four bonification seconds. It was the Australian’s third podium finish this week.

Three riders broke away from the peloton in the early part of the stage. They got a four-minute lead from the peloton, led by the Team Jumbo-Visma riders. The last fugitive was caught with 20 kilometres to go and in the stage’s final phase the peloton had some nasty climbs to overcome.

On these climbs, Steven Kruijswijk kept Dennis well in front. Dennis seemed to get away with a small group, but inadequate cooperation resulted in a quick regrouping. Dennis subsequently positioned himself well and sprinted to third place in a reduced peloton. The Australian time trial champion did well in the general classification.

Six massive mountains stand in the way of Saturday's winner on what should be the decisive stage, although Sunday's uphill time-trial will also carry some edge.

Dennis now leads Bevin in the overall by 14seconds.

VIDEO: 2022 Tour de Romandie Stage 3 Highlights