The final day of action at Tour de Romandie saw the peloton take on a 150 kilometre route, starting and finishing in the town of Vermier. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL started the stage with three riders; Patrick Eddy, Sean Flynn and Tim Naberman, with the goal of trying to be in the break if it looked like it would be successful, and if not then focus on the sprint in the finish. Unfortunately, Flynn had to also step off of the bike after he was dropped on one of the climbs, but it was a valiant effort to hold on for as long as he did on his return to racing after injury. In the bunch, Naberman looked after Eddy before it was just the young Australian left in the reduced lead group that headed to the finish. Eddy tried to position himself well on the wet roads but got blocked a little coming into the last corner and had to brake hard. From there it was strung out in one line to the finish with Eddy ultimately taking 12th on the day.
Eddy expressed: “Today was quite different from most race days with quite a lot of the boys not being able to start. It was really tough conditions in the cold and the wet, plus the parcours was up and down all day. The peloton split on the final local lap and I was alone in the front. I tried my best to get into a good position for the sprint but had to brake hard in the last corner. I’m pretty disappointed with the result to be honest, but it was a nice experience riding a sprint final at a World Tour level race.”