Riders gathered in Sion for the start of stage 4 of Tour de Romandie 2025. Stage 4 would be the Queen Stage of this year’s Tour de Romandie and would invite the riders to an intense battle in the Swiss mountains on a 118.2-kilometer route from Sion to Thyon 2000. 

The cyclists would test their climbing skills on five categorized climbs, including no less than three Category 1 climbs and two Category 3 climbs. Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) was leading the race before stage 4.

The general classification favorites and their lieutenants were expected to dominate the stage action. While Olympic Champion Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quickstep had not shown top form in the race and was still fighting hard to return to the performance level he had been known for before his crash, other general classification contenders including Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), and Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) had delivered promising performances.

The short stage length and the fact that the Anzere (Category 1) climb was located early in the stage, led to breakaway attempts being launched from the very beginning of the stage. Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek), Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkea B & B Hotels), and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep) tried their luck in the rainy weather conditions, but it did not take long before the UAE Team Emirates-headed main peloton had reeled them in.

Julien Bernard was the next Lidl-Trek rider to try his luck in a breakaway effort. He joined forces with Louis Barre (Intermarche-Wanty) and the always active Ben Zwiehoff of Team Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe. The trio had an advantage of approximately one minute halfway up the Anzere climb (14.3 km; 7%). 

While early Tour de Romandie leader Samuel Watson abandoned the race, the front trio pressed on and were still 01:20 minutes ahead of the chasing main peloton after having overcome the Category 1 Anzere and Category 3 Lens challenges. The trio was now competing in the flat valley section of the race, before the riders would approach the next two categorized climbs of the day. 

With 75 kilometers of the stage remaining and midway through the valley stretch, the advantage of the front group had increased slightly to 01:30 minutes. Riders from UAE Team Emirates were leading the main peloton in loyal support for their team captains Joao Almeida and Jay Vine. 

The front trio reached the Nax climb (Category One) and had continued to increase their time advantage. They were 02:20 minutes ahead with 58 kilometers remaining. 

Barre was the first of the three frontmen to reach the summit. He was closely followed by Bernard and Zwiehoff and the three riders entered the fast, wet and dangerous descent with a lead of approximately two minutes. The main peloton was still spearheaded by riders from UAE Team Emirates and EF Education-EasyPost on the climb.

The Suen (Category 3) climb was next on the menu for the Tour de Romandie riders. The climb did not cause any serious changes to the race situation. Zwiehoff was the first rider to reach the summit. He thereby secured sufficient additional points to win the overall Best Climber classification in the race. Zwiehoff pulled the brakes after having completed his mission and waited for the main peloton while his other two breakaway compatriots carried on.

Riders from Team Bahrain Victorious were leading the main peloton on the downhill stretch. 

The front duo featuring Louis Barre and Julien Bernard entered the much-feared Thyon 2000 climb, which would take the riders to the finish line. Riders from Bahrain-Victorious were leading the main peloton and had reduced the advantage of the front duo to forty seconds with twenty kilometers left.

Julien Bernard left fellow Frenchman Louis Barre behind on the climb to the finish line. Barre was caught by the reduced main peloton on the climb while Bernard pressed on in front with a lead of thirty seconds and fifteen kilometers left to climb. Meanwhile, general classification leader Alex Baudin was dropped from the peloton and would be unable to preserve his general classification lead in today’s stage 4.

Final frontman Bernard was caught when fourteen kilometers remained. A united, but reduced, main peloton continued their ride up the Thyon 2000 climb to the finish line. Riders from Team Lotto and Ineos-Grenadiers were now setting the pace.

Alexsandr Vlasov was one of the riders who got dropped on the climb. The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team captain had not delivered what his team management had hoped for in this race. Geraint Thomas was also unable to follow the front group. The Welsh Ineos-Grenadiers rider was not part of the team’s line-up for this year’s Giro d’Italia. Remco Evenepoel was also left behind on the climb – there would be no success for the Soudal-QuickStep captain in this race.

A front group featuring Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers), Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Lenny Martinez (UAE Team Emirates), Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea B & B Hotels), Harold Tejada, and Jorgen Nordhagen had formed with eight kilometers left.

Jay Vine attacked five hundred meters later. He was joined by Lenny Martinez. Except for Carlos Rodriguez, the other frontmen closed the gap. 

The rainy racing conditions did not affect the four frontmen Almeida, Vine, Martinez, and Fortunato who had formed a quartet with five kilometers left. Vine was setting a fast pace in support of fellow team captain Almeida.

Almeida attacked solo with four kilometers left and Martinez closed the gap, while Vine and Fortunato were dropped. 

Lenny Martinez and Joao Almeida were both taking turns to keep the chasers at bay. The duo was functioning well until Almeida accelerated at the three-kilometer mark, hoping to drop the Frenchman. He did not succeed, and Martinez was now monitoring him closely.

The two frontmen were still together when two kilometers remained. 

Almeida attacked with 750 meters left, but Martinez held on to his rear wheel. Almeida was still trying hard to drop the Frenchman when five hundred meters remained before the mountain top finish line.

Lenny Martinez opened the sprint-a-deux and Joao Almeida proved unable to beat him. Lenny Martinez took an impressive stage victory for Bahrain-Victorious ahead of Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates. Lorenzo Fortunato completed the stage podium 29 seconds later.

Lenny Martinez is the new leader in the general classification following stage 4. Lorenzo Martinez is second, while Joao Almeida is third, and Jay Vine fourth.

Sunday’s final stage of Tour de Romandie 2025 will be contested in the streets of Geneve. Stage 5 will be an individual time trial on a relatively flat 17.1-kilometer route, which will not only find a stage winner but also determine the final general classification of this year’s race, before the riders move on to other races, including Giro d’Italia 2025.

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