Almeida was third in the GC standings after Saturday’s thrilling queen stage, 3 seconds behind 21-year-old Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), who beat him to the line after a hard-fought duel on the daunting final climb to the summit at Thyon 2000 (20.2 km @ 7.7%). But his excellent ride in Sunday’s ITT, in which he finished second, 12 seconds behind Evenepoel, sealed the victory.
Martinez is not known as a time trial specialist, but he rode a determined race on Sunday, coming in an excellent 13th to finish second in the GC, 26 seconds behind Almeida, and stamping himself as a potential future Grand Tour contender. Almeida’s teammate Jay Vine finished third in the GC, 41 seconds adrift.
“Of course, I feel very happy. The goal was to win the race,” Almeida said after the race. “Unfortunately, I didn’t win a stage, but we were always in the front, and that’s what matters. I’m super happy for the overall win. I need to thank the whole team; they did a really good job, and we can be proud of it.”
Still, he admitted that he was not yet at his best. “What counts is the last day, right? So I think it was the right day [to take the lead]. To be honest, I was struggling the whole week. I was never feeling 100 per cent, but I gave my best, and I never gave up. Sometimes it’s all about your mindset.”
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Another rider not at his best was Evenepoel. The world and Olympic time-trial champion won Sunday’s final-stage ITT as expected, but he faltered on the final climb to the summit finish in stage 4. He was dropped halfway up the Category 1 ascent and spent the rest of the climb leading his 21-year-old teammate Junior Lecerf up to the summit.
Evenepoel eventually finished eleventh on Saturday, 1:29 behind Martinez, and was frank about his current fitness level. “It was okay, but I still have a lot of work to do,” he told Cycling Pro. “We couldn’t hold the pace about halfway on the climb somewhere, and then we tried to do our own pace.
“I asked Junior what pace he wanted. I tried to give the maximum and to keep it as stable as possible. In the end, we [lost] some time, but not crazy much. We lost too much time probably to win the GC, but I think Junior is still quite high up there.”
In fact, thanks to Evenepoel’s help, Lecerf finished the stage fifth in the GC, 54 seconds behind Martinez (and 47 seconds ahead of Evenepoel!), as well as second in the young rider’s classification, also behind Martinez. He ultimately finished a solid eighth in the final GC, 2:16 behind Almeida. Thanks to his winning ITT performance, Evenepoel was able to move up to fifth place in the final GC, 1:26 behind the winner.
Martinez was probably the happiest rider in the race in the peloton following the stage win, which was the biggest of his career, and his podium finish in the GC. His performance justified his move this year from Groupama-FDJ and the hopes his new team has pinned on him. Naturally, he was delighted with the result.
“It was a super hard day. I wanted a spot on the GC podium, and I think I can be proud of this 2nd place behind Joao Almeida,” he was quoted as saying on his team’s website. “I went full gas in the TT but couldn’t make up 30 seconds. Ending the week with a stage win and 2nd overall feels really nice. Big thanks to the staff and my teammates – I’m super proud of this team! Now, we look ahead to the Critérium du Dauphiné and keep building.”
Final GC Standings 2025 Tour de Romandie
- João Almeida, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 16:50:44
2. Lenny Martinez, Bahrain-Victorious + 0:26
3. Jay Vine, UAE Team Emirates–XRG + 0:41
4. Lorenzo Fortunato, XDS Astana + 1:22
5. Remco Evenepoel, Soudal Quick-Step + 1:26
6. Carlos Rodriguez, INEOS Grenadiers + 1:31
7. Juan Pedro López, Lidl-Trek + 2:05
8. Junior Lecerf, Soudal Quick-Step + 2:16
9. Mathys Rondel, Tudor Pro + 2:43
10. Javier Romo, Movistar + 2.58
