Jesse Sergent (Trek) has always been known as an excellent time trialist but on today's hilly course in the Tour de Romandie, few would have expected him to be in contention for the win. Nonetheless, the Kiwi did an excellent ride to take third, just 8 seconds off Chris Froome's winning time, while his teammate Riccardo Zoidl made it a great day for Trek by taking sixth.

Jesse Sergent raced to third place after setting the early benchmark time in the 18.5-kilometer time trial in Neuchâtel. Only Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) were faster than Sergent, who finished eight seconds behind Froome’s wining time of 24:50, and seven seconds from World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin.

“Yes, today I'm happy with ride; it was always going to be hard with these riders here, but I had a chance and wanted to give it a shot,” said Sergent. “There was a headwind to start and tailwind for the finish so I really focused on a having a good start and found my rhythm right away. I did my best over the steep climb and then tried to finish strong, which I think I did. I was hoping for a good ride today, I worked hard after the Classics’ season finished for this race and the [Tour of] California. It was good to see that pay off today.”

The final day's time trial followed the same punishing format as every stage in the six-day Tour de Romandie as a steep hill greeted the riders just after the mid-way point with pitches up to 16% gradient. However, the final 200 meters were a twist from the norm: the course climbed a short ramp to finish in a large stadium. The innovative finish line provided a perfect venue for spectators.

Starting in the last 14 riders, Riccardo Zoidl blasted into the stadium stopping the clock at 25:20, slotting him into fourth place provisionally, and sixth officially after all riders had finished. It was a strong race against the clock for the budding cyclist and moved him two spots higher in the GC to 12th place overall.

“We believed in this [result] with Jesse, but until it happens you never know,” explained Adrinao Baffi, the team’s second sport director for Romandie. “I can say that eight seconds to the win was a little unexpected, but Jesse really had a good day, and he is always strong in the time trial.

“We never achieved the stage win that was our objective this week, but we were close today, and before with Giacomo [Nizzolo]. We were present all week – and Riccardo gained a lot of confidence and experience and that is what he needs. The results today were a good way to finish – we leave Romandie with a high morale for the the Giro and Tour of California.”

“The expectation today was to have a good result with Jesse, and to be third behind [Froome and Martin] - that is a very good result, ” echoed director Alain Gallopin. “Jesse is an experienced rider and he knew how to manage the parcours of this TT – He did a perfect TT. Jesse will try and win the time trial in California, so this was perfect preparation for him.”

With his victory in the time trial Chris Froome clinched the final overall classification of the Tour de Romandie, with Simon Spilak (Katusha) dropping to second place and Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) holding on to third.

Giacomo Nizzolo was a non-starter for the time trial to give him an extra day of rest prior to the start of the Giro d'Italia on Friday.