"Nobody worked and the attack failed, but it was a flat day. Tomorrow in the mountains it will be harder and everything will change."

Those were the words of Astana's Andrey Zeits after stage three at the Tour de Romandie. Zeits attacked with two other riders in the final 20km of the stage ahead of a reduced peloton to create opportunities for his teammates on a cloudy day in Switzerland.

Teammates Michele Scarponi, Jakob Fuglsang, Andrei Grivko, Rein Taaramäe and Vincenzo Nibali all waited safely while Zeits worked at the front, but the peloton quickly caught up and closed the gap. Fuglsang and Nibali are each around 30 seconds behind stage winner and overall leader Michael Albasini ahead of two days in the mountains and an individual time trial on Sunday.