Thursday 28 April 2016 17:24, UK
Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas both fell out of contention at the Tour de Romandie on Thursday as Nairo Quintana took the overall lead by winning stage two.
Froome (Team Sky) ran into trouble when he punctured with 21km to go and although he regained contact with the peloton 4km later, he was swiftly dropped again and crossed the line 17min 30sec down in 99th.
Thomas (Team Sky) stayed in the main bunch until 5km from the summit finish in Morgins, but then he too was distanced and eventually finished 57 seconds back in 19th.
Up ahead, Quintana (Movistar) was awarded the stage win despite initially finishing second to defending champion Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha).
The Russian was the only rider who could follow an attack from Quintana with 6.5km to go and then beat the Colombian in a sprint, but he was later relegated for veering off his racing line.
The result sees Quintana move to the top of the general classification, 18 seconds ahead of second-placed Zakarin and 20 seconds ahead of previous leader and Movistar team-mate Ion Izagirre.
Thomas is now 58 seconds down in 14th overall, while Froome is 17min 50sec adrift in 93rd.
Quintana said: "I saws the opportunity to attack and I did it. Both Zakarin and I went very strongly together.
"I was feeling really well all the way through the stage and I wanted to try something from a long way out, and it came off very well."
The six-day race continues on Friday with a 15.1km individual time trial around Sion.
Quintana added: "I will try to defend the lead tomorrow and we will see how I feel at the end of the time trial."
Stage two result
1 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, 4:28:40
2 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha, same time
3 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida, +26
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale, st
5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr, st
Selected others
19 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, +57
99 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +17:30
General classification
1 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, 7:02:05
2 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha, +18sec
3 Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, +20
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr, +32
5 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida, +36
Selected others
14 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, +58
93 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +17:50
