Swift's perfect Swiss timing

Swift: Another impressive win

Ben Swift sprinted to his fourth victory of the season as Team Sky rounded off the Tour de Romandie in perfect style on Sunday.

The 23-year-old from Rotherham again got the better of Óscar Freire (Rabobank) in a bunch finish at the end of the fifth stage from Champagne to Geneva, with Davide Vigano (Leopard Trek) in third.

The triumph was the latest in a memorable season for Swift who took two stages at the Tour Down Under and one at Castilla y Leon.

And it came after excellent work from his teammates who were to the fore along with BMC Racing to make sure the field was together when it mattered, the last of the day's breaks being closed down with around five kilometres of the 164.6km stage remaining.

The Team Sky lead-out train controlled things from that point onwards and a big turn from Geraint Thomas inside the final kilometre teed things up to perfection. Chris Sutton then guided Swift to the head of affairs before the Yorkshireman powered to the line in triumph as first Vigano, who had been on his wheel, and then Freire were unable to overhaul him in the closing 200 metres.

The field sprint was also good news for Cadel Evans and his Swiss-based BMC team as it meant he sealed the overall win, easily protecting his 18 seconds advantage from Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad), with Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) rounding off the podium.

Team effort

From a Team Sky perspective though it was all about Swift's stage win and he was quick to praise his teammates for all their work throughout the day, telling www.teamsky.com: "The team was fantastic, everybody was there in the closing stages.

"Dario (Cioni), Morris (Possoni) and Michael (Barry) were riding early to make sure it all came together and then Michael, Froomey, Wiggo, G and CJ (Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Thomas and Sutton) did the last bits but it was a perfect team effort.

"We went round that last corner and I think there were still four or five guys on the front. It was going so fast and was a brilliant effort from everyone."

That point was underlined by Swift's Sports Director Sean Yates who told us: "Everyone was involved, it was perfect teamwork and a nice way to finish off the week.

"We knew Swifty was fast anyway but the other day [when he won the bunch sprint for fourth at the end of stage three] showed he was more than capable of getting a win here. The team pulled together and set out to give him 100% support and he's delivered the goods again."

When asked about the youngster's four wins this season, Yates highlighted: "Swifty is the guy who can get over the climbs and sprint - that's the key. They were two 7k climbs today and they were attacking left, right and centre with Movistar, RadioShack and AG2R all having a go but Ben can hold his own."

Swift himself added: "It's all a bit surprising but I had the best winter's training I've ever had and it's really paying off now. The Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse are next up for me and I'll just keep trying to do the best I can."