"This is my first victory in the World Tour circuit, and now I tell myself that I can win others", rejoiced on the RTS the leader of Bora-Hansgrohe, who covered in 33 min 40 sec the 16 km between Aigle and the alpine village of Villars.
Second in a breath on Saturday in the queen stage in the mountains, behind his Colombian teammate Sergio Higuita, the 26-year-old climber explained that he wanted to avoid risks and save himself for the final explanation, his "goal" from the start. .
Out of breath in the rain, tongue out, the slender Russian (1.86 m, 67 kg) beat in front of the Villars chalets the German Simon Geschke (Cofidis) by 31 seconds, and the Swiss Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious ) of 36 sec.
Overall, the second in Paris-Nice 2021 and recent third in the Flèche wallonne won 50 seconds ahead of Gino Mäder and 55 seconds over Simon Geschke, and will return to Swiss roads in June for the Tour de Suisse, final preparation before the Tour de France.
This is the first World Tour victory for Aleksandr Vlasov, 26, here on the Tour de Romandie podium on May 1, 2022 Fabrice COFFRINI AFP
He is one of the few Russians to put his name on the list of winners of an international event since most sports federations - but not that of cycling - banned his compatriots from their competitions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Leader of the Tour de Romandie since the first stage on Wednesday, the Australian Rohan Dennis completely cracked in this solo effort of which he is nevertheless a specialist, with two world titles in the time trial (2018, 2019).
While he had been able to resist the best climbers the day before by reinforcing his green jersey, he struggled from the 5 km of plain Sunday from Aigle, before giving way in the 11 km of ascent, finishing 22nd at 2 min 12 and plummeting to 8th place overall.
Thibaut Pinot, sixth Sunday at 1 min 07 sec from Vlasov, finished 13th overall and first Frenchman.
© 2022 AFP