Chris Froome leads Brit-heavy Team Sky squad in Tour de Romandie

Froome supported by Stannard, Thomas, Kennaugh and Rowe, along with Roche, Viviani and Pate in Tour de Romandie (April 28 to May 3)

Chris Froome leads Nibali on stage three of the 2014 Tour de Romandie (Photo: Graham Watson)
(Image credit: watson)

Chris Froome returns to the Tour de Romandie as leader of Team Sky, eyeing a possible third consecutive victory in the Swiss WorldTour race, starting on Tuesday (April 28).

Froome is backed up by a strong team featuring four other Britons. Sky has picked a selection of riders to support Froome in the key Tour de France warm-up race that mixes those coming in from the Classics and key mountain domestiques.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Ian Stannard and E3 Harelbeke victor Geraint Thomas are both present after a successful campaign in northern Europe, as is Luke Rowe - the team's highest finisher at Paris-Roubaix. They are joined by British road race champion Peter Kennaugh.

Completing the team are Italian sprinter Elia Viviani, American strongman Danny Pate and Irishman Nicolas Roche.

>>> Tour de Romandie 2015 start list

Roche takes to the startline despite suffering a nasty fall during Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday. Roche was taken down in a mass crash in the final 40km of the Belgian classic but escaped with minor injuries.

The six-stage Tour de Romandie commences with a 19.2-kilometre team time trial on Tuesday, April 28 and concludes on Sunday, May 3, with an individual time trial. In between is a selection of tough mountain stages.

Froome won the final time trial in last year's race to secure the overall win 28 seconds ahead of Simon Spilak (Katusha).

Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, n exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.