Intro:

Chris Froome won the final stage of the Tour de Romandie, an individual time trial in Neuchatel, Switzerland.

The Briton claimed the race title for a second year in succession.

Script:

The 2014 Tour de Romandie concluded with a fifth and final stage in Neuchatel, Switzerland.

Defending champion Chris Froome started the day just one second behind overall leader Simon Spilak.

Time trial specialist Tony Martin of Germany set the early pace, recording a mark of 24 minutes, 51.66 seconds that would prove hard to beat.

Colombia's Rigoberto Uran crossed the line more than 14 seconds outside of Martin's time, but would finish the stage in fourth place.

Froome started powerfully and set a pace that Spilak found hard to match - the Slovenian was more than 24 seconds off the pace at the course's time check.

Jon Izagirre of Spain finished the day in fifth place, while Portugal's Rui Costa ended up in eighth - good enough for third place overall.

Froome had a stage victory in his sights as he entered the Stade de la Malladiere and the Briton duly crossed the finishing line in a winning time of 24 minutes, 50.82 seconds - just 0.84-of-a-second faster than Martin.

Slovenian Spilak could only manage seventh place on the stage, 29 seconds in arrears of Froome, but the 2010 winner did enough to secure second place overall.

So Team Sky won the Tour de Romandie for a third year in succession, following Bradley Wiggins' victory in 2012.

The British team will be looking to repeat that feat at the 101st Tour de France, where Froome will once again be defending champion.

"This has been a really, really hard period for me recently. I've had a chest infection, I've had problems with my back this season, so it hasn't been very easy. I've worked very hard to get back to this kind of condition and.... I'm just really happy and hope that I can continue to build towards the Tour de France."