 Contador finished fifth in the recent Tour of the Basque Country |
Spaniard Alberto Contador took the lead of the Tour de Romandie after winning the third stage from Bienne to Leysin in Switzerland. The Liberty Seguros rider mounted a lone attack on the climb to finish 24 seconds ahead of compatriot Alejandro Valverde with Cadel Evans third.
Contador leads Valverde by 16 seconds in the overall standings, with Germany's Joerg Jaksche third.
The fourth stage takes place on Saturday around the town of Sion.
The stage is 127km long and has three major climbs.
Contador, 23, recorded a time of four hours, three minutes and 41 seconds and takes the overall lead from Chris Horner of the United States.
"This was a team victory," said Contador. "Jose Antonio Redondo was in the early breakaway and then either me or Jorg Jaksche were ready to attack on the climb to the finish.
"I felt good and so I went for it and won.
"I'm a pretty good time trialist but I don't know if I can win the overall race because anything could happen in the next two days."
The race ends on Sunday with a 20.4km individual time trial in Lausanne.
Stage three results:
1 Alberto Contador (Spain / Liberty Seguros) 4:03:41"
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne) +24"
3 Cadel Evans (Australia / Davitamon - Lotto) same time
4 Joerg Jaksche (Germany / Liberty Seguros) +26"
5 Sergio Ghisalberti (Italy / Milram) +30"
Overall standings:
1 Alberto Contador (Spain / Liberty Seguros) 12:35:01"
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne) +16"
3 Joerg Jaksche (Germany / Liberty Seguros) +28"
4 Cadel Evans (Australia / Davitamon - Lotto) same time
5 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spain / Phonak) +49"
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