Former Tour champions Froome, Thomas set for Swiss prep race

<p>GENEVA &mdash; Tour de France champions and former teammates Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas will race against each other in the mountains of Switzerland this month.</p>
<p>Tour de Romandie organizers published starting lineups Tuesday for the April 27-May 2 event, a key prelude for the main stage races ahead.</p>
<p>Froome, a four-time Tour de France champion with Thomas supporting him at Team Sky, is in his first season leading the Israel Start-up Nation squad. He won the Romandie title in 2013 and ’14.</p>
<p>Thomas, who followed Froome as the 2018 Tour winner, is still with rebranded Sky team Ineos Grenadiers.</p>
<p>One-day specialists Marc Hirschi and Peter Sagan are also listed starters for the six-day Romandie race. It mostly follows the intended route of the 2020 edition, which was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>The two previous Romandie titles were won by Primož Roglič, the Tour de France runner-up last September after being the long-time leader.</p>
<p>Also Tuesday, former Sky rider Mark Cavendish won another stage at the Tour of Turkey, one day after a first victory since 2018 for the 35-year-old sprint specialist.</p>
<p>“The fact that I won again gives me a lot of confidence," Cavendish said, “especially as it’s for the first time in five years or so that I’ve claimed back-to-back stages in a race.”</p>
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