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Italy’s Felline wins Tour of Romandie prologue for Scarponi

Fabio Felline of Italy won the Tour of Romandie prologue and dedicated his victory to compatriot Michele Scarponi whose funeral was taking place on Tuesday

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April 25, 2017 12:45 pm

< a min read

AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) — Fabio Felline of Italy won the Tour of Romandie prologue and dedicated his victory to compatriot Michele Scarponi, whose funeral was taking place on Tuesday.

In a post-race interview, Felline said his best win of the season “is also for Scarponi” – the 2011 Giro d’Italia winner who died Saturday after a collision with a van while training near his home.

On Swiss roads made slick by rain, Felline timed 5 minutes, 57 seconds for a 4.8-kilometer (3-mile) route around the International Cycling Union’s home town of Aigle.

The Trek-Segafredo rider was two seconds faster than runner-up Alex Dowsett of Britain, and seven seconds ahead of Australian Alex Edmondson.

Two-time Romandie winner Chris Froome of Britain was 29 seconds back in a tentative ride on his first race for a month. Froome won the six-day race around the French-speaking region of Switzerland in 2013 as a warm-up for the first of his three Tour de France titles.

Snow is forecast Wednesday, when the race heads into the mountains on a 168.9-km (105-mile) stage from Aigle to Champery that finishes at an altitude above 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).