Frenchman Thibaut Pinot won the third stage of the Tour de Romandie Friday, beating Tom Dumoulin by just two seconds in an individual time trial in Sion. Movistar's Nairo Quintana finished sixth to remain in the overall lead, 18 seconds clear of defending champion Ilnur Zakarin. Briton Chris Froome finished fourth, completing the 15.1-kilometer course nine seconds slower than Pinot. The FDJ rider's victory was just the second time-trial win of his career and he now sits fourth in the overall standings, only 32 seconds adrift of Colombian Quintana. The race continues Saturday with the queen stage from Conthey to Villars-sur-Ollon, featuring three category one climbs. British cyclist suspected of anti-doping violation An unnamed British cyclist is suspected of violating an anti-doping rule, the governing body of the sport in the UK said in a statement Thursday. It comes as British Cycling is already in turmoil over the resignation of technical director Shane Sutton amid allegations he used sexist language and made derogatory comments, just months from the Rio Olympics. British Cycling said world governing body the UCI had informed it of a possible violation. "British Cycling can confirm that it has been notified by the UCI of a potential anti-doping rule violation against a British rider based on an analysis of a sample provided in-competition," a spokesman for British Cycling said. "As with any other doping violation charge at this level, those proceedings will be managed independently of British Cycling by the UCI. "It would be inappropriate to comment further until the process has been completed." The Daily Mail newspaper reported that a rider had failed a drug test at a race in France. The UCI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The UK Anti-Doping body said its policy was not to discuss cases until a violation was found to have occurred following a legal process. "UK Anti-Doping does not discuss or disclose details of any cases until due legal process has been completed and an anti-doping rule violation is deemed to have been committed," a spokeswoman said. "Once the legal process is complete, details of all anti-doping rule violations are published on our website."
