Vinokourov eyes yellow at Tour de France

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Alexandre Vinokourov brought the first part of his 2011 season to a close, finishing third overall in the Tour de Romandie.
It was Vinokourov's first appearance at the race and he was happy with the result.

"I am pleased to have won a stage," he said given his crafty victory on stage 3. "I have no regrets for the general [classification], yesterday I did a good time-trial, I gave the maximum but Cadel has been impressive in the second part of the race, so he deserves his victory today."

Vinokourov staged a late attempt to take the stage win on Sunday with two kilometres to go but was quickly shut down.

"Team Sky kept the pace too high, I couldn't attack, it doesn't always work!" the 37-year-old referring to his winning attack on Friday.

The Astana team leader's next goal is the Tour de France after a short break. It's been a busy start to the season for Vinokourov, taking out the third stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. He followed that performance with a top 10 finish at the Tour of the Basque Country and then fourth at Fleche Wallonne.

"Now I'll rest a little, this race marked the end of my first part of the season," Vinokourov explained. "This year I started quietly, then the form has arrived in the Basque country - there won the third stage - I ran out of luck in the Classics, and in Romandie the form was there. Now I'll take one or two weeks of rest, and I'll go on altitude for a training camp and I will compete for the Dauphine.

"Then it will be the Tour de France, I will be leader of the Astana team there, but I don't aim to win the overall, the podium would be ideal, but my dream for my last Tour de France, is to wear the yellow jersey a few days."