Our riders decided to leave any personal ambition aside and try to stay safe during the 3.9-km long prologue.
The snow, the nagging rain and the cold which affected Sunday's Liège–Bastogne–Liège made their presence felt also on the opening day of the 70th Tour de Romandie, long before the start. As a result, many riders didn't take any risks once the conditions worsened and went for an easy ride in order to avoid a crash which could have spelled the end of their ambitions in the week-long Swiss World Tour race.
For Maxime Bouet, Bob Jungels, Marcel Kittel, Davide Martinelli, Fabio Sabatini, Martin Velits, Carlos Verona and Lukasz Wisniowski, the eight Etixx – Quick-Step riders for this event, it wasn't any different as they safely completed the prologue in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The race was won by Ion Izagirre (Movistar), ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky).
Stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie (La Chaux-de-Fonds – Moudon) is going to be a hilly one, but with all the climbs coming a long way from the finish, a bunch sprint isn't off the cards. Moudon returns at the Tour de Romandie for the first time in six years, only difference being that the last time saw a individual time trial take place here.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
