Elia Viviani clocked a solid time of 5:14 on Tuesday afternoon.
A largely flat course, featuring some cobbles and sharp corners, kicked off the 73rd edition of the Tour de Romandie, the World Tour race that marked Elia Viviani’s return to competition, which he resumed after pulling down the curtain over his first part of the season. The Italian, a stage winner at the Swiss race two years ago, had a strong showing under the sunny sky of Neuchâtel and slotted into fourth provisional at the end of the 3.87km-long test against the clock.
Being one of the early starters meant that Viviani didn’t remain in the top 10 at the end of the day, but the Italian Road Race Champion’s strong ride meant that he still finished the stage won by Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida) as the highest-ranked Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider, just ahead of teammate Florian Sénéchal.
The Tour de Romandie continues on Wednesday, when the peloton will travel from Neuchâtel to La Chaux-de-Fonds, over a 168.4km-long course containing five classified climbs, last of these being summited with just 25 kilometers to go.
Photo: ©Luc Claessen/ Getty Images
