Dorian Godon set the fastest time in Tuesday’s prologue of the 79th Tour de Romandie, while GC favourites Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič set themselves up for a keen battle in the mountains. The sole Canuck in the race, Michael Leonard, finished 30th.
Preliminaries
Last season, João Almeida won the title over runner up Lenny Martinez and Almeida’s teammate Jay Vine.
It’s Tadej Pogačar’s first Romandie, and he’d like to add its crown to his five Grand Tour titles and wins in Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Itzulia Basque Country runner up Florian Lipowitz, third in the Tour de Romandie’s 2024 edition, will provide resistance to Pogačar, along with teammate Roglič, the latter imploding on the Basque Country’s final stage.
French chaps Martinez and Valentin Paret-Peintre will also be buzzing around the podium.
Michael Leonard flew the Canadian flag.
The Course
There was no point having an intermediate time check on a 3.2-km route. The wee chrono ended with a kilometer of 5.5 percent. Rain complicated things for the
It’s hard to believe that the first guy off the ramp, Davide Formolo, is only 33. He laid down 4:15. Roglič was early in the start list and posted 3:43, but he wasn’t fated to win the day.
Pogačar slotted into fifth place, second seconds back of Dorian Godon and a second ahead of Roglič.
On Wednesday’s first official stage, here’s a wicked climb verging on HC-rated cresting with 35 km to go.
79th Tour de Romandie, Prologue
1) Dorian Godon (France/Ineos) 3:35
2) Ivo Oliveira (Portugal/UAE-Emirates) +0:06
3) Jakob Söderqvist (Sweden/Lidl-Trek) s.t.
30) Michael Leonard (Canada/EF Education-Easypost) +0:19
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