Tour de Romandie 2019 – Prologue [FULL STAGE]

April 30, 2019

Tour de Romandie 2019 – Prologue – Neuchâtel – Neuchâtel (ITT) : 3,87 km

The 73rd edition of the Tour de Romandie stays true to form as a shorter, less intense first test for Tour de France contenders before next month’s Tour de Suisse and Criterium du Dauphine, attracting a stellar field and a well-balanced course. Last season, the victory went to Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), who used his time trialing prowess and strong climbing form to claim the overall win over Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Richie Porte (BMC). This season, Roglic will be up against Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, while an on-form Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), third in the Basque Country Tour, will be one to watch.

Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida) claimed victory in the prologue of the Tour de Romandie, beating his fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) into second place in the 3.8km time trial in Neuchâtel.

Just a second separated the top three riders in the technical time trial, with Tom Bohli (UAE Team Emirates) placing third, but the day belonged to the surprising Tratnik, who is national champion in the discipline.

The 29-year-old Tratnik is in only his second season at WorldTour level. He raced for QuickStep in 2011 but spent the following years on Continental and Pro Continental teams before returning to the top flight with Bahrain-Merida this year. Victory on the opening day of the Tour de Romandie is the most prestigious of the Ljubljana native’s career to date, and he admitted surprise at beating his friend and compatriot Roglic into second place.

“For sure I have surprised myself but I still believed on that sort of parcours like today I can do a really good result. I just focused on the road and tried to do everything at 100 percent and here, today, I have won the prologue so it is nice,” Tratnik said.

“It’s my first WorldTour win so for sure it’s a really special win. Normally every time Primoz beats me. We’re really good friends but today I beat him so it’s a nice feeling.”

The defending champion Roglic is back at the Tour de Romandie to fine-tune his form for the Giro d’Italia. The Slovenian arrived at the race after a lengthy stint of altitude training, but he showed no signs of fatigue as he produced a composed performance in the explosive time trial. His was the provisional best time until Tratnik knocked him off top spot and he gained an early advantage on his rivals for final overall victory.

Roglic was not the only impressive performer from Jumbo-Visma. Although the course was shorter and hillier than he would have liked, Tony Martin spent a chunk of the afternoon in the hot seat before ultimately settling for 4th place on the stage, 4 seconds down on Tratnik.

It was an encouraging afternoon, too, for Geraint Thomas (Ineos), who recorded his best result of the year to date by placing 5th on the stage, just behind Martin. The Welshman has had a subdued campaign to this point and the Tour de Romandie marks a pivotal race in his build-up to the defence of his Tour de France title.

Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) has been a consistent performer at the Tour de Romandie over the years and the former world champion began his overall challenge on a solid note here with 10th place, 5 seconds down on Tratnik.

Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) had to settle for 21st place, 8 seconds off the pace, while 2015 overall winner Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) conceded some 17 seconds after placing 77th on the stage.

Tour of Turkey winner Felix Grosschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) placed 13th on the stage, 6 seconds down, while David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), fresh from an aggressive showing at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, limited his losses on the day to 9 seconds.

After setting a new Hour Record earlier this month, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) returned to the road in Neuchâtel but his hopes of stage victory were dashed by a crash. The European time trial champion picked himself back up to finish the stage, but was last on the day, over a minute down on Tratnik.

Wednesday’s opening road stage of the Tour de Romandie brings the peloton to Le Chaux-de-Fonds, and the 170km leg features some 3400 metres of total climbing.

Results :
1 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:05:06
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:01
3 Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
4 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:04
5 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
6 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
7 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:05
8 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
9 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
11 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
12 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:06
13 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
14 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb
16 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:07
17 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:00:08
18 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
20 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
21 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
22 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
23 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
24 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:09
24 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
26 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
27 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
28 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
29 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
30 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
31 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
32 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
33 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:00:10
34 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
35 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
35 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
37 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:00:11
38 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
39 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
40 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
41 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky
42 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
43 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:12
44 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
45 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
46 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13
47 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
48 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
49 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
50 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
51 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:00:14
52 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
53 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
55 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
56 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
58 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
59 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:15
60 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
61 Florian Storck (Swi) Team Sunweb
62 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
63 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First
64 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
65 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
66 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team
67 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First 0:00:16
68 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
69 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
70 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
71 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Swiss National Team
72 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
73 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
74 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
75 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:17
76 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
77 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
78 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
79 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
80 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
81 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
82 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:18
83 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
84 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
85 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert
86 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:19
87 Patrick Müller (Swi) Swiss National Team
88 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
89 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain-Merida
90 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Education First
91 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
92 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:20
93 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
94 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
95 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Swiss National Team
96 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
97 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:21
98 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
99 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First
100 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
101 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
102 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
103 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
104 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
105 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:00:22
106 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team
107 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
108 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Swiss National Team
109 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:23
110 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
111 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
112 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:24
113 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:25
114 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert
115 Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) Swiss National Team
116 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
117 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
118 Claudio Imhof (Swi) Swiss National Team
119 Adam Blythe (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:00:26
120 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:27
121 Gino Mäder (Swi) Dimension Data
122 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
123 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
124 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:29
125 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
126 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
127 Jacques Willem Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:30
128 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
129 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
130 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
131 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:31
132 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
133 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
134 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:32
135 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:00:33
136 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Swiss National Team 0:00:34
137 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:35
138 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
139 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:03
DNS Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott

General Classification after Prologue :
1 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:05:06
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:01
3 Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
4 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:04
5 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
6 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
7 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:05
8 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
9 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
11 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
12 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:06
13 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
14 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb
16 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:07
17 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:00:08
18 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
20 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
21 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
22 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
23 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
24 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:09
24 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
26 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
27 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
28 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
29 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
30 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
31 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
32 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
33 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:00:10
34 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
35 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
35 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
37 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:00:11
38 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
39 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
40 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
41 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky
42 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
43 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:12
44 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
45 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
46 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13
47 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
48 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
49 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
50 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
51 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:00:14
52 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
53 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
55 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
56 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
58 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
59 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:15
60 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
61 Florian Storck (Swi) Team Sunweb
62 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
63 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First
64 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
65 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
66 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team
67 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First 0:00:16
68 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
69 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
70 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
71 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Swiss National Team
72 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
73 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
74 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
75 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:17
76 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
77 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
78 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
79 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
80 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
81 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
82 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:18
83 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
84 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
85 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert
86 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:19
87 Patrick Müller (Swi) Swiss National Team
88 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
89 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain-Merida
90 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Education First
91 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
92 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:20
93 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
94 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
95 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Swiss National Team
96 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
97 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:21
98 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
99 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First
100 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
101 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
102 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
103 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
104 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
105 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:00:22
106 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team
107 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
108 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Swiss National Team
109 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:23
110 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
111 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
112 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:24
113 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:25
114 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert
115 Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) Swiss National Team
116 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
117 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
118 Claudio Imhof (Swi) Swiss National Team
119 Adam Blythe (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:00:26
120 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:27
121 Gino Mäder (Swi) Dimension Data
122 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
123 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
124 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:29
125 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
126 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
127 Jacques Willem Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:30
128 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
129 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
130 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
131 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:31
132 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
133 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
134 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:32
135 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:00:33
136 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Swiss National Team 0:00:34
137 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:35
138 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
139 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:03