Tour de Romandie 2018 – Prologue [FULL STAGE]

April 24, 2018

Tour de Romandie 2018 – Prologue – Fribourg : 4 km

The 72nd edition of the Tour de Romandie has attracted an impressive field with defending champion Richie Porte lining up alongside a strong BMC Racing squad that includes Tejay van Garderen and Rohan Dennis. 



In a repeat of last year’s race, the Tour de Romandie begins with a short individual test against the clock. There are few opportunities for the sprinters, with the route heavily stacked towards the GC contenders and strong all-rounders. There may not be any true mountain summit finishes in the race but every stage, bar the time trials, has over 1,000m of climbing with the queen stage in Sion set to shape the fight for the leader’s jersey. The individual uphill time trial to Villars will be just as important.

Michael Matthews (Sunweb) won stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie after pipping Tom Bohli (BMC Racing) and Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) in the testing 4km time trial in Fribourg.

The surprising Bohli spent much of the afternoon in the hot seat after setting the quickest mark early on, and his closest challenger was his teammate Rohan Dennis, who finished just fractions of a second outside his time, good enough for fourth place come the end of the day.

Bohli was ultimately denied the biggest win of his career by Matthews, who delivered a perfectly-timed effort on the stiff climb to the finish to come home a second inside the Swiss rider’s mark.

“It was a little bit of a surprise because I didn’t have such a good day in Liege on Sunday,” said Matthews. “I had one easy day yesterday and then straight back into it today. I didn’t know how my legs were going to feel but I just gave it my best and it was enough to win.”

It was Matthews’ maiden victory of a 2018 campaign that began on a trying note when he fractured his shoulder in his first race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Australian returned in time to place seventh at Milan-San Remo and battle in the cobbled Classics, but he endured further ill fortune when a late puncture ended his challenge at Amstel Gold Race.

A fine fifth place at Flèche Wallonne last week suggested that Matthews had hit something approaching top form, although he was some nine minutes off the pace in the finale of a tough Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.

Tuesday’s time trial, however, was short, technical and punchy, and thus well-suited to Matthews’ characteristics, who opted for a regular time trial machine rather than a road bike for the test. He mastered the early twists and turns, and had enough in reserve to power up the final climb and claim the win.

“It was a really beautiful course,” Matthews said. “In the recon I thought it was maybe a little bit sketchy but when you were coming at high speed it was fine and I actually had a lot of fun out there today.

“I’ve always watched this race. I started in 2013 and got sick after first time trial so this is pretty much my first time in the Tour of Romandie and I’m stoked to get the win on the first stage.”

The 24-year-old Bohli has demonstrated an aptitude for short time trials during his career to date and was inspired by racing on home roads, but he admitted to surprise at clocking such a fast time ahead of such notable names.

“It’s pretty unbelievable. It was my first chrono for the entire year. I was really nervous, I had stomach ache and so I can’t explain why it went well. Perhaps the nervousness helped me to get into the flow,” Bohli told Eurosport.

GC battle

Matthews was among the final tranche of starters, and when Roglic, the next man over the line, was unable to better his mark, the Australian must have realised that he was within touching distance of his first victory of 2018.

Of the later starters, only Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) threatened Matthews’ time, but the Welshman had to settle for sixth, five seconds behind the Sunweb rider. Thomas was satisfied with a performance that positions him well for to challenge for the general classification later in the week.

“There was a lot to think about and that was a hard last final 800m,” Thomas said. “I think that I rode it okay, and got it all out, but looking back you always think that there were a few corners that you could have taken quicker. I needed Liege in my legs really because it’s been a while since racing. It was a tough course. Explosive and bang once you’re out there it’s done. It was like a track effort really.”

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) was the last man down the start ramp, but the defending champion never looked like threatening the leaderboard. He rolled home 14 seconds down in 18th place, and thus remains a threat in the battle for final overall victory.

Other notable performers included the Team Sky pairing of Diego Rosa (eighth at six seconds) and Egan Bernal (11th at 11 seconds), as well as Pierre Rolland (EF Education First-Drapac), who limited his losses to just 11 seconds.

Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) each conceded 19 seconds, perennial podium challenger Simon Spilak (Katusha-Alpecin) lost 20 seconds, while Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) placed 39th at 22 seconds, and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), on Classics duty last week, had to settle for 60th at 25 seconds.

Matthews will carry the yellow jersey and an advantage of one-second into Wednesday’s stage 1 from Fribourg to Delémont, though he was coy about his prospects of defending his lead or even adding another stage victory.

“I’ll think I’ll just enjoy this win for now, it’s my first win of the season. It takes a bit of the pressure off for the next days,” Matthews said. “Everything’s been getting better since the start of the year, and I’m just happy to get the win today.”

Results :
1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:05:33
2 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:01
3 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
4 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
5 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:05
6 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
7 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:06
8 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
9 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:09
11 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:11
12 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky
13 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
14 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
15 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:13
16 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:14
18 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
19 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
20 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
21 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:15
22 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
23 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:16
24 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
25 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:17
26 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
27 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
28 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:18
29 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
30 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:19
31 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
32 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
33 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
34 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:20
35 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
36 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
37 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:21
38 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
39 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:22
40 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Floors
41 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
42 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
43 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
44 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
45 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
46 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:00:23
47 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
48 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
49 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
50 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
51 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:24
52 Stef Clement (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
53 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
54 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
55 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
57 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:25
58 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
59 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
60 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
61 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:26
62 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
63 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
64 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team
65 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:27
66 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
67 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
68 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
69 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
70 James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors
71 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
72 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
73 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:28
74 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
75 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:29
76 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
77 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
78 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
79 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:30
80 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
81 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky
82 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
83 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:00:31
84 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
85 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
86 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
87 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:32
88 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
89 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
90 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
91 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
92 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:33
93 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida
94 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:34
95 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
96 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
97 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
98 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
99 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:35
100 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
101 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
102 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
103 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
104 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:36
105 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:37
106 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:00:38
107 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
108 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
109 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:39
110 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:40
111 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
112 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:41
113 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates
114 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:42
115 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
116 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
117 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
118 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:45
119 Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
119 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo
121 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:46
122 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:47
123 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
124 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb
125 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
126 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:48
127 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:49
128 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:55
129 Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
130 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
131 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:57
132 Robert Wagner (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:00

General Classification after Prologue :
1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:05:33
2 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:01
3 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
4 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
5 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:05
6 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
7 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:06
8 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
9 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:09
11 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:11
12 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky
13 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
14 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
15 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:13
16 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:14
18 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
19 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
20 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
21 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:15
22 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
23 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:16
24 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
25 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:17
26 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
27 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
28 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:18
29 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
30 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:19
31 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
32 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
33 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
34 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:20
35 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
36 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
37 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:21
38 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
39 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:22
40 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Floors
41 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
42 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
43 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
44 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
45 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
46 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:00:23
47 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
48 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
49 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
50 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
51 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:24
52 Stef Clement (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
53 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
54 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
55 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
57 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:25
58 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
59 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
60 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
61 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:26
62 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
63 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
64 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team
65 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:27
66 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
67 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
68 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
69 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
70 James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors
71 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
72 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
73 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:28
74 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
75 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:29
76 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
77 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
78 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
79 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:30
80 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
81 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky
82 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
83 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:00:31
84 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
85 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
86 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
87 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:32
88 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
89 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
90 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
91 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
92 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:33
93 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida
94 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:34
95 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
96 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
97 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
98 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
99 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:35
100 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
101 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
102 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
103 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
104 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:36
105 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:37
106 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:00:38
107 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
108 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
109 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:39
110 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:40
111 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
112 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:41
113 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates
114 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:42
115 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
116 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
117 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
118 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:45
119 Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
119 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo
121 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:46
122 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:47
123 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
124 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb
125 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
126 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:48
127 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:49
128 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:55
129 Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
130 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
131 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:57
132 Robert Wagner (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:00