Tour de Romandie prologue TT – Live coverage

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the prologue time trial of the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland.

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height, the first riders have begun the 4.05km prologue in Oron.

Joel Suter (Swiss Cycling) was the first off the starting ramp at 15:00 CET while Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) will be the last rider off at 17:19 CET.

The race was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 but returns for six days of racing from April 27 to May 2. The event begins with a short prologue and will follow with five stages that includes a total of 12,500 metres of climbing.

The start list includes Thomas, who was third in the 2019 edition, along with Miguel Ángel López (Movistar), Steven Kruijwsijk (Jumbo-Visma), time trial World Champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal).

Suter and other early starters are already done, with Suter setting  time of 6:10.

His time has already been beaten. 

Indeed Philippe Gilbert set 5:53 but that has been beaten too. 

Manuel Boaro (Astana) is currently fastest with 5:48. 

Lots of riders are warming up for their riders in the shadows of their tram buses parked in a country road near Oron.

The week in western Switzerland will see a number of big names do battle, including Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Miguel Ángel López (Movistar), and Steven Kruijwsijk (Jumbo-Visma), while Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal) are also among the starters.

The route of the 2021 Tour de Romandie largely follows the cancelled 2020 edition of the race, kicking off with a prologue in the town of Oron near Lausanne.

The opener is just 4.05 kilometres long but comes with a kick in the tail in the form of a climb to the finish, an 880-metre ascent up the Route de Bulle at an average of 7.6 per cent gradient. It's a testing start to the race, though things only get tougher as the days pass.

Stage 1 proper sees the riders head from the UCI's home of Aigle to Martigny, where four laps of a hilly circuit lie in wait. With nine third-category climbs on the menu, it's a challenging day out, concluding with an uphill run to the line.

To read our full race preview, click below.

Tour de Romandie – Preview

This is the view at the finish. with riders enjoying blue skies and spring weather in Switzerland today.

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) completes his preparation for the Giro d’Italia at the Tour de Romandieand is the favourite for Tuesday afternoon’s prologue time trial in Oron.

The world champion will start his ride in around an hour. Click below to read his latest comments.

Ganna tunes up for Giro d'Italia with Tour de Romandie time trials

New fastest time! 

Stefan Bissegger (EF Education - Nippo) set 5:37.85 with an average of 43.264 km/h.

The Swiss rider goes into the hot seat.

Here comes Stefan Kung.  

Kuing sets 5:43 and so is beaten. The Euro TT champion perhaps suffered on the technical and rolling course.

Stefan Bissegger won the Paris-Nice opening TT and used his superb bike skills and aero position to strike again.

Stefan Bissegger's average time of 43.264km/h shows hoe technical and rolling the course is. 

It includes a 180 degree turn and that uphill finish. 

Jos van Emden is out on the course, the Giro TT winner could be a threat today.

Van Emden started the climb to the finish on the tops of his bar  but is now back in an aero tuck. 

He sets 5: 57. That's off the pace.

The USA's Chad Haga is next off. 

British TT champion Alex Dowsett is also racing now.

Provisional standings

1. Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) 5:37
2. Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) 5:39
3. Stefan kung (Groupama-FDJ) 5:43
4. Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) 5:44
5. Patrick Bevin (Israel Start-up Nation) 5:44

Haga sets 5:47, good but not for the stage victory, he's ten seconds slower than Stefan Bissegger.

Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) pulls off a good ride, setting 5:40.  

One of the big-name revelations of the spring Tom Pidcock is not racing today. 

He has already switched to mountain biking and and will use an unbranded BMC bike. 

Click below for the full story on our sister site Bikeperfect.com

Tom Pidcock to race XCO World Cups and Olympic Games on unbranded BMC

Michael Woods finished 13 seconds slower than Bissegger.

Wilco Kelderman (Bora) is the first of the GC contenders to finish. 

He pedals a big gear out of the saddle into the headwind finish, setting a time of 5: 42.

Provisional standings

1. Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) 5:37
2. Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) 5:39
3. Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) 5:40
4. Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe) 5:42
5. Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) 5:43

Owain Doull rides well, the former team pursuiter setting 5:46. 

Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) is next off, starting his season after injury, COVID and other delays. 

After 12 weeks off the bike after his Giro crash, Lopez is on a gradual return to form.

Ilan Van Wilder (Team DSM) sets a good time of 5:42 for the fourth fastest time. 

This is Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) in action. 

He is riding what looks like a still to be revealed new Cannondale TT bike.

The bike was first spotted at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, with Rigoberto Urán using it.

 The Colombian was aboard a similar blacked-out frameset with various differences throughout, including disc brakes, hidden cables, and a sloping top tube.

Click below for the full story.

New Cannondale time trial bike ridden by Rigoberto Uran at Volta a Catalunya

77 of the 140 riders have finished the TT. World Champion Ganna will be off in around 20 minutes.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos) is the last rider off, in about an hour. 

Here we go! Rohan Dennis starts his ride. 

Can he set a new fastest time? 

Peter Sagan sets 5:48, He's within the ten-second time-bonus range for Wednesday's road stage.

Dennis is tucked low over his TT bike. He's fast, but how fast?

Dennis was fastest at the intermediate check. 

He clunked through the gears on the climb and sets a new best time of 5: 26! 

Next off is Chris Froome.

Provisional standings

1. Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) 5:26
2. Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) 5:37
3. Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) 5:39
4. Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) 5:40

today's TT is in Oton but is close to Lake Geneva and Lausanne. Wednesday's stage is on a hilly circuit between Aigle, the home to the UCI and Martigny. 

He comes Froome, he sets: 6: 18.

That's well off the pace and takes him out of the GC battle.  

Filippo 'Top' Ganna is off very soon. If anyone can beat Dennis' time of 5:26, he can. 

Ganna is quickly into his TT position. 

Ganna takes the U turn onto the bike path. He will soon start the climb to the finish.

As a world pursuit champion, he should be good over 4km.

Ganna dived into the sweeping corner that starts the climb.  

He stayed in the aero bars for much of the climb, went deep and set a time of 5:41.

Fast but not fast enough.

It is surprising to see Ganna some 14 seconds slower than Dennis.

Ganna is only fifth fastest so far. He will not be happy about that. 

Lucas Hamilton (Bike Exchange) is next to finish. 

He will perhaps lead the Australian team's GC hopes and sets a time 5:56 but that puts him off the pace. 

Richie Porte is next off. He's a former winner and back with Ineos for 2021 after his 2020 Tour de France podium. 

provisional standings

1. Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) 5:26
2. Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) 5:37
3. Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) 5:39
4. Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) 5:40
5. Filippo Ganna (Inoes Grenadiers) 5:41

Tony sets 5:46, not bad on a comeback from injury. 

Elia Viviani (Cofidis) is off. He'll be hoping for a sprint win this week before diving into the Giro sprints.

Richie Porte is fast. He sets 5:35. 

That's an excellent ride and asks further questions about what  happened to Ganna.  

Porte's ride bumps Ganna out of the top five. 

Alex Dowesett is off. He's in the British champion's colours and should be a contender.

Riders come think and fast, starting at 1-minute intervals because the stage is so short.

All the riders go deep on the climb to the finish, while children cheer them on and some adults enjoy an outdoor beer in the sun.

This is the expected stage winner. 

Check out Rohan Dennis' new deep front wheel. 

Dowsett sets: 5:52. Not a great day or ride for him.

Next off is Marc Hirschi. A national hero in Switzerland but perhaps lacking peak form after his winter transfer to UAE Team Emirates and problems.

We're down to the final riders from each team now and so often the GC leaders.

Sepp Kuss starts for Jumbo-Visma. 

Geraint Thomas is last rider off. 

It'll be interesting to see if he gets close to Dennis and if he can be an overall contender this week. He arguably needs a win and stage race performance.

Here comes Hirschi. He sets a time of 5: 41. That's a good time.

Remi Cavagna is out on the road. He could be a top five finisher today.

Sepp Kuss sets 5: 42. That keeps him in the GC battle. 

Cavagna is on a ride behind him. He is blasting up the climb.

Cavagna is the French TT champion and shows it. 

He was fastest at the intermediate time check but fades and sets 5:35.

Here comes Thomas. He' pushes a big gear on the climb. Can he make it a Ineos 1-2-3?

Thomas sets 5: 35. 

That does give Ineos a 1-2-3 for the stage. They are the Mapei of the time trial today.

Ineos work hard on their TT skills and equipment and dominated the result today.

Rohan Dennis wins the stage and so will pull on the race leader's jersey.

This is the top ten for the stage:

1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 05:26.7
2 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers 05:35.1
3 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 05:35.5
4 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 05:37.4
5 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo 05:37.9
6 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain Victorious 05:39.4
7 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 05:40.4
8 Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates 05:41.0
9 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 05:41.1
10 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 05:41.1

Dennis was beaten by Ganna in recent TT's but came out on top today. 

He will not ride the Giro d'Italia this year and is likely to be a key part of the Ineos Tour de France team.

To see our full stage report, our growing photo gallery and full results, click below.

Tour de Romandie: Rohan Dennis wins prologue

Here's Rohan Dennis in the first Tour de Romandie yellow leader's jersey.

He's the big cheese of the stage!

Here's Geraint Thomas in action in the Romandie TT. 

He finished second behind Dennis, beating teammate Richie Porte by just 4 tenths of a second.

Thanks for joining us for our full live coverage. 

We'll have more during Wednesday's stage 1 from between Aigle and Martigny. 

It seems a great day for Peter Sagan but there will surely be breakaways and attacks.  

This is the top result for the prologue:

1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 05:26.7
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 05:35.1
3 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 05:35.5
4 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 05:37.4
5 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo 05:37.9
6 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain Victorious 05:39.4
7 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 05:40.4
8 Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates 05:41.0
9 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 05:41.1
10 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 05:41.1