Following yesterday’s exciting prologue in the hilly streets of Saint-Imier, Tour de Romandie 2025 continued with stage 1, which would be contested on a 194.3-kilometer route from Munchenstein to Fribourg, while featuring three categorized climbs mid-stage, which had been carefully selected to shake up the standings and action in the race.

Ineos-Grenadiers rider Samuel Watson was leading the general classification after the prologue, with Ivo Oliveira in second place for UAE Team Emirates, followed by Stefan Bissegger of Team Decathlon-AG2R. To his own great dissatisfaction Soudal-QuickStep’s Remco Evenepoel was eighth in the general classification, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) ninth, Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) eleventh, and Lenny Martinez sixteenth for Bahrain-Victorious.

Stage 1 got off to a fast start as many riders and teams had a significant interest in launching attacking efforts. Five optimistic riders established the early breakaway of the day early after the start. The riders were Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ), Gerben Kuypers (Intermarche-Wanty), and Ben Zwiehoff of Team Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. The quintet built a lead of more than four minutes, before its advantage started to drop as the group approached the categorized mountains.

With 125 kilometers left, the five riders had an advantage of 03:20 minutes over the chasing main peloton in which race leader Samuel Watson of Ineos-Grenadiers was enjoying a day in the spotlight following his impressive victory in the prologue. It would be interesting to follow the 23-year-old rider from Great Britain throughout the rest of the race.

When 100 kilometers remained, the riders had climbed the Mont Crosin (category 3), which had led to the lead of the breakaway group being further reduced.

The front quintet fractured on the Col des Pontins (Category 2). Zwiehoff was the first rider to reach the summit and take the KOM points. He was chased by Kuypers and Ghebreigzabhier, with Palei and Dillier further behind the German.

Riders from Team PicNic-PostNL, Ineos-Grenadiers, and Visma-Lease a Bike were leading the chase effort from the front of the main peloton as the riders passed by the many flowering fields of the scenic Swiss landscape.

Riders from the original breakaway were caught by the chasing peloton when 76 kilometers remained. Meanwhile, further up the road Zwiehoff had again dropped Kuypers following a brief reunion on the descent which separated the climbs. Zwiehoff’s advantage over the main peloton was now 02:54 minutes.

Zwiehoff and Kuypers were the only remaining breakaway optimists when sixty kilometers remained. Their advantage was brought down to 01:50 minutes by riders from Ineos-Grenadiers and EF Education-EasyPost.

Riders from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe joined the chase work at the front of the main peloton and the riders had reduced the advantage of the front duo to just thirty seconds with 25 kilometers left of stage 1. It appeared the stage might culminate in a sprint finish.

The main peloton was keeping the attackers at close range while clearly enjoying a relaxing day in the office while gaining strength for the mountain battles to come in later stages.

Zwiehoff and Kuypers were caught shortly thereafter and the various teams with various agendas started their stage finale work.

Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R) and Remi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ) were the latest winners in stage arrivals in Fribourg and it would be interesting to see who the stage winner in the town in today’s stage 1 of Tour de Romandie 2025 would be.

Seven kilometers remained and the teams were gearing up for a mass sprint finish. The speed had increased and suddenly many teams wanted to be well-positioned at the front of the peloton before the fireworks of the sprint finale started.

The peloton was riding at max speed in a downhill section with four kilometers left. No attacks had been launched. The riders were entering the narrow, old and hilly streets of Fribourg shortly thereafter.

The lead-out riders were setting up the sprints for their sprint aces.

Great Britain’s Matthew Brennan launched his sprint, and the Visma-Lease a Bike won the stage in a short, but intense sprint across the finish line. This was a much-needed stage victory for the Visma-Lease a Bike team following a disappointing Spring campaign.

Aurelien Paret-Peintre finished second for Decathlon-AG2R, while Artem Shmidt completed the stage podium for Ineos-Grenadiers.

Stage 2 of Tour de Romandie 2025 will take the cyclists into mountain territory on a 157-kilometer route from La Grande Beroche and back. The stage will feature four categorized climbs, including three Category 2 climbs and one Category 3 climb. Expect the general classification favorites to shine on the roads of Switzerland.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from Tour de Romandie 2025 and the rest of the professional cycling season.