The 2023 edition of Tour de Romandie stated in Switzerland earlier today. The six-stage race started with a 6.82-kilometer prologue from Port Valais to Port Valais situated next to Lake Geneva/Lac Leman. The flat prologue was perfect for puncheurs.

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Nico Denz set an early fastest time (00:07:29) and had to wait in the hot seat for other riders to finish. Denz managed to deliver the fastest time despite suffering mechanical difficulties in the final meters of the prologue.

Giro d’Italia wonderkid Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) crossed the finish line in fourteenth position, 14 seconds behind the leader.

EF Education-EasyPost’s Mark Padun was 15th when he crossed the finish line.

Romain Bardet (Team DSM), who isn’t famous for his skills against the clock, delivered an impressive performance to squeeze himself into 12th position.

Experienced time trial expert Jonathan Castroviejo proved he hasn’t lost his talent for time trials by performing well in today’s prologue for his Ineos-Grenadiers team. He crossed the finish line in fifth position in the preliminary rankings, while other riders were yet to start the stage.

Josef Cerny (Soudal-QuickStep) eventually declassified Denz by setting a faster time than the German. Cerny finished the prologue four seconds faster than Denz and averaged a speed of 55.011 km/h.

Simon Yates crossed the finish line 20 seconds slower than the stage leader.

Remi Cavagna – also known as the TGV train from Clermont-Ferrand - set a fast pace for his Soudal-QuickStep team and almost beat teammate Cerny. Cavagna crossed the finish line less than a second after Cerny.

Time Trial World Champion Tobias Foss (Team Jumbo-Visma) also delivered an impressive performance in today’s prologue and squeezed himself in between Cerny and Cavagna in the top 3. Foss’ performance was influenced by recent illness as he said he had been suffering from a stomach bug.

In the general classification Cerny leads Tour de Romandie 2023. Foss is one second behind in second place, while Cavagna is third, also one second behind the leader.