Stage 1: Martigny -> Martigny
The first open road stage of the race saw the peloton take laps of an extended circuit that featured a short but steep climb, before turning off and doing one passage of the brutally steep Ovronnaz ascent. With an average gradient of almost ten percent for nine kilometres it was set to be a challenge for everyone in the peloton.
Team Picnic PostNL were active in the start of the day and wanted to get up the road with the hope that the break could have enough of an advantage to be able to hold onto the GC riders once they attacked out of the peloton. Dillon Corkery and Alexy Faure-Prost made the strong group of seven, but despite their best efforts the peloton kept them close. One the lower slopes of the climb the break split to pieces, with Faure-Prost the last man standing from the move, putting on a spirited and fighting display.
Prologue: Villars-sur-Glâne -> Villars-sur-Glâne
The Tour de Romandie got underway on late Tuesday afternoon with a short three kilometre blast around the streets of Villars-sur-Glâne. With the first two kilometres mostly downhill, the riders would make a sweeping turn before a one kilometre climb to the line. It was a balance of speed and power, with Team Picnic PostNL getting around the course in solid efforts, with Robbe Dhondt the best finisher on the day; just a handful of seconds outside the top ten.
