The Pole Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) won the prologue of the Tour de Romandie and thus put another exclamation point behind his form. After almost five and a half kilometers on the bumpy course, he was four seconds ahead of Rohan Dennis (Orica-GreenEdge) and the surprisingly strong Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano). The man from Arnstadt, who was one of the world's best time trialists when he was under 23, once again proved that he could also be a serious driver in prologues in the future. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) rounded off the good performance of the German starters in fifth place, but as the reigning world champion in the fight against the clock, he should only be partially happy about it.
Kwiatkowski also benefited from his early start in his win. Because unlike the other podium riders, he had to contend with less wind on the home stretch. This made things difficult for drivers like Kittel and Martin who had started late. Chris Froome (Sky) also had a hard time. Last year's winner started last and ended up losing nine seconds to Kwiatkowski. It was even worse for Richie Porte (Sky), who lost more than twenty seconds. For another favorite, however, the race should already be over. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) crashed and lost over three minutes.
With his victory on the day, Kwiatkowski also takes the first lead in the overall standings.