Jonathan Castroviejo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the short 3.5-kilometer prologue of the Tour de Romandie in a time of 3'40"42. BMC's Taylor Phinney showed he is back after his knee and crash troubles, missing Castroviejo's time by just 27 hundredth of a second. Leigh Howard (HTC) was third, in 3'41"15.
Euskaltel-Euskadi riders are not normally known for their time trialing strength. "I am the first one to be surprised," a stunned Castroviejo said at the finish. "I go well in time trials, but to win it, that is something else." He was the last one of his team to start. "My teammates told me to give it all in the corners, which is what I did." One down, none to go. "Our objective for this tour is already obtained," he said with a smile.
The timing was perfect for Castroviejo. "Tomorrow is my birthday, so this was a spectacular present - we will have a double celebration." Castroviejo has done well in time trials, but was never at the top. "This has changed my mentality, now I know I can start to win." He always liked the short time trials. "But to win a prologue at the Tour de Romandie was an important step," he said.
The win did not come without troubles, as he collided with a mechanic from another team on the way to the start. "I arrived at the ramp very tense. It was an accident that maybe served as an incentive to give even more." He had a good guide for the 3500 meters. "Fortunately I had the reference times from teammate Gorka Verdugo." Verdugo ended up 11th. "This was very valuable and very important in the final outcome."
He liked the technical nature of the course. "It was a crono for the specialists, with some difficult turns. But it was won in the straightaways, where you had to pedal with power."
Phinney was musing of what could have happened. "There were probably places where I could make up some time, but at the end of the day, it's just so crazy with everything just flying at you," Phinney said. "The cobbled sections actually kind of frightened me before the race, but when I was on them, I just went full-tilt into it and it ended up being pretty good." Phinney will at least have the honor to wear Castroviejo's points jersey for Stage 1.
Rabobank's Dennis van Winden was one of the first riders off and he immediately set a very strong time. His 3'43 withstood most riders and he ended up in sixth place in the end. RadioShack's Geoffroy Lequatre was the rider to put Van Winden behind, with a 3'42"37. HTC's Leigh Howard then took over the hot seat for a moment. David Millar put in a very good ride, but with 3'42"52, he was a tad slower and was fifth in the end.
Alexandre Vinokourov showed well recovered from Liège-Bastogne-Liège, ending in ninth place (four seconds behind). Other riders of note were Castroviejo's teammate Gorka Verdugo in 11th (also four seconds behind), Geraint Thomas in 13th (five seconds) and Richie Porte in 15th (six seconds). Daniele Bennati did well (tenth place, four seconds behind), but he won't be able to sprint to a leader's jersey.
Tomorrow's stage two goes from Martigny to Leysin, over 172.6km and finishes uphill. After crossing the 1546m Col du Pillon, the finish in Leysin is at 1318m, The final climb is around eight kilometers in length.