Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Michal Kwiatkowski won the 5.57km Tour de Romandie Prologue on Tuesday, carrying great form from the Ardennes Classics to win his first career UCI WorldTour race just two days after Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Kwiatkowski won with a time of 6'22", while his teammate, three-time UCI World TT Champion Tony Martin, finished 5" down in 5th place.
Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) finished 2nd, 4" down, and Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) placed 3rd (same time).
OPQS now has 27 victories — in three disciplines — in 2014.
The Polish Champion will wear the yellow jersey with a 4" advantage going into the 200.9km 2nd stage on Wednesday. The stage includes a Category 1 climb in the middle of the parcours, and a Category 2 ascent with a summit at the 180 kilometer mark.
Kwiatkowski also put on multiple other jerseys representing his classification lead, including best young rider as he is only 23-years-old. Kwiatkowski has six victories this season and has been on the podium multiple times at Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco, Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta ao Algarve, and the Ardennes Classics.
"This is a surprise, actually," Kwiatkowski said. "I was in good shape after the Ardennes but I wasn't sure how I would feel today. I'm really happy with what I did. That was the first time I was sitting in the hot seat for so long. I think a few seconds advantage with such good competition here at Tour de Romandie is something special. I knew the course really well and think I did it perfectly, every moment of the race. I didn't go too fast on the first part. I was trying to save myself for the end. I was on the limit on the finish line. I think I did everything as I was supposed to and it was also think it was good to start earlier, because I knew the weather forecast was going to change. It is hard to say what I will do from here in the yellow jersey. I will look day-to-day in how I can defend my GC lead. Today was a short prologue and I don't know how recovered I will truly feel from the Ardennes Classics in the next days. This will be my last race before a period of rest after the first part of the season. But as for the team and our GC chances, Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team came here with good riders. Tony Martin, Thomas De Gendt, and Rigoberto Uran for example. So, we can see what cards we can play and we are looking forward to the next stages."