Tour de Romandie

Prologue

CH Switzerland Tuesday 25 April 2023 6.8 km

Cerny takes the glory in Romandie prologue

Cerny takes the glory in Romandie prologue

Josef Cerny became the tenth different Soudal Quick-Step rider to put his name on the winners’ list of this season, after an impressive display of strength on the 6.8km flat course around Le Bouveret. The 29-year-old came at the start of the longest Tour de Romandie prologue in a decade with the hope of racking up a top 10 finish, but he exceeded any expectations by beating a host of specialists to net Soudal Quick-Step’s 20th victory of the year.

Multiple national champion of the discipline, Cerny averaged a whooping 55.17km/h despite the wet roads, setting a time of 7:25, which put him in the hot seat, where he remained for the slimmest of margins, only three tenths of a seconds separating him from runner-up Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma). Another Soudal Quick-Step rider, Rémi Cavagna, also came very close, concluding just a second behind his teammate. Our squad had three men in the top 10 at the end of the day, after Ethan Vernon – making his first appearance in a month – produced a solid effort to take the best young rider jersey.

Cerny, now the first Czech rider in 14 years to win a stage and wear the Tour de Romandie yellow jersey, was over the moon with his first World Tour victory in three years: “It was a fast course, but I gave everything and did a strong prologue. I started fast and could keep the speed until the finish. It was very close out there, but in the end I was the lucky one. I worked hard in the time trial, I knew the form would be there after our altitude camp, had good legs today and a very good bike, and now I’m happy with this win.”

“I wasn’t the favourite. I was hoping for a top 10 or a top 5 before the start, so to get the victory in front of the World Champion is just fantastic. It gives me a lot of joy to have the yellow jersey in such a prestigious race”, said Josef, who also leads the points and KOM classification.

 

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

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