Tour de Romandie
Prologue
Switzerland
Tuesday 25 April 2023
6.8 km
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
Race details
1 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
7:25 |
2 |
Tobias Foss Jumbo-Visma |
0:01 |
3 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:01 |
4 |
Nico Denz BORA - hansgrohe |
0:04 |
5 |
Joel Suter Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
0:05 |
6 |
Ethan Hayter INEOS Grenadiers |
0:05 |
7 |
Mikkel Bjerg UAE Team Emirates |
0:09 |
8 |
Matteo Sobrero Team Jayco AlUla |
0:09 |
9 |
Ivo Oliveira UAE Team Emirates |
0:09 |
10 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:10 |
18 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:13 |
24 |
Fausto Masnada
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:15 |
43 |
Dries Devenyns
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:22 |
91 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:31 |
1 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
7:25 |
2 |
Tobias Foss Jumbo-Visma |
0:01 |
3 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:01 |
4 |
Nico Denz BORA - hansgrohe |
0:04 |
5 |
Joel Suter Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
0:05 |
6 |
Ethan Hayter INEOS Grenadiers |
0:05 |
7 |
Mikkel Bjerg UAE Team Emirates |
0:09 |
8 |
Matteo Sobrero Team Jayco AlUla |
0:09 |
9 |
Ivo Oliveira UAE Team Emirates |
0:09 |
10 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:10 |
18 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:13 |
24 |
Fausto Masnada
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:15 |
43 |
Dries Devenyns
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:22 |
91 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:31 |
1 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
30 pt |
2 |
Tobias Foss Jumbo-Visma |
25 pt |
3 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
22 pt |
4 |
Nico Denz BORA - hansgrohe |
19 pt |
5 |
Joel Suter Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
17 pt |
6 |
Ethan Hayter INEOS Grenadiers |
15 pt |
7 |
Mikkel Bjerg UAE Team Emirates |
13 pt |
8 |
Matteo Sobrero Team Jayco AlUla |
11 pt |
9 |
Ivo Oliveira UAE Team Emirates |
9 pt |
10 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
7 pt |
1 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
7:35 |
2 |
Arthur Kluckers Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
0:00 |
3 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
0:02 |
4 |
Finn Fisher-Black UAE Team Emirates |
0:02 |
5 |
Johan Price-Pejtersen Bahrain - Victorious |
0:02 |
6 |
Iván Romeo Movistar Team |
0:04 |
7 |
Filip Maciejuk Bahrain - Victorious |
0:04 |
8 |
Max Poole Team DSM |
0:06 |
9 |
Matteo Jorgenson Movistar Team |
0:09 |
10 |
Marco Brenner Team DSM |
0:09 |
1 | Soudal - Quick Step | 22:26 |
2 | UAE Team Emirates | 0:19 |
3 | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 0:22 |
4 | Bahrain - Victorious | 0:26 |
5 | Jumbo-Visma | 0:29 |
6 | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:30 |
7 | Movistar Team | 0:32 |
8 | BORA - hansgrohe | 0:32 |
9 | Team DSM | 0:35 |
10 | EF Education-EasyPost | 0:40 |