Tour de Romandie
Stage 1: Crissier - Vallée de Joux
Switzerland
Wednesday 26 April 2023
170.9 km
Vernon keeps the ball rolling for the Wolfpack in Romandie

Ethan Vernon scored a crushing sprint victory on stage 1 of the Swiss race, after a great lead-out of Casper Pedersen, who placed him in a perfect position with 300 meters to go. A winner of three races in the first couple of weeks of the season, Ethan remained calm in a hectic finale, before launching down the middle of the road and stomping his sprinting authority in Vallée de Joux.
“It’s the second World Tour success of my career after the one in the Volta a Catalunya last year, and just like back then, it feels great to win at this level”, said one of the youngest riders to take a Tour de Romandie stage victory this century.
The day contained three classified climbs, but a flawless teamwork of his Soudal Quick-Step teammates helped the Brit make it over the stage’s difficulties, where many of the other sprinters got dropped. Dries Devenyns did a fabulous job, keeping things together for most of the stage, before Rémi Cavagna and even overall leader Josef Cerny took over in the closing kilometres, making sure Vernon remained well-positioned under the flamme rouge.
Following this victory and the bonus seconds it brought, the 22-year-old went straight to the top of the general classification, ahead of Josef, and will sport the yellow jersey on the hilly stage to La Chaux-de-Fonds.
“It was difficult on the climbs, as some teams upped the tempo and pushed hard, but I survived thanks to the boys. I am grateful to them, not just for their help there, but also for the mammoth work they put in the entire day. I already had three victories this season before today, but the last of these came two months ago, so it feels good to win again. Leading this race is a bonus, and I will enjoy wearing yellow on Thursday”, added Ethan after Soudal Quick-Step’s 21st victory of the year.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
4:05:34 |
2 |
Thibau Nys Trek - Segafredo |
0:00 |
3 |
Milan Menten Lotto Dstny |
0:00 |
4 |
Romain Bardet Team DSM |
0:00 |
5 |
Jacopo Mosca Trek - Segafredo |
0:00 |
6 |
Nick Schultz Israel - Premier Tech |
0:00 |
7 |
Lilian Calmejane Intermarché - Circus - Wanty |
0:00 |
8 |
Clément Venturini AG2R Citroën Team |
0:00 |
9 |
Ivo Oliveira UAE Team Emirates |
0:00 |
10 |
Quinten Hermans Alpecin-Deceuninck |
0:00 |
39 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
52 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
74 |
Fausto Masnada
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
78 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
84 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
119 |
Dries Devenyns
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:44 |
1 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
4:12:59 |
2 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
3 |
Tobias Foss Jumbo-Visma |
0:01 |
4 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:01 |
5 |
Nico Denz BORA - hansgrohe |
0:04 |
6 |
Joel Suter Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
0:05 |
7 |
Ethan Hayter INEOS Grenadiers |
0:05 |
8 |
Mikkel Bjerg UAE Team Emirates |
0:09 |
9 |
Matteo Sobrero Team Jayco AlUla |
0:09 |
10 |
Ivo Oliveira UAE Team Emirates |
0:09 |
16 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:13 |
20 |
Fausto Masnada
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:15 |
73 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:31 |
119 |
Dries Devenyns
Soudal - Quick Step |
3:06 |
1 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
57 pt |
2 |
Tobias Foss Jumbo-Visma |
40 pt |
3 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
30 pt |
4 |
Thibau Nys Trek - Segafredo |
30 pt |
5 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
22 pt |
6 |
Nico Denz BORA - hansgrohe |
22 pt |
7 |
Milan Menten Lotto Dstny |
20 pt |
8 |
Romain Bardet Team DSM |
18 pt |
9 |
Joel Suter Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
17 pt |
10 |
Ivo Oliveira UAE Team Emirates |
17 pt |
23 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
6 pt |
1 |
Julien Bernard Trek - Segafredo |
21 pt |
2 |
Dario Lillo Switzerland |
12 pt |
3 |
Michael Schär AG2R Citroën Team |
6 pt |
4 |
Tobias Bayer Alpecin-Deceuninck |
4 pt |
5 |
Kenny Elissonde Trek - Segafredo |
3 pt |
6 |
Egan Bernal Gómez INEOS Grenadiers |
2 pt |
7 |
Jonathan Klever Caicedo Cepeda EF Education-EasyPost |
2 pt |
8 |
Joel Suter Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
1 pt |
9 |
Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolás INEOS Grenadiers |
1 pt |
10 |
Jan Stöckli Switzerland |
1 pt |
1 |
Ethan Vernon
Soudal - Quick Step |
4:12:59 |
2 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
0:12 |
3 |
Finn Fisher-Black UAE Team Emirates |
0:12 |
4 |
Johan Price-Pejtersen Bahrain - Victorious |
0:12 |
5 |
Thibau Nys Trek - Segafredo |
0:15 |
6 |
Max Poole Team DSM |
0:16 |
7 |
Matteo Jorgenson Movistar Team |
0:19 |
8 |
Oscar Onley Team DSM |
0:23 |
9 |
Kévin Vauquelin Team Arkéa Samsic |
0:25 |
10 |
Ewen Costiou Team Arkéa Samsic |
0:26 |
1 | Soudal - Quick Step | 12:39:08 |
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 | BORA - hansgrohe | 0:32 |
8 | Movistar Team | 0:32 |
9 | Team DSM | 0:35 |
10 | EF Education-EasyPost | 0:40 |