Tour de Romandie: Peter Sagan wins stage 1

Image 1 of 22

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) claimed victory on stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie in a bunch sprint in Martigny.

Eleven years on from his last appearance in the Swiss race in his first season as a pro, the three-time world champion got the better of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) in a tight finish from a reduced peloton.

Patrick Bevin (Israel-Start Up Nation), who’d battled with Sagan for Colbrelli’s wheel as the sprint opened up, claimed the final spot on the podium.

Rohan Dennis finished safely in the bunch to retain his overall lead, with Ineos Grenadiers retaining the overall podium positions with Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte.

It was a bunch sprint but a tough day in the saddle, with 2200 metres of elevation gain on the 168km route, drizzling rain, and a block headwind on the 20km run-in to Martigny. Elia Viviani (Cofidis) and Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) were dropped but most of the expected sprint contenders and overall hopefuls arrived in the main peloton after four laps of a 33km circuit over the short third-category climbs of Produit and Chamoson.

After the day’s six-man breakaway was reeled in, Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) tried some speculative attacks on the run-in but Bahrain were prominent in the peloton and went on to lead out the sprint, with Jan Tratnik taking Colbrelli all the way to the last 250 metres.

When Colbrelli hit the wind, Sagan moved out from behind Bevin and jostled for a place in the slipstream before moving right to sprint down the centre of the road. He got in front and held his speed to the line, as Colbrelli shook his head in frustration, rueful at going too early.

How it unfolded

A breakaway of six riders formed on the opening part of the course, leading up to the early climb of La Rasse. In there were: Filippo Conca (Lotto Soudal), Joel Suter (Switzerland), Manuele Boaro (Astana Premier Tech), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R Citroën), Thymen Arensman (DSM) and Rob Power (Qhubeka-Assos). There was a lone chaser in Thomas Champion (Cofidis) but he never made it across.

Suter made his intentions clear by being first to the top of La Rasse, adding to his growing tally of mountains classification points on the two climbs on the opening lap of the circuit.

The first climb of Produit was 2.6km long with an average gradient of 7.2 per cent and slopes of 12 per cent on a narrow winding road through hillside vineyards. After a steep, winding descent, the climb of Chamoson was steadier and wider, 2.2k long with an average gradient of 5.9 per cent.

The break built a maximum lead of six minutes but it was down to 4:15 by the start of the second lap. Suter led over both climbs again and Ineos brought the gap down to 3:30 before letting it go back out to 4:30 at the start of the third lap.

Suter once again fought his way to the top of Produit in pole position, and carried his effort over the top and onto the descent. He held his lead to the top of Chamoson to secure the mountains jersey before slotting back into the break.

On the last part of that third lap, the peloton lifted the pace significantly, bringing the gap down to just two minutes. The charge continued on the final lap as teams battled for position ahead of the climbs, which this time would be taken a lot faster.

The gap plummeted and the six escapees started Produit with just 20 seconds in hand. Gougeard was the first to fall away, as Suter went on the move once again, but it was Arensman who emerged as the strongest from the break.

He held the bunch at just under 20 seconds as all his former companions were caught on the climb by a thinning peloton led by Ineos’ Filippo Ganna. BikeExchange took charge towards the top and on the descent, but Arensman took his lead onto and over the Chamoson climb.

By that point, however, the gap was tiny, and he was caught with 21km to go. Cavagna then tried the first of his long-range attacks, before BikeExchange, sensing some sprinters had been dropped, took it up for Dion Smith. They rode so hard that their two riders on the front gapped the rest of the bunch for a short while.

Cavagna went again with 11.5km to go, this time with teammate Mattia Cattaneo. They were marked by Damien Howson (BikeExchange) and Sebastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), who were mere passengers. Cattaneo tried a surprise attack but they were all back in the bunch with 8km to go.

Bora and Bahrain set the pace in the final kilometres, with Israel coming to the fore late on. It was Bahrain who took control in the final kilometre, with Tratnik leading Colbrelli through the final right-hand bend. The Italian opened up but perhaps went too early, and Sagan was well positioned to claim the second win of his season.