Primoz Roglic has taken a double victory in the first stage of the 2019 Tour de Romandie. The Slovenian sovereignly sprinted to the stage victory in La Chaux-de-Fonds. By doing so, he took over the overall lead of his compatriot and friend Jan Tratnik. Steven Kruijswijk moved up to seventh overall.
For Roglic, it is his fourth victory of the season after having won the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this year. For Team Jumbo-Visma, it is the tenth victory.
A large leading group, including Team Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard, coloured the stage. They got a maximum of three minutes, but were caught in the final. During the race, the attacks kept coming from the GC riders, but they couldn’t avoid a sprint. Roglic started the sprint and managed to hold on.
“I didn’t expect to win here,” Roglic explained. “After Tirreno-Adriatico, I went on an altitude camp in preparation for my main goal, the Giro. I recently came back from it. Then you have to wait and see how things will go. It was a tough day with a lot of climbing. It’s a nice feeling that I was able to win, especially in a sprint. It surprised me, because normally there is always someone who is faster. Winning in Romandie always is a special feeling. I love to race here. In Steven, we have a pawn who can go for the GC. He rode very well today, just like the rest of the team. We will continue to keep doing our best.”
Second Overall for Rui Costa
After the good performance in the prologue (10th place), Rui Costa scored another good result, placing third in Tour de Romandie’s stage one, 168.4 km from Neuchatel to La Chaux de Fonds. The ride saw him climb to second place overall behind leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
“I am satisfied with today’s result that came by battling with high-level riders,” Costa said. “I tried to make the most of the good work done by my team-mates, who were very alert and kept me protected the whole stage. I immediately saw that the stretches over the last five kilometres would give life to a decisive action, and so it was. In the sprint, I gave my best, but Roglic was very fast. Still, I take a lot of morale from the first two days of the Tour de Romandie.”
2019 Tour de Romandie: Stage 1 Results
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) at 4h15’18”
- David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) s.t.
- Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
- Michael Woods (EF Education First) s.t.
- Damien Howson (Mitchelton-Scott) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 1:
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) at 4h20’15”
- Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) at 10″
- David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) at 12″
- Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) at 13″
- Carlos Betancur (Movistar Team) at 14″
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