Tour de Romandie stage 1: Dylan Teuns brings back Rohan Dennis at the line

Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) won stage 1 of the 2022 Tour de Romandie ahead of Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma).

Dennis attacked the race at 800m to go and looked to hold the group, but Teuns’ perseverance won him the stage by half a bike length at the finish line.

“It was a very, very hard sprint. I only started to believe in victory only in the last 25 meters,” said the stage winner.

Teuns is hot off a win just several days prior at the 2022 La Flèche Wallonne.

A crash inside of 14km remaining took down race leader Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), who was able to resume racing and limped across the line last on the stage, 14:31 behind the stage winner.

How it happened

After 100km of racing, five men were still off the front of the race, including Valère Thiébaud and Antoine Debons (Swiss National Team), Julius Johansen (Intermarché Wanty Group Matériaux), Tim Naberman (Team DSM), and Thomas Champion (Cofidis).

The two Swiss and the Cofidis rider battled for KOM classification points throughout the stage, until Chapman scored enough points to secure the lead in this competition.

With 42km remaining, the maximum advantage of three minutes had been reduced to 45 seconds, and the breakaway had eased the pace.

Chapman and Debons pressed on, as Thiébaud, Johansen, and Naberman dropped back to the main bunch.

With no more KOM points available on the stage, Chapman and Debons did not fight the inevitable catch at 29km to go.

Ineos Grenadiers continued to lead the race, with overnight leader Hayter in tow, marked by Dennis, Teuns, and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech).

Andre Amador and American Magnus Sheffield (both Ineos Grenadiers) kept the pace high and were joined on the front by Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) in service of teammate American Brandon McNulty.

A massive crash at 14km to go on the wheels of Ion Izaguirre (Cofidis) brought many down, including race leader Hayter.

This split about 50 riders off the front, including the best-placed Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Dennis, who were nearly equal on time after the prologue time trial.

The red-and-black clad British squad lead the race through the successive 6km, until Rémi Cavagna (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) attacked just inside of 8km remaining, exploding the organized chase.

The French time trial champion built a nine-second gap in one kilometer but was not able to hold the main bunch, which reeled him back over the next 4km.

Inside of 2km to go, Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team Emirates, Israel-Premier Tech, and Bahrain Victorious battled for dominance on the front.

The Tokyo Olympic time trial bronze medalist Dennis attacked the race inside of 800m go and looked to have escaped, but for Teuns and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) who appeared to be the only riders interested in chasing.

The final uphill 500m slowed Dennis’ pace, and with the finish line just within his grasp, he faded to the late-charging Teuns, who took the stage win by two-wheel-lengths under the finish line gantry.

Stage 2 Thursday is a 168.2km lumpy route around Échallens, with a category 3 climb midway, which helps to bring the elevation gain to 2,327m.