DISCUSSION | Tour de Romandie Prologue - Pogacar’s new bike, rain hit the late starters, watch out for Godon ahead of the Tour de France

The Tour de Romandie got underway in explosive fashion on Tuesday, with Dorian Godon powering to victory in the opening prologue at Villars-sur-Glâne. The French rider delivered a commanding performance over the short individual test, finishing ahead of Ivo Oliveira and Jakob Soderqvist.

One of the headline names before the start was Tadej Pogacar, widely considered the main contender for overall success this week. The Slovenian could not match the fastest specialists on the day, but his sixth-place finish ensured he emerged as the best-placed general classification rider.

The race opened with a 3.2 kilometre prologue, a brief but demanding effort against the clock. Riders began on a largely downhill opening section before tackling a final 1.1 kilometre rise averaging around five percent. While the course was not highly technical, several roundabouts required careful bike handling and clean acceleration.

Such a route rewarded explosive power, pacing judgement and the ability to produce one final effort on the uphill finish.

Primoz Roglic was among the early starters and immediately laid down a serious benchmark. The experienced time trial specialist briefly held the fastest time after a sharp opening ride, suggesting the best riders would need something special to beat him.

That challenge arrived quickly through Ivo Oliveira. The Portuguese rider produced a smoother and faster run, stopping the clock more than two seconds quicker than Roglic. His time of 3 minutes and 41 seconds looked strong enough to remain competitive deep into the afternoon.

Oliveira’s stay in the leader’s seat proved short-lived. Godon stormed through the course with exceptional speed and carried momentum perfectly into the uphill finale. The INEOS rider crossed the line six seconds faster than Oliveira, a sizeable margin on such a short parcours.

From that moment onward, the benchmark became extremely difficult to reach. Several notable contenders came close but none truly threatened the Frenchman’s supremacy. Florian Lipowitz posted a solid ride to move into the top positions, though still more than a second behind Roglic at that point.

All eyes then turned to the final starter, Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian arrived in Romandie seeking another stage-race title to add to his already glittering palmarès, and many expected him to make an immediate statement.

He produced a strong effort, particularly on the uphill run to the line, but could not overturn Godon’s advantage. Pogacar finished sixth, seven seconds down on the stage winner.

Even so, the result leaves the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader in an excellent position. With larger time gaps likely to emerge in the mountain stages later this week, limiting losses in the prologue could prove valuable.

Godon takes the first leader’s jersey and an early morale boost, while Pogacar has already gained ground on several overall rivals. Roglic also showed sharp form from the outset, underlining that the battle for the overall classification may be intense from the opening kilometres.

For now, though, the spotlight belongs to Godon, whose blend of raw power and precision earned him the first triumph of this year’s Romandie campaign.

INEOS Grenadiers kept up the momentum they have shown since the start of 2026 and once again proved their strength against the clock. Every time we have had an individual time trial this season, it has usually turned into a battle between two teams for the win: Lidl-Trek and INEOS. Today we did not get that direct duel, but we did see Dorian Godon take another victory for the British squad.

I expected Godon to deliver a very strong time trial, but I did not have him down as my first pick for the win. My choice was Ivo Oliveira. He is a rider perfectly suited to this kind of effort and showed it once again, finishing second, just six seconds behind Godon.

Tadej Pogacar also made his debut on his new time trial bike, although he probably did not get the most out of it today. Light rain began to fall, which meant some of the last riders to start chose to do their effort on a standard road bike instead. That likely affected the Slovenian’s performance, but it will not keep him awake tonight.

Now the question is whether Roglic, Lipowitz, Lenny Martinez and the rest of the contenders have any plans up their sleeve starting tomorrow.

It was an interestingly designed prologue, downhill at first and finishing with a climb. Hence it was not one for any specific rider, but always one for those with the raw watts, who can do those short 1:30 minute uphill efforts.

Without the big gradients Tadej Pogacar couldn't make the difference, whilst he hasn't often also had great climbing performances on his time trial bikes I must say. Not the best advertising on a day where he debuted a new time trial bike which is said to shave off over 500 grams.

Dorian Godon's win is slightly surprising as I didn't see him as a specialist in a prologue, but shows just how strong he has been this spring, not just being able to sprint very well but legitimately being a world-class puncheur.

For the Tour de France, this man will be very interesting, as he continues to pile on World Tour wins. Pogacar on the other hand won't be too concerned with this, as he was still the best GC rider, and tomorrow he should already jump into the race lead under regular conditions.

The prologue of 2026 Tour de Romandie sends a fairly clear message beyond Dorian Godon’s time. His victory is no fluke. On such a short course, with that 7% gradient finish, it is not just the strongest rider who wins, but the one who manages their effort best.

Godon rode a perfect time trial, particularly on the final climb, where he made a real difference. It is the typical prologue that rewards explosive riders with good technique, and in that respect he was a step ahead of everyone else.

As for the general classification, the big name is Tadej Pogacar. He didn’t win, but he comes out stronger. Matching Mauro Schmid and gaining time on almost all his direct rivals over just 3 km is a serious warning. In this type of race, small differences like those later carry a lot of weight in the mountains.

Primoz Roglic also delivered, but without that extra edge. He’s there, but he doesn’t dominate. And that, given Pogacar’s level, leaves him in a somewhat uncomfortable position right from the start.

Behind them, riders like Florian Lipowitz, Carlos Rodríguez and Antonio Tiberi did just enough to avoid being penalised, which in a prologue like this is already significant. They didn’t lose the race, but they didn’t win it here either.

The most worrying case is that of Oscar Onley. Losing so much time in such a short effort isn’t just a bad time trial, it’s a sign that something hasn’t gone right. And in a stage race as short as this one, starting like this forces you to race on the back foot.

The conclusion is clear. It doesn’t decide anything yet, but it does set the tone. Pogacar emerges as the benchmark, Roglic has to step it up a gear, and the rest are now forced to attack if they want to change the course of the race.