Maikel Zijlaard has become the first man to take the leaders jersey at the 2024 Tour de Romandie after a very impressive performance in the opening prologue.
The first rider to set a real marker time down was Tudor Pro Cycling Team's Maikel Zijlaard, the Swiss setting a time of 2:55 for the twisty and technical 2.2km course. Notably, Zijlaard had opted to use a road bike rather than a time-trial bike for his effort.
Elsewhere, most of the notable names such as Juan Ayuso (3:01), Lenny Martinez (3:01), Enric Mas (3:00), Aleksandr Vlasov (3:02) and Jan Tratnik (3:01) were all quite tightly packed together in the overall standings, given the short, sharp nature of the course.
Although very few seconds differentiated almost the entire race, Zijlaard still held a comparatively massive gap at the top. The first rider to even go close, was Julian Alaphilippe, clocking a time of 2:57.
Former Tour de Romandie prologue winner Ethan Hayter started his efforts brightly, but the INEOS Grenadiers man pushed it too hard on one corner and with so little room for mistake, was immediately ruled out of stage winning contention.
As rider after riding came towards the finish, Zijlaard's time began to look more and more impressive. Cameron Scott though, looked like he might finally unseat the Swiss before narrowly missing out by around a second. Last down the ramp was Brandon McNulty but the American time-trial champion couldn't pull off the win.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
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