Tour de Romandie 2019 – Prologue Preview

By David Hunter

Neuchâtel 4km ITT

The race begins with an interesting prologue around the streets of Neuchâtel.

The climb is 600m at 4%, nothing that will worry any of the riders. The route has a number of corners that have to be negotiated, meaning bike handling skills will be important. It also looks like part of the route is on cobbles, something that makes this different from most prologues.

Weather

There could be a shower in the morning, but the sun is expected to dry the roads before the first rider rolls down the start ramp.

Contenders

Victor Campenaerts – after smashing the hour record, you must expect that he took a little time off training. The Belgian did a remarkable ride in Tirreno, easily winning the final stage ITT, but I have my doubts about this one. After such a huge effort, I’m not sure how strong he’ll be just now.

Stefan Küng – a former individual pursuit world champion. Now riding for FDJ, he already has a TT win to his name this season, back in the Algarve. The distance is good for him and he’ll have the extra motivation of trying to win on home soil, never underestimate that factor.

Paddy Bevin – the Kiwi TT champion will be looking forward to this one. To win this stage you need to be fast at accelerating out of corners, something he is. Bevin has been very close to taking his first ITT win at this level, I expect him to win one soon.

Primož Roglič – maybe a little short for him, especially as he won’t be taking any risks in the corners. With the Giro fast approaching, there is no way Roglič can afford to crash. He should still be challenging for the top 10, but I don’t see him winning this one.

Will Clarke – I think this is the first time he’s ever made this section. The Aussie is a very strong prologue rider, he finished 7th here last year. Over his career he’s managed to win four prologues, which is an impressive haul. He should be targeting a fast ride and a place on the podium.

Tom Bohli – just fell short of taking a huge win here last year. No longer riding a BMC bike will make it tough for him to repeat this performance, but he should be targeting to the top 10.

Filippo Ganna – the current individual pursuit world champion; you can bet he’s looking forward to this one. The Italian started his Sky career off in style, winning the ITT in Provence. He followed that up with 10th place in the Tirreno ITT, a result that was a little disappointing. The distance of this prologue is perfect for him, he really is the fastest man in the world over 4km!

Geraint Thomas – former team pursuit world champion, he’s another who’ll be looking forward to this. A strong start will help his GC hopes, and give him some confidence after a tough start to 2019.

Remco Evenepoel – his first pro win is going to happen soon, why not here? A brilliant TT rider, he can punch up the little hill and seems to have no fear; he ticks a lot of boxes for this prologue.

Prediction Time

Despite the rolling nature of the course, this is one for the track riders. I’ll go with Filippo Ganna, he isn’t the pursuit world champion for nothing.

*Overall preview

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David Hunter

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