Chris Froome (Team Sky) was one of first high-profile riders to suggest that this year's Tour de Romandie could provide a different sort of winner, and the opening prologue in Aigle on Tuesday provided evidence to substantiate the Tour de France winner's theory.
Step forward Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), a rider who was virtually unheard of two years ago but has already built a reputation as a reliable one-week stage racer.
The Slovenian came into this year's Tour de Romandie with little hype around his name, but a win in the Vuelta ao Algarve and top-fives in both Tirreno-Adriatico and Pais Vasco have highlighted his continued progress.
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On a 4.8-kilometre course through the UCI heartlands in Aigle, Roglic was the best of the potential GC contenders, finishing in sixth, six seconds down on stage winner Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo). However, he put 23 seconds into Richie Porte (BMC Racing), 20 into Froome and 33 into Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin). Of the other GC contenders, only Jon Izaguirre (Bahrain-Merida) and Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) were able to finish within a handful of seconds of the LottoNL-Jumbo rider.
"I've done my job because I've gone as fast as I possibly could. I have some vital seconds and every one of those count. It's going to be a fight each and every day from now on," Roglic told Cyclingnews after his ride in the wet conditions.
"I didn't really take any risks. I actually slipped straight after the starting gate and almost came down on my knee. My back wheel went a little. It was just a little slip, but I was careful."
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