This year's edition of the Tour de Romandie started with a short prologue of just 3.44 kilometres. With an elevation gain of around 40 metres, the course offered hardly any topographical difficulties, but there were a few bends and technical hurdles on the route around the municipality of St.-Imier. In the end, Samuel Watson mastered the course the best (INEOS Grenadiers)who finished with a time of 4:33 minutes. His average speed was 45.64 km/h. Ivo Oliveira was only two tenths slower (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)who had been in the lead for a long time. Third place went to the Spaniard Ivan Romeo (Team Movistar, 4:36 minutes).
Küng and Bissegger miss out on victory
However, there was no opening victory for a Swiss rider: The two specialists Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 4:36 minutes) and Stefan Küng (Groupama - FDJ, 4:37 minutes) as national champion finished in fourth and sixth place.
However, the short route naturally did not result in any large gaps. Accordingly, the potential favourites for overall victory in the Tour de Romandie remained within a few seconds of each other. Time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel achieved the best time (Soudal Quick-Step) with 4:37 minutes. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates - XRG, 4:38 minutes) was one second slower. Alexander Vlasov (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) finished with a time of 4:40 minutes.
The best German rider was Henri Uhlig (Alpecin - Deceuninck) in 55th place (+0:14 minutes). Lennard Kämna (Lidl - Trek, +0:23) finished 111th, Emanuel Buchmann (Cofidis) 115th (+0:24).
Tour de Romandie 2025 - Prologue results
Prologue: Saint-Imier - Saint-Imier
Tour de Romandie 2025: Prologue, Saint-Imier - Saint-Imier
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | INEOS Grenadiers | 00:04:33 |
| 2 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | Movistar Team | +00:00:03 |
| 4 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | +00:00:03 |
| 5 | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | +00:00:03 |
| 6 | Groupama - FDJ | +00:00:04 |
This is how the prologue of the Tour de Romandie 2025 went
Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) was the first rider to open this year's stage race at 15:13. The first notable best time was set shortly afterwards by the current U23 time trial world champion Ivan Romeo with 4:36 minutes, which held for some time afterwards. Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), last year's prologue winner at the Romandie, missed the best time by a few tenths.
It was Ivo Oliveira, the 52nd starter, who replaced Romeo in the top position with a time of 4:33 minutes. Stefan Bissegger (4:36 minutes) was also unable to match his time. And even for Remco Evenepoel and the Swiss time trial champion Stefan Küng, the course did not prove to be long enough to bring their qualities to the road - both finished with a time of 4:37 minutes.
But in the end it wasn't enough for Oliveira to win the stage: Samuel Watson (INEOS Grenadiers) was 0.28 seconds faster than the Portuguese rider and took not only the stage win but also the first leader's jersey of the tour.
