Marco Pinotti won the opening prologue of the 2010 Tour of Romandie in Switzerland on Tuesday.
The Italian HTC-Columbia rider set the unbeatable time of five minutes and 17 seconds over the 4.3 kilometre course in Porrentruy.
Young Slovakian talent Peter Sagan (Liquigas) scooped second place, one second adrift of Pinotti, with Frenchman Jeremy Roy (Francaise des Jeux) in third. Double Paris-Nice stage winner Sagan now looks to be the big threat to snatch the overall lead from Pinotti.
Britain's Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) won the Romandie prologue in 2008, and although he couldn't match his performance from two years ago, the Manx sprint ace put in another strong ride to place 18th, just nine seconds behind team-mate Pinotti.
Team Sky Briton Chris Froome was less fortunate, he crashed heavily on his way into the finish and his participation in tomorrow's opening road stage has been thrown into doubt. Froome is one of Sky's key Giro d'Italia riders, and a serious injury at this stage would be a blow to the British team.
The six-day ProTour-ranked Tour de Romandie concludes on Sunday, May 2.
RESULTS
Tour de Romandie 2010: Prologue
1. Marco Pinotti (Ita) HTC-Columbia 4.3km in 5-17
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2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Doimo at 1sec
3. Jeremy Roy (Fra) Francaise des Jeux at 4secs
4. Michael Rogers (Aus) HTC-Columbia
5. Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank at 5secs
6. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne at 6secs
7. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Sky at 6secs
8. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo at 7secs
9. Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne at 7secs
10. Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) RadioShack at 7secs
British
18. Mark Cavendish (GB) HTC-Columbia at 9secs
Mark Cavendish came home in 18th place
Chris Froome crashes on the final bend. He got up and finished the stage, but his continued participation has been thrown into doubt
Related links
Chris Froome targetted by environmental group for littering
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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