Godon lands surprise win in Tour de Romandie prologue as Pogacar falls short

The 2026 Tour de Romandie began with a 3.2km individual test against the clock, which meant the riders had to deliver a short, sharp effort as they battled for the overall lead on day one.

Dorion Godon (Ineos) continued his fine start to 2026, claiming the spoils by six seconds from Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek). Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the last man down the start ramp, came home in fifth, seven seconds down.

The 103 riders began their efforts at one-minute intervals, which meant the early provisional hotseat holders were quickly displaced, with riders including Primoz Roglic (Red Bull) and Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) enjoying brief stints on the top of the leaderboard. The interchange of riders in the hotseat stopped when Godon set a strong time of 3:35 and held a provisional advantage of six seconds.

Nobody would close to challenging Godon, who was sitting comfortably in the hot seat, and a few spots of rain were visible, though it largely held off until after Pogacar’s closing effort.

Some GC contenders expected to compete for the podium places were well-positioned after crossing the line, including the aforementioned Roglic, who was nine seconds down, with his Red Bull teammate Florian Lipowitz just a further second back. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) lost 17 seconds to Godon. 

As the afternoon progressed, it became clear that only Pogacar might be able to trouble Godon, but the world champion had to settle for fifth place on the day. 

Stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie on Tuesday includes a category 1 ascent, with the summit coming 40km from the finish in Martigny.