He took over the yellow jersey, which he will wear on tomorrow's stage, from his team-mate Cerny, who is now in second place behind Vernon. Ten bonus seconds for the win made up for his deficit from the prologue. Second place went to 20-year-old U23 cross world champion Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo), third Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstny).
Many sprinters left behind early
However, many big sprinter names who were actually expected to be further up the field no longer had the chance to intervene in the final. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech), Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team), who later abandoned the race, and Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) were left behind on the hardest climbs in the middle of the stage along with numerous other riders. It was quite surprising that the mountains were so selective. But this was also due to the high pace of Ineos Grenadiers in this phase of the race.
The team rode with plenty of speed on the climbs for its sprinter, the mountain-hardy Ethan Hayter, and thus shook off some of the Brit's competition. However, the 24-year-old lacked the legs in the finale to hold on in the sprint.
Favourite for the overall standings Yates drops out
His compatriot and namesake Vernon, who took his seventh career victory and fourth of the season, was a completely different story. "We didn't know how hard the climb would be, but today I had the legs to climb with the big boys from Ineos. I survived it, others didn't, and we benefited from that at the finish."
While Vernon took not only the yellow jersey but also the top spot in the points classification and defended his lead in the young rider classification, things didn't go so well for other candidates for the overall classification. One of the top favourites to win the stage race, Simon Yates (Team Jayco-AlUla) had to retire with stomach pains. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) did not even start after a positive corona test.
The German riders were unable to make their mark during the stage. Nikias Arndt (Bahrain-Victorious) finished eleventh with the leading group, while the previous day's fourth-placed Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished 14th.
Tour de Romandie: Stage 1 results
- Ethan Vernon (Soudal - Quick Step) 4:05:34
- Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo) + 0:00
- Milan Menten (Lotto Dstny) + 0:00
- Romain Bardet (Team DSM) + 0:00
- Jacopo Mosca (Trek-Segafredo) + 0:00
- Nick Schultz (Israel-Premier Tech) +0:00
- Lilian Calmejane (Intermache-Circus-Wanty) +0:00
- Clement Venturini (AG2R Citroen Team) +0:00
- Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) +0:00
- Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
