Teuns defeated Dennis in the last meter, who was the new leader

In intrigue and emotion until the last meter, the Belgian Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) recently won by Fleche Wallonne, the winner Rohan Dennis (Jumbo Visma) in the first stage at the Tour de Romandía line, between La Grande Beroche and Romont, of 178 kms, but the Australian won the light blue jersey award for leader of the race.

Teuns (Diest, 30 years old) caught up with Dennis, who was running away in the last kilometer, and caught up with him on the line, winning in a time of 4: 23.58.

Glory again for the Belgian, who along with the “aussie” cyclist led the Swiss by 2 seconds Marc Hisrschi (UAE Emirates) and the Russian Vlasov and at 4 in a group where the Spaniards were Juan Ayuso, Geraint Thomas and the Colombian from Movistar Einternal Rubio, Among others.

In general sorting, I overtook Dennis, who was ambitious in the last section with an attack that seemed certain until Teuns suddenly appeared. The double world time trial champion inherits the leader’s jersey from the British prologue winner Ethan Hayter (Ineos), victim of the fall that left him with no choices.

Dennis led the Austrian by 16 seconds Felix Grobschartner (Bora) and Geraint Thomas, the occupants of the temporary podium. Juan Ayuso remains in the select group in sixth place, 20 seconds behind the leader.

The first stage on the road was inspired by the escape of a group of five young riders who wanted to be the spotlight, such as Johansen, Champion, Naberman, Debons and Thiebaud. The latter, Swiss time trial champion and sub’23 route. The platoon allowed the rebel quintet to shine, but, to a certain extent, without exceeding the 4-5 minute lead.

The leader’s group then surrounded the adventure until he knocked it down 29 km from the finish line. There were 150 stampedes that finally had no prize. The Ineos dominated the race, setting the pace ahead, while Hayter sailed to the tail of the pack, close to Froomestrange position for a leader.

Perhaps that position resulted in injury to Hayter, who was involved in a pileup 13 km from the finish line with Ion Izagirre and Rigoberto Uran, Among others. The Londoner, lying on the lawn dressed in light blue, was immediately accustomed to the idea that he would never return to the podium.

Ineos continued at its own pace, tightening the pace, with the clear option to put Geraint Thomas as leader, the title defender in this edition. The French champion skipped control Remi Cavagnawith a torn house brand that allows him to open up space, but not take off because it was blocked by the men of Ineos and Jumbo Visma.

In the midst of the chaos, Dennis jumped, unstoppable, at a speed that no one could respond to. Leaving the Australian, he faced with full force the rising profile of the arrival, he went straight into the finish with glory in hand, but before embracing him he saw how Teuns caught up with him on the right.

The winner of the Walloon Fleche ahead Alexander Valverde He added his 14th professional success, including two stages in the Tour de France, and the second in an unforgettable spring.

This Thursday the third stage will take place, starting and ending at Échallens, with a very rough route of 168.2 km. The main difficulty was in the middle of the route, the level of La Praz (3rd, 6.7 km at 4.6 per cent), and 10 from the finish line, a scoring climb that could give the game, Vuarrens ( 4.5 km to 3.7).