Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale 1-2 on stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie

A double blow for Dorian Godon, winner of the 1st stage ahead of Andrea Vendrame, and new leader of the Tour de Romandie

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team's Dorian Godon has sprinted to victory on stage 1 of the 2024 Tour de Romandie ahead of teammate Andrea Vendrame to continue the team's incredibly successful start to the season.

After an initial fight in the early part of the day, a very strong six-man breakaway eventually formed. Included in the lead group were notable names such as Fausto Masnada (Soudal - Quick-Step), Patrick Gamper (BORA - hansgrohe), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché - Wanty), Juri Hollmann (Alpecin - Deceuninck), Raúl García Pierna (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) and Joey Rosskopf (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team).

With 76km still to go, prologue winner and general classification leader, Maikel Zijlaard was worryingly dangling out the back of the peloton, seemingly in trouble and at risk of being dropped completely from the bunch.

As the final lap of the 40km-ish course began, the leaders still held just over two minutes advantage over a peloton that was yet to fully open up the chase. As the trio of Richard Carapaz, Jan Christen and David Gaudu attacked the bunch on a little rise though, that gap was dented largely. Although the trio were caught, the upping of pace had seen the number of riders left in the peloton dwindle dramatically.

With the break within sight at just under 10km to go, Julian Alaphilippe attacked from the peloton. Although he bridged the gap to the break, the bunch were not letting the Frenchman go any further. In the end, all the attack did was bring things all back together at the front.

Despite more attacks coming in the final kilometres, including from notable names such as Andreas Kron and Jan Tratnik, a group of around 50 riders came together into the finale for a sprint finish. In the rush for the line, it was Dorian Godon who opened things up and no one could come around the Frenchman with his teammate, Andrea Vendrame giving a one-two finish.

Dorian Godon said afterwards,"The whole team did a great job like it has done since the beginning of the season. Jaakko Hänninen rode in the final to catch up with the breakaways. At the top of the last climb, I was left behind but Jordan Labrosse and Bruno Armirail brought me back to the peloton with 3 km to go, then Nicolas Prodhomme, who is a climber, gave me the perfect start to the sprint. In the end, we did the double with Andrea Vendrame and I took the leader's jersey, which was really pleasing. It's my first WorldTour win. I've been patient so far and I've been rewarded today. The yellow jersey? That's a bonus."

VIDEO: 2024 Tour de Romandie Stage 1 Highlights

2024 Tour de Romandie Stage 1 Top 10

1  GODON Dorian Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 3:49:58
2  VENDRAME Andrea Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 0:00
3  VERMEERSCH Gianni Alpecin - Deceuninck 0:00
4  MENTEN Milan Lotto Dstny 0:00
5  ASGREEN Kasper Soudal Quick-Step 0:00
6  GOVEKAR Matevž Bahrain - Victorious 0:00
7  ARANBURU Alex Movistar Team 0:00
8  VENTURINI Clément Arkéa - B&B Hotels 0:00
9  GRUEL Thibaud Groupama - FDJ 0:00
10  GOOSSENS Kobe Intermarché - Wanty 0:00

2024 Tour de Romandie GC after Stage 1

1  GODON Dorian Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 3:52:46
2  VERMEERSCH Gianni Alpecin - Deceuninck 0:06
3  ALAPHILIPPE Julian Soudal Quick-Step 0:09
4  VAN DIJKE Tim Team Visma | Lease a Bike 0:10
5  ARANBURU Alex Movistar Team 0:11
6  AEBI Antoine Swiss Cycling ,,
7  CHRISTEN Jan UAE Team Emirates ,,
8  VAN WILDER Ilan Soudal Quick-Step ,,
9  VENDRAME Andrea Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 0:12
10  GOVEKAR Matevž Bahrain - Victorious ,,