Romont (dpa) – The German road bike champion Maximilian Schachmann fell out of the top ten at the Tour de Romandie.
The 28-year-old Berliner reached the finish on the first stage over 178 kilometers from La Grande Beroche to Romont, more than four minutes behind the Belgian winner of the day, Dylan Teuns. New overall first is former world time trial champion Rohan Dennis from Australia, who finished second on the day. British prologue winner Ethan Hayter had to relinquish the overall lead after a mass crash in the field.
Schachmann had recently paused for two months due to a corona disease and an infection. The second stage of the six-day WorldTour race will cover 168.2 kilometers around Echallens on Thursday. The race, which Andreas Klöden was the only German to win in 2008, ends on Sunday in Villars.