Britain's Samuel Watson won Tuesday's opening time-trial prologue at the Tour de Romandie to pull on the leader's yellow jersey, while Belgian favourite Remco Evenepoel finished eighth.

The Ineos rider covered the winding 3.44km course in 4min 33.30sec for his first win of the season, finishing ahead of Portugal’s Ivo Oliveira and Spain’s Iván Romeo.

The 2023 British junior road race champion will wear the yellow jersey on Wednesday for the 194.3km first stage, which finishes in Fribourg. The race concludes in Geneva on Sunday with another time-trial.

Evenepoel started the time-trial with ambition, attacking hard on the pedals to post an encouraging eighth-place finish in 4min 37sec.

Lacking racing after spending the winter on the sidelines, the Soudal Quick-Step rider has made the Tour de France his top goal for the season, having finished on the podium in 2024 behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.

Portugal’s João Almeida of UAE Team Emirates placed ninth, while defending champion Carlos Rodríguez of Ineos was 56th.