Rohan Dennis, who led the race for four of the six days of the Tour of Romandie, was forced to relinquish the turquoise jersey in Sunday's final stage mountain time trial, 15.8km to Villars, two minutes behind eventual winner Alexandre Vlasov He was two minutes behind the final winner, Alexandre Vlasov, at 15.8 km to Villars. [At the 8.5km checkpoint, he finished 18 seconds behind Vlasov.

Denis, who finished eighth overall in Romandie, his third stage race in Jumbo-Visma, said afterwards that fighting for time every day throughout the race took its toll.

"I was really exhausted. I had nothing left in the final climb, I just had to fight."

"This past week was haunted by the fact that we had been fighting every day. I want to thank them for all their hard work

"I am very happy to be running as a team leader. They gave me all the respect possible. I am grateful to Jumbo Bisma."

Dennis was joined in Switzerland by Steven Kruijswijk, Robert Gesink, and Sepp Kuss, who would have a rare chance to lead the team in a stage race, given the ambitions of team leaders Primos Roglic and Jonas Vingegård.

Denis, a double world time trial champion who moved from Ineos Grenadiers to the Dutch team in the winter, said that despite the disappointing results, the week was a chance to test himself in preparation for future challenges working under Roglic and Wingegaard He said it was a chance to test himself for future challenges working with Roglic and Vingegaard.

Denis will be at the Tour de France this July, trying to once again unseat two-time winner Tadej Pogachar.

"I will never be GC leader in a Grand Tour," Dennis said. 'Maybe I fought too hard in the first few days to gain a little time in the mountains in the last few days.'

"In the end, it was a good test to see what Primoz and Vingegaard can do in the high mountains of the Tour and other Grand Tours."