Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) took the overall lead with a second day of podium finishes at the Tour de Romandie. However, even with the leader's jersey on his back, the Australian is not one of the favorites considering the uphill climb that awaits him.

It was no surprise that the current Australian time trial champion was near the top of the results board after the 5.12km prologue, but when the 31-year-old burst out of the field 1km from the finish of stage 1, it was a bit unexpected

His acceleration quickly widened the gap, and it looked as if Dennis would take both the race leader and the stage win. However, Dylan Theunce (Bahrain Victorious) then set a furious pace to close the gap to Dennis just before the finish line.

"I gave it my all, but I came up empty in the last 100 meters," Dennis said after the stage. "At first I was following Brandon McNulty's fast-paced acceleration. It hurt, but I knew I could go faster. I wanted to make the gap and at least make it to the podium. If it had been a few meters shorter I might have won, but I'm happy with the result."

Dennis' second place in the first stage of the six-day Tour of Romandie not only made him the almost inevitable race leader after prologue winner Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) was involved in a crash with around 15km to go, but also gave him a He also managed to gain a few seconds on his rivals in the overall fight.

Dennis gained a 6-second time bonus and finished 4 seconds ahead of the peloton, then 16 seconds ahead of his closest rivals, Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) and 2021 winner Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). The team's first win of the season came in the final race of the season. Jumbo Visma's attack highlighted that his powerful form, which he showed in the race against the clock, also worked to his advantage on the climb.

Nevertheless, the GC gap is still small, with 18 riders within 30 seconds of Dennis and the top 45 within a minute, and the stages with potentially huge time gaps and time losses that could transform the GC ranking are yet to come.

In particular, Saturday's queen stage, with over 4,000m of climbing and a summit finish, could give the pure climbers an advantage over Dennis.

"I think I'll need to lose a little weight off the rear end to make the same climb as the other smaller guys on Saturday. 'Every day I want to run as hard as I can to the finish line and see how GC goes. But after today and yesterday, I'm not saying I'm one of the favorites to win."

Still, the two-time World Time Trial Champion rainbow belt rider has shown tremendous staying power in the mountains, especially as he played a key role in Tao Geoghegan Hart's victory at the 2020 Giro d'Italia. In addition, since arriving in Jumbo Visma this season, he has placed a greater emphasis on climbing.

"My preparation has changed a bit," he said. I've become more focused on being a big help in the Tour de France." It's important for my teammates Primoš Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard to be strong in the high mountains in July, not to mention the time trial."