Castroviejo delighted with maiden win

Hero of the day Jonathan Castroviejo did not hide his joy at taking out today's Romandie prologue when speaking to the press after the race. The victory was his first as a pro (if you discount his wins with Orbea two years ago), and the fact that tomorrow is his birthday only made the big day even bigger. "I'm really happy. Tomorrow's my birthday as well (he'll turn 24), so we will have two things to celebrate", he told the team's own website. "Until today I've always tried to do my best in the time trials, to finish high up the rankings. But after this I'll start the time trials to win; my mentality has changed. I've always done well in this discipline, but there's a big difference in doing well and winning the prologue in a race like Romandie." The Getxo native went on to reveal he actually crashed prior to the race when making his way to the start ramp. The former Orbea rider bumped into another team's mechanic and hit the deck as a result. But rather than putting him off, the scare spurred him on to go all out on the twisty and technical 3,5km course and eventually taking the win by the slimmest of margins over the phenomenon that is Taylor Phinney. "With it's tricky bends it was a time trial for specialist, but the race was won on the straights. I gave it my all and it turned out great. Now I'll go and enjoy this win with my team-mates".

Castroviejo wasn't the only one with a reason to be happy today. Gorka Verdugo once again showed his ability in the discipline by taking an excellent 11th just three seconds down. Not only was it a good ride, his split-times were also useful for his team-mate starting later in the day. Isasi was solid in 31st at 9, while Martínez ended up 11 seconds down, A Pérez 12, Velasco 19, Txurruka 21 and Fernández, who probably took it easy to avoid ending up on the tarmac once again, finished up 23 seconds adrift.