The Tour de Romandie kicked off on Tuesday with a simple 2.5 mile time trial and eight Americans in the field. Originally that was to include Alex Howes, top American in two of the last three UCI World Tour events, but he did not start the race while Nathan Brown did.

The top American on Tuesday was Tejay Van Garderen, racing on the tour in the first time in almost a month, who finished ninth. Two other Americans were in the top 50: Brent Bookwalter in 26th and Joe Dombrowski in 42nd. The three are 11 seconds, 18 seconds, and 23 seconds behind the leader.

The Tour de Romandie continues with a 103.7 mile flat stage on Wednesday.

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