French rider Romain Gregoire clinched the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday thanks to a late solo breakaway.
Gregoire edged countryman Kevin Vauquelin in second place by 20sec, with Dutch rider Bart Lemmen in third.
Pre-race contender Ben O'Connor was fifth, 1min 7sec behind, after a hilly 129.4km ride which started and ended in the town of Kuessnacht.
Gregoire, 22, powered to his first major victory of the season by splitting from the breakaway in rain-sodden conditions in the final descent in central Switzerland.
What a brave ride from Romain Gregoire to seal victory at stage 1 of Tour de Suisse 2025👏
— Tour de Suisse (@tds) June 15, 2025
.#tds2025 #tourdesuisse @GroupamaFDJ pic.twitter.com/SFwwcrU1aq
"It's really special to win at World Tour level," he said
"I made the difference in the technical part of the race. I'm happy."
Monday's second stage of eight is a 177km ride between Aarau and Schwarzsee with three testing climbs.
The Tour of Switzerland is the final leading stage race before the start of the Tour de France on July 5.