Australia's Robbie McEwen showed he has recovered from a broken rib by winning stage one of the Tour de Romandie around the Swiss town of Payerne.

The Davitamon-Lotto rider from Brisbane beat Mirco Lorenzetto and Daniele Bennati of Italy in a sprint finish at the end of the rain-soaked 169km stage.

It was his first race for more than a month.

Italy's Paolo Savoldelli, winner of Tuesday's prologue, finished in the same time as McEwen to retain the overall lead.

"I've hardly raced in April because I broke a rib in a crash in Belgium but this win shows I'm back on form," McEwen said.

"I have to thank my Davitamon team mates because they controlled the peloton all day and helped me stay near the front in the wet conditions at the finish.

"Before the start of the stage I carefully studied the finish so that I'd know what to expect and be ready for the final sprint."

It was McEwen's fifth win of the 2006 season and put him back on track for the Giro d'Italia that starts on May 6.

"I had two objectives at the Tour de Romandie: win this stage and work on my fitness for the Giro," McEwen said.

"There aren't a lot of stages for sprinters in this year's Giro but I want to win at least one. The opening stages are in Belgium and so that's extra motivation for our team.

"Alessandro Petacchi will be my big rival in the Giro sprint but I managed to beat him last year and I'm confident I can do it again."

After the opening prologue time trial in Geneva, the first road stage covered three loops around Payerne.

The only serious breakaway of the stage was a solo attack by Russia's Dimitri Konychev. The 40-year-old LPR rider went clear after 26km but was caught 20km from the finish because of the hard work done by McEwen's Davitamon team.

The 171km second stage starts and ends in Porrentruy with the Tour de Romandie finishing in Lausanne on Sunday.

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