Quintana, who triumphed at the Volta a Catalunya earlier in the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour season, made the decisive move 174 kilometres through the climber-friendly route from Moudon to Morgins.

With around seven kilometres to the finish, the Movistar rider opted to attack his main rivals for the overall victory and proved able to jump clear as the field approached the top of the Pas de Morgins climb.

Zakarin, the defending Tour de Romandie champion, eventually succeeded in chasing down the Colombian star as they entered the final five kilometres.

In the closing kilometre of the stage, Quintana looked to shake off the challenge of the Katusha rider when opening up the sprint.

The Russian, who served a two-year doping ban between 2009 and 2011, eventually prevailed on the flat section of the course to claim the victory in a time of 4hours 28min and 40sec.

However, the race jury deemed that the Zakarin had been guilty of an irregular sprint by moving to the right, with Quintana having raised his hands in protest prior to the finish.

Zakarin was relegated to second position on the stage, leaving Quintana to celebrate the stage win.

With the pair ending 26 seconds clear of the chasing pack, which was led home by Portugal’s Rui Costa, the Colombian also moved into the overall race lead.

Quintana lies 18 seconds ahead of Zakarin, while the overnight leader Jon Izaguirre of Spain has dropped to third place, a further two seconds back.

Having won the prologue, Izaguirre will get another opportunity to showcase his abilities against the clock tomorrow, with the riders due to tackle a 15km individual time trial in Sion.