After missing the race last year, Matthias Brändle reclaimed his title as Austrian time trial champion as he rode to a clear win in today's 22km test in Wallersee. The IAM rider was a massive 42 seconds faster than Clemens Fankhauser (Tirol) and 1.05 faster than former champion Riccardo Zoidl (Trek).

In the last few years, Matthias Brändle has been the dominant Austrian time triallist, winning his national title in 2009, 2013 and 2014. However, he missed last year's race and saw Georg Preidler (Giant-Alpecin) take over his crown.

Today he lined up for the 2016 edition of the event as the red-hot favourite to return to the top step of the podium. He didn't disappoint as he covered the 22km course in Wallersee in the fastest time of 27.53.

Unfortunately, we never got to see the anticipated battle between Preidler and Brändle. Starting as the defending champion, Preidler was the final rider to hit the course and that turned out to be costly. A thunderstorm made it impossible for him to finish the race and so he was unable to defend his title.

Instead, Clemens Fankhauser turned out to be Brändle's biggest rival but the continental rider was no real threat, losing a massive 42 seconds over the relatively short distance. 2012 champion Riccardo Zoidl was 23 seconds further adrift in third.