Fabian Cancellara attacked the short 5.1-kilometer prologue at the Tour de Suisse as best he could after battling a throat infection and a round of antibiotics a few days prior to the start of the WorldTour 10-day race.

Starting towards the end of 152 riders lining up at this year’s race, Cancellara began conservatively and was four seconds slower at the intermediate split time around mid-point. 

He picked up the pace in the second half and blasted across the line to the roar of the Swiss fans with the quickest time (5:43.18 and 53.528km/h) two seconds ahead of Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling).

“I missed a bit in the beginning because I knew it was short but very hard,” explained Cancellara. “I had to calculate my power to not go too hard in the beginning as I knew then it could end even earlier.  But there was not enough there – I missed [power].

“I don’t like to blame or bluff but somewhere there’s always an excuse, and the excuse is not having enough power and this is the result of what happened this week. I think I did nothing wrong – I just did what I could do with what I had. But this is sport: you win, you lose, and what you have or had does not matter, in the end it’s the result.

And the result was close: Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) outpaced Cancellara by 1.8 seconds to snag the first win of the 2015 Tour de Suisse, stopping the clock in 5:41.

“It’s hard to describe my first impression after that effort,” responded Cancellara. “I have been battling a few days now, suffering from health issues, and these efforts are so hard, especially when you have not been training for a few days.  I think I did not have the power I was expecting to have, but that’s normal because I lost energy, muscle tension, and this is what I did not have.

“In one way it’s disappointment, and in the other way I just have to accept it and live with that.  I accept it, but I missed another occasion to have another win.”

Fabian Cancellara will sport the jersey as best Swiss rider in tomorrow’s first road stage, a hilly race of 161 kilometers.

Bob Jungels put in a notable time trial, finishing seven seconds from Cancellara’s time to finish in 15th place.