For the second time in less than a month, Tom Dumoulin finished second behind world champion Tony Martin in a time trial when the Tour de Suisse kicked off earlier today. Despite being left with mixed emotions, the Dutchman is pleased to constanly getting closer to the world champion.

Tom Dumoulin has once again finished runner-up to the world time trial champion, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma – Quickstep) but he is rapidly closing the gap, today finishing just six seconds off the German.

Dumoulin raced around the technical course in a time of 13’54″ averaging just 0.3km/h slower than the stage winner, and as a result Tom now leads the young rider’s classification.

Georg Preidler also rode a strong and controlled effort to finish in 15th position, making the most of his good form after the Giro d’Italia.

Dumoulin's result is once again testament to the overall plan and hard work put in to develop and optimise how he prepares for and rides a time trial. Many hours are spent developing his position and training with the team’s experts and coaches, and fine tuning his bike so that he can be at his best for the big occasions.

Unfortunately Warren Barguil did not fare so well and the team will go back tonight and asses the plan for the coming days.

“It was a real adrenaline rush out there today and it was pretty technical and testing at points,” said Dumoulin after the stage. “It started with a flat section and some technical corners before leading into a tough climb, but you really had to climb well here not to lose time. Off the back of this there was a twisty descent to get through which pushed me to the limit but I enjoyed it.

“Finishing second gives me mixed feelings, I am racking up the second places again but I am pretty happy with the result and I have age on my side. I am really pleased with the way we are working at the moment. I have found the ideal position on my Giant Trinity bike and love how fast it feels. Now I can just develop on continuing to improve my power which at the moment is going up nicely.”

Team Giant-Shimano coach Marc Reef said after the stage: “Tom was really strong out there today to take second and once again showed the power he possesses at still a young age. He is getting closer and closer to Martin and to his first WorldTour win.

“Georg also rode a very strong and impressive race showing he has recovered well from the Giro, and Lawson was also up in the top 30 too against a very strong field.”