Illness forced Diego Ulissi to end a very successful Giro d'Italia prematurely but after a short recovery the Italian is back in competition in this week's Tour de Slovenie. He got his race off to a great start by finishing third in the opening time trial that also marked the comeback for his teammate Chris Horner.

With two stage wins Diego Ulissi dominated the early part of the Giro d'Italia but a few days after he had done a surprisingly good time trial, illness forced him out of the race. Since then he has been preparing specifically for his next big goal: the Italian championships.

Ulissi will use this week's Tour de Slovenie to get back up to racing speed and today he proved that he is fully ready to challenge for the tricolour jersey at the end of the month. The Italian finished third in the opening 8.8km time trial, a result that confirmed his good feelings from his training.

"I am very happy with my performance which confirms the good information I and my coach Michele Bartoli have gathered in my recent training," he said. "I studied the course with my sports directors Marzano and Righi and then just gave it my all, counting on high-quality material. I am glad to see my name up there in the standings with the best specialists in the discipline."

For his teammate Chris Horner, the race marks his return to competition after his bad crash earlier this year. The American will use the race to find out whether he is ready to do the Tour de France but has a slow start, finishing 68th at 43 seconds.

"I was very pleased to taste competition again," he said. "It was extraordinary to feel the atmosphere of preparing for a race. I had a good feedback from my body. I need to improve my stamina but I know I will get better day by day."