Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) surprised himself when he won today’s short 9.4km opening time trial of the Tour de Suisse, beating Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) by 6 seconds. On a day when all the favourites chose to start early, his expected main rivals Fabian Cancellara (Trek) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky) could only manage 4th and 14th respectively, meaning that the German takes the first leader’s jersey in the 9-day race.

Having done a recon of the course for the opening time trial of the Tour de Suisse, Tony Martin said that this was not one of the time trials where he would be expected to win. Instead, he described himself more as an outsider as the course didn’t suit his characteristics.

The main reason for his doubts was the inclusion of a short climb and a very technical descent after an opening flat section, meaning that the stage suited more explosive riders than a diesel engine like Martin. Hence, he surprised himself when he emerged as clearly the strongest rider when the 9-day race kicked off.

Thunderstorms had been forecasted for the afternoon and so all the favourites for the stage and the GC riders chose to start early. Ultimately, the roads stayed dry but it meant that Martin faced a long wait in the hot seat where he was virtually guaranteed to win the race but had to wait for the final starters to finish their race.

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) was one of the very first starters and set an early mark on course that suited him well but it was young sensation Rohan Dennis that continued his impressive string of time trial performances that seemed to be in a position to create a surprise when he stormed into the lead. The level of his performance became clear when one of the pre-stage favourites Bradley Wiggins (Sky) was unable to beat the Australian.

Martin and Fabian Cancellara was still to come though but things looked good for Dennis when the world champion passed the intermediate time check on the lower slopes of the climb in a time that was 1-secnds too slow. The second half was expected to suit the Australian more than the German but Martin was on a storming ride and when he crested the summit, he was 10 seconds faster than Dennis.

He kept his speed all the way down the descent and added another 3 seconds to his lead, gaining a very comfortable 13-second advantage. It was now just to wait for Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) and Fabian Cancellara to finish their rides as they were the only riders expected to pose a threat.

Dumoulin got closest as he ended the stage just 6 seconds behind Martin in seconds after having been 3 seconds behind at the intermediate check. Cancellara lost time in both the flat and uphill sections and even though he was slightly faster on the descent, he had to settle for fourth.

Among the GC riders, Dennis got his race off to the best start but Domenico Pozzovio (Ag2r) can also be very pleased with his rider, ending the stage in an exceptional 5th. Bauke Mollema (Belkin) did well to take 7th and Ion Izagirre (Movistar) was 9th.

Wiggins had hoped to gain time on his rivals but could only managed 14th, one spot ahead of Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) and 2 ahead of Mathias Frank (IAM). The big losers were defending champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) and Cadel Evans (BMC) who ended the stage down in 28th and 63rd respectively.

Martin now takes his 6-second lead into tomorrow’s second stage which is a very hard affair. After a flat start, the riders go op three major mountains at more than 2000m of altitude before a long descent leads them to the bottom of the category 2 Brünigpass. The final 22km consist of a descent and a long, flat road, meaning that this could be a stage for a breakaway or a sprint from a reduced group.

A hilly course

As usual, the Tour de Suisse kicked off with a short time trial and as it has often been the case, it was a hilly affair. The 9.4km in Bellinzona consisted of an opening flat section, a 2km climb and a very technical descent to the finish, meaning that it was a mixed affair that could suit several different riders.

Due to forecasted thunderstorms, the favourites and GC riders had mostly decided to start early. Fredrik Veuchelen (Wanty) kicked off the stage by setting a time of 14.40 but he was already knocked out of the hot seat by Davide Rebellin (CCC) less than 2 minutes later.

Sagan sets the best time

Rebellin held off a good performance by Tibaut Pinot (FDJ) but had to see his dreams of a stage win disappear when Sagan set a time that was 19 seconds faster. Mollema got close, crossing the line in a time that was 3 seconds too slow while Kreuziger slotted into third.

Cadel Evans delivered a very poor performance and finished far off the mark while Sergio Pardilla (MTN) did surprisingly well to slot into third. Mathias Frank (IAM ) did well to make it into fifth while young Davide Formolo (Cannondale) continued his meteoric rise when he moved into fourth.

Dennis moves into the hot seat

Dennis was now on the course and as he had beaten Sagan at the intermediate check, the Australian was clearly on a good day. In the end, he set a time that was six seconds faster than Sagan’s and moved into the lead.

Already at the intermediate check, it was clear that Wiggins was not in contention and he barely made it into the top 10 when he crossed the line. Moments later, Costa ended his ride and his time of 14.30 was a big disappointment.

Good ride by Pozzovivo

Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff-Saxo) had set a good time at the intermediate check but lost time on the climb and couldn’t make it into the top 10. Moments later, Pozzovivo blasted across the line to make it into a very surprising second.

Martin had now passed the intermediate check and was just 1 second behind Dennis, meaning that it a close affair was expected. However, he was in a class of his own in the final section and shaved 13 seconds off the mark set by Dennis.

Dumoulin gets close

Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida) did a great performance to make it into the top 10 but now everybody was waiting for Dumoulin and Cancellara. Dumoulin got close by slotting into second while Cancellara could only set the fourth best time.

All the big favourites had now been on the course and so only a surprise could deny Martin the win. Philip Deignan (Sky) and Georg Preidler (Giant-Shimano) both had good rides but it was Tom-Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp) who raised eyebrows when he set the 8th best time.

Good ride by Izagirre

The course was too hilly for British champion Alex Dowsett who was far off the mark and in the final wave of riders, only Izagirre was expected to pose a threat. However, Peter Kennaugh (Sky) did surprisingly well to move into 10th but he was knocked out of the top 10 by Izagirre moments later.

Finally, Martin just had to wait for Mark Cavendish and Rafael Valls to finish their riders and as none of them got close, he could celebrate his third time trial win of the season.