Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) proved that he is up for the challenge of making it three consecutive overall wins in the Tour of Belgium when he won today's flat 16.7km time trial in Diksmuide. The world champion beat Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) and Sylvain Chavanel (IAM) by 16 and 26 seconds respectively to open up similar time gaps in the overall standings.

 

 

After his Omega Pharma-Quick Steo team had dominated the first two sprint stages of the race, all eyes were on Martin to continue the show in the flat 16.7km stage in Diksmuide. And the world champion didn't disappoint as he blasted around the course in a time of 19.43 to win the stage for the third year in a row.

 

Like last year his nearest challenger was Tom Dumoulin and while he had been beaten by 40 seconds 12 months ago, the Dutchman proved how far he has come since then, narrowing the gap to the world champion significantly. This time his deficit was only 16 seconds, meaning that he has a realistic chance to take the overall win.

 

Sylvain Chavanel (IAM) continued his recent good run of form by taking third, 10 seconds further back, while young Silvan Dillier (BMC) who had been the leader for most of the stage, took a fantastic fourth place. IAM had more riders near the top, with Matthias Brändle rounding out the top 5.

 

The stage was held on an entirely flat, non-technical course starting and finishing in Diksmuide and was always expected to suit the big specialists. The first rider down the ramp was Kevin Peeters (Vastgoestservice) and he set a time of 22.57 to become the first leader of the stage but was soon beaten by Frederik Willems (Lotto Belisol) who set a time of 22.00.

 

Martin Elmiger (IAM) proved that he has recovered from his health issues by going 45 seconds faster than Willems and held off a close challenge from Kris Boeckmans (Lotto Belisol). It was, however, Robert Wagner (Belkin) who took the lead, going 32 seconds faster than the Swiss.

 

Dillier was now on the course and the Swiss produced a storming ride to stop the clock in 20.27, beating Wagner by 16 seconds. He now faced a long wait in the hot seat and saw riders like Gianni Meersman (OPQS), Thomas Löfkvist (IAM), Bram Tankink (Belkin), Victor Campanaerts (Topsport) and Egoitz Garcia (Cofidis) miss the mark.

 

Artem Ovechkin (Rusvelo) got close, posting a time that was just 7 seconds too slow while Reto Hollenstein (IAM) was only 5 seconds slower. Brändle did even better but when he crossed the line, he missed 3 seconds to take the lead.

 

Chavanel was 8 seconds faster than Dillier at the intermediate check and he maintained his speed all the way to the line to go 18 seconds faster than the young Swiss. Dumoulin was now on the course and despite being behind Chavanel at the intermediate check, he finished strongly to beat the Frenchman by 10 seconds.

 

Martin had already started his ride and as he had convincingly beaten Chavanel at the time check, it was no surprise to see the German take the lead. He now just had to wait for the final riders to finish their rides before he could take to the podium.

 

Philippe Gilbert (BMC) got closest, setting the 6th best time, while previous leader Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) lost more than a minute. Hence, Martin took over the leader's jersey with a 16-second advantage over Dumoulin.

 

Martin faces his first test as race leader in tomorrow's lumpy fourth stage. The terrain is rolling all day and has a sllightly uphill finishing straight. Last year a breakaway narrowly held off the peloton in a similar stage before André Greipel won the sprint for the minor positions.