After finishing second in last year's race, Bauke Mollema is again using the Tour de Suisse to fine-tune his condition for the Tour de France. Today he was the best-placed of the pre-race favourites when the race opened with a short time trial and he now finds himself in a great position going into the first mountain stage.

Bauke Mollema knows that if he starts well then his battle is halfway won, which holds true as the Belkin Pro Cycling Team’s Dutchman placed seventh in the Tour de Suisse’s opening time trial. World champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) won with a buffer of 22 seconds. 

“It went pretty well. I’m up there with the best,” said Mollema. “It was a special time trial, a very technical one with a large number of U-turns. I even made a bike change. I like a TT like this, however. 

“I just came from a high-altitude training camp. You always have to wait and see how your body reacts, but I felt good for the last couple of days and that was also the case today.” 
 

Jan Boven explained why Mollema was one of the first riders to start the 9.4-kilometre time trial.

“Considering the weather, it seemed a wise choice. In the end, there was no rain, but we played it safe this way. 

“Bauke’s seventh place is a good start. He showed he made some steps during his training camp. We can build on this. 

“With the Tour de France coming up, some of our riders took it relatively easy today because of the dangerous downhill. It sucks that we lost Marc Goos because of a crash.” 

The talented youngster sustained a hip fracture and will undergo surgery tonight. He won’t be able to race for at least six weeks. 
 

Boven thinks that the GC riders need to dig deep tomorrow.

“It’s going to be a very tough day. The big climbs are situated early in the stage, but I expect that a large group will sprint for the win. We want to have as many men as possible up there. Bauke is a pretty good sprinter.”