Lasse Norman Hansen showed a great performance in the opening time trial of the Dubai Tour: The Garmin-Sharp neo-pro finished in third place, ahead of Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin.

Although the Dane couldn't reach Taylor Phinney and Steven Cummings, he was six seconds faster than the current time trial world champion and 9 seconds faster than Martin's Swiss predecessor.

“I didn't think I would get such a good result,“ Lasse Norman Hansen said to CyclingQuotes. Beating those riders is really great.

“The first two kilometres went well. After that I could feel the effort, but I managed to do what I'm best at – keeping the pace up all the time. I think I managed my ride well and did the best I could.“

The race almost went pear-shaped for Norman Hansen: “I almost crashed in the last corner, so the adrenaline was pumping when I crossed the line. When I finished, I initially had no idea how I had done.

“After a couple of minutes I was told that I was third, ahead of Cancellara, and that Tony Martin had a slower intermediate time. So I just started on the rollers and waited for the good news.“

A long way to go

The 21-year old is under no illusions as to whether he can compete on longer time trials, though: “It played to my advantage that today's stage was very short. On a really long one I can't compete with the best yet; but this short time trial was favourable to me.“

Three stages remain in the Dubai Tour, and defending his third place overall would be a great birthday present for Norman Hansen who will turn 22 on Tuesday. But he is aware that there is still a long way to go: “I'm looking forward to the upcoming stages. I'll try to stay at the front end of the peloton, but nothing is decided yet. I only have to sit on wheels, but that's easier said than done with the projected crosswinds. And there are a few hills as well. But in any case, this is a good start.“

You can follow the Dubai Tour live here on CyclingQuotes from 10.45 CET every day.