Taylor Phinney (BMC) set himself up for an overall win in the inaugural Dubai Tour when he won the opening time trial in dominant fashion. On the short 9.9km course in Dubai, he beat his teammate Stephen Cummings by a massive 14 seconds while world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) put in a disappointing ride to take 4th.

Taylor Phinney had made it clear that he was targeting the overall win in the inaugural Dubai Tour after having had his first disappointment of the season in the Tour de San Luis time trial where he was beaten by Movistar's Adriano Malori. Today he made up for that defeat when he took a hugely dominant win in the time trial that kicked off the Middle East race.

Phinney chose to start rather early and crushed the opposition when he crossed the line in a time of 12.03 to move into the hot seat, 14 seconds ahead of previous leader Stephen Cummings. At the time, he had put more than 30 seconds into the rider in 3rd and now faced a long wait in the hot seat until his biggest rivals started their rides much later in the afternoon.

Phinney got his first indication that his time was a good one when Malori crossed the line in a time that was 32 seconds slower and so all eyes were now on Fabian Cancellara (Trek) and world champion Tony Martin who was the final rider down the ramp.

Cancellara had played down his own expectations but did a solid ride to take 5th on the day. On the other hand, Martin had made it clear that he was in Dubai to win.

Already at the halfway point, it was clear that this wasn't going to be Martin's day. Having already lost a few seconds to Phinney at the turning point, he kept losing time all the way to the finish. When he crossed the line, the clock stopped in 12.25 which was only good enough for a very disappointing 4th place.

Young Lasse Norman (Garmin) got his professional career off to the perfect start when he beat Martin and Cancellara to take a very impressive 3rd place. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) showed that he is ready for the upcoming sprint stages by taking 6th.

The next stages are expected to suit the fast finishers, with an expected showdown between Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) on the horizon. The former showed great condition by finishing 11th on the opening stage.

Kittel faces his first jersey defence in tomorrow's completely flat 122km stage in Dubai. A big bunch sprint is expected but wind is forecasted and could potentially influence the outcome.

A short time trial

The inaugural Dubai Tour kicked off with a short 9.9km time trial in downtown Dubai. With a star-studded line-up, the race was off to a flying start, with several big names going for glory in a stage that was largely expected to shape the final GC.

Tom Veelers (Giant-Shimano) was the first rider down the ramp but it was Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp) who was the first to break the 13-minute barrier. His time of 12.47 was enough to dethrone early starters Evan Huffman (Astana) and Michael Valgren (Tinkoff-Saxo) who had both produced solid ride.

Good ride for Cummings

Cummings was the first BMC rider to start and he showed that the American team was on fire when he set a time that was 30 seconds faster than Navardauskas'. Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) moved into the provisional 3rd but was quickly eclipsed by Haimar Zubeldia (Trek).

All eyes were now on Phinney who was an early starter and he lived up to expectation when he set a time of 12.03 to beat his teammate Cummings. Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo) had a good ride with a time of 12.45 that saw him finish in the final top 15 while Alexander Porsev (Katusha) had a surprisingly good ride to take 3rd.

3 BMC riders in the top 4

Peter Velits made it 4 BMC riders in the provisional top 4 when he set a time that was good enough for 4th while young Dylan van Baarle (Garmin-Sharp) moved into 5th. With most of the best TT riders starting either early or late, the top 5 remained unchanged for a long time.

Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was the first rider for a while to crack the provisional top 10 when he moved into 7th while another BMC rider Yannick EIjssen (BMC) surprised a lot of pundits by posting a time that was even 1 second faster than Velits'. All eyes were now on Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) who was an outsider for the stage but the Spaniard could only manage 8th when he crossed the line.

Kittel is on track

Kittel proved that he is ready for the race when he made it into the provisional top 5 while Bob Jungels (Trek) had a disappointing ride for 12th. Maciej Bodnar (Cannondale) became the first rider for a long time to make it onto the provisional podium when he beat Porsev by less than a second.

Malori was expected to feature high in the standings but he was unable to match the BMC duo and could only manage 3rd when he crossed the line. Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) had an encouraging ride to make it into the provisional top 10 but all eyes were now on Cancellara.

Cancellara on the podium

The Swiss crossed the line in a time that put him in the provisional 3rd spot but moments later Norman took the world by storm when he became only the second rider to finish within 20 seconds of Phinney's time. Sagan crossed the line in 5th after a solid ride and it was now up to Martin to potentially threaten the American.

The German was unable to do so as he kept losing time throughout the entire race and he was clearly disappointed when he crossed the line in a time that was only good enough for 4th.