Over the last few weeks, Kristof Vandewalle has had some strange health issues that has made him unable to perform as well as expected. Hence, he didn't have to big expectations for the Bayern Rundfahrt time trial but he surprised himself by taking fifth.

The rain disappeared and for the first time the race relished dry roads for the fourth stage 25.5-kilometer time trial. Kristof Vandewalle, the newly crowned Belgium National TT Champion, put his time trialing expertise to test again and despite a hiatus from racing since the Classics, and experiencing a mystery of poor form since many weeks, he turned in a reputable time to claim fifth place with a time of 31:14.

“It was nice to have good weather today after the rain of the first three stages," he said. "I am happy with my tt because I didn't expect to have a big result today. I prepared my tt like I always do and I found immediately a good rhythm.”

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) won the race against the clock with a time of 30:48. It was enough to snatch the leader’s jersey from Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling) by 19 seconds.

Vandewalle’s time was 26 seconds slower than Thomas. The next finisher for Trek Factory Racing was Fabian Cancellara in 13th, one minute behind the winning time. For Cancellara it was another step towards a return to his top form after his very successful Classics season where he won Tour of Flanders, finished second in Milan-Sanremo, and capped it all off with a third place in Paris-Roubaix.

Vandewalle was pleased with his effort after struggling to find good feeling on the bike since the latter part of the Classics season. The result today has given him a positive boost in what has been a frustrating battle the past two months.

“I could keep a rhythm the whole TT so I am very satisfied. The first 10km we had the wind in our favor, but to come back it was hard with the headwind and there were also some smaller climbs where you could easily lose all your speed.

“This result really helps again to give me some moral. The last few weeks, even on training, I have had to take it day by day. My body is not reacting like it should. As a rider it is hard when you do all the efforts but cannot trust how your body reacts to it. I am constantly trying to find a good balance, and it has been very frustrating. We have done some tests, and will do some more examinations, and hopefully we can come to a solution.”