The 6.7-kilometer short race against the clock was an intense eight-minute effort and did little more than sort out the first jerseys, offer bragging rights to some and deal out a lung-bursting opener for most.

Although there was little to be won for the GC contenders on such a short time trial, the goal was to minimalize seconds lost and Trek Factory Racing’s two men for the overall classification achieved that.

Riccardo Zoidl (30th) stopped the clock at 8:02, with Bob Jungels (22nd) a few seconds quicker finishing in a time of 7:59.

Time Trial specialist Kristof Vandewalle (8:01, 28th) and sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo (8:02, 32nd) also put in fast times, finishing with a one second difference and also only a few seconds off Jungels’ pace. 

“I had no [TT] references this year of what I could do, and I think I took it too slow on the climbs,” said Vandewalle. “After the time trial I had some energy left and that is never good. Personally, for me it’s better if the TT is a little bit longer, but okay, I am pretty happy with it. I felt I had power, but I know I could easily do five seconds more if I knew exactly what I could push. But overall I am satisfied, especially after being sick.

“For the rest of the week we will look to Giacomo for the sprints and then Riccardo and Bob will see what they can do in the GC. There may be an opportunity to go in a breakaway for me, but the first goal is to look after these others.”

One of the final riders to take the start finally unseated BMC’s Rohan Dennis who appeared poised to win the opening event for the 8-day race after a few hours in the hot seat. However, World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quick Step) stole his glory by the smallest of margins, taking the win by less than a second. Tony Martin (Etixx- Quick Step) finished third (+07”).

Trek Factory Racing will look to Giacomo Nizzolo in the next few stages before the climbers take the reins beginning stage.

“The prologue went well for our guys, but realistically we hoped for a little bit more, a little bit faster,” explained director Kim Andersen. “Giacomo did a nice prologue today and it looks like he is ready, so we will see in these next days; we will try."