Peter Velits lived up to his status as the overwhelming favourite for today's Slovakian national time trial championships when he beat all his rivals in commanding fashion. Being the only WorldTour rider in the race, the BMC representative admitted that it would have been a huge disappointment not to defend his title.

BMC Racing Team's Peter Velits won his third straight Slovakian national time trial championship in dominating fashion Thursday. Velits completed the 40-kilometer course in 56:09, 2:12 better than runner-up Maros Kovac and 4:30 faster than third-placed Patrik Tybor, both of the Dukla Trenčín-Trek team.

"It feels very good to have another victory, but it would have been a big disappointment if I did not win," Velits said. "I felt pretty good about my form in comparing my time to Jan Barta of NetAapp-Endura, who is usually one of the top 10 time trialists in the world."

Barta won the Czech Republic time trial crown in 55:38. The two championships are annually run in conjunction with one another on the same course. Velits will next sport his national team colors in the Tour de France Stage 20 individual time trial on July 26 after being named to the BMC Racing Team's squad for the race on Wednesday.