Cycling: Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) lived up to his world champion jersey in the prologue of the Tour de Suisse and put the other specialists in their place. Second was Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) ahead of Rohan Dennis (Gramin-Sharp). Fourth and fifth were Fabian Cancellara (Trek) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2R La Mondiale).
"A perfect race, a perfect day ," Martin posted on Facebook after his victory. "Today's win at the Tour de Suisse makes me happy and proud. It paid off that I studied the course so thoroughly yesterday. I was able to make up time on the climbs, and I certainly didn't lose any on the descents. It's always an advantage to prepare meticulously."
In fact, Martin showed himself to be strong on the mountain. Because on the 9,4-kilometre circuit in Bellinzona, Dennis initially burned the best intermediate time onto the asphalt. However, the Australian still lost time to the finish and ended up 13 seconds behind Martin, who needed 13:48 minutes for the race.
Martin also took the overall lead. Here he is followed by second-placed Dumoulin, six seconds behind. Cancellara is already 16 seconds behind in fourth place.
“I started cautiously and the climb was tough. I’ve certainly ridden better on the descent before, but the crash from last week still affected me somewhat. Today showed who’s in form; for me, the tour is only just beginning. I want to get into shape at the Tour de Suisse and lose a few more kilos in the Swiss mountains for the Tour de France ,” the Bernese rider stated after the race.
Mathias Frank (IAM) also drove a strong race, finishing 16th and thus keeping all chances open for the overall standings. Apart from Martin, Linus Gerdemann (MTN-Qhubeka), who is 1:06 minutes behind the man from Eschborn, has the best chances from a German point of view.