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", said Martin after the victory via Facebook. “Today's victory in the Tour de Suisse makes me happy and proud. It paid off that I looked at the track so intensively yesterday. I was able to make up time on the mountain. And I definitely didn't lose any on the descent. It is always an advantage if you 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 mountain was difficult. I've certainly skied better on the descent, but the fall from last week still affected me a bit. You saw today who is in good shape, the tour is only just beginning for me. I want to get in shape for the Tour de Suisse and lose a few more pounds in the Swiss mountains for the Tour de France.", the Bernese said 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.