Cancellara targeting sixth opening day time trial victory at Tour de France

Image 1 of 4

Fabian Cancellara (Trek)

Tony Martin and local favourite Tom Dumoulin may be the men most widely-tipped to don the first yellow jersey in Utrecht on Saturday afternoon, but they will both be keenly aware that it is now fully a decade since Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) suffered his last – and to date only – defeat in an opening day time trial at the Tour de France.

That statistic is mitigated in part by the fact that the Tour has, under Christian Prudhomme’s stewardship, increasingly dispensed with a prologue, yet Cancellara’s record remains an impressive one. Stretching back to his debut victory in Liège in 2004, he has won five of the six opening time trials he has ridden at the Tour. The lone off-note, incidentally, was a seventh place finish in the longer, 19km test to Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile at the 2005 Tour.

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.