Brändle wins Tour of Belgium prologue

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Matthias Brändle claimed the first leader's jersey of the Baloise Tour of Belgium, edging out BMC's Rohan Dennis in the 6.8km prologue by a thin two seconds. Gaetan Bille (Verandas Willems) was third.

Sitting in the hot seat, Brändle watched as Dennis came to the finish, half expecting to be defeated, but his time held by a narrow margin. "It was really close until the end," he said. "I'm really happy."

The IAM Cycling rider said his big goal is the Tour de France, and he will race the Dauphiné as preparation, but came to the Tour of Belgium with an eye on a personal result. "In my mind it was always the Tour of Belgium - I have an opportunity here ... it's a perfect race for me. It was a good decision to come here. I have a strong team who will support me and try to defend jersey as long as possible."

Yves Lampaert (Etixx-Quickstep) set the fastest early time on the sinuous loop in Bornem, clocking an 8:13. His time held for much of the afternoon until IAM's Martin Elmiger came in 10 seconds quicker.

Elmiger's time fell in quick succession, with Bille edging him out by fractions of a second and then his teammate Brändle becoming the first rider to crack eight minutes.

Dennis looked as if he might best the 7:54 that Brändle had set, but fell short and when the final rider, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Etixx-Quickstep) came through it was confirmed that the IAM rider had won.

For Dennis, being beaten in an opening time trial for the second time this season (after Paris-Nice) stung. "Two seconds hurts," BMC director Max Sciandri said. "Rohan is a guy who can win - and he needs to win these prologues. This is his specialty. Maybe the distance wasn't perfect. But he was up there. It is a little bit disappointing. He gave his best, but the win was within our reach."

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