Dubai Tour stage 1: Taylor Phinney wins time trial

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Riders with track pedigrees came, saw and conquered on the opening stage of the Dubai Tour with Taylor Phinney (BMC) wining the opening 9.9km time trial ahead of teammate Steven Cummings and Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin-Sharp).

World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma QuickStep) was the last rider to start the flat test, in which riders were required to use their road machines. However the German could only manage fourth place in his opening race of the season, with Phinney taking the top step. 

The American came into the race as one of the clear favourites and scorched around the flat out-and-back course in a time of 12:03. It was more than enough to lead in the opening stages of the time trial as rider after rider failed to unsettle the top of the leader board.

“Winning means a lot. I've been thinking about this race for a while. I was focused on Tony. I know he doesn't take any time trial lightly, even if it's short and on road bikes,” Phinney said after the stage.

Phinney cleverly opted to start the time early, knowing the wind could increase in the afternoon, while his rivals went off later.

“Initially I decided to go early, because the wind report looked like it would build towards the afternoon and the evening. When I looked this morning the forecast said it was going to be the same at 1pm and 4pm."

"I hoped it was same conditions for same everybody, but its hard with 125 riders. He (Tony Martin) had to start last because he's world champion, even if he wanted to start in the first wave.”

Phinney’s teammate Cummings came closest with a time 14 second adrift but, with Martin and Fabian Cancellara still to come, Phinney was anxiously left to wait as the sport’s two most successful time triallists over the last decade set off.

“I was nervous that he'd beat me in the end but I'm overjoyed and super relieved to come home with the win,” said Phinney. “Now we'll take it into tomorrow and see where we're at.

“My next immediate goal is to win whole race. We've definitely got some strong competition but at BMC we've got a good team and we're motivated. Steve Cummings is second overall too. I'm excited. It's a short race but it’s an intense race. We'll see. It's a cliché but we'll take it day by day."

Meanwhile a race within a race took place as sprinters Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano), Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma QuickStep) took to the streets of Dubai.

Kittel was first to finish, a full 38 seconds down on Phinney but in a provisional fifth place. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) racing for the first time since a crash at the Tour de San Luis was next to start, as Adriano Malori (Movistar) – the only rider to beat Phinney at the time trial in San Luis – failed to trouble the leaders with a time of 12:35.

Cancellara, who came into the race keen to play down his chances after an off-season disrupted by illness and an altercation with a car whilst out training, finished in a time of 12:28, 25 seconds down on Phinney.

Neo-pro and Olympic omnium champion Hansen posted the surprise of the day, slotting into third place and pushing Cancellara down a place. With Rui Costa and Nibali both finishing down the leader board only Martin remained. However the German could only take fourth place, 22 seconds down, to leave Phinney with his first win of the season.

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