American Taylor Phinney may have been thrilled to win the opening stage of the first ever Dubai Tour but it was a different story for triple world champion Tony Martin who was left fuming at organisers for insisting he raced last, in what he described were windier conditions.
Phinney clocked 12:03 to grab the RTA Blue Jersey with his teammate Steven Cummings placing second, 14 seconds behind, to secure a brilliant one-two for the BMC Racing Team.
Young Danish rider Lasse Norman Hansen of Garmin Sharp came third, clocking 12:19 – six seconds quicker than Martin, who had to settle for fourth place.
The 10km time trial around Downtown Dubai was a race against the clock with riders taking to the course one a time at 60 second intervals starting.
BMC strategically placed their best riders in the earlier block since forecasts indicated the wind would pick up as the day progressed. Cummings was the ninth rider out on the course yesterday while Phinney was the 25th.
Martin, as the reigning world time trial champion, was positioned to race last for the sake of TV viewers and fans.
The 28-year-old German said he understood the organisers’ choice to put him last but said the other time trial specialists should have been placed with him in the same block to make sure they raced in the same conditions.
“My preparation was really good, I was super motivated and I wanted to win here,” said a dejected Martin. “It would be nicer if everybody would start in the same start block.
"I had to start last, I couldn’t do anything, I wanted to start first bu at the end it’s hard to say if the wind is the reason why, or the legs."
Martin revealed he tried to speak to organisers about the race schedule the night before but their decision was final. “Definitely the plan was to start in the first block, like the BMC guys did.
"I was really angry because I understand that they want me to start last, but I said ‘please tell all the big guys to start at the end’,” explained Martin.
“My sport director was fighting for me but when the organisation says no you can’t fight it.”
Phinney said he understood the German’s frustration: “Yes, for sure, usually you want to have everybody go at the same time. We made the tactical decision to start earlier.”
Meanwhile Cancellara, who prior to the race had said he has no expectations of himself considering his preparation was hampered by illness followed by injuries sustained during a road accident, admits his first outing of the year was quite painful.
“I felt like the last 2km missing a lung that gives me air. It’s another pain after the first real effort you do of the season. It’s just a pain of breathing and full of acid in the legs and that hurts. The hardest thing is doing time trials when you’re not in good conditions,” said the Swiss.
