Rohan Dennis wins stage one time trial by smallest of margins at the Tour de Suisse 2019

Rohan Dennis (Bahrain-Merida) won the opening stage one time trial of the 2019 Tour de Suisse to take the overall race lead, beating Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) by fractions of a second.

After Dennis had completed the 9.5km course in 10-50, Michael Matthews (Sunweb) came across the finish line one second slower, finishing third, with the two Danes Søren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) and Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) two seconds back and finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Tour de France 2018 lanterne rouge Lawson Craddock (EF Education) was five seconds back in sixth place, followed by Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) in seventh, seven seconds back.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos) was the best of the GC contenders, finishing in 13th place and 17 seconds down on Dennis' time, with his compatriot and team-mate Owain Doull just two seconds further back, finishing in 18th place.

Egan Bernal (Ineos) marked his return to racing with a strong ride, finishing 23 seconds down on the time trial world champion, and the Ineos pair have given themselves a good head start on their rivals for the overall classification.

Marc Soler (Movistar) 29 seconds off the best time, Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) finishing 37 seconds down on Dennis, Enric Mas (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) 43 seconds back, whilst Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) posted the seventh worst time of the day, 1-28 off the pace of the Australian.

The flat 9.5km time trial will be followed by a circuit race on stage two, still in Langnau im Emmental where stage one's race against the clock was held, with the peloton set to scale the two second category climbs of the Schallenberg and the Chuderhüsi Pass three times along the 159.6km route.

Results

Tour de Suisse 2019, stage one: Langnau im Emmental to Langnau im Emmental (9.5km)

1. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida, in 10-50

2. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

3. Michael Matthews (Aus) Sunweb, in one second

4. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Sunweb, in 2s

5. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at same time

6. Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First, at 5s

7. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 7s

8. Patrick Bevin (Nzl) CCC, at 8s

9. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 9s

10. Tom Scully (Nzl) EF Education First, at 11s

General classification after stage one

1. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida, in 10-50

2. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

3. Michael Matthews (Aus) Sunweb, in one second

4. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Sunweb, in 2s

5. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at same time

6. Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First, at 5s

7. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 7s

8. Patrick Bevin (Nzl) CCC, at 8s

9. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 9s

10. Tom Scully (Nzl) EF Education First, at 11s