Tour de Suisse: Tony Martin wins stage one TT as Sir Bradley Wiggins finishes in 14th place

Tony Martin powered into an early lead of the Tour de Suisse by winning stage one’s individual time trial, but Sir Bradley Wiggins finished only 14th as he failed to impress.

Martin, the triple world time trial champion, stopped the clock on a rolling 9.4km course in Bellinzona in a time of 13min 48sec, which was six seconds faster than runner-up Tom Dumoulin and 13 seconds ahead of third-placed Rohan Dennis

Wiggins crossed the line 32 seconds slower than Martin, and he also lost ground on potential rivals in the general classification, dropping 13 seconds to Domenico Pozzovivo and ten seconds to Bauke Mollema.

Britain’s highest finisher was Wiggins’s Team Sky team-mate Peter Kennaugh, who was 29 seconds down on Martin in 11th.

The first half of the course was largely flat, before climbing up to Artore and then descending back down to the finish line.

Peter Sagan produced one of the most eye-catching performances of the day, finishing sixth in 14min 7sec on the same time as climbing specialist Pozzovivo.

Martin’s victory was his fourth win of the season, all of which have come in individual time trials.

Sunday’s second stage takes the riders on a mountainous 181.8km route from Bellinzona to Sarnen.

Stage one result and general classification

1 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, 13:48
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Shimano, +6secs
3 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin-Sharp, +13
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing, +16
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +19
6 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale, same time
7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin, +22
8 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin-Sharp, +23
9 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Movistar, +27
10 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, +29  
Selected others
11 Peter Kennaugh (GB) Team Sky, +29
14 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Team Sky, +32