Dennis wins stage one
July 4, 2015
The mercury soared well over 30 degrees Celsius in the Netherlands, where this year's Tour kicked off with a 13.8 kilometer time trial. The only thing hotter than the asphalt was Rohan Dennis.
The Australian covered the stretch in 14 minutes, 56 seconds. His average speed was 55.446 kilometers an hour - that broke a record that had stood since 1994.
"I've broken a dry spell of wins and what a way to do it," said Dennis, an Olympic silver medallist in the team pursuit. "I left it all out there. I went off harder than what I thought I should have and I came back harder than what I thought I could."
Dennis finished five and six seconds ahead of fellow time-trial specialists Tony Martin of Germany and Fabian Cancellera of Switzerland respectively. Martin, in particular, was disappointed by his failure to achieve his first-ever yellow jersey.
"The heat just killed me," he told reporters. "I just didn't have any strength on the long straight stretches, which are usually my forté."
The overall favorites all survived stage one without accident. Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali finished 43 seconds back, and 2013 winner Chris Froome was a further seven seconds slower. Two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador was 57 seconds off Dennis' pace, and climbing specialist Nairo Quintana finished a respectable 1 minute, 1 second behind the stage winner.
Stage two on Sunday will take the competitors on a 166 kilometer jaunt from Utrecht to Zeeland and should favor the sprinters.