Dennis sets speed record in winning opening stage
UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS— Rohan Dennis won the first stage of the Tour de France in record speed in the individual time trial on Saturday, while defending Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali gained precious time on his main rivals.
Dennis powered along the 14-kilometre flat and windy urban circuit through cycling-mad Utrecht in 14 minutes, 56 seconds.
“I didn’t expect to go that fast,” the Australian rider said. “I was just thinking ‘16 minutes, 16 minutes’ from what I did in training, and in the end I got a bonus.”
His average speed of 55.446 km/h beat the record by British rider Chris Boardman on the 1994 Tour prologue, albeit over a distance twice as short.
“There’s still emotions going on,” said a thrilled Dennis, who previously held the world hour record after covering 52.49 kilometres in that time in February. “The team has done a lot of hard work and it’s paid off. Recons, specific trainings, it’s all come together.”
The last Australian to wear the yellow jersey was Simon Gerrans in 2013.
“I don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. I want to hold it for at least one more day,” said Dennis, who took silver in the team pursuit at the 2012 Olympics.
His performance in sweltering heat that hit 36 C was even more impressive. Three-time world champ Tony Martin trailed five seconds behind in second place, and four-time world champ Fabian Cancellara was six seconds back in third.
“I wanted to win. Any other result is a bad one,” Martin said. “I feel that I couldn’t handle the heat.”
Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., finished the first stage in 25th place while Victoria’s Ryder Hesjedal was 87th.