Tour de Suisse: Stefan Küng claims opening stage time trial

Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) took victory on local roads at the Tour de Suisse.

Küng won the 10.9-kilometer time trial around Frauenfeld to secure his second TT victory of the year and claim the first leader’s jersey of the race.

Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) made it a Swiss one-two with his ride into second-place, four seconds slower than Küng. Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) placed third.

“I’m really happy to win today,” Küng said. “I live one kilometer from here, it’s the roads I train on every day. I was confident before the start, I knew what I had to do and I executed it perfectly.”

Home roads and local support made the victory taste sweeter for Küng, who is also the European TT champion and Swiss road champ.

“It’s where I live, I know all the guys from the organization committee, my family are here on the side of the road, so it’s special,” he said.

“Also to win and take the leader’s jersey, I did it once three years ago here, but that was a team time trial so I’m really happy to wear the yellow jersey again tomorrow.”

Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) finished 16th in what was his first race since returning from a six-month hiatus from the sport. He last raced at the end of October last year, where he abandoned after stage 8 of the Vuelta a España.

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— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) June 6, 2021

Bissegger had been first into the hotseat on the flat, damp course. He went faster than fellow early-starting specialists Dumoulin, Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers), and Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM).

Bissegger didn’t enjoy too long at the lead of the race, however, with Küng setting his winning time less than an hour later, covering the course at an average of 54.5kph.

The final wave of riders didn’t include any specialists, leaving Küng to settle into the hotseat as he watched the remaining riders come to the line. It was only Cattaneo that came close to the winning time with a standout race from a rider not known for his TT skills.

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— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) June 6, 2021

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) rode an impressive TT to finish fifth, while Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) finished 25th after several months on the mountain bike.

GC contender Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) finished 15th, 31 seconds down on Küng.

Stage 2 to reshuffle deck

A tough second stage comes Monday, where two cat 2. climbs in the back-half of the race could see GC action.

Will Küng hang onto his race lead for one more day? It’s unlikely.