Fabian Cancellara may be using the Eneco Tour to prepare for later objectives but today he proved that he is already in decent condition when he finished second in the time trial. Lamenting the near-miss, the Swiss claims that the later starters had an advantage.

The Eneco Tour third stage was a short, but intense race against the clock, and Trek Factory Racing brushed off yesterday’s subpar performance and threw everything they could at the 9.6-kilometer test.

First Jesse Sergent, who won the Eneco Tour time trial in 2011 for his first WorldTour victory, blasted through the finish and set the fastest time in 11:10.  Sergent’s time stood atop the leader board until Fabian Cancellara powered across the line 13 seconds quicker. He was the first to go under 11 minutes, fixing a tough benchmark of 10:57.

But a short time trial is not Cancellara’s perfect cup of tea. The former World and Olympic Time Trial Champion is better suited to longer tests against the clock and when Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) roared under the finish banner the clock flashed 10:55. It was two seconds faster.

“I am happy with my performance, I went out and did the best I could: I had good motivation from the car, and I had good feeling on the bike," he said. "I think after my break it was a good performance. What really counts for me is that I gave 100 percent. At the end there was just somebody two seconds faster.

"Of course it’s always a pity that you lose a time trial by two seconds.  But on the other hand I missed the psycological advantage of having someone close to me, who is as fast or even faster than me. I had the time splits from Jesse which was helpful since he had the best time at that point, but what would have been better for motivation was the last few guys, or the specialists, like Boom, Dumoulin and Thomas - they all did the Tour and are really prepared to do this race well. 

“When I saw the parcours I knew that it was a good course for Fabian and Jesse," sports director Dirk Demol said. "I told them in order to win they need to do 53kmh average. Fabian was very close to a 53 – he did a 52.6. Then Dumoulin came, and yah, well he was faster and that’s how it is in a time trial. I can’t say that Fabian could have gone two seconds faster - he did close to a perfect race.

"Fabian’s performance was good; he is not in the top, top form yet and we all know his big goal is later in the season. The course would have been better to be a bit longer for him, but Dumoulin was two seconds faster, and chapeau.”

Jesse Sergent’s time held through the last finishers who were battling for the leader’s jersey, and none were able to knock him from fifth, a respectable result.

"It was a nine kilometer lung buster course but overall I felt good and like I did a decent ride," Sergent said. "It's hard because fifth is never the goal; you want to win, or be better than that in the results, but I don't feel like I made any big mistakes - I felt like I had good power over the whole course."

“[Fabian and Jesse] both did the maximum possible," Demol said. "Jesse did a nice time trial, too. He was very disappointed that he lost time yesterday. What was nice is that it was the same conditions for everyone, the wind was all day the same, it was dry for everyone; we have no reason to complain about anything and we got a second and a fifth and that is nice.”

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) rounded out the top three with a time of 11:05. 

The time trial was short but long enough to rearrange the top of the leadership board. Zdenek Stybar (OPQS) was unable to hold onto the leader’s jersey, slipping to fifth place, while Lars Boom (Belkin) put in a great performance and assumed the new role at the top. Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) also plummeted from the podium to ninth place as Tom Dumoulin moved into second and Manuel Quinziato (BMC) into third.

The race is far from finished with only 21 seconds separating first from tenth in the standings. Fabian Cancellara also climbed into 12thplace (+24”) and certainly no one is counting him out of the running.

Tomorrow continues with another flat stage and either Danny van Poppel or Giacomo Nizzolo will have another chance to go for the stage win.

“I expect tomorrow will more than likely be a bunch sprint again because it’s a dead flat stage," Demol said. "We will decide in the race who will be our sprinter.  A little detail about tomorrow is that we are racing through my hometown!"

“In the end I am happy – another second place for the team, another second place for me," Cancellara said. "But I don’t like to be second I want to be first, we want to be first, and we will give a try again tomorrow.”