HTC Highroad rider Patrick Gretsch took his first win as a professional when he blasted to a three-second win over teammate Alex Rasmussen in the prologue of the Ster ZLM Tour (formerly known as the Ster Elektrotoer). Gretsch covered the seven kilometers in 8'30"67, Rasmussen in 8'33"69 and third-placed Alex Dowsett (Sky) came home in 8'35"19.
Gretsch pulled out all stops on the short course. "Patrick did a perfect job, taking a lot of risks on the corners, but using his time trial skills very well, too," said HTC-Highroad sports director Jan Schaffrath. Gretsch had eyed the start of the race as the crucial part. "He really pushed it in the first two kilometers, which were very technical, had lots of corners and even a few cobbled sections, and I think that's where he made the difference," Schaffrath said.
HTC was happy with the double victory. "Alex rode really, really well, but he was already a couple of seconds down on Patrick right from the start and it stayed like that all the way through."
Gretsch was a silver medalist in the Worlds U-23 Time Trial in 2008. "Everybody knows he's a good time trialist, and he really did a lot of hard work to get this one right," Schaffrath said. "We took a bit of a risk deciding that all our top riders should have late starts, but finally everybody had the same weather conditions and the best riders won."
HTC-Highroad took the same race last year with Adam Hansen, but Schaffrath was cautious about their chances of repeating an overall victory. "We're in a good position and tomorrow's [Thursday's] stage should finish in a bunch sprint, which would be good for Alex. After that, we're into the hilly stages and we'll take it on day-by-day."
Gretsch joined HTC last year and has shown promise in individual time trials already. He finished second in the 2010 Tour of Austria prologue. Prior to that he was also second to Tony Martin in the German National time trial Championships. A fifth place in the Vuelta a Murcia time trial and a sixth place in the Bayernrundfahrt time trial showed that besides prologues he can handle distances between 20 and 30 kilometers very well.
Kurt Hovelijnck (Donckers Koffie - Jelly Belly)was the first to come off the start ramp, at 17:30 local time. He rode home in 9'11"50, Cyclocross specialist Christoph Pfingsten was the first rider under nine minutes (8'58"17). Graeme Brown then showed that a sprinter can also time trial, setting a mark of 8'52"91.
Brown's teammate Sebastian Langeveld rode a strong race, clocking in at 8'40"43 and the temporary lead. Then it was Gretsch's turn and he set the day's best time. Garmin's Tyler Farrar had a very good ride. His 8'44"27 was an eventual seventh place. Dowsett was the third to last rider and would become third at the end of the day.
Philippe Gilbert was next, riding to an 8'48"41. Rasmussen concluded the prologue at 19:51.