LUGANO, Switzerland (AP) — Home favorite Fabian Cancellara overcame mechanical trouble to win the Tour of Switzerland’s prologue time trial on Saturday.
The Olympic time-trial champion recovered from a gear problem after 100 meters to clock 9 minutes, 41 seconds over the 4.5-mile course. He was 9 seconds faster than Tejay van Garderen of the United States, with Slovakia’s Peter Sagan another 8 seconds back in third.
Cancellara’s Leopard-Trek teammate Andy Schleck, the Tour de France runner-up from a year ago, also had gear issues and trailed by more than one minute.
The nine-day event is the last major warmup for the Tour, which starts July 2.
The first stage Sunday is a mountainous, 87-mile trek from Airolo to Crans-Montana.
