Martin finished in a time of 00:13:48 on a route that included a climb in its second half with a descent into the finish area.

The three-time UCI World Time Trial Champion was one of the earliest riders on course, but the remaining riders, one after the other, proved unable to match or beat his time. Team Giant-Shimano's Tom Dumoulin finished second, while Rohan Dennis crossed the finish line in the third best time for his Garmin-Sharp-POC team.

"I believe I chose a good strategy because I knew if I went really 100 percent in the flat part, I wouldn't have enough energy for the mountain," Germany's Martin said following stage 1 of the Tour of Switzerland and added "I had a split time in the first intermediate that was a second down to Rohan Dennis. Having saved some energy, I knew I had the power at that point. So I knew I had to go 100 percent, but also be ready for the descent."

"If you go really full gas to the top you can't concentrate on the technical parts of the downhill. So I was always focused on the descent, not pushing myself over the edge at the top of the climb. I was also able to sprint out of the corners on the descent. I had a really good feeling the whole stage, but I think I made the difference on the descent and my Specialized Shiv gave me the confidence to be aggressive there."

"It was the hardest, most technical prologue of my career. You cannot underestimate that kind of a parcours even if the distance is shorter. I have three victories now at Tour de Suisse. It's a race that I like a lot and I try to do well here in moments that suit me. I will now focus on trying to do well in the stage 7 individual time trial. I will do my best to obtain a good result there and we will see what will happen in the mountains."