Geraint Thomas made a strong start to his bid for victory in the Tour de Suisse on Saturday.

The Cardiff-born flier clocked a time of of seven minutes and 50 seconds around the near four-mile long prologue course in Baar.

Thomas was among the final runners to tackle the stage and had to contend with showers which made the roads even more trickier.

The time was 12 seconds slower than Switzerland’s prologue winner Fabian Cancellara of Trek-Segafredo.

But the Team Sky rider’s time compared well with his rivals for the title in the nine-day race.

The 30-year-old said: “It just started raining as I went down the ramp.

“It’s hard – some guys get completely wet roads, some guys get completely dry and then some get in the middle which is what I had.

“It’s hard to judge where you are exactly but I think it was a decent effort