American Taylor Phinney powered to victory in the prologue of the Tour de l'Avenir today, besting former Trek-Livestrong teammate Briton Alex Dowsett, with Australian Michael Matthews completing a trio of native English speakers on the podium. Phinney clocked a time of 8 minutes and 55 seconds in the 7 kilometer test, which was 6 seconds better than Dowsett and a further second faster than Matthews.
Phinney's compatriot Andrew Talansky posted a solid time early at 9 minutes and 19 seconds, and it took close to 80 riders before Loïc Desriac was able to shave off 5 seconds. A win by the young Frenchman wasn't in the cards though, as the time trial specialists bumped him off the podium into fourth place.
"I'm very happy to have won today," Phinney said after the stage. "It's one of my biggest victories. I put it up there with my victories in the U23 Paris-Roubaix and my world championships on the track. The Tour de l'Avenir is the biggest race in this category.
"Many great riders have had wins here, and I'm really proud to put my name on that list. For the rest of the race, I don't see myself fighting to defend the jersey since I don't climb very well - at least not well enough to stay with the best. So I think that I will work for Talansky in the mountains since he has the chance to fight for victory."
Tomorrow's stage will take the peloton 144 kilometers from Vierzon to Saint-Amand-Montrond.
2010 Tour de l'Avenir prologue results:
1. Taylor Phinney (USA) 8.55
2. Alex Dowsett (GBR) @ 6s 2
3. Michael Matthews (AUS) @ 7s
4. Loïc Desriac (FRA) @ 19
5. John Degenkolb (GER) @ 21s
6. Andrew Talansky (USA) @ 24s
7. Tom Dumoulin (NED) @ 26s
8. Nelson Oliveira (POR) @ 27s
9. Jesus Herrada Lopez (SPA) @ 28s
10. Anthony Delaplace (FRA) s.t.