Europcar's Damien Gaudin, pulled off a shock victory when he won the prologue of the Paris-Nice race.
The annual "Race To The Sun, won last year by Sir Bradley Wiggins who was not defending his title, was started with a 2.9km prologue in the Paris suburb of Houilles on a sunny day.
The shortness of the prologue clearly did not suit many riders but Omega Pharma Quick Step's Peter Velits was able to set the early time to beat of 3.40.
That lasted for about half an hour until Frenchman Geoffrey Soupe came in a second quicker. What a good time it was, was starting to be proved when the likes of Phillipe Gilbert were coming in six seconds down.
However, enter Blanco's Wilco Kelderman who beat Soupe's time by fractions of a second.
David Millar, one of the few Brits in the race which finishes in Nice next Sunday, came in with a time of 3.48.
Then there was a new fastest time when Sylvain Chavanel finished in a 3.38 and thirty seconds later, Europcar's Damien Gaudin came in at 3.37.
Robert Gesink, Dutch Time Trial champion Lieuwe Westra, who finished third and last man down the ramp Richie Porte could not get near Gaudin's time and he will be in yellow going into tomorrow's first stage.