The shortest of short stages as the Prologue for this race. It'll be an early battle among the fast men against the clock to get the first leader's jersey of the race. Given the extremely short distance, some surprises are a distinct possibility!
We catch up with Prevar first. He clocks in at 3'1" to be 5th for the moment. Veyhe holds the fastest time till now - 2'56".
Sipos goes fastest with 2'53".
Vangstad is the next to go top. He clocks in at 2'50".
Simon Yates at 2'53".
Olman is the new leader with 2'49"!
Kittel matches Olman's time but is given 1st place by milliseconds!
Nerz gets 2'54".
Te Brake with a good run, clocking in 2'50" and is 3rd at the moment.
Viennet goes fastest! His time is 2'46", a significant improvement, given the short course!
Chiarello stops the clock at 2'53".
Keinath is 2" faster at 2'51".
Konrad's time is 2'55".
Jungels goes 2nd. His time is 2'48".
Gunman with a cracking run, ties Viennet but the latter is still on top. 2nd place for the Jayco rider.
Downey goes 3rd at 2'48".
Kangert clocks 2'50".
2'49" for Bartl. A good ride.
And now Herklotz with exactly the same time! 2'49" for him too.
Dempster clocks in at 2'47", just 1" off the top time. He's 3rd for the moment.
Balloni gets 2'49", to go 8th.
Goos with a great ride to move into 4th. His time is 2'48".
Kragh Andersen gets 2'49".
Barton is 3rd! 2'47" for him.
Sanchez Gil clocks 2'52".
Bibby goes 5th, with a time of 2'48".
Nepomnyachsniy matches Bibby. 2'48" for him too.
Beltran is 12" off at 2'58".
Nairo Quintana comes home in 2'54".
Reis (Porto - Prio) clocks 2'49".
Choi with 2'52".
Adam Yates gets 2'54".
Gesink as the last rider. We've saved the best for last! Gesink goes fastest and will be the first Yellow Jersey holder of this race! His time is 2'45".
Today's winner and overnight leader - Robert Gesink.
Gesink wins the stage and realistically keeps the possibility of not losing it throughout the race open. A tough ask, but he's the best across all decisive terrains of this race. Jungels leads the U25 classifications while Vesuvio top the Teams standings.
