Jempy Drucker of BMC took the victory in the Skoda Tour De Luxembourg prologue.
A wet evening in Luxembourg City on a technical 2.9km course with sections of cobbles including one to the finish line, meant that it was a stage which was more about bike handling than speed.
BMC's Jempy Drucker set the early time to beat of 4.20 and it was a time that was to stand the test of time and give him the win ahead of Maurits Lammertink (Roompot-Oranje Peloton), who was two seconds down and Tom Bohli (BMC Racing Team) who was four seconds down.
Drucker said abour his win: "It's nice! I have't won many races yet so I feel really happy to win today. It's even better to win in Luxembourg as I don't get a lot of chances to race here so to do a good prologue and go into the leader's jersey is great.
"It definitely gives me an extra boost going into tomorrow's stage as well as looking forward to the rest of the week knowing that I will be wearing the leader's jersey. It's a late night tonight but it's the same for everyone so there is no disadvantage. We just have to rest up and prepare as best we can for tomorrow.
"For me, it wasn't too bad that it was raining and wet as I am come from a cyclo-cross background. I know how to turn fast, keep up good speed and handle the bike well which was really important for me today. I left it all out there on the road and thankfully it paid of with the win."
BMC Sport director, Jackson Stewart said: "We were a bit worried about the weather but as it turned out every rider had to ride in the rain so it made everyone a little bit nervous. Jempy took some good lines and he really knew his maximum effort on the cobbled climb. I think he timed everything really well and it was same with [Tom] Bohli, and the rest of the guys really."
"When it's wet you have to have another level of good bike handling skills and that's one of Jempy's strengths he is just an amazing bike handler. This prologue met exactly what he could do physically and combined with his knowledge of the roads and turns, he had everything he needed to do well. There is definitely a good morale amongst the team and now we have a jersey to try and defend so we will see how it goes from here."