Teutenberg powers to prologue win

Columbia's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won the opening prologue of La Route de France Feminine Sunday, clocking the fastest time in the 3.2km prologue in the town of Dijon. Teutenberg's time of 4'33" put her in the lead by one second over Belgian Grace Verbeke (Lotto Belisol) and three seconds to Edwige Pitel (Team Pro Féminin Les Carroz).

"I've been trying to win a prologue all year," said Teutenberg. "I'm pretty happy because this was not actually the one I expected to win." The German sprinter has had plenty of success in road stages this season, taking triple victories in the women's Giro d'Italia alone.

"The course was really nice," she added."Fast roads with not too many corners and some little hills where you really needed to keep the pressure on." "Winning the prologue takes the pressure off a bit. We can relax now going into the first stage." Monday's first stage is a short and flat stage starting in Dijon.