Drucker wins Skoda Tour de Luxembourg prologue

BMC Racing's Jean-Pierre "Jempy" Drucker took the first win of the 2016 Skoda Tour de Luxembourg on Wednesday, covering the 2.9km prologue time trial in 4:20, three seconds faster than runner-up Maurits Lammertink (Roompot-Oranje Peloton) and four seconds faster than BMC teammate Tom Bohli.

The 29-year-old from Luxembourg was just the 21st of 113 starters and faced a long day in the hot seat after taking over the lead from Bohli, who was the eighth rider of the day. Lammertink, however, was the penultimate rider off the line, starting 90 minutes after Drucker and providing a heart-stopping finale as he came within seconds of the win. Instead, Drucker held on for just his second individual win as a professional.

"It's nice," he said after the stage. "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."

Wet and slippery conditions made the short, technical course even more challenging, but Drucker, who came to road racing from cyclo-cross, was able to handle the weather.

"For me, it wasn't too bad that it was raining and wet as I am come from a cyclo-cross background," he said. "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 off with the win."

Drucker will now wear the first leader's jersey of the race during Thursday's stage 1, a 170.6km route from Luxembourg to Hesperange.

"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," he said. "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."

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