Froome last man off in Herald Sun Tour prologue

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Defending Herald Sun Tour champion Chris Froome will be the last rider of 104 starters to roll down the ramp in Federation Square in the opening 2.1km prologue to kick off the 64th running of Australia's oldest stage race. The Team Sky rider finished 27th in last year's prologue over the same parcours and is looking to get his defence off to a bright start before the queen stage Thursday to Falls Creek.

Former New Zealand champion Jason Christie will be the first rider to start at 6:15:45pm with riders to head off at 45 seconds intervals thereafter. Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) will roll out at 6:36:45pm.

The winner of the prologue for the last two years running, Will Clarke, is absent from the start list in 2017, as is Jack Bauer who won the inaugural twilight race in 2014 to ensure there will be a new victor crowned at Queensbridge Square Wednesday night. Clarke set a blistering time of 2:37.27 minutes at an average speed of 49.1km/h with the challenge for the 2017 peloton to better his winning time.

Michael Storer (KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team) and Ben Dyball (St George Continental) are two riders expected to be early challengers and hot seat occupants with Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) also likely to fire on a course suited to his parcours. Orica-Scott's Sam Bewley, and Damien Howson, along with JLT Condor's Brenton Jones have been top-five on this course before and will be chasing the victory. Leigh Howard with Aqua Blue Sports is another late starter sure to make his mark on the top-ten.

Penultimate starter Michael Hepburn (Orica-Scott) is another rider to throw into the mix for what promises to be a fast and furious affair for the fourth year running on the banks of the Yarra River. 

2017 Herald Sun Tour prologue start times