Jõeäär wins prologue in Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen

Little-known Estonian rider Gert Joeäär became the first leader of the 2014 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, scorching the 7km prologue in a time of 7:53, a full five seconds quicker than FDJ.fr's Johan Le Bon. Defending champion Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) was third in 8:01.

Joeäär turned professional last year at the relatively late age of 25, after winning a stage of the Ronde de l'Oise. In 2013, he won the overall Tour of Estonia, but perhaps his top claim to fame in the WorldTour ranks was his presence in the breakaway at last weekend's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. He went on to finish 23rd.

Mild temperatures and dry roads greeted the peloton of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen for the flat, fast opening prologue in Middelkerke.

Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) set the fastest early time; the 21-year-old neo pro's 8:13 lasted nearly an hour until Thomas De Gendt (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) went two seconds quicker.

Florian Senechal made it another Cofidis rider near the top of the leader board, coming just shy of De Gendt's time, but the Dutch rider made it through the first 100 riders in the hot seat before being knocked down a peg by Trek's Jesse Sergent, who clocked at 8:08.

The Kiwi was soon surpassed by his own teammate, a resurgent Stijn Devolder, who hurtled through the course a full four seconds faster.

With just eight riders left to finish, Devolder's hopes of claiming his first win of the season were dashed when another Cofidis rider, Gert Joeaar, blasted through the line to become the first rider to crack the 8 minute mark. The 26-year-old's 7:53 looked like a solid winner.

The final seven riders all tried but failed to unseat Joeaar. Johan Le Bon (FDJ.fr) also came in under 8 minutes, at 7:58, to finish second overall. Defending champion Kristof Vandewalle was third at 8:01.

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