Phinney takes prologue at Eneco

Taylor Phinney (BMC) won the prologue of the Eneco Tour. The 21-year-old was the only rider to go under seven minutes on the 5.7km course. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) was second, seven seconds down with David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) in third, a further second adrift.

“I’m really happy. I just went out there and felt good. It was just a power course, and I was able to go through it really fast,” Phinney said after recording his first win since turning professional at the start of the year.

Over the short, technical course, Phinney was always going to be a threat, using his bike handling skills and pursuit prowess to good effect. However it was Robert Wagner (Leopard Trek) who set the best early time.

He was toppled by Phinney’s track pursuit rival Jessie Sergeant (RadioShack), who blitzed through to take the lead. A host of names failed to dislodge the RadioShack rider, including Sky’s Geraint Thomas and it looked as though Sergeant would take the biggest win of his career.

However, despite holding the lead for over 30 minutes, Sergeant was knocked from the top spot as Rabobank’s Jos Van Emden and then HTC’s Alex Rasmussen set new fastest times.

But it was Phinney who raised the bar to a new level, beating Rasmussen by nine seconds.

With Millar, Boassen Hagen and Lars Boom still to come, Phinney had an anxious wait before being confirmed as the stage winner.

“I’ve had a relatively relaxed week, and it was all about building up for this prologue. I was surprised how good I was in the warm up, and I knew it was going to be a good day. It was wet and windy. I knew I was going to take some risks and I’ve got the scars to prove it, but the weather cleared up.”

Phinney will look to defend his race lead in tomorrow’s 192.1km stage from Oosterhout - Sint Willebrord.

“It’s a good race for me, and racing in Belgium and Hollans is my thing. There’s a time trial in a couple of days so if I can hold the lead through to then, I will. I will look forward to the challenge.”

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