Michal Kwiatkowski produced a demonstration of his time trial prowess to take victory in the prologue stage of the Paris-Nice on Sunday.
The Polish Etixx-QuickStep rider clocked a time of seven minutes and 40 seconds in the 6.7-kilometre time trial around the town of Maurepas to the south west of Paris.
Kwiatkowski finished just 0.3secs ahead of BMC's Rohan Dennis in second, with his team-mate and three-time world time-trial champion Tony Martin finishing third.
"I would look day by day for this race. It's my first time racing Paris-Nice, but I am in great condition," Kwiatkowski said.
"This kind of race I can do it well, but the line-up of Paris-Nice is very good, guys like Richie Porte, so it isn't going to be easy, but I am very motivated."
Astana duo Luis Leon Sanchez and Lars Boom rounded off the top five.
Meanwhile, reigning world time-trial champion Bradley Wiggins could only finish in a disappointing 12th for Team Sky.
The first stage takes place on Monday with a 196.5km ride from Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse to Contres.