BMC Racing Team's Tom Bohli finished eighth in the uphill prologue that opened the Tour de l'Eurométropole Wednesday.

Bohli's time of 11:42 on the 7.7-kilometer course was 19 seconds off the winning time by Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale). Martin Keizer (Team LottoNL-Jumbo) was runner-up in 11:26, while third-place finisher Mathias Brändle clocked 11:35.

Bohli is one of three stagiaires competing on the BMC Racing Team's six-rider roster at the five-day race.

"We knew from his time at the BMC Development Team what Tom was capable of, especially since he won the prologue at the Tour de Normandie earlier this year," BMC Racing Team Sport Director Geert Van Bondt said. "He checked out the course yesterday and that was good for his morale. We thought the last 700 meters of the uphill finish would be a little bit too hard for him. But he rode very smart and used the intermediate times we were giving him to gauge his effort."

In addition to his victory at the Tour de Normandie in March, Bohli also won the one-day Berner Rundfahrt race in his home country in May. In August, he led the Tour de l'Avenir for two days, and last Friday he finished 12th at the Under 23 world road championships in Richmond, Virginia.