Yesterday, young Dutch talent Wilco Kelderman (Blanco) once again proved to the world that he has a special flair for short, technical prologues. At the Paris-Nice opener, he was narrowly beaten into 4th to don the first white young rider's jersey.

Since beating the world elite on the prologue of the 2011 edition of the Tour de l'Ain when he was still a part of the Rabobank Continental Team, the cycling world has known that Wilco Kelderman is a talented prologue rider. Keeping this in mind, it came as no surprise when he beat the best time held by Geoffrey Soupe in yesterday's opening of the Paris-Nice.

After ending up 4th and donning the white young rider's jersey, he declared himself pleased with his sensations.

“I felt already good on the Tacx and during the training on the track this morning," he stated after the race. "I started with confidence because of the great amount of corners and the few straight parts in this short prologue. On the last 200 metres uphill I had some power left for a final jump."

His strong start to the race has, however, not changed his overall perspective on the race. Even if he proved in last year's Criterium du Dauphine and Tour of California that he is himself a strong GC rider, he knows that his role in this race is to be a key domestique in the mountains for team captain Robert Gesink who got a strong start with a 19th place yesterday. With a couple of flat stages on the near horizon, he even sees possibilities in the immediate future, and with strongmen Maarten Tjallingii and Rick Flens, the team is in a position to use difficult wind conditions to its advantage while also working for its sprinter Mark Renshaw.

" I am really happy with this jersey, but the general classification for Robert Gesink stays our main focus this week," Kelderman continued. "Tomorrow seems to be a windy stage. Hopefully we can take initiative in the echelons. It could be a nice day for Mark Renshaw."

Unfortunately for Kelderman, the weather forecast predicts sun and light wind, and so his plans to cause havoc on the peloton may prove more difficult than he would wish.