The Tour de Eurometropole got underway today with a 7.8km prologue made tougher by some windy conditions and a tough final climbing kilometer. Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) would pull on the leaders jersey after besting Martijn Keizer (Lotto Jumbo) and Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling) today.

With the Tour de Eurometropol typically suiting the sprinters, it will take some attacking riding to really shake up the GC after today’s tougher than expected prologue. MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung’s Serge Pauwels was the highest placed finisher on the day, riding home +59″ down on Gougeard. The time gap should allow the Belgian star to go on the attack in the coming days.

The other African Team riders all got around the course unscathed and will now look to take their opportunities with some attacking racing. If the expected bunch sprints do materialize, riders like Ciolek and Bos will certainly look to feature.

"I am no specialist at these prologues so for me I felt today went okay. It was a really hard prologue because there was a headwind for most of the course and then it was also all uphill. It will be good to get into the road stages coming up over the next few days now," Pauwels said.