Team Astana’s Gregory Rast ripped up the opening prologue, giving it everything he had on the short 2.7km course, Rast stopped the clock at 3:46, a full two-seconds ahead of Skil-Shimano?s Jonathan Hivert.
Holding second place for a time was Rast’s teammate Assan Bazayev, who clocked in at 3:51 and ended up in 4th on the stage. Last out of the blocks was Andreas Kl?den who came in 6th at 3:54, making three Team Astana riders in the top 10
"I’ve had this prologue in my mind a long time," said Rast after his win. "The last two years I was good in this prologue but could not win it. Now I am much stronger and my sprints are better. This prologue was a long sprint."
He continued about plans for the upcoming stages with, "Of course I will try to keep the leader’s jersey. In 2007 I won the overall victory. The climbs are not so steep or hard here. I hope to be able to not lose time uphill to the Schlecks and the Italian riders. On the other hand, with Bazayev and Andreas we have two other riders also able to win this Tour of Luxembourg," Rast concluded.
The first road stage on Thursday is 157km from Luxembourg to Mondorf-les-Bains and should result in a group sprint.
Tour of Luxembourg Top Ten Results
1. RAST Gr?gory ASTANA .03’46"780 42,86km/h
2. HIVERT Jonathan SKIL – SHIMANO .03’48"600 2"
3. FEILLU Romain AGRITUBEL .03’50"730 4"
4. BAZAYEV Assan ASTANA .03’51"350 5"
5. LARSSON Gustav TEAM SAXO BANK .03’52"740 6"
6. KL?DEN Andreas ASTANA .03’54"520 8"
7. COOKE Baden VACANSOLEIL .03’54"600 8"
8. MARCATO Marco VACANSOLEIL .03’54"750 8"
9. MARKOV Alexei TEAM KATUSHA .03’54"950 8"
10. DALL’ANTONIA Tiziano CSF GROUP – NAVIGARE .03’55"420 9"
Website: Tour de Luxembourg (french)
