Tejay van Garderen's fourth place in the Tour de France prologue was a handy boost for Cadel Evans' title defence.
Whatever misgivings Evans had about losing 10 seconds to British rival Brad Wiggins, he would have been rapt to see van Garderen in such strong form. BMC recruited van Garderen specifically as a crucial "domestique", or helper, for Evans during the high mountain stages.
A 6.4km pancake-flat prologue time trial has nothing in common with the epic passes through the Alps and Pyrenees that will come later in the Tour. But the first glimpse of the riders around inner Liege yesterday showed van Garderen has strong form.
The 23-year-old American finished 10 seconds behind stage winner Fabian Cancellara and leads the best-young-rider category.
"I'm thrilled, I worked really hard for it and I think it just shows my form is on schedule to help Cadel in the mountains and throughout the rest of the Tour," he said.