American cyclist David Zabriskie upstaged Britain's Bradley Wiggins among others to win the Dauphine Libere prologue on Saturday.
Zabriskie won the Tour de France prologue last summer
The race is seen as a major form guide ahead of July's Tour de France, where Wiggins is hopeful of winning the race's opener.
But the Manchester-based rider was 11 seconds off Zabriskie's pace.
Lance Armstrong's former team-mate George Hincapie finished second, with Australian Stuart O'Grady in third.
Hincapie's ride was even more impressive considering it was his first since crashing in the Paris-Roubaix in April.
Stage winner Zabriskie, meanwhile, is a prologue specialist having upstaged Armstrong last year to win the Tour de France opener.
1. David Zabriskie (USA/Team CSC) 04:35"
2. George Hincapie (USA/Discovery Channel) +2"
3. Stuart O'Grady (Australia/Team CSC) +6"
4. Sebastian Lang (Germany/Gerolsteiner) +7"
5. Joost Posthuma (Netherlands/Rabobank) +8"
6. Stijn Devolder (Belgium/CSC) same time
7. Alejandro Valverde (Spain/Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
8. Vladimiar Gusev (Russia/Discovery Channel) s.t.
9. Floyd Landis (USA/Phonak) s.t.
10. Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan/Astana-Wurth) s.t.
21. Bradley Wiggins (GB/Credit Agricole) +11"