The opening prologue of the Tour de Luxembourg saw riders take on a technical 2.6km city course. The victory would go to Adrien Petit (Cofidis) after just 3’58” minutes of effort. Bryan Coquard (Europcar) was 2nd and Arnaud Geraud (Bretagne-Seche) rounded out the podium.
There was a brief moment of excitement in the MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung camp as Matt Brammeier was initially said to have crossed the line with a blistering fast 3’52”. This was clearly incorrect as Matt actually had to walk the final kilometer after succumbing to a mechanical incident.
The fastest MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung rider would in fact be our South African, Jaco Venter. Jaco came home 10″ seconds off the winning time which would be good enough for 16th on the day. Andy Stauff would follow just a few split seconds later to claim 17th on the stage.
With the prologue only being 2.6km long though, all the times were within seconds of each other ensuring all is still to play for over the coming 4 road stages. MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will keep to its intial plan of targeting a good GC result with Kristian Sbaragli and Youcef Reguigui.
Jaco Venter – Rider
