Cancellara wins TDF prologue

Rotterdam - Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the prologue of the Tour de France on Saturday, with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong finishing an impressive fourth at the start of what he's calling his last Tour.

Cancellara, who won the prologue of the Tour of Switzerland last month, clocked 10 minutes for the individual time trial along 8.9km of rain-dampened roads in Rotterdam.

Germany's Tony Martin, who led for most of the day, was second, 10 seconds back, and David Millar of Britain placed third - 20 seconds off the pace.

Armstrong trailed 22 seconds back in fourth. Perhaps most impressively, the American edged out rival Alberto Contador of Spain - the defending Tour champion and runaway pre-race favourite.

Riders set off one by one down the starter's ramp for the race against the clock. Contador went last - right before Cancellara and Armstrong.

Cancellara will don the race leader's yellow jersey for Sunday's 223.5km first stage across wind-swept lowlands from Rotterdam to Brussels.

The three-week race ends on July 25 in Paris.

Prologue Results:

1. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland, Team Saxo Bank, 10 minutes.
2. Tony Martin, Germany, Team HTC-Columbia, 10 seconds behind.
3. David Millar, Britain, Garmin-Transitions, :20.
4. Lance Armstrong, United States, Team RadioShack, :22.
5. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Sky Pro Cycling, :23.
6. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, :27.
7. Tyler Farrar, United States, Garmin-Transitions, :28
8. Levi Leipheimer, United States, Team RadioShack, same time.
9. Edval Boasson Hagen, Norway, Sky Pro Cycling, :32.
10. Linus Gerdemann, Germany, Team Milram, :35.
11. Brent Bookwalter, United States, BMC Racing Team, same time.
12. Adriano Malori, Italy, Lampre-Farnese, same time.
13. Janez Brajkovic, Slovenia, Team RadioShack, same time.
14. Michael Rogers, Australia, Team HTC-Columbia, same time.
15. Ruben Plaza, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, :36.
16. Niki Terpstra, Netherlands, Team Milram, same time.
17. Andreas Kloeden, Germany, Team RadioShack, same time.
18. Vasil Kiryienka, Belarus, Caisse d'Epargne, :38.
19. Alexandre Vinokourov, Kazakhstan, Astana, :38.
20. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas-Doimo, same time.