Norway's Thor Hushovd of the Credit Agricole team won the prologue of the Paris-Nice stage race, a 4.6-km individual time trial around Amilly.

The Credit Agricole team leader, who won a Tour de France prologue in 2006, mastered the slippery course and resisted headwinds to win the 4.6km time-trial in five minutes and 28 seconds.

A steady drizzle fell on the road for most of the prologue, favouring the early starters, who had the luck to ride on a dry course, and the very last riders, who started when the tarmac had dried up a bit.

Unfancied Basque Markel Irizar took an unexpected second place, four seconds adrift.

Germany's Stefan Schumacher, who started last, was third fastest, in the same time of 5:33 as Australian Bradley McGee, a Tour de France prologue winner in 2003.

"The last two kilometres were very windy, with a lot of headwind. But I managed my race well with the help of (team mate) William Bonnet, who started early and gave me good advice," Hushovd said.

Bonnet was fifth, a second behind McGee. Hampered by weather conditions, the other favourites were far from their best.

Winner of last year's prologue, Briton David Millar had to be content with 12th place, 11 seconds behind the winner.

But Millar may have other ambitions: "I climbed the Mount Ventoux twice last week and Paris-Nice is one of my big objectives of the early season," he said.

The Mount Ventoux stage on Thursday is expected to be the highlight of the week.

Last year's Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans, another one of the leading contenders for overall victory, was a disappointing 36th, 17 seconds off the pace.

Italy's Davide Rebellin, second last year behind Spaniard Alberto Contador, was a lowly 81st.

The absence from the race of Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, rejected by organisers Amaury Sports Organisation with his whole Astana team, was one of many elements of a bitter feud between ASO and the International Cycling Union that has overshadowed the event.

After the Court of Arbitration for Sport declined to rule over the dispute on Friday, 15 members of the Association

of Professional Cycling Teams voted to go ahead and take part in the race despite the threat of expulsion from the UCI.

Seven other teams abstained but accepted the majority decision.

ASO, which also runs the Tour de France, has refused to join the ProTour amid a dispute with the UCI over who competes in ASO events.

Monday's first stage takes the peloton to Nevers over 184.5 kms.

Reuters