Patrick Gretsch of Germany won the opening time trial prologue at the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta del Sol in Spain.

The Project 1t4i rider clocked a time of six minutes 49 seconds on the 6km course in San Fernando to win by two seconds from local hope Markel Irizar Aranburu (RadioShack).

France's Jerome Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) came third a further second back.

The race begins in earnest on Monday with a 198km stage from San Fernando to Benalmadena.

Eurosport