The 8-man Linda McCartney Foods Cycling Team have successfully negotiated the prologue of Switzerland's Tour of Romandie. The six-day race heads out on the first stage proper today: 225kms between Locarno and Le Bouveret on Lake Geneva.

The man who finished second in last year's Giro d'Italia, Paolo Savoldelli of the Italian Saeco squad was first home round the 6.5km dash. He benefited from the conditions, as the balmy evening in which he completed his ride gave way to a fierce rainfall which affected the later riders. Dane Tayeb Braikia was Linda McCartney's best finisher, only 22 seconds behind Savoldelli. But the team's best ride probably came from Olympic Champion Pascal Richard. He set off as one of the last few riders, in the heart of the downpour, but was only six seconds behind Tayeb. His ride was good enough to beat World No.1 Laurent Jalabert, who was last man off as the defending Tour of Romandie champion. No mean ride by Pascal, especially as Jalabert was crowned World Time Trial Champion when that event last took place in Switzerland.

"The main point of the prologue is always to avoid disasters," reflected team manager Sean Yates. "We don't have a short time-trial specialist like Chris Boardman in the team, so it's a case of staying in contention." That was certainly achieved, with even last McCartney man Matt Stephens finishing a very respectable 44 seconds back on Savoldelli. That time will be nothing when this race hits the mountains. You can follow the action on Eurosport all this week. Results...

Frustratingly for Linda McCartney, the team lined up in Locarno without their expected new signing, Emanuele Lupi. It was thought that the Italian would be joining to strengthen the team for the Giro d'Italia, but in confusing circumstances, it appears that this is now unlikely.

"Lupi came to us on recommendation from Max Sciandri and Franco Ballerini," reported Linda McCartney general manager Julian Clark. "We made him a very good offer and a chance to ride his home tour, which he was apparently very keen to do. Now, for reasons that remain unclear to me, it seems that he won't be coming after all. He's been registered with the UCI, and we've done everything we're supposed to, but he's backed out for some reason. I will just have to consider the matter closed."