Britain’s Alex Dowsett (Trek-Livestrong) claimed fourth place in Monday’s Olympia’s Tour prologue in the Netherlands.



Averaging 49kph, Dowsett finished thirty seconds down on stage winner and teammate Taylor Phinney on the 10-kilometre course around Heerenveen, with fellow teammate Jesse Sergent in second place.



Australian Luke Durbridge was the man to prevent a Trek-Livestrong 1-2-3, finishing three seconds ahead of Dowsett. Nevertheless, it was a dominant performance from the US-based development outfit, placing seven riders in the top fourteen.



The result underlines Dowsett’s quick adaptation to the professional ranks this year. Having started the season mixing it with ProTour squads at the Tours of Qatar and Oman, he has gone on to perform well in American races, such as the Tour of the Gila and Tour of the Battenkill.



The Olympia’s Tour, which has been monopolised by the Rabobank development squad in recent years – past winners include Lars Boom, Thomas Dekker and Stef Clement – concludes with a 9.5-kilometre individual time-trial around Hoofddorp on Saturday.



The 21-year-old will then race U23 Paris-Roubaix before returning to the UK for the Ryedale GP in early June.



His key objective this year is the under-23 men’s time trial at the European Championships in July.



Related links

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Dowsett retains Gila sprint jersey

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Dowsett signs with Trek-Livestrong