World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Team CSC won the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California Sunday afternoon in downtown Palo Alto.

Cancellara completed the 3.4 kilometer (2.1 mile) course in 3 minutes and 51 seconds, beating second place Bradley Wiggins of Team High Road by about 6 seconds.

Cancellara was one of the favorites for the day, along with defending Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer, who placed fourth, and Wiggins, the raining World Pursuit Champion.

The race course started in front of City Hall, went down University Ave and Palm Drive, circled the Stanford Oval and ended on Palm Drive. 132 cyclists from 16 teams rode the course, one at a time.

The prologue is the first of eight stages of the Amgen Tour of California. On Monday, the riders will bike from Sausalito to Santa Rosa for Stage 1 of the tour.

Top Twenty Finishers

1. 42 SUI 19810318 CANCELLARA Fabian CSC .03’51″211

2. 38 GBR19800428 WIGGINS Bradley THR .03’55″980 4″

3. 98 USA19840602 FARRAR Tyler TSL .03’56″463 5″

4. 1 USA19731024 LEIPHEIMER Levi AST .03’57″525 6″

5. 36 NOR19870517 HAGEN Edvald Boasson* THR .03’58″89 17″

6. 45 SWE19800920 LARSSON Gustav CSC .03’59″199 8″

7. 92 USA19790112 ZABRISKIE David TSL .03’59″584 …

8. 32 GBR19850521 CAVENDISH Mark* THR .03’59″651 …

9. 91 GBR19770104 MILLAR David TSL .03’59″789 …

10. 96 USA19850303 COZZA Steven* TSL .04’00″125 9″

11. 141 USA19780922 JACQUES-MAYNES Benjamin BPC .04’00″172 …

12. 93 USA19760522 VANDEVELDE Christian TSL .04’01″234 10″

13. 31 USA19730629 HINCAPIE George THR .04’01″943 …

14. 37 SWE19840404 LÖVKVIST Thomas THR .04’02″338 11″

15. 124 AUS19770617 MENZIES Karl HNM .04’02″602 …

16. 4 USA19711023 HORNER Christopher AST .04’03″558 12″

17. 3 RUS19820704 GUSEV Vladimir AST .04’04″046 13″

18. 43 AUS19730806 O’GRADY Stuart CSC .04’04″253 …

19. 23 UKR19850930 GRABOVSKYY Dmytro* QST .04’04″406 …

20. 126 USA19841215 MURPHY John HNM .04’04″479 …