Lance Armstrong was upstaged by defending champion Andre Greipel on the first stage of the Tour Down Under on Tuesday.
Seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong, making his comeback after retiring three years ago, finished among the peloton as Greipel took the 140-kilometre stage through South Australia.
Australians Baden Cooke (UniSA) and Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank) finished second and third.
Ireland's Nicholas Roche finished in a superb 12th place.
‘That was tough, and this is the day they said was going to be the easy day,’ Armstrong said.
The Texan was greeted at the finish line by Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd.
A time bonus in a sprint means Team Columbia rider Greipel will take an 11-second lead into the second stage (from Hanhdorf to Stirling in the Adelaide Hills).
Home favourite Robbie McEwen hurt his arm after he clipped a spectator's camera in the sprint home. He may miss stage two with the injury.
German Greipel said his team-mates were keen to make amends after missing out on a victory in the Cancer Council Classic criterium on Sunday.
‘Today we tried again and I think we were the strongest team today and I had a really good lead out from everyone. In the end we had good luck on our side,’ Greipel said after the race.
Leading positions after Stage 1 (Norwood - Mawson Lakes):
1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia - High Road 3hrs 45mins 27secs, 2 Baden Cooke (Aus) UniSA at same time, 3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank at same time, 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha at same time, 5 Jacopo Guanieri (Ita) Liquigas at same time, 6 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step at same time, 7 Willem Stroetinga (Ned) Team Milram at same time, 8 Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Francaise Des Jeux at same time, 9 Luca Barla (Ita) Team Milram at same time, 10 Andrea Grendene (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C at same time
General classification after Stage 1:
1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia - High Road 3hrs 45mins 16secs, 2 Baden Cooke (Aus) UniSA at 0.05, 3 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence - Lotto at same time, 4 Stuart O'grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank at 0.07, 5 Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi at same time, 6 William Walker (Aus) Fuji-Servetto at 0.10, 7 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Team Katusha at 0.11, 8 Jacopo Guanieri (Ita) Liquigas at same time, 9 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step at same time, 10 Willem Stroetinga (Ned) Team Milram at same time
