did it seem to anyone else that the commentators were saying everything they could to imply that he was doped to the eyeballs ?

was it a 50 yard timetrial prologue ?

(2.9km – was it Chris Hoy ?)

Eurosport? About to watch it now.

They certainly sounded surprised.

They said it was unexpected, a surprise. 2.9km is hardly going to be massively improved by doping anyhow. Taking a good line and hitting corners perfectly is how you win this sort of prologue. I didn’t take the same inference as you have at all. It’s a horrible indictment that any surprise win immediately attracts accusation of doping…

I’ve just read the Cyclingnews report and apparently he was part of the French team pursuit squad so his victory does not seem so surprising in that context.

Plus, as pointed out above in a short, twisty turny course like that luck and bike handling will play a big part.