Geraint Thomas made a strong start to his Paris-Nice victory bid as he eked out vital seconds over his main rivals in the opening prologue on Sunday.

The Cardiff-born flier finished seventh fastest after clocking seven minutes 46 seconds on the short 3.6mile blast that started the eight day race.

But that left Thomas three seconds ahead of defending champ and ex-Team Sky team-mate Richie Porte while Spain’s Alberto Contador was nine seconds slower.

Thomas is one of the favourites for the race that his Sky team have dominated in recent years and sets a marker for the coming Grand Tour campaigns.

And the Monaco-based racer is also keen to claim back-to-back wins following his victory on last month’s Volta ao Algarve.

Thomas’ time was seven secs slower than prologue winner Michael Matthews as the Aussie finished one sec ahead of Holland’s Tom Dumoulin who will also be a title threat.