Millar third in Tour prologue
Two British riders challenged for the yellow jersey as the Tour de France began in Rotterdam - but Bradley Wiggins was not one of them.
The Team Sky leader finished 77th, 56 seconds adrift of Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank), who won the 8.9-kilometre prologue in exactly 10 minutes.
Germany's Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) was 10 seconds adrift in second after leading for much of the day, while David Millar (Team Garmin-Transitions) finished third.
Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong (Team RadioShack) was fourth - 34 seconds ahead of Wiggins - with Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) fifth and race favourite Alberto Contador (Astana) sixth.
A second Team Sky rider made the top 10, with Edvald Boasson Hagen finishing ninth, 32 seconds behind world and Olympic time-trial champion Cancellara.
Having won his fourth prologue, Cancellara will wear the yellow jersey for tomorrow's first road stage from Rotterdam to Brussels, which is expected to end in a bunch sprint.
A hot and humid morning in Rotterdam turned into an afternoon of showers, with Wiggins hit by a downpour as he started.
The 30-year-old Londoner, who finished third in the time-trial which opened last year's Tour, had suggested he would only need to touch his brakes once, but the weather dictated a more cautious approach.
"I was pretty happy with the way I felt physically and the numbers in front of me," said Wiggins, who finished fourth in the 2009 Tour. "I didn't want to chance anything today.
"I said all along the prologue wasn't the be-all and end-all of this thing for me. I'm just pleased to have got round in one piece, felt good and do what I needed to do."
