The short 3.95 kilometres course got the 70th edition of the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race underway, with The Netherlands’ Tom Dumoulin tipped as one of the favourites to post the fastest time.

An impressive display saw the Giant-Alpecin complete the distance in a time of 5min 39sec, but it proved only good enough for the 25-year-old Dutchman to finish second in the standings.

Instead it was Izagirre, who opted to ride the challenging route on his aerodynamic bike, who was able to celebrate victory at the close of the prologue.

The 27-year-old Movistar rider finished in 5:33 to earn the yellow jersey.

He will head into the first stage of the race seven seconds clear of Team Sky duo Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland and Britain’s Geraint Thomas, who ended third in the prologue.

America’s Tejay Van Garderen, one of the contenders for the overall victory, completed the course 11 seconds down on the winner.

Thibaut Pinot of France and Colombia’s Nairo Quintana were among the big names in the top 20, ending 12 and 16 seconds behind Izagirre respectively.

Tomorrow will see the peloton tackle a flat 166km stage from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Moudon, with the first mountain stage taking place the following day from Moudon to Morgins.

A second chance for time trial specialists will come on stage three, when they tackle a 15km test against the clock in Sion.

The penultimate stage oh April 30 will consist of a 173km mountain stage from Conthey to Villars-sur-Ollon, while racing due to draw to a close with a 172km flat stage from Ollon to Geneva on Sunday (May 1).