American George Hincapie was disappointed after failing to cap some arduous preparation for the Tour de France prologue by pulling on the race's yellow jersey here Saturday.

Hincapie finished third at 23 seconds behind Swiss racer Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and 10 seconds behind Germany's Tour de France hopeful Andreas Klöden (Astana), both of whom are famously strong in the race against the clock.

That fact can only add some silver lining to Hincapie's performance, but he admitted he had hoped to score an upset against the specialists.

"I'm always up there with all of them - I don't have a reason to fear any of them," said Hincapie, who last year missed the yellow jersey by less than a second to Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd.

This time out, the Discovery Channel team rider was simply outclassed.

"I'm disappointed, very much so," said Hincapie. "I wanted to win the prologue here and I'd worked very hard for it. But I gave it all I had. In the last kilometer I was really on the limit."

Hincapie started relatively fast, but at the 4.5km mark the American was already seven seconds slower than Klöden, who had clocked the fastest time of the race thus far. At the finish, Hincapie had failed to overhaul the Astana rider.

"Man, Kloden must have really gone for it," he remarked.

Nevertheless, for Hincapie, the race is far from over. Soon, the race will rejoin the host country and eventually head towards the Alps, then the Pyrenees, where, despite his support role for leader Levi Leipheimer, Hincapie could launch a fresh victory bid.

"We've got a great squad here and we've love to get Levi on the podium,” said Hincapie. "I'm feeling fresh and I'm in great shape. I'd love to grab a stage win for myself."