Utrecht (Netherlands), July 5 (IANS): BMC cyclist Rohan Dennis won the first stage of the Tour de France here with the fastest ever individual time trial/prologue in tour history.

The Australian recorded an average speed of 54.45 km/hour on Saturday in the 13.8 km stage in the streets of Utrecht to grab his first stage win in 'La Grance Boucle'. The 25-year-old will now start the second stage from Utrecht to Neeltje Jans in the yellow leaders jersey, reports Xinhua.

Germany's Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick-Step) came in second on five seconds, Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara (Trek) finished third on six seconds and local favourite Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) had to settle for fourth on eight seconds.

Despite the warm temperature of above 30 degrees Celsius, the tour start here attracted 350,000 spectators along the track. It was the sixth time the Tour de France started in the Netherlands. On Monday, the peloton will leave the country again to move into Belgium for the third stage. The tour will finish on July 26 in Paris.