Germany’s Paul Voss on Monday won the first stage of the Tour of Catalonia in northeastern Spain, a 3.6-kilometer individual time trial, edging American Levi Leipheimer.

The Milram rider covered the 3.6 kilometres in four minutes, 57 seconds in the town of Lloret de Mar, one second faster than Leipheimer and two seconds less than fellow German Andreas Kloeden, both members of American Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack team.

Voss, who turns 24 on Friday, is the first leader of the 90th Tour of Catalonia, in which two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and Britain’s Olympic gold medalist Bradley Wiggins are among the big names missing.

In their absence, Luxemburg’s Andy Schleck and Russia’s Denis Menchov are among the favourites.

But neither made a strong showing in the time trial, which was disrupted by rain, with Menchov finishing 120th, 25 seconds behind Voss, and Schleck 131st, 27 seconds back.

British sprint specialist Mark Cavendish was seventh, four seconds slower than Voss.

Contador, who recently claimed his second victory in the Paris-Nice stage race, was scheduled to race in Catalonia but decided to change his plans last week.

His decision was seen by some as a direct attempt to provoke rival Armstrong, who is scheduled to race the Criterium International in Corsica.

File Photo By: CorVos Pro