Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara will wear the leader's jersey in the second stage of the Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain) after his decisive win in Saturday's opening stage, which was held on the racetrack in the Dutch town of Assen.

Cancellara, who rides for the Saxo Bank cycling team, rode the 4.8 kilometer time trial in 5 minutes and 20 seconds to finish nine seconds ahead of former World Champion Tom Boonen.

A time trail specialist, Cancellara also won the prologue of this year' s Tour de France in Monaco.

Garmin-Slipsteam rider Tyler Farrar was third on 5 minutes 32 seconds, while pre-race favorite Alejandro Valderde finished in ninth place, just 18 seconds behind Cancellara.

Another favorite Samuel Sanchez finished 24 seconds off the pace, a second ahead of Alexander Vinokourov, who was making his return to competition after a two-year ban for doping.

The three-week-long Vuelta is the third most important race in the cycling calendar and is only beaten in importance by the Giro d' Italia and the Tour de France.

This year's race begins with four days racing in Holland, Belgium and Germany before transferring to Spain on Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2009)