Spectators lined up along the route to watch the trials
More than 180 competitors rode the 7.9km time trial prologue from Whitehall to The Mall, taking in landmarks such as Buckingham Palace.
About 4,500 police officers guarded the London leg of the race with assistance from a team of 45 French officers.
Security has been heightened after last week's suspected car bomb attempts in London and Glasgow.
The trials started at 1500 BST and ended just after 1800 BST.
This is the first time the speed trials, also known as the Grand Depart, have been held in London.
Road Closures Whitehall Parliament Street Parliament Square Millbank up to Lambeth Bridge Broad Sanctuary Victoria Street Buckingham Gate Spur Road Constitution Hill Hyde Park Corner Grosvenor Place north of Hobart Place Park Lane south of Curzon Gate
Continental colour hits streets
Police Superintendent Ian Chappell said "We have reviewed our measures to make sure they are appropriate and respectful of the Tour de France's tradition as an open event, a free event."
Hyde Park was transformed into a village with a giant screen and numerous food stalls.
Eighteen other giant screens were also put up along the route.
Starting at Whitehall, cyclists sped along Parliament Square, Victoria Street, Buckingham Gate and Constitution Hill before finishing at The Mall.
Whitehall, Parliament Street and Victoria Embankment, will be closed throughout the weekend while most of the roads along the route will remain closed until 2100 BST.
Other roads which will be closed are: Kensington Road (east of the Royal Albert Hall), South Carriage Drive, West Carriage Drive, Serpentine Road, Pall Mall, Pall Mall East, Haymarket south of Charles II Street, Cockspur Street, Strand, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross Road south of Cambridge Circus and Northumberland Avenue.
Transport for London have put in 11,000 bike parking spaces mainly in Hyde Park, Green Park, Millbank and near the Albert Memorial.
At least half a million onlookers turned out to line the route as the Tour de France Prologue closed the streets of Central London for a day. Setting off at one minute intervals the 180 plus riders took less than ten minutes to speed past some of London's most memorable landmarks. With the eventual winner World time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara completing the 7.9 kilometre individual time trial in 8 minutes 50 seconds.

Fabian Cancellara
The Tour had to compete with more familiar sporting events, the British Grand Prix, the closing stages of Wimbledon and with the Live Earth concerts for the heart's of the British public. However some say as many as a million turned out for the Gallic extravaganza; the party atmosphere aided by a turn in the weather, the sun coming out for the first time all summer.

Run on the second anniversary of the 2005 terrorist attacks and at a time  of heightened security, policing was successfully discrete the most visible police presence, by way of their novelty being, 45 members of the Gendarme Nationale.

Coming to England for the first time since 1994 fans new and old had the course of the day and the three hours of the trials to familiarise themselves with the French institution. The initial good natured cheering on of every rider, growing into real excitement as the shape of the race emerged. At the end of the day the standings were:




Rank

Name

Country

Team

Time



'''1'''

'''Fabian Cancellara'''

'''Switzerland'''

'''Team CSC'''

    '''8'50"'''



2 

Andréas Klöden

Germany

Astana Team

 13"



3 

George Hincapie

USA

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

 23"



4 

Bradley Wiggins

Great Britain

Cofidis

 23"



5 

Vladimir Gusev

Russia

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

 25"



6 

Vladimir Karpets

Russia

Caisse d'Epargne

 26" 



7 

Alexandre Vinokourov

Kazakhstan

Astana Team

 30"



8 

Thomas Dekker

Netherlands

Rabobank

 31"



9

Manuel Quinziato

Italy

Liquigas

 32"



10 

Benoît Vaugrenard

France

Française des Jeux

 32"