least entertaining.

So it was yesterday with the opening segment of the Bermuda Grand Prix, a ten-mile time trial that sets the table for today's tactical 75-mile road race and Sunday's all-out street criterium.

Best cumulative time over the three days takes the pot. And with talented team-mates protecting the leader, a scant few seconds can seem like an eternity over the next two days.

That being the case, Olin Bakke, a 28-year-old Californian, is sitting pretty, having destroyed the ten-mile St. David's course in 19 minutes and 19 seconds yesterday.

And it also means that Bermuda's Elliot Hubbard, a stunning winner of Thursday night's Conyers Dill and Pearman Classic in Hamilton, will be hard-pressed to duplicate his 1996 overall title, despite clocking a respectable 20:19, good for ninth.

Not only does Bakke own a 14-second lead over Frank McCormack, he also rides for a Shaklee team which won the Grand Prix over the same course a year ago.

Team-mates Sean Van Court, Matthew Kuschara and Jonas Carney will be watching his back but if he should falter, Van Court -- who was fifth yesterday with a time of 19:57 -- will be ready to step in.

But given that McCormack, who was second behind Hubbard on Thursday, rides for Saturn, perhaps the top team in the US, the battle lines are drawn.

"Definitely, it's still anybody's game,'' said Bakke.

Indeed, Kuschara and Carney are both sick, although they put in a game effort yesterday.

And McCormack can take solace in the fact he and his team arrived in Bermuda without what he calls their "aero gear'' -- that is bikes, wheels and helmets specially designed for time trials.

He indicated as much on Thursday, saying the time trial "would set the precedent'' for the rest of the weekend.

Just 15 seconds down, with team-mates in fourth (Mike McCarthy), sixth (Bart Bowen) and seventh (Chris Wherry) is a pretty good precedent.

"What'll happen more than likely is that Frank McCormack will watch me and I expect the attack will come from his team-mates,'' said Bakke. "We'll likely have to be more on the defensive. It will be difficult for us to set the tempo for 75 miles.'' Although Hubbard prefers the distance, he'll need lots of help from his team-mates, one of whom, Adam Laurent, was only two seconds behind him yesterday, while another, Ed Beamon, fell and did his trial over again, finally finishing 14th.

One by one, a minute apart, they took off from Clearwater Beach, nearly 100 riders in all, racing only against the clock.

Bakke, like many of other racers, found the course -- two five-mile loops around the Baselands -- to his liking.

"The first time around I got an idea of what was going on,'' he said. "The second time I could go faster in the corners and it felt a lot more comfortable, a lot easier. I just wish I could have gone as fast the first time as I did the second.'' The surprise yesterday was probably Scott Wood, who is only a Category II rider from New Jersey's MBS team, who turned in a 20:47, better than all but a handful of world-class pros. Another amateur, Jonathan Wirsing of Snow Valley, was eighth in 20:18.

George Hincapie, one of the most decorated pros in the race, was 12th in 20:36 and faces a difficult chore today without his US Postal Service team-mates.