ROUEN, France -- Chris Boardman of Britain kicked off the 1997 Tour de France, cycling's most prestigious race, with a victory in Saturday's prologue.

Boardman, a member of the Gan racing team, took the overall leader's yellow jersey by winning the 4.5-mile time trial for the second time in his career with a time of eight minutes, 20 seconds. He also captured the prologue in 1994.

Telekom member Jan Ullrich of Germany, who finished second behind teammate Bjarne Riis of Denmark in last year's race, finished two seconds behind Boardman. Yevgeny Berzin of Russia, a Batik-Del Monte member, placed third, five seconds off the pace, along with Cofidis member Tony Rominger of Switzerland and last year's prologue winner, Switzerland's Alex Zulle of Once.

Riis, the only previous winner entered in the race, finished a disappointing 13th, 15 seconds back.

A TOTAL OF 198 CYCLISTS, NINE FROM each of 22 teams entered, will depart on Sunday for a 119-mile ride to Forges-Les-Eaux, the first of the 21 stages that comprise the Tour.

Riis has finished in the top five in three of the past four years and has the versatility to perform well during the rigorous mountain stage and in the time trial sprints. Age, however, is not on the 33-year-old's side. No cyclist older than 32 has captured the Tour de France since Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk won the 1980 race at the age of 33.

Riis, who now lives in Luxembourg, took the leader's yellow jersey during the weather-shortened ninth stage last year and did not relinquish it the rest of the way, edging Ullrich by one minute, 41 seconds, to become the first Danish cyclist to win the Tour de France.

Spain's Miguel Indurain, the only man to win five consecutive Tour De France titles, retired from the sport after finishing 11th in last year's race. Indurain won the Tour from 1991-95.

The riders will reach the finish line along the Champs Elysees in Paris on July 27.

Stage-by-stage