Tour de France 2004 / prologue
| Stand after the prologue | |
| Stage winner | Fabian Cancellara 6:50 min |
| Second | Lance Armstrong + 0:02 min |
| Third | José Iván Gutiérrez + 0:08 min |
| Yellow jersey | Fabian Cancellara 6:50 min |
| Second | Lance Armstrong + 0:02 min |
| Third | José Iván Gutiérrez + 0:08 min |
| Green jersey | Fabian Cancellara 15 P. |
| Second | Lance Armstrong 12 p. |
| Third | José Iván Gutiérrez 10 p. |
| Dotted jersey | (not awarded at the prologue) |
| Second | - |
| Third | - |
| White jersey | Fabian Cancellara 6:50 min |
| Second | Tom Boonen + 0:21 min |
| Third | Benjamín Noval + 0:22 min |
The prologue of the 2004 Tour de France took place in the Belgian Liege instead.
The route was 6.1 km in circumference and ran through the streets of Liège, past the opera and along the Meuse . With a time of 6 minutes and 50 seconds, the 23-year-old, German-speaking Swiss Fabian Cancellara from the Fassa Bortolo team managed a successful surprise. The 5-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong missed the win by 2 seconds. Third place went to the Spaniard José Iván Gutiérrez . Jens Voigt from Bjarne Riis's CSC team was the best German . The direct challengers of Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich and Tyler Hamilton lost 15 and 16 seconds respectively to the Texans and found themselves in places 16 and 18. Prologue favorite Bradley McGee , who drove an excellent Giro d'Italia , disappointed with fourth place.