Michael Matthews had a strong run in a rain-soaked prologue on Tuesday, finishing 10th in Adelaide.

Matthews, from Canberra, had not raced at his home race since the 2014 season, but showed he was serious from the start by posting his best time of over an hour on the wet 5.5km course.

His time was 14 seconds ahead of stage winner and race leader Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-Easy Post), who had raced on dry roads earlier in the day.

"It's like last year's Tour de France all over again," Matthews said after the race, referring to the rainy Copenhagen time trial in July.

"I think the TT at the start of Copenhagen last year was also a really good course for me.

"So I'm a bit unlucky. But I think I've proved that I have form. So I'm looking forward to a good week."

Matthews was one of two riders, along with Trek-Segafredo's Marc Burstenga, to reach speeds over 50 km/h in the middle of the prologue, when the track surface was at its wettest.

He was able to race all the way down the track, even when others were cautious or slipping in some corners.

"I think the bike skills I've learned helped me a few times. But at the end of the day, if I wanted to take time away from the real climbers, now was the time."

"It's all a calculated risk. The other riders probably didn't calculate the risk.

"If you want to win, you have to give it your all. They obviously did, and unfortunately they went to ground."

Matthews led the newly-formed Jayco Aroura team in the team's home race, along with GC men's Simon Yates, who went out on the wettest surface and finished in 38th place, 26 seconds behind Bettiol.

Given the conditions, it was a good result for the Brit. Together with Matthews, he and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), in second place, were fighting for the top group, including Magnus Sheffield.

"We expected Bilbao to do well in this time trial. 'He's a very punchy time triallist, so it's good that he's already six seconds ahead of us. He's a very punchy time trialist, so I think it's good that he's already got a six-second lead.""There's still Yatesy, and after a tricky first stage, they're still in contention."

"Bettiol also had a great run. I'm not going to take credit away from him because he set a great time. So I was able to just focus on myself and I'm happy with my run."