Without Lance, suspense is back in the Tour de France

By Siegfried Mortkowitz Jul 10, 2006, 12:36 GMT

Riders of the T-Mobile Team pass a sunflower during a training session on the first rest day of the Tour de France 2006 in Bordeaux, France, Monday 10 July 2006. EPA/GERO BRELOER

Paris - After one week of racing, it is clear that the 2006 Tour de France has been enriched with an ingredient that has been missing since 1998, the year before Lance Armstrong won the first of his seven consecutive Tour titles: suspense.

Under King Lance's reign, what little suspense there was, usually evaporated after the first long time trial, an Armstrong specialty, and the only question remaining for the rest of the Tour generally concerned who would finish second.

But not this year. As the Tour riders took a break on Monday ahead of the first mountain stage, to be run on Wednesday, it was anything but clear who would mount the top step of the podium when the race ends on July 23 in Paris.

In addition to Armstrong's retirement, one reason is certainly the stunning suspension of pre-race favourites Ivan Basso of Italy and Germany's Jan Ullrich because of their alleged links to a Spanish doping scandal.

Spaniard Francisco Mancebo, who finished fourth last year, was also suspended, and Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov, had to drop out because most of his teammates were excluded for the same reason.

As a result, the top five finishers from the 2005 Tour are not racing this year.

Saturday's 52-kilometre individual time trial did little to clarify the picture, although it appeared to have revealed which of the presumed contenders would not win the championship.

One of those was American Levi Leipheimer, who finished sixth last year and was therefore considered a natural pretender for the title. The 32-year-old rider for the Gerolsteiner team endured a black Saturday, finishing in 96th place, 6 minutes 6 seconds behind the winner, Serhiy Honchar of Ukraine.

More important, he finished 5 minutes 5 seconds behind fellow Amrican Floyd Landis, who placed second and is now seen as the man to beat.

Current Tour leader Serhiy Honchar of Ukraine, who won the time trial by 1 minute 1 second over Landis, is not a competitive climber and therefore not considered a title contender.

Saturday was also a disappointment for another American, George Hincapie, who helped Armstrong to each of his seven Tour championships.

However, Hincapie is considered a good climber and could easily make up the 1 minute 30 seconds by which he trails Landis, if he is in form.

Three riders currently in the top 10 must also be considered championship contenders - at least until they tackle the mountains.

German Andreas Kloeden, who ranks sixth, finished third in 2004 and sacrificed himself for Ullrich's cause last year. With Ullrich out of the race, he appears to be the leader of the T-Mobile team, and his performance on Saturday suggests he is fit and intends to vie for the title.

Australian Cadel Evans finished eighth last year, in his first appearance in the Tour. The 28-year-old rider for the Davitamon-Lotto team ranks eighth currently, 52 seconds behind Landis, and showed in last year's Tour that he is an excellent climber.

Finally, Russian Denis Menchov, who currently ranks ninth, 1 minute behind Landis, may be ready this year to fulfil the promise of his evident talent.

His victory on the gruelling Mont Ventoux stage in this spring's Dauphine Libere road race suggests that the 28-year-old Rabobank team member will be formidable in the mountains.

Other possible title contenders after week one of racing would include Italian Paolo Savoldelli of Discovery Channel, Frenchman Christophe Moreau and Spain's Carlos Sastre, an excellent climber who will be replacing Basso as leader of Team CSC.

But, for a change, with two weeks to go no one knows who will win the Tour de France, and this uncertainty could well last until the final days.