Monaco - Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara lived up to his own
billing by easily winning Saturday's first stage of the 2009 Tour de
France, a 15.5km individual time trial in Monaco.
Cancellara, who had predicted the victory, covered the technically
complex course in 19 mins 32 seconds, an average speed of 47.6 kph,
18 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, race favourite Alberto
Contador of Spain.
Seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong celebrated his comeback
to the race after a four-year absence with an impressive tenth place,
40 seconds behind the winner.
Armstrong returned to cycling to publicize his Livestrong
foundation, which supports cancer research.
'I didn't have any big illusions, to win or take the yellow
jersey,' he said after the stage.
He noted that it was difficult to feel at home in the Tour after
his long absence from the race.
'I was nervous, which is logical,' he said. 'It was like being in
a foreign environment. It was like starting all over again.'
Australian Cadel Evans stamped himself as one of the race
favourites by finishing fifth, 23 seconds behind the winner but only
5 seconds adrift of Contador, his main rival for the championship.
The 28-year-old Cancellara, a two-time world time-trial champion,
had announced his intention to take the race leader's yellow jersey
on the first day of the Tour by telling journalists, 'my rivals will
want to get out their heavy winter coats for when I pass them. It
will be hard to beat Cancellara.'
After winning the fourth Tour stage of his career, he told France
2 television, 'I'm very proud. To be in the yellow jersey again is a
great thing for me, for the team and for my family.'
He said he had come to the Tour to win the opening stage, and that
his Saxo Bank team would do 'everything possible to defend the
jersey.'
Armstrong and Contador's Astana team also lived up to
expectations, placing four riders among the top 10 finishers.
Many observers had viewed the stage as a venue to determine the
real team leader, but the 18-second difference between Contador and
Armstrong in the stage resolved little.
Nonetheless, the 26-year-old Contador, who won the 2007 Tour, said
relations within the team were good.
The big loser of the first stage was Russian Denis Menchov, who
came into the race after winning the Giro d'Italia.
But the 31-year-old Rabobank rider finished a well-beaten 53rd, 1
min 31 sec behind the winner and, more important, 1 min 13 sec behind
Contador.
Sunday's second stage, 187 km from Monaco to Brignoles, will be
one of the few stages of this year's race in which sprinters will vie
for the win. The Tour ends July 26 in Paris.
USA
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