Swiss Fabian Cancellara snatched the Tour de France yellow jersey with a smashing victory in the opening time trial on Saturday, while seven-times champion Lance Armstrong made a respectable return to the race he used to dominate.
Hot favorite and 2007 champion Alberto Contador of Spain was second, 18 seconds behind Cancellara. Briton Bradley Wiggins was third, 19 seconds off the pace.
Contador, who was named Astana leader by team manager Johan Bruyneel, lived up to expectations and stamped his authority on the squad with a solid performance.
Neither German Andreas Kloeden, fourth, nor Americans Levi Leipheimer and Armstrong …Â Details
Team Surfing USA, composed of Laird Hamilton, Tim Commeford (bassist for Rage Against the Machine), Don Wildman (founder of Bally Total Fitness), and Jason Winn (founder of Bonk Breaker Energy Bars) took part in a 3,000 mile “Race Across America†road cycling relay race last week to earn money for a charity.Â
The team showed up in their board shorts and took some heckling for not taking the event very serious. However, the surfers showed up the hecklers by … Details
Lance Armstrong will begin to find out whether his gamble to return to the Tour de France is a credible one when the seven-times champion tackles a tough opener in front of Monaco’s casino on Saturday.
Organisers broke with the tradition of short prologues by staging a 15.5-km first act which could allow the stage winner to keep the coveted race leader’s yellow jersey for some time.
“In 2005, on such a course, I would have destroyed the race and made huge gaps,†said Armstrong, who returned to racing in January after 3 1/2 years in retirement.
“It’s a good course for me, hard and technical. I’ve lived here. I know the roads like the back of my hand. But it’s no longer 2005,â€Â … Details
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