Prologue Gets Tour Underway Italian time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara finished first
The Tour de France opened with a prologues race in Rotterdam on Saturday, giving most riders a chance to test their bodies and equipment, and some a chance to dominate the first few hours of the race that stretches over the next three weeks.
Italian time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara finished first in the 8.9km time trial, overtaking both the points and general classifications in the process. Despite turning in an impressive display, clocking in at 10 minutes blank, Cancellara is more likely to support fellow Team Saxo Bank rider and favourite overall contender Andy Schleck in the following weeks.
Cancellara’s win came as no surprise to those familiar with the Italian’s strength in time trials, but it would be surprising to see Cancellara hold on to the overall lead for much longer. In 2003, Cancellara held the yellow jersey for 7 stages of the tour, a record he is not likely to repeat this year.
10 seconds after Cancellara, German time trialist Tony Martin, who races for HTC-Columbia, came in. The 2010 German Time Trial Champion, Martin has also shown that he is a good climber.
However, it’s likely that Martin will spend most of this year’s Tour supporting teammates Mark Cavendish and Michael Rogers in their pursuit of the green and yellow jerseys than looking to win any classification himself.
Racing for Team Garmin-Transitions, British rider David Millar showed impressive form by finishing in third place, 20 seconds after Cancellara. Equally surprising was veteran Lance Armstrong’s fourth place in the prologue, beginning Team RadioShack’s Tour in great fashion.
Armstrong has generally failed to repeat his time trial form from before his retirement in 2005, and was susrpised himself at the positive result in Rotterdam.
"I can’t complain,” he said to reporters after the race. "I felt pretty good today. From this morning, the whole day ... it was a hard time trial, deceivingly hard."
As one of the veterans of the Tour, Armstrong knows not to read too much into his positive performance in the prologue. "Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he continued.
“It was a good ride, I felt good, the team went good, but this is a long three weeks. You have (the first stage, on Sunday), the paves (cobbles), the Alps and the Pyrenees."
With plenty of documented challenges ahead, including the cobbled sections of Stage 3 and six high-mountain stages in the Alps and Pyrenees, some surprises may arise along the way, too.
Saturday’s rainy conditions had many riders, including overall contender Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, take no unnecessary risks.
Wiggins finished 77th, 56 seconds behind winner Cancellara, but remains hopeful that he will be able to close the gap over the next three weeks.
Team Sky’s plan to let Wiggins start early in the prologue backfired, as the rain and winds they hoped to avoid arrived much earlier than expected.
These conditions also got the better of the of the riders on Sunday. Team Footon-Servetto’s Manueal Cardoso picked up a knock to his head and shoulders after falling on a sharp turn. Despite bleeding from the head, Cardoso dusted himself off and finished the prologue to come in last place, 6 minutes and 20 seconds behind Cancellara.
The BMC Racing Team’s Mattias Frank, meanwhile, suffered a torn thigh muscle, cut lip and a broken thumb in the prologue, causing him to eventually withdraw from the Tour.
With plenty of longer stages ahead and only one more time trial in Stage 18 between Bordeaux and Pauillac, the riders will face tougher tests ahead. For now though, it’s largely a question of seeing how long Cancellara can hold on to the yellow jersey.
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