MONT DES ALOUETTES, France (AP)—If an ongoing doping case wasn’t enough of a worry, defending champion Alberto Contador now has to fret about playing catch-up at the Tour de France—after just Day One.
The Spaniard got slowed down by a late crash and lost time to his top rivals in Saturday’s first stage, won by rising Belgian star Philippe Gilbert in a dazzling uphill sprint finish for his 13th victory this year alone.
Contador is chasing his fourth Tour victory in five years, and making his case as the most dominant athlete at cycling’s greatest race since seven-time champ Lance Armstrong—who retired for good last year.
As is typical in the Tour’s flat early stages, the sun-baked 192-kilometer (119-mile) course from La Barre-de-Monts to Mont des Alouettes in western France was nervous as riders jostled for position. First-day jitters didn’t help.
By the end, five crashes had marred the day, including one with 9 kilometers (5-1/2 miles) left when Astana’s Maxim Inglinskiy knocked shoulders with a fan on the roadside, tumbled over, and sent other several riders spilling.
Contador wasn’t knocked down, but he got held up by riders as they untangled themselves—and looked up to see title hopefuls like last year’s runner-up Andy Schleck and two-time Tour No. 2 Cadel Evans speed ahead.
Gilbert, who had dominated the spring’s classics races, outsprinted the bunch of escapees who avoided the crash and won with a time of 4 hours, 41 minutes, 31 seconds.
Evans was second, three seconds back, and Norwegian sprint specialist Thor Hushovd was third—the first in a large group of riders that finished six seconds behind the Belgian.
Contador straggled across 1:20 behind, and trails 82nd overall. In a huff, he rode right past reporters.
“To lose so much time in the first day always bothers you a bit,” said Contador through a spokesman. “In cycling today, you lose or win by seconds, and losing (about) 1:15 against all the favorites is not easy to recover from.”
“That’s cycling,” he said. “The road was packed and you just have to think about the next stage … We have to be optimistic and stay motivated, that’s what’s important.”
Day Two could bring even more time loss. Contador’s Saxo Bank team will face a tough challenge against Schleck’s Leopard Trek, Evans’ BMC, and the Sky squad of Britain’s Bradley Wiggins in the team time trial.
Equipped with special, aerodynamic bikes, riders will set off in their teams for the 23-kilometer (14.3-mile) race against the clock in and around Les Essarts: each team rider gets the time of its fifth man to finish.
“Tomorrow will be an important stage,” Contador said. “Other teams might be more prepared than ours, but I hope the differences won’t be too great, because if they are—after today—things could get complicated.”
For him, things are already complicated.
Many fans and riders have questioned Contador’s presence after his positive test for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour—the results of which were made public afterward. He could be stripped of all his titles back to last July if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules against him next month.
While he has emphasized his mental steel, and has shown a ruthlessness characteristic of many sporting greats, Contador was roundly jeered by fans at a glitzy team presentation on Saturday.
Without citing sources, French sports daily L’Equipe reported Saturday that Contador didn’t even want to come—a “hypothesis” roundly rejected by his spokesman, Jacinto Vidarte.
He explained that Contador just knew it would be difficult to be at his best at the Tour because it takes time to recover from his grueling effort to win the Giro d’Italia in May
The Tour means 3,410 kilometers (2,131 miles) and three weeks of hard racing before the July 24 finish on Paris’ Champs-Elysees, and his team boss isn’t worried just yet after Saturday’s trouble.
“Alberto is simply unlucky now to be behind some of his opponents to the overall victory but the Tour has just begun,” said Saxo Bank manager Bjarne Riis, “And luckily, there’s a long to Paris from here.”
Many observers had predicted a re-match between Contador and Schleck, a Luxembourg rider who lost to the Spaniard by just 39 seconds last year.
Schleck also got slowed down by yet another crash near the end, and finished the stage in 39th place. But according to race rules about crashes within last three kilometers, he was credited with the same time as the bunch he was in— six seconds behind Gilbert—and placed 33rd overall.
“It was a pretty nasty crash but I was really lucky that I didn’t fall myself,” said Schleck, who sought to stay near the head of the pack to stay away from trouble. “I pushed myself to stay in front.”
Among other possible Tour title contenders, Belgium’s Jurgen Van den Broeck lies fifth overall, Levi Leipheimer of the United States is 38th, and Briton Bradley Wiggins trails in 50th place—all six seconds behind Gilbert.
A total of five crashes took down riders in the nervous debut stage, including David Arroyo of Spain and Linus Gerdemann, the Leopard Trek rider who won the Tour of Luxembourg this year. Two injured Movistar teammates of Arroyo, Andrey Amador and Benat Intxauti, were taken to hospital for X-rays.
Belgium’s Jelle Vanendert paid for his sense of courtesy. Near the front of the main pack around the 63-kilometer (39-mile) mark, the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider held out his left arm to warn those behind him of a roadway median—a gesture that caused him to lose control of his bike. He tumbled to the ground with his helmet bouncing and his sunglasses skidding away, while several others fell in his wake. All of those involved returned to the race.
The stage was suited for Gilbert. Just like he did in winning the Amstel Gold, Walloon Arrow and Liege-Bastogne-Liege races in April, he outsprinted and overcame his rivals in the final uphill climb.
“It’s true that I’ve achieved a pretty extraordinary series of wins this year,” said Gilbert, whose goal in the Tour has been to win a stage—but his first yellow jersey was an unexpected plus. “But in a few seconds, I realized the magic” of the coveted leader’s shirt, he said.
The Spaniard got slowed down by a late crash and lost time to his top rivals in Saturday’s first stage, won by rising Belgian star Philippe Gilbert in a dazzling uphill sprint finish for his 13th victory this year alone.
Contador is chasing his fourth Tour victory in five years, and making his case as the most dominant athlete at cycling’s greatest race since seven-time champ Lance Armstrong—who retired for good last year.
As is typical in the Tour’s flat early stages, the sun-baked 192-kilometer (119-mile) course from La Barre-de-Monts to Mont des Alouettes in western France was nervous as riders jostled for position. First-day jitters didn’t help.
By the end, five crashes had marred the day, including one with 9 kilometers (5-1/2 miles) left when Astana’s Maxim Inglinskiy knocked shoulders with a fan on the roadside, tumbled over, and sent other several riders spilling.
Contador wasn’t knocked down, but he got held up by riders as they untangled themselves—and looked up to see title hopefuls like last year’s runner-up Andy Schleck and two-time Tour No. 2 Cadel Evans speed ahead.
Gilbert, who had dominated the spring’s classics races, outsprinted the bunch of escapees who avoided the crash and won with a time of 4 hours, 41 minutes, 31 seconds.
Evans was second, three seconds back, and Norwegian sprint specialist Thor Hushovd was third—the first in a large group of riders that finished six seconds behind the Belgian.
Contador straggled across 1:20 behind, and trails 82nd overall. In a huff, he rode right past reporters.
“To lose so much time in the first day always bothers you a bit,” said Contador through a spokesman. “In cycling today, you lose or win by seconds, and losing (about) 1:15 against all the favorites is not easy to recover from.”
“That’s cycling,” he said. “The road was packed and you just have to think about the next stage … We have to be optimistic and stay motivated, that’s what’s important.”
Day Two could bring even more time loss. Contador’s Saxo Bank team will face a tough challenge against Schleck’s Leopard Trek, Evans’ BMC, and the Sky squad of Britain’s Bradley Wiggins in the team time trial.
Equipped with special, aerodynamic bikes, riders will set off in their teams for the 23-kilometer (14.3-mile) race against the clock in and around Les Essarts: each team rider gets the time of its fifth man to finish.
“Tomorrow will be an important stage,” Contador said. “Other teams might be more prepared than ours, but I hope the differences won’t be too great, because if they are—after today—things could get complicated.”
For him, things are already complicated.
Many fans and riders have questioned Contador’s presence after his positive test for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour—the results of which were made public afterward. He could be stripped of all his titles back to last July if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules against him next month.
While he has emphasized his mental steel, and has shown a ruthlessness characteristic of many sporting greats, Contador was roundly jeered by fans at a glitzy team presentation on Saturday.
Without citing sources, French sports daily L’Equipe reported Saturday that Contador didn’t even want to come—a “hypothesis” roundly rejected by his spokesman, Jacinto Vidarte.
He explained that Contador just knew it would be difficult to be at his best at the Tour because it takes time to recover from his grueling effort to win the Giro d’Italia in May
The Tour means 3,410 kilometers (2,131 miles) and three weeks of hard racing before the July 24 finish on Paris’ Champs-Elysees, and his team boss isn’t worried just yet after Saturday’s trouble.
“Alberto is simply unlucky now to be behind some of his opponents to the overall victory but the Tour has just begun,” said Saxo Bank manager Bjarne Riis, “And luckily, there’s a long to Paris from here.”
Many observers had predicted a re-match between Contador and Schleck, a Luxembourg rider who lost to the Spaniard by just 39 seconds last year.
Schleck also got slowed down by yet another crash near the end, and finished the stage in 39th place. But according to race rules about crashes within last three kilometers, he was credited with the same time as the bunch he was in— six seconds behind Gilbert—and placed 33rd overall.
“It was a pretty nasty crash but I was really lucky that I didn’t fall myself,” said Schleck, who sought to stay near the head of the pack to stay away from trouble. “I pushed myself to stay in front.”
Among other possible Tour title contenders, Belgium’s Jurgen Van den Broeck lies fifth overall, Levi Leipheimer of the United States is 38th, and Briton Bradley Wiggins trails in 50th place—all six seconds behind Gilbert.
A total of five crashes took down riders in the nervous debut stage, including David Arroyo of Spain and Linus Gerdemann, the Leopard Trek rider who won the Tour of Luxembourg this year. Two injured Movistar teammates of Arroyo, Andrey Amador and Benat Intxauti, were taken to hospital for X-rays.
Belgium’s Jelle Vanendert paid for his sense of courtesy. Near the front of the main pack around the 63-kilometer (39-mile) mark, the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider held out his left arm to warn those behind him of a roadway median—a gesture that caused him to lose control of his bike. He tumbled to the ground with his helmet bouncing and his sunglasses skidding away, while several others fell in his wake. All of those involved returned to the race.
The stage was suited for Gilbert. Just like he did in winning the Amstel Gold, Walloon Arrow and Liege-Bastogne-Liege races in April, he outsprinted and overcame his rivals in the final uphill climb.
“It’s true that I’ve achieved a pretty extraordinary series of wins this year,” said Gilbert, whose goal in the Tour has been to win a stage—but his first yellow jersey was an unexpected plus. “But in a few seconds, I realized the magic” of the coveted leader’s shirt, he said.
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