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Cancellara shows he is still the man to beat

Roar Guru
30th June, 2012
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Roar Guru
30th June, 2012
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1175 Reads

Brilliant conditions greeted riders for the start of the 99th Tour de France last night – a flat 6.4km prologue time-trial through the streets of Liège, Belgium.

The first (and by far the shortest) of the three individual time-trials at this year’s Tour, the Liège to Liège effort marked the city’s second Grand Depart in eight years.

The inclusion of some inconsequential pavé (cobblestones) made the course no less suited to the time-trial specialists in the peloton.

Fabian “Spartacus” Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) showed that he is still the man to beat in races against the clock, notching up his seventh individual time-trial win at the Tour, his fourth in a prologue.

Much pre-race speculation surrounded the form of the Swiss hero, who crashed and fractured his collarbone at the Ronde van Vlaanderen earlier this season. Would he be at his best?

The short answer is yes, Cancellara taking the first yellow jersey of the Tour in 7’13”, a time that put him seven seconds ahead of his nearest rival Bradley Wiggins (Sky Pro Cycling).

Wiggins, who shares the “favourite” tag for the overall classification with Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), put together an impressive showing and stopped the watch at 7’20”.

Ukrainian time-trial champion Andriy Grivko (Astana) set the early pace with a time of 7’28”, before Australian Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE) hit the line in 7’24”.

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Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Pro Cycling) took over the reigns shortly after, pipping Lancaster by just 67 hundredths of a second. The Norwegian held the top position until the ever-aggressive Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) came home in 7’20”. Chavanel was to finish third on the stage.

World time-trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) looked resplendent in his rainbow jersey as he rolled down the start ramp. A man on a mission. But it was not to be for the German, who suffered a heartbreaking mechanical failure that cost him a crucial chunk of time.

Martin will be keen to rectify his undeservingly poor performance when stages nine and 19 roll around – 41.5km and 53.5km individual time-trials respectively.

Tomorrow the peloton faces the first road stage of this year’s tour – a 198km journey from Liège to Seraing that sees the riders remain in Belgium for another day.

Stage one features five category four climbs:

• Km 42.0 – Cote de Cokaifagne (543m) – 2.9km climb to 5.1%
• Km 49.0 – Cote de Francorchamps (486m) – 1.1km climb to 6.4%
• Km 94.0 – Cote de Lierneux (527m) – 2.1km climb to 5.1%
• Km 139.0 – Cote de Barvaux (220m) – 1.6km climb to 4.2%
• Km 195.6 – Seraing (204m) – 2.4km climb to 4.7%

It is a lumpy stage and a good opportunity for some of the main contenders to work into the three-week race.

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Do not be surprised to see those with King of the Mountains aspirations in a breakaway, keen to put some early points on the board. Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) is one man who springs to mind. He may play his hand early in the absence of team leader Alberto Contador.

The ascent to the finish line is not overly steep and has a striking resemblance to that of the first stage at last year’s Tour, which was won by Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing). The Belgian could make it two opening road stages in a row.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is another rider that packs a mean punch on the climbs that eliminate some of the sprinters, but which are not steep enough to advantage the pure climbers.

Or will the versatile and much spoken of Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) take home the chocolates?

We shall find out tomorrow night.

Tour de France Prologue Results

1. CANCELLARA Fabian, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN, 07′ 13″
2. WIGGINS Bradley, SKY PROCYCLING, 07′ 20″ + 00′ 07″
3. CHAVANEL Sylvain, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK-STEP, 07′ 20″ + 00′ 07″
4. VAN GARDEREN Tejay, BMC RACING, 07′ 23″ + 00′ 10″
5. HAGEN Edvald Boasson, SKY PROCYCLING, 07′ 24″ + 00′ 11″
6. LANCASTER Brett, ORICA-GREENEDGE, 07′ 24″ + 00′ 11″
13. EVANS Cadel, ORICA-GREENEDGE, 07′ 30″ + 00′ 17″
14. NIBALI Vincenzo, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE, 07′ 31″ + 00′ 18″
15. HESJEDAL Ryder, GARMIN-SHARP, 07′ 31″ + 00′ 18″
45. MARTIN Tony, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK-STEP, 07′ 36″ + 00′ 23″
53. SAGAN Peter, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE, 07′ 37″ + 00′ 24″
65. GESINK Robert, RABOBANK, 07′ 39″ + 00′ 26″
77. VAN DEN BROEK Jurgen, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK-STEP, 07′ 41″ + 00′ 28″
90. BASSO Ivan, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE, 07′ 42″ + 00′ 29″
116. VALVERDE Alejandro, MOVISTAR, 07′ 48″ + 00′ 35″
129. SCARPONI Michele, LAMPRE-ISD, 07′ 50″ + 00′ 37″
136. SCHLECK Frank, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN, 07′ 51″ + 00′ 38″
145. SANCHEZ Samuel, EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI, 07′ 53″ + 00′ 40″

Tour de France Overall Standings

1. CANCELLARA Fabian, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN, 0h 07′ 13″
2. WIGGINS Bradley, SKY PROCYCLING, 0h 07′ 20″ + 00′ 07″
3. CHAVANEL Sylvain, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK-STEP, 0h 07′ 20″ + 00′ 07″
4. VAN GARDEREN Tejay, BMC RACING, 0h 07′ 23″ + 00′ 10″
5. HAGEN Edvald Boasson, SKY PROCYCLING, 0h 07′ 24″ + 00′ 11″
6. LANCASTER Brett, ORICA-GREENEDGE, 0h 07′ 24″ + 00′ 11″
7. GRETSCH Patrick, ARGOS-SHIMANO, 0h 07′ 25″ + 00′ 12″
8. MENCHOV Denis, KATUSHA, 0h 07′ 26″ + 00′ 13″
9. GILBERT Philippe, BMC RACING, 0h 07′ 26″ + 00′ 13″
10. GRIVKO Andriy, ASTANA, 0h 07′ 28″ + 00′ 15″

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