Stage 1 News
Voeckler still the home hero in the Vendée It was hard to avoid Thomas Voeckler in the Vendée in the days leading up to the Tour de France. The Europcar rider’s image was used heavily in advertising the Grand Départ in the region and the giant hoardings featuring Voeckler in the yellow jersey were clearly aspirational in their tone. In spite of a plucky dig in pursuit of Alexandre Vinokourov at the end of stage one however, the pugnacious Voeckler was unable to complete the exercise in wish fulfilment atop the Mont des Alouettes, and ultimately had to content himself with 14th place behind Philippe Gilbert. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/voeckler-still-the-home-hero-in-the-vendee Contador the big loser of Tour de France 1st stage 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. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/cycling/Contador-the-big-loser-of-Tour-de-France-1st-stage/articleshow/9086576.cms Gilbert takes yellow jersey after 1st stage Philippe Gilbert won the first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday to take the yellow jersey, while defending champion Alberto Contador lost more than a minute because of a late crash. Gilbert, a Belgian who dazzled fans by winning three classics races in April, sped ahead from the pack in the final several hundred yards and kissed his jersey as he crossed the line. "It was the last 500 meters, I had a lead ... (and) I went for it," Gilbert said. "It was an extreme effort and I was able to take advantage." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/02/SP291K5TAS.DTL Roy suggests a ranking to better consider baroudeurs Thanks to his 173-kilometer breakaway in the first stage of the Tour de France, FDJ's Jérémy Roy is the first winner of Tour de France's brand new "intermediate sprints." That system replaces the former "bonus sprints" which provided, twice a day, some points for the green jersey and/or bonus time for GC. There is now only one "intermediate sprint" a day and the first experience in Avrillé town was today a true show, a race into the race. Roy hardly fought to cross the line first, 87 kilometers after the start. He beat his two escapee companions, Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and Perrig Quémeneur (Europcar). 2:35 later, the peloton produced a very animated sprint, with strong team lead-outs, where Tyler Farrar won that bunch sprint. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/roy-suggests-a-ranking-to-better-consider-baroudeurs Tour de France: Philippe Gilbert takes opener but Geraint Thomas is on his wheel Belgium's Philippe Gilbert seized the Tour de France race leader's yellow jersey with victory in Les Herbiers - as Brit geraint thomas came in sixth. Omega Pharma-Lotto rider gilbert was favourite for the 191.5-kilometre first stage from Passage du gois to Mont des Alouettes as the tour opened with a road stage, rather than the prologue time-trial, for just the second time since 1966. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/cycling/2011/07/03/tour-de-france-philippe-gilbert-takes-opener-but-geraint-thomas-is-on-his-wheel-115875-23244645 One-day specialist Gilbert claims opener Well, it's started, and it's started well. Belgium Champ Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) doing what he does best - delivering the goods in a true 'who can do the most heartbeat's' uphill sprint to take the first maillot jaune of the 2011 Tour de France. Gilbert counter attacked an effort from man-beast Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) clawing away from the thirty strong group, all survivors from the multiple crashes and attacks that split up the peloton in the desperate last 10km. Overall contender Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) took a very interesting and I'm sure confidence boosting second place, while World Champion and Green jersey contender Thor Hushovd nailed third. http://tvnz.co.nz/content/4282113 Evans pleased with early Tour de France gains Cadel Evans (BMC) may have lost the battle atop the Mont des Alouettes at the end of the stage one of the Tour de France, but he declared himself pleased with his opening salvos in the war for the yellow jersey in Paris. Hemmed in at the right-hand side of the road when Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) launched his winning move with 700 metres to go, Evans was unable to respond to the Belgian's move immediately. Once Evans managed to free himself, he ripped clear of the peloton but was still three seconds down on the rampant Gilbert at the line. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-pleased-with-early-tour-de-france-gains Tour de France: Crash adds to Contador's nightmare After he had been booed by the French public and slated by sections of the media, Alberto Contador's nightmare Tour de France start continued into the first stage yesterday as he was involved in a mass pile-up five miles from the finish line. Apparently uninjured but seriously delayed, the three-time champion lost 1min 14sec on all the other contenders, including Britain's Bradley Wiggins and the Spaniard's arch-rival, Andy Schleck. The crash was caused as the peloton was rocketing at high speed towards the finish on the Mont des Alouettes and an unknown Astana rider was struck an unintentional glancing blow by a spectator leaning into the road. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/tour-de-france-crash-adds-to-contadors-nightmare-2305951.html Tour de France stage one: Gilbert wins as Contador loses time Defending champion Alberto Contador lost one minute, 20 seconds after a huge crash brought down nearly half the peloton as Philippe Gilbert sprinted to his first Tour de France stage victory. An Astana rider clipped a spectator as the teams jostled for position with 8km remaining and Contador was among the general classification contenders to sit on the wrong end of the split. Fabian Cancellara launched an early bid for the line on the finishing climb to Mont des Alouettes but Omega Pharma-Lotto rider Gilbert, the pre-stage favourite, rode away from the two-time Paris-Roubaix winner to seal victory and wear the yellow jersey. http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/racing/tour-de-france-stage-one-gilbert-wins-as-contador-loses-time/6937.html Gilbert enjoys extending his unbeaten streak of success Three years ago, on a similar first stage finish to today’s on the Mont des Alouettes, Spain's Alejandro Valverde took the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France and in doing so reminded everyone why he was nicknamed “El Imbatido†or the “Unbeaten Oneâ€. In Valverde’s case it was just a nickname that was eventually defeated by the Italian anti-doping investigators. For Philippe Gilbert the same sobriquet is fast becoming a statement of fact. As the Belgian pointed out in his winner’s press conference in Les Herbiers on Saturday evening: “I’ve won every race I’ve done since Fleche Brabançonne in April. I suppose it’s a kind of record.†http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gilbert-enjoys-extending-his-unbeaten-streak-of-success Contador despondent after losing time Defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) has begun the Tour de France with a hefty handicap after losing a crucial 1:20 to his main rivals on the first stage of the race. The three time Tour winner was cruising close the front of the bunch inside the final 10 kilometers when Maxim Iglinskiy (Team Astana) clipped a fan at the side of the road and fell, causing a mass pile up in the peloton. Only 30 riders avoided it but these included several of Contador's overall rivals. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-despondent-after-losing-time Tour de France: Gilbert powers into yellow with commanding stage one uphill win Philippe Gilbert once again withstood the pre-race favorite pressure to take a commanding stage-on win in the 98th Tour de France. On the uphill finish, the Belgian calmly collected a desperate Fabian Cancellara to take a solo victory on the Mont des Alouettes. Gilbert had dyed his hair blond before the race. The fact that he didn't make it the Belgian black-yellow-red was a sign before the start in the Passage du Gois that the yellow jersey was his big goal. http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/8931/Tour-de-France-Gilbert-powers-into-yellow-with-commanding-stage-one-uphill-win.aspx Petacchi admits to lacking race rhythm for Tour de France Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) was the winner of the opening stage of the Tour de France twelve months ago but believes that the uphill finish, and his lack of racing miles in recent weeks, will rule him out of the equation at Mont des Alouettes. The veteran Italian sprinter was able to tap into a startlingly rich vein of climbing form during the Giro d'Italia in May and came close to winning the sharp uphill finish at Fiuggi in the opening week, ultimately giving best to Francisco Ventoso (Movistar). He won two stages at the 2010 Tour de France and the green points jersey but on the eve of this year's Tour, Petacchi played down his chances of a repeat performance in the Vendée. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/petacchi-admits-to-lacking-race-rhythm-for-tour-de-france
Cadel Evans avoids early crash as three riders break away in Tour de France THREE riders leapt away from the peleton and have built a lead of more than four minutes in the opening 50km of the Tour de France. Tour debutants Lieuwe Westra (Movistar) and Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) were joined by Jeremy Roy (FDJ) and the trio surged clear the instant the flag dropped to signal the start of the race. After just 12km they led by six and a half minutes, but the HTC Highroad and Omega Pharma-Lotto teams kept a lid on the gains with hopes of bringing the field together for a sprint finish at Mont des Alouettes. A crash in the first 20km involving members of the Movistar and Europcar squads temporarily held up the field, but all riders eventually returned to the peleton. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/tour-de-france/evans-avoids-early-crash/story-fn8s9i81-1226062095558 Velits says Cavendish could take first Tour de France yellow jersey HTC-Highroad’s Peter Velits has warned that his teammate Mark Cavendish should not be written off on the uphill finish to the Mont des Alouettes and so could take the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France. Cavendish has told the press that he and his team were “not confident†about his chances on the steadily rising final kilometre (five per cent average gradient) at the end of today’s 191.5km opening stage. Consequently, he said, they would “not work to pull back breaksâ€. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/velits-says-cavendish-could-take-first-tour-de-france-yellow-jersey Contador begins Tour de France defense Defending champion Alberto Contador and last year's runner-up Andy Schleck renewed their rivalry as riders started the Tour de France on Saturday. The mostly flat first stage takes riders over 119 miles from La Barre-de-Monts to Mont des Alouettes in the Vendee region of western France. Three-time champion Contador beat Schleck by just 39 seconds last year. The 2,131-mile Tour http://www.newsday.com/news/contador-begins-tour-de-france-defense-1.3000177 Péraud, Tour de France rookie at 34 At age 34, Frenchman Jean-Christophe Péraud will ride his first Tour de France this year as the oldest rookie in the race. Having turned pro on the road only in 2010, the former mountain biker said he is "very impatient and happy" to be here with his AG2R-La Mondiale team. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/peraud-tour-de-france-rookie-at-34 Pate calls for stricter doping punishments Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad) has called for stricter punishments for doping offences in cycling. The American rider has also called for a single governing body to deal with doping cases rather than individual national federations, who in his opinion, are inconsistent. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pate-calls-for-stricter-doping-punishments
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