Stage 1 of the 2011 Tour de France (Passage du Gois - Mont des Alouettes) is now in the books.
No big surprise that Phillipe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto) won this stage since it was suited for the talents of a sprinter who possesses the power to finish on a climb. The big surprise of stage 1 was Tour favorite Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) losing 1:20. This was mainly due to a crash that broke up the peloton with around 10kms left to the finish. But a deficit is a deficit. Doesn’t matter how it happened. Oh well; that’s bike racing – with a little poetic justice in this case. Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) leads him by 1:14. Oh well; that’s karma. Look for today’s Team Time Trial to help Andy Schleck even further heading into Stage 3.
Cadel Evans (BMC) followed Gilbert across the finish line :03 later, putting him in the best position as an overall contender. If BMC rides strong enough today in the Team Time Trial, we could see Evans in yellow at the start of Stage 3.
From a team perspective, the US should be proud. In the current Top 10 we have BMC Racing (Cadel Evans, #2), Garmin-Cervelo (Thor Hushovd, #3), Team Radio Shack (Andreas Kloden, #7; Chris Horner, #8) and HTC-Highroad (Tony Martin, #10).
Some of my thoughts looking ahead:
- I’m watching the Team Time Trial unfold as I write this and think HTC-Highroad or Garmin-Cervelo (Can you say Zabriske and Hushovd?) stand the best chance of winning but Leopard-Trek with Time Trial extraordinaire Fabian Cancellara leading the team will ride strong enough to give Andy Schleck a solid time heading into Stage 3.
- Team Radio Shack will have a banner Tour. It’s a new era for the Shack! They are on fire and are already having a terrific season. Levi Leipheimer’s victory in the Tour de Suisse, Chris “you had me at hello” Horner’s unstoppable climbing to win the Tour of California, Andreas Kloden delivering Tour of the Basque Country and numerous other stage wins so far in 2011. Last year it was hard to see some of this talent because everyone had to work for Lance Armstrong. That was generally how a team with Armstrong on the roster operated. He called the shots and more importantly drew the sponsors.
- Contador will likely lose more time today. He started stage 2 with a deficit and based on what I am seeing as the Team Time Trial unfolds the gap will get bigger for “El Pistolero.”
- Should the Tour come down to another Schleck-Contador battle, Andy Schleck will win the mental game and thus the Tour. This is a big “IF.” I’m just playing along with the early expectations.
- Anything can happen over the next three weeks. And THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT BIKE RACING.
UPDATE: Team Garmin-Cervelo won the Team TT and Thor Hushovd is now in yellow. He may hold this for at least another stage since tomorrow (Monday) is another day for the sprinters. Garmin-Cervelo was followed by on the podium by BMC, Sky and Leopard-Trek. Team Radio Shack delivered a solid ride to grab 6th place. In the GC standings, David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) and Cadel Evans follow Hushovd in that order. Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) is in 7th place and Andy Schleck now stands at #10. Alberto Contador is now #75 in the GC, putting him at 1:14 behind the leader. Those mountains are gonna be tough!
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