Le Tour de France Stage 1
No distinctive jerseys today except the national champions, the Pro Tour leader and the World Champion. They were the biggest attraction at the start of the race
Now, let's take a look at the real race. Lovkvist goes with the escpaes and wins the first climb points of this year's Tour
He is first in the second climb too. Tomorrow he will be in Polka Dot.
Knowing that, he let the pack catch him.
No one from the breakaway could resist today's speed of the pack. Vaugrenard, the last one, is caught with 35 km to go.
Gerdemann tries to place Kirchen in a perfect position.
Gerdemann's job ends. Now it all depends of Kirchen
Right after that the pack caught Gerdemann
Kirchen is in front, but not with too much
Yes, Boonen leads very well the sprint in the pack. Probably for Bettini
But Kirchen is a very good puncheur and a nice sprinter too.
The last corner...
And he does it. Kirchen wins the first stage of the Tour
The last kilometres split the pack into 2 groups. In the second group, 1'50 behind Kirchen, were a lot of big names: Di Luca, Contador, Kloden, Lovkvist, Devolder, Chavanel, Gesink, Dekker, Piepoli, Sastre, F.Schleck, A.Schleck, Pereiro, Karpets, Moreau.
Stage
1.
Kim Kirchen Team Columbia 4h32'51
2.
Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
3.
Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
4.
Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
5.
Paolo Bettini Quick·Step s.t.
6.
Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
7.
Fabian Cancellara Team CSC - Saxo Bank s.t.
8.
Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom s.t.
9.
Jérôme Pineau Bouygues Télécom s.t.
10.
Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
Overall
1.
Kim Kirchen Team Columbia 4h32'31
2.
Damiano Cunego Lampre + 8
3.
Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R La Mondiale + 12
4.
Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 20
5.
Paolo Bettini Quick·Step s.t.
6.
Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
7.
Fabian Cancellara Team CSC - Saxo Bank s.t.
8.
Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom s.t.
9.
Jérôme Pineau Bouygues Télécom s.t.
10.
Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
Points
1.
Kim Kirchen Team Columbia 35
2.
Damiano Cunego Lampre 30
3.
Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R La Mondiale 26
Mountain
1.
Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia 10
2.
Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux 9
3.
Niki Terpstra Team Milram 3
Young:
Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto
Teams:
Quick·Step