Noirmoutier-En-l’ile, France – No easing up for Lance Armstrong in his last Tour de France.
Armstrong took a huge step toward winning his seventh consecutive Tour on the first day of the three-week race. He crushed his top rivals in an opening time trial Saturday, opening up early time gaps that may be big enough to carry the U.S. cycling star through to victory at the finish in Paris on July 24.
“I was hungry today,” Armstrong said. “I didn’t come to ride a retirement race. I came to win.”
A bad crash, an uncharacteristic drop in his devastating form and the sheer unpredictability of a race that covers 2,242 miles, the Alps and the Pyrenees still could conspire against Armstrong, whose six titles are already the Tour record.
But this much is clear: Armstrong’s challengers will need the race of their lives to catch him and – if previous years are any guide – that still may not be enough.
The only blot on an otherwise perfect Saturday for Armstrong? He was beaten by a fellow American and former teammate, David Zabriskie, by two seconds over the 11.8-mile course past oyster vendors and marshes from Fromentine to the island of Noirmoutier-En-l’ile on western France’s Atlantic coast.
But Zabriskie, for all his promise, is not considered a contender for the overall title at the still tender age for a cyclist of 26.
Armstrong, racing with a special aerodynamic bike, helmet and suit, set out last of the 189 riders and had a minor mishap at the outset when one of his feet popped out of a pedal. But he quickly clipped it back and then pedaled relentlessly.
He dealt a severe psychological and racing blow to his main rival, Jan Ullrich, by overtaking him along the way – even though the German had set out one minute earlier.
“The feeling of being passed by Lance is not good,” Ullrich said.
He tried to put a brave face on the defeat, saying: “The Tour is still three weeks long. I’ll battle.”
The closest of Armstrong’s main rivals was Alexandre Vinokourov, Ullrich’s teammate from Kazakhstan. He placed third but was still 51 seconds slower than the Texan.
Ullrich placed 12th, a whopping 1:06 slower than Armstrong. That already is larger than Armstrong’s winning margin over Ullrich in 2003, when he won by 61 seconds – by far the narrowest of his victories.
Armstrong and Ullrich’s team both said the German, who has finished runner-up four times since his only win in 1997, may have been affected by a training crash on Friday. Ullrich cut his neck after slamming into the back of a car.
“That takes a lot out of you and I can’t say I won the Tour de France just because of that,” Armstrong said, suggesting that he still regards Ullrich as a challenger.
But Armstrong also savored the satisfaction of overtaking the German.
“I saw Jan in front of me at the first time check and I thought: ‘It’s going well today.’ I had him in my sights. Then I did my maximum,” he said. “You can’t lie. That’s a good feeling in the sense that you know you’re having a good day.”
Armstrong’s team coach, Johan Bruyneel, was jubilant, calling the ride “incredible.”
Italian Ivan Basso, another favorite, finished 1:24 slower than Armstrong in 20th place.
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Tour de France stages
Stage 1, July 2: Fromentine to Noirmoutier-En-l’Ile, individual time
trial, 11.8 miles
Stage 2, Today: Challans to Les Essarts, 112.8 miles
Stage 3, Monday: La Chataigneraie to Tours, 129 miles
Stage 4, Tuesday: Tours to Blois, team time trial, 40.9 miles
Stage 5, Wednesday: Chambord to Montargis, 111 miles
Stage 6, Thursday: Troyes to Nancy, 116 miles
Stage 7, Friday: Luneville to Karlsruhe, Germany, 139.5 miles
Stage 8, Saturday: Pforzheim, Germany, to Gerardmer, France, 145.7
miles
Stage 9, July 10: Gerardmer to Mulhouse, 105.4 miles
July 11: Rest day in Grenoble
Stage 10, July 12: Grenoble to Courchevel, 119 miles
Stage 11, July 13: Courchevel to Briancon, 107.2 miles
Stage 12, July 14: Briancon to Digne-les-Bains, 107.3 miles
Stage 13, July 15: Miramas to Montpellier, 100.4 miles
Stage 14, July 16: Agde to Ax-3 Domaines, 136.4 miles
Stage 15, July 17: Lezat-sur-Leze to Saint-Lary Soulan (Pla-d’Adet),
127 miles
July 18: Rest day in Pau
Stage 16, July 19: Mourenx to Pau, 109.7 miles
Stage 17, July 20: Pau to Revel, 148.2 miles
Stage 18, July 21: Albi to Mende, 117.2 miles
Stage 19, July 22: Issoire to Le Puy-en-Velay, 95.5 miles
Stage 20, July 23: Saint-Etienne to Saint-Etienne, individual time trial,
34.1 miles
Stage 21, July 24: Corbeil-Essonnes to Paris, Champs-Elysees, 99.2 miles
