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Tour de France
Sprinters get their chance to shine as Tour opens
by Philip Turle
Article published on the 2009-07-05 Latest update 2009-07-05 14:08 TU
Astana rider Lance Armstrong arrives at the sign-in podium before the start of the second stage of the 96th Tour de France
(Photo: Reuters)
The Tour de France set off from Monaco on Saturday. It’s far too early to tell who might be the winner. But that doesn't mean that bets aren't being taken as to who has the best chance of winning, the world's most famous cycle race winds its way along the Mediterranean coast via Marseille, Montpellier, Perpignan into Spain and up to Andorra.
The opening flat stages of the race, up to stage seven on Friday will be for the sprinters' moment of glory, before the mountain climbers take over as the race moves into the Pyrenees.
And there is no lack of talent. A look down the final classification after last year’s Tour is a good indication of the stiff competition, beginning with the 2008 champion, Carlos Sastre of Spain. Despite a less than strong performance in Saturday’s individual time trial, he is out to win a second Tour.
Hot on Sastre’s heels are last year’s runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia, plus Denis Menchov of Russia and Frank Schlek of Luxembourg.
But they all have at least two other riders to worry about, both of them former Tour winners and both absent from last year’s competition. They are the 2007 champion Alberto Contador of Spain and the man everyone is watching - seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong of the US, back after a four-year break.
We’ll have a better idea how the Tour is shaping up after it enters the Pyrenees on Friday and even more so when the race enters the Alps on 19 July.
For the next few days the sprinters can to try to win the sprinter’s green jersey.
That is currently on the shoulders of Switzerland's Fabien Cancellara, who was one of the favourites to win the opening time trial and was the first rider to also wear the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who won four stage victories last year before dropping out to prepare for the Olympic games, has also aroused much enthusiasm.
And Norway’s Thor Hushovd and Belgium’s Tom Boonan could shine over the next few days. Boonen was absent last year after testing positive for cocaine. He was only admitted to this year’s Tour at the last minute and that in spite of testing positive again following a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
But as Boonen only managed to finish 114th on Saturday after suffering from a stomach upset ahead of the race, he will have quite a lot of catching up to do.
 Tour de France 2009 |
Last year's Tour
