It's deja vu all over again as Fabian Cancellara again won the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California on Saturday in Sacramento, finishing about 1 second ahead of defending champ Levi Leipheimer.
The biggest cheers were reserved for Lance Armstrong, however, who finished in 10th place, just 4.2 seconds behind the winner over the 2.4-mile course.
Cancellara, the Swiss time trial specialist on Team Saxo Bank, won the prologue last year and held onto the leader's yellow jersey until the end of Stage 2. Leipheimer finished in fourth place in last year's prologue.
Armstrong
Other notable finishes in the prologue include David Zabriskie, 3rd; and George Hincapie, 6th. Oddly, Hincapie was so upset with himself after not setting the best time he slammed his hand against the handlebars and almost fell.
The Sacramento prologue marked Armstrong's return to pro cycling on US soil. His last stage race in the US was the 2005 Tour de Georgia; that's where he announced he would retire after the end of the 2005 Tour de France. The Tour of California didn't launch until 2006.
His 10th place finish proves that the 37-year-old is just getting stronger as the season progresses. Armstrong repeated his tradition of posting to his Twitter account after the race. On Saturday he wrote:
“Done with the prologue. Ouch, that hurt. Thanks to massive crowds here in Sac”
Hamilton and Landis
Armstrong wasn't the only US cyclist to have his coming out party in Sacramento on Saturday, but he certainly fared the best.
Although Tyler Hamilton raced last year, his Rock Racing team couldn't participate in the Tour of California, so this is his first appearance in this race. He finished about 17 seconds behind, in 71st place.
Further back still was Floyd Landis of Team OUCH. A decent time trialist before serving a two-year ban, Landis finished 20 second behind in the prologue, in 90th place. The winner of the first Tour of California in 2006, Landis fell on Thursday and that may be affected his performance.
After the race, Landis issued an upbeat statement:
“Today felt great. I'm really happy about how good my hip feels. Testing the BHR (Birmingham Hip Resurfacing) at the highest level of competition, I couldn't ask for anything more.”
Team Astana, Columbia and Garmin each had two riders in the top 10.
The Top 10:
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana — 1.2 seconds behind
3 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Slipstream — 2.6
4 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad — 2.79
5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo TestTeam — 3.14
6 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – Highroad — 3.35
7 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step — 3.44
8 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad — 4.06
9 Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin – Slipstream — 4.16
10 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana — 4.27
See all the finishers atCyclingNews.
Sunday stage
Stage 1 begins at noon on Sunday and is a 107-mile race from “bicycle friendly” Davis to Santa Rosa. A finish between 4-5 p.m. (Pacific time) is anticipated.
Versus will broadcast two hours of live racing from 6-8 p.m. (Eastern), 3-4 p.m. (Pacific).
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