The first showdown of the year between Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador ended with the Spaniard crossing the finish line ahead of the Texan in Stage 1 of the Criterium International on Saturday.
Contador finished 1-minute-13 behind the winner and Armstrong finished 4:51 behind.
Sunday update: Armstrong finished 17 places ahead on Contador in the lead group in Stage 2, but with the same time. In the Stage 3 time trial, Contador finished in 2nd place, 2 seconds behind the winner, David Millar of Garmin. Armstrong finished in 15th place, 19 seconds behind Millar.
Pierrick Fedrigo survived in yellow to take the overall win.
But that Saturday contest between the two rivals on last year's Astana cycling team was secondary to the stage win by Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo of BBox. He won the stage by 11 seconds when he attacked the break approaching the finish line.
The three-stage race on the island of Corsica ends Sunday with a road race in the morning and a time trial in the afternoon.
Versus
Versus is airing the Criterium International from 2:30 to 4 p.m . (ET) on Saturday and Sunday. Replays also are on the website.
The climb up L’Ospedale was the undoing of many cyclists as a 46-man group made a run for it. Armstrong didn't make that break as a struggled a bit on the climb; Contador did make the jump but lost ground in the final miles. He said that he's suffering from a seasonal allergy flare-up.
Contador finished in 23rd, while Armstrong came across in 50th place.
Three of Armstrong's Team RadioShack teammates finished in the Top 10, however. Tiago Machado in 2nd, Chris Horner in 8th and Ben Hermans in 9th.
Armstrong tweeted on Friday: “Some good racing tomorrow and Sunday – my condition is improving but not there yet.”
Other big names in the Criterium International and their finishes include Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi), 3rd; Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), 4th; Michael Rogers (Team Columbia), 7th; David Millar (Garmin) 14th, and Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), 33rd.
RadioShack, BMC Racing, Team Columbia and Garmin-Transitions are all US-based cycling teams.
Jens Voigt, the winner for the past three years, is racing this week in Spain's Volta Ciclista a Catalunya for Saxo Bank.
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