Australia's Tony Martin led the 2010 Tour de France prologue for most of Saturday until Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, left, scorched the 5.5-mile course through Rotterdam.
Lance Armstrong, riding in his last Tour de France, finished in 4th place overall, beating rival Alberto Contador by 5 seconds, who now sits in 6th place.
Garmin-Transitions's Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, Washington, finished in 7th place, a surprisingly high finish for a sprint specialist. Another US cyclist, Levi Leipheimer on Santa Rosa, California, finished in 8th place.
While the prologue does little more than present the cyclists to the fans and award a fresh yellow jersey for 2010, it also enabled Armstrong to send the message that he's ready to battle Contador for this year's championship.
Martin dominates
Martin, the winner of the Amgen Tour of California in May, stood in first place for most of the prologue. His only challenger appeared to be David Millar of Garmin Transitions, but he crossed the finish line 10 seconds after Martin. Millar finished the day in 3rd place overall.
Cancellara had an advantage over Martin later in the morning, and I'm not talking about a motor on his bicycle.
The cyclists who left the starting gate earlier faced rainy weather and slick streets. Those conditions had improved by the time Cancellara, Armstrong and Contador rolled through the course, although the pavement still appeared to be wet.
Armstrong gave kudos to the winner:
“TdF FINALLY under way! I felt great start to finish. Content w/ the result. Congrats to Fabian. Class ride.”
George Hincapie, riding his 15th Tour de France, finished in 68th place, 54 seconds behind Martin. He wrote:
“Was a bit timid in corners after hearing my teammate may have broken his hand . Not a great result,but looking forward to rest of race.”
Next stage
Stage 1 on Sunday is a 138-mile flat race from Rotterdam to Brussels, home of Eddy Merckx. Expect a sprint finish and a possible head-to-head between Mark Cavendish (Columbia) and Farrar (Garmin-Transitions), although a lot of great sprinters are in the peloton.
According to Versus schedule, coverage starts at 9 a.m. on Sunday, although announcers said 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Top 10 overall
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swiss) Team Saxo Bank
2 Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC – Columbia 10 seconds behind
3 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Transitions 20 seconds
4 Lance Armstrong (US) Team Radioshack 22 seconds
5 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team 23 seconds
6 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 27 seconds
7 Tyler Farrar (US) Garmin – Transitions 28 seconds
8 Levi Leipheimer (US) Team Radioshack 28 seconds
9 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team 32 seconds
10 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram 35 seconds
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