Posted on 07/04/2004 4:42:06 PM PDT by concentric circles
Armstrong Holds Back on First Tour Stage
CHARLEROI, Belgium - Five-time winner Lance Armstrong played it safe in the first full stage of the Tour de France. Saving himself for the ordeal to come, Armstrong finished comfortably back in the pack in 48th on Sunday
He is focused on winning a record sixth straight Tour, not scrapping for victories in the hazardous and fast-paced early stages of the three-week race.
A final all-out burst of speed secured Jaan Kirsipuu's victory in the 125.5-mile trek that featured roads turned treacherous by rain. There were crashes, crowds, wind, punctures and a mighty finishing sprint to contend with — all factors that make the Tour's first week the part that Armstrong relishes least.
"You have to live with the crashes, and hope you don't get into one," said Armstrong, who is third overall.
But for sprinters like Kirsipuu, a 34-year-old Estonian, the Tour's relatively flat early stages are their strength, the reason why they come to the Tour even though they have no prospect of winning the overall crown when the race finishes in Paris on July 25.
Muscling his way through a gaggle of riders sprinting to the finish, Kirsipuu edged Australian Robbie McEwen and Norway's Thor Hushovd.
"The sprint was incredible for me," Kirsipuu said. "I am really, really happy."
Armstrong finished in the main pack of riders on Sunday but started his Tour in emphatic fashion in Saturday's prologue time trial, leaving key rivals in his wake. That performance silenced murmurs that, at age 32, the Texan is past his prime and could be ready to fall to his principal challenger, Jan Ullrich. The German finished 32nd in Sunday's stage, in the same time as Armstrong.
Before the stage's start, Armstrong chatted with reporters, and appeared happy and confident — a marked contrast to last year when a cloud of tension was often felt around his U.S. Postal Service squad. He beat Ullrich for his fifth Tour title by just 61 seconds last year, a margin that redoubled the champion's determination to do better this time.
"Lance is more relaxed," his teammate Floyd Landis said. "But it's a long race."
Overall, Armstrong is third but will be looking to take the lead in mountain climbs and time trials that come later. Ullrich is 16th overall, a mere 15 seconds behind Armstrong.
The stage victory was Kirsipuu's fourth in 11 Tours and his first since 2002. But like other sprinters who struggle in the mountains that come later, he has never completed the race.
Sunday's stage started with a series of moderate hill climbs but leveled out toward the end, allowing the pack to catch up to a pair of riders who tried to make a late breakaway for the finish line down streets lined with cheering crowds.
The overall leader's yellow jersey stayed on the young shoulders of Fabian Cancellara, a 23-year-old Swiss rider who won the debut time trial on Saturday in the third-fastest speed in the history of that event.
There were several crashes Sunday, the first less than nine miles from the start in Liege, Belgium. It threw off Italian rider Mario Cipollini, making his Tour comeback after four years away, as well as Spain's Oscar Sevilla and French rider Guillaume Auger. They all rejoined the race, although Sevilla needed a new bike.
Austria's Bernhard Eisel also crashed, touching wheels with a rider in front and falling heavily. He barrel-rolled across the wet tarmac and skidded to a stop in the roadside grass, but picked himself up to resume racing.
Another crash less than three miles from the finish unseated France's Nicolas Jalabert. At least five other riders also crashed during the stage, including Armstrong's teammate Benjamin Noval Gonzalez, but none were seriously hurt, organizers said.
For Armstrong and other contenders for the Tour crown, avoiding such accidents is paramount.
Armstrong rode much of Sunday's stage toward the head of the field with riders from his Postal squad. Their game plan was to "stay at the front, everybody together, try to protect Lance and make sure there's no big breakaways," said teammate George Hincapie, who placed 47th. "Mainly to stay out of trouble."
Monday's 122-mile bumpy but still relatively flat stage from Charleroi to Namur should again favor sprinters and riders that attempt to break away. For Armstrong, safety and making sure that key rivals don't get ahead will again be the order of the day.
"The first couple of days are always nervous," Armstrong's team spokesman Jogi Mueller said. "The strategy is to stay in front of the pack as much as possible."
Olympia Photo
The peloton streams through La Roche-en-Ardenne.
Olympia Photo
Lance Armstrong was well protected by his teammates on a nervous day.
Fotoreporter Sirotti
Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r-Prévoyance) nips Robbie McEwen for the stage 1 win.
Thanks for the thread - what an awesome race!
My son got me watching the race this morning. My legs would fall off after the first mile. Go Lance.
"Crashing through the Ardennes?" That's quite title for the Tour de France.
Stage 1 results - most riders were tightly packed and awarded the same time.
1. Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r-Prevoyance) 4:40:29
2. Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo)
3. Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole)
4. Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner)
5. Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r-Prevoyance)
6. Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com)
7. Kurt-Asle Arveson (CSC)
8. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo)
9. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile)
10. Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros)
...
28. Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
...
32. Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team
...
35. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal p/b Berry Floor
...
47. George Hincapie (USA) US Postal p/b Berry Floor
48. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal p/b Berry Floor
...
52. Tyler Hamilton (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems
Overall Standings
1. Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo) 4:47:11
2. Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) :04
3. Lance Armstrong (U.S. Postal Service) :10
4. Jens Voigt (CSC) :15
5. Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Illes Baleares-Banesto) :16
6. Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) :19
7. Christophe Moreau (Credit Agricole) :20
8. Bobby Julich (CSC) :20
9. George Hincapie (U.S. Postal Service) :20
10. Jose Enrique Gutierrez (Phonak) :22
...
12 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank :23
...
16 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team :25
17 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal p/b Berry Floor :26
18 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems :26
My legs ache when I go for coffee in the morning on my bike. The only time my bike sees 40 MPH is when it is being carried by my car., or maybe that one time I slid down the side of a hill. These guys are the greatest athletes!
concentric circles: Thanks again for another awesome thread!
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