Tour de France Cycling News for July 5, 2004 Edited by Chris Henry & Jeff Jones Kirsipuu powers back Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r-Prévoyance) Photo ©: Sirotti "I'm not a Petacchi or a McEwen, but I've got power," Jaan Kirsipuu said of his sprinting style, which carried him to victory in the first road stage of the Tour de France Sunday. The 34 year old Estonian veteran, who has faithfully ridden his entire professional career for Ag2r-Prévoyance team director Vincent Lavenu, powered back to Tour glory with a convincing sprint win ahead of a deep field of fast finishers. Kirsipuu got the better of Robbie McEwen and Thor Hushovd, while heavy favourite Alessandro Petacchi found himself caught short and out of position in the frantic finale in Charleroi. "I didn't expect to win the sprint today," Kirsipuu admitted. "Up until the Tour de France, I wasn't really in good condition and I did a very bad prologue yesterday. But today at the halfway point in the stage, I started feeling better and when I saw that I was going well in the intermediate sprints, I got some more confidence." Sunday's win was Kirsipuu's 116th career win. Kirsipuu will celebrate his 35th birthday on July 17. Stage 1 full results, report & photos Live report Stages Final start list Tour FAQ McGee suffering It's been a difficult start to the Tour for Brad McGee (FDJeux.com), winner of the prologue last year and wearer of the yellow jersey. McGee entered the Tour in excellent form this year, following his prologue victory and breakthrough performance in the general classification in the Giro d'Italia and overall victory in the Route du Sud in June. McGee didn't repeat his prologue performance, citing a lack of power due in part to his effort to drop weight and improve his climbing skills. Stage 1, however, went much worse. McGee finished in 186th place on the day, limping across the line after a day of chasing with the help of his faithful teammate Matthew Wilson. Suffering from intense back pain, McGee was dropped from the main field on each of the climbs and following repeated accelerations before the bonus sprints. "My back is cut in half; I couldn't feel my legs," he explained after the finish. "I couldn't get any power out of them. I upset it last weekend and it's just been on and off ever since. It's complicated. Basically my hip has just fallen out of place. It just falls in and out from where it has to be. Today it was obviously out of place. "Last weekend I took some time out to plant two olive trees in my garden," he explained. "That night I felt a little back pain and I did something stupid: the next day, instead of taking it easy, I went out and did five hours, doing a climb and then a series of intense intervals to lead out Baden Cooke in the sprints. I shouldn't have done that..." Cipollini OK Mario Cipollini Photo ©: Olympia Caught in an early crash along with Oscar Sevilla and Guillaume Auger, Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) didn't suffer any serious injury in Sunday's wet, wild stage 1. Cipollini, who abandoned this year's Giro d'Italia after a crash, hasn't spent much time racing this season and considers himself a bit short of form in his big return to the Tour de France. "My crash, which wasn't long after the start, shouldn't have any real consequences," the former world champion said. "I think after the team time trial I'll be ready to contest the sprint victories. I'll be in the rhythm a bit better." Sevilla and Auger also were up and riding after the crash and finished the stage without incident. Voigt chases yellow Team CSC's Jens Voigt, a former stage winner in the Tour de France, is never one to shy away from an attack. An aggressive rider by nature, Voigt went on the offensive in stage 1 with the goal of gaining bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints to move him closer to the top of the leader board. Voigt finished in seventh place, just 11 seconds behind prologue winner Fabian Cancellara on the Tour's opening day. Thanks to his breakaway effort in stage 1 he gained four seconds the first intermediate sprint of the day Sunday. "I was aiming to take the maillot jaune however I could," Voigt explained after the stage. "I started early, getting in a break almost immediately after the start, and I tried to stay in front the whole day to contest the bonus sprints. "We were a bit unlucky because Bernhard Eisel from FDJeux.com fell. We all waited a bit for him, but that perhaps lost us the few seconds we needed to stay clear for the second bonus sprint. Things didn't work quite as I hoped, but I tried anyway." Voigt's reward was the first combativity prize, and a handy €2,000 payday. Both Voigt and team director Bjarne Riis have a clear intention to get the big German as close to the yellow jersey as possible, with the hope that a strong team time trial performance could land him in yellow next Wednesday. Voigt's teammate Jakob Piil carried on with the attacking ways, breaking clear with Rabobank's Marc Wauters and putting in a strong effort that fell just short of the finish in Charleroi. Stage 1 - Aussie reactions Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com, 6th) "I felt good but it was rough as in the sprint. I saw Stuey [O'Grady] go down next to me with four kilometres to go." Nick Gates (Lotto-Domo, 188th) "It was a terrible day for me. I crashed with 90 km to go and I smashed my knee on my handlebar. I had a lot of trouble getting to the finish. If it's like this tomorrow I won't be starting." But Gates has no choice in the matter now, as the race jury determined that he was five minutes outside the cutoff time for the stage and he was eliminated. Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis, 153rd) Stuart O'Grady just shook his head after he crossed the line in the back part of the peloton, clearly very angry at the crash that took him out with 4 km to go. Weather report The weather for tomorrow's second stage from Charleroi to Namur should be kinder than it was today, as it's expected to be dry for the whole stage. The wind will be blowing at 15-20 km/h from the southwest, which will assist the riders in the final part of the stage. The predicted temperatures are 17-18 degrees at the start, rising to a maximum of 20-22 degrees in the afternoon. Medical communique Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) suffered serious lumbar pain. Several other riders crashed today, but none had serious injuries according to the race doctors: Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze), Oscar Sevilla and Oscar Pereiro Sio (Phonak), Guillaume Auger (RAGT), Dimitry Fofonov (Cofidis), Bernhard Eisel (FDJeux.com), Alessandro Bertolini (Alessio-Bianchi), Nick Gates (Lotto-Domo) and Benjamin Noval (USPS-Berry Floor), among others.   Previous News     Next News (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2004)

Recently on Cyclingnews.com Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini