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94th Tour de France - ProT
France, July 7-29, 2007
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Next Stage
Prologue - Saturday, July 7: London - London, 7.9km
Complete live report
Live commentary by Laura Weislo and Gregor Brown
Live coverage starts: 16:30 CET
Estimated finish: 19:30 CET
14:31 BST
Hello cycling fans. Welcome to the
live coverage of the 94th Tour de France. Shortly the riders will be rolling
out of the start house for the 7.9 kilometre run through London.
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14:38 BST
Cyclingnews' Ben Atkins sent
in a weather report from the streets of London's city centre:
After
weeks of unsettled weather - resulting in one of the wettest June's in British
history and the postponement of the National Championships - the sun is finally
shining on London.
Today's forecast is for virtually unbroken sunshine
and a maximum 22 degrees. Riders may be slightly hampered in the middle section
of today's course by a 20kph westerly wind, but this will assist them in the
last three kilometres as they turn back along the Serpentine Road towards the
finish.
The outlook for tomorrow is slightly cloudy, but the wind
will lessen to around 5kph from the South West.
14:41 BST
The atmosphere in London is festive
today, and even the riders were getting into the spirit thanks to the enthusiastic
crowds. Cyclingnews' John Trevorrow spoke with Stuart O'Grady, who gushed
about the support of his countrymen. The Paris-Roubaix champion said, "What
a fantastic welcome to London. I reckon there were a few thousand Aussies out
there and they gave us a great reception. It was a real buzz."
14:44 BST
The CSC rider also clarified his objectives
for this Tour, which is to work for his team's chance at overall victory. "Despite
many selecting me as a contender for the Maillot Vert, I won't be going for
green. I have a job to do looking after Sastre and he has good form. But I'm
sure there will be opportunities to go for a stage win."
14:48 BST
Cyclingnews' blimp Hindenburg
V2 is on the ground today because of the security concerns in London, but
no worries since the course is short enough to watch from comfort of one of
the many pubs nearby. We're hanging out with the laptop and a pint of Bishop's
Finger and a plate of chips!
14:54 BST
At 7.9 kilometres in length, the course
is too long perhaps for a sprinter to win, but short enough for the them to
stay close enough to gain the leader's yellow jersey on time bonuses.
Robbie McEwen told John Trevorrow this morning that he's not going to try for
a win today. "I will give it a 95% effort. I don't want to go over the edge
and burn my legs for the next day. I've got to be realistic as I know I'm going
to lose a bit of time.
"It's going to be a short first week with
only six days until the Alps so my plan's not to worry about the yellow jersey
and go for stages and if it comes my way it will be fine, it would be good,
no it would be great. But it's not the goal in itself."
15:00 BST
London is, of course, home to the
Queen of England, Elizabeth II, who sometimes resides in Buckingham Palace -
the grand palace the race course will pass by today. However, the tour won't
get her famous demure wave today, as she is not at home. Ben Atkins informs
us that the Union Jack is flying at the palace, which means that she's not there.
He reckons she's watching Le Tour on TV from Windsor Palace.
15:01 BST
Enrico Degano is the first rider to
roll down the ramp today for the Barloworld squad. He takes a deep breath and
exhales through puffed cheeks as he powers off to take on his first Tour de
France.
15:02 BST
Big crowds line the course all along
the route today - Degano gets big cheers from fans packed three deep as he heads
past Buckingham palace.
15:05 BST
Ruben Lobato (Saunier Duval) and Daniel
Navarro (Astana) are the next riders to head out into the surprisingly beautiful
weather for this Tour de France prologue. While none of these early starters
are favoured to win, they are getting strong support from the spectators.
15:06 BST
The start list can be viewed on our
prologue
profile page.
15:11 BST
Degano is coming down the final stretch
with a time just over ten minutes. He's looking pretty gassed at the end of
the prologue which he completed in 10'20".
15:12 BST
Willam Bonnet (Credit Agricole) is
next on course, looking strong and smooth as he pushes that big gear down the
opening straightaway. Most of the riders will be using rear disc wheels with
some sort of tri-spoke wheel on the front, and Bonnet is no exception.
15:14 BST
Bonnet is a pretty handy time trialist
- he took second place in the TT at the Four days of Dunkirk. He lost by just
twelve second to Tour prologue favourite Bradley Wiggins.
15:16 BST
Waiting his turn at the start house
is Rabobank's Oscar Freire. Freire's been suffering from a recurrence of a cyst
in his groin - something that can be downright painful to anyone, but especially
so to someone who has to spend five hours a day for three weeks on a tiny saddle.
He's told reporters today that it's getting a bit better, and he's going to
try to stick the race out and hope it clears up.
15:21 BST
Navarro came in with the fastest time
so far, clocking a 9'48. But he was quickly surpassed by Willems, who came in
with a 9'45. Meanwhile, Bonnet set the fastest intermediate time with a 5'27.
That was a good 10" faster than Willems' time.
15:23 BST
Discovery Channel's Lithuanian powerhouse
Tomas Vaitkus is out on course. The team is sporting a special jersey for the
Tour de France, one that has some green in it to signify their new initiative
to be 'carbon neutral'.
15:27 BST
The German National time trial champion
Bert Grabsch is on course pushing a gigantic gear. He has to avoid a traffic
sign that sits in the centre of the road, but fortunately, he's the only rider
on that section of road and was watching for it.
At the finish, Freire
is coming in with a respectable time. He's not going to unseat Bonnet.
15:29 BST
Vaitkus came in just six seconds behind
the current leader, William Bonnet (Credit Agricole). Bonnet averaged 50.2 kph
to get into the 'hot seat'. He's safe for now as Grabsch comes in with a 9'43.
Current standings
William Bonnet (Crédit Agricole) 09.26
Gorka
Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 09.44
Tomas Vaitkus (Discovery Channel) 09.32
Frederik
Willems (Liquigas) 09.45
Daniel Navarro (Astana) 09.48
Enrico Degano
(Barloworld) 10.20
15:32 BST
We're just about 1/6th of the way
through our 2007 Tour peloton, with the Discovery Channel rider Sergio Paulinho
being the next rider to set out on course. He's chasing three Frenchmen who
started right before: Sprick, Bichot and Augé.
15:37 BST
Speaking of Frenchmen, AG2r is riding
for their captain Christophe Moreau, who is enjoying a boost to his long career
after a spectacular win in the Dauphiné Libéré.
One of Moreau's
domestiques, Australian Simon Gerrans had a bit of illness prior to the Tour,
but made the AG2r Tour team. He told John Trevorrow this morning, "I was up
against it a little to get a start this year and I'm glad that it's come together.
It was a bit touch and go after [Tour de] Swiss, I got a little bit crook but
I'm fine now. My main role is to work for Christophe, he's our big hope and
he's going well. He's aiming for a podium finish and I'll be doing everything
to support him."
15:39 BST
We've got some familiar names coming
up now - American Chris Horner is looking relaxed on the start ramp, even though
he's being chased by Stuart O'Grady (CSC) and Axel Merckx (T-Mobile). He immediately
gets into a low aero tuck and speeds off. He takes the first turn extremely
hard and nearly brushes the barricades at the exit of the turn, but he's a great
bike handler and it's no problem.
15:42 BST
Bonnet is still in the hot seat, and
rider after rider is coming through just shy of his time. Paulinho came in 9'34,
Sprick at 9'38... Stuart O'Grady is out on course, but won't have any aspirations
for a good finish in the prologue as he is dedicated to the service of his team
leader Carlos Sastre.
15:45 BST
One rider who might be able to top
Bonnet's time just rolled down the start ramp - it's Paolo Savoldelli, a two-time
Giro d'Italia champion and a rider who is strong against the clock. He's been
a bit under the weather the past week, but he is looking quite strong.
15:46 BST
We have a new best time!! Mikel Astarloza
(Euskaltel-Euskadi) has come in with just two seconds faster than Bonnet at
9'24.
15:49 BST
Oh no! We have a crash! Stuart O'Grady
took the turn too wide and crashed right into the plastic road dividers. He
immediately got up and started riding. He just clipped his right foot on the
barricade, knocking it loose - it looks like the barricade knocked him off his
line just enough to send him into the next barrier.
15:50 BST
Even though he fell down, O'Grady
still comes in with a 10'13 - soft pedaling the last half a kilometre. Crashing
on day one is not the way you want to start the Tour de France!
15:52 BST
O'Grady is fine - he's being interviewed
after the finish, sounding philosophical about his wreck. "That's life," he
told the French reporter.
15:55 BST
Paolo Savoldelli comes across in 9'28
- a solid time, but not shy of our fastest time by 4" and destined to put him
well down on the leader board by the end of the day.
16:01 BST
Astarloza is still sitting atop the
leader board as we see Australian Simon Gerrans get ready to roll down the ramp.
In just a few minutes we'll see David Zabriskie set out on course. The 'Z-man'
is a good candidate for the podium today, but will have to get each and every
corner just right.
Zabriskie is the current US time trial champion
and has the stars and stripes on his kit and clear lenses over his eyes. He
gets on top of the gear immediately and up to speed. O'Grady hit the fastest
intermediate time, and was probably setting time checks for Zabriskie when he
crashed.
16:04 BST
Vladimir Karpets is chasing Zabriskie,
and he is another dark horse for this prologue. He's very good against the clock,
he has two time trial wins in Castillya e Leon and Alentejo this year, a second
at Catalonia and more recently the overall win at the Tour de Suisse. He's setting
style trends out there with his cool black kit and long hair waving in the wind.
Current standings
1 Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 09.23 (50.52
km/h)
2 William Bonnet (Crédit Agricole) 09.26
3 Paolo Savoldelli (Astana)
09.28
4 Tomas Vaitkus (Discovery Channel) 09.32
5 Sergio Paulinho (Discovery
Channel) 09.34
6 Bert Grabsch (T-Mobile) 09.43
7 Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
09.44
8 Frederik Willems (Liquigas) 09.45
9 Daniel Navarro (Astana)
09.48
10 Enrico Degano (Barloworld) 10.20
16:06 BST
Zabriskie has to stop pedaling for
a second as he flies over two speed bumps. He's looking quite fast and is now
the fastest intermediate time at 5'24 - two seconds faster than team-mate O'Grady.
16:10 BST
You can see photos of the team
presentation or read Tour
de France news while you're waiting for favourite rider to start.
Dave Z is in with JUST the fastest time. He faded a tad over the last half and
came in fractions of a second ahead of Astarloza at 9'22.
16:11 BST
Karpets is still out on course just
ripping around the turns. He's not afraid to take risks, and hardly slowed down
for a quick right-left-right combination. He's heading into the finish with
a very fast time... on the final straight with sub 9'00 but it's a long way
off.
16:13 BST
And he gets the new best time by a
startling 9.16.22!!! Excellent work by the Russian - his Caisse d'Epargne team
will be holding their breath for the next almost two hours before that last
rider, Oscar Pereiro, comes in.
16:16 BST
Discovery's Yaroslav Popovych is out
on course now - rocking his body as he powers a smaller gear than most on his
way out. 'Popo' hasn't quite lived up to the promise in the Grand Tours that
won him the white jersey a few years ago, but you can't count out the Ukrainian.
16:19 BST
Belgian Philippe Gilbert sprints into
the finish, gnashing his teeth in agony while he tries to eke a few more powerful
pedal strokes out of his legs. But his time is 9'33.
16:21 BST
Our tech editor, James Huang, has
sent in some nice photos of some of the time trial machines being used today.
You can see David Millar's Scott and Brad Wiggins' Time as well as the Barloworld
team bikes here.
16:24 BST
T-Mobile sprinter Bernard Eisel is
the next one to set out for the 7.9 km torture-fest. The sprinter spent some
time in the USA where he won the Lancaster and Reading races, and nearly won
the Philadelphia International to take all three races of the Triple Crown,
but was worked over by the CSC team who delivered JJ Haedo to the win.
16:27 BST
Robbie McEwen is coming into the 3km
to go point. He has to hop over those speed bumps and is looking unhurried with
his efforts. He still has to go hard in order to make the time cut, but he certainly
isn't trying to win. He's saving his legs for tomorrow's potential sprint finish
in Canterbury.
16:30 BST
The rider who has worn the yellow
jersey more days than any other rider starting this Tour de France, Thomas Voeckler
(Bouygues Telecom), is looking relaxed as he is interviewed by French TV. He's
going to try to limit his losses today and go for the breakaways - like the
one that gave him 10 days in yellow in the 2004 Tour de France.
16:35 BST
McEwen eased his way across the line
pushing just under 10 minutes. Eisel looks to be saving his legs to lead out
Manxman Mark Cavendish and comes in just about ten seconds faster than McEwen.
Voeckler is out on course, and is going to be chased by Russian Vladimir Gusev
- Gusev plowed his way to a mountain top stage win in the Tour de Suisse last
month. He's in the red-sleeved kit of the Russian time trial champion - quite
the versatile rider!
16:39 BST
French veteran Cedric Vasseur (Quickstep)
comes in with a 9'43 - a long way off of Karpets' time. His compatriot Matthieu
Ladagnous is coming behind him with a respectable start to his first Tour de
France. He's not going to set any records with that 9'54, but he gives a big
smile after the line after completing his first Tour stage.
16:43 BST
Cyclo-cross racer John Gadret will
be the next rider to hit the London streets. The super-thin French rider for
AG2r has shown some good form on the road this year in the Ardennes classics:
8th in La Flčche Wallonne, 15th in L-B-L and 4th in a stage of the Tour of Romandie.
16:44 BST
Holy cow! Vladimir Gusev brutalizes
his bike as he mashes into the lead with a 9'15!
16:47 BST
Gusev certainly has diverse talents.
4th in Paris-Roubaix before being disqualified in the railway crossing incident
in 2006, wins a mountain top stage in Tour de Suisse this year, and now is in
the hot seat of the Tour de France prologue? Incredible.
16:52 BST
Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis) will be heading
down the start ramp momentarily. It's been a while, but he did win a prologue
in 2001 at the Giro d'Italia. He's had a few unproductive years, but some Belgian
fans are hoping he gets a surprise win here in London.
16:53 BST
José Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne)
in the bright red and yellow Spanish TT skinsuit nearly clips the same barrier
that took down O'Grady, but makes it through for a solid 4th place in 9'23.
16:58 BST
We're over halfway through the 189
rider peloton and already we have a tight situation on the leader board.
1 Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) 09.15 (51.24 km/h)
2 Vladimir Karpets
(Caisse d'Epargne) 09.16
3 David Zabriskie (Team CSC) 09.22
4 Mikel
Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 09.23
5 William Bonnet (Crédit Agricole)
09.26
6 Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) 09.28
7 Sébastien Rosseler (Quickstep-Innergetic)
8 Tomas Vaitkus (Discovery Channel) 09.32
9 Antonio Colom (Astana) 09.33
10 Sergio Paulinho (Discovery Channel) 09.34
As Maxim Iglinskiy,
winner of a stage in the Dauphine, comes in 17th at 9'36. The placings are separated
by just seconds or even fractions of seconds. That makes it all the more heartbreaking
when you miss out on the win because just one miniscule adjustment or a tighter
turn could spell the difference between victory and defeat.
17:02 BST
Alberto Contador, winner of this year's
Paris-Nice, is heading over the speed bumps past the halfway point of this prologue
course. Ahead of him, Rik Verbrugghe is setting a good time, but he's going
to be short of the lead - he comes in 9th with 9'29 - a good ride for the Belgian.
17:03 BST
Alejandro Valverde will be starting
soon - he told French TV that he just doesn't want to crash. He's got a bad
history with that - crashing last year and breaking his collarbone early on
in the Tour. If he makes it to Paris this year, it will be his first time finishing
Le Tour.
17:06 BST
Cyclingnews' Ben Atkins is
in London with us and like everyone else he is enjoying the warm weather. He
reports that there are many families in Saint James Park having picnics while
watching the race on the big screen TV.
When asked about the number
of people watching along the barriers, Atkins reported, "There are fans all
along the course and it is four to five deep in most places."
"It
pretty warm but there is it a bit of cool breeze," he summarized regarding the
weather.
17:08 BST
Coming to the line, Contador nets
a 9'25 to put him into 6th place for the moment.
Out on course,
Valverde, takes the first turn a bit gingerly. That will cost him time, but
not as much time as a broken bone to be sure. He's riding cautiously, almost
timidly, through each turn and then mashing the pedals to get back to speed
on the straightaways.
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17:12 BST
Soon to enter into retirement, Rabobank's
Michael Boogerd is heading into the finish with a so-so time. His 9'53 is uncharacteristically
sluggish for the Dutch rider with the distinctive teeth.
17:16 BST
CSC's strong man Jens Voigt comes
across the line with his mouth agape - he gets a 9'38.56. Just behind, Valverde
is on his way to the line and is surprisingly fast - a 9'33 which is good for
14th place. Valverde is borrowing from the Tom Boonen school of style, and is
sporting a bit of facial stubble today... could that be a secret aerodynamic
advantage?
17:21 BST
Daniele Bennati is in the house -
the start house that is. 'Bennati the hottie' as the Cyclingnews female
staff like to refer to him, is gunning for the yellow jersey in the first week.
He had a stellar prologue in the Tour de Suisse, where he lost by a few seconds
to world champ Fabian Cancellara. (For more about Daniele Bennati read Gunning
for green.)
17:27 BST
Last year's king of the mountains,
Michael Rasmussen, is the next to start, and is looking like he's lost the weight
he was carrying around at February's Tour of California. He's a famous weight
weenie, who once bought his own carbon bars because they were lighter than the
ones his team provided. It's rumoured that he shaves all of his body hair to
shed weight - we'll be sure to send our reporter Brecht Decaluwé to the showers
to gather evidence... or maybe not...
17:30 BST
Bennati is coming in to the finish,
and while not near the lead, he's got a promising 9'33 - a few time bonuses
could still get him yellow.
Andreas Klöden is now setting out
- and he'll be followed by Aussie Brett Lancaster. He's starting his first Tour,
and told John Trevorrow he was excited about the prospect, saying, "It's starting
to hit me now. I hadn't really felt much after a good Giro and 65 days of racing
this year, so I've sought of gone into it relaxed. But now, in front of these
big crowds, I'm starting to get a bit excited."
17:32 BST
Former Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc
is here in London. "It is a very happy atmosphere. I am happy to be here, even
if I am not working."
Klöden is still out on course. His back is
rocking as he pedals... Maybe his saddle is too high?
17:33 BST
Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) is approaching
the final kilometre.
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) noted... "this is
great" of the parcours.
17:35 BST
There are 44 more riders to finish.
17:36 BST
Gusev's lead is safe from Schleck,
and he comes in with a 9'47... not super, but he hasn't lost too much time.
Yowza - Andreas Klöden has the fastest intermediate time by eight seconds!
The German is looking smooth and powerful - his disc wheel humming along the
straightaway. He's 'co-captain' with Vinokourov officially, but if he keeps
this up he might be the outright leader of the Astana team after today.
17:38 BST
Klöden is comes into the finish
and Gusev goes down! 9'03 - spectacular!
17:44 BST
The big American George Hincapie is
heading out to take on London. He was second to Thor Hushovd in last year's
Tour prologue over a similar distance, and wore yellow after gaining time bonuses.
He's through the intermediate check 2" behind Klöden.
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17:45 BST
Ben Atkins is Cyclingnews'
man on the street. He noted that there are a "lot of Russians and eastern Europeans"
walking around the parcours. And "lot of Spanish and a lot French.
"There are a lot of people in London for sight-seeing and then realizing 'hey
the Tour is here.' But they appear to be still trying to get their sight-seeing
done."
"Everyone here really wants Wiggins," continued Atkins. Bradley
Wiggins (Cofidis) is a local boy and to learn more about him read Home
soil victory chasing.
Also read Tourist's
Guide to London.
Current standings
Intermediate times (km 4.6)
1 Andreas Klöden
(Astana) 5.14 (52.74 km/h)
2 George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) 5.21
3
Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne) 5.22
4 Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel)
5.22
5 Iván Gutiérrez (Caisse d'Epargne) 5.23
6 David Zabriskie (Team
CSC) 5.24
7 Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) 5.25
8 Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC)
5.26
9 Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) 5.26
10 William Bonnet (Crédit Agricole)
5.27
Provisional results (km 7.9)
1 Andreas Klöden (Astana)
09.03 (52.39 km/h)
2 Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) 09.15
3 Vladimir
Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne) 09.16
4 Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) 09.22
5
David Zabriskie (Team CSC) 09.22
6 Iván Gutiérrez (Caisse d'Epargne) 09.23
7
Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 09.23
8 Alberto Contador (Discovery
Channel) 09.25
9 Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) 09.25
10 William Bonnet
(Crédit Agricole) 09.26
17:47 BST
Hincapie is looking low and mean as
he comes into the finishing straight in green and blue. He lost a few more seconds
over the second half, and comes in with 9'13 - good for second place!
17:52 BST
David Millar rolls down the ramp to
a huge cheer from the London crowds. He's wearing some sharp shoe covers in
black and white. He's chasing first time Tour rider and fellow Brit Geraint
Thomas of Barloworld. For more read No
doubting Geraint Thomas.
Millar's bike can be seen in our recent
tech
feature.
17:54 BST
Right behind Millar is Alexandre Vinokourov
who will reveal in the next nine minutes whether he is co-captain or domestique
to Klöden. Vino is ahead of Erik Zabel and Belgian hero Tom Boonen.
17:57 BST
There are now only 13 more riders
to start the prologue of the 94th Tour de France.
17:58 BST
The crowds of London are going insane
for Bradley Wiggins, who just started. The pursuit world champion has a perfect,
tight aero position which allows him to slice through the wind. Unlike the velodrome,
however, this course has some technical challenges. We'll see soon if he's up
to the test!
17:59 BST
Millar was 11" down at the intermediate
check, and it's one sentimental favourite that goes under - he comes in 9th...
Now Vinokourov comes in and he's sprinting to the line and throws his bike to
get 3rd place with 9'20.48.
18:01 BST
Wiggins is looking extremely smooth
- his director is screaming at him from the team car in French while steering
with one hand. The crowds are lifting their hero to a very fast time - 3rd at
the intermediate check.
18:03 BST
Tom Boonen is grinding his way to
the finish and gets out of the saddle to sprint to 36th place... he will have
to get a lot of time bonuses to wear that yellow jersey in Belgium on Monday
as he's at 9'38 - 35" down.
18:05 BST
You can tell exactly where Wiggins
is by listening to the gigantic roar that has followed him around the course.
He's in the final stretch now, but already behind the time of Klöden. He's
third - just behind Hincapie!
18:06 BST
Moreau has started. For more on the
Frenchman read Christophe
Moreau hopes for spotty Tour.
18:06 BST
Cadel Evans is on his way to the Tour,
and he comes off the ramp in a full on sprint - pulling on the bars with all
his might as he dashes into the first turn. After placing second in the Dauphine,
he is one of the favourites, but isn't too stressed. He told John Trevorrow,
"I'm pretty relaxed about it [being a contender]. The form is good and I feel
the build up as been better than the last two years so it's a matter of being
alert in the first week and then we will see what happens when we hit the Alps."
18:10 BST
Chrisophe Moreau is experiencing the
pain that is a Tour de France prologue, tongue out as usual. He's not known
as a fabulous time trialist, so he'll be trying to limit his losses.
And now with Menchov, Evans, Cancellara and Rogers also on course, Pereiro sets
off as the last rider to take the Grand Depart.
18:12 BST
All will be revealed in the next few
minutes - can the World Champion unseat the German? Andreas Klöden doesn't
hope so - he has never won a Tour de France stage.
18:13 BST
Cancellara is through the intermediate
check with a HUGE time - seven seconds faster than Klöden!!! 5'07 - WOW!
Moreau is coming in with a 9'39 - a respectable effort.
18:14 BST
Cancellara takes the twisty turny
bits with easy and is simply flying! Menchov doesn't stand a chance, and he's
in with 9'30. Cancellara is leaning his bike putting his knee out and zipping
through the final turns.
18:14 BST
The World Champion rainbow stripes
are a blur as Cancellara rockets down the final kilometre. Evans doesn't look
that fast, but he's in with a great time for him - 9'26.
18:15 BST
Cancellara SMASHES the fastest time
- he sprints to the line with an 8'50!!! Fan-tastic! That's an average of 53.7
kph!
18:17 BST
We still have Pereiro to finish, but
he's nowhere near Cancellara with 9'27. The CSC rider now leads Andreas Klöden
by 13" with Hincapie 23" back.
The World Champion certainly rode
to the standard of that jersey today, Cancellara having started the year quite
unremarkably but gaining his Tour form just in time.
18:19 BST
Well that's it for our live coverage
of what David Millar called a "magical" start to this years' Tour de France.
Stay tuned to all the live coverage here at Cyclingnews at noon CET.
Provisional results (km 7.9) 1 Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) 08.50 (53.7 km/h) 2 Andreas Klöden (Astana) 09.03 3 George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) 09.13 4 Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) 09.13 5 Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) 09.15 6 Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne) 09.16 7 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 09.20 8 Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) 09.21 9 Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) 09.22 10 David Zabriskie (Team CSC) 09.22
Intermediate times (km 4.6) 1 Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) 5.07 2 Andreas Klöden (Astana) 5.14 3 George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) 5.21 4 Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) 5.21 5 Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne) 5.22 6 Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) 5.22 7 Iván Gutiérrez (Caisse d'Epargne) 5.23 8 David Zabriskie (Team CSC) 5.24 9 Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) 5.25 10 Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC) 5.26
