Cancellara Roars Into Yellow Jersey at Tour
Saxo Bank | July 4, 2009
Fabian Cancellara roared into the yellow jersey to open the 2009 Tour de France in dramatic fashion Saturday in Monaco.
The reigning Olympic time trial champion took a page from his winning strategy from last year’s gold medal performance in Beijing, staying close to the climbers in the first hard part of the course and then turning on the afterburners in the closing kilometers to claim victory.
Riding his Specialized bike, Cancellara erased a six-second deficit to 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador at the top of the Cat. 4 Cote de Beausoleil and turned it into an 18-second winning ride.
“I am very proud, because I was one of the top favorites here before the race and I knew if things went well, it would be very difficult to beat me,” said Cancellara, who was the only rider to finish under 20 minutes on the challenging course. “I put in the maximum effort.”
The Big Swiss Time Machine – fresh off overall victory at the Tour de Suisse – stopped the clock in 19 minutes, 32 seconds (47.61kph) to claim the maillot jaune for the third time in his career. Contador was second at 18 seconds slower and Bradley Wiggins was third at 19 seconds off the pace.
Cancellara proved yet again he’s one of the world’s most lethal time trial specialists, adding Monaco to his Tour victories that delivered yellow in Liège in 2004 and London in 2007.
“I knew I could take it easier on the climb and avoid too much lactic acid in my legs. Then I could go really hard in the flats. That paid off,” Cancellara said. “It’s great to be back in the yellow jersey once again. Now everyone knows that Cancellara is back and he is stronger than ever. We will now defend the yellow jersey until the team time trial.”
Cancellara wasn’t the only Saxo Bank team rider enjoying success. Olympic silver medalist Gustav Larsson was 11th at 44 seconds slower while Andy Schleck, the team’s top hope for the overall classification, rode to a solid 18th at 1:00 behind Cancellara, but less than 45 seconds behind the top GC rivals.
Team manager Bjarne Riis said the 2009 Tour couldn’t have started off any better.
“Fabian has shown once again his amazing time trial abilities,” Riis said. “We opened the Tour with a big bang and nobody can seriously doubt that we have had a dream start to this year’s Tour, which is our season’s major objective.”
Other Specialized riders also posted strong performances, with two-time runner-up Cadel Evans rode to fifth at 23 seconds back.
“I would have preferred the time differences to go the other way, but that’s not bad. I did the best I could,” Evans said. “The most important thing is that the Tour is started. I didn’t lose any major time to my rivals. It wasn’t an easy way to start this Tour.”
The 96th Tour de France continues Sunday with the 187km second stage from Monaco to Brignoles. The hilly stage features four rated climbs, including the Cat. 3 La Turbie in the opening 10km, providing ideal terrain for breakaway attempts.
The day’s final climb with 58km to go should provide the sprinter teams with plenty of road to set up their fast-twitch sprinters, with Quick Step looking to set up Belgian national champion Tom Boonen for the victory.
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