Tour de France: More than 1 million spectators saw Cancellar

It seemed that no one would be able to match the effort of Andreas Kloden (Astana) who was the 150th rider to start the 7.9km race and blitz the course in 9’03”... but it was the third last man out of the start house who proved his dominance in the discipline that he is the reigning world champion. The Swiss CSC rider averaged 53.7km/h and became the only man to break the nine minute mark with a time of 8’50”740! It was 13” better than Kloden and 23” faster than last year’s prologue runner-up, George Hincapie.

Fine conditions greeted the opening day of the 94th Tour de France. The first of the 189 riders to start was Degano (BAR) who began the 7.9km time trial at 3.00pm. The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone joined the Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe and Tour director Christian Pruhomme to signal the official start of the 2007 race.

The first rider to finish with an average speed over 50km/h was Bonnet (C.A). He led until Astarloza (EUS) finished. One incident during the early phase was a crash by O’Grady (CSC); he was the 40th rider to start and he led at the first check but then clipped a barrier with his pedal on a turn, forcing him to lose control of his bike and crash heavily. The next men to set the standard were Zabriskie (CSC), Karpets (GCE), Gusev (DSC)... but it was Kloden (AST) who really set the course alight with a phenomenal ride. At the 4.5km mark he was eight seconds better than his rivals. Not even local knowledge could help Bradley Wiggins who finished the time trial 10” slower than Kloden and 23” behind the world champion, Fabian Cancellara.

At 7.9km it was a fairly long prologue course but it took in some of London’s most famous landmarks. The crowds were out in force to cheer on the local stars, Wiggins and David Millar. But neither had an answer to the power of Cancellara who finished the race in the third fastest average speed for a prologue in the history of the Tour. Only Chris Boardman’s 55.152km/h on the 7.2km course in Lille (in 1994) and 54.193km/h on the 5.6km Dublin course (in 1998) are faster than what the time trial world champion achieved today.

Fabian Cancellara said: "Before I’ve had a situation where everybody was looking at me and saying I was the big favorite and it’s been hard to handle. But this year I learned to use the pressure to my advantage. It was perhaps even more stressful for the English riders: we are in London and as we’ve seen the popularity of the event is huge. We’ve seen that today. There are a lot of people from many different countries here to watch and this has been a beautiful expose for cycling."

Cancellara continued by saying: "For the British riders, I’m sorry but it’s a Swiss day and I hope it’s the same again tomorrow for Roger Federer. The current ITT world champion added: "I talked to Kim Anderson and Alain Gallopin and we agreed that I had to stay under nine minutes. It was the right intention and I’m happy that I was able to do just that. It’s a very important opening. For me, it’s a great thing. We are in London, I have the yellow jersey and I got that while wearing the world champion’s jersey." Cancellara was also very strong at the Tour de Suisse: "I’ve shown already in the Tour de Suisse that I’m in good shape and I will do the maximum to keep this jersey for as long as I can."

The Swiss CSC rider was really happy with his win: "It's a big deal for me and also for my family back home. I've been working towards this ever since Paris-Roubaix and I almost feel like the rest of the Tour is just an added bonus now. But of course I'd like to stick around and see if maybe I'm able to win another time trial later on – and of course help the team to some more great results as well."

CSC will try to defend the yellow jersey in the coming days. CSC Sports Director said he is also happy for the team sponsor: "We'd like to keep the jersey as far as to the second stage, because that seems quite realistic as I imagine the sprinter teams will be helpful. But we're not gonna use up all our strength in keeping the lead for longer and then have nothing left for the mountains," explained Kim Andersen, who was pleased about the team coming thru for main sponsor CSC.

"CSC has a number of staff here and they showed us so much support at a brilliant event at their European headquarters last Thursday. It meant a lot to the riders and you could tell that it gave the entire team a mental boost. That's why it's so great to be able to give something back to them in shape of a result like this."

Andreas Klöden showed that he is ready for the Tour by finishing second: "I am very happy. All went as I expected. It was nevertheless important for me to get as much time as I could to my direct adversaries in the race. Now I wish to concentrate on the following stages," Klöden said.

Alexander Vinokourov is confident for the Tour: "I am not a prolog specialist, even if I felt better and better during the stage. The result of Andreas Klöden doesn’t surprise me. The Tour has just begun, I’m not worried about my today’s result. All this public on the course, it was just fantastic. It’s the best publicity for cycling here in Great Britain, even if we are staying only two days."

After his prologue and a nice eighth place, Thomas Dekker (picture) was not really enthusiastic, but rather realistic and seemingly unmoved. "It went reasonably well. I was not that nervous, even though I did get tired at some point of all the waiting. Not one television channel had the Tour on, so I basically watched all of Wimbledon. At a certain moment, I decided to switch it off and all of a sudden time seemed to be flying much faster."

"Whether I am exhausted now? Not really, even though I will have some stiff muscles tomorrow and a cough. But that is all part of it. Whether I am satisfied? Yes, I am." Beforehand, the newcomer already had high hopes about a good performance. "It was a phenomenal track. The wind starts playing a role, and there were many long straight roads, which is beneficial to me," said the Rabo-rider after he had explored the London lap. His words proved prophetic.

Rabobank Sports Director Erik Breukink shared his best man's realistic approach this evening in London. "I had hoped for a top-ten ranking. That was a reasonable expectation, I thought before the start. But, he still needed to live up to these expectations in a fierce competition against the world's best specialists. Mainly Thomas's second part of the prologue was promising. It was outstanding," judged Dekker, who had no words for the incredible performance of Cancellara. "He was my top-favorite, but he must be from some other planet with this difference."

Results:

Prologue

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC                                        8.50 (53.7 km/h)
2 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                             0.13
3 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team                0.23
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
5 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team                 0.25
6 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                                 0.26
7 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana                                       0.30
8 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                            0.31
9 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas                                         0.32
10 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux
11 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC
12 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                    0.33
13 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval - Prodir
14 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
15 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team      0.35
16 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana
17 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto                                    0.36
18 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
19 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
20 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team                                     0.37
21 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
22 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                    0.38
23 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana
24 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic                        0.39
25 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
26 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team               0.40
27 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
28 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole                                     0.41
29 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team                 0.42
30 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas                                         0.43
31 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
32 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
33 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
34 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana
35 Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram
36 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner                                       0.44
37 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
38 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                   0.45
39 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
40 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner
41 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic                                0.46
42 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram
43 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux
44 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
45 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld                                        0.47
46 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom
47 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic
48 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
49 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana                                           0.48
50 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
51 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux
51 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
53 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team
54 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
55 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
56 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                                0.49
57 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel
58 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
59 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic
60 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram                                           0.50
61 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner
62 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld                                         0.51
63 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
64 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
64 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
66 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                 0.52
67 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
68 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
69 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team
70 Bert Grabsch (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                       0.53
71 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto
71 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
73 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quickstep - Innergetic
74 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2r Prévoyance
75 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC
76 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
77 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank                                           0.54
78 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel
79 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile Team
80 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
81 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre - Fondital
82 Axel Merckx (Bel) T-Mobile Team
83 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Astana                                            0.55
84 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas
85 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team
86 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole
87 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
88 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
89 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
90 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
91 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas                                        0.56
92 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC
93 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas
94 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic
95 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                           0.57
96 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
97 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Predictor - Lotto
98 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
99 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana
100 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom                                 0.58
101 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank
102 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic
103 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas
104 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC
105 Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone       1.00
105 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel
107 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
108 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
109 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
110 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
111 Iñigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa) Team CSC
112 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole                                     1.01
113 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
114 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance
115 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
116 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas
117 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                                1.02
118 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
119 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
120 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas
121 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                               1.03
122 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld
123 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
123 Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas
125 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux
125 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux
127 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                 1.04
128 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team
129 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic
130 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
131 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Predictor - Lotto                                1.05
132 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux
133 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram
134 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                                 1.06
135 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram
136 Grégory Rast (Swi) Astana
137 Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
138 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance
139 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
140 Juan Miguel Mercado Martin (Spa) Agritubel
141 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
142 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                          1.07
143 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Crédit Agricole
144 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 1.08
145 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
146 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel
147 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
148 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor - Lotto                                 1.09
149 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Team Milram
150 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
151 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir           1.10
152 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic
153 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
154 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
155 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram
156 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole                               1.12
157 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
157 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Fondital
159 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                               1.13
160 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
161 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux
162 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel                                         1.14
163 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
164 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel                                         1.15
165 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                          1.16
166 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
167 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
168 Félix Rafael Cardenas Ravalo (Col) Barloworld                         1.18
169 John Gadret (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
170 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
171 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
172 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                1.19
173 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
174 Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) Agritubel
175 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
176 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld                                    1.20
177 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld
178 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir                        1.21
179 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC                                         1.23
180 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner                                      1.25
181 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld                                 1.26
182 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
183 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram                                    1.27
184 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld
185 Cédric Hervé (Fra) Agritubel                                          1.30
186 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld
187 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Predictor - Lotto                               1.32
188 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                             1.33
189 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir                      1.51