03.07.2005, 10:59
Armstrong hammers rivals in first stage
NOIRMOUTIER-EN-L'ILE, France (AP) - Lance Armstrong hammered his rivals in the opening stage of his last Tour de France, finishing a narrow second Saturday behind a new hope for American cycling, David Zabriskie.
Zabriskie, 25, raced the fastest time trial in Tour history to beat former teammate Armstrong by two seconds over the 19-kilometre course on western France's Atlantic Coast.
His ride earned Zabriskie the overall leader's yellow jersey - a remarkable feat for his first day on his first Tour.
''This feels really great,'' said Zabriskie, who considered quitting cycling after a bad crash last year. ''I never thought this would happen. Never, ever, ever.''
Zabriskie, whose CSC team is riding made-in-Canada Cervelo bikes, still has screws in one knee from another crash in 2003 when he broke his leg and wrist after being hit by a SUV in his home town of Salt Lake City, Utah.
While Armstrong did not win Saturday, the defending six-time champion opened up important time gaps over his major rivals, of which Zabriskie was not - at least until his crushing ride Saturday - considered one.
Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner who has finished three times runner-up to Armstrong, suffered the humiliation of being overtaken by Armstrong even though he had set out one minute ahead.
''The feeling of being passed by Lance is not good,'' said Ullrich. ''The Tour is still three weeks long. I'll battle.''
Armstrong's team coach, Johan Bruyneel, was jubilant. Armstrong's rock star girlfriend, Sheryl Crow, snapped photos to immortalize the moment.
''I started slowly but I found my rhythm,'' said Armstrong, who had a slight mishap at the start when one of his feet popped out of the pedals. ''I saw Jan in front of me at the first time check and I thought, `It's going well today'. I had him in my sights. Then I did my maximum.''
''It's incredible what he has done today,'' said Bryneel.
The closest of Armstrong's main rivals was Alexandre Vinokourov, Ullrich's teammate from Kazakhstan. He placed third, but was still 51 seconds slower than the Texan.
Ullrich placed 12th, a whopping one minute and six seconds slower than Armstrong, who said his German rival may have been affected by a training crash Friday. Ullrich cut his neck after slamming into the back of one of his team's cars.
''Maybe it's the crash,'' said Luuc Eisenga, Ullrich's team spokesman. ''He's a little demoralized. He doesn't really know what happened.''
Italy's Ivan Basso, who placed third at last year's Tour and was the only rider to beat Armstrong in the Pyrenees, was 1:24 slower than Armstrong, placing 20th. Such a disadvantage will be difficult to make up.
Zabriskie covered the course from Fromentine to the marshy island of Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile in 20 minutes and 51 seconds, riding at an average of 54.676 kilometres per hour.
That beat the time-trial record held since 1989 by another American, Greg Lemond. He raced at an average speed of 54.545 k.p.h. over a time trial course that was 5.5 kilometres longer as he went on to win the second of his three Tour crowns.
Zabriskie switched from Armstrong's camp to Team CSC this year. He won another time trial at the Giro d'Italia this year.
''We just witnessed the birth of a real champion for the time trial event,'' said his teammate and fellow American, Bobby Julich, who placed 11th on Saturday. ''He just creamed everybody.''
http://www.tsn.ca/oln/news_story.asp?id=129425
NOIRMOUTIER-EN-L'ILE, France (AP) - Lance Armstrong hammered his rivals in the opening stage of his last Tour de France, finishing a narrow second Saturday behind a new hope for American cycling, David Zabriskie.
Zabriskie, 25, raced the fastest time trial in Tour history to beat former teammate Armstrong by two seconds over the 19-kilometre course on western France's Atlantic Coast.
His ride earned Zabriskie the overall leader's yellow jersey - a remarkable feat for his first day on his first Tour.
''This feels really great,'' said Zabriskie, who considered quitting cycling after a bad crash last year. ''I never thought this would happen. Never, ever, ever.''
Zabriskie, whose CSC team is riding made-in-Canada Cervelo bikes, still has screws in one knee from another crash in 2003 when he broke his leg and wrist after being hit by a SUV in his home town of Salt Lake City, Utah.
While Armstrong did not win Saturday, the defending six-time champion opened up important time gaps over his major rivals, of which Zabriskie was not - at least until his crushing ride Saturday - considered one.
Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner who has finished three times runner-up to Armstrong, suffered the humiliation of being overtaken by Armstrong even though he had set out one minute ahead.
''The feeling of being passed by Lance is not good,'' said Ullrich. ''The Tour is still three weeks long. I'll battle.''
Armstrong's team coach, Johan Bruyneel, was jubilant. Armstrong's rock star girlfriend, Sheryl Crow, snapped photos to immortalize the moment.
''I started slowly but I found my rhythm,'' said Armstrong, who had a slight mishap at the start when one of his feet popped out of the pedals. ''I saw Jan in front of me at the first time check and I thought, `It's going well today'. I had him in my sights. Then I did my maximum.''
''It's incredible what he has done today,'' said Bryneel.
The closest of Armstrong's main rivals was Alexandre Vinokourov, Ullrich's teammate from Kazakhstan. He placed third, but was still 51 seconds slower than the Texan.
Ullrich placed 12th, a whopping one minute and six seconds slower than Armstrong, who said his German rival may have been affected by a training crash Friday. Ullrich cut his neck after slamming into the back of one of his team's cars.
''Maybe it's the crash,'' said Luuc Eisenga, Ullrich's team spokesman. ''He's a little demoralized. He doesn't really know what happened.''
Italy's Ivan Basso, who placed third at last year's Tour and was the only rider to beat Armstrong in the Pyrenees, was 1:24 slower than Armstrong, placing 20th. Such a disadvantage will be difficult to make up.
Zabriskie covered the course from Fromentine to the marshy island of Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile in 20 minutes and 51 seconds, riding at an average of 54.676 kilometres per hour.
That beat the time-trial record held since 1989 by another American, Greg Lemond. He raced at an average speed of 54.545 k.p.h. over a time trial course that was 5.5 kilometres longer as he went on to win the second of his three Tour crowns.
Zabriskie switched from Armstrong's camp to Team CSC this year. He won another time trial at the Giro d'Italia this year.
''We just witnessed the birth of a real champion for the time trial event,'' said his teammate and fellow American, Bobby Julich, who placed 11th on Saturday. ''He just creamed everybody.''
http://www.tsn.ca/oln/news_story.asp?id=129425