WARNING: SPOILERS
With the Tour de France starting today in Leige with a short prologue time trial, arguably the most important race of the year is underway. 6.4 km isn't much, but it has already given us an early indication of who's ready and who's not. Surprisingly, it might not be who you think.
Spoilers after the jump:
Winners
You have to put Cancellara here. He silenced his critics with a superb performance to dethrone Wiggins from the top spot, claiming the Malliot Jaune in the process.
Wiggins took 9 seconds out of Evans, and while it may not sound like much, the absence of a GC contender who's a pure climber makes every second count. Sylvain Chavanel was resplendent in his French national TT champion's skinsuit and put int a great ride to finish third, priming him for a yellow jersey run tomorrow. Nibali, Menchov and Hesjedal all put in good performances to keep themselves at the top of the overall standings tonight.
Losers
Peter Sagan's youthful enthusiasm (and ridiculous leg strength) caused him to lose precious seconds when his right foot came unclipped during a sweeping bend. Tony Martin suffered a similar sad fate when, poised to set the time of the day, a bike change torpedoed his chances. Gesink lost himself 26 seconds over 6.4k and Jurgen Van Den Broeck lost 28. In that distance, it looks almost as if their tour challenge is going to be put on ice permanently come the first ITT.
Tomorrow should be another interesting day, to say the least…
