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Tour de France 2012 Prologue

Live coverage of the prologue time trial at the 99th edition of the Tour de France

Fabian Cancellara won the prologue at the Tour de France Saturday. Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) became the first rider to win five times in the Tour opener when he bested Bradley Wiggins (Sky) in Liège, Belgium.

Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) finished third, with American Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) fourth.

"Today was like a velodrome because there were so were many crowds," said Cancellara. "I am very proud of this. This is a big victory for me. People were wondering about me after I had my crash (at the Tour of Flanders), if I could come back."

Cancellara came back and more, starting second-to-last and doing just as he did on much the same course in 2004, beating all previous times and holding off the defending Tour champ. Then it was Lance Armstrong. Today, it was Cadel Evans (BMC Racing).

After a lackluster first half of the season for RadioShack, highlighted by Chris Horner's second overall at Tirreno-Adriatico and Jakob Fuglsang's Tour of Luxembourg win, Cancellara said the win relieved some of the weight resting on his shoulders.

“I have memories today of winning eight years ago and that was very special," said Cancellara. "When you are 23 and win, then eight years later do it again, it’s a very special thing for me, my family and especially for the team. This is a great opening for our Tour. A lot of pressure went away with this win. But we all want success and success is never easy. The whole team did a big effort.”

Evans finished 17 seconds behind Cancellara and 10 seconds off the pace set by Wiggins, his top rival for the three-week tour.

"It's not good, but not bad. Of course I'd rather lose less seconds, you never want to lose time," said Evans. "One GC rider ahead of me, but I was half expecting that... that's what Wiggins' background is, these short hard efforts.

"The real racing starts tomorrow."
Evans audio: On the prologue
by Brian Holcombe on Jun 30, 2012 at 9:52 AM
Wearing the French tricolor as national TT champion, birthday boy Sylvain Chavanel was a revelation in the opener. More known as a gutsy attacker in the hilly intermediate stages, Chavanel started 113th and bested Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky). Boasson Hagen, Cancellara, Wiggins — these are names expected to show on the front page of a prologue results sheet.

"I did a great race," said Chavanel. "I wanted to make a good performance. From the beginning of the season I'm doing good in the time trials. I knew that the specialists could have beat me, but I'm super happy in any case. I have no regrets. I really did my best to honor my brand new French champion jersey. It's a third place in a prologue of the Tour against the best time trialists of the world."

GC implications
Wiggins' ride, during which he closed six seconds on previous leader Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in the final 3km, was the first shot over the bow in what should be an intense GC battle fought over the race's 101km of time trials and three mountaintop finishes.

"Fair play to Fabian, he's the best in the world at what he does and I think he proved that again today," said Wiggins. 

The biggest loser on Saturday was Juanjo Cobo, the 2011 Vuelta a España champ, who entered the day with a shot at Movistar's leadership, but finished in 7:57, 37 seconds behind Wiggins and nine seconds off of teammate Alejandro Valverde.

Denis Menchov (Katusha) rode quietly to a 7:26, inserting himself into the overall conversation, while Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Giro d'Italia champ Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) tucked in at 7:31.

Americans Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma) and Chris Horner (RadioShack) finished in 7:41 and 7:47, respectively.
We profiled our favorites for the overall a few days ago. Here's how our virtual GC shakes out, unofficially, with those pre-race favorites:
1. Bradley Wiggins in 7:20
2. Denis Menchov 7:26
3. Cadel Evans 7:30
4. Vincenzo Nibali 7:31
5. Ryder Hesjedal 7:31
6. Levi Leipheimer 7:41
7. Chris Horner 7:47
8. Alejandro Valverde 7:48
9. Fränk Schleck 7:51
10. Samuel Sánchez 7:53
11. Juanjo Cobo 7:57Brian HolcombeJun 30, 2012 at 9:33 AM

Leipheimer said after his ride: “The Tour de France will not be won in the prologue. That’s life. I have worked hard to recover (from his accident in April) and I feel good. We’ll see.”Brian HolcombeJun 30, 2012 at 9:01 AM
Cancellara's win was notable, as he became the first rider in history to win the Tour opener on five occasions.
By winning today, Fabian Cancellara has become only the second rider in history to take the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France on five occasions.

His first victory in the Tour was in Liege in 2004 when he was one second faster in the prologue than the eventual winner of the title that year (Lance Armstrong). Since then Cancellara has won in London (2007), Monaco (2009) and Rotterdam (2010).

The only other rider to have won five times on the opening day is Bernard Hinault who was first on day one in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984 and 1985.nrogersJun 30, 2012 at 9:27 AM

Van Garderen pulled on the white jersey as the race's best young rider. The Boulder, Colorado, resident was second to Cancellara in the prologue at the 2011 in the Tour de Suisse. He enters this Tour in support of Evans.

"It was crazy, just the adrenalin rush being in the Tour. This is the start of three weeks. It's an incredible feeling. I got chills," he said. "I cannot wait to get up there and get it. I haven't had this white jersey in a while. Normally I have a good prologue, so I wanted to give it a go. To be honest, the team has a great spirit. We are serious, but we joke around at the team dinner. Cadel said, 'Guys, do not stress. We had a lot of fun winning the Tour last year and let's have fun again this year.'"

Sagan and Martin run into trouble
Two men who hoped to contend for the stage win, world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma) and Slovak strongman Peter Sagan (Liquigas) ran into trouble on the course.

Sagan did not get the start he expected and lost more time when his foot came out of his pedal as he negotiated a left hand bend. He eventually finished 52nd at :24 behind.
  
Martin, who succeeded Cancellara as world time trial champion in 2011, was firing on all cylinders until he suffered a puncture, which probably cost him the yellow jersey. He was on-time to contend with Cancellara before the mishap. Martin ended up finishing 44th at just :23 behind the Swiss winner.

"I was on a good time, but after my puncture I had to change bike. Without that I would have had an even better time," he said. "I'm disappointed, of course. I've been planning for this for a long time."

For Cancellara, the win was a return to where his record-breaking Tour career began.
Full circle for Fabian — he won this first ever TDF stage in Liege in 2004, beating Armstrong and breaking into tears. He was an unknown then. He's a champion now. nrogersJun 30, 2012 at 9:25 AM
The 99th Tour de France continues Sunday with stage 1, a 198km jaunt from Liège to Seraing.
Our stage 1 preview is here: velonews.competitor.com
by Brian Holcombe on Jun 30, 2012 at 9:41 AM
Tomorrow we're onto stage 1, from Liège to Seraing. It's a hilly, Ardennes classics-style stage with an uphill finish that suits the puncheurs like Gilbert, Chavanel, Gerrans and Valverde.Brian HolcombeJun 30, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Gilbert (BMC Racing), who finished ninth on Saturday and grew up just outside of Liège, said he would "try everything for the win tomorrow."

With a seven-second barrier and now time bonuses on offer, Cancellara's jersey is likely not on the line, but a sharp attack from Chavanel could see the Frenchman in yellow two days before the race moves to his home country.

Agence France Presse contributed to this report.
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