July 2, 2005 – The Tour de France began today with a 19 km TT from Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile that surprised quite a few. Already, Lance Armstrong (Discovery) has made his mark on his rivals, including his biggest, Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile). The Texan put some major time into Ullrich, both literally and psychologically, when he caught and passed the German with a few kilometres remaining. Armstrong placed second on the stage, just three seconds behind fellow American, David Zabriskie (CSC). “Dave Z” has now “gone for the cycle” in that he has won a time trial in all three grand tours: Spain, Italy, and now France.

Apart from Armstrong and Zabriskie, the “other Americans” also fared well, with Discovery’s George Hincapie in fourth, Phonak’s Floyd Landis in sixth, and CSC’s Bobby Julich and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) just outside the top-ten. Apart from Ullrich, other disappointments of the day included World TT Champ Michael Rogers (Quick.Step), who could only make 45th today, and CSC’s leader Ivan Basso, who finished in the top-20 but gave up almost a minute-and-a-half on the first day.

Tomorrow’s stage could be quite windy, close to the shore, and there could be more surprises in store…

Stage 1 – Saturday, July 2: 19 km

1. David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 20.51 (54.67 km/h)
2. Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 0.02
3. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 0.53
4. George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.57
5. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 0.59
6. Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.02
7. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo
8. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.04
9. Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears-Caisse d’Epargne 1.05
10. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 1.06
11. Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.07
12. Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.08
13. Jose Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.12
14. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 1.13
15. Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner
16. Jose Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 1.16
17. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 1.18
18. Bradley McGee (Aus) Française Des Jeux 1.24
19. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 1.25
20. Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 1.26