Cancellara wins first Tour de France stage

MONACO — Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong went out early and put up a solid time in the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, then was upstaged by Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.

Cancellara finished the 9.6-mile time trial in 19 minutes, 32 seconds, beating 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador by 18 seconds to capture the yellow jersey.

Contador, returning to the Tour for the first time since his victory, staked his claim to leadership of the Astana team by leading four of its riders into the top 10. Andreas Kloden of Germany was fourth, American Levi Leipheimer was sixth and rival Armstrong was 40 seconds back in 10th.

“I felt pretty good,” Armstrong said after taking the early lead as the 18th rider out of 180 to complete the course along winding and hilly roads in the Mediterranean principality of Monaco. “I was a little all over the place. … It was up, flat, it was down, it was a technical course. But I think overall, I felt good.”

Armstrong’s lead lasted until Germany’s Tony Martin outpaced the 37-year-old Texan by 7 seconds only 15 riders later.

Others also soon bettered Armstrong’s time, including Leipheimer and Liquigas rider Roman Kreuziger.

“Kreuziger just moved into 2nd. I raced with his dad! Haha,” Armstrong said on his Twitter account.

Cancellara, who won last month’s Tour of Switzerland and the time-trial gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, had been a favorite for the opening stage.

In a show of dominance, he overtook Giro d’Italia winner Denis Menchov — who left the start ramp 90 seconds earlier — just yards from the finish line.

The Saxo Bank rider will wear the overall race leader’s yellow jersey for Sunday’s second stage — a 116.2-mile ride across plains from Monaco to Brignoles, France.

Contador, a top climber who didn’t race in the 2008 Tour because the Astana team was banned for past doping incidents, established himself as the early favorite among the potential title contenders in the 96th Tour.

The Spaniard also ended, at least for now, any questions about whether he or Armstrong was Astana’s top rider in the 2,175-mile race that will finish in Paris on July 26.

Bradley Wiggins of England, who won gold at the Beijing Olympics in individual pursuit, finished third, 19 seconds behind.

Other top Americans included David Zabriskie in 13th place 47 seconds back and Christian Vande Velde in 17th place 57 seconds off the pace.

Armstrong, who came out of retirement this winter, is competing in his first Tour four years after the last of his record seven victories in cycling’s premier event. He said he didn’t have any “big illusions” that he’d win the first stage.

“I didn’t expect to win or to take the jersey. I didn’t expect a super, super performance,” Armstrong said. “Was I focused enough? Yeah, I think so — I was nervous, which is logical with the years away. I didn’t feel necessarily comfortable.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had that emotion of being on the start ramp at the Tour.”