July 4th, 2009 by 
thien
Fabian Cancellara will wear the very first Maillot Jaune of the 2009 Tour de France with a dominating performance in stage 1’s time trial through Monaco. Eighteen seconds ahead of tour favorite Alberto Contador and a minute and six seconds ahead of defending champion Carlos Sastre.
Seven time champion Lance Armstrong made his return to the Tour de France with a solid performance earlier in the day and held the number 1 slot briefly.
Lance Armstrong’s return to the Tour after 3 years off…
General classification after stage 1
1. CANCELLARA Fabian - TEAM SAXO BANK - 19′ 32″
2. CONTADOR Alberto - ASTANA - + 00′ 18″
3. WIGGINS Bradley - GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM - + 00′ 19″
4. KLÖDEN Andréas - ASTANA - + 00′ 22″
5. EVANS Cadel - SILENCE - LOTTO - + 00′ 23″
6. LEIPHEIMER Levi - ASTANA - + 00′ 30″
7. KREUZIGER Roman - LIQUIGAS - + 00′ 32″
8. MARTIN Tony - TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC - + 00′ 33″
9. NIBALI Vincenzo - LIQUIGAS - + 00′ 37″
10. ARMSTRONG Lance - ASTANA - + 00′ 40″
Jersey Standings:
Fabian Cancellara
Alberto Contador
Links to news sites…
“Cancellara wins Tour opener in Monaco
If there was any doubt about Fabian Cancellara’s time trial superiority, the big Swiss rider erased it with a by stomping his way to a commanding win in the 15.5km opening stage of the Tour de France in Monaco. His finishing time of 19:32 put his well ahead of second-place Alberto Contador.” Read more from VeloNews.com…
“Cancellara wins first stage of Tour de France
MONACO (AFP) — Switzerland’s Olympic time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara won the first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday in a time of 19 minutes 32.14 seconds in the 15.5km time-trial around Monaco to claim the yellow jersey.
The 28-year-old showed his class with an impressive performance on the twisting and challenging course.” Read more from the AFP…
“Armstrong 10th in opening stage of Tour
(CNN) — Lance Armstrong returned to the Tour de France for first time in four years by finishing 10th in the opening time trial in Monaco which was won by Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.
Cancellara, renowned for his awesome performances against the clock, clocked 19 minutes 32.14 seconds for the 15.5 kilometer course in the Mediterranean principality.” Read more from CNN International…
“Super Suisse starts Saxo’s Tour party
There’s a reason why it’s called the Race of Truth. In the Tour de France’s opening time trial it provided the answers to some burning questions. Yes, Fabian Cancellara is still the immaculate exponent of the race against the clock and yes, Alberto Contador appears to be Astana’s leader through a trial by fire in Monaco’s scorching afternoon sun.
Cancellara and Contador finished first and second respectively after the first 15.5 kilometres of racing of this year’s edition of the Tour” Read more from CyclingNews.com…
Photos provided by CorVos
