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Armstrong fourth, Contador sixth

Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) ruled the prologue, besting Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) by 10 seconds.

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It was a rainy Rotterdam that hosted the prologue time trial of the 2010 Tour de France on Saturday, and a race that, in the end, confounded many pre-race predictions. Except one: Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), the Swiss time trial specialist, was the winner, beating the long-time leader Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) to claim his fourth Tour prologue.

Cancellara blasted around the 8.9km in a time of 10:00. It was a perfect ten, as he pointed on the podium. With Martin a further ten seconds back and David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) third at 10:20.

Behind Cancellara, though, the results sheet made for fascinating and intriguing reading, partly perhaps, as a consequence of the conditions.

What had been billed beforehand as a straightforward, non-technical course over 8.9km, was made far more testing, and infinitely more dangerous, by the rain that fell consistently throughout. Only the final wave of starters were spared the incessant drizzle, as the sun emerged and the roads dried to allow some of the big hitters a much more comfortable run than the earlier starters.

Of all the surprises, the biggest one - and the big winner among the overall contenders - was Lance Armstrong (RadioShack).

The 38-year old, who awoke to the metaphorical storm of yet more doping allegations from former teammate Floyd Landis, seemed unperturbed by the controversy, and was back to something approaching the form that took him to seven Tours de France. The 38-year old’s fourth place in a time of 10:22, was easily his best performance in a time trial since his comeback last year, and it augurs well for what he confirmed last week will be his final Tour.

Alberto Contador (Astana) finished two places and five seconds behind Armstrong, in sixth, which was by no means a disaster for the defending champion. But the Spaniard, second behind Cancellara on the opening day in Monaco last year, may be mildly concerned not only by the performance of Armstrong, but by that of the American’s team, with RadioShack’s other overall contenders, Levi Leipheimer, Janez Brajkovic and Andreas Klöden, all in the top seventeen.

There were other surprises in the top ten. Millar (Garmin-Transitions) produced his best opening day performance since his Tour debut in 2000, when the Scot won the stage one time trial ahead of Armstrong. And fourth was Team Sky’s Welshman, Geraint Thomas, the Olympic team pursuit gold medalist and newly crowned British champion with his best ever performance on the road, and one that saw him separate Armstrong and Contador.

Early start strategy backfires

But Thomas’s team leader, Bradley Wiggins, was one of the day’s big losers. The British squad gambled on the conditions - on the basis of a forecast for rain later in the afternoon - by nominating Wiggins for an early start. It backfired, with the heavens opening in the early afternoon, and the rain arguably at its heaviest for Wiggins’s ride.

More than two hours later, when Contador finished on virtually dry roads, Wiggins’s performance was only good enough to place him 77th, 56 seconds down on Cancellara. More significantly, the rider who finished third in the equivalent stage last year conceded 34 seconds to Armstrong and 29 to Contador. And perhaps even more significantly, he finished behind climbers such as Ivan Basso (Liquigas - 72nd) and 2008 Tour winner Carlos Sastre (Cervelo Test Team - 70th).

Only Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank - 122nd) was worse, confirming his reputation as a specialist climber, with his brother, Frank, a couple of places behind Wiggins.

Millar’s teammate Tyler Farrar, meanwhile, was best of the sprinters with a strong seventh, just 28 seconds behind Cancellara. And on a good day for German sport - with the national football team qualifying for the World Cup semi final - Linus Gerdemann (Milram) was tenth. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) made up the top ten, with the Norwegian - who also endured treacherous conditions - ninth.

It was a tough end to a long day for Tony Martin, who was the eleventh starter – in decent conditions - and whose time of 10.10 stood for more than three hours before Cancellara, the penultimate starter, shaved ten seconds from it.

Martin, watching the final finishers in the company of his girlfriend, managed a wry smile, and then acknowledged the Swiss maestro’s ability against the clock. “In the first minutes [after Cancellara finished] I was very disappointed, as I had a realistic hope of getting the yellow jersey,” said Martin.

“But then, I expected Fabian to do a great performance here again today, so in the end I’m happy about my second place. I’m very young, I can ride here a few more years, so at some point I hope things will go my way for a victory.”

Cancellara called the Tour opener “a very special day with these weather conditions. It was a hard time in the bus when I came to the start, seeing the rain outside the window. I was praying that the sunshine would come out, and I was lucky.”

Another one fortunate with the conditions was Armstrong, who claimed the result suggests an improvement on his 2009 form. “I think I'm a little ahead,” he said.

“The testing I've been doing, both based on time and on wattage, is where I need to be and we just have to see how the others run."

“You can't forget though that some guys went when it was absolutely soaking wet,” continued Armstrong. “That obviously plays a factor into the times and into the results. You've got to consider those guys that didn't have the advantage of the dry corners."

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves,” added Armstrong. “It was a good ride, I felt good, the team looked good, but this is a long three weeks, beginning tomorrow, into the pave, then into the Alps.”

Wiggins, meanwhile, was forced to look for the positives. “The prologue is insignificant in the three weeks,” he said. “You can lose seconds here, but the difference is going to be minutes in three weeks.

“I didn’t want to chance anything,” added Wiggins. “I said all along the prologue wasn’t the be all and end all for me, so I’m just pleased to have got round in one piece.”
 

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