Drugs shake up the race… but it still goes on.

Norwegian Rider Leads After Prologue

PARIS, July 1 — The Tour de France, tarnished this year by a burgeoning drug scandal, kicked off Saturday with short sprints through the Alsatian city of Strasbourg by 176 riders, each trying to be the first to win the race since American superstar Lance Armstrong began monopolizing the victor’s podium in 1999.

American riders served notice that they intend to be in the hunt for the title, with three finishing in the top 10.

George Hincapie – Tour de France

“This is the first year I’m going to try and see what I can do,” said George Hincapie, left, the only rider to race with Lance Armstrong on his record seven straight Tour victories.

Quote of the Day: “For us, it’s really great news … They shouldn’t be just removed from the race, they should be removed from the sport and their licenses torn up.” — Francaise des Jeux rider Carlos Da Cruz, on nine riders barred Friday from the Tour amid a doping scandal.

Norwegian Thor Hushovd from the Credit Agricole team clocked the fastest time, finishing the 4.4-mile prologue in 8 minutes 17 seconds and averaging almost 32 mph. American George Hincapie from Discovery Channel, Armstrong’s old team, was second, less than a second behind, and David Zabriskie, an American riding for Denmark’s Team CSC, came in third in 8:21. American Floyd Landis, riding for the Swiss team Phonak, was ninth, nine seconds behind the leader.Hushovd is a speedster who placed 116th in last year’s Tour, but he won the coveted green jersey as the race’s fastest sprinter. Like many other riders, Hushovd said he was worried about the damage doping was doing to the sport.

“It’s very sad for cycling, but it’s good to clean things up,” he said. “I just hope the public will keep supporting us.”

The three Americans all are considered contenders for the yellow jersey, awarded to the Tour’s overall leader, when the race finishes in Paris on July 23. Armstrong won that seven years in a row until he retired last year. On Sunday, Hushovd will don the yellow jersey for the first stage.

Another top contender, Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who leads his country’s Caisse d’Epargne team, came in fifth, four seconds behind Hushovd.

Without Armstrong, and with Tour’s best riders dramatically thinned by the expulsion of several top contenders implicated in the doping scandal, the 93rd Tour de France is now considered wide open and unpredictable, with no clear favorite.

“For seven years, the Tour was boring” because Armstrong was so dominant and the outcome so predictable, said Jean Pierre Bidet, an editor at the French sports daily L’Equipe. “This year is the beginning of a new era.”

Without Armstrong and his overpowering teammates from the Discovery Channel team setting the pace and controlling the race, Bidet said: “All of the riders will be thinking in secret that they can win. I think the Tour this year will have more suspense and surprises and new, younger faces.”

None of the top five finishers from 2005 are racing this year. Armstrong retired, and the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers — Ivan Basso of Italy, Jan Ullrich of Germany and Francisco Mancebo of Spain — were suspended from the race after being implicated in the ongoing drug scandal, which centers around a doctor in Madrid who allegedly gave dozens of riders performance-enhancing blood-doping.

The rider who came in fifth last year, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, was forced to withdraw when his team, Astana-Wurth, could not field the required six riders for Saturday’s start because too many had been expelled for drugs.

All of the riders have denied any wrongdoing.

In all, 20 teams and 176 riders started the race in Strasbourg, the smallest number of cyclists to begin a Tour de France since 1984. Tour organizers had originally planned 22 teams and 198 riders.

Saturday’s race was a time trial, with riders taking off at one-minute intervals and peddling against the clock. The 23-day, 2,272-mile race begins in earnest on Sunday, with a 114.6-mile stage that starts in Strasbourg, loops around the vineyards and villages outside the city, then detours across the Rhine River into Germany for about 22 miles before returning to finish in Strasbourg.

I’m a big Tour fan. From my cycling days I’ve envied those who could ride so far so fast. I used to take rides up to Calistoga and back (about 75 miles) and I’d be hurting. Plus the fact it took me so long compared to these guys. I’ve ridden along side some of the types that actually do this professionally (there is a local cycling club that some of the racers come from, plus the valley is well known for training) and they’d tear up the valley at around 30-35 and I could keep up with them for a while, but with my cuising speed being closer to 25… Let’s just say I never went into racing.
I think it’s ironic that of all the teams affected by the doping scandle, the US team was one that came through totally clean. They show that training can trump drugs.

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