TdF 2005 - Stage 1

04 Jul 2005

It was a Time Trial for “big guys”: the flat course, basically without any corner, favored riders weighing more than 70 kg.

Levi Leipheimer, 14th at 1’13” from Zabriskie, was the best among the 60 kg riders, and surely we’ll see him protagonist on the mountains…
Jan Ullrich surely felt the effects of Friday’s crash: such an accident is likely to have consequences on the back spine, therefore on muscular fluidity.
Yet Jan seems too big and muscled, as we’ve always seen him at each beginning of the Tour de France.

Lance made an excellent performance, with an ideal balance between power output and pedaling cadence: he gave in less than 2” to a superb Dave Zabriskie, who confirmed himself as a great talent for races “against the clock”.

Hincapie and Vinokourov confirmed their progress in time trialing, while Ivan Basso could perform only 9” faster than Savoldelli: during the Giro the gap between them, on flat distances, has been more prominent.

Four USA riders in the top 6, with Julich 11th and Levi 14th, is a result that should make ponder European cycling, that, especially in younger categories does not promote and select enough time trial talents.…