| | By Andrew Hood
Special to ABC Sports Online
FUTUROSCOPE, France -- It was supposed to be Lance Armstrong's finest hour. Coming back to the 2000 Tour de France as defending champion, Armstrong was expected to ride off in glory in Saturday's opening stage.
Instead, it was Miller Time. Or, make that Millar time.
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David Millar celebrates as the first rider to wear the yellow jersey in the 2000 Tour de France. |
Armstrong was the hands-down favorite to win the 16.5-kilometer (10-mile) opening time trial stage, but Scottish wunderkind David Millar stole his thunder. Millar, 23, set the fast time early in the race against the clock, and by the time Armstrong started in the No. 1 bib, no one could match the winning time of 19 minutes, 3 seconds.
Armstrong lost by two seconds and Millar, making his Tour debut, quickly made a name for himself.
"I didn't expect it to be so hard," said Armstrong, crossing the line in 19:05. "If there was one person that I would prefer to win if it wasn't me, it would be David Millar. He's a very good kid and good friend of me. My hat goes off to him. He's a very good time-trialist."
You have to be good to beat Armstrong in time trials, when riders head out on the course one at a time. Last year, Armstrong won the opening prologue in a flourish en route to winning four stage victories and the overall title.
Millar is good. Young, ambitious and worldly -- he was raised in Hong Kong where his father is a pilot -- Millar turned the pros on their ears. Millar was ecstatic with his victory. With Chris Boardman out of this year's Tour, Millar is Great Britain's cycling hope. Millar said he couldn't believe he beat Armstrong at his own game.
"It's a great honor to beat someone like Lance. I didn't believe it was possible to win until Lance crossed the line. Beating him at one of his specialties is quite moving," said Millar. "I know Lance quite well. I know if it was a longer time trial, he would have beaten me. I couldn't have asked for a better time trial for me."
Racers faced blustery head winds and crosswinds for the opening half of the flat, rolling course across lush farms of central France. Armstrong said he suffered against the wind.
"Maybe I was a little more nervous at the start than last year. All and all, I felt good," Armstrong said. "It could have been a lot worse. Maybe I started too fast and the section on the far side with the headwind, I paid a little bit when it was uphill and a headwind. I couldn't get the pace I wanted."
While there was some disappointment within the U.S. Postal Service camp, there was also quiet jubilation. Armstrong beat all his rivals by several seconds, a big margin on a short course like this one. Jan Ullrich, a Tour winner in 1997, was fourth, 14 seconds off Millar's time, and Alex Zulle, a Swiss rider second to Armstrong last year, was 20 ticks off the winning time.
"I think the first time trial is always an indication of the form of everybody, so in terms of form, it's very good for Lance," said Johan Bruynell, directeur sportif for the U.S. Postal Service team. "David Millar is a prologue specialist. We're all a little bit disappointed [Armstrong] didn't win the prologue, but on the other hand, there is so much time difference on the other favorites."
More importantly, Armstrong earned 90 seconds against the dangerous climbers such as Spain's Fernando Escartin, third overall last year, and Italian Marco Pantani, 1998's Tour winner.
"I don't put too much stock in today's ride. I'm more interested in taking the time out of Escartin, [Richard] Virenque, Pantani and the other climbers," Armstrong said.
U.S. Postal Service finished with three riders in the top 10 -- Viatcheslav Ekimov was seventh and Tyler Hamilton was ninth -- and moved atop the team standings.
"There were some cobwebs there, so that is normal. I would have liked to have finished in the top-three, but that's OK," said Hamilton, 13th overall in last year's Tour.
Hamilton, 29, is one of defending champion Lance Armstrong's most important teammates on the U.S. Postal Service team. He said he expected to ride better but said "it was really windy out there and I couldn't quite get my rhythm."
Other U.S. Postal Service riders rode strong, a key indication the "Posties" will be ready for the team time trial on Tuesday.
Since Armstrong doesn't have the race leader's yellow jersey, there's a little less pressure for the team in the opening week before the Tour hits the Pyrénées on Monday. Last year, Armstrong won the opening prologue and the team worked hard to keep the lead for two days.
"If Lance won today, I don't think we were going to fight very hard to defend it," said Mark Gorski, U.S. Postal's team manager. "Last year was different, because even an extra day or two in the yellow jersey was important because we still didn't know if Lance could win. I don't think you'll see us doing that this year because we'll need the team to have a full tank of gas later in the race."
Other Americans fared well in the stage. Chann McRae, an Austin resident racing in his first Tour, finished a respectable 31st, 1:03 back, while Jonathan Vaughters of the French Credit Agricole team was 33rd, 1:04 back. Bobby Julich, third overall in 1998, continues to struggle with allergies and finished 55th, 1:17 behind Millar.
"It was the first day so I didn't want to go and blow my lungs out. Obviously, I would have liked to have been in the top 10, but on a short course like this being in the top 30 or so shows I'm in good form," said Vaughters, a solid all-rounder in both the mountains and in time trials.
Julich has a lot on the line in this year's Tour. Third overall in 1998, the 28-year-old crashed out of last year's Tour and then later crashed in the Tour of Spain last September. A strong time-trialist, Julich was disappointed with his poor result Saturday and hurried away from the finish area without talking to reporters.
Vaughters, Julich's teammate on the French Credit Agricole team, said both he and Julich will be riding to win the race.
"We're equal headed at this point. Bobby is still the leader. He's proven he's done well in three-week stage races, and although I've done well in other races, it remains to be seen how I will do in a three-week race," Vaughters said.
The 21-stage Tour continues Sunday with a 194-kilometer (122-mile) flat stage from Futuroscope to Loudun.
NOTES: Lance Armstrong rode a new high-tech carbon-fiber time trial bike in Saturday's opening stage. A team of designers and engineers from the Trek bicycle company worked with Armstrong during the off-season to develop the prototype. Armstrong and teammate Tyler Hamilton rode on the bikes, estimated to cost about $60,000 to design and build. The bike includes an aerodynamic design, with a tapered seat post and part of the frame dimpled much like a golf ball. A revolutionary internal hydration system allows Armstrong to drink water stored within the bike frame. Wind tunnel tests showed the new frame could save 10 to 15 seconds in a 40-kilometer time trial ...
Five-time Tour winner Miguel Indurain was spotted in the press room, working as a columnist for a Spanish sports daily. Quite reticent as a racer, Indurain said Armstrong is a "grand favorite. He is very strong and has shown the desire and discipline worthy of a Tour de France champion." ...
Marcel Wust, a German on the Festina team, is one of the Tour's best sprinters, the type of rider that can win the fast and furious final bunch sprints to the line. But Wust is the unlikely man wearing the first climber's jersey, the jersey awarded typically to the likes of Marco Pantani or Richard Virenque, the skinny mountain goats that shine in highest and steepest cols. Wust will certainly lose the jersey in the coming stages, but the affable German is enjoying it now.
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