Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Stage 1 starts tomorrow and it will be an exciting start to the race. Typically the prologue is a chance for the top contenders to give a glimpse of their form, maybe even make a statement. You don’t want to lose too much time and several climbers in the past have lost seconds and possibly minutes right off the first stage.

Armstrong likes to stay near the very top of the standings, and he may want to show some of the rivals that he is still in top form, so Lance may try to go for the win. It will be close as Jan will want to make an early statement. Nothing will help Ullrich’s moral more than getting the first yellow. Neither Lance nor Jan have put in stellar performances so far this year so there may be other riders who will try to take the top spot.

Look for Ivan Basso to make some sort of statement too. He has won the TT in the Giro and a mountain stage too. He has been hiding since the Giro, and maybe the stomach bug he experienced helped him to not over exert himself and save some form for the Tour. Ivan’s teamate David Zabriske looks to have the speed to have a good showing.

Santiago Botero may be the man for the win. He is on great form from the Tour de Suisse and may want to take an early lead so that he can get Floyd’s support.

Floyd Landis will be up there, but he is going to follow wheels during this Tour, it is more of a “feeling out” for Floyd this year.

Levi Leipheimer will come in second in the opening TT, losing by one second as he has all year Pour Levi, if he only could throw his bike, or not take a drink or something. He might finally break through and get a top spot just in time for the Tour. Levi and Lance are buddies, so could there be a Gerolsteiner/Discovery alliance similar to CSC/Postal of last year?

One interesting possibility would be if Yaroslav Popovich is allowed to go out and set a fast time for teammate Lance. He could get an early fast time that might stand for a while. And then the weather would get worse when the top contenders go through and Popovic would get the Yellow Jersey. Watch for this top happen…

One man that is being overlooked and could get the first stage is Michael Rogers of Quick Step.