Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Jan Ullrich might have to take up the task of domestique again this year as Lance Armstrong sent a statement to his historically number 1 rival. The 19K time trial produced some significant gaps for a first stage. Lance looks to have about 50 second on Vinokourov and more time on most of the major rivals. Ivan Basso condeded 1:26 , but was not epecting to perform well.

Overall, it is a perfect result for Lance and Discovery because they do not have to defend the yellow jersey for the first week. Lance might have had to let up a little so that he would not take the lead at the end.

David Zabriske has won stages in the Vuelta, Giro and the Tour. He is a great talent, in fact there are Americans in 4 of the top six spots.

The big loser of the day has to be Jan Ullrich, being caught and passed by Lance Armstrong a few kilos from the finish has to be very demoralizing. Add to this the good position of Alexander Vinokourov and Jan’s position on the team may have dropped a notch.

Next few days will be a sprinter’s fest, or hopefully they could give some surprise finishes like we had in the Giro. More to come…