Stage 1 Analysis/ Stage 2 Preview
July 4 update: An on-form Fabian Cancellara won today’s opening time trial stage of the Tour de France. The former World Champion trailed Bradley Wiggins at the top of the Côte de Beausoleil, and it looked for a time as if the British rider from Garmin-Slipstream would wear the first Yellow Jersey of the Tour. Spanish time trial champion Alberto Contador of Team Astana then blasted over the côte with a still faster time.
Course Preview
The 2009 Tour begins in the principality of Monaco with a time trial. The course climbs into the foothills of the Alpes Maritimes just outside the city before descending to a flat finish between high-rise hotels and the sandy beaches of the Mediterranean. At 15.5 kilometers, the stage is too long to be a prologue, and will offer an early indication of who has brought race-winning legs to this year’s Tour de France. The course includes one category 4 climb, the Côte de Beausoleil, literally “beautiful sun,” which reaches a maximum elevation of 205 meters. The second half of the course descends to a flat finish along the beach on the Boulevard Louis II near Port Hercule.
Fun fact! An average person could walk the length of Monaco in less than an hour. The country is surrounded on three sides by France, and lies not far from Sanremo on Italy’s Ligurian Coast. For portions of its history, Monaco has come under both French and Italian rule, and is currently the second smallest independent country in the world. Vatican City is the smallest, for those of you keeping score at home.
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