The first major three-week tour since Lance Armstrong's retirement started today. The Vuelta a Espana, or Tour of Spain, is a three-week stage race of a similar format to the Tour de France. It consists of 21 stages totaling roughly 3500 km, and runs from August 27 to September 18. There are three relatively short individual time trials; this year, there is also no team time trial. This means that the climbers like Gilberto Simoni and Iban Mayo, who have great ability in the mountains but no TT chops and not a whole lot of team support, will have an advantage from the beginning.
Lance's retirement actually isn't particularly significant to this race, as he had not participated in it since 1998 (before any of his Tour de France victories). He finished fourth that year, which stood as the best result for an American until 2001, when his US Postal teammate Levi Leipheimer finished in 3rd place overall to become the first and only American to finish on the final podium. The significance of Lance's retirement comes in the form of speculation about who will replace him. Already the name of young Tom Danielson is starting to come up, and if you had an interest in the Tour, you may want to remember that name. Lance personally guided Danielson to a breakthrough victory in the Tour of Georgia back in April, and with his commendably strong set of all-around abilities, he may become a compelling substitute to the L factor. This serves as his first major test; if the dust settles and he winds up at the top of the leaderboard, he will have the advantage of a very strong team behind him to help lend their experience. He is still young, though, and he has yet to finish a Grand Tour, so it may be beyond his ability to actually claim the final prize. But in that case, Phonak's Floyd Landis is another American who might get the chance to step up to the plate.
Results from today's short, hilly 7 km prologue time trial:
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 9.45 (43.01 km/h)
2 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step - Innergetic 0.01
3 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française des Jeux 0.03
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 0.07
5 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 0.12
6 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 0.13
7 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.15
8 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
9 Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.18
10 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 0.20
11 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC
12 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne
13 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team
14 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Caffita 0.21
15 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 0.22
16 Roberto Laiseka Jaio (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.23
17 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems
18 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.24
19 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel
20 Aitor Gonzalez Jimenez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.26
Lance's retirement actually isn't particularly significant to this race, as he had not participated in it since 1998 (before any of his Tour de France victories). He finished fourth that year, which stood as the best result for an American until 2001, when his US Postal teammate Levi Leipheimer finished in 3rd place overall to become the first and only American to finish on the final podium. The significance of Lance's retirement comes in the form of speculation about who will replace him. Already the name of young Tom Danielson is starting to come up, and if you had an interest in the Tour, you may want to remember that name. Lance personally guided Danielson to a breakthrough victory in the Tour of Georgia back in April, and with his commendably strong set of all-around abilities, he may become a compelling substitute to the L factor. This serves as his first major test; if the dust settles and he winds up at the top of the leaderboard, he will have the advantage of a very strong team behind him to help lend their experience. He is still young, though, and he has yet to finish a Grand Tour, so it may be beyond his ability to actually claim the final prize. But in that case, Phonak's Floyd Landis is another American who might get the chance to step up to the plate.
Results from today's short, hilly 7 km prologue time trial:
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 9.45 (43.01 km/h)
2 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step - Innergetic 0.01
3 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française des Jeux 0.03
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 0.07
5 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 0.12
6 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 0.13
7 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.15
8 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
9 Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.18
10 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 0.20
11 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC
12 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne
13 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team
14 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Caffita 0.21
15 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 0.22
16 Roberto Laiseka Jaio (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.23
17 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems
18 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.24
19 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel
20 Aitor Gonzalez Jimenez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.26