The first full stage of the Tour de France has been bagged by the The Australian, Robbie McEwen, claiming the green jersey, staging as his 12th career Tour stage win, ahead of Thor Hushovd and Tom Boonen.
Earlier, McEwen was struck from behind while waiting for a crash to clear. He went over the bars, injuring his wrist, with about 20 kms/12.5 miles of ride still being left. Later, he bounced back, and seemed rampaging with a vengeance, and struck like lightning in the last 200 meters. From at least 10 places back, McEwen surpassed Tom Boonen and Thor Hushovd.
Fabian Cancellara held onto the overall leader’s yellow jersey following his prologue win, while Millar jumped up to third in those standings after landing time bonuses on the road.
British sprint sensation Cavendish, however encountered technical problems and was forced to change bikes, putting him out of the picture. But Alexandre Vinokourov, Alejandro Valverde, Andreas Kloden and the other team leaders all completed the course quiet safely to survive to ride for another day.
The next weekend, as the riders reach the Alps, the overall favourites might seem to stake control over the chase.
