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July 9, 2007
McEwen win's Tour's first stage

McEwen wins

photo: AFP

Judging by his incredible acceleration away from the rest of the world's best sprinters, you would never know that just a few kilometers before, Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) had been off the back, chasing with an injured wrist after a crash. Nonetheless, the Aussie handily won stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de France from London to Canterbury, collecting his 12th career stage victory in the world's greatest race. CSC's Fabian Cancellara finished safely in the bunch to retain the overall lead.

Some 25km from the finish half a dozen riders went down on a narrow stretch of road, bringing a good portion of the peloton to a standstill. McEwen hit his brakes hard evidently the rider behind him did not.

&quotHe went straight into the back of me," McEwen told television crews. &quotI went straight over the handlebars, and landed on my knee and hand."

Quick Step in the driver's seat

photo: Graham Watson

Sprawled on the ground, McEwen immediately knew his hand and leg were hurt. At least four teammates waited for him, though, and once he remounted they drove the chase, with about 15 other riders tagging on.

&quotI was on the limit for 13, 15 K," McEwen said of the chase.

Meanwhile, Quick Step and Lampre-Fondital were driving the peloton along for their respective sprinters, Tom Boonen and Danilo Napolitano.

The Aussie pocket rocket scores his 12th win on the Tour

photo: Graham Watson

McEwen's group finally rejoined with less than 10km remaining. With the pack strung out, he made his way back up to the front of the race. Coming into the final 2km, the race swept around the ancient city walls of Canterbury. Inside the final kilometer, a snaking route and the blistering pace kept the race single- or double-file between lines of screaming fans. Milram successfully maneuvered a few riders to the front their veteran German sprinter Erik Zabel was sitting third wheel with Boonen behind him.
Complete results

As Milram drove the race within sight of the finish, McEwen was still buried back in the line. Then suddenly, with 150 meters to go, the feisty man from Brisbane leapt from the field and immediately opened a huge gap, more than two bike lengths. Hushovd and Boonen began to close in as the line neared, but in vain, as McEwen threw up his hands and then pointed to his chest.

&quotI tried to remember what the finish was like from the [race bible] and just go for it," McEwen said. &quotI knew that as long as I did my best I could be happy. Now I'm really happy."

Big Ben

photo: Graham Watson

Those that weren't to be
The 2007 Tour featured two stages in England: a 7.9km prologue in London and Sunday's road stage from London southeast to Canterbury. Two British riders - Scot David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir) and Londoner Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) - were hyped as the two great homeland hopes to win the opening time trial, but it was not to be. For stage 1, it was another Brit, T-Mobile's 22-year-old sprinter Mark Cavendish, standing in as the sentimental favorite for the win on British soil.

Horner kickin' it under the Tower Bridge

photo: Graham Watson

Unfortunately, a crash and a subsequent bike change took Cavendish out of the picture. Near the end of the race, instead of riding tucked into his teammate's draft, Cavendish was standing by the side of the road, yelling in rage without a teammate in sight. He finished 2:45 behind McEwen.

Trying to make good on his promise after the prologue that he would win a stage of the 2007 Tour, Millar almost immediately went on the attack after the race left the streets of London. On going clear 10km into the race, Millar raced 40km alone before waiting four chasers: Andriy Grivko (Milram), Freddy Bichot (Agritubel), Stéphane Augé (Cofidis) and Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas).

The quintet earned a maximum advantage of just more than six minutes ahead of the peloton on a day that featured three intermediate sprints and three King of the Mountains climbs.

Millar took the first KOM points but didn't score points on the second. Then, after Augé went on and took the final KOM, Millar's Saunier Duval team took him to the front of the peloton so that he could take second in the final uphill sprint to don the polka-dot jersey. Millar also gained 12 seconds of bonus time at two intermediate sprints to move up to third on general classification.

The Millar-Auge escape

photo: Graham Watson

&quotI wanted to do something," Millar said after pulling on the polka-dot jersey. &quotI remember at the Tour in 1994 I was a kid and queued up in Brighton by the barriers for four hours for the race to come through. Two riders came through, then 10 minutes later [British rider Chris] Boardman attacked off the front. And I remember that made my whole day, seeing Boardman off the front. So today I thought, ‘You know what, I'm just going to go on a suicide mission.' And it ended up being productive, which is a real bonus."

Saunier Duval working for Millar

photo: Graham Watson

Back in the field, CSC drove the peloton to defend the yellow jersey of world time-trial champion Cancellara, who dominated the prior day's prologue, beating second-placed Andreas Klöden (Astana) by 13 seconds. With about 70km to go, Crédit Agricole, Predictor-Lotto and Quick Step came up to lend a hand with the chase in the interest of setting up their sprinters for the finish.

With 44km to go, Millar and Grivko were dropped from the breakaway, leaving Augé, Bichot and Kushchynski to fight the losing battle in the wind. Bichot and Kushchynski were caught before the final KOM on Farthing Common, a green hill packed with spectators at the top, but Augé battled on alone to take the maximum KOM points.

Leipheimer finished safely in mid-bunch

photo: Graham Watson

With 25km to go, what could have been a fateful crash occurred. The caravan came to a standstill as riders and mechanics scrambled to get the machines back in working order and pointed up the road. About 25 riders were caught out, and McEwen's Predictor-Lotto boys had their work cut out for them to get McEwen back in the pack as Quick Step and Crédit Agricole put their heads down at the front of the race.

McEwen said after the finish that he was skeptical they would be able to catch back on. But catch they did, with about 8km remaining. Not content to simply finish the stage in the bunch, McEwen used his frustration to fuel a ferocious sprint, his head bobbing in time with his high-cadence attack.

McEwen in green

photo: Graham Watson

&quotThis is definitely one of the best ones ever," McEwen said. &quotI still can't believe I won this stage, but I owe a big thank you to my teammates."

Now, the Tour moves across the English Channel for stage 2's start in Dunkirk, France. For stage 2, another homeland favorite will be going for the sprint win. This time it will be Boonen eager to get to the line first, as the race finishes in the Belgian town of Ghent. -Agence France Presse contributed to this report.

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