A brief look at Saturday's first stage of the Tour de France:Stage: As in 2008, the Tour started with a road stage instead of a short time trial or prologue. It was a 119-mile ride between Passage du Gois and Mont des Alouettes, featuring a slight uphill finish.The Belgian rider, who dazzled fans by winning three classics races in April, sped ahead from the pack in the final several hundred yards and kissed his jersey as he crossed the line."It was the last 500 metres, I had a lead ... (and) I went for it," Gilbert said. "It was an extreme effort and I was able to take advantage."
Two-time Tour runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia was second, and Thor Hushovd of Norway was third.The first stage of the 98th edition of cycling's most prestigious race took the 198-rider pack over 119 miles from La Barre-de-Monts to Mont des Alouettes in the western Vendee region.Gilbert hesitated for a moment, assessing his chances of hanging on to the line before accelerating again. It was the cycling equivalent of a footballer seeming to have time on the ball, a split second of lucid assessment among the mayhem.
The victory netted Gilbert another hat-trick: the yellow, green and mountains jerseys, although he does not expect to retain the yellow in the team time trial at Les Essarts. With Sky, Garmin, HTC and Radioshack among the favourites for the 23km stage, Thomas will have a chance of taking yellow, along with the world champion Thor Hushovd and the German Tony Martin.
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