Australian Robbie McEwen recovered from a crash to clinch the
first stage of the Tour de France, a 203-km ride from London to
Canterbury on Sunday.
The Predictor-Lotto rider, who already has three green jerseys
to his name, outsprinted Norway's Thor Hushovd and Belgian Tom
Boonen for his 12th Tour stage victory.
McEwen crashed 21 km from the finish line but was soon back on
his bike with a bruised knee and a sore wrist.
The 35-year-old Australian entered the last straight safe in the
bunch and claimed an impressive win with a late burst of speed.
"I can't believe I've won, the moment I crashed I thought that's
that, and even my Tour could have been over," McEwen told
reporters.
"But I pushed through and I've really got to thank my team mates
for the work they did to bring me through."
YELLOW JERSEY
Swiss Fabian Cancellara of the CSC team retained the overall
leader's yellow jersey after finishing comfortably in the
peloton.
Briton David Millar, who finished 13th in Saturday's prologue
round the streets of London, took the polka dot jersey for the best
climber after a 165-km breakaway and is third overall.
"I just want to say thank you to the British public for the
support they've given us," said Millar.
"I just rode out of my skin today and that was a thank you to
everybody for coming out, that was amazing."
The stage started from Greenwich and went through the county of
Kent in south east England, watched by an estimated two million
people.
Millar broke away some seven km after the start and was soon
joined by Frenchmen Stephane Auge and Freddy Bichot, Ukraine's
Andriy Grivko and Belarus's Aleksandr Kuschynski.
The escapees built a six-minute gap with Millar and Grivko being
dropped 35 km from the finish line. Cofidis rider Auge then went
solo only to be swallowed by the peloton with 18 km remaining.
British hope Mark Cavendish lost any hope of clinching victory
after mechanical problems forced him to change bike twice in the
last 20 km.
Spaniard Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez of the Agritubel team was the
first casualty of the Tour. He was forced to retire with a shoulder
injury after smashing the windscreen of a Caisse d'Epargne car.
(China Daily via Reuters July 9, 2007)