2008 Tour de France - Stage 1 Results and Commentary

Evil


Very exciting start to the 2008 Tour de France! I'm liking the format this year: no prelude (who needs it!) and an uphill finish in stage 1. Brilliant! The uphill finish really broke up the field at the end, which made things all the more exciting.

Alejandro Valverde took stage 1 with an impressive sprint in the last 200 meters (after racing 197.5 Km -- crazy!). Valverde has a real chance to win the entire race this year, although it'll be tough if he and his team try to defend the yellow jersey this early in the race. They should give it up as soon as tomorrow and then make a big move in the 3rd week of the race.

Another one of my favorite, Maricio Soler, had a bad first day. He crashed toward the end and is now pretty much out of it for the overall standings. BAH!