Boardman back in yellow; Riis relieved race is underway
By Andrew Hood
Outside Online correspondent

Chris Boardman

The 28-year-old Brit won the yellow jersey at the start of the 1994 Tour, but that was before he broke his left ankle in a disastrous crash in the 1995 opening prologue.

Back in top form, Boardman paced the wind-blasted 7.3km (4.38-mile) course in eight minutes, 20 seconds, with an average speed of 52 kmh (31.4 mph).

Last year’s Tour runner-up Jan Ullrich (Telekom) finished second at two seconds back, while Batik’s Euvgeny Berzin, ONCE’s Alex Zulle, and Cofidis’s Tony Rominger tied for third at five seconds back.

“Today is a very special day for me because last time I took the yellow jersey I didn’t know what it meant,” Boardman said. “Now I’ve been through so much. I’ve been a professional longer and I know what it means.”

Another man who knows what it means — defending champion Bjarne Riis (Telekom) who finished 13th at 15 seconds back — was more than happy to give up the leader’s jersey, at least temporarily.

Riis, 33, won the Tour last year in dramatic fashion, attacking in the mountains and stopping Spain’s Miguel Indurain from becoming the first man to win six Tours. But with the accolades and money thrown at a Tour winner comes a lot of unwanted pressures, something Riis says he’s had a hard time accepting.

“I’m actually relieved the race has actually started. This past year has been very hard on me and my family. Everybody wants to talk to you, ask for your autograph, something, when you win the Tour,” Riis said.

The Telekom team was enraged at UCI officials after they banned the team’s new specially designed time-trial bikes. Team mechanics said Ullrich and Riis lost at least two seconds in the opening prologue because they weren’t on their new bikes that officials said didn’t meet UCI specifications.

Despite hype to the contrary, Ullrich says there’s no rift between he and Riis. His attack in the opening prologue means nothing in the big picture of the three-week, 3,950km (2,370-mile) Tour, he insists.

“Riis is the captain of the team. The prologue is not important for the time between us,” Ullrich said.

Ullrich started early in the day, which helped him as the winds picked up considerably by the time the major riders started the course more than two hours later.

Spain’s Abraham Olano (Banesto) finished eighth at 10 seconds back, while France’s Laurent Jalabert (ONCE) was 22nd at 18 seconds back. Cofidis’s Frankie Andreu was the top American, finishing 25th at 19 seconds back.

Vjatceslav Ekimov led the U.S. Postal Team to its best finish in the team’s Tour debut, finishing 46th at 25 seconds back.

Other Americans include: George Hincapie (U.S. Postal), 56th at 27 seconds back; Bobby Julich (Cofidis), 95th at 37; Marty Jemison (U.S. Postal), 117th at 40; Tyler Hamilton (U.S. Postal), 132nd at 44; Kevin Livingston (Cofidis), 157th at 50.

An estimated crowd of 400,000 turned out to watch 198 riders on 16 teams head out one at a time over the blustery course in the Normandy region of northern France. With more than 1,000 accredited journalists and a viewing audience of 150 million worldwide, the Tour is the largest annual sporting event in the world.

Sunday’s 192km (115-mile) second stage features four minor category-four climbs and takes the peloton from Rouen to Forges-les-Eaux. Watch for the sprinters to move to the fore.

Prologue results

Andrew Hood is Outside Online's European cycling correspondent.