Phil Gil Thrills | Stage 1 Hot favourite for the opening stage victory of the 2011 Tour Philippe Gilbert once again demonstrated his brilliance in a superbly taken victory on the uphill finish into Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers. Few riders handle pressure the way Gilbert does and even fewer win as often while doing so. The Belgian seems unflappable in all kinds of race conditions and his self-belief was contagious today as his team-mates controlled the race impeccably on his behalf on Stage 1. Gilbert’s brilliant season now made even more brilliant with the recently crowned Belgian Champ assuming the first Maillot Jaune of this year’s Tour. The other big story of the day was the time loss suffered by Contador after he was caught up behind a crash inside the final 10 kilometres. Most of the big GC favourites avoided the trouble, including Evans who was an excellent 2nd behind Gilbert. Although the headlines will focus on El Pistolero’s losses and what it means - a number of other top 10 GC hopefuls suffered similar misfortune. GC contender time losses 1:20   Alberto Contador Velasco (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 1:20   Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 1:55   Thomas Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) 1:55   Roman Kreuziger (Astana) 1:55   Richie Porte (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 3:41   Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) View high resolution

Phil Gil Thrills | Stage 1

Hot favourite for the opening stage victory of the 2011 Tour Philippe Gilbert once again demonstrated his brilliance in a superbly taken victory on the uphill finish into Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers. Few riders handle pressure the way Gilbert does and even fewer win as often while doing so. The Belgian seems unflappable in all kinds of race conditions and his self-belief was contagious today as his team-mates controlled the race impeccably on his behalf on Stage 1. Gilbert’s brilliant season now made even more brilliant with the recently crowned Belgian Champ assuming the first Maillot Jaune of this year’s Tour.

The other big story of the day was the time loss suffered by Contador after he was caught up behind a crash inside the final 10 kilometres. Most of the big GC favourites avoided the trouble, including Evans who was an excellent 2nd behind Gilbert. Although the headlines will focus on El Pistolero’s losses and what it means - a number of other top 10 GC hopefuls suffered similar misfortune.

GC contender time losses
1:20   Alberto Contador Velasco (Saxo Bank-Sungard)
1:20   Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)

1:55   Thomas Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo)
1:55   Roman Kreuziger (Astana)
1:55   Richie Porte (Saxo Bank-Sungard)

3:41   Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo)

Notes

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