Fabian Cancellara pips Tony Martin to win Tour prologue

Fabian Cancellara wins Tour de France 2010 prologue

published 3 July 2010

Tour de France 2010 Prologue photo gallery by Graham Watson>>

Maybe it was the number 13 on his back - placed upside down for luck - that did it.

The Swiss rider is the world time trial champion and a prologue specialist. He won the Tour de France prologue in Liège in 2004 and again in London three years later. Last July he took the longer opening time trial in Monaco. Now he's added Rotterdam to the list and, with three days in Classics territory coming up, he can possibly look forward to a spell in yellow that stretches all the way to the Alps.

Britain's David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) turned in a superb ride to finish third. He rode in persistent rain and was the first man for more than an hour to get anywhere near Martin's time. When he crossed the line Millar bumped another British rider, Team Sky's Geraint Thomas, from second place. Thomas, the newly-crowned national road race champion, also produced a superb time. In the final standings Millar and Thomas stood third and fifth, either side of Lance Armstrong.

The American woke up to renewed coverage of Floyd Landis's allegations of doping in his old US Postal Service team. The Wall Street Journal published details of alleged blood transfusions performed on Armstrong and some of his old team-mates during the 2004 Tour de France. Such allegations have spread around the internet for years but this was the first time a credible newspaper has named dates and details of doping. Armstrong dismissed the story and channelled his likely anger into a fourth place ride that demonstrated that he has no intention of going quietly.

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Fabian Cancellara pips Tony Martin to win Tour prologue

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