Alejandro Valverde won stage one of the Tour de France yesterday with an impressive uphill attack on the day's final climb. Valverde showed both his rivals and the fans that he is on incredible form, as all of the GC contenders were left in his wake on the way to the finish line of stage one, a 6% climb of two kilometers.
Valverde and his Caisse d'Epargne team now will have to assume leadership duties at the Tour, making sure no breakaways get up the road too far before the finish. In what should be a bunch sprint tomorrow, Valverde probably would be happy to give the jersey up to Filippo Pozzato or Oscar Freire, both of whom trail the Spaniard by only one second in the GC.
On the injury front, last year's mountains classification champion Juan Mauricio Soler crashed badly about ten kilometers from the finish line and doctors think he broke his wrist. Climbing with an injured hand or arm is extremely difficult, and it is likly that Soler will fight for as long as he can, but will eventually abandon the Tour. Depending on how the next few stages go, Soler could be gone right away or soldier on if the pain isn't too unbearable. One thing certain though is that he has very little chance of taking the polka dot jersey again.
As usual, the Tour de France has provided unexpected surprises right from the beginning of the race. Valverde, though a proud champion, must do all he can to pass the yellow jersey off to a sprinter, so ise team doesn't get too tired out in the early part of the Tour controlling the race. Soler meanwhile, will have to hope his wrist recovers before the high mountains arrive.
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