Bradley Wiggins gains psychological edge over Cadel Evans in Tour de France prologue

BRADLEY Wiggins scored a psychological victory over Cadel Evans in the Tour de France prologue, gaining a 10-second lead over the Australian.

Leo Schlink in Liege

2 min read

July 1, 2012 - 3:54PM

HeraldSun

Brett Lancaster

BRADLEY Wiggins has scored a massive psychological victory over Cadel Evans in the Tour de France prologue, gaining a lead of 10 seconds over the defending champion as Swiss star Fabian Cancellara stormed into the yellow jersey.

Evans admitted the time loss was greater than he would have liked, but he was not panicking.

"It's not good, not bad," Evans said.

"Of course, I would rather concede less seconds. You never want to lose time.

"I'm happy to get it started and for me, the real action starts tomorrow.

"It's 6km (out of) 3500 or so. In that regard it's a small comparison."

Cancellara destroyed his 197 rivals over the 6.4km course with a blistering time of 7mins 13secs - 7 seconds clear of Wiggins and Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel.

But it was second-placed Wiggins' effort to put 10 seconds into Evans as the Australian floundered over the last kilometre that set tongues wagging.

Evans is 13th overall, 17 seconds down on Cancellara, with Brett Lancaster the highest-placed Australian in sixth place.

Evans was faster than Wiggins to the halfway mark but could not sustain the momentum.

Orica-GreenEDGE impacted instantly on the Tour as Olympic champion Lancaster set a scorching time.

Brett Lancaster

Lancaster will play a key role in tonight's opening stage from Liege to Seraing, where Matt Goss, Simon Gerrans and Michael Albasini are expected to be prominent.

The 68th rider to leave the start ramp before heading along the banks of the Meuse river, Lancaster covered the journey in 7mins 24secs to take the provisional lead in the prologue.

The 2004 Athens gold medallist clipped four seconds off the pace set by Ukraine time trial specialist Andriy Grivko (Astana).

Lancaster had a minor crash in the warm-up, reviving uncomfortable memories for team director Matt White, who broked a collarbone while preparing for the first day of the 2004 Tour and did not start.

"I did three laps of the course to warm and I was going through a roundabout when the back wheel came off," Lancaster said.

"I had a sort of in between track tyre and road tyre on, which was pretty quick, so I changed it back to a road tyre.

"I was a bit shaky through the corners because it was in the back of my mind."

Lancaster will play a key role in tonight's opening stage from Liege to Seraing, where Matt Goss, Simon Gerrans and Michael Albasini are expected to be prominent.

Orica-GreenEDGE captain Stuart O'Grady started his 16th Tour with a strong time of 7mins 36secs.

With the Tour starting in hot, breezy conditions against the backdrop of Lance Armstrong's drug charges, Gerrans became the first Orica-GreenEDGE rider to start in the world's greatest bike race.

The national champion and this season's Milan-San Remo winner clocked 7mins 42secs, admitting the course was more suited to stronger riders.

But he was stunned by the number of Australian supporters along the picturesque looping course.

"It was good, it was a fast little prologue," Gerrans said.

"Heaps and heaps of coverage, heaps of Australians, so it was a really good ambience out there.

"It really is history in the making, this Tour de France, the first time we have an Australian team competing, so it's a pretty special Tour."

The Australians

Brett Lancaster - 7.24

Cadel Evans - 7.30

Richie Porte - 7.35

Stuart O'Grady - 7.36

Michael Rogers - 7.37

Adam Hansen - 7.41