If it's 11 a.m. Sunday in London, it's stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de France, and the race's best sprinters are happy.
That's
the way first week of the Tour traditionally begins. The full field
gets out on the road, stretches their collective legs for several
hours and the peloton's most powerful riders find their way to the
front in the waning few hundred meters.
It shouldn't be any
different this year. The second and last day of this year's race in
England will begin at the finish line of Saturday's prologue. A
processional will unfold as it crisscrosses the River Thames en route
past historic monoliths of London, St. Paul's Cathedral to the Tower of
London.
The stage is scheduled to begin at exactly 11 a.m. (noon
in France) at the prime meridian (longitude 0 degrees) in Greenwich.
The 203-kilometer (126.8-mile) route includes three category four
climbs, the least severe climbing ranking.
For the most part,
the stage will feature rolling terrain and along the way riders will
pass the 1,000 year-old Rochester Castle and progress past the county
of Kent via Tunbridge Wells to the finish in Cant
erbury.
It's
been 13 years since a Tour road stage was held in England, and on the
last occasion the day ended on a hilly circuit. Spain's Francisco
Cabello rode to a 33-second solo victory in the stage from Dover to
Brighton.
A solo win is always a possibility, but it will be
unlikely this year considering the course's relatively flat profile.
And if the race progresses as predicted, the winner will likely emerge
from a group that includes veteran sprinters Robbie McEwen
(Predictor-Lotto), Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic) of Belgium and
Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) of Norway, among others.
It's
unlikely any of the six Americans competing in this year's Tour will be
in the mix for a stage win. But Chris Horner (Bend, Ore.) and Fred
Rodriguez (Emeryville, Calif.) will be working for McEwen and looking
to escort the sport's fastest accelerator toward the front of the group
for his final surge. The stage should take around five hours to
complete.
A fast first day is usually the norm, depending on
weather conditions and crashes are always feasible particularly as as a
massive group of riders approach the finish, all seeking to help the
designated sprinter of their respective teams.
