Contador calamity as Gilbert wins first Tour stage

Mont Des Alouettes: Triple champion Alberto Contador made a dreadful start to the Tour de France on Saturday while Belgian Philippe Gilbert won the opening stage. Contador lost one minute 21 seconds to some of the other race favourites after being held up by a crash towards the end of the 191.5-km stage in the Vendee region. Gilbert produced a surge over the last 400 metres to snatch his 13th victory of the season. It was the first stage win on the Tour for the world number one and the first time he had taken the overall leader’s yellow jersey. [caption id=“attachment_35778” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Spain’s three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (C) reacts on the finish line at the end of the first stage of the 2011 Tour de France. AFP”]  [/caption] On the line at Mont des Alouettes, Gilbert pipped the last two world road champions – second-placed Australian Cadel Evans and Norway’s Thor Hushovd who was third. “It was my goal. I knew I had a great opportunity to win the stage and take the yellow jersey,” said Gilbert who has shunned the Tour for the past three seasons. Nine kilometres from the finish line an Astana rider crashed into a spectator on the roadside, halting more than half of the main pack including Contador. The 2007, 2009 and 2010 Tour winner chased with his team mates but the Spaniard crossed the line 1:21 behind Gilbert. Among the other favourites, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck and Briton Bradley Wiggins were slowed by another pile-up. But it occurred less than 3-km from the line and the rules state they are clocked in the same time as the first pack of riders. Reuters