Lance opens strong with solid time trial at Tour

Armstrong is among the 180 riders from 30 countries in the three-week race This 96th Tour will take riders over 2,150 miles; it ends July 26 in Paris MONACO (AP) -- Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong placing a respectable 10th for the start of his comeback to the sport's biggest event. Cancellara took 19 minutes, 32 seconds for the 15.5-kilometer (9.6 mile) time trial, in which riders set off one by one along winding and hilly roads of the Mediterranean principality of Monaco. "I am really proud," Cancellara said. "I did the maximum possible." A speed specialist who won last month's Tour of Switzerland and the time-trial gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, Cancellara had been seen as a favorite for the opening stage. The race... [read full story]                    

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