Contador gains early edge at Tour

MONACO (AP) - In the Tour de France battle between Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, the Spaniard won the first round. Contador clearly showed his American teammate and rival he deserved to be the leader of their Astana team with a rock-solid performance in the opening time-trial Saturday in the hilly streets of Monaco. Contador, who won the Tour in 2007, finished second in the demanding 15.5-kilometer (9.6-mile), 18 seconds behind stage winner Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland. More importantly, in his bid to win the cycling's most prestigious race again, the 26-year-old, whose legs are 11 years fresher than Armstrong's, took a 22 second advantage over the man who ruled the Tour seven years in a row. «I'm not interested in whether I'm the leader or not, the important thing is that it's a big boost to my morale, and it... [read full story]                    

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