Cycling: Tour still searching for a favourite

BORDEAUX - The first phase of the Tour de France has included a doping crisis, a prologue, seven road stages and a time trial - but not the emergence of an heir apparent to seven-times champion Lance Armstrong.

During the opening week until today's rest day in Bordeaux, the 93rd edition of the Grande Boucle has been a race by elimination.

Among the pre-Tour favourites, German Jan Ullrich, Italian Ivan Basso and Spaniard Francisco Mancebo were the first to disappear after being implicated in a Spanish doping probe.

That also denied Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov the chance to ride as five of his colleagues were linked to the investigation, forcing the Astana team to withdraw.

Spaniard Alejandro Valverde pulled out after fracturing his collarbone in a crash during the third stage.

The overall leader's yellow jersey jumped from shoulders to shoulders until 36-year-old Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar of the T-Mobile team, claimed it with victory in the seventh stage, a 52-km time trial.

The race against the clock was regarded as the first real test of the Tour but it gave few indications about the hierarchy of the post-Armstrong era.

Among the favourites, the best mark went to American Floyd Landis, a former lieutenant to the retired Armstrong. The other winners were the T-Mobile team with six riders in the top 14 of the overall standings.

Landis was second to Honchar on Saturday, one minute and one second. However, he defeated German Andreas Kloeden (T-Mobile) by 42 seconds, Discovery Channel leader George Hincapie by 1:41 and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) by 5:05.

American Leipheimer, winner of the Tour warm-up race the Dauphine Libere showed he was the day's main loser when he punched a camera after crossing the line.

According to John Lelangue, manager of Landis' Phonak team, the gaps between the favourites were "not wide enough to claim that the seventh stage was decisive."

"We are just one set and one break of serve up," he added.

"We won the first set because we guarded ourselves against any mishap in the first six stages. We are a break up in the second set because Floyd did well in the time trial."

Continuing with the tennis terminology, Lelangue believes Landis will win the second set if he keeps his comfortable second place overall until the end of Tuesday's ninth stage, a short road race of 181 km on the straight and flat roads of Les Landes area.

The third set will be played in the Pyrenees, the fourth in the Alps and the fifth in the second individual time trial on the eve of the last parade towards the Champs-Elysees.

"The Pyrenees are not too difficult this year with only one altitude finish at Pla-de-Beret in Spain but our key word will be 'total vigilance'," said T-Mobile team director Valerio Piva.

"The Spaniards of the Euskaltel team will be all out for a stage win and we think the favourites will have to show their cards.

On Wednesday, the riders have their first contact with high mountains in the ascent of the Cold du Soudet, an "hors categorie" pass (the highest grade in the Tour) before facing the first category Col de Marie Blanque, 45 km from the finish in Pau.

On Thursday, they will have to climb the most famous Pyrenean passes, Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde and Portillon before the final ascent to the Pla de Beret.

"Some favourites will, little by little, lose ground and a winner will emerge from the mountain stages," said Johan Bruyneel, sports director of Discovery Channel.

Marc Madiot, boss of La Francaise des Jeux agreed saying: "The Pyrenees will cream off the list of potential winners."

- REUTERS