What a great first stage, full of surprises.
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Guys like LA and Jan Ulrich- overall favorites- will be able to put a minute- maybe two- on guys like Beloki, who is strong in the mountains but weak in the "race of truth".
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I'm surprised by Ulrich; he should have challenged for this stage, as LA did. Essentially, Armstrong was a bumbled pedal clip away from taking this one, but when he passed Ulrich on the road, I was shocked. They say he may have still been suffering from a training ride spill a day or two earlier...I guess we'll see how he performs in the hills. He may not even be the leader of his team when the race hits the halfway point. Alexandre Vinokourov picked up where he left off last year with a strong opening stage, and was one of 4 riders to actually keep the damage to less than one minute.
George Hincapie was very impressive...I'd like to see if he can challenge for a top 5 GC this year.
How about Zabriskie? The kid is an animal. As the day went on, it became pretty clear that he had ridden fast, because nobody was even coming close to his splits. He's a rookie, so I'll be impressed if he stays in the race after the mountains hit, but who knows.
Joseba Beloki finished right about where I thought he would, in terms of deficit: 2' 05" back of the leader, 2' 03" back of
The Boss.