Without any real surprises ... the Swiss time trial specialist today won the extremely short first stage of the 64th Tour of Spain.

Since the Vuelta doesn't seem to know the UCI rules it was - despite the short distance of only 4,8 kilometers on the motor circuit TT Assen in The Netherlands - not a prologue but a first stage.

Spartacus beats everyone else!

Everyone expected it, the short route of this time trial seemed to have been made for him: Spartacus beat everybody by taking no less than 9 seconds on the number two, Tom Boonen (Quick Step).

Together with Tyler Farrar (Garmin Slipstream), Tom Boonen thus proved this stage was not only made for time trial specialists but also for sprinters.

After the finish, the winner Fabian Cancellara, who also won the opening time trial of the Tour de France 2009 in Monaco, told: before the start I wouldn't have bet on me since I didn't know my condition. I gave everything I had in this short prologue and I'm very happy with this victory!

He also said he came to the Tour of Spain to prepare for the World Championships which will take place just after the Vuelta in his country, Switzerland, in Mendrisio. Cancellara will thus most probably not continue till the finish in Madrid but for the time being he can be happy with the leader's jersey he got for the first time tonight.

Tomorrow the riders will do the first stage in line between Assen and Emmen, still in The Netherlands.

photo Fabian Cancellara with the leader's jersey - © Unipublic

The top 10 of this stage

The top 10 of this completely flat time trial is as follows:
1/ Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) - 5'20"
2/ Tom Boonen (Quick Step) - +0'09"
3/ Tyler Farrar (photo, Garmin Slipstream) - +0'12"
4/ Jens Mouris (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) - +0'14"
5/ Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) - +0'16"
6/ Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) - +0'17"
7/ Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) - +0'18"
8/ Ivan Basso (Liquigas) - +0'18"
9/ Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) - +0'18"
10/ Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas) - +0'19"

The biggest surprise in this top 10 is most probably the 4th place for the Dutch rider Jens Mouris (photo).
Furthermore it's quite surprising to see that there are no less than 4 riders of the Italian team Liquigas in the top 10!

Finally a quick thought for Carlos Barredo (QuickStep) who started in the rain in The Netherlands ... due to the rain the starting block got slippery and when he started he slipped and ended on the ground. Only a few minutes later the organisation covered the starting block with a dry blanket ...

> Click here to see the full list of riders who participate in the Vuelta 2009 and their numbers

> Click here to see the full route of the Tour of Spain 2009

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Vuelta a España | Cycling general (except Tour de France) | Vuelta a España 2009

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