Visconti Wins Sprint in Luxembourg

Giovanni Visconti won stage 1 of the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg in a hectic spring finish. Visconti, an Italian rider from ISD Neri Cycling Team, timed his kick perfectly in the final meters and won by about a bike length. Visconti rode with the large peloton for essentially the entire day as they chased down a 3 man breakaway. They made the catch at just 15 kms to go and then prepared for the final run to the finish. The three riders in the breakaway were Anthony Charteau, Morten Knudsen, and Johnny Hoogerland, all of whom fell out of contention after being caught. The peloton was split as they crossed the line, with some riders finishing 39 seconds ahead of others. Many of the race's main contenders, including Lance Armstrong, Gregory Rast, Andreas Kloden, and Frank Schleck finished in the front half. Others, like Kim Kirchen, Jens Voigt, and overnight leader Jimmy Engoulvent finished in the second group and lost valuable time on the leaders. Engoulvent's struggle meant that the new overall leader was his Saur Sojasun teammate Cyril Lemoine. Lemoine will need an incredible ride tomorrow to hold the lead in the longest stage of the race (202.7km), assuming the leaders will start to attack. Tomorrow's stage looks like this.

There are a few more climbs than stage 1, and perhaps the peloton will again not be intact. The top 55 in the overall classification are all within 20 seconds of the lead, so it is definitely up for grabs. This may be a critical time for some contenders like Jens Voigt and Kim Kirchen to get themselves back into the race because it may be too late afterwards. I would expect some attacks tomorrow, with Saxobank and Radioshack leading the way and the smaller teams trying to keep the race close.

CLASSIFICATIONS AFTER STAGE 1

OVERALL LEAD

1. Cyril Lemoine

2. Gregory Rast

3. Lance Armstrong -1

4. Borut Bozic -2

5. Aitor Galdos -2

6. Andreas Kloden -4

7. Giovanni Visconti -5

18. Frank Schleck -8

70. Jens Voigt -52

80. Kim Kirchen -1:00

MOUNTAINS

1. Anthony Charteau 15

2. Morton Knudsen 9

3. Johnny Hoogerland 6

POINTS

1. Giovanni Visconti 20

2. Yauheni Hutarovich 16

3. Borut Bozic 13

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Team Radioshack

2. Euskatel-Euskadi -11

3. Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team -12