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95th Tour de France

Stage 1 - Brest to Plumelec - 197.5 km (122.5 mi)

05 July 2008

Caisse d'Epargne's leader, Alejandro Valverde, has long been accustomed to winning. As a junior racing in Murcia, he earned the nickname El Imbatido - The Unbeaten. He first emerged as a Tour threat in 2005, when he bested Lance Armstrong in his final Tour to take the climbing stage victory at the summit in Courcheval.

He was forced to pull out of that race after experiencing knee problems, but after several seasons which have seen him continue to mature as both a stage- and one-day racer, Valverde indeed is living up to his nickname once again. Looking to make this a third straight Spanish victory at the Tour, Valverde emerged as the favorite after defeating the field to take the opening maillot jaune at the 2008 Tour de France...

The 2008 Tour rollled out on dry roads from the Atlantic coastal town of Brest, the rains from the preceding days receding and allowing the race to get started without inclement weather. Without the traditional prologue, which the Tour is forgoing for the first time since 1966, the 180 riders on the starting line all began the day with a shot at wearing yellow by the end of the day...

The first few miles out of town were run at a ceremonial pace, as is usually the tradition for the start of each day's stage. Once the roads had wound through the scenery of the westernmost city in France and had started turning north toward the Breton countryside and Plumelec, Christian Prudhomme dropped the flag and the race began in earnest. From the beginning of the race proper, the attackers came out in full force. Lilian Jegou of Francaise des Jeux opened up the first attack, and seven other riders - Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Jose Luis Arrieta (AG2R La Mondiale), Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel), Bjorn Schroder (Team Milram), David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) and Stephane Auge (Cofidis) - joined him to open up a six-minute gap over the peloton in the first twenty-five kilometers of the race.

The eight riders quickly came apon the Cote de Ty-Jopic, a fourth-category climb and the first official climb of the 2008 Tour. The polka-dot jersey was up for grabs, and former French champion Voeckler looked to seize the momentum, attacking up the climb in search of the maximum points. He had the appearance of taking the first summit victory, but Schroder from Milram pipped him at the line. The breakaway took

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