Philippe Gilbert Wins Stage One of the 2011 TDF

Stage One—191.5km
Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes

True to form, The Great Gilbert disposed of his rivals with a sharp attack in the final meters of a short but fierce uphill finish. Gilbert can now add a TDF stage win and a Yellow Jersey to his long list of accomplishments for 2011. Winning the first stage of the tour is like being a tenured professor for the next 20 stages: there is nothing more to prove. As our French translator says, “Il est très tranquille. Il dort bien ce soir.”

The big GC news is the minute plus gap set on by two peloton-splitting crashes inside the final 10K. Contador, Andy, Wiggins and other hopefuls will now be chasing Cadel, Horner and pretty much everyone else—possibly for weeks. TSH will be here with exclusive coverage.