Armstrong Displays Plenty of the Old Aggression on His Big Comeback

Richard Williams Monaco

The aggression was there, but not the result to satisfy those who dreamed of seeing Lance Armstrong slip back into the yellow jersey on his return to the Tour de France. Cheered all the way round the 9.6 mile course of the opening stage in the 2009 Tour, the 37-year-old Texan nevertheless emerged from his four-year absence to set a time that only nine riders could beat, suggesting that although an eighth victory may be beyond his powers, a top-10 finish is on the cards.

The short but demanding time-trial through the streets of Monaco, with four and a half miles of jolting climbs followed by descents at speeds of up to 50mph and a flat run-in, was won by Fabian Cancellara, a Swiss rider with the Saxo Bank team, repeating his victory in the London prologue two years ago, in a time of 19min 32sec, leading home Alberto Contador of the Astana team, the winner of the 2007 Tour, and Bradley Wiggins, Britain's triple Olympic gold-medal winner on the track, whose supreme effort in the jersey of the Garmin-Slipstream team was rewarded by third place.

Absent for 1,441 days from the race he dominated for seven years, Armstrong came out fighting in a discipline that was once among his strengths. His legs were whirring in the high pedaling cadence familiar from his glory days as soon as he had hurled his black and yellow bike down the starting ramp on the Monaco harbor front, and he made no effort to disguise the effort going into a stage that would determine his role in the troubled Astana team in the race's opening days. By finishing ahead of Armstrong, Contador confirmed his standing as the designated leader.

"It's a very difficult course, very technical, but I had a good time," Armstrong said afterwards. "I was a little bit all over the place but overall I feel good.

"I didn't have any illusions about winning today or getting the jersey. I was nervous, which is logical. After three years away, I didn't necessarily feel comfortable. It was almost like a foreign environment – you can't replicate the feeling you have in the Tour in training, or in any other race. Even though we didn't win, I'm happy with my time."

If London's Grand Départ two years ago was remarkable for the colour and spectacle it brought to Hyde Park and the Mall, then today's send-off in Monaco transformed the tiny principality into one vast velodrome. This was the Tour's fifth visit to Monaco. The first came in 1939 and the last in 1964.

From early in the morning groups of amateur cyclists had been making their way into Monaco from all points and they had the pleasure of sharing the course with the teams as brightly-colored flocks of riders – the pink and blue of Lampre, the toxic green of Liquigas, the turquoise of Milram, the tangerine of Euskaltel and so on – emerged for their warm-up laps, climbing the road up from Saint-Devote, the first corner of the grand prix circuit, before rounding the corner into Casino Square.

Occasionally riders would come past alone or in smaller groups, including a bareheaded Mark Cavendish with his room-mate and lead-out man Mark Renshaw on their streamlined time-trial machines, tires hissing as they wheeled past the coffee drinkers on the cafe terrace opposite the Hotel de Paris and, instead of following the trace of the grand prix circuit by turning right down the hill towards Mirabeau, ascended another ramp through the ornamental gardens before swinging left on to the Boulevard Princesse Charlotte.

Armstrong's early appearance, the 18th starter of 180 riders, gave the stage an injection of drama in the first half-hour, only slightly dampened when first Tony Martin, a German rider with Columbia-HTC, and then Levi Leipheimer, another of Armstrong's team-mates, posted better times. Towards the end, as the seeded riders made their appearance, they were all overhauled. David Millar, who won the Tour prologue nine years ago, suffered a disappointment when he entered a corner too fast and locked his rear wheel, the slide and recovery costing Wiggins's team-mate at least the 4sec that he finished behind Armstrong.

Tomorrow morning the riders will reassemble by the harbor before leaving for the first road stage. After the fourth category climb of La Turbie and a sprint along Nice's Promenade des Anglais, the course winds through the hills above Cannes, Antibes and Saint-Tropez and ends after 187km (117 miles) in Brignoles, where Cavendish – who, as expected, finished towards the back today – will be hoping for the opportunity to profit from a bunch sprint.