Tour de France

TODAY’S STAGE 2

The riders will cover 102.2 miles from Auray to Saint-Brieuc. The route is mostly flat and should favor the sprinters.

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Saturday’s stage: For the first time since 1967 the Tour started without a prologue as riders faced windy conditions over a 122.7-mile trek through Brittany from Brest to Plumelec.

Winner: Alejandro Valverde of Spain won in 4 hours 36 minutes 7 seconds and showed why he is among the Tour favorites. Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert finished second, and Jerome Pineau of France was third.

Yellow jersey: Valverde stamps his authority early on with the second Tour stage win of his career and first since beating Lance Armstrong in a mountaintop finish in 2005.

Quote of the day: “Valverde is just so good. That’s a perfect finish for him today” -- Tour veteran David Millar of Britain on the Caisse d’Epargne team leader.

-- Associated Press

*--* STAGE 1 RESULTS 1. Alejandro Valverde, Spain 4:36:07 2. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium :01 behind. 3. Jerome Pineau, France same time 4. Kim Kirchen, Luxembourg same time 5 Riccardo Ricco, Italy same time 6. Cadel Evans, Australia same time 7. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg same time 8. Filippo Pozzato, Italy same time 9. Oscar Freiere, Spain same time 10. Oscar Pereiro, Spain same time *--*