Millar Wins Paris-Nice Prologue
David Millar (Saunier Duval) has drawn first blood in the season?s first major stage race. The Scot won the technical, 4.7-km prologue of Paris-Nice in 6:01. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) and Sebastien Joly (Francaise des Jeux) finished second and third, respectively, at 0:01 and 0:02.
Kreuziger set the early standard with his 6:02. Many established racers against the clock, such as Dave Zabriskie (CSC), Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), and Bobby Julich (CSC), took their shots, but they could not knock Kreuziger, a 20-year-old Swiss and a former junior world champion, from the top spot. Only Millar?s ride displaced the Swiss.
Millar?s victory is another stage of his ride to redemption. After serving a two-year drug suspension, Millar won a time trial in last year?s Vuelta a Espana. He has vowed to keep the yellow jersey as long as possible, adding that he has an excellent team around him. Millar said that his goals are to reestablish himself as one of cycling?s best time trialists and specifically to win this year?s Tour prologue in
In the overall, Millar leads Kreuziger by 0:01 and Joly by 0:02. Stage 1 will be a rolling, 186-km run from Cloyes-sur-le-Loir to Buzancais. The stage should come down to a bunch sprint. Who will win it? Will Millar keep the race lead? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!