Armstrong opens bid for fourth Tour de France title by winning prologue

? Lance Armstrong surprised almost no one but himself by opening his bid for a fourth straight Tour de France title with a victory in Saturday’s prologue.

“It’s a surprise and a good surprise, I’m happier than you think,” the Texan told reporters after winning the Tour’s opening leg, a 7-kilometer (4.34-mile) individual time trial.

The 30-year-old won in 9 minutes and 8 seconds, topping Frenchman Laurent Jalabert by two seconds and Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania by three.

Armstrong is the overwhelming favorite to win the Tour, and he lost no time reclaiming the leader’s yellow jersey he has taken home the last three years.

A break in the afternoon’s sporadic rain gave Armstrong the opening he needed to tackle the winding, cobbled circuit, which would have been treacherous if wet.

“I was lucky that the course was dry,” he said.

As defending champion, Armstrong was the last of the 189 riders to take the start. Thousands of fans cheered as he raced through the streets of this tiny country’s capital, beating Jalabert’s already impressive time.

The victory marked only the second time the U.S Postal Service team leader has won the Tour prologue. The last time was in 1999, the year he astonished the world by coming back from cancer to win cycling’s toughest event three years ago.

As titleholder, Armstrong had the right to wear the yellow jersey from the start, but wore his team colors instead.

“I wanted a suit that was broken in, so to speak,” Armstrong said. “And then, I don’t know if it’s right that I start in the yellow jersey, because it was last year – it was a completely different race.”

“I wanted to look down and see a team jersey and say ‘The yellow one is out there, and you have to earn that,'” he added.

Armstrong warmed up in the practice area with his wife Kristin and their three children by his side. It was the first time his family has been with him at the Tour start.

“It was special – and it’s perhaps why I was so motivated today,” Armstrong said. “It’s becoming harder and harder for me to leave and go to the races, and leave behind the children.”

Noticeably absent from this Tour was Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner and runner-up the last two years. The German was sidelined by a knee injury in May but has since been mired in drug problems following a positive test for amphetamines.

Armstrong’s top challengers this year include Spaniard Joseba Beloki of Once, who finished third in the Tour the last two years. He completed the prologue in ninth place, 13 seconds behind the Texan.

Colombian Santiago Botero finished fourth, four seconds behind Armstrong. French star Richard Virenque, returning from a ban related to doping charges, finished 23rd, 18 seconds behind the leader.

Didier Rous of the Bonjour team fell shortly after leaving the starting gate and had to use a replacement bike. The Frenchman sat in 163rd place, more than a minute off the pace.

The start in Luxembourg marked the 14th time the Tour has begun outside France. Sunday’s first stage is a hilly 192.5-kilometer (119.35-mile) run through the countryside and medieval towns of the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, one of Europe’s smallest countries.

The three-week Tour covers some 3,277.5 kilometers (2,034.8 miles), making it one of the shortest ever. Riders are to pass through Germany and northern France before following the Mediterranean coast and heading into the Pyrenees and Alps mountains. The race ends in Paris on July 28.