Strasbourg, France ? He can sprint, climb mountains and excel at time trials. And, thanks to some wily riding, he has the Tour de France’s famed yellow jersey after the opening weekend.

Judging from his early form at the first Tour of the post-Lance Armstrong era, George Hincapie is emerging as a serious contender to succeed his one-time boss.

Hincapie on Sunday became the fourth American – joining seven-time winner Armstrong, three-time winner Greg LeMond and time trial specialist David Zabriskie – to take the Tour leader’s “maillot jaune.”

And he did it with flair.

On Saturday, the first day of a race blown wide open by the withdrawal of several favorites because of doping allegations, Hincapie had the bitter disappointment of losing the opening time trial by milliseconds to burly Norwegian Thor Hushovd.

The race-savvy veteran of 10 Tours didn’t wait long to get his revenge.

He caught Hushovd napping nearing the end of Sunday’s looping 114.6-mile route around the eastern French city of Strasbourg, at a sprint section five miles before the finish line that offered valuable bonus seconds to the first three riders through.

Surging out of the main pack of racers, Hincapie picked up two seconds by placing third in the sprint. That more than erased the tiny advantage Hushovd had held after Saturday’s prologue and gave him the race lead.

Jimmy Casper of France, center, reacts as he crosses the finish line ahead of Erik Zabel, right, and Luca Paolini, left, to win the first stage of the Tour de France. Casper won the 114.6-mile loop starting and finishing in Strasbourg on Sunday.

“It wasn’t really the plan to go for any bonus sprints but … I saw an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, and I took it, and I think I made a great decision,” Hincapie said.

Hushovd’s day only got worse.

A few minutes later, in the mad dash to the finish, Hushovd sliced open his right arm when he brushed against an outsized green cardboard hand that a fan had thrust out over the safety barriers that line the final straightaways.

The cut bled profusely and needed stitches in a hospital. Tour organizers announced that from now on, the giant hands – freebies from a race sponsor – no longer would be distributed in the final stretches of flat stages which, as on Sunday, often finish with a mass sprint.

Jimmy Casper of France won the sprint and the stage, beating out Australian Robbie McEwen and German veteran Erik Zabel. The Frenchman will ride today in the green jersey awarded to the Tour’s leading sprinter. Hushovd won that title last year and is aiming to defend it this year. Despite his cut, Hushovd placed ninth in Sunday’s stage and is expected to start today’s second stage.

Hincapie finished safely in the pack, placing 23rd. Because they finished in a big bunch, the top 171 riders all got the same time as Casper.

Whether 33-year-old Hincapie can go on to become the undisputed leader of his Discovery Channel squad – a spot left vacant since Armstrong retired last year – remains to be seen. Competition within the team is intense, with Hincapie, Italian Paolo Savoldelli, Portugal’s Jose Azevedo and Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych all possible title contenders.

To try to guarantee that one of them succeeds at the finish in Paris, the others will at some point in the three-week race likely have to shelve their own ambitions and devote themselves solely to riding for the team leader, whoever it may be, in the same way they used to for Armstrong.

But for the moment, team manager Johan Bruyneel, the brains behind Armstrong’s successes, is keeping his cards close to his chest, refusing to say which of the four he favors. Perhaps he wants to see which rider is strongest before deciding that the others should devote themselves to trying to help him win.

Hincapie hopes that riding strongly in the first long time trial next Saturday and in the first mountain stages in week two will give him an edge.

“I don’t really need that term, to be called leader of Discovery Channel. For me, those are just words written in the newspaper,” he said.

“I know what my ambitions are, I know that I can take care of myself for the first 10 days. If I show the team after the first long time trial or in the Pyrenees that I can still ride with the best guys, then I’m sure that I will get that role.”

Having the race lead, even if only for a few days initially, certainly can’t hurt Hincapie’s standing within the team, which feted him Sunday with a champagne toast. Armstrong sent Hincapie a message saying “You look great in yellow,” said team spokesman P.J. Rabice.