Schumacher Takes Yellow in Tour de France Time Trial

Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner put in one of the best time trial performances of his life, beating the big guns and the young guns, to win Stage Four and also the yellow jersey for the overall best time in the Tour.

Schumacher beat his next competitors—Kim Kirchen of Team Columnbia and David Millar of Garmin Chipotle—by twelve seconds, and came in 33 seconds ahead of World time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara, who finished fifth.

Millar and Kirchen showed the strength of the American teams, while veteran Silence-Lotto rider Cadel Evans showed his strength by coming in fourth.

2008's First Time Trial

Stage Four of the 2008 Tour de France was the race's first time trial. Time trials are solo rides against the clock; riders leave at intervals, last place to first, and ride as fast as they a can, with no riders to directly compete against, time trials come down to each rider knowing his capacities and calling up all of his speed, power, and endurance.

Each rider must pace himself—running out of energy short of the finish line would be disastrous. But each driver also has to motivate himself, drive himself; at a time in a regular stage when the desire to pass the man ahead might elevate a rider past pain and fatigue, in a time trial the rider has only his own will.

The time trial route in the 2008 Tour was much shorter than usual—only 29 kilometers as opposed to the usual fifty.

The route contains no major climbs, but is filled with small hills. Total elevation change was only 25 meters from the lowest point at the starting line to the highest peak, and none of the climbs were especially steep, but overall half the route was uphill, and the last couple of kilometers sloped slightly uphill.

Danny Pate of Garmin-Chipotle set the fastest time early in the day on the 29-km time trial route through the countryside around the city of Cholet, France, in the 2008 Tour de France. (Pascal Pavani/AFP/Getty Images)

The route twisted through many small towns, filled with traffic roundabouts, curbs and barriers, so riders could not tuck their heads down and hammer on the pedals.

Riders said this was an extremely demanding course despite is abbreviated length.

Cancellara Disappoints

Garmin-Chipotle rider Danny Pate made an amazing ride, coming from 11th at the first time check to finish well ahead of the pack, the first rider to break 37 minutes in the first half of the field. Pate's average speed over the course was 48 km/hr.

As the top half of the field started their runs, Pate's time fell. Sylvain Chavanel, riding for Cofidis, was the first to surpass it, finishing two seconds ahead.

Jens Voight 27 seconds ahead at the first time check, 39 seconds ahead of Chavanel's time at the 19-km time check. Voigt, grimacing in pain, panting with exhaustion, yet still pedaling strongly, crossed the line 33 seconds ahead of Chavanel's time.

Then Rabobank rider Denis Menchov, who was extremely motivated, being 45 seconds behind in the General Classification after getting slowed in a crash yesterday, surpassed Voigt by one second, making up a six-second deficit in the last ten kilometers.

The most-anticipated rider was CSC's Fabian Cancellara, the world time-trial champion. Cancellara is also a powerful sprinter and a great overall rider, and is among the favorites to take the overall win.

Fabian Cancellara (CSC) hammers out a good ride in the first Tour de France time trial. (Pascal Pavani/AFP/Getty Images)

Choice of gear ratios is extremely important in time trials; being able to wring every bit of speed out of the bike and rider demands perfect mechanical efficiency. Many riders opted for a very large front chainring—57 teeth, as opposed to the more normal 52 or 53—to try to increase top speed over the final ten kilometers, when the wind came from behind.

Cancellara was turning a huge chainring. His first ten kilometers were a second slower than the winning pace; Cancellara was focused on flying through the final ten. Surprisingly, Cancellara was seven seconds down at the second time check.

Cancellarra did not put in one of his best rides. He made an intense effort over the final few hundred meters and came in one second faster than Menchov's time, but he was obviously struggling. With so many big riders still to come, he could not have been very satisfied with his time.

Surprising Schumacher Takes the Yellow

The younger riders made unexpectedly strong showings in the time trial, and some riders that had attracted no attention turned heads.

Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner surprised everyone by turning in a time of 35:44, beating Cancellara by 33 seconds. Schumacher rode at an average speed of 49.5km/h. Schumacher's effort was sufficient to earn him the yellow jersey.

David Millar of Garmin Chipotle approached the course with a different strategy, pushing very hard over the first ten kilometers—where the wind was head-on—counting on the tailwind on the end to make up for the fatigue. Riding at nearly 50 mph down the final straight, he still came in at 36:02

Veteran Silence—Lotto rider Cadel Evans turned in an excellent time, beating Cancellara, showing that he is very much in the running for the overall win.