Evans sixth in Tour's first stage

SPANIARD Alejandro Valverde won the first stage of the Tour de France early today with Australia's Cadel Evans finishing sixth. The 28-year-old Spaniard will wear the leader's yellow jersey after breaking away from the pack at the end of a 197.5km ride from Brest to Plumelec today. The Caisse d'Epargne rider is among the favorites for the title, along with Australia's Cadel Evans and Russia's Denis Menchov. Evans finished sixth today in the same time as Valverde. France's Herve Duclos-Lassalle of the Cofidis team became the first rider in the 180-man pack to quit the race. He crashed and broke his wrist after a fellow rider's refreshments bag got stuck in his front wheel spokes after just two hours on the road. Riders will cover more than 3,500km during the three-week race. Share this... [read full story]