Hincapie of U.S. Takes Tour de France Lead

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 onetime boss.

The 33-year-old Hincapie on Sunday became the fourth American -- joining seven-time winner Armstrong, three-time winner Greg LeMond and time trial specialist Dave 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.

“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.

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.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

STAGE 1 AT A GLANCE

* Sunday: Stage 1 was a 114.6-mile loop starting and ending in Strasbourg after a brief turn into neighboring Germany.

* Winner: Jimmy Casper, France, Cofidis, 4 hours 10 minutes.

* How others fared: Robbie McEwen, Australia, Davitamon-Lotto, was second. Erik Zabel, Germany, Milram, was third. Prologue winner Thor Hushovd, Norway, Credit Agricole, was ninth. All three finished with the same time as Casper.

* Quote of the day: “Everybody wants to see the replacement for Lance, but there really is no replacement for Lance.” -- Hincapie, when asked about seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong.

*--* OVERALL LEADERS 1. George Hincapie, U.S. 4:18:05 2. Thor Hushovd, Norway 2 seconds behind 3. Dave Zabriskie, U.S. 6 behind 4. S. Lang, Germany same time 5. A. Valverde, Spain same time

*--*

*--* STAGE 1 RESULTS 1. Jimmy Casper, France 4:10:00 2. Robbie McEwen, Australia same time 3. Erik Zabel, Germany same time 4. Daniele Bennati, Italy same time 5. Luca Paolini, Italy same time

*--*