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Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard left no doubt as to who owned the strongest set of legs at the 2009 BC Bike Race, winning the final day into Whistler to clinch the race's overall prize. The two Canadians attacked the field on the day's opening fire road climb and never looked back, finishing clear of the second-place Monavie-Cannondale squad of Matt Shriver and Ben Sonntag to take their fourth stage of the 2009 race. "We wanted to do it up in style," McGrath told VeloNews. "Me and (Sheppard) are the grizzly old veterans at this race. We wanted to put it to the young guys."

The first three Tours de France in the post-Armstrong era have been all won by riders from Spain, but only one hit the jackpot Saturday in the Monaco time trial sweepstakes that opened the 2009 edition.

Contador: on a mission

Australian Cadel Evans was given cause for both optimism and alarm after the opening stage of the Tour de France Saturday that left some of his potential yellow jersey rivals in the race's driving seat. Evans finished fifth in a technically-demanding time trial won by Swiss Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara, who rides with Stuart O'Grady at the Saxo Bank team. But arguably the most notable result was enjoyed by the Astana team of 2007 champion Alberto Contador and seven-time winner Lance Armstrong. The Kazakh-backed outfit placed four riders in the top ten.

It was a non-American Fourth of July Saturday at the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, as Canadian Charles Dionne (Fly V Australia) won the tough 110-mile third stage road race with a dramatic uphill attack half a kilometer from the finish. Australian Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis) finished second and 19-year old Canadian David Boily (Probikepool/Kuota) capitalized upon his low profile — he is a first-year senior rider, has no teammates at Fitchburg, and lives in Quebec City — to latch onto Sutherland’s wheel and finish third.

Olympic silver medalist Hayden Roulston, who has battled back to fitness despite a heart defect, admitted Saturday he still has plenty to learn after confessing to an unsatisfactory Tour de France debut. The 28-year-old, who won silver in the 4000-meter men's individual pursuit in Beijing last August, finish in 111th place in Monaco - 1:57 behind yellow jersey winner Fabian Cancellara.

Britain's David Millar has a reputation for being laid-back, but the Garmin team rider is hoping his new, relaxed attitude on the bike transforms to big results on this year's Tour de France. Millar, 32, has had a tumultuous career which kicked off nearly a decade ago with a famous prologue win ahead of Lance Armstrong in 2000 - and which has really only got back on the rails following a two-year ban for doping.

Husband-and-wife Jeremy Horgan-Kolbelski and Heather Irmiger become the new mountain bike marathon national champions at the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, Colorado, on Saturday. The two, who each ride for the Subaru/Gary Fisher team, rode away from the competition early in their respective races. Last year's winner, Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale-Monavie), was second, 12-and-a-half minutes down on JHK’s new course record. Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) was second to Irmiger, 16 minutes down.

Editor's Note: Garmin-Slipstream's sprinter Tyler Farrar will be contributing daily journal entries to VeloNews.com throughout the Tour. Well, here we go! The Tour kicked off today with a spectacular time trial through Monaco. Cancellara won with an impressive ride, which I don't think

Fabian Cancellara knew if he could stay close to the climbers on the first half of the course in Saturday’s individual time trial to open the 2009 Tour de France, the yellow jersey was his. Cancellara’s plan worked like a charm, staying within six seconds of 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador (Astana) at the Cat. 4 Cote de Beausoleil with 8km to go before turning on the afterburners in the final half to claim the double prize of stage win and yellow jersey by 18 seconds.

No one really knew what to expect when Lance Armstrong sped down the starting ramp alongside the harbor in Monte Carlo Saturday afternoon to begin his first Tour de France in four years. He wasn’t expecting to win Saturday’s 15.5km time trial, and that attitude was reflected in his steady start and solid finish to end the day in 10th place.

Defending champion Carlos Sastre wanted to wear the yellow jersey to start the 2009 Tour de France in Saturday’s time trial, but race officials told him he couldn’t. Officials from Cervélo TestTeam approached Tour officials Friday evening about allowing Sastre to wear the maillot jaune, but race officials said the tradition of the previous year’s winner starting the next year’s race was one for the history books.

Astana manager Johan Bruyneel returned to the world's biggest bike race in fine form after seeing his team dominate the top-ten on the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday. While Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara claimed the stage and the first yellow jersey of the race Astana were left well within sight of the race lead after placing four riders among the top ten after the 15.5km time trial. Alberto Contador, the 2007 champion and this year's overall favorite, finished second, 18 seconds adrift of Saxo Bank's reigning Olympic champion.

The opening shots in the battle for the 2009 Tour de France yellow jersey were fired in Monaco Saturday and Casey Gibson was there to record the action.