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The men's podium

Passing by Big Ben on the way to Canterbury

No chances of losing a chain in this prologue.

Johann Bruyneel and Sergio Paulinho just before the start.

Rogers’s spare carbon time-trial bike, Giant’s TCR Advanced.

Oscar Friere rolls out of start booth.

The Tour de France no longer employs a small army of officials with stopwatches to time the riders. Instead, each rider has a transponder on his bike that sends information to official race computers to record his time when he crosses the finish line. The transponder also makes it possible to time each rider between intermediate points along the race route, wherever timing check stations are set up. During time trials, viewers can see how each rider stacks up at each intermediate checkpoint and know who is leading on the road, even though the riders have a staggered start. And we can know

His special prologue bike, still sans shifters and cables at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Riders and crowd in front of Buckingham Palace

Prologue results1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 7.9km in 8:50 (53.7kph),2. Andreas Klöden (G), Astana, at 0:133. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:234. Bradley Wiggins (GB), Cofidis, at 0:235. Vladimir Gusev (Rus), Discovery Channel, at 0:256. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:267. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kz), Astana, at 0:308. Thomas Dekker (Nl), Rabobank, at 0:319. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas, at 0:3210. Benoît Vaugrenard (F), Française des Jeux, at 0:32 11. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, at 0:3212. José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne,

The non-drive view.

Juan Antonio Flecha and the Union Jack.

British hopes of claiming an historic yellow jersey in the shadow of Big Ben took a nosedive into the river Thames as CSC’s Fabian Cancellara sped to victory in the Tour de France prologue Saturday. England's reigning world and Olympic track pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, who had been targeting victory on home soil, finished in a disappointing fourth place at 23 seconds behind winner Fabian Cancellara (CSC), who won in 8:50. Wiggins crossed the finish line visibly upset, and later lamented his failure to claim an historic win on the streets he used to ride as a teenager. "I gave it

Rogers' name badge is a bit more subtle, notice the seat collar engraving from yesteryear.

Discovery's Gusev flies into the best young rider jersey.

Weather: Sunny to partly sunny all day, highs low to mid 80s Stage winner: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) takes second prologuewin in four years with a dominant 13-second margin of victory over second-placeAndreas Klöden (Astaná). When he won in 2004 in Liège,Belgium, he became the first rider born in the 1980s to win a Tour stage.He becomes the first rider wearing the world time trial champions jerseyto win the Tour’s opening prologue. His average speed of 53.660kph becomesthe third-fastest prologue in Tour history (Chris Boardman holds the recordwith 55.152kph in 1994 and

Internal cable routing

One of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards keeps on eye on the proceedings.

American George Hincapie was disappointed after failing to cap some arduous preparation for the Tour de France prologue by pulling on the race's yellow jersey here Saturday. Hincapie finished third at 23 seconds behind Swiss racer Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and 10 seconds behind Germany's Tour de France hopeful Andreas Klöden (Astana), both of whom are famously strong in the race against the clock. That fact can only add some silver lining to Hincapie's performance, but he admitted he had hoped to score an upset against the specialists. "I'm always up there with all of them -

Selle Italia’s custom TT saddle.

The start ramp at Whitehall.

The pre-everything is finally over. As of Friday evening, there had been little biking, a ton of bus riding, two press conferences, health controls, team presentations, sponsors... enough! So today getting ready for the race was a nice change. But before we go into any of these bike related things, I have something much bigger in my life than the Tour de France: I became a father last week. Leah gave birth to Uma last Wednesday night. Both girls are great and I am more than proud of my wife and the fact that I am now a father! So, the last week was a bit crazy at home and not your

The big Swiss time machine rips it up in London

Leipheimer says he's in a three-week bike race.

Pardon Fabian Cancellara if he looked a little scruffy on the winner’s podium after trading his world champion’s time trial rainbow stripes for the maillot jaune. “I would love to shave but I lost my luggage while flying to London on Wednesday,” Cancellara said, sporting a hint of a mustache and scruff on his chin. “I’m happy to be in the yellow jersey, but I’d love to have my luggage back!” The 26-year-old Swiss time machine has been three days without his razors and just about everything else except his Team CSC kit and his Cervélo time trial bike. That’s all he needed following his

Klöden was second fastest on the day

Thomas Vaitkus is off to a very good start, only two seconds off of Leipheimer's time and seventh in the young rider competition.

Fabian Cancellara ticked along like a fine Swiss timepiece during the prologue of the 2007 Tour de France in London on Sunday, and our man Casey Gibson was on hand to watch. (Yeah, yeah... We know, it's a horrible gag, we know, but the pictures he sent back more than make up for it.)

Hincapie rounded out the podium in third, but he wasn't happy about it

Zabriskie flying through the turn in front of Buckingham palace.

There were few teams more emotional - and rightly so - after the Tour de France prologue on Saturday than CSC. Indirectly forced to leave their emblematic manager Bjarne Riis at home because of his recent admission to doping in the 1990s, the determined Danish outfit was given a quick scare when top rider Stuart O'Grady came crashing down during his promising prologue performance. O'Grady got back up and finished on a spare bike, and after some medical care was given the all clear to keep on racing — albeit with a scraped back and a sore thigh muscle, which he should feel for the

And the big Swiss time machine dons the first yellow jersey of this year's Tour

Cancellara on a Friday shake-down ride.

TourTech: A matter of timing - Those little transponders

Wiggins said he left it all out there on the road

The cockpit of Cancellara’s backup bike.

Millar’s custom prologue-specific Scott Plasma.

Millar said he was happy with his performance, considering his condition

FSA’s new Neo Pro MegaExo time-trial crank.

No doubt about who owns this one.

Zabriskie just missed the top 10, finishing 11th at 9:22

Selle Italia’s custom time-trial saddle.

Some Scottish inspiration.

Cancellara said Paris-Roubaix taught him how to handle pressure

Cancellara’s backup bike.

Mechanics made these stops to help Millar keep a good grip during the 7.9km race.

Cheerio, I'm off . . .

Dave Zabriskie’s P3C carried him to 11th.

Prologue - London, 7.9km

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

A young fan waves a flag in support of

Gusev’s bike had yet to be changed and was still illegal, as Discovery mechanics interpreted the rule.

No yellow jersey, no No.1, but Pereiro will be the last out of the start house on Saturday

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Cadel Evans rolls onto the stage to big cheers. Aussies very popular here.

The UCI’s bike schematics that supposedly help clarify the TT position problems.

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Prudhomme and Mayor Livingstone in front of the London banner.

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Discovery Channel team on stage.

COURSE: The prologue starts in theheart of London, goes past Downing Street (residence of Britain’s PrimeMinister), the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey to BuckinghamPalace (residence of Queen Elizabeth II). The course then climbs Constitution Hill, passes through Wellington Arch and loops around The Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park, before heading back downhill to the Victoria Memorial and to the finish on The Mall, London’s grandest avenue, with Buckingham Palace as the backdrop. HISTORY: This is the first timethat the Tour has started in London, although the race has visited

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

The Sherlock Holmes pub just outside Trafalgar Square is rocking, just a half block from the opening ceremonies.

Enrico Degano – an Italian on the Barloworld wild-card team – will be the first rider out of the gate in Saturday’s prologue start to the 94th Tour de France. Degano will role down the start ramp at 3 p.m. London time in the 7.9km course through the heart of downtown London past such landmarks as Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. The 189-rider start list was released Friday ahead of the traditional prologue, with last year’s runner-up, Oscar Pereiro, starting last at 6:08 p.m. Pereiro snagged the No. 11 start bib after Tour officials decided to not award the traditional No.

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

The sun is finally out on the River Thames, and it looks great!

Predictor-Lotto’s Cadel Evans and T-Mobile's Michael Rogers are leading a two-pronged Aussie bid for top finishes in the race's general classification, with Evans considered the best bet for success. The soft-spoken former mountain biker last year became Australia's highest-ever overall finisher when he came in fifth overall. Rogers placed a respectable 10th - although both he and Evans could be moved up a notch if American champion Floyd Landis is eventually disqualified for doping following his positive test for a skewed testosterone-epitestosterone ratio. In the meantime,

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

The smiles quickly faded as reporters continued to ask doping questions.

Negotiating the trash trail

Sympathy is not something Predictor-Lotto’s Robbie McEwen is usually known to offer his rivals. But on Thursday the Australian sprinter admitted he felt sorry for one of his main rivals, Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi. But in almost the same breath McEwen called for glorious sporting achievements at this year’s Tour de France to replace months of lurid headlines about doping in cycling. Petacchi, who faces a one-year ban for an unusually high level of salbutamol during the Giro d'Italia, will not race the Tour this year. He also missed last year’s edition due to a knee

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Pereiro says it's been hard to concentrate on riding lately