ESCH-SUR-ALZETTE, Luxembourg – George Hincapie was Tour de France king for only a day, losing the overall lead and the yellow jersey that goes with it to an accident-prone Norwegian on a sweltering day.
But there were no regrets. After seven years of watching his former boss Lance Armstrong wear yellow day-in, day-out, the genial American now hungry for his own glory was thrilled to have had the chance to savor the famed shirt for himself, if only for 24 hours.
“A really special feeling, something I've always wanted to do,” the veteran riding his 11th Tour said after slipping back from first to fourth in the overall standings on yesterday's Stage 2, the second-longest of this first post-Armstrong Tour.
So far, Hincapie and Thor Hushovd have monopolized the maillot jaune.
Hushovd, a sprinter, won it first, beating Hincapie by a split second in the short prologue time trial Saturday.
Bitterly disappointed, Hincapie wrested it away the next day, becoming just the fourth American to wear yellow in the 103-year history of cycling's premier event.
Hushovd got the jersey back in the same way Hincapie had taken it off him – by sprinting for time bonuses along the 137-mile route from Obernai in eastern France under a blazing sun.
Hushovd picked up four seconds that way, more than erasing Hincapie's slim two-second lead, and then garnered eight more bonus seconds by placing third in the jostling sprint at the finish that was won by Australian Robbie McEwen, still one of the fastest on the Tour at 34.
Hushovd won that jersey last year and isn't going to give it up without a fight. He has more than proved his mettle in the past 24 hours, pushing on despite being injured in a freak accident in another sprint finish Sunday.
Hushovd cut his right arm, spraying blood all over his yellow jersey, by brushing against an outstretched green cardboard hand that a fan was holding out over the safety barriers.
He required stitches, and bruising made moving his arm difficult yesterday.
