Hincapie takes the overall lead

Hushovd had been the leader going into the first stage after capturing Saturday’s time trial, but Hincapie picked up bonus time on a sprint section of Sunday’s course. The veteran New Yorker will wear the coveted race leader’s yellow jersey for the first time Monday in the second stage of the race. Hincapie rode with Lance Armstrong on all of his record seven Tour victories, but he can make his own mark in the race with the Texan now retired. “I’m in very good shape,” he said.

Hincapie, 33, is among the new favourites after the Tour was blown wide open by the withdrawal of top contenders Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich on Friday due to doping allegations. He showed last year he can be a force in the mountains that come later by winning a brutal stage in the Pyrenees.

On Sunday, he was race savvy. He seemed to surprise Hushovd by racing ahead of the main pack heading into the last of three intermediate sprint stages along the 184.5-kilometer route. Those sprints offer bonus seconds to the first three riders that go through. Hincapie was third, picking up two seconds, more than enough to make up the milliseconds he lost to Hushovd on Saturday.

Casper beat out Australia’s Robbie McEwen and German veteran Erik Zabel in the finishing sprint into Strasbourg in eastern France. All three riders were given the same time.

JAMEY KEATEN