Tour de France, day one: The return of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, four years after his initial retirement, dominates the French press ahead of the Monaco time trial
Much-fancied after he is twice runner-up on the Tour, Cadel Evans of Australia takes in the atmosphere before the stage, run across much of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit
After a morning battling through the cameras and questions, Armstrong is out of the blocks, and will set his time ahead of many of the stage favourites
Armstrong's team-mate and compatriot Levi Leipheimer posts the quickest time of the early trials, completing the 15km course in 20 minutes and three seconds - nine seconds ahead of the Texan
Riders give it everything in the final sprint hoping to catch Leipheimer but Roman Kreuziger, of the Czech Republic and the Italian cycling team Liquigas, must settle for second, by a second
There are two riders from Japan on the Tour for the first time in its history including Yukiya Arashiro, racing for the home nation's BBOX Bouygues Telecom
The other rider from Japan tearing past the Monte Carlo landmarks is Fumiyuki Beppu of Dutch cycling team Skil-Shimano
Belgian Tom Boonen not only rides but appears to have the affection of the crowd despite testing positive for recreational drugs only a month ago. (His competitive ban was overturned on Friday.)
The brightest British hope for success on the opening day is Bradley Wiggins, who crosses the line three seconds faster than anybody else so far to take the lead
Danish cycling team Team Saxo Bank rider Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland absolutely storms the course and takes the lead from Wiggins by 19 seconds
Alberto Contador, team-mate of Armstrong and Leipheimer and winner of the 2007 Tour, is one of the last to attempt the course and snatches second place from Wiggins, still 18 seconds behind Cancellara
Cancellara takes the first yellow jersey of the 96th Tour de France but the climbs ahead will favour Contador, Wiggins and Kreuziger look strong, and Armstrong is not far off the pace in 10th
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