Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg): The Tour de France sped off into neighbouring Luxembourg on Monday on a relatively flat second stage expected to favour sprinters.
American George Hincapie was wearing the race leader's yellow jersey for the first time in his 12-year career.
At 137 miles, the route from Obernai in eastern France is the second longest of this three-week tour.
It starts with two steep hills in the first 30 miles before heading onto a long stretch of flat, then dips into Luxembourg and finishes at Esch-sur-Alzette.
The already depleted tour, after doping allegations on the eve of the race started out with one extra rider short, with Italian rider Danilo Di Luca not taking part. A total of 175 riders rode on Monday.
Judging from his early form at the first Tour of the post-Lance Armstrong era, Hincapie is emerging as a serious contender to succeed his one-time boss.
''Everybody wants to see the replacement for Lance, but there really is no replacement for Lance,'' Hincapie said on Sunday. ''And I don't know if we'll see another Lance in our lifetime.''
On Sunday, Hincapie became the fourth American, joining seven-time winner Armstrong, three-time winner Greg LeMond and time trial specialist David Zabriskie to take the yellow jersey.
Hincapie made a claim for front-runner status in a race looking for favourites, after 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich and last year's runner-up Ivan Basso were among nine riders forced out over doping allegations.
Hincapie's performance also merited a word of congratulations from Armstrong. ''Lance told him he looked great in yellow,'' said P J Rabice, spokesman for Hincapie's Discovery Channel team.
Hincapie, a New York native who now lives in Greenville, South Carolina, was runner-up in Saturday's prologue by a split-second to Thor Hushovd of Norway.
Hincapie made up for it on Sunday, placing third in an intermediate sprint on the 114.6-mile stage, which under race rules shaved 2 seconds off his overall time as a bonus. It allowed him to overcome the small lead by Hushovd.
The broad-shouldered Norwegian was injured at the end of the first stage. As a huge pack of riders swarmed toward the finish line in the final sprint, Hushovd's arm brushed against a fan's souvenir a large green hand made of cardboard and suffered a bloody gash.
Jimmy Casper of France ended up winning the stage.
Hushovd was stitched up at a hospital, and Tour organisers announced that the giant hands would no longer be given out during the final stretches of flat stages.
The Tour de France ends on July 23 in Paris.
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