Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, of the Caisse d'Epargne team, won the first stage of the Tour de France, a 197.5-km ride from Brest to Plumelec yesterday. Valverde beat Belgium's Philippe Gilbert, of the Francaise des Jeux team, and France's Jerome Pineau, of Bouygues Telecom, to take the overall leader's yellow jersey in an uphill finish. The 28-year-old Spaniard also took the green jersey for the best sprinter.

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