Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/537300
54 DENNIS (BMC Racing) produced the fastest ever average speed in a Tour time trial – 55.446kph – to stop the clock on a 13.8km course in Utrecht in 14min 56sec, which was five seconds quicker than runner-up Tony Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) and six seconds ahead of third-placed Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing). Given that there were no time bo- nuses on offer on the day, the same three riders are separated by the same margins in the race's first gen- eral classification. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was the fastest of the pre-race favourites, 43 seconds down on Dennis but seven seconds quicker than Froome (Team Sky), 15 seconds up on Al- berto Contador and 18 seconds bet- ter off than Nairo Quintana (Mov- istar). Dennis said: "Everything went perfect. We went with the tactic of going off early - no stress, set a benchmark and make everyone else chase. It worked out perfectly. I'm in a little bit of shock. "Tour de France, yellow jersey - it's a dream. I have always wished to be in this position and now I am." Dutchman Jos van Emden set the early pace in 15:11 but Dennis swiftly overtook him despite trail- ing at the 7.1km time-check. Dennis' strong second half of the race saw him claim his record- breaking average speed, surpassing the mark set by Chris Boardman 21 years ago. Home favourite Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) was anticipated to challenge Dennis, but trailed at the intermediate time check and finished eight seconds behind in fourth place. Next to try his luck was multiple world time-trial champion Martin, but, turning a big gear, the German also fell short of Dennis' mark by five seconds. He later admitted he struggled in the stifling heat. Cancellara has won an opening time-trial five times at the Tour, but the Swiss also missed Dennis' mark as the Australian triumphed. Steve Cummings, riding for Afri- can squad MTN Qhubeka in its first Tour, was a surprise best Briton, placing 10th, 32secs behind Den- nis. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) was 12th, a second further back and Alex Dowsett (Movistar) three fur- ther seconds behind in 13th. Sunday's second stage sees the 198 riders embark on the 166km route from Utrecht to Zelande. A sprint finish is expected, unless cross winds split the peloton, with Mark Cavendish bidding to add to his 25 Tour stage wins. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JULY 2015 Sport TOUR DE FRANCE FOOTBALL Podolski signs with Galatasaray Galatasaray have announced the signing of Lukas Podolski from Arsenal, with the Germany international signing an initial three-year deal PODOLSKI, 30, was ex- pected to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer having slipped down the pecking or- der following the arrivals of players such as Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Inter Milan and has now signed a contract with the Super Lig champions, with an option for a fourth year in place. Announcing the deal through their website, Galatasaray confirmed an initial fee of 2.5million euros (£1.8m) plus add-ons for how well the club perform during the length of Podolski's stay, with the former Bayern Mu- nich man tweeting a picture of himself inside the Turk Telecom Arena. President Dursun Aydin Oz- bek admitted Galatasaray had been chasing the signature of the World Cup winner for some time and was pleased to have finally worked out a deal for the forward. "Podolski was a player we have been following for a long time," he said at the an- nouncement of the signing. "We have met the expecta- tions of our fans. We think he will serve us for many years." Podolski, who started for the Gunners in the 2014 FA Cup final victory over Hull, had long been linked with a move to Galatasaray and his agent Nassim Touihri said on Friday that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had begrudgingly allowed the player to leave. ''We had good talks with Wenger,'' Touihri said. ''He wanted to keep Lu- kas at Arsenal but could not guarantee him a starting po- sition. That's why we agreed to make a transfer.'' Despite moving to Arse- nal with a fine reputation, Podolski's chances became limited as Wenger added the likes of Ozil, Sanchez and Danny Welbeck to his forward options. He also has Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain at his disposal, which is the likely reason why the Frenchman could not guarantee Podolski the game-time he craves. Dennis wins Tour de France opener Australia's Rohan Dennis won stage one's individual time trial to claim the first yellow jersey of this year's Tour de France as Chris Froome and his fellow leading contenders for overall victory were all separated by just 18 seconds Rohan Dennis powers to victory on the opening Tour de France time trial Lukas Podolski signs his three-year deal with Galatasaray Stage one result and general classifi cation 1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing, 14:56 2 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step, +5secs 3 Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Trek Factory Racing, +6 4 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +8 5 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, +15 6 Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar, +23 7 Matthias Brandle (Sui) IAM Cycling, +23 8 Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar, +29 9 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, +30 10 Steve Cummings (GB) MTN-Qhubeka, +32 Selected others 22 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, +43 39 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +50 46 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, +58 57 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +1:01