TOUR DE FRANCE: Seven-time winner has to settle for an unaccustomed place among also-rans on opening day, reports Jeremy Whittl

For a brief moment in Monaco yesterday, under a heavy and humid sky, the king was back. But it didn't take long for reality to bite, and not long after setting an early fastest mark in the opening time trial of this year's Tour, Lance Armstrong found himself back among the also-rans.

At 37 and after three years' absence from racing, this may yet prove to be the seven-time Tour winner's rightful place, although it is far too early to be sure that his powers have definitively diminished. Certainly, Armstrong, both proud and fiercely competitive, is unlikely to accept his performance reflected the true extent of his powers.

Nonetheless, on the biggest stage of all, the notion of Armstrong as an invincible and genuine Tour contender was dented. He may improve as the race goes on, but it will have to be by a significant margin if he is to usurp his young team-mate Alberto Contador, winner of the 2007 Tour even though the flyweight Spaniard, nominated by most experts as the outstanding favourite for final victory, was unable to hold off Fabian Cancellara, winner on the Tour's opening day in Liege in 2004 and in London two years ago.

The route of the 15.5 kilometre time trial stage wound its way up from the quayside in Monaco, climbing to 200 metres above sea level before a rapid descent through tight hairpins plummeted the riders back down to the sea.

Yet it was Cancellara's descending skills, rather than his climbing ability, that sped him past Contador to stage victory and the first yellow jersey of this year's race. The burly Swiss made up more than a 20 second deficit to Cancellara as he powered down the descent leading back to the finish line alongside the multi-millionaires' yachts anchored in the Port Hercule.

Among Cancellara's other victims was Bradley Wiggins, who briefly had a hand on the yellow jersey prior to the Swiss rider's virtuoso downhill performance. But Wiggins remained upbeat, despite yet another near-miss. "I'm very happy because a lot of people discounted me on such a hilly course," the Londoner said.

One consequence of yesterday's result may be that the internal wrangling over leadership duties at Armstrong's Astana team ends, at least for the foreseeable future. Contador, and Astana's other stars, Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer, all appear currently to be stronger than the Texan. Yet while there are now four Astana riders in the Tour's top 10, with Contador leading the way, not all of them may be happy bedfellows.

Armstrong, who summed up his performance as "not bad", had opted to start early, partly in a bid to avoid Monaco's customary late-afternoon shower, partly perhaps to get his Tour comeback party started. In the end, however, despite all the hype and razzamatazz, it was something of a damp squib. The American said: "It was a difficult course and very technical. I've had no real racing since the Giro d'Italia. The best way to sum it up is that I had a good time. I was a little bit all over the place, but I didn't have any big illusions."

Armstrong most impressed on the descent, where he showed he has lost none of his nerve, even if he was far from the fastest to the top of the opening climb.

"I was nervous," he said of his return to the Tour, "but that's logical. It's been a long time. It's almost like a foreign environment. You can't replicate it in training."

His brief lead was quickly eclipsed as a succession of younger riders posted faster times. Then in the final moments of the stage, as Kloden, Contador and Cadel Evans of Australia fought their way over the course, the size of Armstrong's task, should he still hope to win the Tour, began to hit home.

Yet expectations remain high. The Armstrong faithful expect nothing less than victory and for the man himself it is unthinkable that he could be reduced to simply making up the numbers over the next three weeks. His opening performance may have been a misfire, but Armstrong has ridden enough Tours to know that he can make amends over the next three weeks.

Scotland's David Millar, riding for the Garmin-Slipstream team, stayed upright despite a long slide into a bend on the fast descent, to place 14th. "I'm pleased," Millar said. "Obviously it could have been better but it was a good day."

At 73 kilos, the 31-year-old is as slim as he has ever been prior to the start of the Tour, and appears to have rediscovered his self-belief. Millar believes that this year's opening week breaks with tradition by being both hot and unusually demanding.

He also contends that today's second stage, from Monaco to Brignoles, could be "a lot tougher than people realise." Equally he expects Tuesday's team time trial stage in Montpelier to further test riders' resilience. "When we rode the team time trial course in Montpelier in training, it was 38 degrees at 11am," Millar said.

In fact, the first half of this year's Tour, which includes five days skirting the Mediterranean and three days in the Pyrenees, may be played out in a heat wave, conditions which are more likely to suit Contador than perhaps any other rider.

Armstrong, meanwhile, remains uncharacteristically off the pace, at least until he finds his legs of old. However, he said: "I'm happy. I have a lot of other things I could be doing, but I wanted to be here."