Stage 1 winner Alejandro Valverde won last month's Dauphine Libere and the Spanish championship. A brief look at the 95th Tour de France yesterday: Stage: For the first time since 1967, the Tour started without a prologue as riders faced some windy conditions over a 122.7-mile trek through Brittany from Brest to Plumelec. Winner: Spaniard Alejandro Valverde won in 4 hours, 36 minutes, 7 seconds to show why he is among the Tour favorites. Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert finished second, and Jerome Pineau of France was third. The top U.S. rider was Christian Vandevelde in 18th place. Yellow jersey: Valverde stamps his authority early with his second career Tour stage win and first since beating Lance Armstrong in a mountain-top finish in 2005. Quote of the day: "Valverde is just so good. That's a perfect finish for him today." - Tour veteran David Millar of Britain on the Caisse d'Epargne team leader. Next stage: Today's second stage covers 102.2 miles from Auray to Saint-Brieuc, is mostly flat and should favor sprinters. - The Associated Press