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Stage 15 Winner Alberto Contador
Nuff Said!
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Stage 15 Results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 5:03:58
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:43
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:03
4 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:06
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 0:01:26
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:01:29
9 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:01:35
10 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:55
11 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0:02:06
12 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:02:13
13 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha
14 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia – HTC 0:02:23
15 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:02:32
16 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:02:33
17 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto
18 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 0:02:36
19 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
20 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam
21 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:02:41
22 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
23 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
24 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence – Lotto 0:02:52
25 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 0:03:14
Green Jersey Standings
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo TestTeam 218 pts
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 200
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 126
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 122
5 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 110
Polka Dot Jersey Standings
1 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 109 pts
2 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 101
3 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 65
4 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 64
5 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 63
6 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 56
7 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 56
8 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 52
9 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 46
10 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo TestTeam 45
Overall Standings
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 63:17:56
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:01:37
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:46
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:02:17
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:02:26
6 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:30
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:02:51
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:03:07
9 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:03:09
10 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:03:25
11 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam 0:03:52
12 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:03:59
13 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC 0:04:05
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 0:04:27
15 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia – HTC 0:04:38
16 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0:04:40
17 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 0:05:05
18 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:05:27
19 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:05:37
20 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 0:05:56
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An emotional Heinrich Haussler does a brilliant performance to take Stage 13 for team Cervelo. He powered up the last two climbs to distance himself from his nearest rival, a surging Txurruka, by over four minutes.
Stage 13 Winner - Heinrich Haussler
More to come.
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1 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team 4:56:26
2 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:04:11
3 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 0:06:13
4 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 0:06:31
5 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 0:06:43
6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
7 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
9 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC
10 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
11 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
12 Thierry Huppond (Fra) Skil-Shimano
13 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
14 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
15 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
16 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
17 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step
19 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre – NGC
20 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
Green Jersey Standings
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 205 pts
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 200
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 116
4 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 110
5 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 100
6 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 97
7 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 81
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 74
9 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 64
10 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 57
Polka Dot Jersey Standings
1 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 98 pts
2 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 95
3 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 64
4 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 59
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 53
6 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 49
7 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 46
8 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 46
9 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team 45
10 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 43
White Jersey Standings
1 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 53:31:30
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:49
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:00:54
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0:01:40
5 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 0:02:56
Overall Standings
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 53:30:30
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:00:46
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54
6 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:00
7 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:24
8 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49
9 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:54
10 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:02:16
Allez915
In France, Bastille Day is a holiday celebrated much like the Independence Day here in the US. In the states, Bastille
Stage 10 Winner Mark Cavendish
Day is probably better known as a song by Rush, at least among forty somethings and/or nonhistorians.
There’s no bread, let them eat cake
There’s no end to what they’ll take
Flaunt the fruits of noble birth
Wash the salt into the earth
But they’re marching to Bastille day, la guillotine will claim
Her bloody prize free, the dungeons of the innocent the king
Will kneel, and let his kingdom rise!
Bastille Day by Rush
In the spirit of French independence, who will rise today I ask? Who between the kings of sprint or breakaway of the masses will prevail? Read on cycling fan and see.
The race went something like this: Hupond got the first break at 5km after the start. He was marked by Vaugrenard, Ignatiev and Domoulin who bridged moments later. And so it was for 40km over a series of Cat 4 climb over undulating landscape.
At 45km into the stage, the four leaders in the break, Hupond, Vaugrenard, Ignatiev and Dumoulin, held nearly a 6 minute lead. The four worked well together extending the lead to six minutes at one point. Without race radios however, the peloton could not allow too much latitude for fear the break riders would sneak away. The work to close the gap began and within just 12km, the break had only a two minute advantage.
Several teams have donated a rider to do the work of keep the break in check including Milram Quick Step, Caisse d’Epargne, Astana and Ag2r. The break hovered between 1:30 and 3.30 minutes for the next 90 kilometers. The peloton and Columbia in particular intended to string out the break to the final kilometers to prevent riders from attempting to bridge up.
With 30km to go, the peloton finally began to reel in the break, rapidly dropping the gap to one minute. The gap closed as follows over the remaining kilometers:
- 20km, 20 seconds
- 12.5km, 42 seconds
- 11km, 38 secs
- 10km, 35 secs
- 9km, 30 secs
- 7km, 26 secs
- 6km, 21 secs
- 5km, 20 secs – Garmin forms on the right for Farrar
- 3.5km, 14 secs
- 2km, 10 secs – Columbia lines up for the sprint
- 1.5km and done – Hincapie is at the front for Columbia in the final curve laden section doing a monster of a pull
Renshaw took over then pulled off as Cavendish engages the nitrous. Peanuts on a Popsicle stick, he was fast! Hushovd was on his wheel but couldn’t get past. No luck for Farrar either, coming in third.
Cavendish takes his third stage of the tour. The kings have taken the day. They take their place on podium high with throngs of admirers singing their praises.
Happy Bastille Day
Point of Interest: The race organizers deemed today’s stage, radio free day. That meant there would be no two way communications between riders and team directors. Riders had to use other means to keep in touch as in days of old. Riders and team directors have complained for days on the matter for a wide range of reasons many of which seemed reasonable though none of any true consequence. As you can imagine it was drama all day. It seemed like every rider had something to say about it. Some of the riders even stripped jerseys in “protest”. In the end, the fears and concerns were overblown and overplayed.
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1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 4:46:43
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
4 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
6 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Kenny Robert van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
8 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas
10 Saïd Haddou (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
11 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
12 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre – NGC
13 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Silence – Lotto
14 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank
15 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
16 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel
17 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
19 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia – HTC
20 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Lampre – NGC
Green Jersey Standings
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 147 pts
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 141
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 97
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 81
5 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 80
6 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 73
7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 55
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 54
9 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 49
10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 47
Overall Standings
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 39:11:04
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
6 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:00
7 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:01
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:24
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:54
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How do you turn a mountain stage into a sprint stage? Put the climbs in the middle and add a 30km decent to a 30km flat into the finish. The result was that what was expected to be a battle in the GC leadership turned into a
Stage 9 Winner Fedrigo Takes a Sprint Finish over Pellizotti
typical sprint stage. Pierrick Fedrigo and Franco Pellizotti go one, two after working seamlessly for over 100km to hold off a fast chasing peloton. The GC battle fizzled as the mountains were just too far from the finish.
Leading the race on to the base of the Tourmalet was the veteran Jens Voigt accompanied by Franco Pellizotti and Pierrick Fedrigo. The first chase group included Broeck, Astana’s Paulinho, Garate, Van Den Broeck, Ten Dam, Martinez, Txurruka, Moncoutie, the KOM on the road Egoi Martinez, and Stage 5 winner, Thomas Voeckler. Thirty seconds back and trying to get on was Bouet who had just passed the Cofidis rider, Duque, who was going the other way. The peloton was 4:10 back and includes the GC favorites though several riders including Cancellara and Popovych have fallen off. The AG2R team was doing a great job leading for their yellow jersey teammate.
At 80km, Pellizotti jumped followed by Fedrigo. Voigt was riding within himself to keep contact without blowing up. Halfway up the climb the peloton was still a conspicuously large group. With 8km to go to the summit it was surprising that none of the contending teams pushed the pace forcing Astana to cover.
At the summit of the HC climb, Pellizotti and Fedrigo took the double points for 1st and 2nd place. The first chase came across at 2:50 minutes back having just picked up a struggling Jens Voigt. Martinez took seventh padding his lead in the KOM by 16 points. Bouet went to all the trouble to bridge up to the chase group only to fall back to the peloton after he was dropped on a steep section. The number of RV’s and cars that lined the final km was astounding. The peloton climbed steadily but didn’t make up much time on the climb at 4:50 back. The placement of the mountains in the center of the stage as expected really sucked the life out of what could have been another exciting stage. Considering tomorrows rest day, what was the point?
The first half of the Armstrong led decent was uneventful. Columbia was given the go ahead to catch the breaks and force a sprint for the team. At just under 5 minutes down, their work was cut out for them. The peloton caught the chase at 40km to go narrowing the gap to 3:50. Caisse d’Epargne came to the front in support of their sprinter Rojas. Rabobank came to the front to help salvage some glory today perhaps as Menchov has not panned out as expected. They were attempting to set up Oscar Freire for the sprint if possible. At 20km to go, the break was holding a tenuous lead over the peloton of 2:30 minutes. It was still touch and go whether Pellizotti and Fedrigo could hold out. They certainly were giving it there all. The teams for the breakaway riders, Liquigas and Bbox, moved to the front in an attempt to disrupt chasing peloton.
With 10 km to go the gap between the break and the peloton had dropped to 1:22. It seemed that the break would hold at this point. Caisse was doing the lion’s share of the work to bring the break back stringing out the peloton in the process.
- At 7km the gap was 60 seconds.
- At 5km the gap was 44 seconds thought the peloton was bunching
- At 4km the gap was 42 seconds Schleck flatted outside the 3km safety zone. The whole team fell back to help.
- At 3km the gap was 41 seconds. Voigt dragged Schleck back in no time flat
- At 2km the gap was 39 seconds. Liquigas did a great job of disrupting the fading Caisse chase.
- At 1km the gap was 36 seconds. The break was going to hold. Pellizotti no longer took a turn at the front. Pellizotti jumped prior to the final turn at the 500 meter mark. Bbox’s Pierrick Fedrigo tagged Pellizotti and came around to take the line.
Rabobank’s Oscar Freire took the field sprint for third. Rojas was only able to muster sixth. There was no change to the GC standings.
Well it looks like GC racing will be put on hold till the Stage 13 in the Alps on Friday. Tomorrow is a rest day followed by three stages through central France.
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Stage 9 Results
1 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 4:05:31
2 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
3 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 0:00:34
4 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha
5 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram
6 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence – Lotto
8 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel
9 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre – NGC
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
Polka Dot Jersey Standings
1 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 78 pts
2 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 59
3 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 55
4 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 49
5 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 49
Green Jersey Standings
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 117 pts
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 106
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 75
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 66
5 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 62
Overall Standings
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:00:39
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:00:46
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54
7 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:00
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:24
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:54
Allez915
Sanchez showed he had the best form of a breakaway group of four in the 8th stage today. In the final kilometer, he first closed the final 5-second gap to the escaped Efimkin then clipped Casar at the line for the win. It was a great performance on a dynamic but uneventful stage.
Luis León Sánchez Nips Sandy Casar at the Line to Take Stage 8
Today’s stage had a category 1 climb right out of the gate. There was a great deal of churn as riders attempted to break on the challenging climb. The peloton split into groups as Astana tried to stabilize the pace. Sandy Casar got the KOM points followed by Kern and Martinez on the climb. The rest followed in a string. Casar maintained the lead over the summit followed by a chase including Cadel Evans, Zabriskie, Egoi Martinez, Efimkin, Kern, and La Mondiale at 53 seconds back. The peloton was a further 2:10 back. All this was occurring at 17km into the race.
On the decent Hincapie, Hushovd, Fletcha and Cancellara joined the chase though they couldn’t put time on Casar initially. Eventually Casar is reeled in. The break now had 1:35 on the Yellow jersey bunch. It seems the battle for KOM and Green jersey points was providing the motivation for the composition of the break both for and against the titles. Astana was controlling the peloton as expected. They had it down to 45, not giving Cadel much latitude.
At 113km to go mark the pressure of the looming peloton forced a bailout by some and a capitulation to the capture by others. The remaining break included Fletcha, Casar, Hushovd, Hincapie, Efimkin, and Cancellara with a 20 second gap. Hushovd took the intermediate sprint making him the Green jersey on the road. There were many changes as riders tried to bridge the relatively small gap. Sanchez, Ignatiev, Astarloza and Rosseler joined on at that point while Cadel dropped off. Hushovd took top points on the second sprint line to tighten his grip on green. The break had 1:30 at the 86km to go mark.
On the second climb of the day at 72km to go, it was Hincapie, Cancellara, Sanchez, Ignatiev, Efimkin, Flecha, Astarloza, Casar and Rosseler who was falling off but caught back on descending. The Yellow jersey group were at 2:57, still climbing.
Andy Schleck upped the pace on the accent up the final climb of the day up the Col d’Agnès at 55km. The added pressure forced split in the peloton. Notably the Yellow jersey fell behind the split. It was a yeoman’s effort by the veteran Stephane Goubert to help Rinaldo Nocentini (GC leader) bridge back to the lead chase group prior to the summit. He had lost more than two minutes prior. That would have been it for Rinaldo had he not bridged. Schleck’s brought the gap to the break down to 2:40 by the summit.
Several riders fell out of the breakaway leaving only Efimkin, Astarloza, Sanchez and Casar while the others fell back. At 46km to go, Efimkin jumped halfway up the climb dropping Astarloza, Sanchez and Casar. Astarloza and Sanchez fought back only to be dropped again by a resurgent Efimkin. Casar fell off the pace trying to conserve energy the rest of the way up. Efimkin was caught 2km prior to the summit and resolved to stay with the break. Casar crested the summit shortly after and caught back on the break a few km down the mountain with a fabulous decent.
Just after cresting the Col d’Agnès with 40km to go Columbia’s Hincapie accelerated away from the chasing peloton. He bombed the decent trying to bridge to the four in the lead break. He knocked the gap to 1:10 before the break riders started working together to extend the lead again to over 2 minutes. Hincapie started looking back after that giving up and waiting for the peloton to absorb him back in. The peloton was just under 3 minutes back at 25km when the Astana lead pack finally reeled him in.
The peloton whittled away the lead slowly but surely. At 15km the gap was reduced 40 seconds to 2:30. Nocentini’s AG2R squad assumed the lead at this point to protect the jersey on the run in to the finish. The gap dropped below 2 minutes at the 7.5km mark
At the 4.5, Astarloza leaped but was quickly marked. Seconds later AG2R’s Efimkin did a brilliant jump holding on to about 500 meters. It was Sanchez who turned on the afterburners to close the gap with Casar and Astarloza close in. Casar starts the sprint but Sanchez is just two strong and swings by in the last 50 to take the stage. The peloton cut the gap to 1:50 by the end with no significant changes in the order.
Tomorrow’s stage presents the Col d’Aspin (12km at 6.6 percent) and the Col du Tourmalet (17km at 7.5 percent) both notoriously difficult climbs. The tour organization strangely placed the climbs smack in the middle of the stage, which will limit any damage done by an enterprising rider of breakaway. I expect there will be a few GC contenders who will have to give it a go. In previous years Discovery would send up a sentinel who could fall back for support. This year, politics may prevent all be a few nonthreatening teammates from the task. Still it is a possibility. My guess would be Popovych who made a similar attempt on stage 16 of the Giro this year. He was caught on the mountain top finish by Sastre with just 2.5km to go after giving it all he had. I think he would enjoy the green light to give it another shot.
As for the Astana drama, both Lance and Alberto were conciliatory in their morning interviews. Apparently “it’s all good”. Bruyneel, in an effort to build trust I suppose has offered that both riders will have an opportunity to challenge for the Yellow, So much for Leipy and Klöden’s ambitions. Article by Martin Rodgers describing the goings on.
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Stage 8 Results
1 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 4:31:50
2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
3 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
4 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:03
5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:01:54
6 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram
8 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
9 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
Polka Dot Jersey Standings
1 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 59 pts
2 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 54
3 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 49
4 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 46
5 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 43
6 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 38
7 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 35
8 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 34
9 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram 32
10 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 26
Green Jersey Standings
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 117 pts
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 106
3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 66
4 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 65
5 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 55
Overall Standings
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 30:18:16
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:00:39
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:00:46
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54
7 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:00
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:24
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:54
Allez915
In the Men’s race, Cancellara put the hammer down to take the Men’s Olympic Time Trial. It was another
Olympic Time Trial Medalists
superb performance by the Swiss rider will add a gold metal to his bronze earned a few days ago on the road race. Cancellara collapsed and gasping put it all out there accelerating to the line.
Larsson surprised the field posting an incredible time that proved to be the mark to beat. He held off the big guns to earn a silver medal. Levi Leipheimer accelerated throughout the course to demand a place on the podium. He explained that he drew strength from the disappointment of missing this year’s Tour.
Contador started out strong but faded steadily. Cadel Evans put in a strong performance but just couldn’t get into the winners circle. Schumacher could not get it together finishing a disappointing 13th. Cummings and Zabriskie were just not able to get in the game.
Time Trial - Time Check Positions
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Gold Medalist Kristen Armstrong
In the Women’s Race, Emma Pooley put up the time to beat riding fifth out of the gate. In the end only Kristin Armstrong of the USA was able to best the time. Karin Thürig won bronze edging out Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli and Christine Thorburn by a handful of seconds. This was a great ride by the US placing 1st and 5th.
Judith Arndt put in a great ride but could manage only sixth. Christiane Soeder finished 7th. You could argue that the road race took something out of her. Hanka Kupfernagel struggled to hold on to 11th
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Men’s Time Trial Results
1. CANCELLARA (SUI); Result: 1:02:11.43
2. LARSSON (SWE); Result: 1:02:44.79 (+0:33.36)
3. LEIPHEIMER (USA); Result: 1:03:21.11 (+1:09.68)
4. CONTADOR (ESP); Result: 1:03:29.51 (+1:18.08)
5. EVANS (AUS); Result: 1:03:34.97 (+1:23.54)
6. SANCHEZ (ESP); Result: 1:04:37.24 (+2:25.81)
7. TUFT (CAN); Result: 1:04:39.44 (+2:28.01)
8. ROGERS (AUS); Result: 1:04:46.85 (+2:35.42)
9. CLEMENT (NED); Result: 1:04:59.42 (+2:47.99)
10. GESINK (NED); Result: 1:05:02.88 (+2:51.45)
11. CUMMINGS (GBR); Result: 1:05:07.91 (+2:56.48)
12. ZABRISKIE (USA); Result: 1:05:17.82 (+3:06.39)
13. SCHUMACHER (GER); Result: 1:05:25.38 (+3:13.95)
14. GRABSCH (GER); Result: 1:05:26.20 (+3:14.77)
15. NIBALI (ITA); Result: 1:05:36.01 (+3:24.58)
16. HESJEDAL (CAN); Result: 1:05:42.33 (+3:30.90)
17. TAARAMAE (EST); Result: 1:05:47.33 (+3:35.90)
18. KARPETS (RUS); Result: 1:05:52.38 (+3:40.95)
19. SOERENSEN (DEN); Result: 1:05:55.42 (+3:43.99)
20. MENSHOV (RUS); Result: 1:06:10.54 (+3:59.11)
21. KIRYIENKA (BLR); Result: 1:06:12.19 (+4:00.76)
22. BRUSEGHIN (ITA); Result: 1:06:20.95 (+4:09.52)
23. KIRCHEN (LUX); Result: 1:06:29.63 (+4:18.20)
24. MIZUROV (KAZ); Result: 1:06:32.05 (+4:20.62)
25. BOTERO (COL); Result: 1:06:35.43 (+4:24.00)
26. MONFORT (BEL); Result: 1:07:12.71 (+5:01.28)
27. BODROGI (HUN); Result: 1:07:27.49 (+5:16.06)
28. SPILAK (SLO); Result: 1:07:34.86 (+5:23.43)
29. JURCO (SVK); Result: 1:07:52.92 (+5:41.49)
30. MEDICI (ARG); Result: 1:07:53.09 (+5:41.66)
31. GEORGE (RSA); Result: 1:07:55.21 (+5:43.78)
32. GRIVKO (UKR); Result: 1:08:01.25 (+5:49.82)
33. VANDBORG (DEN); Result: 1:08:10.20 (+5:58.77)
34. NIEMIEC (POL); Result: 1:08:43.43 (+6:32.00)
35. ASKARI (IRI); Result: 1:08:46.30 (+6:34.87)
36. BELOHVOSCIKS (LAT); Result: 1:08:54.96 (+6:43.53)
37. KOSTYUK (UKR); Result: 1:09:04.04 (+6:52.61)
38. KVASINA (CRO); Result: 1:09:06.49 (+6:55.06)
39. BEPPU (JPN); Result: 1:11:05.14 (+8:53.71)
Mens Time Trial Splits
First check at km 10.8
1 Alberto Contador (Spain), 17.49 (36.370 km/h)
2 Gustav Erik Larsson (Sweden), 18.07
3 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), 18.17
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA), 18.19
5 Cadel Evans (Australia), 18.24
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spain), 18.31
7 Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg), 18.36
8 Cummings (Great Britain), 18.40
9 Robert Gesink (Netherlands), 18.42
10 Chris Anker Sorensen (Denmark), 18.44
Second check at km 23.5
1 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), 30.36 (46.078 km/h)
2 Alberto Contador (Spain), 30.52
3 Gustav Erik Larsson (Sweden), 31.02
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA), 31.20
5 Cadel Evans (Australia), 31.38
6 Steve Cummings (Great Britain), 31.39
7 Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg), 31.50
8 Samuel Sánchez (Spain), 31.52
9 David Zabriskie (USA), 31.56
10 Robert Gesink (Netherlands), 32.02
Third check at km 34.6
1 Gustav Erik Larsson (Sweden), 49.52 (41.631 km/h)
2 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), 49.58
3 Alberto Contador (Spain), 50.09
4 Cadel Evans (Australia), 50.37
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA), 50.44
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spain), 51.17
7 Svein Tuft (Canada), 51.39
8 Robert Gesink (Netherlands), 51.40
9 Michael Rogers (Australia), 51.46
10 David Zabriskie (USA), 52.03
Women’s Time Trial Results
1 Kristin Armstrong (United States), 34.51.7 (40.459 km/h)
2 Emma Pooley (Great Britain), 0.24.3
3 Karin Thurig (Switzerland), 0.59.3
4 Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (France), 1.00.9
5 Christine Thorburn (United States), 1.02.5
6 Judith Arndt (Germany), 1.08.1
7 Christiane Soeder (Austria), 1.29.0
8 Priska Doppmann (Switzerland), 1.36.1
9 Zulfiya Zabirova (Kazakhstan), 1.37.8
10 Susanne Ljungskog (SwedenSweden), 1.41.8
11 Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany), 1.43.4
12 Tatiana Guderzo (ItalyItaly), 1.46.3
13 Linda Melanie Villumsen Serup (DenmarkDenmark), 1.58.9
14 Marianne Vos (Netherlands), 2.07.0
15 Nicole Cooke (Great Britain), 2.22.6
16 Natalia Boyarskaya (Russia), 2.22.9
17 Min Gao (ChinaChina), 2.23.5
18 Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (Netherlands), 2.59.9
19 Marta Vilajosana (SpainSpain), 3.03.3
20 Maryline Salvetat (FranceFrance), 3.18.0
21 Emma Johansson (SwedenSweden), 3.37.1
22 Oenone Wood (Australia), 4.01.8
23 Edita Pucinskaite (Lithuania), 4.03.7
24 Alexandra Wrubleski (CanadaCanada), 4.23.7
25 Lang Meng (ChinaChina), 5.59.9
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