You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘GC’ tag.
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.
Stage 13 Profile
Stage 13 Map
Stage 13 Recaps
Bicycling Magazine
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
ESPN
Velonews
Yahoo Sports
Stage 13 Video
Yahoo Sports
Stage 13 Results
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
On a relatively flat stage in central France, Johan Van Summeren and Marcin Sapa escaped the peloton at 27km. They valiantly fought to stay out front but with only the two of them there was little chance of bringing it home. Still,
Stage 11 Winner Mark Cavendish just holds off Farrar at the line
they pedaled steadily for hours and hours achieving a maximum gap of 4:15 before they were reeled in like a marlin on 80lb test. The fishermen of the day were the teams of Columbia, Rabobank, AG2R, Milram and Garmin/Slipstream, each trying to give their sprint monsters a chance for Glooorrreeee as it were. They were finally caught with at 5km remaining and quickly shuffled to the back of the train…so sad, so so sad. Makes you just want to go over there and bring them a batch of warm cookies for there trouble.
Here is what the break riders had to say:
Johan Van Summeren (Silence-Lotto)
“The team was not in a good mood, I had the impression that some were growing nervous. Today’s instructions were short but precise: one of us with each attack.
“After the peloton started again after a big crash, Chavanel attacked. As soon as he was caught, I jumped away on the other side of the road. Only Sapa joined me. With so far [to ride], and just having two [in the break], I knew that dreaming was useless.
I was always at top speed… it was pleasant to spend so much time at the head. I did enjoy it. An as Most Combative Rider of the Day, I had the pleasure of kissing Gert Steegmans’s girl; she is an hostess with the sponsor of that challenge.”
Marcin Sapa (Lampre)
“When I’m in a breakaway I’m happy even if, as today, it’s very tough to get amongst the action. With Van Summeren the agreement was good, but this time it [the break] was neutralized when there were a few kilometers to go”.
So here we are at 5km. Columbia is formed up five deep with Kirchen winding it up on a downward grade hitting speeds of over 70km/hour. I think a “holy wiener schnitzel” is in order here. All the while Milram tried to weasel their feral claws into the leadout for Ciolek, nearly disrupting the glorious Columbia train. It was not to be as Hincapie shepherded the whole chaotic mess through the chicane to the 500. At that point it was the Renshaw Cavendish show. Hushovd and Farrar were lined up tight to Cavendish as Renshaw drove the field up the inclined finish pulling off in the last 200. In the end Farrar came around strong but missed it by a length. Hushovd didn’t have it, falling of the wheel for a fifth place finish. Cavendish and his team earned the Green Jersey their effort while Thor was singing an familiar old song …
Here is what a couple of players had to say:
Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam)
“I was in good position for the sprint, but it just wasn’t my day. I am very disappointed of course, and will continue to fight for the green jersey.”
“I still want to fight for the green jersey. It’s still a long way to Paris. It was a hard fight for [Cavendish’s] wheel. It was difficult because everyone knows that is where you want to be. I will try to win another stage before this Tour is over. I will take it day-by-day.”
Julian Dean (Garmin-Slipstream)
“Today we took a different approach – I decided to wait back a little longer. Dave took me to 500 meters to go, and took me in with a heap of speed. George [Hincapie] moved off and Renshaw came over, so it took some of my speed away. But I think if that didn’t happen I could have set Tyler up for the win. He has the power and I have the power – it’s just about getting around the Columbia train.”
And a couple of GC contenders:
Alberto Contador (Astana)
“It was a transition day… boring for those who saw it on television, but it was also a day with a lot of tension at the beginning. There were some complicated falls but we avoided them.
“It calmed down up to the last 20 kilometers, where the whole world wants to be ahead to avoid losing any time and the truth is that I was fearful due to the speed we passed close to the fences. The two accidents I saw were ahead of me but I had time to stop the bike.
“I feel good, though it was one more day of punishment in the legs but also one less day of suffering. At the moment I want to think of nothing more than tomorrow, which is another difficult day and which I have to ride without losing time and without any type of falls. Then I will think about the mountains, which I want to arrive already.”
Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam)
“Today’s stage was a very fast, atypical and strange stage. There was a huge number of falls right from the outset and then the race was neutralized when one of the advertising balloons deflated, meaning that the pack split into two parts.
“It was a pretty strange race in which speeds didn’t fall below 45km/h on a really tough route with constant climbs and descents and badly surfaced roads… I think these stages are not really telling us anything about this Tour de France but they are adding to the tiredness of riders in the heart of the pack in the lead up to the last week of the race.
As far as I’m concerned, I didn’t have any problems today and I felt protected by my teammates again. It’s a shame that we lost Thor Hushovd’s green jersey but Cavendish is the world’s fastest rider right now and the most important thing is that we still have the chance to win it back. We will keep fighting it out to win another stage and to get that green jersey, as well as trying for other personal aims.”
Well that’s it for today. No GC changes today. Lots of rollers in tomorrows stage. A break should have a better chance of sticking.
Thanks to Cycling News for the Quote Clips.
Stage 11 Map
Stage 11 Profile
Stage 11 Recap
Bicycling Magazine
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
ESPN
Velonews
Yahoo Sports
Stage 11 Video
Stage 11 Results
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 4:17:55
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
3 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux
4 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
6 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
7 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
10 Nikolai Troussov (Rus) Team Katusha
11 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre – NGC
12 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha
13 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
14 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas
15 Kenny Robert van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
16 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
17 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
18 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Skil-Shimano
19 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha
20 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Lampre – NGC
Green Jersey Standings
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 176 pts
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 169
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 110
4 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 110
5 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 100
6 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 97
7 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 74
8 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 64
9 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 55
10 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 54
Overall Standings
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 43:28:59
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
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.
Stage 9 Map
Stage 9 Profile
Stage 9 Recap
Bicycling Mag
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
ESPN
Velonews
Yahoo Sports
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.
Stage 8 Profile
Stage 8 Map
Stage 8 Recap
Bicycling Mag
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
ESPN
Velonews
Yahoo Sports
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
The highlights of the stage were an exceptionally well ridden break by David Millar followed by a blistering sprint by Thor “The Hamma” Hushovd. Besides that the stage was marked wreck after wreck on the rain slicked roads mostly on the later half of the race.
Hushovd does a picture sprint to take the win and get back into contention on the green jersey competition
In early riding, Zabriskie, Hincapie, Fletcha, Millar and Freire all took a stab at a break today. At around the 50 km mark, by Millar, Auge and Chavanel. They quickly gained a minute on the field over the next 5k or so. The lead grew to its max of 3:30 by the 65km mark. The peloton learned from the previous day not to let the break get to far out either that or Millar was seen a significant enough of a threat to keep it close.
A light rain began at the 80km mark, which didn’t bode well relative to the hilly terrain ahead. Astana comes to the front to keep its riders out of trouble. Txurruka gets free and bridges to the break by the 110km mark. Just after the base of the final climb, Millar attacks his compatriots. He gets a gap the others can’t match. He had about a minute over the peloton with the mountain and decent, a flat section of about 10km and some steep rollers in the last 2km to conquer.
Millar’s lead over the peloton slips to 30 seconds but by the end of the decent is back up to over a minute. Millar is burying himself on the flats to hold on to the tenuous lead. After 10km of wrecks, and looking at each other, the peloton wakes up and accelerates. The question is will someone jump to snag a few seconds, will Millar take advantage of the indecisive peloton or will it go to an unexpected sprint?
As the peloton bears down on Millar, Columbia’s Martin is up front with Cavendish but where was his regular lead out guy, Renshaw? Millar was caught at the 1km after a supreme effort. Columbia’s Martin tried to control the pace through the final Km to set up the sprint for Cavendish to no avail. On the sprint, Pozzato went left and Freire went right with Hushovd on his wheel. Hushovd takes it at the line.
Hushovd narrowly missed taking over the Green jersey lead over Cavendish by one point. What was expected to be a Cavendish rout is shaping up to be a very competitive sprint competition.
The unexpected sprint wins the day.
All eyes are on stage 7 and the mountains near Andorra. Tomorrow is the day were we see who has got the legs and more importantly which of Astana’s leaders can assert control. I think Lance is counting on strategy and experience and maybe seniority to hold onto control where Contador has raw horsepower. Either way it goes, it will be exciting to watch. There are several riders including Cadel, Sastre, and Schleck who are in need of some seconds and minutes. They may just have to take a chance and scramble for it on what is likely a Astana dominated stage.
Climbs of the day
Km 32.0 – Côte de Sant Feliu de Guixols – 2.0 km climb to 5.4% – Category 4
Km 55.0 – Côte de Tossa de Mar – 3.8 km climb to 4.2% – Category 4
Km 98.0 – Côte de Sant Vicenc de Montalt – 3.3 km climb to 5.2% – Category 3
Km 110.0 – Collsacreu – 4.1 km climb to 5.2% – Category 3
Km 159.0 – Côte de la Conreria – 4.7 km climb to 4.5% – Category 4
Stage Profile
Stage 6 Profile
Stage 6 Recap
Bicycling Magazine
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
ESPN
Velonews
Yahoo Sports
Stage 6 Video
Yahoo Sports
Stage 6 Results
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 4:21:33
2 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
5 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
6 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha
7 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre – NGC
8 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto
10 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
11 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
12 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
14 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas
15 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step
16 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC
17 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step
18 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC
19 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas
20 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
Green Jersey Overall
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 106 pts
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 105
3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 66
4 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 54
5 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 53
Overall Results
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 19:29:22
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:19
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:23
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:00:31
6 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:00:38
7 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:00:52
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:16
9 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:22
10 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:29
Allez915
Cavendish utilized his team to perfection winning his second stage in as many days. The real news was a crosswind induced break that led to an irreparable split in the field that shook up the GC standings.
It was another hot stage today in southern France. The 196km Marseille to Le Grande Motte route was rolling on the first half and dead flat on the later half. Strong crosswinds were expected on the flats which have the potential to force echelon formations and possibly induce breaks in the peloton.
Stage 3 Winner, Mark Cavendish
A single break got away from the gun which included Moreno, Bouet, De Kort and Domoulin. They held a lead over much of the stage with a gap of as much as 11 minutes. The peloton was content to pedal at a comfortable pace, seemingly not worried about the break. About halfway through the stage Saxo Bank, Rabobank then Columbia moved to the front in sequence to do the work of reeling in the escapees. The lead steadily fell over the next 70km. As the Columbia led peloton approached the break, the pace and cross winds, fractured the field. Almost all of the Columbia team made the front group of 29 as well as Cancellara, Cavendish, Martin and Hushovd. Three Astana riders made it including Armstrong, Zubeldia and Popo. Many contenders were in the chase group including Contador, Evans, Sastre, Leipheimer, the Schlecks and several of the sprinters. The gap hovered between 20 to 40 seconds into the final kilometers. Even with strong chase effort the lead group held on to the line taking 40+ seconds out of the chase.
Cavendish was well positioned for the sprint with a single rider left on lead out. Hushovd was on his wheel but didn’t have enough to get by. Another great win for Cav. Cancellara made a nice effort to snag 6th. The GC changed considerably with Armstrong and Martin moving up and Contador, Kloden, Evans and Leipheimer moving down.
I’ll be very interested in reviewing the video and race reports today. It seems Armstrong was urging his team on in the lead group even though his team lead, Contador, got caught in the chase group. Hopefully an interviewer will extract an explanation. Regardless, Lance has situated himself to possibly take the Yellow Jersey tomorrow with a high probability win tomorrow in the TTT. That of course would have him protected as leader till the mountain top finish in Arcalis on Stage 7. All bets are off at that point.
P.S. After reading and viewing interviews and commentary, It seems to me that Lance thought under the conditions that it was wise to stay up front in case a split developed. Contador had been near the split but missed by a hair. At that point, Lance mostly hung on to the Columbia freight train and ended up with a windfall. Lance was unapologetic mind you but seemed to have a proper perspective of the time gain relative to the weeks ahead in the context of team politics. Contador didn’t seem concerned in the least.
Stage 3 Race Reports
ESPN (best of the reports)
Velonews
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
Yahoo Sports
Cycling Weekly (Lances Motives…Not to Top Contador)
Stage 3 Video
Versus Race Recap
Versus Post Race Recap
Stage 3 Results
1. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia – Htc in 5:01:24
2. Thor Hushovd Cervelo Test Team
3. Cyril Lemoine Skil-Shimano at 00:00
4. Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at s.t.
5. Jérôme Pineau Quick Step at s.t.
6. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank at s.t.
7. Fabian Wegmann Team Milram at s.t.
8. Fumiyuki Beppu Skil-Shimano at s.t.
9. Maxime Bouet Agritubel at s.t.
10. Linus Gerdemann Team Milram at s.t.
GC Standings
1. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank in 9:50:58
2. Tony Martin Team Columbia – Htc in 9:51:31
3. Lance Armstrong Astana in 9:51:38 at 00:40
4. Alberto Contador Astana in 9:51:57 at 00:59
5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin – Slipstream in 9:51:58 at 01:00
6. Andréas KlÖden Astana in 9:52:01 at 01:03
7. Linus Gerdemann Team Milram in 9:52:01 at 01:03
8. Cadel Evans Silence – Lotto in 9:52:02 at 01:04
9. Maxime Monfort Team Columbia – Htc in 9:52:08 at 01:10
10. Levi Leipheimer Astana in 9:52:09 at 01:11
11. Michael Rogers Team Columbia – Htc in 9:52:11 at 01:13
12. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas in 9:52:11 at 01:13
13. George Hincapie Team Columbia – Htc in 9:52:15 at 01:17
14. Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas in 9:52:16 at 01:18
15. Gustav Larsson Team Saxo Bank in 9:52:20 at 01:22
16. Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel – Euskadi in 9:52:23 at 01:25
17. David Zabriskie Garmin – Slipstream in 9:52:26 at 01:28
18. David Millar Garmin – Slipstream in 9:52:27 at 01:29
19. Jérôme Pineau Quick Step in 9:52:29 at 01:31
20. Haimar Zubeldia Astana in 9:52:29 at 01:31
Allez915
The main move of the day came when Chavanel attacked at around 80km steadily putting time on the
Stage 19 Finish, Roy & Chavanel
peloton. He was nearly reeled him back in when Jeremy Roy jumped from the field adding juice to the break at just the right time. The duo was able to put five minutes on the peloton with steady pace lining. The majority probably didn’t want to over do it coming into the time trial tomorrow.
The field did get busy chasing eventually trying to keep it contained to some degree. They were able to drop the gap to near four minutes. At that point Chavanel and Roy put on the burner on bringing the gap back over 5 minutes with about 28km to go. From then on the advantage decayed steadily to the line but was enough to permit a little goofing around in the final kilometer.
Coming into the sprint Roy was following Chavanel and wouldn’t come through. Chavanel slowed, put it in a big gear and eyeballed Roy in anticipation of the move. He smartly hugged the left barrier allowing only one direction of attack. Roy jumped at 200m but didn’t have the juice to get by Chavanel.
Stage 19 Bunch Sprint
The field eventually resigned themselves to crumb scrapping starting from third place. The sprint wound up nicely with teams for Zabel, Hushovd, Ciolek, Duque and Freire jockeying for position. In the end Ciolek had the better line and hit the gas in another fine finish for Team Columbia. Zabel was there but unable to get by. Freire got boxed out. The others finished top ten.
There was no change to the GC resulting from today’s stage. The final GC test is set for tomorrow in the form of a 53km time trial. Speculation was thick today from the commentators during the race. They think that while Cadel has the edge, Sastre’s performance is less predictable. The Yellow jersey can do strange things. Most are betting on Cadel. He is my bet as well. Menchov has a good chance for a podium spot while Vande Velde has his work cut out to oust Cadel, Schleck or Menchov from the three top spots. Good bet he finishes the day in 4th or 5th on GC.
Stage 19 Video Recap: http://tinyurl.com/cjp6a
Stage 19 Race Reports
Cycling News: http://tinyurl.com/5tjd35
Velonews: http://tinyurl.com/5aj26x
Versus: http://tinyurl.com/6gd5ke
Yahoo Sports: http://tinyurl.com/6blrlc
Stage 19 Results:
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, 3.37.09 (45.73 km/h)
2 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux, st.
3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Columbia, 1.13
4 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram, st.
5 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner, st.
6 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, st.
7 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas, st.
8 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole, st.
9 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner, st.
10 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin Chipotle – H30, st.
Overall Results:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 82.54.36
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 1.24
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, 1.33
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, 1.34
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, 2.39
6 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30, 4.41
7 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, 5.35
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 5.52
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale, 8.10
10 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale, 8.24
Burghardt and Barredo gave the fans a treat to close stage 18 today. After cat and mouse for 20km the two employed
Stage 18 Winner - Burghardt of Team Columbia
track tactics to setup for the final 500 meters. Burghardt overpowered a very disappointed Barredo from the forward position to get the win. Team Columbia has had a stellar Tour to date with 5 wins, holder at times of the Green, White and Yellow Jersey on top of becoming the poster child for dope free racing. I mean this is a Tour they can write home about.
Barredo escaped the peloton at about the 70km. Soon after, Burghardt and Feillu escaped as well though Burghardt later dropped Feillu bridging to Barredo on the decent of the col de Parmenie. Astarloza and Le Mevel escaped about then and tried to bridge to the leaders catching up with Feillu by 85km. The peloton was seven or eight minutes back at that point though the lead grew as high as ten minutes before CSC fired up the big engines. Burghardt and Barredo held of the chasers to contest the sprint. Feillu, Le Mevel and Astarloza came in a little more than three minutes later. The peloton with a small leading group sprinted in a little less than four minutes later.
There was no real action in the GC as the key riders marked each other closely. The only real shift was that Cunego wrecked at 28km cracking his chin. Three of his teammates fell back to support him though he still lost nearly 13 minutes to the peloton. Cunego has really struggled this tour without much to show for it. I’m afraid too much expectation was placed on him.
Stage 18 Video Recap: http://tinyurl.com/56q2cn
Stage 18 Race Reports:
Cycling News: http://tinyurl.com/69lm2e
Velonews: http://tinyurl.com/5nfl37
Versus: http://tinyurl.com/6ksbmj
Yahoo Sports: http://tinyurl.com/6qr2jq
Stage 18 Results:
1 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia, 4.30.21 (43.61 km/h)
2 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step, st.
3 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel, 3.33
4 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Crédit Agricole, st.
5 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 3.35
6 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone, 6.39
7 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, st.
8 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas, st.
9 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence – Lotto, st.
10 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, st.
Overall Team Standings:
1 Team CSC Saxo Bank, 237.42.06
2 AG2R-La Mondiale, 9.27
3 Rabobank, 1.01.17
4 Euskaltel – Euskadi, 1.07.57
5 Caisse d’Epargne, 1.11.56
6 Silence – Lotto, 1.13.29
7 Lampre, 1.18.16
8 Team Columbia, 1.23.09
9 Credit Agricole, 1.25.27
10 Gerolsteiner, 1.29.14
Overall Standings:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 79.16.14
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 1.24
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, 1.33
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, 1.34
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, 2.39
6 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30, 4.41
7 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, 5.35
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 5.52
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale, 8.10
10 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale, 8.24
Sastre patiently waited for his chance to shine and then delivered on L’Alpe d’Huez. The CSC
Stage 17 Winner - Carlos Sastre
strategy appears to have been to fake the GC contenders into following Frank Schleck then hit em with a blistering Sastre acceleration. Make no mistake, Sastre attacked the yellow jersey group. He wasn’t trying to pace Frank. He was clearly going for the win and unless he broke ranks, he had the blessing of the team to do it. The decider may have been Sastre’s better potential in the time trials. Either way, it was a masterful team play which leveraged a hand of aces this team possesses. Cadel was happy to have the little help he had and did well to limit the damage.
The riders come out of the Alps tomorrow in Stage 18. While there are a few climbs including a Cat 2 climb toward the end, it is unlikely that the GC guys will contest. Stage 19 heads into the flat lands leaving little chance for a GC shakeup. It is more likely that the Tour will be decided on the Stage 20 time trial. So the lingering question is..was it enough?
Stage 4 results offer a glimpse of the time trial potential for Cadel and Carlos. Cadel placed third in the time trial, 27 seconds off the winning time. Sastre finished at 28th about 1:39 back for a gap of 1:12. The Stage 20 time trial is rolling but also longer at 53km versus the relatively flat 29.5km TT of stage 4. Simple math suggests a relative gap of 2:09. As Cadel is 1:34 behind on GC after today’s stage, it is a good bet that Cadel is within striking range. There are plenty of other variables you could consider when handicapping the Stage 20. I’ll leave that to those who are inclined. Suffice to say it will be a dog fight.
Stage 4 Elevation Profile
Stage 2 Elevation Profile
Sastre will have three days to enjoy the armor of the yellow and convince himself that he is more than even he thought, a time trial guy. The team dynamic is strong in CSC. Many sacrifices were made to put him in position. Carlos will be riding beyond himself with that in mind on Saturday.
Stage 17 Video Recap: http://tinyurl.com/cjp6a
Stage 17 Race Reports
Bike Radar: http://tinyurl.com/57rez3
Velonews: http://tinyurl.com/6qxj8f
Cycling News: http://tinyurl.com/55lsfw
Versus: http://preview.tinyurl.com/57fuls
Yahoo Sports: http://tinyurl.com/5g5bmf
Stage 17 Results:
1 Carlos Sastre (Spa) CSC-Saxo Bank, 6.07.58 (34.32 km/h)
2 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 2.03
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, st.
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, 2.13
5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, st.
6 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale, 2.15
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, st.
8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, st.
9 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
10 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, st.
Overall Standings:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 74.39.03
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 1.24
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, 1.33
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, 1.34
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, 2.39
6 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30, 4.41
7 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, 5.35
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 5.52
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale, 8.10
10 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale, 8.24
A brilliant performance by Andy Schleck of team CSC up the final climb of the
Stage 16 - Scheck, Kohl & Menchov
day helped keep brother Frank in Yellow today on Stage 16. Menchov and Vandevelde were on the negative side as each lost time on GC. Menchov was dropped on the final decent, Vandevelde on the climb prior. Vandevelde had a spill on the high part of the decent as he raced to make up ground. Unfortunately he ended up losing over two and a half minutes to Frank. Menchov held his losses to 35 seconds. Cadel, Sastre and Kohl put in excellent performances today retaining their positions on the GC. The GC guys finished about a minute and half behind several shattered breakaway groups.
Stage 16 Winner Cyril Dessel followed by Sandy Casar
As for the action up front, Dumoulin, Rosseler, Le Mevel, Schumacher and Voeckler escaped the peloton at 40km. A second chase formed behind them of 20 riders including Freire, Hincapie and Pate. Schumacher broke free of the original 5 at 60km holding out till 130km when he was finally absorbed by the first chase. The second chase grew over that time to 29 riders including Dessel, picked up the leftovers of the Schumacher group. Eight of those got a gap and picked up Schumacher. That group included Hincapie, Sivtsov, Arroyo, Portal, Popovych, Augustyn, Valjavec and Casar. Augustyn bolted for the summit of the final mountain and got it but missed a turn on the decent and slid down the mountain without his bike. The remaining Eight split into two groups, the first of which included Popovych, Dessel, Arroyo and Casar. Arroyo made the first move but was countered by Dessel at the line.
The stage is set for a fabulous showdown on L’Alpe-d’Huez. For Schleck, Sastre and Kohl it is probably their last chance to put time on Cadel before the time trial on Saturday If Cadel can hang on tomorrow, only a major mistake by him or an inspired performance by possibly Menchov could keep him from rising to Yellow. The other contenders are just not competitive with Cadel on the Time Trial and baring riding beyond themselves are unlikely to hold him off. The dark horse is Valverde or Vandevelde who could through caution to the wind and reap reward, though the chance of that is slim at this point.
Stage 17 Elevation Profile
Stage 16 Video Recap: http://tinyurl.com/5zgqqf
Stage 16 Race Reports:
Yahoo Sports: http://tinyurl.com/5jmesz
Velonews: http://tinyurl.com/5h5bu6
Cycling News: http://tinyurl.com/6zupde
Versus: http://tinyurl.com/5udqjd
Stage 16 Results:
1 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, 4.31.27 (34.70 km/h)
2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux, st.
3 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, st.
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence – Lotto, 0.03
5 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia, 0.24
6 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne, st.
7 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale, st.
8 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner, 1.03
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 1.28
10 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, st.
11 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, st.
12 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, st.
13 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, st.
14 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre, st.
15 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, st.
16 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom, st.
17 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 1.32
18 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia, st.
19 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia, 2.03
20 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre, st.
21 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, st.
22 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram, 2.36
23 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole, st.
24 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 3.21
25 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas, 4.04
26 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b
H30, st.
27 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone, 4.13
28 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, st.
29 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone, st.
30 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30, 4.27
Overall Standings:
1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 68.30.16
2 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, 0.07
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, 0.08
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 0.49
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, 1.13
6 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30, 3.15
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia, 3.23
8 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, 4.11
9 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 4.38
10 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale, 5.23
Velo Noise 