Tour de France 2009

[mhku]

Stage 1: Monaco - 15.5 km (ind. Time trial)

Fabian Cancellara powered to victory in the opening time trial of the Tour de France as seven-time champion Lance Armstrong made his return to the race.

Armstrong's time of 20 minutes and 12 seconds for the 15.5-km time trial around Monaco was 40 seconds behind the winner as he finished in 10th place.

Briton Bradley Wiggins was third, 19 seconds behind Cancellara and one slower than Spain's Alberto Contador.

Mark Cavendish was well off the pace, a good three minutes behind the winner.

Cavendish, who won three Giro d'Italia stages, was never expected to figure in the reckoning, but the Briton could feature on Sunday's 187km stage from Monaco to Brignoles, when there is possibility of a sprint finish.

The major story of Saturday's stage was Armstrong's return and the American produced a solid ride. (well, so the BBC think. Solid ride- yes, major story- no).

The Astana rider went out relatively early and held first place at one point, although he was soon displaced by Germany's Tony Martin before team-mate Levi Leipheimer took the lead.

"I did not have big illusions," said the 37-year-old Armstrong, who last rode the Tour in 2005.

"I was a bit nervous but it is logical. I'm just happy to be here even if we don't win because there are a lot of other things I could be doing right now.

"It is a difficult course for sure but I think it is difficult for everybody. It is very technical, it is hard to find a rhythm but that's logical after years away.

"What a beautiful race. It was fun. I felt pretty good, overall, I feel good. I was a little bit all over the place."

Leipheimer, with a time of 20 minutes and three seconds, remained in the lead until another Astana rider, Andreas Kloden produced a brilliant ride to lead by nine seconds.

However, many of the stage favourites were among the last to depart and the lead changed hands several times over the final few minutes.

Wiggins was extremely impressive and led briefly but Contador, who was quickest all day through the split, defeated him by one second.

However, nobody could match the time that Cancellara posted, with the Swiss time trial champion setting a blistering pace through the final section to claim the stage and with it the yellow jersey.

"I was one of the favourites to win here before the race and I knew if I got things right it would be very difficult for my rivals to beat me," said Cancellara.

"That was special motivation. To be back in the yellow jersey again is a great achievement both for me and my team, I am proud of it.
Lance Armstrong rides during the time trial in Monaco
Armstrong had a solid ride on his return to the Tour

"Now everyone knows Cancellara is back and he is stronger."

Australian Cadel Evans, one of the pre-race favourites, ensured he did not lose too much time with a fifth-place finish, 23 seconds behind Cancellara.

The stage was largely uphill for the first 7.5km, before some technically challenging descents took the field towards the finish.

And it proved to be a disaster for Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov, who was overtaken by Cancellara and finished one minute and 32 seconds behind the winner.

Briton David Millar finished a creditable 13th, 48 seconds behind the winner, while Charlie Wegelius was 89th.

Defending champion Carlos Sastre of Spain was 21st, more than one minute off the pace.

The 96th Tour goes through six countries before finishing on 26 July in Paris after a race of 2,150 miles.

Stage One result:

1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi/Saxo Bank) 19mins 32sec
2. Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana) +18 secs
3. Bradley Wiggins (GB/Garmin) +19 secs
4. Andreas Kloeden (Ger/Astana) +22 secss
5. Cadel Evans (Aus/Silence-Lotto) +23 secs
6. Levi Leipheimer (US/Astana) +30 secs
7. Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Liquigas) +32 secs
8. Tony Martin (Ger/Columbia) +33 secs
9. Vincenzo Nibali (It/Liquigas) +37 secs
10. Lance Armstrong (US/Astana) +40 secs

Selected others:

21. Carlos Sastre (Spa/Cervelo) +1 mins 6 secs
89. Charlie Wegeluis (GB/Silence-Lotto) +1 mins 49 secs
177. Mark Cavendish (IOM/Colombia) +3 mins 145 secs

src: bbc.co.uk/sport

It's too early to predict who is going to win but Contador still looks very strong and team Astana have four riders in the top 10 after day one.

Stage 2 is from MONACO > BRIGNOLES and is 187 km. Britain's Mark Cavendish is likely to challenge for a stage win.

 

[mhku]

Tour de France 2009 - Stage Two
MONACO > BRIGNOLES • 187 km
4 hrs 30 minutes

Mark Cavendish won the 2nd stage by a few bike lengths but it was also thanks to a strong performance by his Team (Columbia High Road) that ensured he was in the perfect position for a sprint finish. He know has the green jersey and will hope to keep it until the final day in Paris.

"Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the 2009 Tour de France with a blistering long-range sprint finish.

Stef Clement, Cyril Dessel, Jussi Veikkanen and Stephane Auge led for most of the 187km stage from Monaco to Brignoles but were caught by the pack.

Cavendish avoided a couple of late crashes before powering his way to his fifth Tour stage victory, while Fabian Cancellara retained the yellow jersey.

American Tyler Farrar was second with France's Romain Feillu finishing third.

The victory confirmed why Cavendish is rated the best sprinter in cycling, crossing the line for his 42nd professional victory, surpassing the previous British record of 41 wins held by Chris Boardman.

The 24-year-old, who won four stages during the 2008 Tour before withdrawing to concentrate on the Olympics, was poised perfectly heading into the final kilometre thanks to the dedication of his Columbia team-mates, who had gathered at the front of the peloton 75km from the finishing line.

Cavendish steered clear of a crash on the approach to the finishing straight and with 500m to go, burst through to cross the finish line almost two bike lengths ahead of Farrar and the chasing pack of sprinters.

The victory sees Cavendish takes the green jersey from Olympic team-mate Bradley Wiggins, who finished way down in 114th spot after impressing in Saturday's time trial.

"The team were motivated for the sprint. I rode intelligently. I was protected well and did not waste energy," said Cavendish, who won three stages of the 2009 Giro de Italia. "It was a pretty long sprint but I was able to hold it."

"We were the only team for a while sprinting with Saxo Bank and then Cervelo came in with one guy.

"When we put two guys in, when we took control, we showed we meant business and I'm happy to finish it with a win."

Cavendish revealed he was unsure how he would settle into his first road stage after finishing the time trial fourth from last.

"I didn't know how open my legs would be," he added. "In Tours it normally takes me a few days of riding. But I felt good today."

Seven-time winner Lance Armstrong finished in 80th place among the bulk of the peloton, while Astana team-mate and prerace favourite Alberto Contador finished 58th."

src: bbc.co.uk/sport


Stage Two result:

1. Mark Cavendish (GB/Team Columbia) 4 hours 30 minutes 2 seconds
2. Tyler Farrar (USA/Garmin-Slipstream) same time
3. Romain Feillu (Fra/Agritubel) "
4. Thor Hushovd, (Nor/Cervelo) "
5. Yukiya Arashiro (Jap/Bouygues Telecom) "
6. Gerald Ciolek (Ger/Milram) "
7. William Bonnet (Fra/Bouygues Telecom) "
8. Nicolas Roche (Ire/AG2R) "
9. Koen de Kort (Ned/Skil-Shimano) "
10. Lloyd Mondory (Fra/AG2R) "

No change in the overall standings:

Overall standings

1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi/Saxobank) 4 hours 49 minutes 34 seconds
2. Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana) + 18 secs
3. Bradley Wiggins (GB/Garmin) +19 secs
4. Andreas Kloden (Ger/Astana) +22 secs
5. Cadel Evans (Aus/Silence) +23 secs

Selected others:

10. Lance Armstrong (USA/Astana) +40 secs
14. David Millar (GB/Garmin) +48 secs
21. Carlos Sastre (Spa/Cervelo) + 1 minute 6 secs
92. Charlie Wegelius (GB/Silence) +1 minute 49 secs
176. Mark Cavendish (GB/Team Columbia) +3 minutes 14 secs

Stage 3 is MARSEILLE > LA GRANDE-MOTTE • 196.5 km
The first half of the route has a few hills but the finish is flat and is likely to see Mark Cavendish go for another stage win although I'm sure some of the other teams with sprinters will do there best to stop him.

He's now won 5 stages of the TdF (4 in the 2008 tour)- when he gets to 8 he'll equal the UK record held by cyclist Barry Hoban (1967 - 1975).

Incidentally, Barry Hoban's first stage, in 1967, when he was allowed to win after the death of Tommy Simpson on the previous stage.

 

[mhku]

Stage 3 MARSEILLE > LA GRANDE-MOTTE

It looked like today's stage would be a slow procession for 5 hours as the teams aimed to conserve energy for tomorrow's team time trial in Montpellier.

But someone forgot to tell Team Coloumbia HTC - the whole team broke away from the peloton with about 31km to go, plus about 20 other rides including the yellow jersey Cancellara, Lance Armstrong and Thor Hushovd, leaving Contador, Cadel Evans and other key riders in the following group.

The break away group managed to stay away from the peloton all the way to the finish in La Grande Motte where Mark Cavendish wins from Thor Hushovd in a sprint finish. The peloton were 38 seconds behind.

Cancellara stays in yellow and Mark Cavendish gained more green jersey points, staying in the green jersey and Armstrong gained time on his team mate, moving into 3rd place and above Contador who is the number one rider for Team Astana, which may make things interesting within Astana. Britain Bradley Wiggins drops from 3rd to 5th place.


Stage 3 result:


Mark CAVENDISH GBR THR 04:30:02
Tyler FARRAR USA GRM +00:00:00
Romain FEILLU FRA AGR +00:00:00
Thor HUSHOVD NOR CTT +00:00:00
Yukiya ARASHIRO JPN BBO +00:00:00
Gerald CIOLEK GER MRM +00:00:00
William BONNET FRA BBO +00:00:00
Nicolas ROCHE IRL ALM +00:00:00
Koen DE KORT NED SKS +00:00:00
Lloyd MONDORY FRA ALM +00:00:00

Overall Standings:

Fabian CANCELLARA SUI SAX 09:50:58
Tony MARTIN GER THR +00:00:33
Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST +00:00:40
Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST +00:00:59
Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM +00:01:00
Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST +00:01:03
Linus GERDEMANN GER MRM +00:01:03
Cadel EVANS AUS SIL +00:01:04
Maxime MONFORT BEL THR +00:01:10
Levi LEIPHEIMER USA AST +00:01:11

Stage 4 tomorrow is the team trial in Montpellier and is 39km.

 

[mhku]

Stage 4 - Montpellier team trial

Plenty of action in today's time trial in Montpellier. The first team out were Caisse D'Epargne and one of their riders crashed before they'd even left Montpellier, and the same corner claimed a few more riders before the stage was over. Dennis Menchov (winnder of the Giro d'Italia) also crashed

The main area of interest was how well would Astana do compared to Saxo Bank- would Armstrong take yellow from Cancellara, with Armstrong 40 seconds behind Cancellara in the overall standings? Saxo Bank put in a good time but with 10 minutes to go Astana were 41 seconds ahead putting Armstrong in yellow if they kept that gap up. Astana crossed the line 40 seconds ahead of Saxo Bank; initially it was thought that Armstrong had grabbed yellow but Cancellara kept it by hundredths of a second.

The yellow jersey was presented by Ben Stiller during the presentation at the stage end. Apparently he's been a big cycling fan since meeting Armstrong during the filming of Dodgeball.

In other news Bradley Wiggins, David Millar and David Zabriskie put in a good performance for Garmin putting them in 2nd place, whereas Cadel Evans and the Silence Lotto team failed to make up any time and finished out of the top 5.

Columbia High Road and Mark Cavendish gave a solid team effort to claim 5th place and Cavendish retains the green jersey.

Today's Result:

1. Astana 46 minutes 29 seconds
2. Garmin +18 secs
3. Saxo Bank + 40 secs
4. Liquigas +58 secs
5. Team Columbia + 59 secs

Overall Standings:

1 033 Fabian CANCELLARA SUI SAX 10h38'07'' 00''
2 022 Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST 10h38'07'' 00''
3 021 Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST 10h38'26'' 19''
4 023 Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST 10h38'30'' 23''
5 024 Levi LEIPHEIMER USA AST 10h38'38'' 31''
6 058 Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM 10h38'45'' 38''
7 029 Haimar ZUBELDIA ESP AST 10h38'58'' 51''
8 076 Tony MARTIN GER THR 10h38'59'' 52''
9 059 David ZABRISKIE USA GRM 10h39'13'' 1'06''
10 056 David MILLAR GBR GRM 10h39'14'' 1'07''

Tomorrow's stage is LE CAP D’AGDE > PERPIGNAN • 196.5 km with a few hills in the middle section and a flat last half, which will favour the sprinters again unless there is breakaway early on to spoil the party.

 

[mhku]

Stage 5 - LE CAP D’AGDE > PERPIGNAN

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler took victory on stage 5 of the Tour de France in Perpignan after jumping clear of a breakaway.

The Bouygues Telecom man made the decisive break four kilometres from home, using a roundabout to launch his attack and secure his maiden Tour win.

As his fellow escapees sat up and looked at each other, Voeckler put his head down and time-trialled his way to the line, leaving himself enough time to savour victory on the home straight.

Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) was second, while the rest of the breakaway was swallowed up by a fast-moving peloton, led home by Columbia's Mark Cavendish, who extended his lead over Thor Hushovd in the sprinters' points classification.

The favourites for the yellow jersey finished safely in the peloton, so Fabian Cancellara keeps hold of his yellow jersey.

Though Voeckler had successfully broken clear early on along with Ignatiev, Anthony Geslin and Yauheni Hutarovich (both FdJ), Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) and Marcin Sapa (Lampre), it seemed the peloton had them on a tight leash, as Columbia worked to cut the gap to 4'16" at the fourth-catogory Côte de Treilles with 74 kilometres remaining.

On the descent of the Côte, however, the Saxo Bank team put the hammer down hard as fierce crosswinds began to buffet the peloton. Chaos reigned, and the peloton was immediately split into four groups, with Rabobank's young star Robert Gesink unable to keep pace after injuring his arm in a fall.

Just as he had done on stage 3, Gesink's team-mate Denis Menchov missed the vital split, and was left to help orchestrate a desperate chase in the second peloton that only ended with 20 kilometres remaining.

With the breakaway riders just over a minute ahead at this stage, a bunch sprint seemed inevitable, though the sextet continued to work well together, while the sprinters teams bickered at the head of the peloton as to who would continue the chase.

Wary of the sprinting ability of Hutarovich, Ignatiev twice tried in vain to jump clear, only to watch Voeckler time his move to perfection four kilometres out.

As Voeckler opened up a sizeable gap, it became clear the peloton were leaving it too late to chase down the breakaway, and had possibly underestimate the strength of Voeckler.

Timmer and Ignatiev both gave their all to chase down Voeckler, but the man from Martinique was not to be caught, and he gave his Bbox Bouygues Telecom a valuable victory after their crash-ridden team time-trial in stage four.

Thursday's sixth stage takes the riders 181 kilometres from Girona to Barcelona, before the race heads into the Pyrenees on Friday.

src: _http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/08072009/58/tour-de-france-voeckler-victorious-perpignan.html

And the Eurosport website is showing 2008 results in the standings...

Cadel Evans is 2'59" behind Cancellara and Armstrong. He has a weak team so what are the chances that he'll try a breakaway before the Mountains? Or is his Tour over as some are whispering?


Stage 5 Results:


* 1. Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom in 4:29:35
* 2. Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha in 4:29:42
* 3. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia - Htc in 4:29:42 at 00:07
* 4. Tyler Farrar Garmin - Slipstream in 4:29:42 at 00:07
* 5. Gerald Ciolek Team Milram in 4:29:42 at 00:07
* 6. Danilo Napolitano Team Katusha in 4:29:42 at 00:07
* 7. Joaquin Rojas Jose Caisse D’epargne in 4:29:42 at 00:07
* 8. Lloyd Mondory Ag2r-La Mondiale in 4:29:42 at 00:07
* 9. Oscar Freire Rabobank in 4:29:42 at 00:07
* 10. Thor Hushovd Cervelo Test Team in 4:29:42 at 00:07

Overall Standings:

# 1. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank in 15:07:49
# 2. Lance Armstrong Astana
# 3. Alberto Contador Astana in 15:08:08 at 00:19
# 4. Andréas KlÖden Astana in 15:08:12 at 00:23
# 5. Levi Leipheimer Astana in 15:08:20 at 00:31
# 6. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream in 15:08:27 at 00:38
# 7. Haimar Zubeldia Astana in 15:08:40 at 00:51
# 8. Tony Martin Team Columbia - Htc in 15:08:41 at 00:52
# 9. David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream in 15:08:55 at 01:06
# 10. David Millar Garmin - Slipstream in 15:08:56 at 01:07

Jerseys:

Yellow: Cancellara
Green: Cavendish
White: MARTIN
Polka dot: VEIKKANEN

Team: Astana

 

[mhku]

Stage 6: Girona to Barcelona 187km

The weather was not so great today and there were also plenty of crashes in the wet conditions although no-one appeared to be seriously injured.

An impressive breakaway by David Millar in the pouring rain, initially as part of a 4 man breakaway, was unfortunately caught within the last 2km of the finish line in Barcelona.

After the peloton caught David Millar the race was on for the finish line and there were a lot of tired faces in the peloton. Mark Cavendish was at the back of the leading few riders and Thor Hushovd got the stage win and Cavendish had to settle for 16th place. Interestingly Cadel Evans must have been keen to place highly today, finishing in 9th.

David Millar got the award for today's most combatitive rider and wears a red number tomorrow as a result.

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)

Overall Standings:

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 - High Road) 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 - High Road) 0:01:29

Cancellara remains in yellow but Mark Cavendish is only 1 point ahead of Thor Hushovd to keep the green jersey.

Tomorrow's Stage 7 is BARCELONA > ANDORRE ARCALIS, 224 km and is the first mountain stage: this is when the hard work starts.

Sastre, Contador, Andy Schleck and Evans are all likely to involved in tomorrow's action, and possibly Menchov. How will Armstrong do and will Astana support Contador as team leader or Armstrong?

 

[mhku]

Stage 7 is BARCELONA > ANDORRE ARCALIS, 224 km

Astana lead from the front in the peloton and slowly reduced the lead of the breakaway group.

Cancellara cracked on the mountain with about 5km to go.

Cadel Evans launched an attack with 1.6km to go but Contador and Armstrong kept on his wheel. Contador attacked with less than 1km to go and needs to gain 20 seconds on Armstrong to get the Yellow jersey. Armstrong sits on the wheel of Cadel Evans and doesn't give chase.

Evans tries a breakaway but Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins give chase.

The stage was won by Frenchman Feillu of AGR, followed by the breakaway riders.

Nocentini is in yellow by 6 seconds from Contador and Armstrong is in 3rd 2 seconds behind Contador.

Stage Results:

Brice FEILLU FRA AGR 06:11:31
Christophe KERN FRA COF +00:00:05
Johannes FRÖHLINGER GER MRM +00:00:25
Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM +00:00:26
Egoi MARTINEZ ESP EUS +00:00:45
Christophe RIBLON FRA ALM +00:01:05
Jérôme PINEAU FRA QST +00:02:32
José Ivan GUTIERREZ ESP GCE +00:03:14
Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST +00:03:26
Cadel EVANS AUS SIL +00:03:47


Overall Standings:

1 087 Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM 25h44'32'' 00''
2 021 Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST 25h44'38'' 06''
3 022 Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST 25h44'40'' 08''
4 024 Levi LEIPHEIMER USA AST 25h45'11'' 39''
5 058 Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM 25h45'18'' 46''
6 023 Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST 25h45'26'' 54''
7 076 Tony MARTIN GER THR 25h45'32'' 1'00''
8 051 Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM 25h45'56'' 1'24''
9 031 Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX 25h46'21'' 1'49''
10 095 Vincenzo NIBALI ITA LIQ 25h46'26'' 1'54''

Stage 8 is ANDORRE-LA-VIEILLE > SAINT-GIRONS • 176.5 km with some big climbs and a downhill sprint finish.

 

[mhku]

Stage 8 : ANDORRE-LA-VIEILLE > SAINT-GIRONS • 176.5 km

Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez won stage eight of the Tour de France from Andorre-La-Veille to Saint-Girons in the Pyrenees.

The Caisse d'Epargne rider was part of a breakaway group of four and beat Frenchman Sandy Casar, compatriot Mikel Astarloza and Vladimir Efimkin of Russia after the four broke clear on the first of three climbs in the 176.5km stage.

Rinaldo Nocentini retained the yellow jersey and the other main contenders, including Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, all finished in the peloton.

But Mark Cavendish lost the green jersey with Thor Hushovd taking over.

Meanwhile, 2006 champion Oscar Pereiro pulled out of the race, citing severe fatigue.

"Since the start of the Tour he didn't have good sensations," said a Caisse d'Epargne spokesman.

"There was no point in continuing, because it wasn't doing any good."

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


General classification after Stage 8

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

src: bbc, eurosport & bikeradar

Tomorrow is Stage 9: Saint-Gaudens - Tarbes 160km and another day in the big mountains going over the 2115m Tourmalet Pass

 

[mhku]

Stage 9: Saint-Gaudens - Tarbes 160km

Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo produced a late burst to edge out Italy's Franco Pellizotti on stage nine of the Tour de France from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes. The pair, who broke clear of a four-man breakaway on the Col du Tourmalet, successfully held off the peloton's attempts to reel them in.

And Fedrigo outsprinted Pellizotti to the line with the peloton closing in.

Italian Rinaldo Nocentini finished in the peloton to keep the yellow jersey, with no change among the leaders.

The 160.5-km stage, from St Gaudens to Tarbes, saw Fedrigo and Pellizotti form part of a 12-man breakaway group in the opening five kilometres.

Jens Voigt and Leonardo Duque were also involved and they joined Fedrigo and Pellizotti before the day's climbing began with the category one slog up the Col d'Aspin.

Duque was dropped near the summit, leaving three up front and when Fedrigo and Pellizotti attacked on their way up the fearsome Col du Tourmalet, Voigt faded too.
They still had 70km to hold out from the summit of Tourmalet to the finish in Tarbes, some 1,800m beneath them.

The peloton, dragged along by the Caisse d'Epargne team, closed the gap with every passing kilometre, but as they entered the outskirts of Tarbes, the chase became disorganised allowing Fedrigo and Pellizotti to stay clear.

"At first we were four, then three, finally two and then I won. It's a great moment of happiness," said the 30-year-old Fedrigo, who won his previous Tour stage in 2006.

It was a second stage win of the Tour for the Bouygues Telecom team, following Thomas Voeckler's victory on stage five. Spain's Oscar Freire outsprinted the main bunch to snatch third place.

Astana's Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, who are second and third overall respectively, finished alongside Nocentini in the main bunch, as did Britain's Bradley Wiggins who continues to have an excellent Tour and lies fifth.

Fellow Brits David Millar also came home in the pack, while Charle Wegelius was just over two minutes back. Meanwhile, Mark Cavendish finished alongside green jersey rival Thor Hushovd 25 minutes after Fedrigo. The Norwegian keeps the jersey.

Spain's Egoi Martinez, who rides for the Euskaltel team, took the king of the mountains polka dot jersey from Christophe Kern.

Stage 9 result:

1. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra/Bbox-Bouygues) 4 hours 05 minutes 31 seconds
2. Franco Pellizotti (Ita/Liquigas) "
3. Oscar Freire (Spa/Rabobank) + 34 secs
4. Serguei Ivanov (Rus/Katusha) "
5. Peter Velits (Slo/Milram ) "
6. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne ) "
7. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel/Lotto) "
8. Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra/Agritubel ) "
9. Alessandro Ballan (Ita/Lampre) "
10. Nicolas Roche (Ire/AG2R) "

Overall standings:

1. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita/AG2R) 34 hours 24 minutes 21 seconds
2. Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana) + 06 secs
3. Lance Armstrong (USA/Astana) + 08
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA/Astana) + 39
5. Bradley Wiggins (GB/Garmin) + 46

src: bbc.co.uk

Tomorrow is a rest day and Tuesday is Stage 10 from LIMOGES to ISSOUDUN, 194.5 km

 

[Analoguesat]

Stage 7 is BARCELONA > ANDORRE ARCALIS, 224 km

Astana lead from the front in the peloton and slowly reduced the lead of the breakaway group.

I was on this stage - 8 km from the end The incline was insane and the guys hurtled past at unbelievable speed. Looked like they were on a Sunday afternoon run..... Then as we were walking out of the valley most of the riders - and a few thousand other cyclists came hurtling down the road at frightening speeds. I´ll put some pics up when I get back home

 

[mhku]

Our man on the ground

 

[mhku]

Stage 10 from LIMOGES to ISSOUDUN, 194.5 km

Today's stage saw the teams compete without using team radios and the peloton seemed to react by cycling at a leisurely rate for the first 180km, content to let the 4 man breakaway stay away.

With about 10km to go the pace went from about 37kph to over 45kph and the brekaway were caught before the finish in the narrow roads of Issoudun.

On the final bend before the final sprint Vladimir Karpets from Team Katusha crashed but no-one else was involved. Team Columbia HTC were in the perfect position to lead Mark Cavendish towards the finish line and when Cavendish began his sprint to the finish line Thor Hushovd, who was on Cav's wheel, was unable to catch him and Cavendish claims his 7th Tour stage win (his 3rd of this Tour). One more stage win will see him equal Barry Hoban's record.

It was business as usual within the peloton and there are no major changes in the overall standings although Bradley Wiggins drops to 7th (don't know why).

Nocentini is still in yellow.
Tony Martins is still in white.
Thor Hushovd is still in green.
Martinez is still in the polka dot jersey.

Stage 10 result:

Mark CAVENDISH GBR THR 04:46:43
Thor HUSHOVD NOR CTT +00:00:00
Tyler FARRAR USA GRM +00:00:00
Leonardo DUQUE COL COF +00:00:00
Jose Joaquin ROJAS ESP GCE +00:00:00
Lloyd MONDORY FRA ALM +00:00:00
Kenny Robert VAN HUMMEL NED SKS +00:00:00
William BONNET FRA BBO +00:00:00
Daniele BENNATI ITA LIQ +00:00:00
Saïd HADDOU FRA BBO +00:00:00

Overall Standings (GC):

Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM 39:11:04
Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST +00:00:06
Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST +00:00:08
Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST +00:00:54
Levi LEIPHEIMER USA AST +00:00:54
Tony MARTIN GER THR +00:01:00
Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM +00:01:01
Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM +00:01:24
Andy SCHLECK L UX SAX +00:01:49
Vincenzo NIBALI ITA LIQ +00:01:54

Stage 11 is VATAN > SAINT-FARGEAU, 192 km and is likely to favour the sprinters again.

 

[Burnham Beech]

Wiggins reprieved by Jury, back to 5th.

 

[mhku]

The UCI have voided the 15 second split on yesterday's stage, so the revised standings are:

Overall Standings:

Rank Dossard Name Country Team Time Gap
1 087 Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM 39h11'04'' 00''
2 021 Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST 39h11'10'' 06''
3 022 Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST 39h11'12'' 08''
4 024 Levi LEIPHEIMER USA AST 39h11'43'' 39''
5 058 Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM 39h11'50'' 46''
6 023 Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST 39h11'58'' 54''
7 076 Tony MARTIN GER THR 39h12'04'' 1'00''
8 051 Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM 39h12'28'' 1'24''
9 031 Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX 39h12'53'' 1'49''
10 095 Vincenzo NIBALI ITA LIQ 39h12'58'' 1'54''

And latest gossip is that some French riders are accusing Cavendish of being racist (French isn't a race so shouldn't that be nationalist)? Sounds a bit like sour grapes...

_http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15072009/58/tour-de-france-cavendish-accused-racist-remarks.html

More from today's stage later.

 

[mhku]

Tour de France - stage 11
VATAN > SAINT-FARGEAU, 192 km

Today was a fairly flat stage and saw Johan Van Summeren and Marcin Sapa escape after 24km and opened up a lead of more than 4 minutes over the peloton. The peloton eventually caught them as it got close to the finish and the peloton sped up.

Despite the efforts of the other teams Team Columbia HTC took to the front with 500m to go, with Thor Hushovd and Tyler Farrar following closely. As soon as Hushovd started to breal for the line Mark Cavendish responded and squeezed past him to take the win, closely followed by Farrar with Hushovd in 5th.

This was Cavendish's 4th win of this Tour and sees him back in the green Jersey. It was also his 8th Tour win and equals Barry Hoban's record for number of stages won by a UK rider.

Italian Rinaldo Nocentini keeps the yellow jersey leading Spain's Alberto Contador by six seconds and Lance Armstrong by eight.

Stage 11 results:

Mark CAVENDISH GBR THR 04:17:55
Tyler FARRAR USA GRM +00:00:00
Yauheni HUTAROVICH BLR FDJ +00:00:00
Oscar FREIRE ESP RAB +00:00:00
Thor HUSHOVD NOR CTT +00:00:00
Leonardo DUQUE COL COF +00:00:00
Gerald CIOLEK GER MRM +00:00:00
Lloyd MONDORY FRA ALM +00:00:00
William BONNET FRA BBO +00:00:00
Nicolaï TRUSSOV RUS KAT +00:00:00

Overall Standings (GC):

Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM 43:28:59
Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST +00:00:06
Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST +00:00:08
Levi LEIPHEIMER USA AST +00:00:39
Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM +00:00:46
Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST +00:00:54
Tony MARTIN GER THR +00:01:00
Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM +00:01:24
Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX +00:01:49
Vincenzo NIBALI ITA LIQ +00:01:54

Green Jersey standings (sprint):

Mark CAVENDISH GBR THR 176
Thor HUSHOVD NOR CTT 169
Jose Joaquin ROJAS ESP GCE 110
Tyler FARRAR USA GRM 110
Gerald CIOLEK GER MRM 100

Polka dot jersey standings (mountain):

Egoi MARTINEZ ESP EUS 79
Christophe KERN FRA COF 59
Franco PELLIZOTTI ITA LIQ 56
Brice FEILLU FRA AGR 49
Pierrick FEDRIGO FRA BBO 49
Overall Standings (GC):[/B]


Tomorrow's stage 12 is TONNERRE to VITTEL, 211.5 km and is slightly hill with a few category 4 and 5 climbs but a fairly flat finish. Altough after 211km will the sprinters have enough energy for a sprint finish?

 

[mhku]

Stage 12 is TONNERRE to VITTEL, 211.5 km

Nicki Sorensen of Saxo Bank won the 12th stage of the Tour de France in Vittel.

The Dane was part of a seven-man breakaway that formed 64 kilometers into the 211.5km ride from Tonnerre which featured six minor climbs.

Sorensen, who won a stage at the Vuelta a Espana in 2005 and has twice been Danish champion, attacked his fellow escapees with 22km to go.

Due to the gradient of the route, with the steep third category Cote de Bourmont coming just 40km from the finish, Mark Cavendish's Columbia-HTC team opted not to chase down the lead septet.

Cavendish beat points jersey rival Thor Hushovd to the line for the battle for eighth place, and after also pipping the Norwegian at the opening intermediate sprint, the Manxman extended his lead to 10 points in the battle for green.

Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini, whose AG2R team rode tempo on the front of the peloton for most of the day, retained the overall leader's yellow jersey ahead of Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, second and third overall respectively.

Seven-times champion Armstrong suffered a puncture on the fourth of the climbs, the Cote de Marlaix, but came home in the main group, 5:58 behind the winner.

His Astana team suffered a potential blow when American Levi Leipheimer, fourth overall, crashed towards the end of the stage.

Leipheimer, who will be credited with the bunch's time as his fall happened in the last three kilometres, has bruises on his left thigh, said Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens.

"He went straight to the hotel, he did not look happy," he said.

Australian Cadel Evans, runner-up in the last two editions, also fell off his bike in similar circumstances.

src: eurosport.yahoo.com

Stage 12 results:

Nicki SORENSEN DEN SAX 04:52:24
Laurent LEFEVRE FRA BBO +00:00:48
Franco PELLIZOTTI ITA LIQ +00:00:48
Markus FOTHEN GER MRM +00:00:48
Egoi MARTINEZ ESP EUS +00:00:48
Sylvain CALZATI FRA AGR +00:00:48
Rémi PAURIOL FRA COF +00:01:33
Mark CAVENDISH GBR THR +00:05:58
Thor HUSHOVD NOR CTT +00:05:58
Marco BANDIERA ITA LAM +00:05:58

Overall standings (GC):

Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM 48:27:21
Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST +00:00:06
Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST +00:00:08
Levi LEIPHEIMER USA AST +00:00:39
Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM +00:00:46
Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST +00:00:54
Tony MARTIN GER THR +00:01:00
Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM +00:01:24
Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX +00:01:49
Vincenzo NIBALI ITA LIQ +00:01:54


Stage 13 tomorrow is VITTEL to COLMAR, 200 km and sees some big climbs including two category 1 climbs although the finish is not at the top and is downhill for a few km into Colmar. No doubt tactics and who is in any breakaways will dictate whether the peloton chase down any breakaways- will Evans try to make up some time before the Alps or will he be too heavily marked?

 

[mhku]

Bad news for Atsana- news that Levi Leipheimer broke his wrist in yesterday's crash and is out of the TdF.

(photo by Lance Armstrong via Twitter).

 

[mhku]

Stage 13 VITTEL to COLMAR, 200 km

Today's stage 13 in the Vosege mountains was one by Heinrich Haussler (who spent his early years in Australia). The Cervelo rider finished four minutes and 11 seconds ahead of Euskaltel's Amets Txurruka, after a 200km ride in pouring rain from Vittel that included 5 mountain climbs including the category one ascent of the Platzerwasel.

Franco Pelizotti took the polka dot jersey from Egoi Martinez after taking 12 points for fifth on the final climb of the day while Thor Hushovd retakes the green jersey from Mark Cavendish after finishing 6th in the stage.

There is no change to the yellow jersey although since Levi Leipheimer's retirement owing to a fractured wrist Bradley Wiggings is now in 4th place.

Stage 13 result:

Heinrich HAUSSLER GER CTT 04:56:26
Amets TXURRUKA ESP EUS +00:04:11
Brice FEILLU FRA AGR +00:06:13
Sylvain CHAVANEL FRA QST +00:06:31
Peter VELITS SVK MRM +00:06:43
Thor HUSHOVD NOR CTT +00:06:43
Vladimir EFIMKIN RUS ALM +00:06:43
Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM +00:06:43
George HINCAPIE USA THR +00:06:43
Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX +00:06:43


Overall standings:

Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM 53:30:30
Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST +00:00:06
Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST +00:00:08
Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM +00:00:46
Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST +00:00:54
Tony MARTIN GER THR +00:01:00
Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM +00:01:24
Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX +00:01:49
Vincenzo NIBALI ITA LIQ +00:01:54
Luis-Leon SANCHEZ ESP GCE +00:02:16

Jersey holders

Yellow * NOCENTINI R.ALM
Green * HUSHOVD T.CTT
Polka Dot * PELLIZOTTI F.LIQ
White * MARTIN T.

Stage 14 is COLMAR to BESANÇON , 199 km and has a few hills but has a fairly flat finish that may seem Mark Cavendish try to win a few intermediate sprints as well as the stage win to retake the green jersey.

 

[mhku]

Stage 14 COLMAR to BESANÇON , 199 km

Today's stage was won by Ivanov of Team Katusha but Big George Hincapie nearly got the yellow jersey today as he was in the breakaway that finished more than 5 minutes ahead of the peloton. He needed to be 5' 25" ahead of the peloton but his Team Columbia teammates while doing their best to slow down the peloton were also at the front to lead in Mark Cavendish for green jersey points.

In the end it was disappointment on both counts: Mark Cavendish was stripped of his sprint points today for cutting up Thor Hushovd in the final sprint and the peloton finished 5'20" behind big George, who misses out on yellow by 5 seconds. As an aside, this is George Hincapie's 14th TdF and he raced during each of Lance Armstrong's 7 TdF victories.

With the Alps tomorrow that's the end of the race for the green Jersey for a few days and things should get a bit more exciting now.

Today's results:

Serguei IVANOV RUS KAT 04:37:46
Nicolas ROCHE IRL ALM +00:00:16
Hayden ROULSTON NZL CTT +00:00:16
Martijn MAASKANT NED GRM +00:00:16
Sébastien MINARD FRA COF +00:00:16
Daniele RIGHI ITA LAM +00:00:16
Christophe LE MEVEL FRA FDJ +00:00:16
George HINCAPIE USA THR +00:00:16
Daniele BENNATI ITA LIQ +00:00:16
Gerald CIOLEK GER MRM +00:00:22


Overall Standings:

Rinaldo NOCENTINI ITA ALM 58:13:52
George HINCAPIE USA THR +00:00:05
Alberto CONTADOR ESP AST +00:00:06
Lance ARMSTRONG USA AST +00:00:08
Christophe LE MEVEL FRA FDJ +00:00:43
Bradley WIGGINS GBR GRM +00:00:46
Andréas KLÖDEN GER AST +00:00:54
Tony MARTIN GER THR +00:01:00
Christian VANDE VELDE USA GRM +00:01:24
Andy SCHLECK LUX SAX +00:01:49


Jerseys:

Yellow- NOCENTINI R. ALM
Green- HUSHOVD T. CTT
Polka Dot - PELLIZOTTI F. LIQ
White - MARTIN T. THR

Tomorrow is stage 15 from PONTARLIER to VERBIER, 207.5 km. This is the first Alpine stage and finishes with a category 1 climb up to Verbier and should see a change to the yellow jersey and a shake up of the GC standings. Who will make a break: Contador, Armstrong, Evans, A. Schleck or will Sastre show some of the form he showed in the Giro d'Italia?

EDIT: It seems there are some professional rivalries involved between team managers, which is why team Garmin took to the front of the peloton towards the end of the race and closed the gap to stop Hincapie getting yellow: velonews.com/article/95404

And the helicopter view of Cavendish at the finish line does not support the race referees decision to give him 0 points. The referre also stated he would not listen to an appeal by Team Columbia.

 

[mhku]

The most exciting day since the Tour started sees Contador in yellow and Bradley Wiggins in 3rd place.

Contador attacked on the run up to Verbier and left Lance Armstrong unable to respond although Andy Schleck followed and put up a good fight, closely followed by brother Frank Schleck. Bradley Wiggins put in an impressive performance and finished just ahead of Carlos Sastre.

Stage 15 results:

* 1.CONTADOR A. AST 5h 03' 58"
* 2.SCHLECK A. SAX 00' 43"
* 3.NIBALI V. LIQ 01' 03"
* 4.SCHLECK F. SAX 01' 06"
* 5.WIGGINS B. GRM 01' 06"
* 6.SASTRE C. CTT 01' 06"
* 7.EVANS C. SIL 01' 26"
* 8.KLÖDEN A. AST 01' 29"
* 9.ARMSTRONG L. AST 01' 35"
* 10.KIRCHEN K. THR 01' 55"

Overall Standings:

* 1.CONTADOR A. AST 63h 17' 56"
* 2.ARMSTRONG L. AST 01' 37"
* 3.WIGGINS B. GRM 01' 46"
* 4.KLÖDEN A. AST 02' 17"
* 5.SCHLECK A. SAX 02' 26"
* 6.NOCENTINI R. ALM 02' 30"
* 7.NIBALI V. LIQ 02' 51"
* 8.MARTIN T. THR 03' 07"
* 9.LE MEVEL C. FDJ 03' 09"
* 10.SCHLECK F. SAX 03' 25"

Contador has shown who is the leader of team Astana and looked extremely happy during the stage win presentation: yellow jersey, stage win and stamped his authortiy on team Astana.

Tomorrow is a rest day and tuesday is Stage 16 from MARTIGNY to BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE, 159 km with two big Alpine climbs. There are 3 other mountain stages to follow, with the much awaited Mont Ventoux the day before Paris.