2012 Tour de France Stage 17, 7/19/12

I'm back from vacation and slacking...

Sorry for not keeping up with the blog. I'm not going to post all the stages I missed, but i will try to post from here on out:

July 19, Stage 17: Bagnères-de-Luchon - Peyragudes 143.5km

Valverde lays claim to final mountain stage

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-17/results)

Alejandro Valverde salvaged the 2012 Tour de France for himself and his Movistar squad as the Spaniard soloed to victory on stage 17, the final day in the high mountains. Valverde, part of the day's early escape, rode the final 35km of the Pyrenean stage from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Peyragudes alone, having dispatched of his breakaway companions for good on the hors categorie-rated ascent of the Port de Bales.

Sky's Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome once again asserted their dominance, dropping their general classification rivals on the mountain finish to Peyragudes to cross the line together just 19 seconds in arrears of Valverde. In the final kilometre, as the Sky duo had dropped the remains of a very select group formed on the climb to the finish, it appeared that Froome had the legs to bridge to Valverde, but Wiggins' super domestique backed off the throttle to pace Wiggins to the finish line.

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) crossed the finish for fourth three seconds later while Pierre Rolland (Europcar) pipped Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) for fifth at 26 seconds.

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) arrived alone in seventh place, 18 seconds behind the Sky duo of Froome and Wiggins, on a stage which must have proved bitterly disappointing for the Sicilian. Starting the day third on general classification behind the Sky pair, Nibali had his team on the front of the peloton for most of the stage in an attempt to crack Wiggins and Sky. In the stage finale, however, the Sicilian did not have the legs to even launch an attack on the climb to Peyragudes as he found himself in the final selection of Wiggins, Froome, Pinot, Rolland, Van den Broeck, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan).

Wiggins remains first on general classification, continuing to lead his teammate Froome by 2:05. Nibali keeps his third place position, but ceded some time on the final day in the mountains to trail Wiggins by 2:41. Jurgen Van den Broeck maintains his fourth place position overall, at 5:53, while BMC teammates Tejay van Garderen and Cadel Evans each move up a position to fifth and sixth respectively as Haimar Zubeldia(RadioShack-Nissan) cracked in the stage's endgame and dropped from fifth to eighth at 10:11.

Last chance for the climbers

At just 143.5km in length, the shortest and last stage in the Tour's high mountains provided a tantalizing medium for several Tour sub-plots to perhaps find resolution. With a 53.5km individual time trial on Saturday, Nibali's final chance to put time into Wiggins and Froome, both more talented against the clock, would be today.

The mountains classification was still very much up for grabs between Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), ensconced in polka dots after sweeping all four KOMs en route to stage victory yesterday, and Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana), who lost the jersey the previous day but trailed the Frenchman by just four points, 107 to 103. As a maximum of 65 points were up for grabs on the day's five classified climbs, the polka dot jersey could still change hands.

And finally, only eight different teams had scored stage wins thus far in the Tour, and many squads with talented climbers yet to leave their mark on this year's La Grande Boucle were itching for a chance to deliver a stage victory on the last day of climbing.

Attacks were launched from the gun as the peloton sped out of Bagnères-de-Luchon, but nothing stuck until the peloton arrived at the lower slopes of the day's first ascent, the category 1 Col de Menté.

A fairly large group went out on the attack with riders such as Denis Menchov (Katusha), Movistar's Juan Jose Cobo and Alejandro Valverde, Europcar's Pierre Rolland and Thomas Voeckler, Chris Horner
(RadioShack-Nissan) and Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) prominent in the mix on the mist-shrouded ascent.

The battle for the mountains classification picked up where it left off yesterday as Voeckler and Kessiakoff locked horns again. Voeckler's teammate Rolland was alone in the lead near the climb's summit, but waited for his team captain after Kessiakoff dropped Voeckler. With Rolland's help, Voeckler reached Kessiakoff in time to take maximum points atop the Menté, with Kessiakoff taking second.

On a wet and dangerous descent, conditions almost as treacherous as those which spelled Luis Ocana's doom in the 1971 Tour de France, Vincenzo Nibali took advantage of his descending prowess to bridge the gap from the maillot jaune group to the break. Sky remained vigilant, however, and closed the gap to within 20 seconds, prompting Nibali to sit up and be caught while the break could once again stretch its advantage.

Seven riders emerged at the head of affairs after the descent of the Col de Menté including Voeckler, Kessiakoff, Movistar's Alejandro Valverde and Rui Costa, Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale).

Additionally, an 11-man chase group had escaped from the peloton in pursuit of the leaders. On the attack in this selection were Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM), Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Gorka Izaguirre and Jorge Azana (both Euskaltel-Euskadi), Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEdge), Ruben Plaza (Movistar), Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Simone Stortoni (Lampre-ISD) and Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank).

On the summit of the next climb, the category 1 Col de Ares at 55.5km, Voeckler once again edged Kessiakoff for top honours, extending his lead on the KOM standings to eight points, 122 to 114.

After another tricky descent the chase group finally made contact with the seven leaders, albeit without one member, Chris Anker Sorensen, who suffered an injury to several fingers as he tried to extract a newspaper from his front wheel at the top of the descent. Sorensen received treatment from the Tour doctor and returned to the peloton.

Liquigas-Cannondale continued to set the pace in the peloton and kept the break's lead pegged at approximately 2:30 as Voeckler once again beat Kessiakoff to the stage's next KOM, the category 3 Côte de Burs with 67.5km remaining.

Port de Bales looms

With the monster ascent of stage 17 looming, the hors categorie Port de Bales, the Euskaltel duo of Azana and Izaguirre attacked the break and were joined by Kadri on the wooded, false flat valley road leading to the base of the climb. The three Movistar riders tapped out a steady tempo for the remainder of the escapees while the Liquigas-led peloton continued to trail at 2:30.

Once the leaders began to ascend the Port de Bales whatever cohesion remaining in the group remained was shattered as the better climbers pushed the pace. At the front Izaguirre and Kadri dropped Azana while four riders emerged from the chase group: Valverde, Costa, Leipheimer and Martinez. The quartet would catch Izaguirre and Kadri with 8.5km of climbing remaining to the summit and almost immediately Costa surged ahead alone in the lead.

Five kilometres from the summit, Costa still climbed alone in the lead while the first chase group was trimmed to contain just Valverde, Martinez and Leipheimer, who at 15 seconds back had the Portuguese rider in sight. Further down the slope Voeckler was glued to Kessiakoff's wheel, the duo one minute behind Costa, while Liquigas-Cannondale's tempo had reduced the yellow jersey group to approximately 30 riders.

Soon Valverde made his move with a sharp surge that immediately distanced Martinez and Leipheimer. The Spaniard crossed the gap to his Movistar teammate Rui Costa with ease and after sharing the pace for several hundred metres Valverde's pace proved too much for Costa as well.

Once Valverde ascended through the tree line the mist enshrouding the climb disappeared as he kept a steady rhythm through the exposed switchbacks approaching the Port de Bales summit. Valverde took maximum points at the top, followed by Costa and Martinez. Kadri and Leipheimer crossed together in fourth and fifth, while Voeckler once again outsprinted Kessiakoff at a KOM for the fourth time today as the pair rode topped the hors categorie climb in sixth and seventh place respectively.

The select maillot jaune group was led over the KOM by Jurgen Van den Broeck, who accelerated in the approach to the summit, and still trailing Valverde by more than two minutes.

After another treacherous, Pyrenean descent the race had now arrived at the final kick to the finish, first ascending the Col de Peyresourde on the side they descended the previous day, followed by a turn onto the climb of the Peyragudes for the stage finish.

With Liquigas-Cannondale still setting the tempo in the maillot jaune group, one-by-one the escapees were absorbed and dropped on the Peyresourde until only Valverde remained off the front. At 10.5km to go Valverde still held a lead of 2:20, but the strain of his day's effort began to creep into his pedal stroke while behind the yellow jersey group's tempo increased significantly as attacks started to occur.

After cresting the Peyresourde and enjoying a bit of recovery on a short descent, Valverde began his climb to the finish at Peyragudes with a lead reduced to 1:15 ahead of a 14-rider group containing the general classification contenders. The maillot jaune group was led by Liquigas-Cannondale's Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali, with the Sicilian still not showing any sign of aggression since his initial dig in the early portion of the stage.

Indeed it would be Lotto Belisol who would commence attacking on the final climb, as Jelle Vanendert sped up the road soon to be joined by teammate Jurgen Van den Broeck. A re-shuffling took place culminating with eight riders climbing together in pursuit of Valverde: Wiggins, Froome, Nibali, Van den Broeck, Pinot, Rolland, Horner and van Garderen.

Wiggins had a word with Froome and soon Froome upped the tempo enough to drop everyone but his teammate in the yellow jersey. Soon, however, even Wiggins couldn't handle the pace as they drove into the final kilometre, rapidly closing the gap to Valverde who was clinging to hopes of a stage win with all his might. Froome waited for his captain, however, and while they may have lost the opportunity for another Sky stage win, they crossed the finish line together 19 seconds behind the Spanish stage winner and ahead of their general classification rivals yet again. As was the case to the finish in La Toussuire, however, the question remained as to who amongst the Sky duo was indeed the strongest.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team	4:12:11
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:19
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
4	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat	0:00:22
5	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	0:00:26
6	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:37
8	Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:00:54
9	Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan	0:01:02
10	Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp	0:01:11

2012 Tour de France Stage 9, 7/09/12

July 9, Stage 9: Arc-et-Senans - Besançon (ITT) 41.5km

Wiggins crushes time trial in Besançon

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-9/results)

Team Sky stamped their authority on the Tour de France with a commanding display in the 41.5-kilometre time trial to Besançon. Race leader Bradley Wiggins won in a time of 51:24 with teammate Chris Froome in second at 35 seconds. The result moved Froome up to third in the general classification and strengthened Wiggins’s grip on yellow.

Defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC) lost time at each time check point before finishing 6th, 1:43 behind Wiggins. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), who started the day in third place overall, managed to limit his losses, finishing in 8th, 2:07 down on Wiggins, and now lies 4th in the race for yellow.

"I'm just really pleased with how I put the day together, mentally, too. The noise when I rolled off the ramp was incredible and not letting that phase me and not going out too hard. So I’m just really satisfied with how I put the whole day together an that’s what I’ve been focusing. So at the moment it’s just relief and pride in myself for doing that," Wiggins said.

"When I get back tonight, that when you start thinking about the context of how it fits into the whole Tour and everything. Numbers are being thrown around, you got this on Cadel, this on him but at the moment it’s a lot to take in."

Heading into the stage BMC had hoped to limit their losses to less than a minute but after just a few kilometres of Evans’s ride Wiggins was up on the 2011 winner. At the first time check, 16.5km into the stage, Wiggins cruised through at a time of 21:05, five seconds up on Froome but already over a minute up on Evans. The Sky pair obliterated the time of Fabian Cancellara and from there Evans began a campaign of damage limitation.

At the second time check at 31.5 kilometres it looked to be working with Wiggins only adding 19 seconds to his time on the Australian but by the finish the British rider had extended his lead to 1:43, the exact time gap between the two riders posted at last month’s Dauphine.

Earlier in the day, world time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) cut a sorry figure on the start ramp in Arc-et-Senans. With a wrist strapped due to a broken bone the German was perhaps riding his last stage in this year’s Tour but his luck, which as deserted him throughout the race, was in no mood of changing, and within the first few kilometres suffered a puncture. Despite the misfortune Martin posted the fastest time at each check point to take an early but incomprehensive lead.

Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) put Martin out of his misery setting a time 39 seconds faster at the first check, and 1:19 quicker at the finish. However, when French time trial champion Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) came through the first check just a handful of seconds down on the Swiss rider, it was clear that the former world time trial champion was far from firing on all cylinders.

It wasn’t until Tejay van Garderen (BMC) came through the first check three seconds faster that it was confirmed that Cancellara would not repeat his prologue success. The American, riding in just his second Tour, looked at ease over the testing first part of the course, catching Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) for three minutes and going fastest at the second check. Although he tired by the finish, crossing the line nine seconds down on Cancellara, the RadioShack-Nissan rider’s position was in the line of fire.

By now the GC contenders, Froome included in that echelon, were on the road. The Kenyan-born rider, who beat Wiggins in an individual time trial at the Vuelta last September, stormed to a 24-second lead at the first check. Denis Menchov (Katusha), in his Russian national time trial champion's kit, could only manage 7th with Nibali in 10th and Evans 12th. Wiggins was still to reach the 16.5km mark but his rhythm and speed looked on course, and he crossed the check point five seconds faster than Froome.

Sky’s Froome was looking almost as assured as Wiggins in his time trial position, out of the saddle on the rolling terrain, and faster than Van Garderen at the second check point. Wiggins came in 16 seconds faster than Froome, cementing his position as Sky’s undoubted leader in the race.

Menchov crossed the line, then Nibali, but both were off the pace and looking set to lose over two minutes. Froome meanwhile had crushed Cancellara by 22 seconds with just Evans and Wiggins left on the road.

Having gained 35 seconds on Froome, 1:43 on Evans and over 2 minutes on his nearest rival Wiggins will be greatly satisfied with his day and tomorrow’s rest day will give the British rider time to let the events sink in. The Tour is far from over but Wiggins has landed a heavy blow.

Full Results

1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:51:24
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:35
3	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:57
4	Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:01:06
5	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep	0:01:24
6	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:01:43
7	Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-QuickStep	0:01:59
8	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:02:07
9	Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team	0:02:08
10	Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan	0:02:09

2012 Tour de France Stage 8, 7/08/12

July 8, Stage 8: Belfort - Porrentruy 157.5km

Pinot rides to glory in Porrentruy

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-8/results)

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) pulled off a famous home victory in stage 8 of the 2012 Tour de France. The Tour’s youngest competitor passed leader Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana) with 17km to race and launched a bold attack that left him with enough of a gap to hold off a host of big name challengers who pursued him intensely, but ultimately in vain, over the final kilometres. There were ecstatic scenes of jubilation from the home fans and from Pinot’s team as he crossed the line with 26 seconds to spare.

Cadel Evans (BMC) took second place ahead of Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan). Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins kept his GC rival Evans comfortably in his sights and retained the yellow jersey with his fourth placed finish.

"Those were the longest ten kilometers of my life," Pinot said afterward. "When I saw 10km to go and the peloton was coming back, I was really afraid."

Pinot was able to take advantage of having a teammate in the breakaway all day, and he dedicated the victory to Jeremy Roy. "When Jeremy [Roy] was away I wasn't really riding, and then he truly sacrificed himself for me. I'm really happy."

The young Frenchman looked set to take over the white jersey from Cofidis's Rein Taaramae, but the Estonian battled back to come in 2:21 behind the winner to save his best young rider classification.

Pinot was overjoyed with his stage victory, but played down his chances for the overall classification. "Tomorrow my legs will really hurt so I have no real plans for the rest of the Tour, I will take it day by day."

The tone for the 157km stage, which contained a grand total of seven categorised climbs, was set very early on as Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) led an early break of ten riders. Within a few kilometres Voigt was on his own but a few minutes later he was passed and dropped by Roy.

As Roy ploughed a lone furrow up the road, 60km in there was a major crash involving three Spaniards – Samuel Sanchez, Jorge Azanza (both Euskaltel-Esukadi) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). In the end it was Sanchez who came off worst, with the 2008 Olympic road race champion having to withdraw with injuries that include a broken collarbone and a dislocated shoulder. It will take a miracle for him to be declared fit to defend his Olympic title in London at the end of this month.

Meanwhile, further up the road, Roy was caught by Kessiakoff with just over 80km to go and the two men worked together to build a healthy lead over the rest of the pack. Pinot then made his first significant move of the afternoon, attacking from the main peloton and forming part of a large 22-man group that went off in chase of the two leaders.

Shortly before the fifth categorised climb of the day – the Cote de Saulcy – Pinot launched a successful bid to bridge the gap to the leading duo, joined by Kevin de Weert (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Steven Kruiswijk (Rabobank). Kessiakoff responded immediately and attacked, opening up a lead that peaked at 1:45 and one that he would hold until well inside the final 20km.

Pinot and Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) burst clear of the pack and Pinot eventually proved the stronger, passing Kessiakoff with 17km left – just at the top of the final Col de la Croix climb. He then made a daring bid for the winning line on the fast descent into Porrentruy, chased by some of the race’s biggest favourites. Evans, Wiggins, Nibali, Menchov and Frank Schleck were amongst the names that went off in hot pursuit of the youngster.

With these stellar names bearing down on him, it would have been excusable if such a relatively inexperienced rider buckled. But the 22-year-old, who rode through his home town on yesterday’s seventh stage, held his nerve impressively and had time to savour the final 200 metres before celebrating what is easily the biggest win of his highly promising career to date.

As for Wiggins, he find himself in a commanding position - tomorrow's stage is a 41.5km individual time trial that should play to his strengths. But as he revealed on the Team Sky website after the finish, today's stage wasn't as easy as he had anticipated.

"That stage was a lot harder than I expected it to be," he said. "The boys were incredible again today and really marshalled the race. They set us up to be able to go with the others on that last climb.

"Early on we had to wait to let the right break go, and that took a long time and a lot of work. We were racing from the off and that didn’t stop for two hours really. The peloton was decimated and it was a tough day for a lot of people. We’re still in a fantastic position after this first week and that’s two tough days down now. We’ve got a time trial ahead of us now and then a rest day."

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat	3:56:10
2	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:00:26
3	Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan
4	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
5	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
6	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
7	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
8	Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
10	Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:30

2012 Tour de France Stage 7, 7/07/12

July 7, Stage 7: Tomblaine - La Planche des Belles Filles 199km

Froome leads double Sky success on La Planche des Belles Filles

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-7/results)

In shades of the 2011 Vuelta a España, Christopher Froome  led a doubly successful stage for Team Sky on the first mountaintop finish of the 2012 Tour de France. He was the only one who could match and top Cadel Evans (BMC) in the brutal final 100 meters of the climb up La Planche des Belles Filles in the seventh stage. Evans was second, with Sky's Bradley Wiggins third.

Fabian Cancellara fought long and hard but had to drop back on the climb. Wiggins thus moved into the overall lead. Evans is now second at 10 seconds, with Vincenzo Nibali third at 16 seconds, as the top ten was tossed around.

“It wasn't the plan to go for the stage, it was just keeping Brad up there,” said an overjoyed Froome. “But we came to see the climb previously and I knew what the finish was like. I thought, 'I'm there, I've got the legs, why not give a kick and see what happens?' I gave it a nudge and couldn't believe when Cadel didn't follow my wheel."

The end result was the icing on the cake of a dominant performance by Team Sky, who drove the pace and whittled down the field on the newest climb in the Tour. They dropped several big names along the way, due to either crash-related injuries, mechanicals or simply an inability to stay with the high speed set mainly by Edvald Boasson Hagen, Michael Rogers and finally Richie Porte.

In the end, Froome and Wiggins led the high-powered group with Evans and Nibali into the final kilometer. The Froome-Wiggins combination was a familiar one from the 2011 Vuelta a Espana, and once again Froome showed his superior climbing abilities. Evans was the first to jump from the group as the gradient eased, and only Froome could go with him. As the road kicked up again, Froome passed the Australian to claim his first Tour de France stage victory.

“I was expecting someone to surge on that flat bit, and Cadel came through. I jumped onto his wheel. I could see him slowly hurting as the climb got steeper. that was fantastic for us. Having Bradley right there 2 seconds behind, We couldn't ask for more. It puts the team in a fantastic position going forward.

“I'm speechless. That was a dream come true. I never thought of winning a stage here. I'm chuffed to bits.”

While the main battle played out between Evans and Froome for the stage win, Vincenzo Nibali and Rein Taaramae had minor victories of their own, becoming the only other riders to hang onto the front of the race. The Cofidis rider moved into the white jersey of best young rider after Tejay Van Garderen was dropped early in the climb, while Nibali moved into third overall, now 16 seconds behind Wiggins.

With his stage win, Froome also displaced Michael Morkov as best climber, while Peter Sagan padded his lead in the points classification in the intermediate sprint.

A reduced field

There were 12 fewer riders at the start of the seventh stage, four of them having abandoned during Friday's stage. All eight DNF's today were victims of the many crashes in the sixth stage, including Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal. They were soon enough joined by Anthony Delaplace of Saur-Sojasun.

About 20 km into the stage, an escape group formed and got away: Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana), Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), and Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge). The gap reached a maximum of about six minutes before settling in at around five and a half minutes.

The only excitement in the first half of the stage came at the intermediate sprint. Orica-GreenEdge looked to determined to take the remaining points for Matt Goss, but the team seemed to have started its jump far too early. In the end, Peter Sagan of Liquigas sailed on by the Australian to add to his lead.

The first two climbs of the day – the Col de Grosse Pierre and the Col du Mont de Fourche (both category three) - did nothing at all. The seven leaders rolled right over them, although on the approach to the latter, Sanchez complained about the fans running alongside.

The gap finally started coming down for good with about 40 km – and the final category one climb – to go. As the road went up and the gap went down, more and more sprinters and injured riders fell back.

The Planche de Belles Filles was an unknown factor, as it was making its Tour debut. The 5.9km closing climb featured an average gradient of 8.5 percent, with sections up to 13 percent, and the final 100 meters at 14 percent.

Garmin was suffering the loss of three riders, with others having dropped back, but those remaining riders spent much time at the front of the field. They were finally replaced by Bosson Hagen, who led the capture of Gautier, the first rider to fall out of the lead group.

Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) suffered a mechanical with about 11km to go, and had to race hard to try and catch the field again. Adam Hansen was there to help him, but it was a long haul. Alejandro Valverde punctured shortly thereafter, so another top rider had dropped out of the main field.

Boasson Hagen put up such a speed that the field split. And only moments after starting the final climb, the lead group was caught. But the brutal pace and the new climb did their work, as more and more riders suffered, including Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Philippe Gilbert (BMC) ad Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).

With five km still to climb, Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) had to bid farewell to the lead group, the overall lead and his yellow jersey. Only a small group went into the final four km – but neither Fränk Schleck nor Andreas Klöden was among them.

In there, though were Wiggins, Evans, Nibali, Boasson Hagen, Froome, Richie Porte, Rein Taramaae and Denis Menchov.

Froome, who proved himself in last year's Vuelta a Espana, took over from Boasson Hagen and pulled the increasingly smaller group up the final climb. Even Menchov fell back with less than two km to go.

Froome, Wiggins, Evans, Nibali and Taaramae went together unter the flamme rouge. Evans moved into the lead with 400 m to go and the sprint started. Taaramae was dropped it was Froome who made his move on the 14% gradient to take the win, with Evans taking second and Wiggins third.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:58:35
2	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:00:02
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
4	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:07
5	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	0:00:19
6	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:44
7	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	0:00:46
8	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
9	Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team	0:00:50
10	Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:56

Favorite Pictures of the Day:

Sagan doing a wheelie as he crosses the finish line

L. Sanchez awarded Most Agressive Rider...after punching a spectator who got too close. :)

2012 Tour de France Stage 3, 7/03/12

July 3, Stage 3: Orchies - Boulogne-sur-Mer 197km

Sagan dances to second Tour de France stage win

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-3/results)

Peter Sagan danced his way to his second Tour de France win in stage 3 to Boulogne-sur-Mer. The Slovakian champion and green jersey holder unleashed his powerful acceleration in the final hundred meters, distancing Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), who held on for second over Peter Velits of Omega Pharma-QuickStep. A fourth place finish was enough for RadioShack-Nissan's Fabian Cancellara to hold on to his overall lead.

The final climb saw a large group going up for the win in a difficult situation. Oscar Freire of Katusha was squeezed in the dash for the line by a Vacansoleil rider, and set off a crash. It was mostly contained on one side of the road, holding up a number of riders already out of contention for the stage, but all were given the same time as the main bunch. Held up was Denis Menchov (Katusha), Bradley Wiggins and his Sky Procycling teammate Chris Froome. The latter toppled into the barriers but emerged unscathed.

The day was marked by climbs and crashes in the last half of the day. Garmin-Sharp suffered the worst luck of the bunch, although Ryder Hesjedal overcame a late-race puncture to regain the front group and ultimately finish the stage in 12th, the rest of the team's climbers - Dan Martin, Christian Vande Velde and Tom Danielson, in addition to sprinter Tyler Farrar, were held up by a large crash in the final 20km and never regained the front of the race.

Team Sky lost one important helper in Kanstantsin Siutsou, who abandoned after a crash, as did Movistar's sprinter JJ Rojas.

Mørkøv strikes again

Once again, all 198 riders were at the start in Orchies, with the race having finally moved into France. It took only five kilometers for the day's group to form. Andriy Grivko (Astana), Giovanni Bernaudeau (Europcar), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sebastien Minard (AG2R) and Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) took off and quickly built up a gap of 5:40 by km 30. That was enough for the field, and it soon came down to under five minutes.

It was a return appearance for Mørkøv, who has been in the escape group for all three road stages. He took the mountain jersey in the first stage and gathered points one by one in the first two stage to hold on to it.

With some 107km to go, RadioShack got help with the chase. Sylvester Szmyd of Liquigas turned up at the head of the field, an obvious signal that Peter Sagan would be looking for his chance in the difficult last half of the stage.

The first half of the stage was nearly dead flat, and the field was happy enough to roll along, keeping the break group on a long rein, knowing that the fireworks would come soon enough.

The break group rolled right under the intermediate sprint banner as if it were not there, but things were different behind them.

GreenEdge led the charge for the intermediate sprint, and it was a wild sprint. Mark Cavendish looked like he was boxed in but as so often, managed to pull it out at the last minute. And he even turned back to have a word with Kenny Van Hummel of Vacansoleil, who had unnecessarily boxed him in.

As expected, Mørkøv took advantage of being in the lead group to grab the points at the first climb of the day.

Climbing and crashing

And as the field moved onto the narrow roads that would take them over the climbs, the crashes started. Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal was involved in an early one. Only minutes later a more serious crash took out Kanstantsin Siutsou (Sky), who became the first rider to abandon the race.

With 37km to go and a gap of about 2:30, the break group kicked up the speed, and managed to drop one of their number, Bernaudeau. Mørkøv took the points on the second climb as well. The peloton picked up their speed as well, to cut the gap. Between the acceleration and the climbs, the sprinters, especially the wounded ones, started dropping off the back.

Not long there after another crash took down a number of riders, including Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge). JJ Rojas (Movistar) and Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) appeared to be injured, Rojas abandoned with an suspected broken collarbone. The crash also split the field, with many riders having a long way to go to catch up again. Even Philippe Gilbert was apparently caught up in it.

Things were frantic form there on. The lead group tried its hardest to stay away, but BMC grabbed control of the chase group and brought the gap down dramatically. Riders were desperate to get up to the front, but Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) was busy with a stuck rear derailleur and waved down the neutral support car for repairs.

Grivko and Sanchez took the next climb alone in the lead, but with only 16km to go, there were still three more to come.

Gilbert, thought to be a favourite for this stage, was stuck back in one of the chase groups, as was Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), and both were struggling.

Yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) was still in the large first group, as were top race favourites Cadel Evans (BMC) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky). Peter Sagan must also have been there, as a Liquigas rider was often in the lead. And with 10.5km to go, raindrops started to appear.

At the 10km marker, Mørkøv and Grivko had only 28 seconds on the high-powered chase group, and still two more climbs to go. And at 7.3m to go, Mørkøv was caught, leaving the Astana rider alone with a minimal lead. He too was soon overtaken by the chase group.

With 5.5km to go, Sylvain Chavanel of Omega Pharma-QuickStep attacked out of the field. It was familiar terrain for the Frenchman and he popped over the last rise before a long descent, and gradually pulled away.

A roundabout with 2km to go gave Chavanel a problem, and in the peloton behind, Movistar's Alejandro Valverde also had difficulties with it: both had to brake hard and lost ground as the final climb to the finish approached.

Chavanel retained his lead going into the final kilometer, but the thundering horde gave him no chance. Although a crash halfway up broke up the field, the powerful sprinters at the front sailed past the Frenchman.

GreenEdge's Michael Albasini led the way up, but Sagan jumped by him and easily went on for the win, whilst behind him, Boasson Hagen and Velits struggled up the steep climb to fill out the podium.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale	4:42:58
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling	0:00:01
3	Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
4	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
5	Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
6	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
7	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
8	Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

Other Favorite Picture of the Day:

RadioShack Nissan Team riding

2012 Tour de France Prologue, 6/30/12

Unless there is an article that really interests me, I will be only focusing on the Tour de France this year. I will post my own recaps if I can, but I will mostly be using cyclingnews.com like I have been recently.

June 30, Prologue: Liège (ITT) 6.4km

Cancellara wins 2012 Tour de France prologue in Liège

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/prologue/results)

There was something almost inevitable about it: the scene was perfect, the timing essential, and the man in form. Eight years after his first prologue win in Liege in the Tour de France, ‘Monsieur Prologue’ Fabian Cancellara rolled back the years to claim his fourth Tour de France prologue, with a comprehensive win in the Belgian city on Saturday. 

The RadioShack-Nissan rider turned out a time of 7:13 over the 6.4km course. Not even a determined Bradley Wiggins (Sky) finishing second, 7 seconds down, or world time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) could come close, although the German will feel aggrieved after he set the fastest time at the first time check but suffered a mechanical and was forced to change bikes.

Defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC) finished in 13th place, nine seconds down on Cancellara, with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and Denis Menchov (Katusha), Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) impressing with solid performances. French time trial champion Sylvain Chavanel had led for a large portion of the afternoon, nervously awaiting the time trial specialists at the line, but he was demoted, first by Wiggins, and then by Cancellara, to third.

But after all the talk of Wiggins and Evans in the build-up to the race, the day belonged to Cancellara. In the last twelve months, the Swiss rider has found himself on the receiving end of a number of high level losses, with Tony Martin usurping his long-standing crown as the best time triallist in the world, and two campaigns in the Classics without a win.

“I thought about my wife, the baby that’s coming, about team that’s given me help, and I’m proud of having done the work I should have done,” Cancellara said at the finish.

“This victory is even more special than the other ones I’ve had in the Tour de France., Yes, I’m proud, which is important, and I’m also confident about the rest of the Tour.”

There were murmurs that Cancellara was no longer the powerhouse he used to be, his legs slowing as younger riders developed, and despite uncertainty within his team surrounding missed wages and in-fighting, the experience and most importantly the power were there for all to see in Liège.

“I’m looking forward and not looking back. I’m here on the Tour de France not thinking about the past. The last time the Tour was here, in 2004, I beat Lance [Armstrong] by 1.6 seconds and took the jersey, but that was eight years ago. We have to focus on now because if we let [USADA’s decision to manager Johan Bruyneel with doping] crack us, I wouldn’t be able to perform on the road like I did today. It’s up to Lance and Johan to sort out. One year I was in Bjarne Riis’s team, and he stayed away from the Tour to leave us in peace, so I’ve experienced this before. Johan is just leaving us to get on with the job in peace.”

Liège loosens the Tour tension

The pro peloton had descended on Liège on Wednesday, settling into a pattern of reconnaissance and press conferences. By Friday, as the final pre-race press noise died down, it was clear that the peloton were ready to race. The tension was clear in Liège on Saturday morning with riders testing themselves over the prologue course. Wind variants were considered, final adjustments made to bikes and in the end it was Tom Veellers (Argos-Shimano) who set the ball rolling. The Tour had finally started.

A number of early pacesetters came and went until Brett Lancaster posted the first serious time of the day with a time of 7:24. The GreenEdge rider was edged out by Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen but it wasn’t long before Chavanel was on the road.

The Frenchman has improved greatly against the clock in the last twelve months – something he has put down to overcoming a longstanding back problem – and had already won the time trial in De Panne this spring. Along the Liège course he married power with precision, dancing through the few corners in the tricolore of France.

It looked like an unlikely winner could be crowned when he crossed the line in 7:20 and when Philippe Gilbert, David Millar and Andreas Klöden all failed topple the Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider, France dreamed of their first opening day win since Jacky Durand in 1994.

Chavanel took his seat at the finish, French television glued to his every facial expression as rider after rider came over the line. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) who many pundits had fancied as a potential winner stormed out of the blocks but he paid for his enthusiasm, pulling his foot out on one of two roundabouts, and losing 17 seconds by the finish.

Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) came close, two seconds down but Tony Martin, resplendent in his rainbow bands looked to be the biggest threat. A teammate of Chavanel he drew level with the Frenchman at the first time check but a bike change disrupted his rhythm and cost the German vital seconds. The cameras remained glued to Chavanel.

Now it was down to Wiggins, grimacing with intent as he left the start house. Two years ago the Sky leader paid for his caution in the opening Tour ride through Rotterdam and at the first time check it looked as though a repeat performance was in store, with tenth place at the first time check.

But Wiggins isn’t the Tour favourite without reason, and on the return leg the former pursuit rider showed his form and quality, overhauling Chavanel – who cracked a smile at least – and moving into provisional yellow. By now Cancellara was waiting for the countdown to his depart, but perhaps more importantly Evans was moving towards the start house. It’s unknown if he knew that Wiggins was leading.

At the first time check, Cancellara was faster than Chavanel by a mere second and with Evans on the road it became a three-way battle for the race’s first yellow jersey. Yet by the line Cancellara had stomped his authority on the race’s first skirmish.

Full Results

1	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan	0:07:13
2	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:07
3	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
4	Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:00:10
5	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling	0:00:11
6	Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
7	Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos - Shimano	0:00:12
8	Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team	0:00:13
9	Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
10	Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team

Other Favorite Pic of the Day:

Mark Cavendish