2012 Tour de France Stage 19, 7/21/12

July 21, Stage 19: Bonneval - Chartres (ITT) 53.5km

Wiggins wins Tour's final time trial in Chartres

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-19/results)

Bradley Wiggins was in a class of his own as he claimed his second time trial victory in this year’s race and with it cleared the final hurdle on his way to becoming the first British rider to win the Tour de France. Fastest at all of the intermediate check points, Wiggins completed the 53.5km course between Bonneval and Chartres in 1:04:13, putting him 1:16 ahead of his Sky teammate Chris Froome, who consolidated his position in second place overall.

Third place on the day went to Rabobank’s Luis León Sánchez, who held the lead for a substantial part of the afternoon but ended up 1:50 down on Wiggins. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) produced another competitive performance to cement his grip on the third spot on the podium. But there was a significant change further down the top 10 as defending champion Cadel Evans finished outside the top 50 on the day to drop to seventh place overall behind Haimar Zubeldia.

As has been the case so often during this race, the day was all about Team Sky and, of course, Wiggins. “This is what I wanted to do, to go out with a bang,” said the Briton, who is set to be crowned Tour de France champion in Paris tomorrow afternoon. “The Tour isn’t over until now, but this is what I do best. I came out here in March with Sean to look at the course and I knew it would suit me.”

Wiggins has looked stronger than all of his rivals during the Tour’s final week and said that he knew from his first pedal stroke as he warmed up that he was going to perform well.

“I knew I was on it when I went down the start ramp. In the last 15-20k I knew what my advantage was and I was thinking about my wife and kids, my mum, all of the people who’ve helped me get to where I am… I know it sounds cheesy but I was thinking about the fact that I’ve spent my whole life working to get to this point – this is the defining moment. It’s all been summed up today.” 

Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford, whose daily mantra has been “We’re taking it one day at a time”, acknowledged: “We can start thinking about winning this race barring accidents.”

Brailsford was fulsome in his praise for his team leader and the rest of the Sky team. “I think Brad showed today why he is the leader of this team. He smashed the best time and Froomey did the same as well. It’s good to have two guys who can top the world in a sport that, quite honestly, we weren’t all that good at not so long ago. For Brad as a British rider to win this race in a British team with a British sponsor is a fantastic achievement,” said Brailsford.

He added: “People laughed when I said that our aim was to win the Tour within five years with a clean British rider. But I wouldn’t underestimate the effect that our Olympic experience has had. But this is a different sport on a very different playing field. But today is all about Bradley Wiggins and his incredible achievement.”

 Gretsch and Sánchez set early pace

Argos-Shimano’s Patrick Gretsch set the fastest time for the 53.5km course among the early starters. Almost two hours passed before Luis León Sánchez clipped 38 seconds off Gretsch’s mark, the Spaniard crossing the line in 1:06:03.

The Rabobank rider remained in pole position for another two-and-a-half hours. During that period Peter Velits came closest to Sánchez’s time, finishing 12 seconds down just as Froome and Wiggins were making their final preparations before taking to the start ramp.

There were huge cheers when Wiggins set off down the ramp. Up ahead of Wiggins, Froome and Nibali, best young rider Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) set the fastest time at the first check point, but that mark lasted just a matter of minutes. Froome went through 23 seconds quicker, then Wiggins followed another 12 seconds faster.

By the second check, Van Garderen’s fast start appeared to be taking a toll as he went through fourth fastest. However, by that point the young American had his team leader Evans in his sights and seemed to get a lift as he blasted by the defending champion. Froome also looked to be slipping slightly as he came through just four seconds faster than Sánchez. Wiggins, though, was unstoppable. Now 54 seconds up on Froome, he had his second stage win in his sights.

Wiggins fastest from first to last

Froome picked up his pace again coming into the final quarter of the test. He went through the third time check 22 seconds up on Sánchez. However, Wiggins was still pulling away. Now 1:15 up on his team-mate, he looked as smooth and faultless as ever.

At the line, Froome was not far off catching his three-minute man, Nibali, as he bettered Sánchez’s mark by 34 seconds. But Froome’s lead lasted little more than 90 seconds.

Wiggins powered relentlessly on towards the line, only sitting up out of his tuck in the very final metres to punch the air and celebrate his victory. It had been a superbly judged ride rounding off a fantastic performance over the whole three weeks. Chapeau, Brad!

Full Results

1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	1:04:13
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:16
3	Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:50
4	Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-QuickStep	0:02:02
5	Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:02:25
6	Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos - Shimano	0:02:28
7	Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:02:34
8	Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team	0:02:46
9	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	0:02:50
10	Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat	0:03:05

 

One of the best things about today was when Tejay van Garderen caught up and PASSED his team leader, and last year's winner, Cadel Evans in the individual time trial of the Tour, overcoming a deficit of 3 minutes. (Evans started the ITT 3 minutes before van Garderen.) Tejay is also taking the Best Young Rider Jersey into Paris tomorrow.

 

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 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

After a 17 month drought...

Nibali back to winning ways in Oman

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-oman-2012/stage-5/results)

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) took his first win in almost seventeen months after punching his way clear at the foot of the climb to Jabal Al Akhdhar on stage 5 of the Tour of Oman.

On the sharp slopes of Green Mountain, he succeeded in staving off the dogged pursuit of Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), but the Slovak did manage to limit his losses sufficiently to gain control of the overall lead, one second clear of Nibali.“I didn’t want to look around once on the climb,” Nibali admitted after crossing the finish line.

“A year without wins wasn’t easy to take. My performances in that time show that I was giving it my all, but without a win I couldn’t say I was totally satisfied.”

The haul to Green Mountain was always going to prove decisive, but the real selection was expected to be made on the final 13.5% ramps near the summit. Instead, Nibali threw the cat amongst the pigeons by attacking twice at the foot of the climb.

The first move tested the waters, then the second opened the floodgates. While Velits and the French trio of Sandy Casar, Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ-BigMat) and Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) treaded water, overnight favourites such as Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Jakob Fuglsang (RadioShack-Nissan) were among those left floundering.

“I knew that in the middle section of the climb it became a little easier, so I tried like that,” he explained afterwards. “Velits followed me first, and then I went again, this time alone.”

Velits proved to be a resilient chaser, however, and he stalked Nibali all the way up the climb. As the road sneaked its way around the mountainside, he could see Nibali flitting in and out of view all the way, but to his frustration, the gap between them would never diminish, and Nibali crossed the line victorious.

On the final kick to the finish, Velits realised that while the stage victory was beyond him, he might just be able to do enough to deny Nibali the overall lead. “I knew I couldn’t go too early, as I would have lost even more seconds. So I waited as long as possible and then went with 150 metres to go,” he said.

Velits duly reached the finish 12 seconds down on Nibali, and when the time bonuses were tallied, that was sufficient to keep him one second clear ahead of Sunday’s final stage to Matrah Corniche.

 A slow start

 A block headwind on the road out of Muscat on Saturday morning meant that the peloton was happy to stay together for much of the slow-burning build-up to Green Mountain. Only a brief six-man break headlined by Bernhard Eisel (Sky) and Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) broke the calm as the Katusha patrolled the front of the bunch in the service of Rodriguez.

On the 5.7km-long final climb, Nibali was instantly dancing from side to side, looking to land the early blows. His first exploratory jab came almost as soon as the road pitched upwards, and it was a presage of what was to come – the alert Velits was promptly on his wheel, while the rest of the contenders slowly edged their way back towards him.

With 4km to go, Nibali put in his next dig, and only in hindsight did anyone realise that it was in fact the knock-out punch. His steady acceleration took him decisively clear of the hesitant lead group, and sensing his opportunity, he put his head down all the way to the top.

Velits admitted afterwards that he regretted not trying to shut down Nibali’s second attack immediately. “It was not a really hard attack, he just went a little bit faster, but nobody reacted,” he said. “I didn’t react and maybe I underestimated him a little bit, but he got the gap and he held it to the finish.”

Sandy Casar was of a similar opinion, although he was expecting Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank) to be more active in the defence of his red jersey chances. “I thought that others like Slagter would go after him first, but in the end he was a bit switched off and went too late,” Casar said afterwards.

The steepest section of the climb came in the final kilometre and a half, but by the time the leaders had reached this section, they were already eking their way up in ones and twos, the constant changes in rhythm making it impossible to form any cohesive chasing groups.

Among those to suffer was Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), who ultimately crossed the line in 7th place, 55 seconds down. Given that his Katusha team had been so active on the front of the peloton early on, it was a disappointing day for the Spaniard.

“I didn’t feel good, I just didn’t have good sensations on the climb, but even so, my rivals weren’t too far ahead,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t expect Nibali to go so early, at the time I thought it was a mistake, but he was the strongest.”

Casar came home third, 25 seconds down, while his young teammate Jeannesson held off the surprising Tony Gallopin for fourth. Gallopin’s efforts were enough to move him up to third overall.

After the finish, Nibali admitted that it would be difficult to overhaul Velits on the final stage, even with two intermediate sprints up for grabs. For his part, the new red jersey knows that he will have to be attentive to ensure he continues Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s run of stage race success this year.

“There are two sprints and my lead is only one second so anything can happen,” Velits warned. “It’s still going to be quite tight, but we have big strong guys on the team and hopefully we’ll be able to manage it.”

For now, Nibali seems content simply to have secured his first victory since the 2010 Vuelta a España. Of course, he didn’t win a stage during that Spanish campaign, and he explained that the last time he had raised his arms in triumph was at the Trofeo Melinda that August. It had been a long time coming.

“A win is always beautiful and crossing the line first is something you can’t explain,” Nibali said. “It’s like in football for a striker who hasn’t scored for a long time; when he does, it’s a bit of a liberation.”

HTC-Highroad's Sad News

This really surprises and saddens me after how well Cavendish and Martin did in this year's Tour:

HTC-Highroad disbands after failed sponsor search

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/htc-highroad-disbands-after-failed-sponsor-search)

The HTC-Highroad team will end its association with professional cycling at the end of the season, drawing to an end its five-year spell in the sport.

The squad has consistently been ranked as the number one team in the world, but struggled to attract a new sponsor or convince cell phone maker HTC to renew. Team owner Bob Stapleton today announced that the squad would fold at the end of the year, and encouraged riders from both the men's and women's teams to find new homes for 2012.

However, Stapleton held out hope that the women's team could continue.

Stapleton had pushed the search for a sponsor to the line, even going beyond the UCI’s transfer window opening on August 1st and although he had a sponsor lined up, the interested party pulled out of negotiations at the weekend.

“We went public with our sponsorship search just before the Tour. We were frustrated by the indecision of our title sponsor HTC who, after many months of assurances, had not come forward with a commitment to the team. That indecision remains a mystery to me,” Stapleton told the press in a phone conference.

Meanwhile, riders have already been in negotiations with other teams. Sprinter Mark Cavendish said he would announce his decision later this week, while the Velits twins, Martin and Peter, have already been announced as joining the QuickStep team, and Patrick Gretsch was confirmed with Skil-Shimano.

Down to the wire

The squad had one of its most successful Tours, with Cavendish winning the points classification and five stages, and Tony Martin claiming the stage victory in the Grenbole time trial, but at the same time Stapleton was honest about the uncertainty surrounding the team's future as he feverishly scrambled from meeting to meeting trying to close a deal.

Normally intensely private about negotiations, Stapleton's desperation became apparent as he used the publicity surrounding the Tour to vocally raise interest in the team's value by consistently reminding the media that the team had generated in the region of $400 million in media exposure during its tenure in the sport.

Meetings took place in Grenoble, Paris, Amsterdam, Chicago, Atlanta and New York with a number of international companies and the team was approached by several different squads to discuss the possibility of negotiating a tricky merger.

"We had an agreement in place in principle with a new partner which would have given us a enough funds to operate the team at the same level of the last four years. This deal abruptly collapsed on Sunday night, when I received an email and subsequent phone call from our intended partner."

Stapleton would not name the partner, nor disclose just how close or far they were to signing an agreement. Final talks with HTC broke down on Wednesday night, while hope of a possible last ditch merger failed Thursday morning.

"That led us to the conclusion to release our athletes and staff to pursue their career options," said an emotional Stapleton.

Bringing business to sport

Stapleton, a former CEO of the telecom company VoiceStream Wireless and member of the T-Mobile international board of directors, came into the sport as a unique force in team management. More businessman than cycling insider, Stapleton had made his name in the sport by supporting an American women's team before being elevated to manager of the T-Mobile men's team at the end of 2006.

He formed Highroad Sports in 2007, taking elements of the old Telekom team but inspiring a fresh more ethically correct and transparent ethos. T-Mobile signed on to support the team through 2010, but revelations surrounding the team's doping past, including links between Jan Ullrich and Operacion Puerto as well as the embarrasing testosterone positive of Patrik Sinkewitz during the 2007 Tour de France led the sponsor to withdraw that support at the end of the year.

Stapleton reportedly received a settlement of undisclosed value which kept the team going until Columbia Sportswear signed on as title sponsor before the 2008 Tour de France.

Since then, Stapleton has brought in HTC and built up the team not only to the top level in a sporting sense, but revitalised its image in terms of ethics.

Some of the sport's most successful and exciting talents passed through the team's doors: Edvald Boasson Hagen, Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish to name but a few, and between the men and women's teams, the squad secured an unequalled number of victories.

"What led to the team's remarkable success was the team's remarkable spirit that we had in the organisation. This year we'll record our 500th win and we sit at 484 wins now, over 50 grand tour stages wins and a remarkable amount of success.

"Our goal was to bring forward athletes and management that could lead the sport forward and although this is a sad call in some respects, I do feel like we fundamentally changed the sport. Some of the most interesting athletes in the sport have Highroad DNA."

Doping and economics

It is ironic, perhaps, that Stapleton, who helped to renew faith in a clean sport and pushed for change in the way the sport is run, ended up being drummed out of the game by the constant din of doping discussion and the changing economics of the sport.

The sport has seen a number of rich investors enter the sport in recent years, bankrolling the likes of Katusha, BMC and Leopard Trek. These teams have raised the bar in terms of finance, marginalising teams on smaller budgets. That factor, coupled with the inherently flawed UCI points system has seen what Stapleton calls the rise of the 'super team'.

"There is the rise of the super teams and there more teams with a budget in excess of 20 million Euros. So it's the squeeze between keeping the team at a leadership level of the sport and the need to bring on substantial more funds. So in this case we're really making this decision on the desire to see the individual succeed and worry less about the ability to compete at the highest level, which needs more money.

"If you look at the super teams, there are wealthy individuals behind each one and you've got a sport that's been destabilised by events. For example the points structure where teams are desperate to make sure they're in the top 16, and these are the sorts of things that are not helpful to creating a structure for the sport. I don't want to blame anyone or suggest anything but there are some destabilising factors in the sport."

Stapleton pointed to the sport's doping problems as another hurdle for all teams, not just Stapleton's. The still-unresolved doping case of Alberto Contador from the 2010 Tour de France and the federal investigation into doping at the US Postal Service team, both of which have been heavily reported in the media, have hampered new sponsor negotations for Stapleton.

"All I can tell you is that I don't think there has been a single discussion with a potential sponsor where one or the other wasn't talked about. It's been a factor in everyone's view of cycling in the last year."

Yet whatever legacy HTC and Stapleton leave behind, and it's far too early to draw judgement, they will perhaps been seen as a squad that opened new doors, that embraced a firm-anti doping stance, that bred huge success through men's and womens's sports but who, most of all, kept cycling fans entertained.

2011 Tour de France, Stage 20

Today's stage is a 42.5km individual time trial at Grenoble. After 3 weeks of having  teammates with  to help; to help drag up mountains, and to talk through pain, the riders are now on thier own. Your teammates brought you this far, now you have to show everyone how strong you are!

Riders start 2 minutes apart, except for the top 20, who start 3 minutes apart. Before the top 20 started, Tony Martin had the best time with 55'33", and he was able to keep the best time for the stage win!

This stage brought the question, would Evans be able to take back the time from the Schlecks? From the way Evans started compared to A. Schleck, the answer was clear:

There's just something more aerodynamic from Evans's ride, which was why he was able to pull into 1st place overall, thus earning him the Yellow Jersey on the ride into Paris tomorrow. A. Schleck would be in 2nd place for the 3rd year in a row.

Stage 20 Results:
1.Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) 55:33
2.Cadel Evans (BMC) 55:40
3.Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard 56:39
4.Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DC) 57:02
5.Richie Porte (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 57:03
6.Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R) 57:06
7.Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 57:10
8.Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) 57:15
9.Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) 57:36
10.Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) 57:36

17. Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) 58:11
19. Fränk Schleck (Leopard Trek) 58:14

2011 Tour de France, Stage 19

Today is the final mountain stage of the 2011 Tour de France. This is a 109km stage, starting in Mondane and ending on the Alpe-d’Huez. It contains one category 1 climb and two HC climbs, including my favorite: Alpe d'Huez:



And right out of the start gate we have an attack: Izagirre, Urtasun, Greipel, Iglinsky, Costa, Gutierrez, Koren, Riblon, Pineau, Burghardt, Buffaz, Duque, and Hoogerland. The break had a 2'40" gap with 93km remaining.

Back in the peloton, Sorensen attacks as Greipel is dropped from the leaders. A. Schleck is on Sorensen's wheel and bring him back. Then Contador takes off with another teammate but both Schlecks and Evans follow. Voeckler moves up to Contador's group along with a few other riders. However, as Contador is pacing the bunch, riders are being dropped. Its only A. Schleck, Voeckler, and Evans who can hang on to Contador.

Burghardt drops from the lead group to help Evans as the peloton closes in on 15" behind the Contador group. Cavendish, Cancellara, and Hushovd are dropped.

With 5km from the summit of the first climb, Contador attacks again and Voeckler and Evans can't hang on. Contador catches the original breakaway soon after, and plows right through them. Pineau is helping Voeckler back to the Contador group.

As the leaders start the second climb, Contador asks for help, but no one assists. He is dropping more and more riders with his pace. Voeckler is still trying to catch Contador using what riders are left from the original breakaway.

A. Schleck and Contador have a few words and then Schleck take a turn pulling the group up the HC climb. Back in the peloton, BMC takes over the chase to bring the gap down from 1'32" and Vanendert is dropped. With 69km left, the gap had creeped up to 1'52". Voeckler is losing it as is Taaramae in the peloton.

Schleck and Contador are taking turns on the front while BMC cracked. Only Evans is left but F. Schleck and about 20 other riders are on his wheel. Voeckler joined with the Evans group as Basso was dropped for a few minutes.

S. Sanchez attacks the Evans/Yellow Jersey group and Evans bridges with F. Schleck and Rolland. S. Sanchez keeps going on his own though. Cunego and Hesjedal eventually join Evans, but Basso is dropped. Even though Europcar is leading the peloton, Voeckler can't hold on and he is dropped as well. With about 50km left, S. Sanchez joins forces with Contador, while Garmin is pulling the peloton harder to drop Basso. Voeckler and Basso join together. 

With 25km to go, the Evans group catches the Contador group. The Yellow Jersey group is 1'21' behind. There are a lot of attacks in the lead group. Rolland does first and Jeannesson responds as they are both fighting for White, but it is ultimately Hesjedal who joins him. Hesjedal takes the maximum points on the intermediate sprint. The next group back is Riblon, Costa and Jeannesson, just ahead of the GC contenders. With 15km left, Basso and Voeckler are back with the rest of the GC contenders.

In the last 13km there are so many attacks. Both Schlecks, Evans, and Contador are attacking each other, all trying to gain time for the Yellow Jersey. Contador reaches the two leaders and takes off again. Hesjedal is dropped, but Rolland hangs on for a few before being dropped.

Sanchez and Velits catch up to Rolland, but Veltis is soon dropped. Sanchez and Rolland catch Contador, and Rolland continues solo. It his Rolland who will take the stage!

Stage 19 Results:

1 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
2 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard
4 Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD
8 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Cervelo

2011 Tour de France, Stage 12

Today’s stage takes the riders into the high mountains of the Pyrenees. The 209km stage runs from Cugnaux to Luz Ardiden. However, the first 130km are relatively flat, but there are 3 major climbs: one category 1 and two HC climbs!

There was an abandon today; Feillu dropped out due to tendinitis.

The first breakaway of the day was formed by six riders: Gutierrez , Kadri, Mangel, Perez, Roy, and Thomas. With 122km to go the attackers had 8’00” on the peloton, and was over 9’00” by the time the six men hit the intermediate sprint. The best placed rider in the group is Thomas.

Mangel gets the most points at the intermediate sprint, while Cavendish again brought the peloton over the sprint line.

The 2nd attack of the day involved three riders: Chavanel, Hoogerland, and Kreuziger.

At the same time that riders are breaking away, riders are also being dropped; Galimzyanov is the first of the day.

At 75km to go, Gutierrez was dropped from the original breakaway. He couldn’t keep up with Thomas’s pace. Hoogerland was also soon dropped from the chasing group. He got caught by the peloton and then dropped off the back. Gesink soon fell back too.

At the first summit, Mangel get KOM points ahead of Perez, and Kadri. Thomas crashed on the descent and landed inches from the edge of the cliff. He was able to get back up on his bike, but then had to catch up to his fellow attackers.

The second crash of the day happened in the peloton on the first turn of the descent. Gadret, Urtasun, Velits, Kloden and Voecker involved but they all got back up eventually.

Thomas and Gutierrez did catch back up to the front 4 by the end of the first descent. Kreuziger almost caught the original 6-man breakaway but couldn’t and Gutierrez had to let go again. Gutierrez and Chavanel got caught by the peloton while Kreuzinger continued to hang between.

More riders are being dropped on the 2nd climb: Hincapie, Van Garderen, Fuglsang, Vande Velde

Thomas is pushing also at the front with 3km left to the 2nd summit. Roy is chasing but can’t seem to reach him until just before the summit, and was able to take it first. A nice prize awaited the Frenchman at the top for Bastille Day. Voigt led the peloton over the climb with Mangel and Ten Dam a few seconds in front after attacking the peloton. They join Kreuziger on the descent, trying to catch the leading duo.

The descent had riders at speeds near 90km/hr!

On the final climb there were so many attacks and breakaways. With 4km to go the GC contenders are upping the pace.

Roy and Thomas caught about 2km before the end, but Gonzalez and Vanendert now are in front.

Situation right before the finish:
Leaders: Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
Chase 1: Fränk Schleck (Leopard Trek)
Chase 2: Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard), Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team), Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre - ISD)
Yellow jersey: Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar)
Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) and Thomas Danielson (Team Garmin-Cervelo) at ?
Chase: Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank Cycling Team), Levi Leipheimer (Team RadioShack), Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas-Cannondale), Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale), Rigoberto Uran Uran (Sky Procycling), Kevin De Weert (Quickstep Cycling Team), Rein Taaramae (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne), Yuriy Trofimov (Katusha Team)
Gruppetto: Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil), Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), Robert Gesink (Rabobank)

Sanchez started the sprint and Vanendert couldn’t follow. Sanchez takes the win!

Stage 12 Results:
1 Sanchez
2 Vanendert
3 F. Schleck
4 Basso
5 Evans
6 A. Schleck
7 Cunego
8 Contador
9 Voeckler
10 Rolland