2012 Tour de France Stage 18, 7/20/12

July 20, Stage 18: Blagnac - Brive-la-Gaillarde 222.5km

Cavendish sprints to stage 18 victory in the Tour de France

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-18/results#5)

Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) stormed to his second stage win in this year's Tour de France with another superb sprint finish on stage 18. The world champion showed his tactical nous to reel in a late break and to beat Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) on the line.

Sky had led a relatively easy life on the undulating stage, posting Edvald Boasson Hagen in the early break, while Bradley Wiggins continued his march towards Paris. But in the closing stages, with a sprint chance for Cavendish in the cards, Sky called back its Norwegian star as Wiggins himself lead the pursuit of a last ditch six-man break.

Cavendish has certainly lacked his usual, supreme leadout in this year's Tour, but it has at least allowed him to demonstrate to the global audience just how exceptional his sprint is. With Nicholas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) ahead, and a poised looking Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) tucked behind the Irishman, Cavendish surged from the bunch in the final 200 meters, not just leaving the two leaders behind but distancing his main sprint rivals.

"I don't know how much I won by, but I had to go early. I haven't done anything this Tour because I saved so much energy. I knew I'd be able to go long. I knew I'd get it. I felt really good today," the Sky sprinter said on the line.

"I said earlier on in the Tour, we looked at the files and the reason I wasn't winning sprints was because I was training in the mountains. I wasn't able to show anything in this Tour because we had the yellow jersey. Today we spoke with the boss at the start, and I said please give me a chance, and the guys were like, 'Ok we're going to make a sprint today.' I'm so happy."

Sky's sprint chances looked out of the picture earlier in the stage. A large group containing Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack-Nissan), Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), Davis Millar (Garmin-Sharp), Julien Fouchard (Cofidis), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol), Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol), Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoliel-DCM), Luca Paolini (Katusha), Jeremy Roy (FDJ-Big Mat), Rui Costa (Movistar), Karsten Kroon (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) and Patrick Gretsch (Argos-Shimano) escaped on the first climb after 67 kilometres.

It was a collective bound by convenience and necessity. With just one open stage remaining and 13 teams yet to win a stage, the day's racing began with a flurry of attacks. Rider after rider, fuelled by a desire to rescue their Tour and that of their teams, jettisoned from the front. But it took almost an hour for the final selection to settle. The majority of teams was represented but with the demoralized Cofidis and AGR2 two of the notable exceptions.

With the stakes so high, the gap was never going to remain out of reach and despite relative organisation in the break the margin of acceptance never crept above four minutes.

With the gap at just over a minute, Millar was the first to attack, splitting the group inside the final 43 kilometers. The evergreen, ever-present Vinokourov was the first rider to match the Scot. Albasini and Boasson Hagen also reacted, but it was the Norwegian, with the bit between his teeth, who pressed on alone, unleashed from his burdening duties as Sky's all-round dogsbody. He was soon closed down but marshalled by Vinokourov, the gap increased to nearly 1:40.
The pace increased and the desperation was palpable; the next phase of the race became critical as the bunch strained to a breaking point in a bid to hold onto the break.

Second by second, the gap came down. 1:09 as Millar and company passed under the 30-kilometre-to-go banner.
The break needed another injection of pace. Too many riders were hanging on without taking a turn. It failed to materialise, and the peloton with the likes of ten Dam (Rabobank) won the tug of war.

Gretch, Vinokourov, Millar, Costa kept the fires burning but with 20 seconds shaved off, the possibility of the Sagan sprint show increased but with a fourth category climb inside the last 10 kilometres, all was still possible. Millar hadn't given up hope though, again accelerating in a bid to dislodge the dead wood and ad impetus to the break's chances.
Liquigas could smell blood massing near the front of the bunch. Millar's efforts had failed again but Hansen accelerated. Roy was attentive enough to follow, as Arashiro led a counter attack.

GreenEdge soon allied with the chasers, and Sky, with Wiggins leading Cavendish, also sensing a rare chance for the world champion in this year's Tour.

Roy and Hansen had 30 seconds, but were soon joined by Vinokourov, Nuyens and Paolini: the last stand from the early break. Vinokourov, in his last Tour led affairs berating his accomplices as they reached the foot of the last climb, still with 30 seconds.

Weening with Goss in mind set the pace for the bunch as Roy and Nuyens cracked to leave Vinokourov, Hansen and Paolini ahead. GreenEdge replaced Weening. The Australian team is looking for its first stage win.

Just 12 seconds ahead, Vinokourov, still leading the trio, accelerated again and with nine kilometres to go a win seemed possible. Kloden, Roche and Luis Leon Sanchez led a counter.

Paolini missed a turn, and Vinokourov flapped his arms as Hansen, the best sprinter kept his head down. The Sanchez group latched on with six men holding an eight-second lead with four kilometres to go. Roche, sensing the lack of collaboration, accelerated.

Behind, just by six seconds, Wiggins moved to the front, Boasson Hagen on his wheel, with the world champion in attendance. Roche led out, still in search of his maiden Grand Tour stage but as Wiggins and then Boasson Hagen faded, Cavendish's rainbow jersey burst through.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:54:12
2	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
3	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
4	Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
5	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
6	Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Sharp
7	Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
8	Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9	Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
10	Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne

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 Giro: Who to Watch For

Giro d'Italia: Top ten contenders

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/giro-ditalia-top-ten-contenders)

This year's Giro d'Italia is one of the most open editions of the race in recent years with a host of GC contenders vying for the 2012 maglia rosa. Cyclingnews takes a look at the top contenders for the overall win...

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale)
The 2010 Basso would have cantered to a third Giro this May but unfortunately for the Varese rider, this version is a pale shadow of the athlete who resurrected his career two years ago. It took until the Giro del Trentino in April for him to even finish a race and his subsequent performances in Romandie suggested little in the way of a return to form. In some ways, his Giro build-up mirrors that to last year’s Tour bid, when a crash derailed his preparations, leaving him exhausted and over-trained by the time the race started. At least Basso won’t be overworked before this year Giro, and while the heavy third week of racing will allow him some time to ride into form, this is still a demanding Giro. The opening skirmishes in Denmark are bound to skittle the GC contenders, while stages 7 and certainly stage 8 to Lago Laceno, could see Basso hit from all sides as fresh pocket-rocket climbers like Jose Rujano (Androni-Venezuela), Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) seek to expose any fraction of weakness. In Basso’s favour he has the race’s strongest team, and unlike all but Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD), he knows how to close out a three-week race.

Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD)
Strong on the climbs, stronger than he’s given credit for in time trials, Scarponi has every reason to feel confident as he approaches this year’s race. With Nibali Tour bound and Contador on a course that could see him win the Vuelta and perhaps the Worlds, the competition is weaker, but Il Presidente will still face stern examinations from riders vying for his 2011 crown. With Damiano Cunego as a teammate, and despite his patchy form, Scarponi will start as one of the major favourites, a strange scenario when you consider how low his GC aspirations stood on the eve of his Puerto ban. One word of caution: no rider has won back-to-back Giri since Miguel Indurain in 1993.

John Gadret (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
The Frenchman has a huge point to prove after finishing a surprise fourth in last year’s race (later bumped to third after Contador’s expulsion). But weak against the clock, Gadret will have to count on the natural talent and determination that carried him to a stage win in Castelfidardo, and fourth last year. A year of GC experience and a demanding final week all favour Gadret, who beat the likes of Rujano, Roman Kreuziger and Denis Menchov last year.

Jose Rujano (Androni-Venezuela)
The 30-year-old Venezuelan finally got his grand tour career back on track last year with 7th place in the Giro. Several barren years since his defining performance in 2005 were followed by poor team choices and a severe loss of form, but Rujano looks to have settled with Savio’s motley crew. In fact, this is the first time since 2005 he’s ridden for the same team for consecutive seasons. Can he win the Giro? Probably not, but his explosive speed on the climbs could determine who does.

Roman Kreuziger (Astana)
It would be unfair to say that Kreuziger has failed to deliver on the promise he showed when winning the junior world title in 2004 or the 13th place he raced to at the 2008 Tour de France, but there’s certainly an element of stagnation. While other riders of his generation such as Andy Schleck and Vincenzo Nibali have gone on to win grand tours, Kreuziger has languished in the chasing group, never one of the top three or four climbers or most accomplished time trialists. Still, he should better last year’s 6th place and on current for - he was one of the strongest Giro riders at Romandie - Astana will be looking for podium place.

Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox)
If you’re looking for omens in the battle for the maglia rosa then look no further than the diminutive Italian. 25 years ago, Stephen Roche stormed to overall glory in the Giro, becoming the first Irishman to win a grand tour. Forward to 2012, and although there’s no chance of a repeat win for the Irish, Pozzovivo’s Colnago team are registered in Ireland. 25 years since an Irish win, an Irish-registered team line-up this year. It all makes sense, doesn’t it?

Well okay, maybe not, but Pozzovivo deserves to be on this list for his riding credentials. His ride in Trentino was eye-catching to say the least and while it’s true that we’ve seen flashes of brilliance from him there before, this year was a genuine improvement. A three-day event is not a grand tour though and Pozzovivo’s time trialing and staying power are questionable, but if he’s within 4 minutes of the race lead heading into the final clutch of mountain stages he could pull off a surprise or two.

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda)
Garmin’s previous attempts at Giro GC success have all ended poorly but in Hesjedal the Argyle Armada have a genuine top five threat. He may not have replicated the 2010 Tour de France result but if he can remain upright in Denmark, rely on a strong TTT performance and arrive at the start of the third week within the top ten overall, there’s a strong possibility of him holding out.

Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan)
The team are fast turning into a soap opera. In January we had Johan Bruyneel unable to deny Frank Schleck would race the Giro. The will he,won't he story ran all the way up Liege, with the rider adamant that the Tour was his main goal. Then there was the Kim Andersen interlude which reached levels of absurdness when Andy Schleck and Bruyneel both came out with conflicting stories within 24 hours of each other. From the outside looking in, there certainly appear to be tensions between the new management and the Schlecks.

Either way Frank Schleck will start the Giro. On paper, he’s more than capable of beating Scarponi and Basso over three weeks, but this is the Giro, not the Tour, and you have to question Schleck’s motivation. Whether you rate him or not, he believes he can win the Tour de France, and his podium places are testament to that. But he must now refocus and attempt to challenge in a race he’s never shown interest in. The Giro is wide open, and Schleck, if motivated and on form, can win.

Joaquím Rodriguez (Katusha)
Rodriguez was one of the strongest riders in the Giro’s second half last year, rising from 22nd place after a drab showing on Etna to 5th by the time the race reached Milan. This year, Rodriguez can ill afford to start so poorly but he remains one of the most talented riders in the field. His time trialling remains a weakness but the GC contenders aren’t exactly stacked with chrono specialists, and his climbing talent, his explosive sprint and his underrated team, make him a decent tip for the podium.

Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD)
A 2005 edition of Procycling once featured Cunego, Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich on the cover, with the headline “three’s a crowd”. At the time Cunego was seen as the next star of grand tour racing having shot to fame with the 2004 Giro title. A lot has changed since and Cunego finds himself some way down the list of favourites. A consistent ride in last year’s Tour was a reminder of his talent and the Lampre rider heads into the Giro under the radar, talking about stage wins and supporting Scarponi. He started the 2004 Giro in similar circumstances but as we’ve alluded to, this is a different era. Should Cunego ride to his complete potential he’s unlikely to side step a top ten placing and who knows, even bag a couple of stages in the process.

Allocations for the Olympics

UCI releases Olympic road race allocations

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-releases-olympic-road-race-allocations)

The UCI today announced the number of elite men's road cycling spaces each National Olympic Committee has been offered for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Host country Great Britain earned the maximum number of places to support world champion Mark Cavendish in his goal of taking home the Olympic gold.

Each country can earn a maximum of five spots in the road race and two in the time trial, but only six countries claimed the maximum in both events. World silver medalist Matt Goss helped earn the top spots for Australia, while defending Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez helped Spain to five spots. Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland also took the maximum allocation.

Places in the men's road race and time trial were based upon each country's ranking in the UCI WorldTour, Continental Tours, Continental Championships and rider rankings in the UCI tours.

Belgium, Italy and the USA earned five spots in the road race and one in the time trial, while Denmark and Kazakhstan were awarded the maximum number of places for the time trial.

While the top 10 of the WorldTour nations rankings earned five places and the 11th-15th placed countries earned four, each country could only qualify as many spots as it had riders in the 2011 WorldTour individual rankings. Therefore, Luxembourg, which was ninth in the WorldTour but only scored points with Fränk and Andy Schleck, was awarded just two places in the road race and one in the time trial.

Similarly, Norway (Edvald Boasson Hagen, Thor Hushovd and Alexander Kristoff) and Ireland (Daniel Martin, Philip Deignan and Nicolas Roche) were each awarded three places, despite taking 12th and 13th, respectively. Kazakhstan took 15th and claimed two places, qualified by Alexandre Vinokourov and Sergey Renev.

The top countries of each Continental Tour; Morocco (Africa Tour), Colombia (Americas) and Iran (Asia), were awarded three spots in the road race, while Italy (Europe) and Australia (Oceania) had already qualified the maximum through the WorldTour rankings.

Canada earned just one place in the road race and time trial, while China failed to qualify a single spot - however, Hong Kong was awarded one place in each event.

The allocations for women's road events will not be calculated until the end of May, 2012.

For the time trial, the top 15 countries in the WorldTour each earned one spot, while the top nations in the Continental Tours earned a single spot. Countries in the top 10 of the 2011 road world championships time trial earned one additional place in the time trial in London.

National Olympic Committees now have until November 17 to confirm they intend to use all of their spaces. If there are any unused spots in the 145-rider peloton, the UCI will distribute them between March and April 2012.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 20

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-20/results)

Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati has been a frustrated sprinter at this year’s Vuelta a España but victory beckoned in Vitoria on stage 20 on Saturday afternoon and he ensured he wouldn’t leave the race empty handed with an impressive win in the Basque city.

The Italian prevailed in a long sprint over Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), who finished second and third respectively, with Garmin-Cervélo rider Sep Vanmarcke fourth and Skil-Shimano’s Koen De Kort fifth.

Bennati recognised how hard today’s stage was for a sprinter aiming for victory and thanked his teammates for their efforts throughout the day, particularly in the final 50km. “Today is the penultimate stage; there’s been a lot of climbing in this stage for a sprinter… But for me it’s a win for the team,” Bennati said immediately after the stage.

The man who won two stages and the points classification at the 2007 edition of the Vuelta did it the hard way, spending much of the day in the 26-man break that formed before dropping back into the protective custody of his Leopard-Trek squad that controlled proceedings in the finale to ensure Bennati claimed a win in this year’s race.

Despite Chris Froome’s calls for an attacking day to chase the general classification lead, the red jersey remained on the shoulders of Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) at day’s end, the Vuelta champion elect well protected by his teammates to ensure the Spanish squad would go into tomorrow’s stage with little with which to concern themselves except a celebration.

There had been a 13-second margin between the two heading into the penultimate day, which prompted the Team Sky rider’s claim that he could make something of the day’s offerings but in reality it was going to prove a mountain too high against a Cobo in top condition and extremely motivated to take the biggest victory of his career on home turf.

Last chance hotel

It may have boasted a flat finish but the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta still had its fair share of climbing – a brace of first category ascents in addition to a category two and three climb, which offered something for the men desperate to take their shot at a stage win late in the event.

This was reflected in the number of noted climbers getting themselves into the day’s break, which detached itself from the peloton early in the stage, as the overall heavyweights looked to conserve ahead of what promised to be an interesting finale.

With Froome and Cobo separated by the aforementioned 13 seconds, there was the possibility of fireworks near the finish, although 26 men were keen to try their luck the hard way – in the break – before that point.

Those men were: Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), AG2R La Mondiale pair Nicolas Roche and Lloyd Mondory, Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Andalucia Caja Granada), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and Euskaltel-Euskadi riders Inaki Isasi Flores and Amets Txurruka.

Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad) was trying his luck in the move again, along with Katusha trio Vladimir Karpets, Eduard Vorganov and Luca Paolini; Lampre - ISD was represented by Marco Marzano, Daniele Righi and Manuele Mori while Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati was in the mix, as was Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar), Jan Bakelants and Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Also present were Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM), Robert Kiserlovski (Astana), Rabobank’s Carlos Barredo and Steven Kruijswijk, Saxo Bank-Sungard had Jaroslaw Marycz and Nick Nuyens while Koen de Kort was representing Skil – Shimano and Christophe Le Mevel flew Garmin-Cervélo’s flag.

After 99km of racing the 20-man move had itself a lead of 4:10 but unsurprisingly with 70km until the finish that had dropped to 1:27. That mark dipped below a minute with 55km remaining as it became obvious the peloton was preparing to stretch its legs on the final climb of the day, the category one Puerto de Urkiola.

That was down to 36 seconds, with 52km remaining, and as expected the break was on its knees on the opening slopes of the Urkiola. It was Barredo’s cue to go solo from the leading group, hitting out ahead of his fellow escapees, who were being swamped by the peloton.

The Spaniard had 53 seconds on the peloton with 48km to go to the finish, battling slopes that touched 15 percent in sections and putting in a brave showing on the final categorised climb of this year’s Vuelta. He added 22 seconds to his lead over the peloton during the following kilometres in a sign that he was motivated to throw everything at the stage win.

Carlos runs into flat finale fun

Having crested the Urkiola, Barredo set about consolidating his lead on the descent and subsequent flat run to Vitoria with a slender lead of 36 seconds over the remnants of the break, with the peloton a further minute behind. Trailing him by 43 seconds with 40km remaining was a seven-man group of chasers that included teammate Kruijswijk, plus Kiserlovski, Le Mevel, Roche, Caruso and Txurruka.

Undeterred, Barredo continued his run to the line and with 35km until the finish he still had 27 seconds on the chasing group – not a heavy buffer but a lead he would fight gallantly to protect as Vitoria – and victory – beckoned. That advantage sat at 33 seconds with 31 clicks remaining but the peloton, led by Leopard Trek, had moved to within 20 seconds of the chasers.

The proximity of the peloton to the chasers caused some consternation in the group and before long the septet was caught, the dream over with exactly 30km before the finish. It wasn’t a good sign for Barredo’s chances of staying away but with about half a minute separating him from the main field, the likes of Leopard Trek and Team Sky called a temporary halt in hostilities to prepare for the hectic finale.

It was a case of marking time for the sprinters’ teams leading into the final 20km of the stage as Barredo continued his doomed run to Vitoria, which would come to an end with 15km remaining when he was caught by a solo Carlos Sastre (Geox-TMC), but not before Froome and Cobo had shaped up to battle the final intermediate sprint in pursuit of precious bonus seconds, which ended in a no-contest.

Their die cast, it was time for Sastre and Barredo to work together and with 10km remaining they had 31 seconds over the peloton. That was reduced by just one second a kilometre later and had hit 23 seconds with eight clicks until the finish. At that point Barredo put up the white flag and left Sastre to his own devices out front, with a feisty field bearing down on the lone Spaniard.

His bolt shot, Sastre’s resistance ended with just under three kilometres remaining, which was time for Leopard Trek to go back to work for Bennati; coming into the final kilometer, the plan seemed to be working to perfection and with the Italian’s overwhelming strength in the finale he was able to open a long sprint and hold on to take a sought-after stage win.

Result
1	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek	4:39:20
2	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
3	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
4	Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team Garmin-Cervelo
5	Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano
6	Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD
7	Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team
8	Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

CG Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	82:38:32
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:13
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:39
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:02:03
5	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:48
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:04:13
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:04:31
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:04:45
9	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:05:20
10	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:05:33

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 5

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-5/results)

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) used his pure climber’s power to conquer the steep and narrow finish in Valdepeñas de Jaén.

The tiny Spaniard followed teammate Daniel Moreno as solo attacker David Moncoutié (Cofidis) was swept up, and then gapped his overall rivals, with only Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil) able to match the Katusha duo.

Rodriguez kept his hands on the brake levers and danced to the finish line. Poels closed the gap with a brave effort but finished four seconds down, with Moreno at five seconds.

"I've achieved more than I expected with the gap I created over my adversaries in such a short distance," Rodriguez said.

"I don't think I have spent more energy than the others though. Everyone will be tired after such a stage. It's often said in cycling that the winners are less tired than the others because of their high morale.

"It's not a surprise for me to do this because I've said since the beginning of the Vuelta that I was here for the win. I'm satisfied with where I'm standing on GC. Most of the favourites are still in contention with no big time differences."

Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) brought home the leading chasers, with team soigneurs forced to grab their riders as they gasped for breath after an intense finishing effort. Most of the overall contenders were all at eight seconds but the likes of Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) finished 20 seconds down on Rodriguez. Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervelo) was further back at 29 seconds while his fellow Irishman and cousin Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) was better placed in eighth place, at eight seconds.

Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) managed to limit his losses and hold onto the red race leader's jersey. He now leads Moreno by just nine seconds, with Rodriguez third at 23 seconds.

"This stage was much harder than I imagined," Chavanel said. "I've been surprised, to say the truth. It was constantly fast but I hung on and I kept the red jersey. It makes me very happy. The Quick Step team controlled the race really well with sending Davide Malacarne in the breakaway and riding behind Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) who was alone away later on. Tom Boonen took part in the chase. That shows the respect that Quick Step has for this leader's jersey."

Chavanel knows his time in the red jersey is limited, but said he thinks he can keep the race lead until the time trial in Salamanca on Monday.

"The Vuelta is designed for climbers and I'm not one of them. That makes me proud to be the race leader. I'll take it day by day but I’d like to preserve the lead until the time trial on stage 10."

Remembering Tondo

The stage started atop the Sierra Nevada after the peloton slept at altitude in the Spanish ski resort. Before the start, a minute's silence was observed to remember Xavier Tondo who was killed in a domestic accident while training on Sierra Nevada.

After the dive down to the spectacular city of Granada, the racing started rapidly with a series of attacks in the hills north of the city, and an 18-rider break formed. However, the peloton and especially Rodriguez's Katusha team never let the race slip from their grasp.

The Alto de Valdepeñas climbed was covered for a first tine after 87km and sparked the first significant break of the day. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) was first over the top and joined forces with Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) and Tom Slagter (Rabobank). They were joined by Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Angel Madrazo (Movistar), Johannes Fröhlinger (Skil-Shimano), Davide Malacarne (Quick Step) and Adrian Palomares (Andalucia Caja Granada).

Despite the 32C temperatures, the peloton again refused to let them go and the gap was pegged constantly at no more than 90 seconds.

Perhaps born out of frustration, Albasini decided to go for it alone. It was a desperate move but he managed to gain two minutes, possibly as the peloton realised that a lone rider had little chance of staying away. The Swiss rider plugged on as the rest of the break was gradually picked up.

Katusha in control

The second climb of the Alto de Valdepeñas was always going to be a key part of the race and Katusha did everything to control the action for Rodriguez. Vladimir Karpets worked a lot at high speed before the climb began to hurt. His effort quickly caused some casualties, including Andreas Klöden (RadioShack). Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was also struggling again but managed to stay with the lead group of 50 riders.
Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana) jumped clear of the peloton with four kilometres to go the summit of the climb but he was quickly caught and passed by David Moncoutié (Cofidis) who powered on in a solo move.

The veteran Frenchman is not a great descender and lost vital seconds as 2010 Vuelta winner Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) briefly tested his rivals' nerves.

Moncoutié started the final climb – Southern Spain's equivalent of the Mur du Huy, with 25 seconds but faded quickly as the peloton saw up him the road. Moreno had promised to work for Rodriguez today after being given the freedom to ride for himself on Sierra Nevada, and he dragged the peloton up to and around Moncoutié. The finish was still almost a kilometre away but Rodriguez knew it was the right moment to take advantage of the confusion and so opened the turbo chargers in his climber's legs.

He gapped Moreno, who eased to mark Poels, and then made a long effort towards the line. He crossed the line with his arms in the air, celebrating Katusha's second consecutive stage victory and confirming he is a sure overall contender, as behind him, everyone else fought to limit their losses.

The Vuelta is still in its first week and these are the opening salvoes, but it already looks like it is going to be a close and aggressive battle for overall victory.

Thursday's 185.7km sixth stage is from Úbeda to Córdoba and also includes another late climb and fast descent to the finish. Both details are likely to produce another thrilling finale.

Result
1	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	4:42:54
2	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:00:04
3	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:05
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:00:07
5	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
6	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek
8	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
9	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana

GC Overall:

Result
1	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	18:02:34
2	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:09
3	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:23
4	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:25
5	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:33
6	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:35
7	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:00:38
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:00:43
9	Sergio Pardilla Belllón (Spa) Movistar Team
10	Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team	0:00:52

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 3

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-3/results)

Movistar veteran Pablo Lastras took a well-judged solo win and with it the red jersey of race leader at the stage three finish in Totana. The 35-year-old Spaniard, who has won stages in all three Grand Tours during a career that goes back to 1998, finished 15 seconds clear of Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), Mikel Irizar (RadioShack) and Ruslan Pydgornyy (Vacansoleil-DCM) after attacking them on the final climb of the day, 12km from the finish.

The Spaniard made his winning attack 500 metres from the top of the Alto de la Santa. His advantage was just a handful of seconds heading over the summit, but he gave it everything on the descent into Totana and pushed out his lead out to almost 30 seconds.

The chasing trio did start to cooperate and eat into Lastras’s advantage, reducing his lead to 10 seconds with 3km remaining. But, having done most of the chasing, Chavanel then eased up and the three riders started toying with each other, leaving Lastras to enjoy a celebratory final kilometre as he claimed his first Vuelta stage win since 2002.

Lastras dedicated the victory to his former teammate Xavier Tondo and Leopard Trek’s Wouter Weylandt, who both died earlier this season, as well as to Movistar’s Mauricio Soler, who is still recovering from serious injuries sustained at the Tour of Switzerland in June.

"I think that I won today because of the expertise that I've built up as a veteran rider, I think it was a good win. I really wanted to raise my arms at the finish today and I dedicate the win to Xavi Tondo and to my teammate Soler who is very ill, as well as to all the friends who have been lost this year," said Lastras, who also went on to thank the media "for making this sport great" and his team manager Eusebio Unzué "who gave me the confidence I needed".

Chavanel, who would have taken the race lead if he had finished ahead of Lastras, was pleased with his performance. "We collaborated really well until the last climb. At 600 metres from the top of Alto de la Santa, Lastras took off. I couldn't follow him because I was starting to get cramps," said the Frenchman.

"On the slight rise towards the finish I gave it everything I had to catch up to Lastras. However there wasn't much collaboration from Pydgornyy and Irizar. When we got to within nine seconds from Lastras with only 3 kilometres to go to the finish line we started sizing each other up and Lastras gained a few seconds' advantage. It wasn't up to me to do all the work to catch up.

"I wanted to win the stage and often in order to win you have to risk losing. I gave it everything I had, I couldn't have done more. Anyway, I'm happy with my form, I feel good and I'm going to try again. Congratulations to Pablo. He was the strongest today and he's a great rider."

Most of the race favourites finished safely in the bunch that was led in by Nicolas Roche 1:43 after Lastras had taken the stage. However, two-time winner Denis Menchov (Geox-TMC) failed to stay with the bunch’s pace on the final climb, coming in 3:06 down along with Rabobank’s Steven Kruijswijk, who had been marked as another rider to watch after his impressive performance at the Giro d’Italia.

The winning break takes shape

After a number of escape attempts had been thwarted in the opening five kilometres, Pydgornyy, Chavanel and Cofidis’s Nicolas Edet jumped away after 6km and were soon joined by Spaniards Lastras and Irizar. These five quickly got a good lead, which stretched to almost eight minutes with 68km covered as Liquigas-Cannondale and Leopard Trek set a steady pace on the front of bunch.

Edet asked for medical assistance having being stung on the forehead by an insect with 90km covered. Soon after the young Frenchman started to slip back from the break. Vacansoleil-DCM’s Pydgornyy claimed the sprint not long after this. The pace did increase in the bunch from this point on, although none of the teams were keen to take on too much work so early in the race and in such sapping conditions.

As Irizar led the four escapees over the 3rd-category Alto del Berro with 117km covered, back in the bunch a lot of riders were starting to struggle. HTC’s Mark Cavendish fell back, together with fellow sprinter Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano). Leopard Trek was doing most of the work, cutting the break’s lead back to 4:28 at the summit of the Berro, then trimming it down to 3:46 as the race passed through Totana for the first time with 22km remaining.

Sky prominent on final climb

The final 22km loop took the riders out of Totana and up and over the Alto de la Santa, a regular feature in the Tour of Murcia, before dropping back into the finish again. The four breakaway riders were content to cooperate all the way up the climb, until Lastras made his winning move towards the summit.

Back in the rapidly thinning bunch, Team Sky was clearly determined to keep team leader Bradley Wiggins out of trouble. Thomas Lövkvist set the pace for a good way up the climb, with Wiggins on his wheel.

However, suggestions that some of the leading contenders might attempt an attack on the climb with the aim of gaining a few seconds in Totana were unfounded. Geox-TMC’s David De La Fuente did make a dig that came to nothing. But the GC contenders were clearly happy to save themselves until the much bigger test that faces them on stage four, which brings the first summit finish at Sierra Nevada.

That stage will offer an early insight into the likely contenders for the Vuelta title and should bring an immediate end to Lastras’s hold on the red jersey.

Result
1	Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team	3:58:00
2	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:00:15
3	Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack
4	Ruslan Podgornyy (Ukr) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
5	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale	0:01:43
6	Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team
7	Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
8	Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
9	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
10	Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

GC Overall
1	Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team	8:25:59
2	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:00:20
3	Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack	0:01:08
4	Ruslan Podgornyy (Ukr) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:01:24
5	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:01:55
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:01:59
8	Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
9	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
10	Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) HTC-Highroad	0:02:04

2011 Tour de France, Stage 18

Today’s stage was 200.5km, starting in Pinerolo and taking the riders to Galibier-Serre Chevalier. There were 3 HC climbs today.

An early breakaway of 20 didn’t last long. Then there was an attack by Meersman and Marcato, which again didn’t last. However, right before the intermediate sprint, a group of 16 fled and got the points: Duque, Posthuma, Delaplace, Devenyns, Tjallingii, Bookwalter, Irizar, Erviti, Hondo, Navardauskas, Perez, Urtasun, Ignlinsky,  Monfort, and Roche. Hoogerland is the 16th man. Burghardt, Delage, and Silin were able to bridge to the breakaway.

With 115km left, the breakaway has almost 9 minutes.

With 99 to go, Zeits and Gilbert have attacked the peloton. They were soon joined by Barredo, Leipheimer, Riblon, Di Gregorio, and Koren. Meanwhile, Hondo have dropped from the lead group. Cavendish and Petacchi are being dropped from the high-paced peloton.

Leipheimer, Di Gregorio, and Westra have attacked the chasing group. They get 30” clear of the peloton and are joined by Gesink and Moncoutie. The rest of their groupare back to the peloton.
Duque, Delage, Erviti, Irizar and Bookwalter are all being dropped by the leaders.

Ignlinsky is the first man over the summit of the first climb. Hoogerland, Devenyns, and Monfort follow, but Ignlinsky continues solo.

Gilbert, Voeckler, and Vanendert bridge to the Leipheimer, but the peloton is closing in. A lot of the riders in the lead group are also falling back.

With 60km left, A. Schleck attacks and opens up a good gap. Rolland tried to follow, but couldn’t. With 58km remaining, he has a 45” lead over the group with the Yellow Jersey. Schleck was able to make it to Posthuma, who fell back from the leaders. Posthuma is working hard for his team leader. Three kilometers later, Schleck takes off on his own. He now has a 2 minute advantage over the other GC contenders who are working hard to chase him down.

No surprise, Ignlinaky is first over the 2nd summit. As the peloton continues the climb, Uran is dropped off the back.

Monfort waits on the descent for Schleck. The two soon join forces with Devenyns and Silin. Only Roche is between them and Ignlinsky. And soon, they are with Roche. Only Monfort seems willing to work with Schleck.

With 30km remaining, the Schleck group catches Ignlinsky. With 20km remaining, they have almost 4 minutes over the Contador group. But then there were 3, as only Ignlinsky and Roche can hold Schleck’s wheel.

The Yellow jersey group can not seem to work together. The leaders are gaining more and more of a gap. Schleck is soon up to 4’15” with 11km left.

With about 9km left, Evans attacks the Yellow Jersey group. Soon the others are back with him, but they are chasing A. Schleck harder.

With 2km from the finish, Contador is dropped!

In the final kilometer, F. Schelck attacked the Yellow Jersey group to make it a Schleck-Schleck 1-2. Voeckler keep the Yellow by just 16 seconds!!

Stage 18 Results:
1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 6:07:56
2 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:02:07
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:02:15
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:18
5 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:21
6 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:27
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:02:33
8 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:03:22
9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:03:25

Cavendish and others come in over 35 minutes later. They were not disqualified but they did loose points.

2011 Tour de France, Stage 17

Today’s stage is 179km and runs from Gap to Pinerolo; yes, the Tour de France will head into Italy today.

Within the firs 10km, a 10-man break has formed: Gerdermann, Thomas, Hagen, Di Gregorio, Sanchez ,  Costa, Casar, Hondo, Van Garderen, De Gendt. Hushovd and Roche tried to attack the peloton to bridge a gap to the breakaway sitting at about 40” ahead, but the peloton wouldn’t let them go. However, with 139km remaining the group was brought back.

With 119km left, a new attack group has formed, and they quickly have 1’30” on the peloton: Hagen, Perez, Tjallingii, Fofonov, Muravyev, Amador, Paterski, Chavanel, El Fares, Casar, Bozic, Leukmans, Hivert, and Mollema. By the beginning of the first climb, the lead was 4’30”.

Tiralongo has abandoned the race.

At the summit, Chavanel take the most KOM points, followed by El Fares. Caser takes the lead over the intermediate sprint line. At the second climb Chavanel got 2 points while Leukmans got 1.

With 88km remaining, the lead grew to 7’15”.

Chavanel takes maximum points at the 3rd summit.

82km from the finish, Hoogerland, Roche, and De Weert attack the peloton and try to chase down the breakaway. De Weert is doing the most work and is able to cut the gap to the leaders in half within minutes.

Perez attacked the breakaway with 4km to go until the summit. He hit the summit solo, and Chavanel brought the rest of the leaders over the line. With 31km remaining, Perez has an 8’10” gap over the peloton.

The peloton drops a lot of riders on this final climb, including Farrar and Cavendish.

Perez is caught on the ascent, and Chavanel attacks. Hagen catches up to him and then attacks. The leaders catch up to Chavanel, and he attacks again to no avail. Then Hivert attacks. Hagen has a 25 second lead with 10km to go. Chavanel goes again and then Mollema while Contador attacks the peloton.

A. Schleck, Voeckler, and Evans follow Contador and soon they are all back together.

Contador attacks again, followed by A. Schleck and Evans. Then F. Schleck attacks and is followed by Contador and others.

Hivert crashes on the descent, but is able to get back up and chase.

Basso sets the pace for the rest of the acsent and A. Schleck leads the CG contenders down. Hivert again crashes, this time into a parked car. Again, he is okay.

Voeckler attacks, but almost misses a corner. Contador attacks and is clear. Voeckler ends up crashing into the same parked car as Hivert in another missed corner. The GC contenders finish together though, but it is Hagen who takes the win!

 Stage 17 Results:
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 4:18:00
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:40
3 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ 0:00:50
4 Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:00:50
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:00:50
6 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 0:01:10
7 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:10
8 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team RadioShack 0:01:10
9 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:15

2011 Tour de France, Stage 16

Today's stage runs from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap for a 162.5 km ride, in which the riders will begin to tackle the Alps.



There have been a lot of attacks since the beginning of the stage, but no breaks have been allowed by the very fast-paced peloton. Nothing amounted to any more than a few seconds until Devenyns had an 8” gap with 127km left, but he was caught. Then Millar attacked, has 15” and then was joined by Chavanel, Martin, Bole, Flecha, Zubeldia, and more. Millar and company are soon caught, and another attack has formed but the peloton won’t let up their speed. Another group of 5 tries their luck, but again its to no avail. 

With about 90km left, Westra gets a 150 meter gap, but as soon as other riders attempt to bridge to him, the peloton tries to swallow them all back. With about 75km to go, next set of attackers go: Roy, Coppel, Roche, Hoogerland, Kreuziger, Jeannesson, Mollema, Di Gregorio, Knees, Zandio, Gallpin, Marcato, Hesjedal. However, there is a lot of conflict in the group; no one seems to want to work together, although they have 13” on the peloton.

Through more bridges and some escapees sitting up for the peloton to reel them in, the new leaders become: Marcato, Martin, Grivko, Hushovd, Perez, Hagen, Hesjedal, Devenyns, Ignatiev, and Roy. Finally a breakaway was able to escape; it only took 100km into the stage. With 21km left to go, the gap is 6’16”.

When the leaders get on the climb. Ignatiev attacked and tried solo. Although he had about 15”, he was being chased down by Perez and Devenyns. During the chase, Devenyns attacks Perez. Perez was then caught by the rest of the break as Marcato was dropped by the increasing pace uphill.

With 16km left, Hesjedal jumpas and catches and passes Ignatiev, who can’t keep the pace.

With 15km left, Contador attacks the peloton. Cancellara chases with both Schlecks, Evans, Sanchez, and Voeckler. However, they are soon caught by the peloton.

Contador attacks again; Voeckler and A. Schleck stay with him. Evans chases with F. Schleck on his wheel. They are all caught again. Contador attacks for a third time with Evans and Sanchez. Voeckler is losing ground. A. Schleck is dropped too.

Further up. Hesjedal is caught by Hushovd and Hagen.

Evan leads the chasing group down the descent as both Schlecks, Voeckler, Cunego, and Basso chase the chasing group. Voeckler attacks as Hushovd attacks his group. Hagen then attacks Hushovd but Hushovd chases. Its Hushovd who takes the win.

1 Hushovd
2 Hagen
3 Hesjedal
4 Martin
5 Ignatyev
6 Perez
7 Devenyns
8 Roy
9 Marcato
10 Grivko