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 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 8, 7/08/12

July 8, Stage 8: Belfort - Porrentruy 157.5km

Pinot rides to glory in Porrentruy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Full Results

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

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

2011 Tour de France, Stage 14

Stage 14 runs 168km, from Saint-Gaudens to Plateau de Beille. Today's stage has 6 categorized climbs, including a HC finish.

Interesting Fact of the Day: This is the 5th time a stage has finished at Plateau de Beille, and the stage winner has always gone on to win the tour. Will that be the case this year?
Almost instantly Chavanel attacks and soon Voigt and Millar are going clear as well. Then there were 19 riders trying to reach Chavanel as well as others back in the peloton trying to bridge the gap. They were able to catch Chavanel, as well as other chasers who had a chance to catch the lead group. So the breakaway became: El Fares, Millar, Casar, Voigt, L. Sanchez, Izagirre, Mollema, Koren, Chavanel, Di Gregorio, Riblon, Bouet, Vichot, Gerdemann, Charteau, Quinziato, Silin, Matcato, Delage, Malori, Perez, Pineau, Zandio, and Costa. Some big names, and a lot of familiar names. The best place attacker is Casar at 21, sitting 8'47" back from Yellow.

At the summit of the first climb, Delage took the most KOM points and Mollema took second. Delage also crossed the sprint line first taking points there as well. The second summit of the day also belonged to Delage. Cavendish is off the back of the peloton having difficulty making it up the second mountain, however on the descent he caught back up.

Millar, Casar, and El Fares have upped the pace in the breakaway and soon are the leading trio. With 87km to go, they lead the peloton by 7 minutes. With 75km remaining that lead jumped another two minutes as other breakaway members are either trying to reach the trio or are being dropped on the acsent. As Leopard-Trek takes over the control of the peloton, Roy is being dropped off the back. Hushovd is also being dropped.

At the third summit of the say, this time it is Casar who takes it. On the descent, Riblon catches the trio, however, soon Millar is dropped on the ascent of the 4th climb. Silin passes Millar on his way to the new trio in the lead. As Silin gets close, the rest of the chasers are making their way back up as well. There are now 10 riders up front: El Fares, Silin, Riblon, Casar, Di Gregorio, Millar, Voigt, Charteau, Zandio, and Izagirre.

The 4th climb of the day goes to Chavanel, who just eclipsed Charteau right before the line.

There was a crash on the 4th descent. Ten Dam went down pretty hard, but he got back up and continued on.

Right away there is a category 3 ascent for the 5th climb and Izagirre takes it.

Voigt crashed on this descent, but he too was able to get back up. He crashed again a few minutes later when his wheel locked up. He is able to make his way back to his team who is leading the peloton down the mountain. Izagirre is leading with about a minute on the chasing group. L Sanchez attacked the chasing group but no one responds to help him. Then Millar tries. This is the issue with big groups; they can't work well together.

On the final climb of the day Leopard-Trek continues to keep it at a fast pace. Riders are dropping off the back, including Hincapie, Gesink, and Martin. With 13km left of the stage, most of the riders from the original breakaway had been caught with Casar still ahead. BMC is helping Leopard-Trek pace, and soon there are 20 or so riders left in the peloton.

A. Schelck attacks and Contador follows. Evans, Basso, Cunego, F. Schleck and Voeckler respond. Danielson has been gapped. A. Schelck attacks again and this time Vanenert is with him. S. Sanchez, Basso, Cunego, and Uran follow. He goes again and Evans bridges to him. This is a 12 rider group, and with 8km remaining, Casar has less than a minute lead.

With 6km left, Casar has 20 seconds but Vanenert attacks an surges past Casar. A. Schelck keep attacking his group, but he can't get anywhere. With 5km left, Vanenert has 18". Its Basso who is setting the pace, but Voeckler stays on his wheel. In the flatter section, S. Sanchez attacks and is in the middle of Vanenert and the chasers.

Basso creates a gap, and Evans, Voeckler, and Peraud bridge, but they are caught before the end. Vanenert wins the stage with S. Sanchez second.

Stage 14 Results:
1 Vanendert
2 S Sanchez
3 A Schleck
4 Evans
5 Uran
6 Contador
7 Voeckler
8 F Schleck
9 Peraud
10 Rolland

2011 Tour de France, Stage 13

Today’s stage is a short 156km from Pau to Lourdes, with only one huge climb, but three climbs total, a category 3, a category 4, and an HC.

We are down to 174 riders. There were two non-starters today: Steegmans, who was in a stage 5 crash, just found out that he fractured a wrist bone, and Galimzyanov, who finished outside the time limit yesterday. He crossed the finish line almost an hour after Sanchez!

There was an initial breakaway of two riders and five more joined them. However before any names could be announced the peloton caught them while averaging 50-60km/h!

Then there was a 15 man group, but again they couldn’t get far.

At about 122km left of the stage, Kloden abandoned. He’s been suffering since his crash yesterday, and hasn’t had time to recover. Also Isaichev threw in the towel.

Vandenert takes the most points over the top of the first climb.

There were many more attacks large groups that get swallowed back up.

Boom also abandoned today after losing over 5 minutes on the peloton.

At 90km from the finish, we finally have a stable breakaway: Tjallingii, Hushovd, Fofonov, Hagen, Pineau, Roy, Moncoutié, Petacchi, Gusev, and Bak. A lot of big names, but Gusev is the best placed rider, sitting at 28th, down 11'13". At 87km from the finsh, the breakaway had over 4 minutes.

Roy took the lone KOM point on the category 4 climb.

The leading 10 did not sprint at the intermediate sprint. Hagen took the most points, followed by Moncoutié. Rojas led the peloton across, in front of Cavendish.

After the sprint, Hushovd attacked his group. He reached a 17” lead before he was joined by Roy.  Moncoutié and Hagen formed a 2-man chase group. Back in the peloton there were a bunch of counter-attacks.

As the last climb gets steeper, riders are being dropped from the peloton: Farrar, Cavendish (who’s being helped by teammate Eisel), Cancellara, Greipel, Hoogerland, Thomas, and Chavanel. Roy has also managed to loose Hushovd, however Moncoutié has caught up and passed Hushovd on his way to Roy.

Of course Roy crossed the summit first, with Hushovd two minutes back. Hushovd caught Moncoutié on the descent. Gilbert had attacked the peloton as goes solo.

With 6km to go, Moncoutié is not helping Hushovd, so Hushovd attacks and is able to catch Roy. Moncoutié catches up and Roy can’t go anymore. Hushovd attacks again and he is the winner of Stage 13!!

Stage 13 Results:
1 Hushovd
2 Moncoutie
3 Roy
4 Bak
5 Pineau
6 Hagen
7 Gusev
8 Tjallingii
9 Petacchi
10 Gilbert

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

2011 Tour de France, Stage 5

Stage 5 runs from Carhaix to Cap Frehel. It is 158 kilometers long with one category 4 climb, Cote de Gurunheul, which will be at 45.5km. It is a 2.3 km climb with a maxium gradient of 5.1 %. The day's intermediate sprint is at km 70.

The main breakaway of the day consisted of Gutierrez, Valentin, Turgot, and Delaplace. They had a maximum advantage of 6:00 at 101km remaining, but were caught at 46km  remaining. Toward the end, they were not working well together. Delaplace is not only the youngest rider in the break group, he is also the youngest rider in the Tour.  He is only 21 years old, with his next birthday coming up in September. The four man breakaway is pictured below.

At the top of the climb, Delaplace jumped out and claimed the one KOM point. For the intermediate sprint, Turgot got the points, ahead of Valentin and Gutierrez.

Today saw plenty of crashes with big names: First crash got Chavanel, Wiggins, and Leipheimer. All three continued on. Second crash got Brajkovic and Gesink. Gesink got back on the bike, but Brajkovic was taken by ambulance. Third crash got Contador, but he got back up. Fourth crash got N. Sorensen. He was hit by a race motorcycle. Fifth crash involved Boonen and Steegmans. Steegmans continued riding, but Boonen struggled with help from teammate Engels. It was unclear if he was going to make it to the finish, but he did with less than 4 minutes to spare before he got disqualified. (Picture below of Boonen being helped across the finish by his teammate.) Finally, the sixth crash involved a Euskaltel rider who wasn't named. Kern also had to abandon, although I am not sure if he was involved in a crash.

At 32km remaining, another attack formed. This time it was Voeckler and Roy. By 23km left, the riders had 1’05”. Roy was caught about 3km out, but Voeckler tries again. The lone attacker was caught less than a kilometer later.

As far as the finish, Cavendish was so close, but then got lost in the pack. However, he found his way back just in time and crossed the line ahead of Gilbert and Rojas. This was his 16th stage victory in the Tour de France.

Stage 5 Results:
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) HTC-Highroad
2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
2 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
3 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling
4 André Greipel (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto
5 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
6 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
4 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
10 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo

2011 Tour de France, Stage 4

The fourth stage started in Lorient and ended  172.5 kilometers later in Mur-de-Bretagne, with a category 3 climb at the finish. This is considered a "lumpy" stage with one other climb, a category 4, just under the halfway point.

After just 9 kilometers, the breakaway happened. Roy attacked first and was followed by Kadri, Erviti, Hoogerland, and Izagirre. With 25km into the stage the leaders hit thier max advantage of 4:35. Erviti is the best-placed rider overall. He lies in 111th place overall,  but only 2:58 down on the Yellow Jersey.

We also had our first abandon today with Van de Walle. He crashed in the 1st stage first stage of the race and had to finally give in to his injuries. We are left with 197 riders.

After three days of beautiful weather and sunshine, today's stage started out under cloudy skies and heavy rain. Most of the riders were in race capes and jackets because of the wet conditions. However, Hoogerland and Roy, leading the break, aren't even wearing arm warmers. Below is Vinokourov with his rain gear on:

As the break reached the top of the first climb, Cote de Laz, Hoogerland attacked to gain the one KOM point. After he crossed the line, he waited for his companions to catch up.

By now, the peloton has begun a cat-and-mouse game with the attackers as they are reeling them in. When there is less than 2'30" of an advantage left, the peloton slows down to allow the attackers more freedom. When it gets above 2'30", the peloton speeds up.

The intermediate sprint results: Hoogerland, Roy, Kadri, Erviti, Izagirre, Farrar, Rojas, Bozic, Cavendish, Galimzyanov, Goss, Engoulvent, Gilbert, Greipel, and Oss.

The final climb to Mur-de-Bretagne is 2km long with an average gradient of 6.9%, however the first kilometer is the killer. Its gradient is an average of 10%! Yet, the steepest part comes midway up, with a section that reaches 12-13%, but then it flattens out considerably in the final kilometer.

With only 3.8km remaining, the break gets caught. And even with BMC controlling the peloton, Contador attacks with 1.3km to go. However, it was Evans that pulled off the win with just millimeters to spare...if that! Take a look at these two photos and see how close the finish was (Contador in White, Evans in Red):



So close infact, that Contador thought that he won! However, not only did the first 15 across get sprint points, but Evans earned 2 KOM points with Contador earning 1.

Stage 4 Results:
1 Evans

2 Contador

3 Vinokourov

4 Uran

5 Gilbert

6 Hushovd

7 F. Schleck

8 Sanchez

9 Van Den Broeck

10 Klöden

Favorite Pictures of the Day:

Voeckler at the beginning in the rain

A. Schleck drinking water while riding



2011 Tour de France Stage 1

Today's stage went from Passage du Gois La Barre-de-Monts to Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers for a total of 191 km (118.68 miles). A pretty flat stage, which would sound like a sprinter finish, however, the category 4 climb at the end could prove to be better for classics riders.

The first part of the stage, Passage du Gois, is a part of France that is only uncovered during low tide. The cyclists have to ride over mud-covered ground.

The first breakaway of the day involved Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and Jeremy Roy (FdJ). Quemeneur, who is racing in his first Tour, initiated the escape right after the race started. Their max time was 6'40", and at 20 km to go the peloton caught up and the trio ended their escape with handshakes all around.



Here is a cool picture of the pack riding together:



The intermediate sprint of the day came around kilometer 87. Roy crossed first earning himself 20 points for the green jersey, followed by Westra (17) and Quemeneur (15). The peloton crossed about 3 minutes after the breakaway, in real sprint fashion: Farrar (13), Greipel (11), Ventoso (10), Galimzyanov (9), Bozic (8), Boonen (7), Engoulvent (6), Cavendish (5), Petacchi (4), Delage (3), Dumoulin (2) and Sabatini (1).

There were a lot of crashes today, although probably no more than usual. However, the two big ones came at the end. At 8km out, the peloton was split into two groups; Contador was in the 2nd group, initally about 32 seconds behind. At 2 km out another crash happened (although since this one was under 3km, all riders involved were given the same time as the first finishers). Philippe Gilbert won the stage; his first Tour victory. He has the Yellow Jersey, KOM Jersey, and Green Jersey. Geraint Thomas earns the White Jersey. Contador finshed 1'21" behind.

Stage 1, Results:

1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 4:41:31 

2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:03 
3. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:00:06 
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team  
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto  
6. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky ProCycling  
7. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team RadioShack  
8. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 
9. Christopher Horner (USA) Team RadioShack  
10. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC Highroad

(Note: All pictures courtesy of Yahoo Sports)