23 posts tagged “pro's”
Di Luca heads to beach
Danilo Di Luca is packing his bags and heading on vacation.
The recently crowned Giro d'Italia champion says the Tour de France won't be part of his summer plans.
"I am going on vacation. I won't race the Tour," Di Luca said after winning his first Giro on Sunday. "I also won Liège-Bastogne-Liège and I've been racing at a high level for a long time. I need a break. I will skip the Tour and prepare for the world championships."
Di Luca, 31, said his next major goal will be the 2007 world championships in Germany. Last year, Di Luca raced and won a stage at the Vuelta a España ahead of the Salzburg world's. So far he hasn't indicated whether he'd race the Spanish tour or not.
Other Giro protagonists have different plans for July. Fourth-place finisher Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval-Prodir) will not be starting the Tour, either. Neither will be surprise runner-up Andy Schleck (CSC) while Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) has entirely ruled out a Tour start, though he's indicated he'll likely skip the French race this year but target the 2008 Tour as his main goal for the season.
Third-place finisher Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana) will return to his role as gregario for team captains Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Klöden. Paolo Savoldelli, winner of the final time trial, is also Tour-bound to help the Astana captains. Iban Mayo, winner of stage 19, enters the Tour as Saunier Duval's top GC hope.
Giro 9: Napolitano by inches
21/05/2007
Napolitano takes Giro Stage 9 by inches as Pinotti retains Maglia Rosa.
Photo: Tim de Waele
Stage 9 of the Giro d’Italia saw the riders tackling a relatively modest 177km course from Reggio Nell'emilia to Lido Di Camaiore which featured just one Cat. 2 climb. The peloton was content to amble along a sedate 26.5 km/h for the first hour and after two hours the average speed was still only 27km/h with nobody prepared to mount an attack. The first move of the day eventually saw Stage 6 winner Luis Felipe Laverde taking the points for the climb up the Passo del Cerreto before his mini four-man breakaway was caught. With the day’s ascending all over after just 72km, a new breakaway comprising Andrei Kunitski, Frederic Bessy, Nicolas Crosbie and Simone Masciarelli formed on the fast descent towards the long flat run home.
The quartet maintained their advantage until just before the 5km kite where they were enveloped by the peloton as the sprinters began to move into position. The pace was now extremely brisk and Petacchi, Förster, Hushovt, Dean and Napolitano were all well placed as the bunch entered the final kilometre. At around 150m to the line and with the sprint well underway the French rider Gene crashed but miraculously failed to bring anyone else down with him. As the sprint entered the final few metres Robbie McEwen appeared to be in the boss seat but a sweetly executed late surge from Danilo Napolitano saw the Lampre-Fondital rider take the stage by a matter of inches. Indeed the first three places appeared to be separated by less than half a wheel, but it was glory for the 26 year-old Sicilian ahead of McEwen and Alessandro Pettachi. T Mobile’s Marco Pinotti, meanwhile, retains his leader’s pink jersey.
Stage 9 results
1 Danilo Napolitano (Ita, Lampre-Fondital) 04:57:08
2 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus, Predictor-Lotto) 00:00:00
3 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita, Team Milram) 00:00:00
4 Paolo Bettini (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:00:00
5 Koldo Fernandez (Spa, Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:00:00
6 Thor Hushovd (Nor, Credit Agricole) 00:00:00
7 Ariel Maximilian Richeze (Arg, Ceramica Panaria - Navigare) 00:00:00
8 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra, Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone) 00:00:00
9 Robert Forster (Ger, Gerolsteiner) 00:00:00
10 Juan José Haedo (Arg, Team CSC) 00:00:00
11 Alexei Markov (Rus, Caisse d'Epargne) 00:00:00
12 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 00:00:00
13 Lloyd Mondory (Fra, Ag2r Prevoyance) 00:00:00
14 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa, Rabobank) 00:00:00
15 Nikolai Trussov (Rus, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 00:00:00
16 Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Spa, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 00:00:00
17 Paride Grillo (Ita, Ceramica Panaria - Navigare) 00:00:00
18 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin, Française des Jeux) 00:00:00
19 Aliaksandr Usau (Blr, Ag2r Prevoyance) 00:00:00
20 Assan Bazayev (Kaz, Astana) 00:00:00
German Marcus Burghardt cracked three-time world champion Oscar Freire to win Gent-Wevelgem as Briton Roger Hammond made it a T-Mobile one-two in the Belgian classic.
The 23-year-old Burghardt attacked from a five-man group that included recent Milan-Sanremo victor Freire (Rabobank) and fellow top Spanish sprinter Francisco José Ventoso (Saunier Duval) just 1.5-km from the finish line.
Hammond contained the two sprint stars for the final kilometre, then broke in front of Freire to seal second-place less than 300 metres from the line.
The German Burghardt collects his first ProTour victory in one of spring's cobbled classics on a day that witnessed several major crashes.
"It's amazing to take a ProTour win as the first of my career," Burghardt said.
"He (Hammond) kept the other guys under control when I attacked."
Freire's third place meant he replaced Alberto Contador as overall leader of the ProTour.
"It was a very difficult situation with two T-Mobiles in the break," Freire said.
The last two survivors from an attack in the first 40 km, Hammond and Frenchman Christophe Mengin were joined by Freire and Burghardt in the last hour of racing.
"They were the cavalry, just what we needed to stay away," Hammond said.
Numerous crashes on the dangerous descent of the Kemmelburg climb meant several riders quit the race injured but the three podium finishers rejected calls for it to be eliminated from the route.
"They should decrease the number of riders in the race," Freire said. "That would sort the problem out."
French sprinter Jimmy Casper (Unibet.com) was one of the riders to crash hard earlier on Wednesday, hitting the cobbles nearly 50 kilometres from the finish line.
Casper in bad crash
Unibet.com sprinter Jimmy Casper experiences a scary crash on the cobblestones with less than 60-km left in the Gent Wevelgem.
Results Gent-Wevelgem
Rider Team Time Diff 1 Markus Burghardt (GER) T-Mobile 4:53:04 2 Roger Hammond (GBR) T-Mobile +0:05 3 Oscar Freire (ESP) Rabobank +0:05 4 Francisco Ventoso (ESP) Saunier Duval +0:06 5 Christophe Mengin (FRA) Francaise des Jeux +0:06 6 Robbie McEwen (AUS) Predictor - Lotto +0:15 7 Max van Heeswijk (NED) Rabobank +0:15 8 Baden Cooke (AUS) Unibet.com +0:15 9 Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne +0:15 10 Alexandre Usov (BLR) AG2R +0:15 11 Cyril Lemoine (FRA) Crédit Agricole +0:15 12 Olaf Pollack (GER) Wiesenhof-Felt +0:15 13 David Kopp (GER) Gerolsteiner +0:15 14 Koen De Kort (NED) Astana +0:15 15 Aaron Kemps (AUS) Astana +0:15 16 Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) Rabobank +0:15 17 Martin Elmiger (SUI) AG2R +0:15 18 Imanol Erviti (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne +0:15 19 Luca Paolini (ITA) Liquigas +0:15 20 Franck Rénier (FRA) Bouygues Telecom +0:15
Veteran German Jens Voigt won the Criterium International for the third time with a typically attacking display in Sunday's road stage.
Voigt, along with Sébastien Joly (Française des Jeux) and Gorazd Stangelj (Lampre-Fondital), attacked 13km into the 98.5km stage from Les Vieilles Forges to Monthermé which featured nine climbs.
They built up a two minute lead before the CSC rider left his fellow escapees with 34km and two hills remaining.
He eventually crossed the line 48 seconds ahead of an elite bunch of a dozen riders that included Alejandro Valvarde (Caisse d'Epargne), Andréas Klöden (Astana), Frank Schleck (CSC) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre).
The 35-year-old then finished seventh, 14 seconds behind Thomas Lovkvist of Sweden, in the 8.3km time trial in the afternoon to seal the overall victory.
Française des Jeux's Lovkvist was second on GC after edging out Valverde by three seconds on the roads around Charleville-Mézières.
Pendleton's third gold
Britain's Victoria Pendleton won her third gold medal of the world track championships when she won the women's keirin in Palma. China's Shuang Guo took silver and Anna Meares of Australia the bronze.
Theo is the Bos
Theo Bos of the Netherlands retained the men's sprint crown when he took gold at the world track championships. France's Gregory Bauge took silver and compatriot Mickael Bourgain won bronze.
Bates claims points title
Australia's Katherine Bates won the gold medal in the women's points race at the world track cycling championships in Palma. Mie Bekker Lacota of Denmark took silver and New Zealand's Catherine Cheatley won bronze.
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Contador claims the mantle as next big Spanish hope |
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photo: Graham Watson |
The 24-year-old Discovery Channel rider uncorked a searing attack on the Cat. 1 Col d'Eze to gap overnight leader Davide Rebellin and drove home a stirring victory on Nice's Promenade des Anglais to turn a six-second deficit into a 26-second winning margin.
"This is my biggest win of my career," Contador said. "I came here with the idea of winning and, even though it took a while, I'm very happy to have been able to win."
Contador was haunted by the 17 seconds he forfeited Tuesday when the peloton split on the tricky finish into Limoges in stage two. Contador won Thursday's summit finish to Mende, but the cagey Rebellin - who did finish safely with the front group at Limoges - snuck into the yellow jersey by six seconds.
"We made a big mistake there," said Discovery sport director Dirk Demol. "I was really angry with the boys. I told them those seconds could prove very expensive."
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Contador takes the stage and the overall |
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photo: Graham Watson |
Rebellin could only count on three inexperienced teammates while Discovery Channel clearly had superior firepower.
Discovery demonstrated its intentions when it put its six riders at the front over the day's main hurdle at the Cat. 1 Col de la Porte in the opening 60km. Tom Danielson, Levi Leipheimer and Yaroslav Popovych later took damaging pulls on Col d'Eze before Contador attacked.
"We wanted to ride today like we held the leader's jersey," said Discovery's Leipheimer. "We wanted to put the team on the front and kind of intimidate everyone. That can really make a difference."
Rebellin was finding allies in the peloton all week to help him hold his slender lead, but in the mano-a-mano battle on Col d'Eze, it was every man for himself as the acceleration whittled the lead group down to the 10 strongest riders.
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A course profile is worth 1000 words |
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Rebellin had a feeling this was gonna happen |
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photo: Graham Watson |
"I knew starting today it would be hard to win and I was ready to accept that I might lose. Contador showed again today he's the strongest on the climbs," Rebellin said. "I couldn't do anything to follow him up the final climb. Their entire team was very strong."
Contador's success gives Discovery Channel its second big win of the season following Leipheimer's Tour of California victory.
Discovery Channel eagerly picked up Contador following the collapse of Liberty Seguros last year in the wake of the Operación Puerto investigation. Contador was later cleared of any connection to the alleged blood-doping ring to pave the way for his arrival at the American team.
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Voeckler lays down the law |
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photo: Graham Watson |
A natural-born climber, Contador returned to the winner's circle with a stage at the 2005 Tour Down Under. Last year, he won stages at the Tour of Romandie and the Tour du Suisse.
He won a stage ahead of Spain's reigning star, Alejandro Valverde, in last month's Vuelta a Valencia in Spain, but a spill earlier in the week cheated him of overall victory.
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Paulinho in the escape |
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photo: Graham Watson |
Sunday's finale wasn't going to be one of those ceremonial parades. The 129.5km seventh and final stage started and finished in sunny Nice. With four rated climbs, capped by the spectacular Cat. 1 climb up Col d'Eze towering above the sparkling Mediterranean Coast, the stage was set for an explosive finale.
With a baker's dozen still within a minute of Rebellin's lead, fans could count on some aggressive racing. Before the hostilities began, however, it was time for some reunions ahead of the start along Nice's Promenade des Anglais. Several riders who live along the Cote d'Azur enjoyed some family time. Team CSC's Bobby Julich and T-Mobile's Michael Barry were seen snuggling loved ones before the start.
Also spotted hugging were Contador and Luis León Sánchez (Caisse d'Epargne). The buddies found themselves as adversaries at the end of Saturday's stage. León Sánchez attacked Contador with about 4km to go to win the stage and vault from 16th to third overall.
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Danielson and Disco' get busy breaking legs |
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photo: Graham Watson |
"Alberto understands that I had to ride for my team's interest (Saturday)," León Sánchez told VeloNews. "Maybe we could have collaborated if I was a minute or more behind in the GC, but I was less than one minute and I still had my options for the podium. We're still friends, but during the race, it's like that."
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Contador attacks |
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photo: Graham Watson |
"We have a young team and we're paying for it now," Gerolsteiner sport director Udo Bolts told VeloNews. "It was just too hard for those young guys yesterday. When Contador attacked, Rebellin was at the limit and he couldn't follow. We've been finding some help from other teams like CSC, Lampre, Predictor-Lotto - that's really helped us a lot."
Voeckler on the march
With so much on the line, it didn't take long for the day's main breakaway to form.
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Grinding it out and taking time |
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photo: Graham Watson |
Chavanel popped out to win the day's first sprint at 15.5km and the time bonuses popped him ahead of compatriot Jerome Pineau into the top 10. Voeckler - who started the day in the best climber's jersey - was keen to consolidate his hold on the polka-dot tunic and charged over the Cat. 2 Cote de Duranus (2.4km at 6.4 percent) at 25.5km and then led the way up the day's main hurdle at the Cat. 1 Col de la Porte (7.2km at 7.2 percent) at 52km.
Discovery Channel didn't like the look of the big group's gap of nearly one minute and sent Yaroslav Popovych, Levi Leipheimer and Tom Danielson to the front. The breakaway was reeled in on the upper flanks of Porte while Voekler - who started the stage at 33rd at 6:08 back - was kept within range off the front with Danielson was second and Leipheimer third for the mountain points.
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Sanchez chases |
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photo: Graham Watson |
Discovery Channel proved too much and drilled it up the Turbie to reel in Voeckler and force Rebellin's remaining teammates off the back. Danielson and Leipheimer set the pace over the top with Rebellin in damage control.
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Horner lends a hand in the pursuit |
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photo: Graham Watson |
Four Disco jerseys still protected Contador's flank (Danielson, Leipheimer, Popovych and Devolder) as the bunch broiled toward the Col d'Eze finale.
Fireworks up Col d'Eze
The towering Col d'Eze (7.8km at 6.1 percent) is one of cycling's most glamorous climbs. The steep road winds out of Nice to tower above the Cote d'Azur with spectacular views of Cap Ferrat and Monte Carlo below.
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The final podium |
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photo: Graham Watson |
Several big names such as prologue winner David Millar (Saunier Duval) couldn't match the pace as the lead bunch quickly fractured. Danielson and Leipheimer pulled off and Popovych took a pull before Contador accelerated away.
Riding in the big ring, Contador exploded the main pack and quickly left Rebellin gapsing in a chase group that included Evans, Schleck, Valjavec and Pellizotti. Giving chase were David Garcia Lopez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Valjavec with Rebellin trying to limit the bleeding.
"Contador is one of the most explosive climbers in the peloton," said Demol. "He can quickly open a gap and he's strong enough to hold it."
There was some counter-attacking, but no one could follow the Spanish climber, who held a 40-second gap over the summit. Rebellin chased hard on the descent and clawed within 17 seconds with 2km to go, but fate was turning Contador's way.
He held on to win the stage by 19 seconds and become the first Spanish rider since Miguel Indurain to win in one of the most exciting finishes in recent memory.
Final jerseys
Winner - Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel); points - Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas); climber - Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom); best young - Contador; best team - Caisse d'Epargne
Americans
23. Bobby Julich (CSC), +3:41; 24. Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto), +4:02; 26. Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), +5:52; 39. Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel), +14:22
Medical report
Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval), crash at 1.5km, cuts and scrapes, stitches in left elbow; Gerbin Lowik (Rabobank), crash at 1.5km, cuts and scrapes
Peloton
Forty-seven riders did not finish or abandoned; leaving 81 official finishers. Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie (both CSC) were among the abandons.
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Paris-Nice - final stage
1. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 129.5km in 3:15:47 (39.686 km/h)
2. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:19
3. Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, same time
4. Samuel Sanchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 0:22
5. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), Crédit Agricole, s.t.
6. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, s.t.
7. Tadej Valjavec (Slo), Lampre, s.t.
8. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, s.t.
9. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, s.t.
10. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, s.t.
1. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel
2. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 00:26
3. Luis Leon Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 00:42
4. Tadej Valjavec (Slo), Lampre, 00:49
5. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 00:57
6. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 01:00
7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 01:01
8. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 01:08
9. Samuel Sanchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:12
10. Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 01:22
Luis Sanchez broke away in the final descent to win stage five of Paris-Nice in Cannes, as Davide Rebellin conserved his six-second advantage over Alberto Contador with one stage left to contest.
After 200 kilometres of riding, including nine climbs (five Cat. 2, three Cat. 3 and one Cat. 1), Sanchez stole the show from the likes of Contador and team-mate David Lopez-Garcia.
The Caisse D'Epargne leader surged out of the trio of leading Spaniards in the final five kilometres to pull off a brilliant solo victory on a beautifully sunny day in the famous French coastal town.
Sanchez was part of a six-man escape group that rode at the front of the race for most of the day, but was the only one to survive the final descent from the Cat. 2 Col du Tanneron and an attack by Contador on the closing climb.
With the help of his team-mate Lopez-Garcia, the Spaniard was able to drop Contador and take the biggest victory of his career 28 seconds in front of the main bunch.
"I'm very happy for the Caisse d'Epargne team who allowed me to go for this. I was feeling well on a type of tough and bumpy course which suits my qualities," said the 23-year-old Sanchez.
Thanks to bonus seconds Sanchez, who finished 13th overall in last year's race, moves to third in the general classification at 16 seconds behind Gerolsteiner's Rebellin, who finished on the Paris-Nice podium in 2003 and 2004.
With three category one climbs in Sunday's final stage in Nice the yellow jersey could be decided on the Promenade des Anglais.
"I'm tired but then everybody else is. I expect more attacks from Contador and his Discovery Channel team tomorrow, but hopefully I can cope," Rebellin said after the stage.
Follow LIVE coverage of the final stage from 11:00 CET
- 14:57
NOTHING IS DECIDED: With three category one climbs left in a 129.5 kilomtre final stage of Paris-Nice, the final stage could prove decisive! Join us tomorrow to follow all the action LIVE!
- 14:54
Going into Sunday's final stage in Nice, Davide Rebellin still leads Alberto Contador by six seconds, with Sanchez moving into third overall at 16 seconds back and Tadej Valjavec (SLO) dropping to fourth at 23 seconds back.
- 0 km
LUIS SANCHEZ TAKES THE WIN: But not the yellow jersey.... What will the gap be?? A mass sprint is won by Milram sprinter Mirco Lorenzetto, who takes second-place a futher 28 seconsd back with all fo the main favourites and the yellow jersey Davie Rebellin, who should maintain his lead and take this edition of Paris-Nice! Sanchez should move into third overall..... Rebellin finishes ninth in this penultimate stage.
- 2 km Sanchez might not take the yellow jersey! His lead is 40 seconds, and 33 seconds over the escapees......
- 4 km
LUIS SANCHEZ IS ATTACKING!! The Caisse D'Epargne rider has left his team-mate and Contador and has a 40-second lead over the peloton and 23 seconds over his former comrades.... Dramatic finale in this dramatic Race to the Sun....
- 6 km Chavanel cracks! The Frenchman's day is over as the three Spaniards are flying across the coastline....
- 8 km
The lead has dropped, but is not gone.... 24 seconds with less than 10-km left to go....
- 12 km Sanchez (Esp/Gce) waits for team-mate Lopez-Garcia. The trio of Spaniards are attacking the GC!
- 17 km Lopez-Garcia and Contador have caught Chavanel, who has clearly lost a step. The Frenchman, who is excellent on the descent, is obviously waiting to play his card on the final climb.
- 20 km
Contador attacks! No hesitation from the Discovery leader, who senses this is his moment to claim victory. Rebellin is losing ground and likely his yellow jersey!!
- 23 km
Discovery Channel pick up the pace to try and protect Contador in the GC, Chavanel's lead is starting to drop.
- 25 km CONTINUING TO DROP! Sylvain Chavanel is not giving up, but the escape group seems to be. The final col du Tanneron (cat.2), in 5 km, will be decisive as will be the final descent.
- 28 km The lead is dropping! Chavanel (Fra/Cofidis) has 40 seconds over the escape group and 1'16" over the peloton....
- 30 km Leipheimer doesn't seem motivated to counter! Chavanel is going for the win: 30" lead for the Frenchman.
- 33 km
Chavanel attacks! The Frenchman from Cofidis took advantage of a flat to launch his offensive. He takes 15 seconds over his fellow escapees, and could even have a shot at Rebellin's yellow jersey!
- 38 km
Final intermediate sprint Chavanel (3 pts), Leipheimer (2 pts) and Sanchez (1 pt).
- 40 km Voeckler (Fra/Bouygues Telecom) and Leipheimer (USA/Discovery Channel) are arguing over the workload now as the break-away begins to struggle....
- 48 km With a few descents until the final sprint the escapees are being helped by the course. The road is slippery, which is helping the Frenchmen Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) and Chavanel (Cofidis).
- 50 km The peloton accelerates to close the gap by a bit (1'30").
- 52 km
Crash in the peloton! Matthew White (Discovery) loses hsi balance and takes out Fernandez with him (Saunier-Duval).
- 57 km
One more climb to go. Celle de Mons (cat.3) does not hurt our leaders, who advance their lead (1'45").
- 61 km
SUMMIT OF OUR DAY'S BIGGEST CLIMB: The col de Bourigaille (cat.1) - Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) still leads the escape. Danielson (USA/Discovery), Sanchez (Esp/Gce), Leipheimer (USA/Discovery), and Vandevelde (USA/CSC) are all still there. Chavanel is falling back and the peloton still has a 1'40" gap to make up.
- 82 km At the summit of the Saint-Arnoux (cat.3): Chavanel rides the wheel of Voeckler, who still leads this escape group, which still has two minutes over the peloton. The lead has been stable for about 15 kilometres.
- 90 km
New abandons, with a Bouygues Telecom trio quitting. Rous, Crosbie and Lefèvre are done, along with Calzati (Fra,AG2R). Baldato (Ita/Lampre) and Wielinga (Ned/Saunier Duval) have also abandoned.
- 96 km
Voeckler conserves his lead at the col de Défens (cat.2). Leipheimer (USA/Discovery) is just behind him. Danielson (E-U/Discovery), Sanchez (Esp/Gce), and Chavanel (Fra/Cofidis) follow.
- 103 km Escapees at the top of the côte de Saint-Andrieux (cat.2): Voeckler takes the points, Danielson charges to second in front of Sanchez, Chavanel and Leipheimer, who can smell the yellow jersey.
- 112 km Slight change in the group at the summit of the Tuillières: Leipheimer (USA/Discovery) arrived fourth behind Sanchez (Esp/Gce). Voeckler (Fra/Bouygues Telecom), Chavanel (Fra/Cofidis), and Danielson (USA/Discovery) form the lead trio. The escapees have lost some of their lead: 1'40".
- 115 km Leaders approaching the côte des Tuillières (cat.2).
- 125 km
Voeckler (Fra/Bouygues Telecom) takes the points at the Taradeau, followed by French compatriot Chavanel (Cofidis), and then Danielson (USA/Discovery), Sanchez (Esp/Gce), and Leipheimer (USA/Discovery). The five men have a 2'15" lead over the peloton.
- 127 km The six escapees (Sanchez, Chavanel, Danielson, Voeckler et Vandevelde) attack the Taradeau with a 2'05'' advantage over the peloton.
- 140 km
Today's stage takes the riders over eight climbs, in addition to the côte de Réal Martin: the côte de Taradeau, cat. 2 (km 73,5), the côte des Tuillières, cat. 2 (km 88), the col de Saint-Andrieux, cat. 2 (km 96,5), the col du Défens, cat. 2 (km103, 5), the col de Saint-Arnous, cat. 3 (km 117,5), the col de Bourigaille, cat. 1 (km 138,5), the côte de Mons, cat. 3 (km 143) and the col du Tanneron, cat. 2 (km 180).
- 149 km The stragglers fall back into the peloton, while the escap group steady their lead at1'30''.
- 155 km Chavanel and company are still in it, with a 45'' gap over the peloton.
- 160 km Four more abandons in this killer maiden stage, two at Gerolsteiner, Zberg (Sui) and Haussler (Ger), plus Baranauskas (Ltu/Agritubel) and Nazon (Fra/AG2R).
- 164 km Six men break out of the peloton to take the lead: Sanchez (Esp/GCE), Vandevelde (USA/CSC), Leipheimer (USA/Discovery), Danielson (USA/Discovery), Chavanel (Fra/Cofidis), Voeckler (Fra/Bouygues Telecom). That is good news for Levi Leipheimer, who will need to make his attack on the GC today if he has any hope of winning this race. Riding with a fellow Disco, and not a bad one at that as Tom Danielson is a top-notch domestique.
- 16 km First abandon of the day: Veneberg (Ned/Rabobank).
- 174 km Chavanel was caught...without a fight. The Frenchman waited for the litte group, then surrendered his lead of about 100 metres over the peloton.
- 175 km First bonus points go to the French: Chavanel, then Pineau (Bouygues) and Julich (USA/CSC) take the intermediate sprint points at Tavernes (km 25).
- 179 km Gilbert (Bel/Française des Jeux) tried a stunted attack, but Chavanel was able to counter quite nicely. The French rider from Cofidis takes 10'' over a group of 15 riders and 20'' over the peloton.
- 181 km Two early escapes caught. A group of six riders led by Rodriguez (GCE), then Flecha (Rabobank) were very quickly reeled back into the peloton.
- 187 km
Points and bonus seconds for the top-three to reach the intermediate sprint points at Tavernes (km 25) and Montauroux (km 165,5).
- 194 km AT THE SUMMIT OF THE FIRST CLIMB: Sinkewitz (GER/T-Mobile), Rodriguez (ESP/GCE) and Posthuma (NED/Rabobank) were the first at the summit of the côte de Réal Martin.
- 196 km Nine climbs on today's stage. We start with the Réal Martin, a Cat. 3, at kilometre 5.
- 200 km Three men did not take today's start : Francisco Ventoso (Esp - Saunier Duval), Iban Velasco (Esp - Euskaltel) and Xavier Florencio (Esp - Bouygues Telecom). 147 rider's at the day's start in this penultimate stage.
- 200 km REAL START GIVEN AT 10:00 CET!
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