Tour de France 2011

Stage 3: Garmin doubles up as Farrar brings the fireworks

Tyler Farrar has been the future of American sprinting for the last few years, notching victories at the Vuelta in 2009 and two stages each in the Giro and Vuelta in 2010. In America's favorite bike race, he had come close, but never edged HTC's Mark Cavendish.

Monday, with the team still aglow from its first Tour win in Sunday's TTT, Farrar finally sealed the deal, riding a beautiful leadout from world champion and yellow jersey Thor Hushovd and Julian Dean to a resounding Garmin victory. At the line, Farrar saluted his late friend and training partner Wouter Weylandt, flashing a "W" with his hands.

Cavendish, the favorite for the stage win, managed 5th on the day after the rails came off the HTC train in the final 2 kilometers of the stage. To add insult to injury, the 10 green jersey points Cavendish had won in the day's intermediate sprint (and 4 to Hushovd) were nullified by Tour commissaires for a fairly mild bump between Hushovd and Cavendish when both wanted Philippe Gilbert's wheel.

After the stage, Cavendish blamed Vacansoleil's Romain Feillu, who Cav said “causes havoc in every sprint.”

“He took me out in the last corner. I was 40 meters behind out the last corner with no speed whatsoever. I went full gas, I gained 40 meters and finished with the front four and I gained points and it just shows my form.”

José Rojas, who I think of as the Spanish Joe Rogan, took over the green jersey with his 3rd place finish on the day. Hushovd holds yellow, Geraint Thomas holds white, and Gilbert keeps the polka-dots, on the strength of a single point earned in Stage 1.

The sacrificial break of the day featured Nicki Terpstra, Mikael Delage, Maxime Bouet, Ivan Gutierrez, and Ruben Perez. Delage would take the red combativity race number and points in the sprint and mountains competition for his efforts.

With the win, Farrar joins two select clubs: Americans with Tour stage wins, and Americans with stage wins in all three grand tours (the only other member is Zabriskie, with an asterisk for Tyler Hamilton, who tested positive for blood doping during the 2004 Vuelta in which he won Stage 8).

Top 10 (all same time):
1) Tyler Farrar, Garmin, in 4:40:21
2) Romain Feillu, Vacansoleil
3) Jose Rojas, Movistar
4) Sebastien Hinault, AG2R
5) Mark Cavendish, HTC
6) Thor Hushovd, Garmin
7) Julian Dean, Garmin
8) Borut Bozic, Vacansoleil
9) André Greipel, Omega Pharma
10) Jimmy Engoulvent, Saur-Sojasun

Also:

cyclingnews | Farrar nabs his first Tour de France stage | photos

Stage 2: Chavanel survives to yellow

It must have seemed like a great idea to organizers. Run a stage of the Tour over some of cycling's hallowed ground, using parts of Liege-Bastogne-Liege for today's Stage 2, and 7 cobbled sectors that feature in Paris-Roubaix tomorrow.

Throw in rain, and the generally squirrely nature of a first-week Tour peloton, though, and you've got the recipe for a demolition derby. One of the riders who might reasonably have feared the day's profile was Sylvain Chavanel, who fractured his skull on this course a little more than 2 months ago.

Instead, Chavanel rode away from the field with only about 15 kilometers ridden on the day, joined by teammate Jerome Pineau, who would take max points over each of the day's climbs to take over the polka-dot jersey, Marcus Burghardt, Matt Lloyd, Reine Taaramae, and 3 others.

Behind, the descent of the Col de Stockeu looked like the train station scene of “Gone with the Wind,” with riders all over the roadside. Some reporters estimated 70-80 riders went down, and there were reports of soigneurs climbing out of cars to help their riders, then falling down themselves. Some riders (and Eddy Merckx) have suggested there must have been some sort of oil on the road (leading to my favorite tweet of the day), because the road seemed so much more treacherous than when it's been raced in LBL in the past.

Both Andy and Frank Schleck, Alessandro Petacchi, Robbie McEwen, Alberto Contador, George Hincapie, and Lance Armstrong spent time on the tarmac, with the largest crash occurring at around 30km to ride, when a photo motorcycle trying to avoid a downed rider became the first domino. With confusion reigning in the peloton, Chavanel's break, which had appeared doomed, had new life.

Armstrong and Contador found themselves allies on the road, as they were dropped from the yellow jersey group, but rode together back into Cancellara's company, as Cancellara and Riis calculated whether it was better for Cancellara to hold the yellow jersey, or to sit up and wait for the Schlecks. With Cancellara off the gas, the group mostly came back together, with a few notable exceptions.

Caught up in the many crashes were seemingly the entire Garmin-Transitions team, with Christian Vande Velde having to withdraw with two broken ribs, continuing his disastrous season. Nearly as bad were Tyler Farrar's injuries -- a fractured wrist, sprained elbow, and scratches and bruises suffered in two separate crashes. David Millar may have a broken rib, but didn't have x-rays. Julian Dean and Robbie Hunter also went down.

Cancellara spent a fair amount of time in discussion with the race director, apparently trying to get the day's GC losses neutralized. Barring that and apparently with the consent of other riders, Cancellara went to the front of the pack at the end of the stage, and decreed that no one would contest the sprint. Chavenel took the stage by 3:56 ahead of a 6-wide pack, which led race officials to withhold sprint points from everyone but Chavanel. This didn't sit too well with Norwegian champion and defending green jersey winner Thor Hushovd, who had apparently targeted today's stage, and hoped to improve in the points competition:

"I've been riding all day for the stage win and the green jersey and I end up with nothing," Hushovd continued. "This is not fair. Will the same thing happen tomorrow? Will the times for GC be taken before the pavés sections? If Alberto Contador or another big rider crashes tomorrow on the cobblestones, he's entitled to ask for the race to be neutralised too! So when will we race, really?"

Where are they from, 2009 edition

Every year, I run down the riders' countries of origin, with special attention to the English-speaking countries. Here's last year's, for comparison.

USA
Lance Armstrong, Astana
Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Slipstream
George Hincapie, Columbia-HTC
Levi Leipheimer, Astana
Danny Pate, Garmin-Slipstream
Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Slipstream
David Zabriskie, Garmin-Slipstream

Seven is up from four last year. Gone is Will Frischkorn, left off the Garmin team, but back are Armstrong, Zabriskie, and Leipheimer. Tyler Farrar starts his first Tour. Not just more riders, but riders with more chances -- 3 guys with Top 5 hopes, and Farrar stage-hunting.

Australia
Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto
Brett Lancaster, Cervelo
Matthew Lloyd, Silence-Lotto
Stuart O'Grady, Saxo Bank
Mark Renshaw, Columbia-HTC
Michael Rogers, Columbia-HTC
Allan Davis, Quick Step

Down from 9 last year, with Robbie McEwen recovering from surgery, Baden Cooke riding for the Continental Vacansoleil team, Trent Lowe home, and Simon Gerrans and Adam Hansen alternates. Michael Rogers is back. Matthew Lloyd makes his first Tour start. 7/3 Update: With Tom Boonen back in the Tour, Allan Davis stays home, reducing Australia's count to 6. And a half, given Heinrich Haussler, who lives and trains in Australia.

Great Britain:
Mark Cavendish, Columbia-HTC
David Millar, Garmin-Slipstream
Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream
Charly Wegelius, Silence-Lotto

Chris Froome's Barloworld squad is not in the Tour this year, back is Bradley Wiggins, and Wegelius returns thanks to Dekker's EPO positive. Cavendish has to be the pre-Tour favorite for green, and his success or failure will be one of this Tour's major plotlines.

New Zealand
Julian Dean, Garmin-Slipstream
Hayden Roulston, Cervelo

Tour rookie Roulston joins the returning Dean.

Ireland
Dan Martin, Garmin-Slipstream
Nicolas Roche, AG2R

With Martin's tendinitis, Roche will be the first Irish participant since Mark Scanlon in 2004. Roche is reigning Irish road champion, having dethroned Martin last weekend.

Canada
Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin-Slipstream

After ending a 10-year Canadian drought last year, Hesjedal returns.

With no Barloworld participation, Robbie Hunter and John Lee Augustyn won't make the start for South Africa.

All nations breakdown:
40: France (2008 count in parentheses: 40)
28: Spain (30)
16: Italy (21)
15: Germany (16)
11: Netherlands (10)
11: Belgium (12)
8: Russia (4)
7: USA (4)
6: Australia (9)
4: United Kingdom (3)
3: Denmark (1), Luxembourg (2), Switzerland (4)
2: Austria (2), Belarus (2), Colombia (3), Japan (0), New Zealand (1), Norway (2), Portugal (0), Ukraine (2)
1: Canada (1), Czech Republic (1), Finland (0), Ireland (0), Kazakhstan (1), Poland (1), Slovakia (1), Slovenia (1), Sweden (2)

Garmin-Slipstream makes Tour squad announcement

Garmin-Slipstream has announced their Tour squad.

It's:

• Julian Dean
• Tyler Farrar
• Ryder Hesjedal
• Dan Martin
• David Millar
• Danny Pate
• Christian Vande Velde
• Bradley Wiggins
• David Zabriskie

Martijn Maaskant has been announced as the alternate. NOT riding the Tour are Tom Danielson, who also missed out last year; Will Frischkorn, who made it last year; or Canadian TT champion Svein Tuft.

Garmin's phenom Tyler Farrar will have one of the great lead-out men trying to put him in front of Mark Cavendish at the finish line, and Irish champion Dan Martin, nephew to 1987 Tour and Giro champ and world champion Stephen Roche, makes his first Tour start.

It's a team with great TT riders: Zabriskie, Millar, Vande Velde, Pate, Wiggins, and Hesjedal. As with Farrar, you have to wonder if they'll be fast enough to take revenge on Columbia-High Road, which beat Garmin by six seconds at the Giro d'Italia team time trial in May.

More:

Slipstream Sports | Team Garmin-Slipstream announces Tour de France roster

CyclingNews.com | Garmin-Slipstream names its nine for the Tour

Oscar wild on Stage 14

Rabobank's Oscar Freire extended his lead in the green jersey race in the sweetest way possible, with a stage win at Digne les Bains.

A late climb marooned 4-stage winner Mark Cavendish in a 2nd group, so his Team Columbia worked instead for Kim Kirchen, but to no avail. Erik Zabel was well-placed, following Marcus Burghardt into the final 300 meters, but when Freire got his cranks turning, he easily outdistanced Zabel and Leonardo Duque for his 4th career stage victory.

Freire extended his green jersey lead, as Thor Hushovd could manage only 10th on the day.

Stage 14 Top 10:
1. Oscar Freire, Rabobank, Spain, in 4:13:08
2. Leonardo Duque, Cofidis, Colombia, same time
3. Erik Zabel, Milram, Germany, s.t.
4. Julian Dean, Garmin-Chipotle, New Zealand, s.t.
5. Steven de Jongh, QuickStep, Netherlands, s.t.
6. Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
7. Ruben Perez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, s.t.
8. Jerome Pineau, Bouygues Telecom, France, s.t.
9. Matteo Tossato, QuickStep, Italy, s.t.
10. Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, Norway, s.t.

Overall standings are, once again, unchanged. That will probably change tomorrow.

General Classification, after Stage 13:
1. Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, Australia, in 59:01:55
2. Fränk Schleck, CSC-Saxo Bank, Luxembourg, @ :01
3. Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle, USA, @ :38
4. Bernhard Kohl, Gerolsteiner, Germany, @ :46
5. Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, @ :57
6. Carlos Sastre, CSC-Saxo Bank, Span, @ 1:28
7. Kim Kirchen, Columbia, Luxembourg, @ 1:56
8. Vladimir Efimkin, AG2R-La Mondiale, Russia, @ 2:32
9. Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, @ 3:51
10. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas, Italy, @ 4:18

Where are they from?

I always review the nationalities breakdown for the Tour, with a special eye toward the English-speaking countries. Here's last year's, for comparison.

USA
George Hincapie, Team Columbia
Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle
Will Frischkorn, Garmin-Chipotle
Danny Pate, Garmin-Chipotle

This is the least in years, with Freddie Rodriguez riding in the U.S., Bobby Julich not selected, Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer barred with Astana, and David Zabriskie nursing a back injury.

Australia
Baden Cooke, Barloworld
Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto
Simon Gerrans, Credit Agricole
Adam Hansen, Team Columbia
Brett Lancaster, Milram
Trent Lowe, Garmin-Chipotle
Robbie McEwen, Silence-Lotto
Stuart O'Grady, CSC-Saxo Bank
Mark Renshaw, Credit Agricole

Baden Cooke is back; Adam Hansen, Trent Lowe, and Mark Renshaw are new, and Michael Rogers is out.

Great Britain:
Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia
Christopher Froome, Barloworld
David Millar, Garmin-Chipotle

Out are Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins and Charlie Wegelius. I've got Christopher Froome as being from Kenya, which isn't in the list below. Put him there, and Great Britain drops to just a pair.

New Zealand
Julian Dean, Garmin-Chipotle

As last year.

South Africa
Robbie Hunter, Barloworld
John-Lee Augustyn, Barloworld

Adds Augustyn.

Canada
Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin-Chipotle

First Canuck since 1997. Maybe Michael Barry will join him one year.

Here's the official breakdown, according to the Tour website:

40: France (2007 count in parentheses: 35)
30: Spain (42)
21: Italy (18)
16: Germany (19)
12: Belgium (13)
10: The Netherlands (7)
9: Australia (6)
4: USA (6), Russia (6) and Switzerland (5)
3: Colombia (3), Great Britain (5) and Luxembourg (2)
2: South Africa (1), Austria (3), Belarus (2), Norway (2), Sweden (1) and Ukraine (2)
1: Brazil (1), Canada (0), Denmark (1), Kazakhstan (4), New Zealand (1), Poland (0), Czech Republic (0), Slovakia (0) and Slovenia (1)

Spanish representation drops from 42 riders last year to 30 this year, with France jumping from 35 to 40.

Rodriguez blames Stage 11 crash on poor Tour planning

Active.com | Tour de France: Fast Freddie Rodriguez: Stage 11...Where Do I Start?

Three-time US champion Freddie Rodriguez has been vocal about his concerns that Tour organizers should give more weight to rider safety when choosing the finish line of Tour stages.

Rodriguez says the crash that took him out of Stage 11, along with Tom Boonen, Francisco Ventoso (still hurting), Julian Dean, and Fränk Schleck, was clearly the planners' fault:

Once again, they’ve proven to have little respect for the rider’s health in this race. As a pro for over 10 years, I just don't get their ignorance in thinking that the peloton, coming in at 65 km/hr, was going to make it in one piece through an S-turn like that. I would have bet money that a crash would have happened in that corner.

What the organizers keep forgetting is that we have no idea how dangerous the road is ahead at many points. We again put our lives in their hands, and again they have let us down. I guess the saddest part is that I have been trying to be vocal about their mistakes, but they seem to just choose to ignore.

Stage 11: At last, Robbie Hunter

Barloworld's Robbie Hunter took advantage of a late-stage crash to win his first Tour stage in his 6th career Tour appearance. It's the first Tour stage by a South African, or any African.

Hunter had been following Tom Boonen in the last kilometers, but went to the front in time to miss a crash that took out Boonen, Credit Agricole's Julian Dean, Predictor-Lotto's Fred Rodriguez, and others. Hunter then outcornered two Liquigas riders on the right-hander with 500 meters to ride. From there, he kicked all the way to the line, and Murilo Fischer and Filippo Pozzato of Liquigas and Fabian Cancellara of CSC couldn't close him down.

The biggest action of the day was an all-out assault by Astana, who set a blistering pace in a stiff wind that split the field, with AG2R's Christophe Moreau, Erik Zabel, and Thor Hushovd among the riders caught behind the gap. Astana did most of the work to grow the gap, and Moreau crossed the line 3:20 behind Hunter. Astana's attack helped push the average speed for the stage to 48.061 kms/h (29.86 mph), the fastest of this year's Tour.

Hunter now trails Boonen by 11 points in the green jersey competition, 5 points ahead of Erik Zabel.

Two riders pulled out during the stage: Sylvain Calzati of AG2R and Igor Anton of Euskaltel-Euskadi.

Stage Top 10:
1) Robbie Hunter, Barloworld, South Africa
2) Fabian Cancellara, CSC, Switzerland, same time
3) Murilo Fischer, Liquigas, Brazil, s.t.
4) Filippo Pozzato, Liquigas, Italy, s.t.
5) Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
6) Paolo Bossoni, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
7) Claudio Corioni, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
8) Philippe Gilbert, Française des Jeux, Belgium, s.t.
9) William Bonney, Credit Agricole, France, s.t.
10) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, Luxembourg, s.t.

GC Top 20:
1) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, Denmark, in 53:11:38
2) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, @ 2:35
3) Iban Mayo, Saunier Duval, Spain, @ 2:39
4) Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto, Australia, @ 2:41
5) Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel, Spain, @ 3:08
6) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, @ 3:39
7) Andreas Klöden, Astana, Germany, @ 3:50
8) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, USA, @ 3:53
9) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, Luxembourg, @ 5:06
10) Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, @ 5:20
11) Andrey Kashechkin, Astana, Kazakhstan, @ 5:34
12) Frank Schleck, CSC, Luxembourg, @ 5:56
13) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, @ 6:36
14) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, @ 6:38
15) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, @ 6:42
16) Linus Gerdemann, T-Mobile, Germany, @ 6:45
17) Juan Mauricio Soler, Barloworld, Colombia, @ 6:49
18) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, @ 7:10
19) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, Kazakhstan, @ 8:05
20) Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel, Ukraine, @ 8:16

2007 Tour nationalities breakdown

Great Britain makes a great leap forward in its Tour participation, as the Grand Depart host, shut out in 2005, brings 5 riders to the 2007 Tour. US participation continues to slip, from 9 in Armstrong's final year to 6 this year.

USA:
George Hincapie, Discovery Channel
Chris Horner, Predictor-Lotto
Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel
Freddie Rodriguez, Predictor-Lotto
Christian Vande Velde, CSC
Dave Zabriskie, CSC

The Americans must have been two for a dollar, as three teams each have a pair of Yanks starting. This is down from eight in '06, as Landis awaits his hearing results and Bobby Julich was left home.

Australia:
Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto
Simon Gerrans, AG2R
Brett Lancaster, Milram
Robbie McEwen, Predictor-Lotto
Stuart O'Grady, CSC
Michael Rogers, T-Mobile

Australia brings 6 riders, one more than actually started last year, with legitimate yellow and green jersey candidates. Lancaster won the freak 1150-meter prologue of the 2005 Giro, and makes his debut in the Tour. All the others started last year's Tour, and Allan Davis was on the ill-fated Astana-Würth squad.

Great Britain:
Mark Cavendish, T-Mobile
David Millar, Saunier Duval-Prodir
Geraint Thomas, Barloworld
Charlie Wegelius, Liquigas
Brad Wiggins, Cofidis

Thomas and Cavendish are two of the youngest riders in the race, while Wegelius makes his first Tour start after being a Giro fixture for years. Wiggins is primarily here for the Prologue, while Millar also has a chance in the Tour's longer time trials.

New Zealand:
Julian Dean, Credit Agricole

South Africa:
Robbie Hunter, Barloworld

The former Phonak has to be glad Alessandro Petacchi will miss the Tour.

Spain leads the way among all countries, with 41 starters. France is close behind with 36. Riders from 25 different countries will start tomorrow in London.

Spain: 42 riders
France: 35 riders
Germany: 19 riders
Italy: 18 riders
Belgium: 13 riders
Netherlands: 7 riders
Russia: 6 riders
Switzerland: 5 riders
Kazakhstan: 4 riders
Austria: 3 riders
Colombia: 3 riders
Belarus: 2 riders
Luxembourg: 2 riders
Norway: 2 riders
Ukraine: 2 riders
Brazil: 1 rider
Denmark: 1 rider
Finland: 1 rider
Lithuania: 1 rider
Portugal: 1 rider
Slovenia: 1 rider
Sweden: 1 rider

FdJeux, Bouygues Telecom, Credit Agricole confirm Tour squads

Fox Sports Australia | McGee injury opens Tour door

The French squads are pinning down their final Tour rosters.

At Française des Jeux, Sebastien Joly and Bradley McGee are unavailable, leaving Sandy Casar the team's remote GC hope. Thomas Lovkvist may factor in the young riders' competition, as could Remy Gregorio, a heralded young Frenchman.

Française des Jeux 2007 Tour de France roster:
• Sandy Casar (France)
• Sebastien Chavanel (France)
• Mickael Delage (France)
• Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
• Remy Di Gregorio (France)
• Lilian Jegou (France)
• Matthieu Ladagnous (France)
• Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden)
• Benoit Vaugrenard (France)

Four rookies: Chavanel, Delage, Di Gregorio, and Ladagnous.

At Bouyges Telecom, former world champion Laurent Brochard, the mullet-est man on two wheels, will miss the Tour.

Riding instead will be:

Bouyges Telecom 2007 Tour de France roster:
• Stef Clement (Netherlands)
• Pierrick Fedrigo (France)
• Xavier Florencio (Spain)
• Anthony Geslin (France)
• Laurent Lefevre (France)
• Jerome Pineau (France)
• Matthieu Sprick (France)
• Johann Tschopp (Switzerland)
• Thomas Voeckler (France)

At Credit Agricole, Pietro Caucchioli can't start.

Credit Agricole 2007 Tour de France roster:
• William Bonnet (France)
• Alexandre Botcharov (Russia)
• Anthony Charteau (France)
• Julian Dean (New Zealand)
• Dmitri Fofonov (Kazakhstan)
• Patrice Halgand (France)
• Sebastien Hinault
• Thor Hushovd (Norway)
• Christophe Le Mevel (France)

Julian Dean takes NZ championships

New Zealand Herald | Cycling: Dean in black for next Tour de France

Julian Dean won his first New Zealand championship in his first attempt on Saturday, edging Heath Blackgrove and Gordon McCauley.

“The team will be fizzing because publicity-wise it'll be good for them to have someone wearing a national jersey and I can be that little bit more proud of being a New Zealander overseas,” Dean said.

Dean's new national champion's jersey will make its first appearance this week at the Tour Down Under.

Dean goes for New Zealand title

xtramsn | Journey Into Unknown For Dean

Credit Agricole's Julian Dean is looking to take the year's first national champion's jersey Satruday in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. Meanwhile, Hayden Roulston, formerly of Discovery and Cofidis, who has apparently beaten a heart condition and returned to competition, will try to repeat as New Zealand champion.

Update: Looks like the TdFblog curse strikes again. As I head to bed, it appears Roulston has had a training accident, has been hospitalized, and is likely to miss Saturday's road race as well as the Tour Down Under, kicking off next week.

Dean, New Zealand's most successful pro cyclist, has always missed the country's championship race, which switches from November to January this year.

"Always in the past, I was never in the country for it as an amateur and as a professional, it was always held at the end of the season, like in November, and I've never been able to do it because you're so tired at the end of a pro season," said Dean who turned professional 10 years ago.

If Dean wins the jersey, he'll be able to wear a black and white New Zealand national champion's jersey throughout the Euro season. Dean faces competition from another ProTour Kiwi, Tim Gudsell (who has joined FDJeux this season), as well as Roulston and a crop of local riders.

Boonen takes Benelux Stage 5 at home

The Eneco Tour of Benelux came to world road champion Tom Boonen's hometown of Balen today, and the Belgian supersprinter delivered for the local fans.

Thunderstorms and greasy conditions played havoc with the Cycling.TV live coverage, but they were able to show the finish seconds after Boonen outkicked Credit Agricole's Julian Dean and Milram's Simone Cadamuro. It was Boonen's 3rd sprint win of the race, and 20th of the season. He's got to be looking forward to the upcoming world championships, where he'll be a strong favorite to repeat.

Top 10:
1) Tom Boonen, Belgium, QuickStep, in 3:52:20
2) Julian Dean, New Zealand, Credit Agricole, same time
3) Simone Cadamuro, Italy, Milram, s.t.
4) Alexei Markov, Russia, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
5) Alessandro Ballan, Italy, Lampre, s.t.
6) Yuriy Krivtsov, Ukraine, AG2R, s.t.
7) Enrico Gasparotto, Italy, Liquigas, s.t.
8) David Kopp, Germany, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
9) Olaf Pollack, Germany, T-Mobile, s.t.
10) Lloyd Mondory, France, AG2R, s.t.

The stage had minimal effect on the overall classification, where George Hincapie continues to lead Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher by 3 slim seconds.

Overall:
1) George Hincapie, USA, Discovery Channel, 17:24:44
2) Stefan Schumacher, Germany, Gerolsteiner, at :03
3) Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, at :11
4) José Ivan Gutierrez, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, at :15
5) Manuel Quinziato, Italy, Liquigas, at :31
6) Philippe Gilbert, Belgium, Française des Jeux, at :32
7) Joost Posthuma, Netherlands, Rabobank, at :34
8) Alexei Markov, Russia, Caisse d'Epargne, at :50
9) Juan Antonio Flecha, Spain, Rabobank, at :51
10) Alessandro Ballan, Italy, Lampre, at :52

Also:

cyclingnews.com : Stage report | Results | Standings | Photo Gallery

VeloNews | Boonen takes another win at Benelux tour; Hincapie holds lead

Boonen takes Benelux Stage 1

World Champion Tom Boonen took the 1st stage at the Eneco Tour of Benelux today, outkicking Milram's Simone Cadamuro and Enrico Gaspartotto of Luquigas at the finish in Hoogeveen in the Netherlands.

With a time bonus, Boonen takes over the red race leader's jersey from prologue winner Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner.

Top 10:
1) Tom Boonen, Belgium, QuickStep, in 4:12:52
2) Simone Cadamuro, Italy, Team Milram, same time
3) Enrico Gasparotto, Italy, Liquigas, s.t.
4) Julian Dean, New Zealand, Credit Agricole, s.t.
5) Marco Zanotti, Italy, Unibet.com
6) Alexei Markov, Russia, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
7) Fabio Sabatini, Italy, Team Milram, s.t.
8) Stefan Schumacher, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
9) Alessandro Ballan, Italy, Lampre, s.t.
10) Aurelien Clerc, Switzerland, Phonak

General Classification (corrected, sorry):
1) Tom Boonen, QuickStep
2) Stefan Schumacher, Gerolsteiner, at :04
3) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :07
4) José Ivan Gutierrez, Caisse d'Epargne, at :08
5) Alexei Markov, Russia, Caisse d'Epargner, at :11

Welcome RoadCycling.com and BikeHugger.com

I wanted to offer a quick shout-out to two new sponsors.

RoadCycling.com has become an annual sponsor, during each year's Tour. They offer a diary from Julian Dean, so we should see some interesting commentary on today's late-stage wipeout over there. RoadCycling's RSS feed is here.

Bike Hugger, on the other hand, is a new venture I'm working on with DL Byron of Textura Design. It's about bike advocacy, utility cycling, commuting, day touring, bikes as art; whatever will turn the cranks of people who love bikes. You can follow the Hugger in your newsreaders by subscribing to its RSS feed.

McEwen masters Stage 4

Robbie McEwen showed his incredible dive-and-dash skills again today to take his 2nd stage win of the 2006 Tour. McEwen takes back the green jersey, his overall goal for the Tour.

Credit Agricole's Julian Dean of New Zealand fell just short of the line, bumping a QuickStep rider who in turn may have bumped yellow jersey Tom Boonen. Boonen is the first leader of this Tour to hold the jersey for consecutive days.

Egoi Martinez of Discovery Channel moves into 5th on the GC, picking up 18 seconds in intermediate sprint bonus points.

Top 10:
1) McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto
2) Isaac Galvez, Caisse d'Epargne
3) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
4) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, s.t. (relegated to 148th - irregular sprinting)
4) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, s.t.
5) David Kopp, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
6) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, s.t.
7) Franisco Ventoso, Saunier Duval, s.t.
8) Michael Albasini, Liquigas, s.t.
9) Bernard Eisel, Française des Jeux, s.t.
10) Jimmy Casper, Cofidis, s.t.

Current GC:
1) Tom Boonen, QuickStep
2) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :01
3) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :05
4) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, at :07
5) Egoi Martinez, Discovery Channel, at :10
6) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, at :12
7) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at :15
8) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, at :15
9) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at :16
10) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, at :17

Tour starters: English-speaking countries roundup

Since most of my readership comes from English speaking countries, I thought I would post a quick roundup of which (and how many) citizens of the former colonies are scheduled to ride in this year's Tour.

United States (8 riders, 1 reserve)

• George Hincapie, Discovery
• Chris Horner, Davitamon-Lotto
• Bobby Julich, CSC
• Floyd Landis, Phonak
• Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner
• Fred Rodriguez, Davitamon-Lotto
• Christian Vande Velde, CSC
• Dave Zabriskie, CSC
• Reserve: AmerItalian Guido Trenti

Last year, all of these plus Lance Armstrong and Trenti, but minus Vande Velde.

Australia (6 riders):

• Allan Davis, Astaná-Würth
• Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto
• Simon Gerrans, AG2R
• Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto
• Stuart O'Grady, CSC
• Michael Rogers, T-Mobile

Last year, Australia had all these, plus Baden Cooke, Brad McGee, Luke Roberts, and Matthew White.

Great Britain (2 riders):

• David Millar, Saunier Duval-Prodir
• Bradley Wiggins, Cofidis

Great Britain was shut out last year.

South Africa (1 rider):

• Robbie Hunter, Phonak

As last year.

New Zealand (1 rider):

• Julian Dean, Credit Agricole

None last year, although Dean rode in 2004.

Canada (1 alternate):

• Michael Barry, Discovery Channel

Plus permission to root for David Canada. The last Canadian in the Tour was Gord Fraser in 1997, but Ryder Hesjedal or Barry should break that streak soon.

Riders' diaries update: Dean, Hamilton, Backstedt

RoadCycling.com | Julian Dean Diary: Yellow Fever

Dean provided the leadout for Thor Hushovd today, and Thor looked, well, thunder-ific, and Dean gives you a look inside the head of a lead-out man:

The sprint was crazy, crazy, crazy. It was a case of quack or be quacked. So I quacked a lot to get Thor to the front with 300m to go. It was a little too early but at around 700m to go we were pretty far back and Fassa Bortolo were going all out for Petacchi. I had to move Thor up so I went around the outside as the road curved gently to the left. As we came up beside the Fassa train, it began to die. Next thing I knew, I had blown straight past them and was at the front. All I could do was keep going. I wasn’t really sprinting but in the saddle powering it. At around 350m to go I began [to] blow up. The last of the Fassa Bortolo lead-out guys came underneath me with Thor on his wheel. Perfect. I had done my job and I was done.

RoadCycling.com | Tyler Hamilton Diary: NAMUR, Belgium

Tyler's clearly on eggshells about tomorrow's pavé:

Tomorrow will be another difficult day. It's the Paris-Roubaix stage of the Tour this year. I'm not a big guy so I'm not really looking forward to riding the cobblestones. I'm glad we had a chance to preview the roads before the start of the race. So we know what's ahead, and what we have to do to stay out of trouble. Now it's just a matter of doing it. Wasn't I just saying something about stress?

VeloNews | Magnus Opus: I don't feel so hot

One of my favorite riders isn't going so well in the early stages:

These are supposed to me my kinds of days and, as I said, I am sort of on home turf, but it was all I could do just to stay in the field. If I knew what was wrong with me, I'd be a happy man, because I could do something about it. As it is, I have no idea why I feel like I lack power and struggling on the bike.

It's really tough on my head. I want to get my body to do more, but it just doesn't seem to want to follow through.