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July 14, 2009

Arvesen exits with broken collarbone

Saxo Bank - Taking the Lead | Kurt-Asle Arvesen Leaves the Tour

The terrific (if Flash-heavy) new Saxo Bank site offers a post-stage interview with Norwegian champion Kurt-Asle Arvesen, who broke his collarbone in today's action, but finished the stage. His exit leaves Andy Schleck one rider down in the upcoming Alps.

Arvesen won Stage 11 of last year's Tour into Foix.

Arvesen is scheduled for surgery on Thursday.

Also:

Eurosport | Saxo Bank lose injured road captain Arvesen

Posted by Frank Steele on July 14, 2009 in 2009 Stage 10, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Top Stories | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 07, 2009

Tour de Twitter

Slipstreaming
JV on the Crackberry,
originally uploaded by Frank Steele.
This is the third Tour de France I've Twittered. In 2007, it was pretty lonely. Last year, we had a core group of fans using the service. This year, Twitter has exploded. Lance Armstrong has been one of the top celebrities to adopt Twitter, alongside Stephen Fry, Ashton Kutcher (I almost typed “Astana Kutcher”), and Barack Obama.

I've developed quite a list of riders, journalists, bloggers, and photographers in preparation for the Tour, and thought I would share it with you.

I started with Carlton Reid's massive, 600+ strong list of “Bike Trade Tweeps”. As I've found more, I've been adding them. I left off a few that appear inactive, like @carlossastre, who has nearly 4,000 followers awaiting his first tweet (what pressure!); likewise Denis Menchov and Robert Gesink, and a few fakes.

Also, these are all in English. Please send me additions, either on Twitter (@TdFblog) or by commenting this post. Thanks!

Riders/Teams

Astana

Garmin-Slipstream

Columbia-HTC

Silence-Lotto

Cervelo Test Team

Quick Step

Skil-Shimano

Saxo Bank

Rabobank

Press

VS broadcasters

Photographers

Pros not racing this year

Bloggers

Posted by Frank Steele on July 7, 2009 in About the Tour, Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre, Chris Horner, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, George Hincapie, Ivan Basso, Janez Brajkovic, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, Michael Rogers, Robbie Hunter, Robbie McEwen, Tour news, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

July 16, 2008

Arvesen takes Stage 11

CSC-Saxo Bank's Kurt-Asle Arvesen took Stage 11 by outsprinting 2 of his breakaway companions to the line in Foix.

Amaël Moinard of Cofidis attacked up the slope of the day's biggest climb, and stayed away for about 50 kilometers, but he was no match for a classics-heavy breakaway that included Filippo Pozzato, Fabian Wegmann, Martin Elmiger, and Alessandro Ballan.

As he was reeled in, Elmiger attacked, followed by Arvesen. Alessandro Ballan bridged up, and Arvesen tried to attack, but Elmiger reeled him in, and the Norwegian sat up. Koos Moerenhout of Rabobank bridged, and the foursome rode into the final kilometer.

From a right-hander about 300 meters out, Arvesen wound it up from the first position, a tough place to be, sprinting near the left barrier. As he pulled to the middle of the road, Ballan came up on his right while Elmiger shot the gap on his left, and Elmiger was closing fast, but Arvesen held him off in a photo finish.

It's Arvesen's first-ever Tour stage win.

Stage 11 Results
1. Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC-Saxo Bank, Norway, in 3:58:13
2. Martin Elmiger, AG2R, Switzerland, same time
3. Alesssandro Ballan, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
4. Koos Moerenhout, Rabobank, Netherlands, @ :02
5. Alexandre Botcharov, Credit Agricole, Russia, @ :11
6. Pierrick Fedrigo, Bouygues Telecom, France, @ :14
7. Filippo Pozzato, Liquigas, Italy, same time
8. Benoit Vaugrenard, Française des Jeux, France, s.t.
9. Fabian Wegmann, Gerolsteiner, Germany, s.t.
10. Marco Velo, Milram, Italy, s.t.
11. Dmitriy Fofonov, Credit Agricole, Kazakhstan, s.t.
12. Amael Moinard, Cofidis, France, at :29

Hushovd also waves the Norwegian flag, taking the field sprint back at 14:51, ahead of Erik Zabel, and 3 ahead of Oscar Freire. Hushovd makes up 4 points on Oscar Freire in the green jersey hunt.

Overall standings are completely unchanged.

General Classification after Stage 11
1. Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, Australia
2. Fränk Schleck, CSC-Saxo Bank, Luxembourg @ :01
3. Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle, USA, @ :38
4. Bernhard Kohl, Gerolsteiner, Austria @ :46
5. Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, @ :57
6. Carlos Sastre, CSC-Saxo Bank, Spain, @ 1:28
7. Kim Kirchen, Columbia, Luxembourg, @ 1:56
8. Juan José Cobo, Saunier Duval, Spain, @ 2:10
9. Riccado Ricco, Saunier Duval, Italy, @ 2:29
10. Vladimir Efimkin, AG2R-La Mondiale, Russia, @ 2:32

Posted by Frank Steele on July 16, 2008 in 2008 Stage 11, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Top Stories | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Stage 11 on the road

Today's another mountain stage, but nothing like yesterday's. The biggest climb of the day is the 1400-meter Col de Portel, whose summit comes almost 60 kilometers before the stage finish. There's a 3rd Category climb early, and another on the run-in to Foix, as well as two sprints before the feed zone.

Jersey leaders:
Yellow jersey Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto
Green jersey Oscar Freire, Rabobank
White jersey Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval (worn by Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas)
Polka-dot jersey Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval

Versus broadcaster picks:

  • Roll: Oscar Freire
  • Hummer: Filippo Pozzato
  • Sherwen: Erik Zabel
  • Liggett: Damiano Cunego

At the day's first sprint, the field was still together.

Sprint 1:
1. Duque, Cofidis, 6 pts
2. Hushovd, Credit Agricole, 4 pts
3. Freire, Rabobank, 2 pts

An early break of 12 has collected all the points since:

  • Arvesen, CSC
  • Pozzato, Liquigas
  • Ballan, Lampre
  • Botcharov and Fofonov, C.A
  • Elmiger, AG2R
  • Wegmann, Gerolsteiner
  • Moerenhout, Rabobank
  • Fedrigo, Bouygues Telecom
  • Vaugrenard, Française des Jeux
  • Moinard, Cofidis
  • Velo, Milram

1st Climb, a 3rd Category:
1. Botcharov, CA, 4 pts
2. Fedrigo, Bouygues Telecom, 3 pts
3. Ballan, Lampre, 2 pts
4. Moinard, Cofidis, 1 pt

Gert Steegmans, who initially was in the breakaway, fell out on that climb, and rejoined the peloton, which was 5:30 behind.

Paolo Longo Borghini abandoned with a broken collarbone suffered today, leaving 167 riders in the race.

Sprint 2:
1. Pozzato, Liquigas, 6 pts
2. Velo, Milram, 4 pts
3. Moerenhout, Rabobank, 2 pts

The gap continues to climb, to 12:00 at the feedzone, and to 14:25 as the Col de Portel approaches.

On the Col de Portel, Amaël Moinard out of the breakaway, and soon after, Oscar Pereiro attacked from the field. Pereiro's attack triggered a response from CSC, who moved to the front and raised the pace.

Moinard would be first to the top with 1:46 in hand.

Col de Portel, 1st Category:
1. Amaël Moinard, Cofidis, 15 pts
2. Dimitriy Fofonov, Credit Agricole, 13 pts, @ 1:55
3. Pierrick Fedrigo, Bouygues Telecom, 11 pts
4. Allessandro Ballan, Lampre, 9 pts
5. Fabian Wegmann, Gerolsteiner, 8 pts
6. Benôit Vaugrenard, Française des Jeux, 7 pts
7. Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC-Saxo Bank, 6 pts
8. Filippo Pozzato, Liquigas, 5 pts

The peloton is 16:30 back of Moinard, and almost 2:00 down on Pereiro, despite CSC's efforts.

The break slowly began to reel in Moinard, and Pereiro has never gotten out over 2:00 ahead of the field.

Atop the day's last climb, Moinard had about a minute's advantage.

Col del Brouich, 3rd Category:
1. Amaël Moinard, Cofidis, 4 pts
2. Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, 3 pts
3. Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC-Saxo Bank, 2 pts
4. Marco Velo, Milram, 1 pt

With 15k to ride, the chase has closed within 22 seconds of Moinard, and the field is within about 45 seconds of Pereiro.

As Moinard is caught, Elmiger launches an attack. He's matched by Arvesen. Now Ballan is trying to bridge up, and we've got 3 leaders.

Arvesen launches a testing attack, but Elmiger reels him in. Now Moerenhout is bridging up. They're in the final kilometer.

The come around a right-hander with 300 meters to go, and Arvesen is in the lead, and has to lead out the sprint. He's coming up the left side of the road, and Ballan's to his right. Now Elmiger comes fast up on his left, and as they hit the line, Arvesen signals that he's taken the win.

I'm waiting for confirmation on this one, Elmiger was closing fast, coming up the gap on Arvesen's left. There it is, Arvesen has taken the stage over Elmiger and Ballan.

Posted by Frank Steele on July 16, 2008 in Kurt-Asle Arvesen | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 29, 2007

Z's in! CSC announces Tour roster

David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie,
originally uploaded by Frank Steele.

Team CSC | Team CSC Announces Line-Up for Tour de France 2007

    Team CSC 2007 Tour roster:
  • Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Norway)
  • Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
  • Inigo Cuesta (Spain)
  • Stuart O'Grady (Australia)
  • Carlos Sastre (Spain)
  • Fränk Schleck (Luxembourg)
  • Christian Vande Velde (USA)
  • Jens Voigt
  • David Zabriskie (USA)

Two of the peloton's best time triallists in Cancellara and Zabriskie and two possible GC threats in Sastre and Schleck.

Left off were veterans Bobby Julich, and Karsten Kroon.

Update: And I somehow left off Jens Voigt, leaving CSC with only 8 riders. Fixed.

Posted by Frank Steele on June 29, 2007 in 2007 team rosters, Bobby Julich, Carlos Sastre, Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, Fabian Cancellara, Frank Schleck, Jens Voigt, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Stuart O'Grady, Top Stories, Tour de France 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack