Tour de France 2011

Schleck in yellow as Gerrans takes Stage 15

It was a day for the breakaway, as the overall contenders had bigger fish to fry, with the Tour climbing into the Alps.

Credit Agricole's Simon Gerrans, who fell off the breakaway but battled back to Egoi Martinez and Danny Pate, found a second wind on the mountaintop and easily dropped Martinez and Pate for his first career stage victory.

Back in the field, CSC again stamped a jackhammer tempo at the front to shatter the field, leaving Cadel Evans without teammates on the day's last climb, up to Prato Nevoso, and putting three CSC men -- both Schlecks and Carlos Sastre -- in the final group of 10 that included Evans.

Andy Schleck did the lion's share of the pacesetting on the 11-kilometer final climb, and Sastre, Menchov, Kohl, Alejandro Valverde and Fränk Schleck forced a gap to Evans, who tried to keep his head and ride to the summit with Christian Vande Velde,

Oscar Pereiro left the race after a tumble over a guardrail from the top to the bottom of a hairpin turn. Pereiro, who was awarded the 2006 Tour when Floyd Landis was disqualified, injured his shoulder and couldn't continue.

Stage 15 on the road

Welcome to the Alps! The Tour moves into France's highest mountains, and finishes up in Italy, atop Prato Nevoso for the first time.

The elements are in place for another exciting stage, as Valverde and Cunego sit far enough back that they may be given some slack on the final slope, while Fränk Schleck can move into yellow if he can pull more than a single second back on Cadel Evans.

It's a rainy day at the start, and the stage starts uphill almost immediately, up to 9,000 feet on the hors categorie Col Agnel, whose summit comes 58 kilometers from the start. We've got two intermediate sprints, and wind up with a 3rd category climb as a warmup to the 1st Category climb to Prato Nevoso.

In the U.S., Versus offers wire-to-wire live coverage, and Johan Bruyneel will be joining the commentary team.

Versus Stage 15 predictions:
Roll: Damiano Cunego
Hummer: Alejandro Valverde
Sherwen: Fränk Schleck
Liggett: Andy Schleck

Team Columbia's Mark Cavendish has called it a Tour, resting up for his Beijing Olympic races.

The day's first successful breakaway is Danny Pate, José-Luia Arrieta, and Egoi Martinez. They collected the day's first sprint points, then were joined by Simon Gerrans of Credit Agricole.

Sprint 1:
1. Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, 6 pts
2. José Luis Arrieta, AG2R, 4 pts
3. Danny Pate, Garmin-Chipotle, 2 pts

The four leading riders are about 3:30 ahead of the field with almost 25 kilometers ridden.

On the first climb, the gap continued to go out, to almost 14 minutes, before Lampre put some men on the front, and began to put a dent in the lead.

Two more riders abandoned on the climb -- Mark Renshaw of Credit Agricole, and QuickStep leader Stijn Devolder, whose performance is among the bigger (non-pharmaceutical) disappointments of this Tour.

1st Climb, the HC Col de Agnel:
1. Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, 20 pts
2. José Luis Arrieta, AG2R, 18 pts
3. Simon Gerrans, Credit Agricole, 16 pts
4. Danny Pate, Garmin-Chipotle, 14 pts
5. Thomas Voeckler, Bouygues Telecom, 12 pts, @ 11:50
6. Bernhard Kohl, Gerolsteiner, 10 pts
7. Remy di Gregorio, Française des Jeux, 8 pts
8. Yaroslav Popovych, Silence-Lotto, 7 pts
9. John Lee Augustyn, Barloworld, 6 pts
10. Fränk Schleck, CSC-Saxo Bank, 5 pts

On the descent into Italy, the gap continues to fall, now a little more than 11 minutes, then went out a bit as riders began taking nature breaks in advance of the feed zone. Voeckler continued to ride ahead of the field, on a quixotic solo attack that seemed unlikely to close down the 10+ minute gap.

On a hairpin with around 90 kilometers to ride, Oscar Pereiro went over a guardrail at the top of a hairpin, landing on the road below, and fractured his femur and collarbone. He was taken away in an ambulance. Pereiro was awarded the 2006 Tour win when Floyd Landis was disqualified for doping.

The gap went out to more than 16 minutes as the peloton's pace fell after the accident.

At the day's second sprint, the gap was more than 17 minutes.
Sprint 2:
1. Simon Gerrans, Credit Agricole, 6 pts
2. Danny Pate, Garmin-Chipotle, 4 pts
3. Jose Luis Arrieta, AG2R-La Mondiale, 2 pts

The breakaway appears likely to succeed. Pate hasn't established the climbing bona fides of the other three, and has been gapping slightly on the climbs so far.

Colle del Morte, 3rd Category climb:
1. José Luis Arrieta, AG2R, 4pts
2. Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, 3 pts
3. Simon Gerrans, Credit Agricole, 2 pts
4. Danny Pate, Garmin-Chipotle, 1 pt

CSC-Saxo Bank has moved to the front, and on the Colle del Morte, set a pace high enough to split the field. Will they be able to launch Schleck to yellow? Or will Carlos Sastre deliver their final punch?

You can follow my updates in near real-time on Twitter.

Valverde makes a statement in Stage 1

Spanish champion Alejandro Valverde showed tremendous power in closing down late attacks by Kim Kirchen and Stefan Schumacher and smoking to the first stage victory and overall leadership.

Stage 1 Results and Overall Classification (updated)
1) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne
2) Philippe Gilbert, Française des Jeux, @ :01
3) Jerome Pineau, Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
4) Kim Kirchen, Team Columbia, s.t.
5) Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval-Scott, s.t.
6) Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, s.t.
7) Fränk Schleck, CSC-Saxo Bank, s.t.
8) Filippo Pozzato, Liquigas, s.t.
9) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
10) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.

It's the first day in yellow for Valverde, in his 4th Tour. He also leads the green jersey competition, which Philippe Gilbert will wear tomorrow. Valverde made time on all the contenders, from 1 second on Evans, 7 on Sastre and Menchov, up to 3:04 on Mauricio Soler, who crashed late in the stage.

Thomas Voeckler takes the first King of the Mountains jersey, by finishing ahead of Bjorn Schroeder, with whom he's tied on points.

Riccardo Ricco is the first leader of the white jersey competition.

Lillian Jegou was awarded the red most combative race numbers for tomorrow.

First lanterne rouge is Aleksandr Kuschynski of Liquigas, 4:56 back.

Stage 15 on the road

VS. broadcaster picks:
Roll: Schleck
Liggett: Klöden
Trautwig: Contador
Sherwen: Valverde

The early story is the big 25-man breakaway including a couple of former GC candidates. Denis Menchov of Rabobank is there, as is Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana). George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) and Christian Vande Velde and Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC) are here, as are Caisse d'Epargne's David Arroyo, Euskaltel's Haimar Zubeldia, Inigo Landaluze and Ruben Perez; T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen; FdJeux's Benoit Vaugrenard; Quick Step's Juan Manuel Garate; Saunier Duval's Juan José Cobo; Bouygues Telecom's Laurent Lefevre and Johann Tschopp; AG2R's Ludovic Turpin; Liquigas' Michael Albasini; Patrice Halgand of Credit Agricole, Daniele Bennati and Patxi Vila of Lampre; Bernhard Kohl of Gerolsteiner; Christian Knees of Milram; Vino's Astana teammates Serguei Ivanov and Daniel Navarro.

2nd Category Col de Port:
1) Juan Mañuel Garate, Quick Step, +10 pts
2) Johan Tschopp, Bouygues Telecom, +9pts
3) Gorka Verdugo, Euskaltel, +8 pts
4) Juan José Cobo, Saunier Duval, +7 pts
5) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, +6 pts
6) Stephane Goubert, AG2R, +5 pts

1st Intermediate Sprint:
1) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, +6 pts/6 secs
2) Serguei Ivanov, Astana, +4 pts/4 secs
3) Bernhard Kohl, Gerolsteiner, +2 pts/2 secs

2nd Category Col de Portet d'Aspet:
1) Laurent Lefevre, Bouygues Telecom, +10 pts
2) Patrice Halgand, Credit Agricole, +9 pts
3) Juan Manuel Garate, Quick Step, +8 pts
4) Serguei Ivanov, Astana, +7 pts
5) Ruben Perez, Euskaltel, +6 pts

The 25 have led the way over the day's first two climbs, but today's sting is in the tail, as we finish with a 1st Category, then the hors categorie Port de Bales, then the Col de Peyresourde. It's not a mountaintop finish -- there's a descent of almost 12 kilometers after the top of Col de Peyresourde.

The gap is just under 8 minutes, with 108 kilometers/67 miles ridden and 88 kilometers/55 miles to go.

On the way up the Col de Mente, Rabobank continues to lead the peloton, and the gap is up around 8:29. Near the summit, Juan Manuel Garate outsprinted Laurent Lefevre for max points.

1st Category Col de Mente
1) Juan Manuel Garate, Quick Step, +15 pts
2) Laurent Lefevre, Bouygues Telecom, +13pts
3) Patrice Halgand, Credit Agricole, +11 pts
4) Daniel Bennati, Lampre, +9 pts
5) Bernhard Kohl, Gerolsteiner, +8 pts
6) Juan Jose Cobo, Saunier Duval, +7 pts
7) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel, +6 pts
8) Christian Knees, Milram, +5 pts

2nd (final) Intermediate Sprint, Marignac
1) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, +6 pts/6 secs
2) Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC, +4 pts/4 secs
3) Benoit Vaugrenard, Française des Jeux +2 pts/2 secs

Just before the start of the HC climb, 5 riders rode away from the 25-man breakaway: Inigo Landaluze of Euskaltel, David Arroyo of Caisse e'Epargne, Johan Tschopp of Bouyges Telecom, Serguei Ivanov of Astana, and Bernhard Kohl of Gerolsteiner quickly built a lead of more than a minute to the 20 other break survivors, and 8:20 to the peloton.

On the climb, everything splintered. Kirchen bridged to the leaders, then Vinokourov attacked, again splitting the lead breakaway, and briefly catching the inital split. Riding with Vinokourov were Menchov, Turpin, Zubeldia, Cobo, and Garate. This group caught the initial attack, then fractured. Tschopp, Kirchen and Arroyo went off the front, while Vinokourov's group shed riders.

Back in the peloton, the pace and the climb cooked Pereiro, Moreau, and others. Rasmussen's group looked much like it did yesterday: Evans, Leipheimer, Contador, Soler, Boogerd, Mayo, Sastre, Chris Horner, Frank Schleck, Michael Boogerd, and a few others. Klöden and Kashechkin ride just behind.

Freddie Rodriguez abandoned today on the road.

Port de Bales (HC)
1) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, +20 pts
2) David Arroyo, Caisse d'Epargne, +18 pts
3) Johan Tschopp, Bouygues Telecom, +16 pts
4) Juan Mañuel Garate, Quick Step,+14 pts, at :45
5) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +12 pts
6) Juan José Cobo, Saunier Duval, +10 pts
7) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, +8 pts
8) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, +7 pts
9) Ludovic Turpin, AG2R, +6 pts
10) Bernhard Kohl, Gerolsteiner, +5 pts, @1:35

On the descent, with Rasmussen: Boogerd, Contador, Popovych, Leipheimer, Evans, Horner, Mayo, Soler, Klöden, Kashechkin, Sastre, Schleck, Astarloza, Valverde. Others are joining, and Denis Menchov has slipped back to help Rasmussen on the final climb.

Vinokourov attacked at the base of the Peyresourde, matched by Zubeldia, Garate, and Cobo, and they're only 20 seconds behind Arroyo and Kirchen. Garate's dropped. Vinokourov kept attacking, and only Cobo could match, and the pair have caught Kirchen and Arroyo, as the 4 riders lead the race, while the yellow jersey rides 7:15 back.

Zubeldia rides back up to Vinokourov, and in the yellow jersey group, Yaroslav Popovych has attacked off the front. Moreau has caught back on to the yellow jersey group.

Vino goes again, and Kirchen can't match the new pace. Vino sits up, and Kirchen rejoins Cobo, Zubeldia, Arroyo, and Vino.

As they near the steepest part of the Peyresourde, Zubeldia attacks from Vino's group, Cobo drags Vino back to him, and Vino goes hard again! He quickly gets a gap, Kirchen is dropped. Vinokourov rides alone, with Cobo and Zubeldia chasing less than 20 seconds behind. Vinokourov would die before he would be caught on this descent. He's flying.

Back in the field, Contador attacks, Rasmussen slowly matches, but he's working hard. Contador gets a gap, but Rasmussen slowly pulls it back. Evans, Klöden, Sastre, Leipheimer, Astarloza can't handle this pace on the climb, and fall back.

Contador and Rasmussen ride alone toward the summit. Contador launches a couple of tests, but Rasmussen matches every one. As Contador and Rasmussen reach the summit, there's George Hincapie, waiting to escort Contador to the finish, and maybe gap Rasmussen.

Hincapie nails the descent. There's still a small rise at about 2k to go -- Will Contador try to get time on the finish? He does! He attacks again, and Hincapie falls away, but Rasmussen again is able to match his move.

Vinokourov comes to the line with a healthy victory margin, after an epic stage win.

More than 5 minutes later, Contador and Rasmussen came to the line, with Contador leading. They tripped the lights at 5:25, with Leipheimer, Klöden, Sastre, Valverde, and Evans more than a minute behind at 6:27.

Stage 13 ITT: Vino, Astana awesome in Albi

Astana's Alexandre Vinokourov smoked the first long time trial of the 2007 Tour, and his Astana team nearly took all three podium places.

Vinokourov, with only his right knee bandaged, led at every time check by healthy margins to clock a 1:06:34.

Predictor-Lotto's Cadel Evans slotted in 2nd, 1:14 back, ahead of Vinokourov's teammates Andreas Klöden, at 1:39, and Andrey Kashechkin, at 1:44.

Bradley Wiggins of Cofidis set the early standard and finished 5th, at 2:14.

Michael Rasmussen of Rabobank rode a creditable TT, passing his 3-minute man, Alejandro Valverde, and finishing 11th on the day to retain the yellow jersey.

For Valverde and Mayo, starting the day in 2nd and 3rd, it was a disastrous day: Mayo was 6:04 slower than Vino, Valverde 6:08 down on the stage winner.

Top 20:
1) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, Kazakhstan, in 1:06:34
2) Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto, Australia, @ 1:14
3) Andreas Klöden, Astana, Germany, @ 1:39
4) Andrey Kashechkin, Astana, Kazakhstan, @ 1:44
5) Bradley Wiggins, Cofidis, Great Britain, @ 2:14
6) Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel, Ukraine, @ 2:16
7) Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel, Spain, @ 2:18
8) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, France, @ 2:38
9) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, USA, @ 2:39
10) Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, @ 2:42
11) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, Denmark, @ 2:55
12) Vladimir Gusev, Discovery Channel, Russia, @ 2:56
13) Leif Hoste, Predictor-Lotto, Belgium, @ 2:56
14) Linus Gerdemann, T-Mobile, Germany, @ 3:09
15) Juan Manuel Garate, Quick Step, Spain, @ 3:12
16) Juan José Cobo, Saunier Duval, Spain, @ 3:13
17) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, Russia, @ 3:17
18) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, Luxembourg, @ 3:18
19) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, @ 3:23
20) David Millar, Saunier Duval, Great Britain, @ 3:27

Major shakeups in the GC:

Overall standings after Stage 13:
1) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, Denmark, in 58:46:39
2) Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto, Australia, at 1:00
3) Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel, Spain, at 2:31
4) Andreas Klöden, Astana, Germany, at 2:34
5) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, USA, at 3:37
6) Andrey Kashechkin, Astana, Kazakhstan, at 4:23
7) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 4:45
8) Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 5:07
9) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, Kazakhstan, at 5:10
10) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, Luxembourg, at 5:29
11) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, at 5:48
12) Iban Mayo, Saunier Duval, Spain, at 4:48
13) Linus Gerdemann, T-Mobile, Germany, at 6:59
14) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 7:04
15) Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel, Ukraine, at 7:37

There was a 4th-Category climb on the stage, and max points (3) go to Alberto Contador of Discovery Channel, with Cadel Evans taking 2 points and Michael Boogerd of Rabobank a single point as the 3 fastest riders on the climb.

Stage 13 ITT on the road

VS. Broadcaster Picks:
Trautwig: Klöden (per Hinault)
Sherwen: Cancellara
Roll: Evans
Liggett: Leipheimer

Bradley Wiggins of Cofidis is the early leader in the first long individual time trial of the 2007 Tour.

Over the up-and-down 54 km course in Albi, Wiggins finished in 1:08:48.
David Millar has come through the time checks as high as 3rd, and finishes in 3rd at 1:10:01.

World TT champion Fabian Cancellara was 2nd-fastest at the 1st time check, then faded, finishing in 1:15:19. Cancellara had bike handling problems on the wet roads, and crashed in a 90-degree left-hander.

Yaroslav Popovych is followed onto the course by Alexandre Vinokourov. Vino has a bandage only on his right knee today.

Vinokourov is scorching the course. He's fastest at the first two time checks, by 52 seconds at the 2nd. He's closing on Popovych, even though Popovych is racing the 4th best TT so far.

At TC 3 (38.5 km), Vinokourov came through at 50:06, 1:19 faster than Wiggins. Popovych finished almost even with Wiggins, but Vinokourov still finished close behind, with Vino setting the standard at 1:06:34.

Discovery's Levi Leipheimer was 19th at the first time check, and Carlos Sastre passed TC1 1:41 slower than Vinokourov.

Popovych appeared to have fallen on the course, and Klöden slid out on what seemed a tame right-hander.

Kashechkin also had an early accident, but kept improving at each time check, finishing 2nd only to Vinokourov in 1:08:19.

Christophe Moreau's early time checks put him many minutes behind Vinokourov. He finished in 1:16:01, 9:26 down to Vino.

Cadel Evans was 2nd best at the 3rd time check, just 1:01 behind Vinokourov.

Klöden hit the line in 1:08:13, putting Astana in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place on the day, but Cadel Evans broke up the set, coming in at 1:07:48, 2nd at that point.

Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador, Discovery's supposed two leaders, finished 21 seconds apart, in 1:09:13 and 1:08:52, respectively. Teammate Yaroslav Popovych was better still, in 1:08:50.

The time checks were cruel to Alejandro Valverde, sitting in 2nd overall -- he was 46th at the 4th check, 4:34 down on Vinokourov. In fact, race leader Michael Rasmussen passed Alejandro Valverde late in his ride, rocking more like a duck than a Chicken.

Iban Mayo struggled to the line in 1:12:38, a disappointment for the rider who started in 3rd today.

Rasmussen fights all the way to the line, finishing in 1:09:29. That will save the yellow jersey for Rasmussen, and the race returns to the high mountains tomorrow.

Current Top riders:
1) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, 1:06:34
2) Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto, 1:07:49
3) Andreas Klöden, Astana, 1:08:13
4) Andrey Kashechkin, Astana, 1:08:19
5) Bradley Wiggins, Cofidis, in 1:08:48
6) Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel, in 1:08:50
7) Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel, in 1:08:52
8) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, in 1:09:12
9) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, in 1:09:13
10) Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:09:16
11) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, 1:09:29
12) Vladimir Gusev, Discovery Channel, 1:09:30
13) Leif Hoste, Predictor-Lotto, in 1:09:30
14) Linus Gerdemann, T-Mobile, in 1:09:43
15) Juan Manuel Garate, Quick Step, in 1:09:47
16) Juan José Cobo, Saunier Duval, 1:09:47
17) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, 1:09:51
18) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile 1:09:52
19) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, 1:09:57
20) David Millar, Saunier Duval, in 1:10:01
21) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, 1:10:04
22) Sébastien Rosseler, Quick Step, in 1:10:09
23) Markus Fothen, Gerolsteiner, in 1:10:14
24) Michael Boogerd, Rabobank, in 1:10:16
25) George Hincapie, DSC, in 1:10:19
26) Carlos Sastre, CSC, in 1:10:35
27) Thomas Dekker, Rabobank, in 1:10:39
28) Andrey Grivko, Milram, in 1:10:51
29) Kanstantsin Siutsou, Barloworld, in 1:10:54
30) Chris Horner, Predictor-Lotto, in 1:10:56

Stage 10: Vasseur victorious

The Tour youth movement stepped aside for at least one last stage as a veteran took a smart breakaway victory.

Cedric Vasseur, 36, of Quick Step gave France its first Tour victory of 2007 ten years after his other Tour stage win.

Vasseur was in an 11-man group that was the most powerful breakaway of the Tour so far, but with all more than 45 minutes behind Michael Rasmussen. Over the day's penultimate climb, the group was whittled down to 3, but Jens Voigt and Vasseur were able to chase across to join Patrice Halgand of Credit Agricole, Michael Albasini of Liquigas, and Sandy Casar of Française des Jeux.

Halgand tried to shed the others on the day's final climb, but every attack was matched, and the 5 came down into Marseilles together. Albasini shadowed Voigt, while the three Frenchman rode offset in a line, with Vasseur at the back as they came into the final kilometer. With less than 300 meters to ride, but a little beyond sprint range, Vasseur went full throttle along the right barricades, and the surprise was enough to take the win ahead of Sandy Casar sprinting left of the centerline and Albasini in between.

Tom Boonen showed he's serious about defending his green jersey, riding near the front of the field all day, and winding up the Quick Step train to launch him in the field sprint for 12th place on the day. Boonen was outfoxed by Sebastien Chavanel, but clipped Erik Zabel, his primary competition, taking 13th on the day to Zabel's 16th.

Top 20:
1) Cédric Vasseur, Quick Step, France in 5:20:24
2) Sandy Casar, Française des Jeux, France, same time
3) Michael Albasini, Liquigas, Switzerland, s.t.
4) Patrice Halgand, Credit Agricole, France, s.t.
5) Jens Voigt, CSC, Germany, s.t.
6) Staf Scheirlinckx, Cofidis, Belgium, @ :36
7) Paolo Bossoni, Lampre, Italy, same time
8) Marcus Burghardt, T-Mobile, Germany, @ 1:01
9) Aleksandr Kuschynski, Liquigas, Belarus, @ 2:34
10) Juan Antonio Flecha, Rabobank, Spain, same time
11) Andriy Grivko, Milram, Kazakhstan, @ 3:42
12) Sébastien Chavanel, Française des Jeux, France, @ 10:36
12) Tom Boonen, Quick Step, Belgium, same time
14) Francisco Ventoso, Saunier Duval, Spain, s.t.
15) Robbie Hunter, Barloworld, South Africa, s.t.
16) Erik Zabel, Milram, Germany, s.t.
17) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, Norway, s.t.
18) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, s.t.
19) Christophe Rinero, Saunier Duval, France, s.t.
20) Iban Mayo, Saunier Duval, Spain, s.t.

Overall Standings after Stage 10:
1) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, in 49:23:48
2) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, at 2:35
3) Iban Mayo, Saunier Duval, at 2:39
4) Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto, at 2:41
5) Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel, at 3:08
6) Christophe Moreau, Ag2R, at 3:18
7) Carlos Sastre, Team CSC, at 3:39
8) Andreas Klöden, Astana, at 3:50
9) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, at 3:53
10) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, at 5:06
11) Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 5:20
12) Andrey Kashechkin, Astana, at 5:34
13) Fränk Schleck, Team CSC, at 5:56
14) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, at 6:36
15) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 6:42
16) Linus Gerdemann, T-Mobile, at 6:45
17) Juan Mauricio Soler, Barloworld, at 6:49
18) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, at 7:10
19) David Arroyo, Caisse d’Epargne, at 7:33
20) Tadej Valjavec, Lampre, at 7:45
21) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, at 8:05

CSC moves back into the lead in the team competition, courtesy of Voigt's long day in the break, and Halgand takes the most aggressive rider jersey.

Stage 9: Soler streaks to stage win

Tour first-timer Juan Mauricio Soler of Barloworld launched an audacious attack on the Col du Télégraphe and fighting all the way to Briançon to take the win for Barloworld.

Colombia's Soler, the rider with the highest Tour race number (219), was shadowed for a time by Discovery Channel's Yaroslav Popovych, but no one could hold Soler's wheel today.

Back in the main field, Cadel Evans and Alejandro Valverde pushed the pace, and Alexandre Vinokourov couldn't hang. Today, it was Kashechkin who shepherded Vinokourov to the line while Andreas Klöden matched the GC riders.

Christophe Moreau dropped repeatedly off the back, but fought back again and again, while Rabobank's Denis Menchov couldn't stand the heat, and finished with Vinokourov. Levi Leipheimer, with 2 teammates up the road, was again content to let the race unfold and shadowed the yellow jersey of Michael Rasmussen.

Discovery's Alberto Contador, however, launched a withering assault on the Col du Galibier, and only Cadel Evans chased. When Contador met up with teammate Popovych at the summit, the two launched a chase of Soler, then 2 minutes up the road, and slowly closed the gap.

Meanwhile, the yellow jersey group split in two, with Valverde, Rasmussen, Kim Kirchen, David Arroyo and Mikel Astarloza ahead, and Moreau, Sastre, Evans, Klöden, Leipheimer, Cobo, and Mayo behind.

Rasmussen's group swept up Contador and Popovych, then were finally recaptured by the Leipheimer/Klöden/Sastre group, with all still closing on Soler.

The gap was down to 49 seconds in the last kilometer, and Alejandro Valverde attacked, splintering the yellow jersey group and taking 2nd on the stage, with Cadel Evans just behind.

1) Juan Mauricio Soler, Barloworld, Colombia in 4:14:24
2) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at :38
3) Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto, Australia, same time
4) Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel, Spain, @ :40
5) Iban Mayo, Saunier Duval, Spain, @ :42
6) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, Denmark, same time
7) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, USA, s.t.
8) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, Luxembourg, @ :46
9) Andreas Klöden, Astana, Germany, same time
10) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, s.t.
11) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, @ :54
12) Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, same time
13) Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel, Ukraine, @1:33
14) Juan José Cobo, Saunier Duval, Spain, at 1:36
15) José Ivan Gutierrez, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 1:49
16) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 3:24
17) Chris Horner, Predictor-Lotto, USA, same time
18) Andrey Kashechkin, Astana, Kazakhstan, s.t.
19) Patrice Halgand, Credit Agricole, France s.t.
20) Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, Kazakhstan

Overall Standings after Stage 9:
1) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, Denmark, in 43:52:48
2) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 2:35
3) Iban Mayo, Saunier Duval, Spain, at 2:39
4) Cadel Evans, Predictor-Lotto, Australia, at 2:41
5) Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel, Spain, at 3:08
6) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 3:18
7) Carlos Sastre, Team CSC, Spain, at 3:39
8) Andreas Klöden, Astana, Germany, at 3:50
9) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, USA, at 3:53
10) Kim Kirchen, T-Mobile, Luxembourg, at 5:06

Schleck is 13th at 5:56, Vinokourov is 21st at 8:05. Gerdemann loses the white jersey to Contador. Soler is now 2nd in both the Mountains jersey and Young Riders jersey competitions.

Tour organizers to skip No. 1

VeloNews | No No. 1 at '07 Tour

Proving there's no symbolic gesture organizers will skip in their get-tough-on-doping attitude, the Tour will, for the first time in its history, not have a rider wearing the number “1”.

Defending champions are generally accorded the honor of wearing the lowest race number, with their teammates getting numbers 2 through 9, but Floyd Landis is out of cycling and fighting a doping ban.

ASO will merely skip the single digits, and will assign the numbers 11 through 19 to Oscar Pereiro and his Caisse d'Epargne teammates, and 21 through 29 to CSC. Pereiro was the runner-up at last year's Tour.

Vande Velde visits hospital at Dauphiné

www.cyclingnews.com | Latest Cycling News for June 13, 2007

Vande Velde @ '07 TdG
where he took 2nd,
originally uploaded by Frank Steele.

A couple of stories of interest in today's CyclingNews roundup:

CSC's Christian Vande Velde had to be taken to the hospital last night after Stage 2 at the Dauphiné Libéré, and was a probable starter for today's time trial -- I haven't seen confirmation that he did or didn't start yet. (Update: VeloNews had him riding in the team car while Zabriskie raced today, but he's going to try to gut out the rest of the race. VN quotes him: “It's looking good for the Tour.”) He crashed out of last month's Tour of Catalonia.

Caisse d'Epargne director Eusebio Unzue says he's still unsure of his Tour squad. Despite a published report by Het Laatste Nieuws, Unzue says Vladimir Karpets is still in competition for the team's last Tour spot, with José Ivan Gutierrez, Joaquim Rodriguez, and David Arroyo the other candidates. And lest anyone coast for the next 3 weeks, Unzue added, “There are still riders like Luis León Sánchez, García Acosta or Fran Pérez who should justify their nomination. Pereiro is not at his best, either.”

Caisse d'Epargne's Tour squad emerges

cyclingnews.com | Caisse d'Epargne for the Tour

Quoting HLN.be, CyclingNews reports that, barring last-minute changes, Caisse d'Epargne has chosen its Tour squad.

Caisse d'Epargne Tour riders:
• Alejandro Valverde
• Oscar Pereiro
• Vladimir Karpets
• Xabier Zandio
• Luis Sanchez
• Florent Brard
• Nicolas Portal
• José Vicente Garcia Acosta
• Francisco Perez

Update: They dropped Brard and Sanchez in favor of David Arroyo and José Ivan Gutierrez.

Tour organizers: Bjarne who?

BBC SPORT | Tour takes Riis off winners list

Tour de France organizers are telling the press that Bjarne Riis has been stricken from the Tour winners list after his admission last month that he used EPO for 6 seasons, including 1996, when he won the Tour.

Tour spokesman Philippe Sudres said: "We have removed him from the list because of the doping admission.

"We consider philosophically that he can no longer claim to have won."

Two issues: 1) A quick look at the official Tour website shows that Riis is right there were he's always been, atop the 1996 Tour.

2) Who, then, deserves the win? Jan Ullrich, who was 2nd in '96 riding alongside Riis at EPO-fueled Telekom? Richard Virenque in 3rd, riding for Festina, which gave us the most scandalous Tour since 1904?

The cynic in me wonders if this is a first step toward eventually declaring that the 2006 Tour had no winner. Some Tour officials have already said they don't consider Floyd Landis last year's winner, and now with Oscar Pereiro refusing to take a DNA test to clear up speculation that he's “Urko” in the Operación Puerto athlete files, organizers may prefer to have no winner to having an appointed and controversial winner.

Tour 2006 mashup video on YouTube

YouTube | Tour de France 2006

YouTube user "monoloque" has posted a mashup video featuring OLN video from the Tour, historic Tour video, still images from the race and news coverage, and music by Kraftwerk into a 6.5-minute video about the 2006 Tour.

I think it's fair to say he's got an opinion on the Landis case. Whether you believe Landis or not, this is a nice collection.

More on positive Tour rider

TimesOnline | New drugs revelation set to rock Tour to its foundations

Jeremy Whittle reports for the Times of London that the rider who tested positive at the Tour is a “high-profile rider” who tested above the allowed threshold for testosterone, and did so after Stage 17, the stage to Morzine won by Floyd Landis after his 130-kilometer breakaway.

Whittle quotes UCI president Pat McQuaid, who refused to name the rider:

“I will say that I am extremely angry and feel very let down by this,” McQuaid said. “The credibility of the sport is at stake. The rider, his federation and his team have been informed of the situation.”

The Tour organization performs daily tests for the stage winner (Landis), the race leader (Oscar Pereiro on that day), and a random selection of 6-8 riders. Additionally, 2-3 teams are sometimes chosen randomly to be tested before a day's stage, but this positive is apparently a post-stage sample.

How many riders could put “the credibility of the sport” at stake? Landis, of course, Pereiro probably, Klöden I suppose -- he did make the podium, and precious few others.

Landis reportedly skipped a scheduled criterium appearance Wednesday; Whittle notes this and that neither Landis nor director Lelangue could be reached for comment, but says nothing about Pereiro.

On the other hand, the Providence Journal has an AP story that says that, while the UCI said the rider's national federation has been notified, USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee said the organization has not been contacted, while the US Anti-Doping Agency's spokeswoman offered a “no comment.”

Update 7/27 8 a.m.

Procycling quotes Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that the product involved was a stimulant, and that the federations for the US, France, Spain, and Italy have all denied the rider is registered with them. CSC has also said it was not one of their riders.

The organizer of the Acht van Chaam criterium in Holland, upset that Landis pulled out of the event without an explanation, has been unable to reach Landis or Phonak manager Lelangue.

Update 7/27 9:45 a.m.

VeloNews offers a good summary, adding that AFP has reported that the German federation was not contacted, excluding Klöden, and that Landis is scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show on Friday.

Also, I neglected a quote from Pat McQuaid mentioned in the Procycling story above: TuttoBiciWeb, an Italian website quotes the UCI president calling it “The worst scenario possible” (actually il peggior scenario possibile, since the site's in Italian).

Hushovd adds Paris to Strasbourg; Landis triumphs

A late escape attempt by Discovery Channel may have overcooked Robbie McEwen, as Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd easily outsprinted Davitamon-Lotto's sprint king to take the final stage of the 2006 Tour de France. CSC's Stuart O'Grady, recovering from a fractured spine suffered early in the race, took 3rd on the day.

Hushovd completed an unusual set of bookends, winning the Prologue time trial 3 weeks ago yesterday and now taking the final stage into Paris.

Floyd Landis stayed near the front early and stayed out of the dicey sprint at the end to nail down his first-ever Tour de France victory, finishing 69th on the day, 8 seconds behind Hushovd. It's the 8th straight US win of the race, after Lance Armstrong's 7 consecutive wins.

McEwen can take some solace from his 3rd green jersey win, resulting from his 3 stage wins.

Michael Rasmussen's tremendous breakaway win to La Toussuire, overshadowed by Landis's attack the following day, shot him to the lead, and the overall win, in the climber's polka-dot jersey competition.

Damiano Cunego, already a winner of the Giro d'Italia, takes the best young rider's white jersey, just 38 seconds ahead of Marcus Fothen of Gerolsteiner. The pair were about 90 minutes ahead of the next competitor in the under-25 competition.

Saunier Duval's David de la Fuente, the climbing jersey leader until Rasmussen's big day out front, takes the overall “most combative rider” prize.

Landis took his final yellow jersey of the Tour with his daughter Ryan on the podium.

Post-race interview with Frankie Andreu: Landis says, “Right now, I have no intention of switching teams.” Leaves a little wiggle room, but sounds like the iShares team (as Phonak will be called next year) has its Tour captain for 2007.

Top 10:
1) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, Norway, in 3:56:52
2) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, same time
3) Stuart O'Grady, CSC, Australia, s.t.
4) Erik Zabel, Milram, Germany, s.t.
5) Luca Paolini, Liquigas, Italy, s.t.
6) Samuel Dumoulin, AG2R, France, s.t.
7) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux, Austria, s.t.
8) Anthony Geslin, Bouyges Telecom, France, s.t.
9) Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
10) Peter Wrolich, Gerolsteiner, Austria, s.t.
Stage results

Overall:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, in 89:39:30
2) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at :57
3) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 1:29
4) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 3:13
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 5:08
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 7:06
7) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 8:41
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 9:37
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 12:05
10) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 15:07
Final overall standings

Stage 19 ITT photo galleries

Honchar strikes, Cunego surprises, Pereiro survives, Landis speaks, from Stage 19 photo gallery, by Caroline Yang.

Ekimov rocks the TT, Klöden claws back to the podium, and Landis is back in yellow, from Stage 19 photo gallery by Graham Watson.

Also:

CyclingNews.com | Stage 19 photo gallery

Honchar takes ITT, Landis takes the Tour

I'm hesitant to predict anything in this unpredictable Tour, but Floyd Landis will win the 2006 Tour de France.

Ukraine's Sergei Honchar took his 2nd time trial stage win of the Tour, ahead of teammate Andreas Klöden, while overnight 2nd-place rider Carlos Sastre couldn't hang, and dropped to 4th overall.

Overnight yellow jersey Oscar Pereiro did the fleece proud, finishing 4th on the day, ahead of scads of time-trial specialists, to keep 2nd place, only 59 seconds behind Landis, and 30 seconds ahead of Klöden.

But the big story was Landis, who rode his own race, setting the fastest time at the first time check and taking 3rd on the day. He'll be the 3rd American to win the Tour, following 3 by Greg Lemond, and the last 7 by Lance Armstrong.

Damiano Cunego solidified his hold on the white jersey, now 36 seconds ahead of Gerolsteiner's Marcus Fothen, with a 10th-place finish on the day.

T-Mobile, with the top 2 finishers and world time trial champion Michael Rogers in 19th, moves 17:20 ahead of CSC in the team competition, which they'll most likely win for the 3rd straight year.

Top 10:
1) Sergei Honchar, T-Mobile, Ukraine, in 1:07:45
2) Andreas Klödën, T-Mobile, Germany, at :41
3) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 1:11
4) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, at 2:40
5) Sebastian Lang, Gerolsteiner, Germany, at 3:18
6) David Zabriskie, CSC, USA, at 3:35
7) Viatcheslav Ekimov, Discovery Channel, Russia, at 3:41
8) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 3:41
9) Bert Grabsch, Phonak, Germany, at 3:43
10) Damiano Cunego, Lampre, Italy, at 3:44
Full results

Overall:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, in 85:42:30
2) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at :59
3) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 1:29
4) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 3:13
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 5:08
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 7:06
7) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 8:41
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 9:37
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 12:05
10) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 15:07
Overall standings

Stage 19 ITT underway

Today, we have the most important Tour time trial of the last 10 years, at least. The only recent TT that comes close is 2003's Stage 19, when Jan Ullrich crashed, allowing a vulnerable Lance Armstrong to take the thinnest Tour victory of his career.

It's 57 kilometers, and Floyd Landis will leave at 10:09 Eastern, 3 minutes before CSC's Carlos Sastre, who will leave 3 minutes before Caisse d'Epargne's Oscar Pereiro. We should get plenty of split-screen action, as Pereiro leads Sastre by only 12 seconds and Landis by only 30 seconds.

One for the old guys early, as Discovery Channel's Viatcheslav Ekimov has come in with the best time of the first 60 riders, at 1:11:26.59.

Second is Landis teammate Bert Grabsch, just 2 seconds behind.

Zabriskie comes through, scorching the 2nd half of the course. He didn't show up in the top 5 at either of the early time checks, he was 3rd at the 3rd time check, and he's 6 seconds faster than Ekimov, at 1:11:20.9. And almost immediately, Gerolsteiner's Sebastian Lang, the 69th finisher, cuts 17 seconds off Zabriskie's time: 1:11:03.83.

Sergei Honchar has beaten Lang's times at TC1 and TC2; 2:07 (!) faster than Lang at the 34-kilometer check.

Hincapie rolls out; 31 riders to go. Out on the course, he fidgets with his computer sensor. He's sporting a new paint scheme on his helmet -- a Flying Tigers-style shark head. Pavel Padrnos has the same, so it's probably a team thing -- promoting Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, perhaps?

David Millar comes in at 1:11:46, 5th for now.

Popovych starts.

Honchar is 3:20 faster than Lang at the 51.5-kilometer time check!

Chavanel comes through TC2 with a tissue stuffed in his left nostril; the commentators think he's had a nosebleed.

Honchar 1:07:45.81! That's likely to be the time to beat.

Phonak's Robbie Hunter, who finished in 1:25:54, will be outside the (fastest time + 25 percent) elimination time.

Michael Rasmussen has set off; he had a catastrophic last time trial last year, falling off, switching bikes, and losing 7:47 to Lance Armstrong.

Marcus Fothen is on the course, looking to retake the young rider's white jersey, currently worn by Damiano Cunego, who sets off next.

Levi Leipheimer is off, wearing the red race numbers awarded to yesterday's most agressive rider.

World time trial champion Michael Rogers is off, and we're down to the Top 10.

Vande Velde comes through TC2 just behind teammate Zabriskie.

Chris Horner finished in 1:16:41, which will be mid-pack.

Chavanel finishes in a respectable 1:12:17.44.

Menchov sets off, currently 6th.

Cadel Evans sets off, looking for the best placing ever in the Tour by an Australian. Phil Anderson twice finished 5th, which is where Evans sits, 39 seconds behind T-Mobile's Andreas Klöden, who sets off 3 minutes behind him.

Hincapie finishes in 1:13:15. Cunego has actually been faster than Fothen at TC1, coming through 4 seconds slower than Lang. Is he going too hard early?

Landis is waiting in the start house. No smiles this morning. Karpets 1:12:42.

Landis is out. Looks smooth. Sastre rolls, as Pereiro waits just behind.

Sastre looks tentative to me -- he's staying up on the brake hoods on sections where Landis was on his aerobars.

Pereiro is rolling. Everyone is on the course or done now.

Vande Velde finishes in 1:12:37.44. That will factor in to the CSC/T-Mobile battle for the team competition.

Klöden is only 10 seconds slower than Honchar at the 1st time check! Landis is faster still! He's 2 seconds faster than Honchar at TC1, 19:45.

Sastre is 1:05 slower than Landis at TC1! Pereiro is the only one left, and he comes through only 10 seconds slower than Landis; that's an amazing time for Pereiro after 16kms of 57 today.

Cunego likes that white jersey; at TC3, he's 5 seconds slower than Zabriskie, and 35 seconds faster than Fothen.

The split screen view has Landis and Pereiro sitting equal on the road now, with Landis 4 minutes shy of Time Check 2.

Evans hits TC2 in 43:34; Klöden hits it in 41:52.9 behind only Honchar so far.

Landis is losing time to Honchar: 41:45.9 at the 2nd time check.

Sastre is riding off the podium: He hits TC2 in 44:05. Klöden is already 2 minutes faster than that.

Pereiro: 42.42:50 -- Landis is the leader on the road!

T-Mobile's Rogers comes through the finish in 1:12:20.72. Looks like T-Mobile will win the team competition.

Landis nears the 3rd time check, at 51.5 kilometers. Pereiro looks like he's hurting on the road. Klöden is closing in on Cadel Evans; he hit TC3 47 seconds behind Honchar 1:03:22 to Honchars 1:02:36. Landis comes in 1:03:43.

Dessel finishes in 1:13:43.57. Menchov comes to the line: 1:12:18.55; he'll go top 20 on the day, maybe top 15.

Klöden catches Evans with about a kilometer to go. He sits way too long in Evans' draft, and sprints to the finish in 1:08:26.17. He didn't catch Honchar, but may be 2nd on the stage.

Landis comes in to the finish; he hits the line in 1:08:56.26, behind Honchar and Klöden.

Sastre hits TC3 in 1:07:02, more than 3:30 behind Klöden. Pereiro clocks 1:05:14. Looks like Pereiro will hold Klöden off for 2nd -- he was faster than Lang, Zabriskie, and Ekimov at TC3.

Sastre comes to the line in 1:12:27.58; he'll be 20th on the day. Here comes Pereiro, gritting his teeth, comes out of the saddle: 1:10:25.19, and that does it: Floyd Landis will win the Tour de France!

Stage 17: the other competitions

No question who today's “Most competitive rider” was: Landis rides with red race numbers tomorrow.

The white jersey for best young rider goes over to Damiano Cunego, but by only 5 seconds! Fothen was about 4:40 better than Cunego in the first time trial, so I expect Fothen to retake the lead.

T-Mobile's passive day may have ridden Klöden out of the Tour, but they've moved clearly into the lead of the team competition, 8:41 ahead of CSC. Turns out CSC foolishly burned its riders out getting Sastre up the road to contest the overall race win.

Landis probably sewed up the King of the Mountains for Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen today. Flying Floyd took max points over most of the day's climbs, including double points on Joux-Plane, and moved up into 2nd in the competition. There are very few points left to contest.

Similarly, McEwen has pretty much sewed up the green jersey, leading by 45 points with 2 flattish road stages to go.

That leaves yellow, and it's hard to see any other way to cut it than that Floyd Landis is again the favorite to win the Tour de France on Sunday. He's certainly a 30-second better time trial rider than Pereiro, 18 seconds better than Sastre, and has a 2-minute cushion on everybody else.

Epic! Landis rides their wheels off; takes Stage 17!

Today was the most amazing day of an amazing Tour de France.

Floyd Landis splintered the field on the day's first climb. Phonak went to the front and pushed the pace, and then Landis attacked. The GC riders initially countered, but Landis lifted the pace and rode away, with about 130 kilometers and five climbs to go. Landis hunted down an 11-man break then time-trialed alone to the finish line, holding a punishing pace to his first career Tour stage win.

Oscar Pereiro's Caisse d'Epargne team couldn't bring the gap down, and finally, as it reached more than 9 minutes, dropped back, and CSC took over. The gap was slowly reduced until on the day's last and hardest climb, CSC's Carlos Sastre launched a withering assault on the remnants of the peloton.

It was too late to catch Landis, but Sastre hoped to stay ahead of Landis on GC, and to crack Pereiro and possibly take the race lead. Pereiro kept his head, and limited his losses enough to maintain his yellow jersey. For now.

Despite huge gaps between riders on the road, the Tour only gets closer: Pereiro now leads Sastre by 12 seconds, Landis by 30 seconds, and Klöden by 2:29. Landis is the best time trialist of the group, and Saturday's time trial looks decisive.

Landis is the 9th American to win a Tour stage: Landis, Hincapie, Armstrong, Zabriskie, Hamilton, Lemond, Hampsten, Phinney, Pierce.

Top 10:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, in 5:23:36
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 5:42
3) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:58
4) Damiano Cunego, Lampre, Italy, at 6:40
5) Michael Boogerd, Rabobank, Netherlands, at 7:08
6) Frank Schleck, CSC, Luxembourg, at 7:08
7) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 7:08
8) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 7:08
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 7:08
10) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 7:20
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, in 80:08:49
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at :12
3) Floyd Landis, Phonak, CSC, at :30
4) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 2:29
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 3:08
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 4:14
7) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 4:24
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:45
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 8:16
10) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 12:13
Complete standings

What might have been

While people complain about Phonak's team, I realized there are not just one, but two former Phonak riders leading Landis in the overall standings.

Oscar Pereiro, leading Caisse d'Epargne and the Tour after Alejandro Valverde's crash, is the obvious one, but Cyril Dessel, the AG2R who briefly wore yellow and has scrapped to keep a high placing (currently 4th), was Phonak's Tour alternate rider in 2004, and joined AG2R last year.

Update: CyclingNews had the same thought, and notes that Tadej Valjavec, who was in Rasmussen's early break, also rode for Phonak last year.

Rasmussen takes Stage 16; disaster for Landis

Rabobank's monster climber Michael Rasmussen went on a day-long breakaway, reminiscent of his Stage 9 breakaway last year. He led the field over four climbs, to take a commanding lead in the King of the Mountains competition, which he won last year.

Yellow jersey Floyd Landis had a nightmare day, when he couldn't match an attack by Carlos Sastre on the day's last climb, and just went backward out of the race lead. Meanwhile, Oscar Pereiro dropped Denis Menchov and Cyril Dessel, finishing with Andreas Klöden and Cadel Evans to retake the overall race lead.

Landis was initially helped out when T-Mobile chased down their own Michael Rogers, covering a break by Denis Menchov, Cadel Evans, and Oscar Pereiro, where Landis just sat in. But when Sastre launched, the pace rose, and Landis just vanished. He eventually recovered some energy, but was paced to the line by Axel Merckx 10:04 behind Rasmussen, and more than 8 minutes behind Pereiro.

July 19th is a very happy day in the Pereiro household; last year, he won Stage 16 on July 19th, and this year, he takes back the yellow jersey.

Top 10:
1) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, Denmark, in 5:36:04
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 1:41
3) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 1:54
4) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 1:56
5) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 1:56
6) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 2:37
7) Pietro Caucchioli, Credit Agricole, Italy, at 2:37
8) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 2:37
9) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, USA, at 3:24
10) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 3:42
Also:
11) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 3:42
12) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 3:42
23) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 10:04
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, in 74:38:05
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 1:50
3) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 2:29
4) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 2:43
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 2:56
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 3:58
7) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 6:47
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 7:03
9) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, USA, at 7:46
10) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 8:06
11) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 8:08
Overall standings

Stage 16: The Battle of La Toussuire

With 27 kilometers to ride, Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen leads all riders, 4:40 ahead of Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer and Lampre's Tadej Valjavec, and 7:21 ahead of a very dangerous group that includes Floyd Landis and all his rivals.

Valjavec has gapped Leipheimer on the descent by a few seconds. Landis sits 4th wheel on the descent, while Matthias Kessler is having a hard time hanging on the back of the descending yellow jersey group.

Leipheimer has gone through the banner for 25 kilometers to ride. Maybe 3 minutes later, Rasmussen is through 20 kilometers to ride.

Kessler has lost sight of the leaders' group. Leipheimer catches Valjavec, and Rasmussen is back on the rise, as he starts up the 18-kilometer climb to the finish line atop La Toussuire.

Leipheimer won here during his Dauphiné Libéré win in June. I don't think he'll catch Rasmussen, though.

Moreau, Goubert, and Calzati are dropped with Sylvain Calzati as the yellow jersey group hits the climb. Merckx leads the group, with Landis sitting just behind. Boogerd sits next to Merckx.

Moreau has caught back on. Now Leipheimer attacks, dropping Valjavec. He's got 2:00 on the Landis group.

Kessler chased back on, but he's done; pulls to the side, and he's off the back. Schleck has come to the front, and sets pace as Merckx falls to the back. Fothen is also sitting on the back, with Cunego comfortably in the group. Merckx is gone, Patxi Vila is gone.

Rogers has gone to the front, with Boogerd, then Landis on his wheel. Cyril Dessel (!) is still in this group, while Christophe Moreau has struggled.

Leipheimer is 4:00 behind Rasmussen, as T-Mobile's Guerini falls off the leaders group.

There goes Menchov hard, with Rogers and Oscar Pereiro. Evans and Azevedo attack. Landis doesn't counter; he's marking Klöden.

Menchov, Rogers, Pereiro and Evans ride, just up the road from Klöden. Azevedo falls back into the Landis group, and once again T-Mobile is attacking their own rider. Boogerd is off the back; T-Mobile is going to destroy this break. Mazzoleni has towed Klöden and Landis back to Menchov, Rogers, Evans, and Pereiro.

Cunego sits at the back of the select group now.

That attack has put some time into Rasmussen; he's only 5:42 up the road now.

There goes Sastre; he's 2:17 back in the GC. Landis is cracked. He's off the back! There's 10 kilometers to ride; he's back with Azevedo, and he can't match Sastre's attack.

Landis is just dead. He's got to find somebody to work with. Zubeldia is off the back. Sastre is riding hard. Boogerd has passed Landis, who can't match him. They're running the team cars past Landis, who's suffering mightily at the back.

Sastre's already got 55 seconds on Landis; and 30 seconds on Kloden's group.

With about 7 kilometers to ride (4.5 miles) Leipheimer is 3:33 behind Rasmussen, with Sastre only 20 seconds behind Levi. Landis is only passing under the 10 kilometer banner. Marcus Fothen passes, along with Frank Schleck, and Landis can't get on their wheel.

Sastre catches Leipheimer. Leipheimer sits in, and there's a chance that this pair could catch Rasmussen. Not anymore: Sastre drops Leipheimer, while Rasmussen is starting to look like he's hurting with less than 5 kilometers to ride.

Rogers has dropped back to the rear of Klöden's group, where Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, Oscar Pereiro, Cyril Dessel, and Michael Rogers are still sitting behind Eddy Mazzoleni.

Landis now looks like he's found another gear; he's turning the pedals again, but he's going to lose a lot of time today.

Menchov raises the pace, and Mazzoleni and Rogers are gone. The Pereiro/Klöden/Menchov group overtakes Leipheimer. Moreau and Caucchioli are gone, and Menchov is off the back. Dessel is gone, leaving only Klöden, Pereiro, and Evans at the front.

Rasmussen has 3 k to ride. Sastre is 2:36 behind. Pereiro has gone to the front, with Klöden sitting in, and Cadel Evans trying to hang on the back.

Moreau, Dessel, Caucchioli, Leipheimer and Menchov have formed a chase group. First Menchov, and now Leipheimer have been dropped. They'll ride alone to the finish.

At 5k to ride, Landis is 9:23 back of Rasmussen. Rasmussen passes under the flamme rouge, and his epic stage-long breakaway will pay off; he'll take the stage, and a commanding lead in the King of the Mountains competition. Sastre is within sight of Klöden, Pereiro and Evans, maybe 30 seconds up the road.

There's the finish line, and Rasmussen is almost in tears. He throws out his arms, and he's won the hardest day of the 2006 Tour.

Sastre is 2nd, at about 1:42. Pereiro is sprinting away from Evans and Klöden for 3rd through 5th. Pereiro moves back into the yellow jersey. Here comes Cyril Dessel at 2:37, alongside Christophe Moreau and Pietro Caucchioli. Leipheimer is 9th at about 3:23. Zubeldia leads Menchov around 3:47, with 2 others. Cunego comes in at 4:21; he's gained time on Fothen for the white jersey.

Merckx has gotten back up to Landis and is pacing him in.

Azevedo comes in at about 7:54. Here's Fothen with Schleck at about 8:36. Still awaiting Landis at the finish.

There's 10 minutes; he's through at about 10:03. It's a disaster for Landis, who will fall to about 8 minutes behind yellow jersey Pereiro.

Stage 13 photo gallery roundup

Voigt on the podium, by Caroline Yang.

Lavender+bikes+sunflowers=perfect Tour shot? , Backstedt fights the heat, and Voigt leads Pereiro over line, by Graham Watson.

Hincapie at rest, McEwen and Landis chat, Pereiro's big day from CyclingNews.com Stage 13 photo gallery.

The winning break, Voigt victorious, Pereiro in amarillo, by Mark Shimahara at BikeZen.

Also:

BBC Sport | Tour de France 2006 Stage 13 photo gallery

Voigt wins Stage 13; Landis hands Pereiro yellow jersey

Floyd Landis gave his current Phonak teammates an easy day and former teammate Oscar Pereiro some time in the race leader's yellow jersey.

The move by Phonak is at once an expression of confidence in Landis and of concern at the team's strength, as Landis can now look to Pereiro's Caisse d'Epargne team to help pacing the peloton for the next few days.

Jens Voigt, who gave away a stage at the Giro in May, took his second career Tour stage win after a very long break on the Tour's longest day, 230 kilometers. Pereiro was 2nd, followed by Sylvain Chavanel and Manuel Quinziato.

Voigt also pulled off a minor miracle, being named the day's “Most Agressive Rider” after being in a break with a Frenchman, Chavanel. That's a consolation prize that usually goes to the home team, but Voigt has been agressive all week, and deserves those red bib numbers.

Robbie McEwen led in the field sprint ahead of Bernhard Eisel and Tom Boonen. He's got a 30-point lead in the green jersey competition, 252 to Boonen's 222 to Freire's 207.

The stage also catapulted CSC into the lead in the team category, 15:53 ahead of Caisse d'Epargne, and 22:05 up on previous leader T-Mobile.

Reaction around the web varied; my favorite was probably Strange days in Montélimar from Men (in tights), who suggested 4 lessons from Saturday's stage:

1. Don't play poker with ex-mennenite cyclists.
2. Don't let Oscar in a break when he's wearing his angry red socks.
3. Don't ever pick a break with Jens.
4. Don't look directly at Boogards teeth.

As for me, I'm down with it, but I was also touting Savoldelli as Discovery's GC threat after the Stage 7 time trial.

Top 10:
1) Jens Voigt, CSC, Germany
2) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, same time
3) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, France, at :40
4) Manuel Quinziato, Liquigas, Italy, same time
5) Andriy Grivko, Milram, Ukraine, at 6:24
6) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, at 29:57
7) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux, same time
8) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, Belgium, s.t.
9) Carlos da Cruz, Française des Jeux, France, s.t.
10) Arnaud Coyot, Cofidis, France, s.t.
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain
2) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 1:29
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 1:37
4) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 2:30
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 2:46
6) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 3:21
7) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 3:58
8) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 4:51
9) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, at 5:02
10) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:13
Full standings

Guerini takes the day, but Pereiro's not done yet

Guerini
AP/ESPN

Oscar Pereiro has been on the attack as much as anybody in this year's Tour. He's like Vinokourov, if Vinokourov could keep his eyes on the prize.

He found another break today, alongside Giuseppe Guerini of T-Mobile, Sandy Casar of Française des Jeux, Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas, and a few other strong men, and rode it into the overall top 10.

In the day's last 2 kilometers, Guerini launched a blistering assault that none of the others could answer or counter, and rode to T-Mobile's second stage win of the Tour (Vinokourov took Stage 11).

The sprinters didn't sleep all day, as Robbie McEwen, Thor Hushovd and Stuart O'Grady led in the field for 14th, 15th and 16th on the stage. McEwen picks up 12 points for the sprint, Hushovd 11, and O'Grady 10. McEwen could take the lead with a win in Paris.

Stage Top 10:
1) Giuseppe Guerini, T-Mobile, in 3:33:04
2) Sandy Casar, Française des Jeux, at :10
3) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas-Bianchi, same time
4) Oscar Pereiro, Phonak, at :12
5) Salvatore Commesso, Lampre-Caffita, at 2:43
6) Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC, at 2:48
7) Nicolas Portal, AG2R, same time
8) Bert Grabsch, Phonak, same time
9) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, same time
10) Pieter Weening, Rabobank, at 3:50

General Classification:
1) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, in 81:22:19
2) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 2:46
3) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 3:46
4) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 5:58
5) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, at 7:08
6) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 8:12
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 9:49
8) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 10:11
9) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 10:42
10) Oscar Pereiro, Phonak, at 12:39

Hello, Pereiro; bonjour, Moreau in the overall top 10.

CN.com Stage 16 photo gallery posted

www.cyclingnews.com presents the 92nd Tour de France | Stage 16 photo gallery

Evans gives his all; Pereiro sporting the red numbers; Horner made the early break
-- from cyclingnews.com

Pereiro gets Stage 16, Evans moves up the GC

Pereiro pays off
AP/ESPN

Oscar Pereiro was angry about Sunday's stage, where he felt George Hincapie took an unethical win. He took all that anger, clamped it down way inside him, and today, he released all that pressure with a stage win, outsprinting three other breakaway survivors to win in Pau, as the Tour exits the Pyrenees.

Ironically, Pereiro could partly credit a long tow from Cadel Evans, hunting a higher overall placing, giving Pereiro, Zandio, and Mazzoleni a chance to recover a bit ahead of the sprint finish.

Evans moved up to 7th overall, 4 seconds up on Floyd Landis and 9 seconds ahead of Alexandre Vinokourov. Mazzoleni moves up to 12th, and Pereiro to 15th.

Stage results:
1) Pereiro in 4:38:40
2) Xabier Zandio, Illes Balears, same time
3) Eddy Mazzoleni, Lampre-Caffita, s.t.
4) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
5) Philippe Gilbert, Française des Jeux, at 2:25
6) Anthony Geslin, Bouyges Telecom, same time
7) Jorg Ludewig, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
8) Juan Antonio Flecha, Fassa Bortolo, s.t.
9) Ludovic Turpin, AG2R, s.t.
10) Cedric Vasseur, Cofidis, s.t.

The leaders' group was at 3:24, followed by a group at 10:05, then at 20:16, and the autobus at 21:33.

Interestingly, none of the leaders got any points toward the green jersey competition, so it's still Hushovd at 164, O'Grady at 150, and McEwen at 142. That may have been part of the original impetus for Davitamon-Lotto to send Evans, a teammate of McEwen's, up the road today.

GC Top 10:
1) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel
2) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 2:46
3) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 3:09
4) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 5:58
5) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, at 6:31
6) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 7:35
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 9:29
8) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 9:33
9) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 9:38
10) Christophe Moreau, Credit Agricole, at 11:47

Stage 16: The run-in to Pau

Davitamon-Lotto's Cadel Evans, Phonak's Oscar Pereiro, Illes Balears' Xabier Zandio, and Lampre's Eddy Mazzoleni continue to lead the stage. Their gap is 4:05 with 10 k to ride.

Behind, the remnants of the early break is around the middle of the gap, about 2 minutes back. That includes Flecha, Serrano, Vasseur, Pineau, and 4 other riders.

If Evans keeps his current gap, he'll move up into 7th, ahead of Floyd Landis, but Phonak can't/won't chase with Pereiro, crazy with the smell of a stage win, in the break with Evans.

Pereiro has been named most combative for today's stage, so he'll keep the red race numbers tomorrow.

Zandio had a bit of a rest earlier, when the break was threatening teammate Mancebo's placing on the GC, so he may be fresher than his three breakmates. Evans is riding for GC, doing most of the pulling.

Evans is flying, pumping like a locomotive, with three men team time trialing on his wheel.

There goes Mazzoleni, Pereiro slingshots by and gets a good gap! He sits up a little early, but I think he just nipped Zandio for that stage win!

Sherwen gets a good line: "I wonder if he'll apologize for sitting on the wheel of Cadel Evans for the last 3 k or so."

Field is coming in at 3:25 or so, with (correction) Franco Pellizotti leading in the field sprint. That's going to move Evans well into the Top 10 tonight.

Stage 16 underway

Several early probing attacks have gone and been captured. Currently, a 10-man break that includes Saunier Duval-Prodir's Chris Horner, Davitamon-Lotto's Cadel Evans, and Juan Antonio "Never Seen an Attack He Didn't Like" Flecha, is almost 7 minutes in front of the leader's group.

Magnus bummer as Magnus Backstedt, who battled over the worst of the Pyrenees over the last two days, didn't take the start. He was 40 seconds inside the time cut yesterday. Also not starting today was Gianluca Bortolami of Lampre-Caffita.

Former pro mountain biker Cadel Evans is off the front of his breakaway with about 7 kilometers to climb on the Col d'Aubisque.

A number of riders are in between the break and the peloton; notably Oscar Pereiro, still smarting over his 2nd place finish Sunday, and Alexandre Vinokourov. Roberto Heras has hooked up with Alexandre Vinokourov out in front.

The peloton is being whittled down to the team leaders. Down to 8 including Landis, Leipheimer, Mancebo, Mayo, Rasmussen, Ullrich, Basso, and (correction) Kaschechkin. Ullrich probes the group, and off drop Leipheimer, Landis, and Mancebo. They've reintegrated, and that group has caught Freddie Rodriguez, who was off the front with Cadel Evans earlier.

The gap from Evans all the way back to Armstrong's group is between 5 and 6 minutes, and dropping. Hincapie has caught back up to Armstrong's group. Kashechkin was accidentally hit spot on the nose by a spectator earlier in the stage, and had to get medical treatment for a nosebleed. If he can stay near the lead today, he could take the white jersey tonight; he's second to Popovych by 6 minutes.

Hincapie is off the back, Mancebo and Kaschechkin are dropped; the Armstrong group has caught Vinokourov. Armstrong is riding at the front of his group. Vinokourov attacks again!

Rasmussen moves to the front for the summit. Armstrong's group catches Chris Horner, they've recaught Vinokourov.

At the summit, it's:
Evans
Pereiro at :47
Mazzoleni/Zandio at :59
Serrano at 1:15
Ludewig at 1:33

Armstrong's group is at 2:53.

Hincapie is back with Armstrong, as is Popovych, hurting Kashechkin's shot at white. Paul Sherwen reports that Stuart O'Grady is over the descent as the first of the sprinters. There comes Thor Hushovd, so they may get to O'Grady before the day's last sprint or any finishing sprint.

On the descent, Oscar Pereiro has caught Cadel Evans, as has Eddy Mazzoleni.

Close to 20 riders are now in the group with Armstrong and Ullrich, including a number of Discovery riders, Andreas Klöden, and Roberto Heras. They're riding about 5.5 minutes behind Pereiro.

Pereiro flats! He gets a wheel change quickly, and he and Zandio have chased onto Evans and Mazzoleni.

Back in the Armstrong group, Horner flats. He should have no trouble catching up, since Armstrong and the 5 Discovery riders are taking it pretty easy. That group has grown to around 50 riders, and Evans/Pereiro/Zandio/Mazzoleni have 6:38 on that group. The day's final intermediate sprint goes to Pereiro.

Evans started the day at 12:57 in 11th place, and some of the riders filling out the GC Top 10 are starting to get nervous. Discovery has come off the front, and Credit Agricole, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner, and T-Mobile are putting guys up there to chase the break.

If he picked up 6 minutes, he would move ahead of Klöden, Moreau, Vinokourov, Floyd Landis, and Levi Leipheimer, and threaten Mancebo and Ullrich.

The chasers have brought the break back down to 4:45 with about 20 kilometers to ride.

I'm switching posts for the rest of the stage; check the home page for the new post.

Big George! Hincapie takes Tour queen stage

Hink's stage win
AP/ESPN

George Hincapie took a brilliant stage win on the hardest day of the 2005 Tour de France, climbing away on the ascent of Pla d'Adet.

Hincapie, who has ridden with Lance Armstrong in each of his 6 consecutive Tour victories, got his first career stage win in 10 years riding the Tour. He got into a 14-man breakaway with an eye toward being up the road late in the stage to provide Armstrong with some help, and was able to take it easy in the break.

When the time came, and the climbers launched attacks to eliminate the break's remnants, Hincapie covered them all, and was left shadowing only Phonak's Oscar Pereiro with the finish line in sight. When Hink wound it up, Pereiro couldn't match the big man's finishing sprint.

Hincapie became the 8th American with a stage win, joining Greg Lemond, Davis Phinney, Jeff Pierce, Andy Hampsten, Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton, and Dave Zabriskie.

Armstrong held position, finishing with Ivan Basso, and gaining time on every other GC threat.

Jan Ullrich lost 1:25 on Basso and Armstrong.

Top 10:

1) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, in 6:06:38
2) Oscar Pereiro, Phonak, at :07
3) Pietro Caucchioli, Credit Agricole, at :37
4) Michael Boogerd, Rabobank, at :57
5) Laurent Brochard, Bouygues Telecom, at 2:19
6) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 5:03
7) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, same time
8) Oscar Sevilla, T-Mobile, at 6:28
9) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, same time
10) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 6:31

Phonak announces Tour squad

Phonak Cycling Team | Phonak Hearing Systems team nominates its Tour de France line-up

I think this makes the Swiss team, likely to be led by American Floyd Landis, the first team to announce a final lineup of nine riders. Many of the other included teams have narrowed the field to a "pre-selection."

The Phonak Tour squad:

Santiago Botero (Colombia)
Bert Grabsch (Germany)
Jose Enrique Gutierrez (Spain)
Robert Hunter (South Africa)
Nicolas Jalabert (France)
Floyd Landis (USA)
Alexandre Moos (Switzerland)
Oscar Pereiro (Spain)
Steve Zampieri (Switzerland)

Update (6/12): Going by Botero's performance at the Dauphiné, he might be the more likely team leader. Landis has said in the past he wasn't sure he was ready to lead a Tour team this year.

Cycling4all.com has a running tally of likely Tour starters.

Stage 6 injury report

Still seeing onesy-twosy reports about how badly people were hurt today.

From Daily Peloton | The Jambon Report - Stage 6:

• Tyler Hamilton (Phonak). Dammit. Tyler got caught up in that crash at the end and ended up on his back, where he got some bruises and road rash. Dammit. Good news in that it doesn't appear to be anything serious. Bad news is that he crashed. Again. Dammit. His teammates Oscar Pereiro and Jose Enrique Gutierrez also hit the deck, with Pereiro injuring his hand and Gutierrez scraping up his leg and side. Here's hoping that the injuries are as minor as reported, and that they don't affect the performance of Tyler and his team.

From procycling | Good day, bad day — stage 6:

Bobby Julich: Of the podium contenders, Julich was the last to cross the line in Angers. A previous elbow wound had been opened up again, his back and side were scuffed and battered, and he was complaining of pain in his right arm. Jeez, he looked miffed. “So what happened Bobby?” gushed our man on the line (yup a dumb question, we know…) “Uh, we craaashed,” said BJ, less than amused. Marks out of 10 — 10 for dry wit

From independent.co.uk | Tour de France: Armstrong fumes as crash floors peloton:

Medical reports confirmed that worst off had been René Haselbacher of the Gerolsteiner squad, seen crouched in a foetal position on one side of the road and classified 179th, the last rider on the stage. Haselbacher suffered severe bruising down his left side and was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with three broken ribs and a broken nose.

Haselbacher has abandoned the Tour.

Cancellara takes prologue; Armstrong 2nd

Tour rookie Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland took the first Tour de France stage he ever suited up for, beating Lance Armstrong through the 6.1-km prologue by 1.5 seconds.

Cancellara, 23, takes the 1st yellow jersey of the 2004 Tour for Alessandro Petacchi's Fassa Bortolo team. Since Cancellara earned both yellow and green jerseys with his ride, Armstrong will start in the unfamiliar green jersey tomorrow.

Top 10:

1. Cancellara      6:50.94
2. Armstrong     6:52.58
3. Jose Ivan Gutierrez     6:58.41
4. Bradley McGee     6:59.90
5. Thor Hushovd     7:00.98
6. Oscar Pereiro     7:01.39
7. Jens Voigt     7:01.42
8. Christophe Moreau     7:02.45
9. Bobby Julich     7:02.84
10. George Hincapie     7:02.89

Levi Leipheimer was 13th, Jan Ullrich was 16th, Floyd Landis 17th, Tyler Hamilton 18th, Iban Mayo 26th.

In the GC, Armstrong will start with about 15 seconds in hand on Jan Ullrich and 18 seconds on Iban Mayo.

Look for Thor Hushovd to wear yellow sometime this week based on his high placing and some time bonuses.

Also, it's hard to take Roberto Heras too seriously on GC: He finished 104th, losing about 35 seconds to Armstrong over a 6.1-km course. In the 60-km ITT of Stage 19, that will be several minutes. He told BBC he believes he can take the yellow jersey in the Pyrenees, but even he has some doubts about holding it into Paris.

Phonak Tour squad announced

Phonak | Phonak Cycling team is set for the Tour de France

Tyler Hamilton's squad for the Tour de France has been named. The Swiss team will have just one Swiss rider, Martin Elmiger, as they've brought in a talented group, mostly Spanish, to support Hamilton's run at a Tour title.

The full squad:

• Tyler Hamilton (stage win and 4th overall, 2003)
• Oscar Sevilla (white jersey, 2001)
• Santi Perez
• José Gutierrez
• Oscar Pereiro
• Santos Gonzalez
• Bert Grabsch
• Nicolas Jalabert
• Martin Elmiger

Their reserve rider is Cyril Dessel.

Grabsch and Elmiger will be riding in their first Tour.

Out with an injury is Oscar Camenzind, and not on the team will be their old master, Alex Zülle, or Niki Aebersold, who took the 6th stage of the Tour de Suisse and the mountains jersey.

Seen at cyclingnews.com.

Paris-Nice: Jaksche wins opening TT

Sunday's EuroFile: Jaksche takes P-N opener; Valverde wins overall at Murcia

Paris-Nice is probably France's second-biggest stage race, after Le Tour. Sunday's kick-off time trial was won by Jorg Jaksche, the German who joined Team CSC after Tyler Freaking Hamilton left for Phonak. Davide Rebellin of Gerolsteiner and Erik Dekker of Rabobank were 4 seconds back, and Scotland's David Millar of Cofidis was 13 seconds back.

Team CSC also had American Bobby Julich in 7th at 16 seconds, and Jens Voigt, 9th at 22 seconds.

Hamilton, who had suggested as late as Friday that he would probably sit out Paris-Nice, started, and was 29th on the day:

"It was important for me to be here with the team. I did OK considering the circumstances," said Hamilton, who finished 29th at 38 seconds slower. "I'm not here with major goals. It's the first race of the season, but I want to get some racing kilometers in my legs and be with the team. If I feel a little better each day, I'll be OK by the end of the week."

Instead, Hamilton said he'll support teammates Alex Zülle, who posted a strong ride with sixth at 14 seconds slower, and Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro, who came through 12th at 23 seconds slower.

Among the US Postal contingent, Floyd Landis was 19th at 29 seconds, George Hincapie was 25th at 35 seconds, and David Zabriskie and Benjamin Noval were 37th and 38th at 43 seconds back.

Rounding out the Americans, Levi Leipheimer took things cautiously on the wet course, finishing 35th, 40 seconds back:

"I didn't take any risks. I lost more time than I wanted to today so it will be difficult now for the GC," Leipheimer said.

Rabobank will likely throw its weight behind Erik Dekker, third at just four seconds back. The 33-year-old veteran is back in top form following two injury-riddled seasons and is extremely motivated to do well here.

"I had a good feeling today but I was a little bit unsure because I lost some time in the first climb," Dekker said. "I must have made up the time in the last section. We'll see how things go in the next few days, but I feel good."

Also:

Eurosport | Jaksche time-trials to win

Daily Peloton | Paris-Nice Stage One - Updated (with full results)