Stage 21 - Cavendish Ends The Parade In Paris

Mark Cavendish ended the 2009 Tour de France in the same manner in which he started it, by winning a flat stage. While he may not have won the Green Jersey, Cavendish again proved he was the worlds premier sprinter by recording his 6th victory this year, and 10th of his career, by taking out Stage 21, the final 164km stage from Monterau to the Champs-Elysees in Paris. The utter dominance of Cavendish, and his Columbia teammates, in the sprints was especially evident in this finale as Cav, and his lead out man, Australia's Mark Renshaw, cleared out to such an extent that Renshaw finished second on the stage. US youngster Tylar Farrar, ever the bridesmaid at this years Tour filled the podium in third. Thor Hushovd's 6th on the stage was enough to see him hold on to the Green Jersey as winner of the points competition, but by just 10 points.

The main field finished together at the end, leaving no change in the final overall classification. Alberto Conatdor headed the final podium in Paris, winning his second Tour de France in a time of 85hrs 48mins 35 seconds. Andy Schleck was the runner up, some 4:11 behind Contador, although he did have the honour of taking home the White Jersey for best young rider at this years race (winning from Liquigas pair Vincenzo Nibali and Roman Kreuziger respectively). The Boss was third. Lance Armstrong showed he still had what it takes to match it with the best riders in the world finishing just 5:24 behind his Astana teammate.

Despite Cavendish's six stage wins Thor Hushovd proved the most consistent sprinter at this years Tour thanks to a couple of sorties through the mountains to pick up points. He won the Green Jersey with a total of 280 points from Cavendish (270). German Gerald Ciolek (172) quietly went about his business to finish third in the competition, however he was a long way off the two leaders.

Franco Pellizotti was peerless in the King of the Mountains competition this year. He took out the polka dot jersey with 210 points, over 70 points clear of his nearest rival and early competition leader Egoi Martinez (135). Tour winner Alberto Contador (126) managed to finish in third simply as a result of his exploits to win overall honours.

Now to the highlights and lowlights of this years Tour:

The Lowlights
1 - The course - It was a great idea in theory, but in practice it was a bit of a disaster. Contador was just too good and followed his rivals around for three weeks, attacked on two of the three mountain top finishes, won the time trial and then just held on for the ride. There were very few memorable stages.
2 - The disqualification - Yes, Thor Hushovd won the jersey fair and square with a barnstorming attack in the Alps but the fact was this decision cost Mark Cavendish, a 6-stage winner, the Green Jersey. Some have said it just proves Thor was the most consistent rider but winning 6 of the 7 flat sprint finishes sounds pretty consistent to me!
3 - Cadel Evans - Whinge, whinge, whinge. 'My team is not strong enough'. 'The other riders don't like me'. Thankfully we didn't have to put up with Cadel in the third week because he stopped trying in the Alps and sooked at the back of the r ace in the groupetto while the real boys got on with the job up front.

The Highlights
1 - Mark Cavendish - Six - count them six! - stage wins. For a sprinter that is a tally unmatched for as long as I have been watching the race. He was unbeatable and it culminated in The Manx Man and Team Colombia obliterating the field in the final sprint along the Champs Elysees. Surely the Green Jersey awaits its rightful owner next year.
2 - Heinrich Haussler - In one of the few memorable stages in this years race, Heinrich Haussler's solo ride for victory from an escape group over the last 40km's of the stage to Colmar was a superb effort from a man who was chosen to assist Thor Hushovd, despite being ranked number 1 in the world earlier in the year. And the good news is he is switching to an Australian license in 2010!
3 - Alberto Contador - Face it - he was just too good. Had it been Armstrong performing these feats we would have never heard the end of it. He was the best climber, the best time-trialler and probably could have won by another couple of minutes if he had needed too. He has now won his last 4 Grand Tours. Cycling has a new King.

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

See you all in 2010!

Stage 20 - Status Quo On Mount Ventoux

Mount Ventoux was supposed to be the final showdown of the 2009 Tour de France. Instead, with first and second on the overall classification already decided, the GC boys decided to play cat and mouse. The result was a victory for former Spanish national champion, and breakaway hero Juan Manuel Garate, who out sprinted his escape companion Tony Martin about 50 metres from the line to conquer the mountain and win the stage. Andy Schleck, again looking comfortably easy on the final climb of a Tour, led the GC boys home in third some 30 seconds later.

Stage 20, a 167km race from Montelimar to Mount Ventoux was supposed to be a battle for the podium in Paris, but the battle never eventuated. Try as he might, Andy Schleck could not drag brother Frank up to a podium position. All the Schleck brothers managed to do was crack Andreas Kloden allowing Frank to move up from 6th to 5th. While Bradley Wiggins was cracked in the final 2 km's he managed to hold on to his 4th place by just 3 seconds from Frank Schleck. The top two in the classification, Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador never looked in trouble on the climb and could have put minutes into their rivals had the development of the race warranted it. Instead, Contador helped ensure Lance Armstrong would finish on the podium in third in Paris, while Andy Schleck helped out his brother. However they neutralised each other, and Kloden was the only loser on the day. The only other man to lose out was Mikel Astraloza who had a shocker and dropped out of the top 10 to be replaced by Roman Kreuziger. Christophe Le Mevel held onto best Frenchman 10th overall.

So tomorrow sees the parade into Paris where Alberto Contador will be crowned the Tour de France champion for the second time in his career. Andy Schleck will make the podium for the first time in second, and will wear the White Jersey for best young rider as reward for a magnificent effort. For the first time Lance Armstrong will stand on the podium as a minor place getter - finishing third on the overall classification. The GC riders will be joined by Franco Pellizotti the King of the Mountains, and most-likely Thor Husvhod will be on the podium wearing the Green Jersey.

Yellow Jersey - Alberto Contador
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jersey - Andy Shleck

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 19 - Cavendish Makes History In Aubenas

No British rider in history has won more Tour de France stages than Mark Cavendish. The Manx Man made it 5 wins at the 2009 Tour, and 9 wins overall with yet another sprint victory on Stage 19, a 178km, classics style course between Bourgoin-Jaillieu to Aubeans. Yet again Cavendish proved too fast for Green Jersey wearer Thor Husvhod who could once again do no better than roll home in second place. Gerald Ciolek jumped early but was still no match and faded to finish third.

Although there were a number of splits in the peleton, all the GC riders finished in the main bunch leaving no change to the overall standings. They will now turn their attention to the epic climb to Mount Ventoux on the penultimate stage on Saturday. Alberto Contador retains a lead of over 4 minutes on Andy Schleck and it would take an absolute catastrophe for him to lose the Yellow Jersey before Paris.

Hushovd's second place on the stage virtually seals him the Green Jersey. While his lead over Cav was reduced to 25 points neither man will score points on the finish at the Ventoux tonight. He would therefore have to finish around 20 places behind Cavendish on the Champs Elysees on Paris to lose the points competition and on current form that seems highly unlikely.

Yellow Jersey - Alberto Contador
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jesrey - Andy Schleck

Photo courtsey of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 18 - All Hail The New King; Contador Reigns Supreme In Annecy

The 2009 Tour de France was hailed as the return of The Boss, but it will be better remembered for crowning of a new King of cycling, Alberto Contador. The Spaniard ensured that the yellow jersey would remain on his shoulders all the way to Paris after recording victory in the final individual time trial, a 40.5km ride around Lake Annecy. Contador had enough strength and power left to produce a performance that was good enough to defeat two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara by 3 seconds. Russian roluer Mikael Ignatiev filled the podium, finishing in third.

Contador's victory saw him gain more time on his rivals and now means he is a massive 4:11 lead over his nearest rival Andy Schleck, who could only mange 21st on the days stage. Lance Armstrong regained his podium position and moved up toe third despite finishing a perhaps disappointing 16th on the day. His main rival for the podium spot now looks to be Bradley Wiggins who moved to within 11 seconds of The Boss, 5:36 behind Contador in 4th place. Frank Schleck showed he still has a major weakness in the race against the clock. He finished over 2:30 back and has dropped from 3rd to 6th accordingly. He is still only 40 seconds behind Armstrong in third though so a big attack on Mount Ventoux on Saturday could see him move back up to the final podium in Paris.

In contrast, Contador is untouchable at the top of the standings and will be crowned the Tour de France Champion for the second time when the race comes to Paris on Sunday. It is likely we are seeing the next great multiple-champion in Tour history.

Yellow Jersey - Alberto Contador
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jersey - Andy Schleck

Stage 17 - Schlecks Win The Battle; Contador Wins The War

After 17 days of power racing the cream finally rose to the top on the Queen stage of the Tour de France, an epic 169.5km trek from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornard. Over four category one climbs men were pitted against mountain with nowhere to hide. There were only three survivors - the Schleck brothers, and the yellow-jersey of Alberto Contador. As is so often the case in cycling their is powers in numbers, and it was the Schlecks who won the battle. The less dangerous of the pair, Frank, was handed the stage by Contador with his brother Andy punching the air in delight as he crossed the line in third. But while the Schlecks may have won the battle, the Spaniard has won the war. Contador finished second on the stage, losing no time, and virtually sealing his second Tour de France title barring catastrophe before Paris.

Behind the trio the time gaps where huge, and as a result Contador, Andy and Frank now occupy the three podium positions at the top of the GC. The Boss showed he still had it over 99% of the field finishing in the next group on the road with Vincenzo Nibali, 2:18 behind the winner. He is still in a strong position, 4th overall, and is just 30 seconds outside a podium place. His lieutenant, Andreas Kloden, was 10 seconds further back in 6th on the stage. Brit Bradley Wiggins showed his first signs of weakness at this years event being dropped on the tough double-pronged finish, arriving just over 3 minutes behind Schleck. He is down to 6th overall. Carlos Sastre had a shocker, finishing 7 minutes back and slipped out of the top 10 just as soon as he had entered it. Yesterdays stage winner Mikel Astarloza takes his place in the top 10.

Just to tie the day off nicely all the prize jersey's were arguably finalised on the day. Thor Hushovd made the gutsy decision to make a solo move away from an initial escape to collect both bonus primes on the day's stage and increase his lead in the points competition to a seemingly unassailable 30 points. Franco Pellizotti also managed to get into the days break (again!) picking up a swag of mountains points to move 78 points clear at the top of the King of the Mountains classification. He surely has the polka dot jersey locked up now. Andy Schleck's effort also saw him increase his lead in the White Jersey competition for best young rider to over 2:43 from Nibali.

Cadel Evans was last seen heading for the nearest mountain summit with a half empty bottle of whiskey and a bible.

Yellow Jersey - Alberto Contador
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jersey - Andy Schleck

Photo courtsey of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 16 - Astarloza Breaks His Drought

Yesterday, Mikel Astarloza had never won a race. While he had won the overall classification at the Tour Down Under, he did not win a single stage in doing so. Never had he had the chance to put his hands up over the line in a victory salute....he has now. Astarloza was the first home from a successful escape group on Stage 16, a short but grand 159km race from Martingy to Bourg-Saint-Maurice. After the epic climbs of the Grand and Petit Saint Bernard, Astarloza had enough sprint in his legs in the closing kilometres to grab his first ever professional race victory by 6 seconds. Ever the bridesmaid, Frenchman Sandy Casar finished second on the stage, his 6th second place finish at the Tour. Stage 9 winner Pierrick Fedrigo filled the podium finishing third.

As has been the case with every non-summit finish at this years tour, all the GC riders finished in a bunch together to leave the overall classification unchanged, with Alberto Contador on top. However, there was a highlight from Lance Armstrong who turned back the clock with a stunning burst of acceleration to re-join the Contador group just before the summit of the Petit after being left behind earlier on the climb. The Boss looks to be in great form, and has just been unlucky to have run into the sports next superstar in Contador. Had he ridden the event last year, I think he would have added an eighth maillot jaune to his wardrobe.

The big loser on the day was everybody's favourite under-achiever Cadel Evans. Evans could not even make it into the final selection of 30 or so riders and finished in the second peleton on the rode, almost 4 minutes behind the winner and 3 minutes behind the elite brigade. In true Evans style he then spat the dummy post race saying that he was physically ok but could not say what the problem was for professional reasons. Presumably that means he is going to go off and blame his team. What a joke! A team does not make up 3 minutes for you on the road Cadel. Your teammate Jurgen Van Den Broeck managed to survive in the break ok. And in case you don't remember (we do!) you coughed up the last two tours in the final individual time trials! Don't think your team cost you too much their mate! Evans has dropped to 17th on the overall classification and and now trails Contador by over 7 minutes. Hopefully that is the last we here of him at this years tour. Rinaldo Noncentini and Tony Martin's bubbles also finally burst at they slipped outside the top 10 to be replaced by Christian Van de Velde and defending champ Carlos Sastre. There was also more pain for the Saxo team as a whole with peleton favourite Jens Voight crashing heavily on the descent of the Petit. He was knocked unconscious for over 4 minutes before being taken to hospital by ambulance. Although he is out of the race he avoided any serious injury.

Outside Astarloza, the big winner on the day was Franco Pellizotti who again managed to get himself into the days break. He led over both mountain passes and virtually wrapped up his first King of the Mountains jersey, increasing his lead over Egoi Martinez to 58 points.

Yellow Jersey - Alberto Contador
Green Jersey - Thor Husvhod
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jersey - Andy Schleck

Photos courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 15 - Contador Seals The Deal In Switzerland

They think its all over ...it is now! After two weeks of follow-the-leader in the 2009 Tour de France, Alberto Contador put paid to the race with one dynamic attack. It came on stage 15, a 207.5km journey from Pontarlier in France to Verbier in Switzerland. The blistering move, around 6km from the mountain summit could not be matched by any of the Spaniard's rivals. By the summit, Contador had a 43 second advantage over his nearest rival, Andy Schleck. Contador will win the 2009 Tour de France. Young Italian Vincenzo Nibali filled the podium finishing third on the stage.

All the action of the days stage played out on the final climb to Verbier. After a 10 man breakaway was peeled back the peleton exploded into action on the category 1 climb. Saxobank's infernal pace was enough to drop the majority of the peleton, before continued hard riding from Frank Schleck reduced the main group to an elite combination of just Frank and Andy Schleck, Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong, Bradley Wiggins, Nibali and Roman Kreuziger. Contador chose this moment to strike. With a blistering burst of acceleration he cleared out. Andy Schleck partially matched him for a moment but could could only get halfway across the gap. Behind was chaos. Armstrong refused to chase down his teammate and the loss of momentum allowed Andreas Kloden to rejoin. Frank Schleck refused to chase down his brother leaving the work to Nibali and Wiggins. They didn't have the strength to do so and were eventually joined by Cadel Evans and Carlos Sastre who had been blown away by the early pace with which the main group attacked the climb. The elder Schleck lept up the rode to chase his brother. Only Nibali and Wiggins could go with him, and for the first time in his last 8 attempts at the Tour de France the 37 year old legs of Armstrong finally gave out on him. Lance was left behind, to be paced back to the finish by teammate Kloden.

But up ahead Contador was riding to immortality. His lead increased the further and further he went up the mountain. By the end he had gained mega time over all his rivals. 43 seconds over Andy Schleck, 1:06 over Frank Schleck and Sastre, 1:26 over Evans, and 1:35 over Armstrong. The result is a major shake up of the GC. Contador now inherits the yellow jersey by 1:37 from Armstrong. Wiggins is up to third @ 1:46 followed by Kloden (2:17), and Andy Schleck (2:26). Nibali is up to 7th.

Outside of Contador's utter dominance the big surprise packet has to be Wiggins. A former Olympic pursuit champion, who was better known for his short time-trialing ability - he is now somehow able to get over the mega-mountains at this years tour. This is a little surprising to say the least and in terms of dodgy looking performances at this years event this has to be right up there. You don't see world class riders such as Fabian Cancellara all of a sudden being able to climb with the best of them.

In terms of the competitions, the only change was the White Jersey with Andy Schleck taking the jersey off Tony Martin who could only manage 12th on the stage. He now leads the Best Young Rider classification by 25 seconds from Nibali. In the King of the Mountains Franco Pellizotti garnered himself a few extra points over his rival Egoi Martinez by leading an early break over the earlier cols. He now has an 8 point lead.

In concluding, the organisers wanted an exciting final week. As a result they made the first fortnight of the race pretty much as boring as hell quite frankly. Now we have had one mountain stage and Contador has blown the field to pieces, and barring hunger flats will win the event. Pretty moronic programming if you ask me. Especially with no more mountain top finishes in the Alps for Alberto's rivals to try and take time back off him.

Yellow Jersey - Alberto Contador
Green Jersery - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jersey - Andy Schleck

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

PS - SBS - Your coverage of the race last night was f**ing disgraceful. What kind of moron do you have up there planning your commericals. Your coverage goes for over three hours and you found it necessary to whack an ad break in 2 kilometres into the final climb on one of only three mountain top finishes this year...YOU IDIOTS!!!

LIVE - Stage 15

11:00pm - The escape also contains Mikael Astraloza, who has finished 9th overall in 2006. This guy could be dangerous if given too much time so Astana have got on the front of the main group to reduce the margin. It is currently just over 3:30 with around 90km/h to go.

10:38pm - And with 100km to go we have an escape group of 10 riders around 4 minutes ahead of the peleton. Not surprisingly given that we are finishing Switzerland today, the Swiss national champion Fabian Cancellara is present. David Mouncoutier and Juan Antonio Flecha are also present and correct.

10:00pm - Hello and welcome to live coverage of Stage 15, a 207.5km journey from Pontarlier to Verbier.

Stage 14 - Heartbreak From Hincapie As Ivanov Flies The Coop

After a week of ho-hum racing, Stage 14, a relatively flat an uninspiring 199km roll from Colmar to Besancon, the yellow jersey almost changed hands...almost. What looked like your average days escape nearly turned into so much more for ageing veteran George Hincapie when he finished in a breakaway around 5 minutes ahead of the peleton. Unfortunately he was 5 seconds short of taking the golden fleece from Italian Rinaldo Noncentini. Fellow escapee Christophe Le Mevel also shot up into the top 10 and now sits 5th 43 seconds behind the leader.

The victor on the day was Russian national champion Sergei Ivanov who broke clear from the escape with 11km to go to ride to his second career Tour victory. He had a good 16 seconds to spare over Irish national champion Nicholas Roche who finished 2nd. New Zealender and Tour debutant Hayden Roulston finished third.

The peleton arrived some five and a half minutes later led by Mark Cavendish. However in a controversial decision he was relegated to the rear of the field for dangerous riding in the last kilometre. This was a double blow, as green jersey wearer Thor Husvhod was second of the main bunch and was thus promoted up to 13th overall. This gives Hushovd a generous 18 point lead in the points competition, and I think there is some chance he may now hold it all the way to Paris, with the Champs Elysee now looking the likely last chance for the sprinters this year.

Despite the break's large time gain it is no real concern for the GC men who all finished in the main bunch. Hincapie and Le Mevel will lose sufficient time in the Alps to not seriously challenge for the overall classification.

Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Noncentini
Green Jersey - Thor Husvhod
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jesrey - Tony Martin

Photo from Yahoo Sports.

Stage 13 - Haussler Wins For Australia

Heinrich Haussler rides on the pro cycling circuit under a German license, but in heart he is an Australian. Born and bred in Inverell, NSW, Haussler delivered Australia its first spiritual victory in the 2009 Tour de France with a stunning solo ride to take Stage 13, a wet and windy 200km trek from Vittel to Colmar.

Haussler was part of a three man break that included such luminaries as French favourite Sylvan Chavanel, and Spainard Ruben Perez. Most would have thought that pair would have had enough climbing power to out-muscle the pseudo-Aussie on a stage that included a cat-1 and a couple of cat-2 climbs, but that was not the case. Haussler and Chavanel first dropped Perez on the cat-1 Col du Platzerwasel. Then on the descent of the climb Haussler struck. Clearly more adept going downhill than the nervy Chavanel, Haussler pressed hard - and created a gap. First 10 seconds, then 20, then 30...then a minute. Chavanel was broken. There were still two more climbs to come but Haussler completed them with ease. By the finish his lead was an amazing 4 minutes, 11 seconds from another Spaniard, Amets Txurukka who burst out of the peleton but could only catch the ailing Chavanel. Brice Feillu, who left the pack with Txurukka, also passed the Frenchman to finish on the podium in third.

As has seemingly been the case in all of the mountain stages so far, all the GC contenders finished together, with none of the losing time...BORING! The organisers have to be held accountable for the lack of excitement in this years race. The last week certainly better be a blast to make up for it!

In fact the more exciting competition this year have been the other jerseys. Thor Hushovd managed to drag himself over all the days cols to finish with the main bunch. Although he was beaten by Peter Velits in the bunch sprint, his 6th place finish was enough to given him a 5 point lead over Mark Cavendish in the green jersey competition. With Hushovd showing at least a bit of climbing ability this year, this competition certainly looks like going down to the wire.

In the King of the Mountains Franco Pellizotti was able to grab his first Polka Dot Jersey after previous leader Egoi Martinez was dropped on the Platzerwasel. You would not back against the young Italian holding it all the way to Paris from here.

Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Noncentini
Green Jersey - Thor Husvhod
Polka Dot Jersey - Franco Pellizotti
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

LIVE - Stage 13

12:40am - Haussler goes clear! He has flown down the descent and dropped his breakaway companion Chavanel. He now leads the stage alone by a minute with the peleton a further 5 minutes back. This could be a glorious victory for Australia (sort of). I think he is going to do it and hold on for the win!

12:23am - The peleton have backed off again on the plateu and the descent. The escape's lead is now back up to 4:10 with 41km to go. Brice Feillu and serial breakaway pest Amets Txurrika have made an attempt to close the gap but are floating 3:30 behind the two leaders. Egoi Martinez has got back to the main group in the hope of defending his KOM journey.

12:04am - And Saxo and Astana blow the peleton apart on the big climb! They have dropped all but the strongest. All of the major GC men have made the selection but Egoi Martinez, the polka-dot jersey wearer was dropped near the summit. This might give Franco Pellizotti the chance to steal the jersey today. The burst has seen only Haussler and Chavanel left in front, 2:50 ahead with 58km to go.

11:41pm - Onto the major cat-1 climb of the day and suprisingly Ruben Perez has been cracked from the break leaving Haussler and Chavanel alone in front. They are around 5 minutes ahead of Gerderman, 6:45 ahead of Kern (another lunatic trying to make the gap via a solo cross) and 7 minutes ahead of the peleton.

11:25pm - The peleton have backed off the chase along the valley it seems with the breakaways lead back out to near 7 minutes. However, Linus Gerderman bombed the descent and is manically trying to make his way across the gap to the trio of leaders. He is currently 5 minutes 40 behind them - good luck and closing that gap down!

11:09pm - The escapists really crawled up the cat-2 Col de la Schucht there. As a result the peleton has reduced the gap to just under 6 minutes. At the top of the col Egoi Martinez snared 4th from Franco Pellizotti to increase his lead in the KOM competition by an extra point.

10:45pm - We have a break of three out in front today. And it includes pseudo-Aussie Heinrich Haussler. The other members are Ruben Perez and Sylvain Chavanel. The triumvirate are currently around 9 minutes ahead of the peleton who are rolling on in terrible weather conditions. Very cold and wet in France today.

10:38pm - And the big news of the day is that the crash late in yesterday's stage was worse than initially thought. In fact Levi Leipheimer has a broken wrist and failed to take his place at the start today. He is out of the race! That should pent a dent into the seemingly indestructable Astana team.

10pm - Hello and welcome to live coverage of Stage 13, a 200km trek from Vittel to Colmar.

Stage 12 - Sorensen Restores Saxo Pride In Vittel

A day after losing their Norwegian national champion Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Team Saxo Bank had something to smile about after Nicki Sorensen took out Stage 12, a long 211.5km stage from Tonnerre to Vittel. Sorensen was part of a surviving breakaway of seven riders that managed to outlast the peleton who were not really interested in chasing them down. He broke away from his rivals towards the end of the stage to ride in to Vittel for a glorious solo victory. The remnants of the break were some 48 seconds away led by Frenchman Laurent Lefevre. Italian Franco Pellizotti, third at the Giro d'Italia this year, filled the same spot on the podium on the stage.

The peleton finished in a group some 6 minutes behind the winner, unsurprisingly led home by Mark Cavendish. However, Thor Hushovd was just a place behind meaning Cavendish's lead in the points jersey increased only to 10 points. The main group finished together with none of the GC contenders losing any time. Despite the fact Levi Leipheimer and Cadel Evans both crashed out in the closing stages, the bingle was within the last 3 km of the race and so both were awarded the same times as the finishing peleton.

The bigger interest for the day was in the King of the Mountains Competition due to the presence of Pellizotti and polka-dot jersey holder Egoi Martinez in the days escape. Pellizotti had enough spring to lead Martinez over the majority of the days minor climbs, and this saw him climb to second in the KOM competition now just 17 points behind Martinez. It looks like it will be these two riders in 2009 who fight out the jersey.

So while Rinaldo Noncentini continues to hold the Yellow Jersey, his reign may be under serious threat in Stage 13 as the Tour travels to Colmar, via a pair of category 1 climbs.

Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Noncentini
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Egoi Martinez
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 11 - Cavendish Procession Continues In Saint Fargeau

Stage 11 was a stage of deja-vu, both back to the race so far and all the way back to the 2008 Tour. At the end of a 192km ride from Vatan to Saint Fargeau, it was once again none other than Mark Cavendish who took the honours to win his 4th stage of this years Tour. This adds to his 4 wins at last years edition, where he was pulled out before the Alps. This year Cavendish will ride all the way to Paris and a 5th and 6th victory are definitely on the cards.

In taking the day, Cavendish tied a British record for career stage wins at the Tour with 8. He also earned himself another prize by re-taking the lead in the points competition. He now holds the green jersey by 7 points from his Norwegian rival Thor Hushovd who could only manage 5th on the stage. Still, there was a sense of deja-vu on the podium, with Tyler Farrar again finishing the bridesmaid. This time second. Had Cavendish not showed up Farrar would be the revelation of this years event and may have multiple stage wins to his name. Belorussian national champion Yauheni Hutarovich put in his best performance at this years Tour to finish 3rd on the day.

In terms of the GC there was no real shake up with the peleton finishing together apart from the usual stragglers, none of which were big names, although yellow jersey holder Rivaldo Noncentini did hit the deck a couple of times in minor crashes. The 15 second split in the peleton originally awarded at the end of yesterdays stage was reviewed by officials and reversed. This saw Levi Leipheimer and Bradley Wiggins returned to their 4th and 5th positions in the overall classification respectively. As expected, Saxo's stocks were dented when Norwegian national champion Kurt Asle-Arvesen failed to take the start line after suffering a broken collarbone in a crash yesterday.

So the points competition now looks a race in two between Cavendish (4/5 fav) and Hushovd (11/8). I think if Cavendish can build up a buffer of 20 points or so before we hit the Alps he should be safe. But anything less than that and Hushovd could be a chance of stealing the jersey with a similar breakaway sojourn to that he produced in the Pyrenees.

Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Nocentini
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Egoi Martinez
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports. Prices courtesy of Betfair (always bet responsibly).

Stage 10 - Missile Fires Again In Issoudun

While he may have suffered like a beast over the climbs of the Pyrenees over the weekend The Missile is back! The tour returned to the flat on Bastille Day for Stage 10, a 194.5km route from Limoges to Issoudon, and that meant the return of Mark Cavendish. And I bet nothing would have riled the French more than a win from a Brit on their national day. As he has on each of the three flat stages so far in 2009, The Manx Man was simply too fast for his rivals, out-sprinting them for his third stage win of this years Tour.

Thor Hushovd again showed that he continues to be the most consistent rider at this years Tour, finishing second, and holding onto his green jersey by just 6 seconds. Up and coming American sprinter Tyler Farrar also managed to get himself another podium position finishing third on the stage, to move up to 5th in the points classification.

There was a moment of danger for some of the GC contenders with the peleton splitting in two on the run in to the finish. But from the big boys it was only Levi Leipheimer who missed out, finishing in the second group and losing 15 seconds to the winner. This has seen him slip from 4th to 5th overall, equal on time with teammate Andreas Kloden and 54 seconds behind race leader Rinaldo Noncentini who held the yellow-jersey for another day. Bradley Wiggins also missed the split and dropped from 5th to 7th overall. However, the biggest disaster may have been for team Saxo and Andy Schleck, with one of the leading strongmen on the team, Kurt Asle-Arvesen, crashing and breaking his collarbone. While the Norwegian national champion finished the stage, he must be in some doubt of starting the race tomorrow.

Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Noncentini
Green Jersey - Thor Husvhod
Polka Dot Jersey - Egoi Martinez
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 9 - Fedrigo Continues French Run In Tarbes

The 2009 Tour de France is becoming a year out for the French. Following previous stage wins from Thomas Voeckler and Brice Feillu, Pierrick Fedrigo added his name to the French honours list after taking out Stage 9, a short but difficult 160.5km stage from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes.

Fedrigo was part of a four man breakaway that led over the infamous Col du Tormalet some 70km from the finish, and the escape did just enough on the descent to hold off the fast finishing peleton. Fedrigo, perhaps surprisingly, was able to out manoeuvre his more fancied breakaway companion, Franco Pellizotti at the finish. The Italian finished second on the stage. Filling the podium was Oscar Freiere, who led a swelling main group of over 70 riders home in third place, some 34 seconds behind the stage winner.

With the big climbs of the day so far from the finish the GC men kept their cues in the rack, with no real attacks to speak of. Rinaldo Nocentini still holds his slender lead at the top of the overall classification from the Astana due of Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong. However, there was yet another change in the mountains competition. Egoi Martinez managed to get himself into a small group that chased the break, and gained enough points to take the polka dot jersey off the shoulders of Christophe Kern. He now leads the classification by 19 points and is arguably the first wearer this year who could actually hold the jersey all the way to Paris.

Stage 9 concluded the Pyreneean stage of the race, and it has to be said, one of the duller Pyreneean sections in years. The race organisers have decoded, in their wisdom, to place all but one of the big climbs a long distance from the finish and that has prevented any major shake ups in the overall standings. Obviously this makes for an exciting last week but the Pyreneean stages have certainly lacked the atmosphere and excitement of years past as a result. Perhaps this is something the organisers need to look at in 2010.

Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Nocentini
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Egoi Martinez
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 8 - Sanchez Shines In Saint Girons

Just as he did in the stage into Aurillac last year, Louis Leon Sanchez used a mountains stage to his advantage, in out sprinting his breakaway rivals to take Stage 8, a 176.5km trek from Andorre le Vielle to Saint Girons in France. Sanchez proved too strong in the final sprint and scored a deserved victory from Frenchman Sandy Casar. Mikel Astraloza failed to record his maiden victory as a professional but filled the podium in third.

The GC brigade were shaken up early in the stage when Cadel Evans used the opening cat-1 climb to attack. Eventually he formed a breakaway group of 10 with such luminaries as Fabian Cancellara, Thor Hushovd, and George Hincapie. However, the premier statesman refused to work with him and demanded he return to the peleton and allow the breakaway to proceed. After much heated debate, Evans finally gave up and returned to the peleton allowing the other riders to proceed with their escape. Still it was a daring and pro-active effort for Evans for the second consecutive day.

The 10-man group lasted long enough for Hushovd to take the points at two intermediate sprints and take the lead in the green jersey competition from Mark Cavendish. The battle for that jersey between those two now looks like it will be an exciting one all the way to Paris. In the mountains competition, Christophe Kern managed to get himself in a break for the second day in a row and he garnered enough points to take the polka-dot jersey from Stage 7 winner Brice Feillu. He now has a 5 point lead in that competition over Spaniard Egoi Martinez.

Other than that the only major fireworks from the GC boys came from a brief attack by Andy Schleck up the Col d'Agnes. However, the Astana riders were quickly on his tail and all Schleck succeeded in doing was dropping yellow jersey wearer Rivaldo Noncentini. For a while it looked like the golden fleece was headed for the shoulders of Alberto Contador but after the Schleck attack the main group slowed their chase of the four men (the podium finishes plus Vladimir Efimkin) up front and Nocentini was able to get back on. The pack then cruised into the finish, just under 2 minutes behind the escape group.

Stage 9 sees the peleton tackle the two epic climbs of the Col d'Aspin and the Col de Tourmalet but yet again they are too far away from the finish for any major moves from the GC contenders.

Yellow Jersey - Roberto Nocentini
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Christophe Kern
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

LIVE Stage 8

1:07am - And the winner is Luis Leon Sanchez!

12:51am - 10km to go one and of the front four will definatley win it from here. (The Aussies are storming home in the cricket just quietly too!)

12:31am - May have gone off a bit early their - the peleton slowed the tempo up the top of the climb and allowed Nocentini to get back on - he'll keep the jersey for another day. In doing so however it ensures one of the 4 escapees (Casar, Sanchez, Efimkin, Astraloza) will win the day. My money is on Sanchez.

12:00am - And its Andy Schleck with the first shots across the bow of the GC contenders. A Schleck attack splits the peleton to pieces but he is quickly followed by a bevy of 4 Astana riders including Amrstrong and Contador. All the faves are left in a select group of 15 or so about 80 seconds behind the breakaway. The yellow jersery has been dropped however and can kiss goodbye to that tonight.

11:42pm - Cancellara has been dropped from the escape on the early slopes of the climb. A fast tempo from Astana on the front of the peleton has seen the breakaways lead cut to just 2 minutes with a bit over 50km remaining.

11:19pm - Not much to report as the leaders approach the final cat-1 climb of the stage. The escape leads by around 3 minutes with 70km to go.

10:52pm - 2006 Tour winner Oscar Pereiro has just abandoned the race. He has not looked in good form at all in this years event. The group of 10 seemed to have been bestowed the honour of the days escape. The peleton has eased up a little and they now trail the breakaway by around 2:30 with 80km still to go.

10:21pm - Well peleton etitquette has worked and Evans is back in the peleton. A revised group of 10 (inc. Hushovd, Hincapie, and Cancellara) now leads the stage. and Hushovd is the virtual leader in the points competition after picking up a maximum 6 points in the 1st intermediate sprint today.

10:01 - And it's not happy families in the breakaway at the moment. Hushovd and Cassar have been dissolved into the Evans group and the senior statesman (Hincapie, Hushovd and Cancellara) have literally demand Evans go back to the peleton and letter the lesser lights have their day. Evans is having none of that though.

9:40pm - I have never seen a start of a stage like it! Hushovd has bridged the gap and now past the Evans group on the descent and set out after Casar - god knows how he got over that climb. Evans group has been re-enforced by none other than Fabian Cancellara as well. It seems the Astana boys have had enough though - they've sent their men to the front of the peleton.

9:25pm - And here's an even bigger turn up! Evans has attacked that group! Unheard of. 160km to go and Evan's is now in a group of 5 pursuing stage leader Sandy Casar with the peleton a further minute back. Not since Flloyd Landis' ill-fated ride to Morzine have I seen a GC contender on the attack so early in a stage - go Cadel go!

9:08pm - Here's a turn up! Against the normal structure of racing a group of 30 has gone off the front. Not unusual, but this group contains the White Jersey the Polka Dot Jersey, Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, and Andreas Kloden! Surely the peleton won't let this last!

8:44pm - And they're off! The race is underway for the day. There has been a flurry of attacks but so far no real escape has been established. Spaniard Egoi Martinez is currently up in front a few 100m ahead of the peleton. You might remember Martinez as he was part of the breakaway to Prata Nevoso last year - a stage won by Australia's Simon Gerrans.

8:23 - Looks a lovely morning in Saint Girons - nice and sunny for the riders. Today the riders will go over a cat-2 climb and 2 cat-1 climbs. Unfortunatley they are too far out from the finish to shake up the GC standings I think.

8:00pm - Hello and welcome to live coverage of Stage 8 a 176.5km ride from Andorre La Vielle to Saint Girons.

Stage 7 - Unknowns Steal The Limelight As Contador Makes His Move

The first mountain top finish of the 2009 Tour was supposed to see the Yellow Jersey and the baton of race leadership pass to Astana. But they did not count on little known Italian Rinaldo Nocentini, who managed to survive along with 8 of his breakaway companions with enough of a buffer to take the Golden Fleece at the end of Stage 7, a 224km slog from Barcelona to Araclis (Andorra).

Noncentini was part of a 9 mine group that managed to build up a big enough lead in the run up to Andorra to hold off the peleton up the first hors category climb of this years tour. In the end, it was young Frenchman Brice Feillu who earned himself a place in French hearts by taking the win at the top of the mountain. He will also have the honour of putting on the Polka Dot Jersey for the next ride through the Pyrenees. Christophe Kern made it a French quinella finishing second while German Johannes Frohlinger filled the podium in third. Nocentini finished fourth, 26 seconds behind Feillu, but it was just enough to take yellow.

Nocentini now leads the GC by 6 seconds from the man who now must be a red-hot favourite to win the Tour, Alberto Contador. Contador broke clear off the select GC bunch over the final 2km to gain 21 seconds over most of his rivals. He easily looked the most comfortable of the GC bunch, dancing up the final bends to stamp his authority on the Tour for the first time this year. Lance Armstrong remains third overall, 8 seconds back, and did not seem all to happy with Contador, suggesting things hadn't really go to plan on the stage.

Presumably the plan was for Astana to simply mark the moves of other teams as they previously held positions 2-5 on the GC. In the end, the only moves where from (would you believe it!) Silence Lotto! Cadel Evans took the bit between his teeth and tried to break away from the Astana led mob, but failed to do so as he was quickly wheeled in by the likes of Armstrong and Contador. Still - credit must go to him for having a go. The only other attack came from Evans' teammate Jurgen Van de Broeck who was allowed to go ahead up the road before Contador sped past him on his attack. Of the chasers, Andy Schleck looked the best as he tried to lead the GC contenders back up to Contador. But he got little help and it was to no avail.

One surprise was the presence of Bradley Wiggins (formally thought of as a man for the flats) amongst the big shots. Given his strong time-trial performances earlier in the week he now seems himself at the heady heights of 5th on the GC table. Wiggins survival on the stage suggests to me that maybe the big boys were foxing a bit today because of the headwind on the final climb, and a bigger shake up may come on a future stage. Tony Martin, the current White Jersey wearer also managed to stick with the big boys. However, Andreas Kloden was surprisingly dropped in the final kilometres and that will likely mean has to work as a domestique for Contador and Armstrong. Similarly, the brave Yellow Jersey run of Fabian Cancellara ended, as he was dropped from the main group about half-way up the final climb.

Still - as it stands now you would have to say that it is Alberto's race to lose. Although before today I think his team was plumbing for Armstrong, Contador certainly threw the cat amongst the pigeons with his attack. I think the winner of the overall title will now come from either those two, or Andy Schleck, who was ok today and must still have an outside chance of victory.

Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Noncentini
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Brice Feillu
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photos courtersy of Yahoo Sports.