Stage 6 - God Of Thunder Roars Into Rainy Barcelona

On a day slated for the strong men of sprinting it was arguably the world's strongest sprinter, Thor Hushovd, who had not only the fastest but the mightiest legs as the Tour de France came to the Olympic city of Barcelona in Stage 6, a 181.5km journey from Girona.

A chaotic run into the city, marked by numerous crashes, left a peleton of just around 50 riders to contest the sprint. And although Mark Cavendish was present, his team was depleted, and he did not quite have the legs to pull himself up the incline over the final two kilometres. That was the only chance Hushovd needed, and he proved the most powerful over the last 500 metres to take the win and reduce Cavendish's (16th) lead in the Green Jersey competition to a single point. The rest of the podium was filled by a pair of Spaniards who were unlucky not to taste victory on home soil. Triple world-champion and last years Green Jersey winner Oscar Friere was second while Jose Joaqin Rojas put in a surprisingly good effort to finish third.

A commendation must also go to David Millar. Part of the initial three (and then four) man escape group, he took off for a solo effort with almost 30km remaining. With 10km to go he still led by over a minute and an improbable victory still looked likely. However, the uphill rise to the finish did for him in the end and he was swept up in the final kilometre.

The majority of the GC riders managed to survive the carnage, except for one. And unfortunately for Australia, that one was Michael Rogers. Rogers crashed 30km out from the finish, brought down by Australian born-German Heinrich Haussler. And while Haussler got up and continued on his merry way, Rogers was in the hands of the doctors for a long time. His crash coincided with the peleton deciding to chase down the days breakaway, and from their Rogers was never a chance to get back on. He limped in, third last on the stage, losing 13:14 to the lead group. While it looks as though he will be fit enough to continue, his GC chances have disappeared. No Australian will be wearing the yellow jersey in Paris this year.

Outside of Rogers there was no change to the overall classification with Fabian Cancellara still holding yellow by the barest of margins from Lance Armstrong. However, there was a change in the mountains classification, with Stephane Auge earning enough points out on the road in the days breakaway to take the jersey from Jussi Veikkanen. However, this is likely to be a temporary transistion.

Tonight sees the first major mountains of the 2009 edition as the peleton climbs up to Andorra and the ski resort of Arcalis. If Alberto Contador wants the team lead at Astana, he will have to prove it on today's stage - so be prepared for some fireworks. Can Cancellara hold his lead? The yellow jersey is a big chance to change hands. And with a category 1 and hors cateogry climb present in Stage 7 the polka dot jersey is also likely to go to whoever is first over the mountains tomorrow.

Yellow Jersey - Fabian Cancellara
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Stephane Auge
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

LIVE - Stage 6

1:16am - And it's Thor Hushovd the God of Thunder with the win!

12:58am - No new on Rogers but Millars solo escape continues. He leads by 40 seconds from Txurruka, the only surviving member of the breakaway and Raymon Pouliot who has jumped clear of the main bunch. The peleton now trail Millar by over a minute with 15km to go. I think the Scotsman might hold on!

12:38am - Disaster for Australia! Michael Rogers and Heinrich Haussler have both just gone down in a crash. Haussler got up and back riding ok but the lost shot of Rogers was the doctor checking his arm and collarbone - I fear he may abandon! It was a terrible time to crash as the peleton has begun the chase and the escapes lead is down to 50 seconds. Millar seems to think that has not enough and has tried to set off on a solo effort. It's all hapenning!

12:21am - Cadel and his teammates are safely back in the peleton. It also looks like the weather has cleared out a little bit so the peleton may miss most of the rain - things are not all bad at the Tour today! The breakaways margin remains around 90 seconds with just over 40 km to go.

12:00am - Cadel punctures!!! It's certainly Murphy's Law for the Aussie so far at the tour this year. Five teammates have dropped back to help him get back to the peleton and he should be able to do it with the pace hardly break-neck at this stage. The breakaway's advantage is back down to 90 seconds with around 55km to go.

11:42pm - The peleton has backed off the pace a little and the breakaway's lead is back out to around 1 minute 50 seconds. They are now are group of four as Txurruka has done an excellent job of bridging across the gap to the escape group.

11:25pm - With Astana now driving the peleton the breakaway's lead has been cut sharply to just over 1 minute with around 75km to go to the finish. Amets Txurruka is trying to bridge the gap to the leaders and is in no mans land 50 seconds behind Auge, Millar, and Chavanel.

11:06pm - We have had the obligatory crash in the feed zone with Ruben Perez (Euskatel) and David Le Lay (Agritubel) both going down. It certainly does look a dreary day on the Spanish coast. The breakaway's lead is inside 3 minutes with around 90 km to go so nothing to serious to worry about at this stage.

10:47pm - And we have a 3 man break today - certainly of high quality too! David Millar, Stephen Auge, and Sylvain Chavanel - all men with decent enough pedigrees. You could see them staying away easily enough, but odds have to be with the peleton at this stage. We've just had a tiny crash with an Agritubel rider going down but he looks to be ok. Should be an interesting little period as the riders hit the rain for the first time at this years Tour.

10:22pm - It certainly seems to be raining on the plains in Spain today with torrential rain falling in Barcelona. That should make it very tough for the riders. I guess we have to tip a Spaniard to take it out today so I will plum for none other than last years Green Jersey winner Oscar Freire.

10:00pm - Hello and welcome to Live coverage of Stage 6 of the 2009 Tour de France. We enter Spain today with a 181.5km ride from Girona to Barcelona.

Stage 5 - Voeckler Turns Back The Clock In Perpignan

Tour fans could be excused for thinking they had been transported back in time on Wednesday. With Thomas Voeckler the darling of France, and Lance Armstrong sitting second on the overall classification you could be forgiven for thinking we had never left the Armstrong era.

A perennial breakaway man but rarely a winner, the ultimate persistence finally paid of for Voeckler, 5 years to the day he pulled on his first Yellow Jersey. The surviving member of a 6 man breakaway, the plucky Frenchman held off the entire peleton in the closing kilometres to win, with a margin of 7 seconds to spare, Stage 5, a 196.5km trek from Le Cap d'Agde to Perpignan. Fellow escapee Mikhail Ignatiev managed to just survive the on-rushing peleton to finish second, while the main group was led home by none other than 'The Missile', Mark Cavendish.

The rest of the main group finished together with none of the main GC contenders losing any time. Although hard riding from team Saxo Bank at the behest of Fabian Cancellara saw the peleton again split by strong winds on the run into the finish, none of the main GC contenders missed the split and the peleton was allowed to regroup. However, young Dutch star Robert Gesink's Tour is over, after he crashed and was found to have a broken wrist. He will not take his place at the start line tomorrow.

Cavendish's third saw him increase his lead in the points competition finishing some seven places ahead of his nearest rival Thor Hushovd (10th). He now has a 26 point buffer over the 'God Of Thunder'. Cancellera held onto the Yellow Jersey and will wear it for the 5th straight day on Thursday. Rumours are starting to circle that Cancellara could be primed for a miracle run at the overall title, but I can't see that happening myself. I still thank Saxo Bank are better pinning their hopes on Andy Schleck who can make major time in the mountains.

But it is Voeckler who will write his name into immortality amongst the French public. Despite wearing the yellow jersey for over a week in 2004, today's victory marks his first ever Tour win.

Yellow Jersey - Fabian Cancellara
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Jussi Veikkanen
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 4 - A Moment In Time In Montepellier As Cancellara Keeps Yellow

Fabian Cancellara remains in the yellow jersey, but only by the barest of margins. On a day when Team Astana imposed themselves on the Tour de France it took a count-back all the way back to the opening prologue to find that Cancellara led the overall standings by less than a second from none other than the great one himself, Lance Armstrong.

Stage 4 provided the first real rendezvous of this years race with a 39km team time trial around Montepellier. And after putting four riders in the top 10 in the opening ITT, it was no surprise to see Astana take the honours on the day. The team, boasting the likes of Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Levi Leiphiemer and Andreas Kloden, produced enough to hold off the TTT specialists in Garmin - Slipstream to win the day by 18 seconds. Saxo Bank filled the podium in third finishing 40 seconds behind the Astana boys. Team Colombia may have been feeling the effects of the tough finish to yesterdays stage, and may be be slightly disappointed to finish a minute back in 5th. The big losers on the day were Denis Menchov, who was hampered by a crash in the opening kilometres, and Cadel Evans whose teams (Rabobank and Silence Lotto) finished a respective 2:21 and 2:36 off the pace. Neither can win the Tour now and should devote the rest of their campaign to stage victories or the mountains classification. Linus Gerderman, will also be disappointed to see his Milram team lose 2:49 to put him out of the running.

The TTT has seen a marked shake-up to the GC, with yellow jersey wearer Cancellara the only non Astana/Garmin rider left in the top 10. Of the GC hopes, Armstrong now sits highest in second on the same time as Cancellara. Contador is 19 seconds back in third, followed by teammates Kloden and Leipheimer. Roman Kreuziger, helped by an excellent performance from his Liquigas team (4th), is there abouts in 15th, just ahead of Michael Rogers in 16th, the pair 90 seconds off the pace. Andy Schleck moves up to 20th and is in striking distance just 1 minute 41 seconds off the pace. He can easily make that time up in the mountains. Tony Martin continues to hold the lead in the White Jersey competition despite Team Colombia's slight under-performance. I can't see anyone outside the top 20 winning the race from here, and for me it is now down to three men - Armstrong (9/2), Contador (4/5 fav), and Schleck (11/1) - to fight for the golden fleece in Paris.

Yellow Jersey - Fabian Cancellara
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Jussi Veikkanen
White Jersey - Tony Martin

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

Stage 3 - Mark II: Cavendish Grand Again In La Grande-Motte

Two flat road stages - two sprint victories for Mark Cavendish. Yes the Manx man has done it yet again, recording his second victory in two days at this years Tour, and the 6th of his career, by taking out Stage 3, a 196.5km journey from Marseille to La Grande-Motte. This time Cavendish's kick was too much for green jersey hopeful Thor Hushovd who could only manage second behind the British sprint king. An unknown Frenchman Cyril Lemoine filled the podium in third. Cavendish has already built up a 26 point lead in the points competition and boy he will be hard to catch from here.

But surprisingly the limelight was not all on Cavendish. Perhaps even bigger news was the move from 10th to 3rd on the overall classification of one Lance Armstrong after extreme tempo riding from Team Columbia led to a 40 second split in the peleton. In a stunning result on only the second day, the big winners were Armstrong, Linus Gerdermann, Kim Kirchen, Fabian Cancellara and Michael Rogers, who were the only GC men left after Team Columbia shattered the peleton on the roads into the finish. Colombia's incessant power on the front tore the field to shreds and left a group of only 28 to fight out the finish. Quickly realising that most of his GC rivals, including perhaps surprisingly teammates Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, and Andreas Kloden, had missed the break, Armstrong sent domestiques Haimar Zubelida, and Yaroslav Popovych to the head of the lead group. Their power was enough for the select bunch to stay away for the remainder of the stage and shoot right up to the top of the overall classification.

As a result Cancellara has increased his overall lead to 33 seconds from Team Columbia teammate Tony Martin, who has taken over as leader of the White Jersey competition for best young rider. Armstrong is up to third, while comeback German Gerdermann is up to 8th. Rogers, unlucky to suffer mechanical problems in the opening time-trial, has regained much of that time to lie 11th , just over a minute back from Cancellara.

Tonight sees the team time-trial which is likely to result in a major shake up of the GC. The three favourites have to be Astana, High Road, and Saxo Bank. Astana may have a point to prove after most of their riders missed the break today, and a big performance from them around Montepellier could leave us in the unbelievable position of Armstrong once again wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France - what a sight that would be! It should make for an interesting stage - did Columbia waste too much energy today? Just which team is the strongest at this years Tour? How much time will Cadel Evans Silence-Lotto team lose? Stay tuned for the results tomorrow.

Yellow Jersey - Fabian Cancellara
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Jussi Veikannen
White Jersey - Tony Martin

Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 2 - The Manx Express Takes Off

If Stage 1 proved that Fabian Cancellara is the world's best time trialler, Stage 2 confirmed what everybody knew already - Mark Cavendish is the world's best sprinter - full stop. The 'Manx' man again showed he was the fastest man on two wheels with a lightning fast finish to take Stage 2, a 187km journey from Monaco to Brignoles. It was a finish for the youngsters with up and coming American sprinter Tyler Farrar finishing second, and young french hope Roman Feillu rounding out the podium in third. The win was enough to see Cavendish rocket to the top of the points competition and give him the Green jersey. He is likely to hold it now all the way to Paris.

The win is the 5th career stage victory for Cavendish , after he won 4 stages of last years Tour before pulling out halfway through to focus on the Olympics. Another bonus for 'Cav' was the fact that apart from Farrar and Thor Hushovd (4th), none of his major rivals for the points jersey finished in the top 10, giving him some nice breathing space in the battle for the green jersey.

Unheralded Finnish rider Jussi Veikkanen took advantage of being in the days break to take the first real King of the Mountains jersey, after leading over all three of the cat-4 cols on the days stage.

The majority of the peleton crossed the line together leaving no change to the overall standings.

Yellow Jersey - Fabian Cancellara
Green Jersey - Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey - Jussi Veikkanen
White Jersey - Roman Kreuziger

Photo courtersy of Yahoo Sports.

Stage 1 - Cancellara Magical In Monaco

For the second time in three years Fabian Cancellara holds the yellow jersey after the first day of the Tour de France. Just as he did in London in 2007, Cancellara was the fastest rider around the streets of Monaco, and will wear the yellow jersey in tomorrows opening flat stage. Despite the first half of the course, almost entirely uphill, not suiting the time-trial maestro, Cancellera trailed the best time of Tony Martin by only one second at the half way mark. However, the rest of the course was downhill back into Monaco and this is where Fabian shines. Over the back half of the course he decimated his rivals with an unmatched display of power to take the stage.

In an ominous warning to his GC rivals, Alberto Contador produced an excellent display to finish second on the day, some 18 seconds behind Cancellara. Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins filled the podium in third a further second back. Contador's performance was not only the best of the GC contenders, it is also gives him rights of leadership in his formidable Astana team, with teammates Andreas Kloden (4th), Levi Leipheimer (6th), and Lance Armstrong (10th) also putting in commendable performances on the day. The Boss showed he has decent enough form to challenge for his 8th Tour de France title.

Other overall contenders who will be happy with their performance are Andy Schleck (18th), and Cadel Evans (5th). The time-trial is regarded as Schleck's biggest weakness and he will be happy to lose only a minute to a time-trial specialist such as Cancellara. Evans, last years favourite, and partly the forgotten man of this years tour, only lost 5 seconds to Contador, and finished ahead of all his other GC rivals. It is his best performance on the opening day of the Tour in his career. Young Czech star Roman Kreuziger (7th) also put in a very strong performance, and his reward will be the White Jersey for best young rider.

The two big losers on the day were Michael Rogers and Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov. Rogers may still have been feeling the effects of his pre-race crash yesterday, and struggled into 27th position over 70 seconds behind Cancellara. It doesn't look like he is carrying the form into the race that would have him a legitimate GC contender. Still, it was a better effort than the abysmal effort of Menchov. Favoured as a podium finisher coming in to today, Menchov lost over 90 seconds to Cancellara and could not crack into the top 50. This is a staggeringly bad result for a man who was at the pointy end of every time-trial at the Giro just over a month ago. It seems the enigmatic Menchov has somehow found a way to blow yet another crack at the Tour de France. He won't be winning, nor finishing on the podium in Paris.

But the big winners on the day were Cancellara and Contador - one proved he is still the best man against the clock in the world; the other that he is the legitimate favourite for this years tour.

Yellow Jersey - Fabian Cancellara
Green Jersey - Fabian Cancellara
Polka Dot Jersey - Alberto Contador
White Jersey - Roman Kreuziger

Photo courtersy of Yahoo Sports.