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.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
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
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.
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.
Friday, July 17, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
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).
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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.
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