Tour de France 2009 : Armstrong attack highlight of Stage 16

Lance Armstrong looked exhausted at the end of Sunday's Stage 15. After his teammate Alberto Contador launched what would be a winning attack, Armstrong couldn't follow attacks through the gap by Wiggins, Nibali, Sastre, or Evans, and finished 9th at 1:35, hanging onto 2nd place, but by a bare 9 seconds.

What a difference a (rest) day makes! On today's Stage 16, when Andy Schleck went off the front, Armstrong was again dropped, this time by teammates Contador and Andreas Klöden, the Schleck brothers, Bradley Wiggins of Garmin-Slipstream, and Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas.

Armstrong rode within himself, and found shelter briefly in a group of GC hopes, including Vande Velde, Sastre, Evans, and Kreuziger. With a little less than 5k to ride, Armstrong launched a very 2003-era Armstrong attack. Kim Kirchen and Christian Vande Velde briefly tried to follow, but couldn't. When he flew by Frank Schleck, Schleck gave it just about one second's thought before he thought better of it.

With Armstrong back alongside Contador, Astana had 3 riders in a 6-man group, and once again, they were content to conserve energy and wait for Schleck or Nibali (or Wiggins, but he doesn't really need the time) to attack, but neither wanted to take on Contador, Armstrong, and Klöden. At the lower pace, all the GC candidates but Cadel Evans rejoined, and then coordinated to put serious time into Evans.

Astana continues to ride a very smart race, running out the clock for the climbing specialists, with just two big Alpine climbing stages left.

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 Stage 15: Contador flies into yellow

Spanish rider Alberto Contador attacked on the final climb into Verbier today, securing the overall lead in the Tour de France and asserting himself as Team Astana's leader.

Arriving in 9th place today and 1:35 behind Contador, Lance Armstrong now sits in 2nd place for the overall race at 1:37 behind his team leader.

The attacks began in full after Garmin's David Millar led the group with the GC contenders into the left-hand turn onto the climb to Verbier.

Highlights of the climb included:

• Contador's attack (and punching two aggressive fans who invaded his space)
• Andy Schleck's valiant chase
• 2008 winner Carlos Sastre's acceleration, suggesting he remains a contender
• Saxo Bank's Cancellara and Voigt killing themselves setting tempo for the Schleck brothers
• The fans--what an unbelievable mass of energy

When asked about today's outcome, Lance noted that Contador was the strongest rider today and pleased that Astana had the yellow jersey.

As for being out of the yellow and possibly out of contention for an overall win now that Contador has established himself Astana's leader, Armstrong remarked "I've got seven (jerseys) at home."

Top 10 Stage 15 Results:

1. Alberto Contador Astana in 5:03:58
2. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank at 00:43
3. Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas in 5:05:01 at 01:03
4. Frank Schleck Team Saxo Bank in 5:05:04 at 01:06
5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream in 5:05:04 at 01:06
6. Carlos Sastre Cervelo Test Team in 5:05:04 at 01:06
7. Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto in 5:05:24 at 01:26
8. Andréas KlÖden Astana in 5:05:27 at 01:29
9. Lance Armstrong Astana in 5:05:33 at 01:35
10. Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - Htc in 5:05:53 at 01:55

Top 5 Overall GC Standings:

1. Alberto Contador Astana in 63:17:56
2. Lance Armstrong Astana at 01:37
3. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream in 63:19:42 at 01:46
4. Andréas Kloden Astana in 63:20:13 at 02:17
5. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank in 63:20:22 at 02:26

(From Website : http://www.examiner.com/x-6070-Philadelphia-Cycling-Examiner~y2009m7d19-Tour-de-France-2009-tips-for-following-live)

Tour de France 2009 : Sorensen adds some sizzle in Stage 12 win

Saxo Bank's Nicki Sørensen used his head and his legs to outfox 7 breakaway compatriots and take Stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France.

The breakaway that mattered featured Sørensen, Sylvain Calzati of Agritubel, Milram's Marcus Fothen, Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas, Laurent Lefevre of Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Egoi Martinez of Euskaltel-Euskadi, and Remi Pauriol of Cofidis. Each rider took out one team for chase purposes, and it soon became apparent that Columbia-HTC, which has been chasing breaks to set up Mark Cavendish, had no interest today, so the pool of riders to drive the capture was pretty small, and never brought the gap inside of about 3:30.

With 22.5k to ride, Sørensen decided he didn't like his chances against his breakmates, attacked, and was joined by Calzati. The pair rotated smoothly and built a gap of almost 20 seconds, but the 5 behind slowly closed the split.

Nearly caught with around 5.5k to ride, Sørensen turned his guts absolutely inside out, dropping Calzati, and briefly throwing the chase into disarray. Within a kilometer by himself, he had built a 22-second lead, which he stretched to 34 seconds with 1k to ride. At that point, it was a done deal, and Sørensen saluted the crowd as he crossed the line with a victory for the often-unheralded “pack fodder” of the Tour.

Sørensen's primary role for Saxo Bank at the Tour was expected to be taking long pulls on the front of the peloton, hunting down breaks to protect Andy Schleck's race lead. Today, he took a turn as the hunted, and took home the stage win.

With no General Classification risks being taken, the green and polka-dot jerseys each took a turn in the limelight today, with Cavendish and Hushovd going head to head at the day's 1st intermediate sprint, won by Cavendish, and in the field sprint, led out by Cervelo, but still won by Cavendish. Cavendish had been reluctant to name the green jersey as a goal here, but if he's chasing intermediate points, there's no doubt.

Pellizotti and Martinez engaged in a few rounds of sprint the mini-mountains, with Pellizotti getting the upper hand, and moving within 18 points of Martinez in the competition. It's still very possible that someone else entirely takes the climber's jersey with a long Alpine escape, but it looks like Pellizotti and Martinez plan to cover those moves.

Levi Leipheimer was involved in a late crash that also claimed Michael Rogers and Cadel Evans, but all three continued. Leipheimer was banged and scraped up, and should be able to continue, but there could be lingering effects as the Tour heads to the Vosges tomorrow.

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 11 on the road

The course profile for today's stage looks a lot like yesterday's. It's 2.5 kms shorter, with 2 instead of 3 4th Category climbs, but it definitely looks like a stage for the sprinters. A slight uphill finish might take some of the snap out of Mark Cavendish's finishing kick, favoring Thor Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler, or Oscar Freire, but it may take more than simple physics to stop the Cav-alanche.

Only Kurt-Asle Arvesen didn't make the start this morning, so 170 riders rolled out of Vatan. Race officials voided a 15-second gap that was charged in the finish yesterday, when a small break appeared in the field. The gap had dropped Levi Leipheimer and Brad Wiggins down the standings a bit, but they've been awarded the same time as Cavendish for yesterday now.

Only two riders in today's break -- Johan Van Summeren of Silence-Lotto and Marcin Sapa of Lampre. They've taken the day's first two intermediate sprints and the first categorized climb of the day.

Quincy Intermediate Sprint:
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +4 pts
3) Lloyd Mondory, AG2R-La Mondiale, +2 pts

4th Category Côte d'Allogny
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +3 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +2 pts
3) Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +1 pt

Martinez led the field through to pad his King of the Mountains lead by a point.

Saint-Ceols Intermediate Sprint:
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +4 pts
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R-La Mondiale, +2 pts

Christian Vande Velde was involved in a crash early this morning, but there have been no signs of lasting effects.

Suilly-La-Tour Intermediate Sprint:
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +4 pts
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R-La Mondiale, +2 pts

Ryder Hesjedal was the 2nd Garmin-Slipstream rider to find the pavement today. He appeared to rejoin the field with no problems. AG2R's Vladimir Efimkin has been with the race doctor with scrapes to his cheek and chin from another crash today.

On the day's last climb, Egoi Martinez again came to the front, but Franco Pellizotti sprinted to the KoM point to deny him the cheap point.

4th Category Côte de Perreuse
1) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +3 pts
2) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +2 pts
3) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas, +1 pt

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 10 Preview: Limoges to Issoudun

Back to relatively flat roads over 194.5 k or 120.9 miles today. The radio ban protest came to nothing, and riders started as expected.

It's almost a tradition that a French-flavored breakaway forms on Bastille Day, but Team Columbia may very well spoil the party. They've got their sights set on the green jersey, and today looks like a stage that sets up well for Mark Cavendish, so today's drama is likely to center on whether Columbia can make the capture without radio assistance, and whether Cavendish can make it three stage wins in this Tour.

Jerseys:

Rinaldo Nocentini, AG2R

Thor Hushovd, Cervelo Test Team

Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi

Tony Martin, Team Columbia-HTC

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 9: Fedrigo makes it three for France

Pierrick Fedrigo outkicked Franco Pellizotti in the last 200 meters in Tarbes to take Stage 9 of the Tour de France.

Fedrigo and Pellizotti were all that remained from a big breakaway that had swelled to 9 riders, including Jens Voigt, Egoi Martinez, David Moncoutie, and others. The pair were well clear at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet, but a chase by Columbia-HTC, then by Caisse d'Epargne and Rabobank, pulled back all but 34 seconds of their lead by the line.

Yellow jersey Rinaldo Nocentini had no problems with the pace, and will hold the yellow jersey through tomorrow's rest day and Tuesday's Stage 10.

New King of the Mountains Brice Feillu, on the other hand, lost his polka-dots to Egoi Martinez, who was 5th on the Col d'Aspin and 7th over the Tourmalet.

Stage 9 Top 10:
1) Pierrick Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, 4:05:31
2) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas, same time
3) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, at :34
4) Serguei Ivanov, Team Katusha, same time
5) Peter Velits, Team Milram, s.t.
6) Jose Rojas, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
7) Greg Van Avermaet, Silence-Lotto, s.t.
8) Geoffroy Lequatre, Agritubel, s.t.
9) Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, s.t.
10) Nicolas Roche, AG2R-La Mondiale

General Classification after Stage 9:
1) Rinaldo Nocentini, AG2R-La Mondiale, 34:24:21
2) Alberto Contador, Astana, at :06
3) Lance Armstrong, Astana, at :08
4) Levi Leipheimer, Astana, at :39
5) Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream, at :46
6) Andreas Klöden, Astana, at :54
7) Tony Martin, Columbia-HTC, at 1:00
8) Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Slipstream, at 1:24
9) Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank, at 1:49
10) Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas, at 1:54

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 9 on the road

It was a very active start today, as a big group formed that Astana thought was dangerous, and Lance Armstrong and Rinaldo Nocentini bridged up, encouraging an escape by Jens Voigt, Franco Pellizotti, Pierrick Fedrigo, and Leonardo "L." Duque.

This break collected the sprint points in Sarrancolin, with Col d'Aspin looming ahead.

Sarrancolin Intermediate sprint:
1) Duque, Cofidis, +6 pts
2) Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +4 pts
3) Voigt, Saxo Bank, +2 pts

On the Col d'Aspin, Duque was shed by the leaders, and a 2nd group tried to escape the field. In it were Jurgen Van Broeck, Laurens Ten Dam, Sergio Paulinho, Egoi Martinez, Amets Txurruka, Juan Manual Garate, and David Moncoutie.

1st Category Col d'Aspin
1) Pellizotti, Liquigas, +15 pts
2) Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +13 pts
3) Voigt, Saxo Bank, +11 pts
4) Duque, Cofidis, +9 pts
5) Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +8 pts
6) Ten Dam, Rabobank, +7 pts
7) Van den Broeck, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
8) Garate, Rabobank, +5 pts

The gap from Pellizotti's group to the field was 3:17 at the summit, with Nocentini riding comfortably at the head of the pack.

Pellizotti attacked his breakmates early on the Tourmalet, and Jen Voigt couldn't match the pace, and began slowly falling back through the chase groups. Maxime Bouet of Agritubel tried to go the other way, briefly bridging to Martinez and Moncoutie's group, but quickly fell away, riding for many miles alone.

HC Tourmalet
1) Pellizotti, Liquigas, +40 pts
2) Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +36 pts
3) Garate, Rabobank, +32 pts
4) Voeckler, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +30 pts
5) Moncoutie, Cofidis, +24 pts
6) Van den Broeck, Silence-Lotto, +20 pts
7) Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +16 pts
8) Paulinho, Astana, +14 pts
9) Ten Dam, Rabobank, +12 pts
10) Txurruka, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +10 pts

Atop the Tourmalet, the field came through about 4:49 behind Fedrigo and Pellizotti.

On the run-in to Tarbes, Pellizotti and Fedrigo rotated smoothly, and it looked like the win had to go to one of them, with the break much closer to the field than the breakaway. Then, Columbia picked up the pace, and the breakaway was quickly recaptured. Caisse d'Epargne and Rabobank joined in, and the gap started to fall.

At 10k, it was down to 1:22; at 5k, just :44. Fedrigo and Pellizottie refused to play cat-and-mouse games, continuing to share the work and looking more and more like they would hold off the field.

Entering the final k, the gap was 36 seconds, and Pellizotti refused to come through and take a pull, sitting on Fedrigo's wheel. Fedrigo continued to work, and they rode on until Pellizotti launched toward the last turn in the stage, a 90-degree righthander just 200 meters from the line. Pellizotti was first to the corner, but when they came around, it was into a stiff headwind, and Fedrigo found himself sheltered, and came hard to the line, to take the 3rd French stage win of the 2009 Tour.

Rabobank's Oscar Freire won the field sprint 34 seconds back, at the front of a group that included all the overall contenders for Tour victory.

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)