Tour de France Stage 12

Stage 12 - Thursday, July 17: Lavelanet - Narbonne, 168.5km

Manx Missile grabs number three

Evans retains maillot jaune on tough day for the Tour

By Shane Stokes and Bjorn Haake

It's that man Cav again!
Photo ©: AFP

Bursting out of the peloton and opening up a clear lead, Mark Cavendish rocketed to his third stage victory of the Tour de France today. The 23 year old positioned himself perfectly in the chaotic run-up to the sprint, then made his move at precisely the right time to beat Sébastien Chavanel (Française des Jeux), Gert Steegmans (Quick Step), Erik Zabel (Team Milram) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank) to the line in Narbonne.

Cavendish was all smiles after his latest win. "It was a perfect sprint. I am the first [rider] who has won three times in this Tour. The team has done great work," he said.

Cavendish also commented on the variety of victories. "It's brilliant – all three wins came in different conditions." It was raining hard in Toulouse when Cavendish took out his second sprint. Cavendish had a bandage around his right arm. "I crashed a day before the rest day. There was a football rolling across the street! I went down with 50 km/h. It hurt, but that's le Tour!"

Cavendish has already set his eyes on future Tours de France. "I want to return to fight for the green jersey in the coming years. Now, I am really tired."

Sébastien Chavanel (Française des Jeux) knew the battle was for second place today. "I was in third wheel when I launched my sprint with 400 metres to go. I tried to get in the best wheel, but Cavendish was just too strong. I sprinted side by side with Gert [Steegmans]," he said.

Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto)
Photo ©: AFP

Steegmans was next to Chavanel in the sprint, and was disappointed to not deliver after more strong work from his Quick Step team. "With 400m to go I was behind [team-mate Steven De Jongh]. We did the sprint for me today. It's a pity it didn't work out. It was tough with the head wind on the finishing straight. We will try again and hopefully we can succeed."

Race leader Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto) stayed out of trouble and maintained his one second gap over closest rival Frank Schleck (CSC – Saxo Bank). Evans was seen on his own coming into the final kilometres, and didn't get an easy ride. "It is hard to stay in the top twenty. My team worked a lot, so they were tired in the end."

The Australian doesn't expect the battle for the overall classification to continue in earnest until the Alps, but said he and his team have a clear strategy. "For us it is important to have the jersey in Paris. We will see if we defend it – it depends on how the race develops." Having the jersey all the way until Paris may be added stress, but Evans stated that all his jerseys go to charity, so he is motivated to keep it.

The Silence-Lotto team was forced to work
Photo ©: AFP

The general classification was largely unchanged, with two considerable exceptions; Riccardo Riccò, ninth overnight, was thrown out of the race after a positive A sample, while his Saunier Duval team-mates withdrew following the news. This removed Juan Jose Cobo Acebo from the eighth place he had occupied.

The accomplishment of Cavendish was overshadowed by the news of Riccò's positive, but he looked at the situation with a brighter outlook than most. "It's a great deception," said Cavendish. "But to me it means the tests are working and we are catching the cheaters."

Evans made a brief comment concerning the Riccò case. "I am sorry for the sport. But in cycling there are more controls than in any other sport." He confirmed that he was tested since taking the yellow jersey.

With Riccò and David De La Fuente gone, Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) took over the mountains jersey he had tried so hard to seize on stage nine. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) inherited the maillot blanc as best young rider.

The stage was one of the most straightforward of this year's Tour, with peloton in a muted mood after the news of Riccò's exclusion. Following a number of early attacks, Arnaud Gérard (Francaise des Jeux) and Samuël Dumoulin (Cofidis) attacked 36 kilometres after the start, and quickly opened up a lead of 3'55.

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne)
Photo ©: AFP

Dumoulin led Gerard over the top of the Col de Camperié, 57.5 kilometres into the stage, with Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) taking third and fortifying his slight lead over Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner). Gerard then beat Dumoulin for the first bonus sprint, with points leader Freire netting third.

The duo continued on, but the peloton kept the advantage between a minute and a minute and a half, almost guaranteeing a bunch sprint. The gap dropped to 35" with approximately 55 kilometres remaining, yet it went up to over a minute once again when Juan Jose Oroz (Euskaltel Eukadi) scarpered across the gap and added some welcome power to the move.

Dumoulin, Gerard and Oroz crossed the second prime line in that order and hung on until nine kilometres remaining, when they were finally gobbled up. From there until the line it was all about setting things up for the evitable bunch gallop and the almost equally-inevitable sprint victory by Columbia's 23 year-old Manx missile.

Arnaud was awarded the most aggressive rider of the day, and said he enjoyed his time in the front. "I had fun out there! It was good for the team and obviously a great day. Sébastien [Chavanel] then finished second, so the team had a really good day," he said. "In the end we were very tired, but it's great to race the way we did."

Arnaud was happy to be with Française des Jeux. "It's a team with a lot of young riders." Regarding the three doping positives which have hit the Tour this year, Arnaud said, "It's bad for the cycling image. But you have to catch the cheaters to get the trust back into cycling."

How it unfolded

ASO president Patrice Clerc
Photo ©: AFP

What should have been a quiet, relaxing morning before a transitional stage to the Mediterranean turned out to be quite a hectic morning, with Riccardo Riccò testing positive for EPO and being taken to the police station for questioning. His team, Saunier Duval-Scott, decided to pull out of the Tour.

The peloton minus Saunier Duval-Scott set off at 13:25. A few early attempts to break away were reeled back in, but after five kilometres a group with Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne), Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas), Steven De Jongh (Quick Step), Freddy Bichot (Agritubel), Bram Tankink (Rabobank), Martin Müller (Team Milram), Stéphane Augé (Cofidis) and William Frischkorn (Garmin Chipotle - H30) formed. However, after 12 kilometres their adventure was over.

The pace was very fast right from the start. Baden Cooke (Barloworld) crashed in this early, nervous phase. He would abandon a short while later. Another break at kilometre 25 was brought back quickly.

After 36 kilometres Arnaud Gerard (Française des Jeux) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) accelerated out of the peloton. They made good time and after four kilometres on the front, they had a minute on the bunch.

Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) talks with Tour director Christian Prudhomme
Photo ©: AFP

Dumoulin led Gerard over the top of the col de Camperié, at kilometre 57.5. The bunch followed 3'40 later. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) had stormed out of the bunch on that category three climb. With Riccò and De La Fuente out of the picture, Lang could hope again to take out the climber's jersey.

The peloton picked up the pace again and by the sprint in Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet at kilometre 76 the gap was down to 1'40. Gerard preceded Dumoulin over the line. In the bunch the green jersey dudes started to muscle to the front. Hushovd tried hard for the remaining two points, but Oscar Freire was able to hold him off and extend his lead for another two points.

When the duo passed the feed zone eight kilometres later they were only 50 seconds ahead. However, the bunch took its time to munch and the gap was again a minute and a half before the 100km marker was passed.

Jimmy Engoulvent (Crédit Agricole) decided to take some action by crashing. He got to get some treatment, but quickly was back up in the bunch.

Evans keeps an eye on his main rival
Photo ©: AFP

Despite the fast pace of over 48 km/h, the two leaders kept losing ground. When it was not much more than half a minute, Juan José Oroz (Euskaltel-Euskadi) rocketed out of the bunch. With 53 kilometres to go he joined the leaders. The three had more power, so the gap went up again to a minute and a half.

With 34 km the gap was down to 35 seconds, and it yo-yoed a bit. When it was 50 seconds and the riders hit the 30-kilometre marker, Dumoulin attacked. It was still four kilometres to the final intermediate sprint.

Oroz was attentive and dragged himself and Gerard back up to the attacker. After this little bras de fer, the trio continued to work together again, extending its lead past the one-minute mark.

Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia)
Photo ©: AFP

Dumoulin took the sprint in Thezan-des-Corbieres, ahead of Gerard and Oroz. The gap was down below the minute marker again. Peter Velits (Team Milram) suffered a flat tyre, which was bad timing. The peloton had given it some stick and Velits had a hard time catching up, but eventually did.

With 15 kilometres to go the gap was down to 30 seconds, with the peloton led by Quick Step, Columbia, Milram, Liquigas. The roads were dead straight for the most part.

Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner) also suffered an untimely flat tyre, while the peloton came within a dozen seconds and a dozen kilometres to go. Thomas Lövkvist flatted as well, reducing the pulling power for Columbia on the front.

With nine kilometres to go the break was finally caught, despite a last ditch effort by the three. CSC was leading the charge at the time of the junction.

The sprinters' teams kept it together. Then Cavendish delivered for Columbia as scripted.

Stage 13 - Friday, July 18: Narbonne - Nîmes, 182km

With just three fourth category climbs in the way, this should be another stage for the sprinters. The route continues its way across the southern edge of France between the Pyrenees and the Alps. It's likely that a break will try to get away, but even more likely that the sprinters' domestiques will bring them back before they reach the finish.

The stage travels from one Roman settlement to another: leaving the oldest one in Narbonne, and arriving in probably the most famous one in Nîmes. The capital of the Gard department, Nîmes is home to probably the highest concentration of historic Roman sites outside Italy. These include the best preserved arena in France – which still gets used for concerts and bullfights, the Maison Carrée – a temple dedicated to the sons of Agrippa, and most famously: the Pont du Gard – a three level aqueduct which lies 20 kilometres to the north.

Nîmes' other big claim to fame is as the origin of Serge de Nîmes, an indigo blue fabric that has changed the world. Over the years its name has been shortened to one word that most people will recognise: Denim. The city has hosted the Tour 15 times before, with Aitor Gonzales (Fassa Bortolo) taking the victory in 2004, the last time it finished here.

Tour de France Stage 11

Stage 11 - Wednesday, July 16: Lannemezan - Foix, 167.5km

Arvesen captures stage in ultra-close finish

No change in overall standings, Evans retains yellow

By Shane Stokes and Bjorn Haake, with additional reporting Gregor Brown in Foix

Norwegian champion Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC-Saxo Bank)
Photo ©: AFP

Norwegian national champion Kurt Asle Arvesen (CSC – Saxo Bank) sprinted to a narrow victory over Martin Elmiger (AG2R La Mondiale) and Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) to take the first Tour de France stage victory of his 11-year career

"This is the biggest win in my career. I won the Under-23 World Championship and two stages at the Giro, but it can't get better than winning a stage at the Tour in the national jersey," said Arvesen. "I've been waiting for this victory since I did the Tour the first time. I was second in 2005 [in Stage 17 from Pau to Revel, he lost to Paolo Savoldelli - ed.], so this is good revenge," said Arvesen.

Bjarne Riis, the directeur sportif of Team CSC - Saxo Bank, was happy when he heard that Arvesen won the stage. "It's a super win for Kurt. And it is super for us. It was a great stage – une belle étappe!"

The three men who battled out the finale were the fastest of a 13-man break which went clear in the first hour of the 167.5 kilometre transition stage from Lannemezan to Foix. The group worked together to gain a winning margin despite Frenchman Amaël Moinard (Cofidis) escaping from the leaders with 65 kilometres to go.

The remaining dozen kept Moinard at a reasonable gap, and slowly brought him back with less than five kilometres to go, setting up an attack by Elmiger which only Arvesen and Ballan could follow. "I knew that the breakaway would be a good one," said Elmiger. "Nobody was dangerous on general classification, but I knew it will not be easy to win with Pozzato, Ballan and others good riders.

The Swiss rider nearly won the stage with a last second thrust forward, but Arvesen was awarded the stage after the referees reviewed the photo finish. "Two centimetres on the finish line – it's difficult but I wasn't in a good condition today and second is not so bad even if everybody wishes to win! In the last days I was a little bit ill, but nothing serious and I'm not 100% of my capacities yet!"

Ballan did not immediately respond to the attack of Elmiger, and paid the price for it in the sprint. "I did a lot to a lot to re-join those two. I spent too much energy, unfortunately, and also Arvesen is very fast."

Moinard was disappointed to have been caught after his 60 kilometre solo ride, but is proud of the performance of his team so far. "We were already up there in the first days of the Tour, with Stéphane [Augé] and Sylvain [Chavanel]. I have super team-mates at Cofidis."

He explained why he put in what seemed to be an ill-timed and futile bid for solo glory. "You have to attack. It is what you need to do in sports," he said, explaining why. "No Frenchman can win the Tour de France [this year]."

Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC-Saxo Bank) battles with Martin Elmiger (AG2R)
Photo ©: AFP

Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) and Alexandre Botcharov (Crédit Agricole) got away for fourth and fifth. Pierrick Fédrigo (Bouygues Telecom) won the small sprint for sixth.

Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), also in the escape, saw Arvesen suffering early on. "On the climb he was behind and I thought he did not have the best legs, but in the finale he put his best legs on!"

The day was relatively calm in the peloton as Arvesen and company got about business. Fränk Schleck's CSC-Saxo Bank and Evans' Silence-Lotto teams did most of the control work, letting the gap of the escapees reach 16'30" over the top of the Col de Portel at kilometre 110. The gap had closed only slightly when Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) led the group over the finish line.

Race leader Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto) finished safely in the main bunch after a largely uneventful day for the general classification contenders. He thus retained his one second lead over Frank Schleck (CSC – Saxo Bank), with Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Chipotle) remaining 38 seconds back in third overall.

"Sunday was really bad," said Evans of the day he crashed hard during stage nine. During a "good" rest day yesterday, Evans saw his family, ate and recovered from his crash injuries.

"Many had doubts about Silence-Lotto. I was motivated and I am very happy now." The Australian enjoyed the day in the brightly coloured maillot jaune. "More people are shouting your name when you are in the yellow jersey. It give you a lot more recognition," said Evans.

Even Evan's bodyguard had something positive to say about his yellow-clad employer. "He is a great guy. He is too nice for professional cycling!"

The only surprise for these riders was the attack of 2006 Tour winner Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne), the Spaniard pulling over a minute clear but eventually being recaptured on the run in towards the finish.

How it unfolded

Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) enjoys his first day in yellow.
Photo ©: AFP

The action started way before the start, when it became clear that Barloworld's Moisés Dueñas had tested positive for EPO and was taken out of the race by his team. He had some questions to answer for local police, too. Team Barloworld took the start nonetheless.

The remaining 168 riders set off at 12:36, with the real start at 12:44. A small break tried to go after a dozen kilometres, but the teams held everything together for a bunch sprint at the intermediate sprint in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges (km 19.5). Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) took the points ahead of Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank).

The ensuing chaos and jumping was used by Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) to sneak off the front by himself. Voeckler was caught by a large group at kilometre 28. Everybody was reeled in by the fast moving peloton shortly thereafter.

Then Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC-Saxo Bank) and Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) attacked at kilometre 35. They were soon joined by a few other riders, making the front group 13 riders strong.

The group of 13 escaped after the first sprint of stage 11
Photo ©: AFP

Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas), Pierrick Fédrigo (Bouygues Telecom), Kurt Asle Arvesen (CSC - Saxo Bank), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), Alexandre Botcharov and Dmitriy Fofonov (Credit Agricole), Martin Elmiger (AG2R La Mondiale), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank), Marco Velo (Milram), Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux), Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) and Amaël Moinard (Cofidis).

The group quickly gained three minutes. The top riders on top of the Col de Larrieu, after 50 kilometres, were Botcharov, Fédrigo, Ballan and Moinard.

Despite the category three climb, the break had covered 47.5 kilometres in the first hour, which is why Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) dropped out of the formation and back into the more relaxed peloton.

On the other hand, José Vicente Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne) was trying to bridge up from behind.

Pozzato took the sprint in Prat-Bonrepaux after 69 kilometres ahead of Velo and Moerenhout. The gap had skyrocketed to over 11 minutes. And after 92 kilometres covered it was a 14 minutes.

Silence-Lotto and Garmin were controlling the pace on the front of the peloton, but didn't use up their last ounce of energy.

Amaël Moinard struck out on his own with 70km to go
Photo ©: AFP

With a good 100 kilometres covered, Moinard decided to take matters in his own hands and left the break. He was first over the top of the Col de Portel, a category one climb. The break followed 1'50 behind, with Fofonov, Fédrigo, Ballan, Wegmann, Vaugrenard, Arvesen and Pozzato receiving the remaining points.

Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) attacked the peloton in a stunning move ­ was he out for some extra training? Over the top, Pereiro was 14'35 behind Moinard and about two minutes ahead of the pack.

More bad news for Barloworld, when its rider Félix Rafael Cárdenas had to abandon the race.

Moinard had a maximum gap of more than two minutes, but over the top of the final climb of the day, the col de Bouich, he was only a good minute ahead. Ballan led the chasers over the top, ahead of Arvesen and Velo. The break realised they had to go full gas and quickly gained ground. With 17 kilometres to go the gap was merely half a minute.

Pereiro continued to pedal a minute ahead of the field, which in turn was more than a quarter of an hour behind.

Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) went too soon
Photo ©: AFP

Another short rise and the ensuing fast descent, but unfortunately for Moinard the gap had dropped to 22 seconds. Ballan was really driving it now, Almost passing the motor bikes on the right hand bend that marked the beginning of the descent.

Moinard was not more than a handful of seconds ahead, but the break started to play games. However, Moinard was too tired to resist and with three kilometres to go, Elmiger and Arvesen caught up with him. Moinard tried to stay in their slipstream, but was unable to do so.

The super active Ballan managed to join the leaders with two kilometres to go. Moerenhout jumped as well, and the four stayed away to make for an exciting four-up sprint. Arvesen hung on by only a couple of centimetres.

Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian Flag Bearer

Thank GOD and thanks to the Olympic Council of Malaysia for nominating Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, a Malaysian cyclist to be the Malaysian flag bearer for the 2008 Olympics. The Malaysian National Cycling Federation and the Cycling fraternity are very honoured. This will definitely give vigour and enthusiasm for the cyclists to achieve more for our beloved country.

Below is what Arnaz had got to say for Azizul:

Azizul's rise has been as explosive as his riding style.

Within three years, he's turned from promising junior rider into one of the top riders in the world.

In 2005, he exploded onto the international scene by sweeping the three coveted sprint gold medals in the Asian Junior Championships in Kuala Lumpur. Azizul was simply in dominant form, taking the 200m sprint, keirin and 1km time trial gold medals ahead of more favoured Japanese and Korean riders.

One year later, he made his debut in the senior national team and immediately replaced Rizal Tisin as Asian keirin champion. This year, Azizul doubled that, by adding the 200m sprint gold medal to the keirin in the Asian Championships in Nara, Japan, making him the first Malaysian to take home the double. Rizal Tisin also showed how powerful Malaysia was in the sprints arena when he bagged the 1km time trial gold medal in the Asian Championships.

Tour de France Stage 10

Stage 10 - Monday, July 14: Pau - Hautacam, 156km

Evans has a g'day, takes maillot jaune

Stage win for Piepoli while Valverde and Cunego lose time

By Shane Stokes with additional reporting from Bjorn Haake

Leonardo Piepoli wins ahead of team-mate Juan Jose Cobo.
Photo ©: AFP

Cadel Evans today became the first Australian rider since Robbie McEwen in 2004 to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France, taking over from Kim Kirchen on the tough mountain stage to Hautacam. Leonardo Piepoli and Juan Jose Cobo followed up team-mate Riccardo Riccò's victory yesterday by taking first and second on the stage, hitting the line 28 seconds ahead of Frank Schleck (Team CSC – Saxo Bank).

The two Saunier Duval riders approached the line together, and had no disagreement in who should finish first. "Cobo was really thinking more in the overall [now eighth - ed.]," said Piepoli. "He has already gotten fifth or sixth at Plateau de Beille. I was a tad stronger today. I dreamt of this victory. But this is more than a dream!"

The day was also a dream for Cadel Evans, whose nightmarish stage nine crash had him starting the stage in bandages. After finishing the day with a superb ride, the Australian was all smiles at the finish. "Yesterday was terrible. I suffered a lot. My entire left side is damaged, my helmet was destroyed. I thought my Tour was over. Now, I only think of the general classification."

Despite being wrapped up like a mummy and clearly a bit stiff from his fall, Evans still managed to put in a few attacks and did a large portion of the work to keep Schleck from getting too much time. His reward was the yellow jersey by a slim one second margin. "Just like the others I hoped for yellow at Hautacam," said Evans. "To get it by a few seconds [is great], but there are still many kilometres left."

The Aussie appeared a little shocked
Photo ©: AFP

Evans was well aware that his countrymen were staying up late to watch today's stage, and was proud to deliver the yellow jersey for the fans back home. "It has been many years [to get yellow] for Australia. This is great for us."

Fränk Schleck, the Luxembourg national champion, had gone clear with the other two on the final climb after his team drove the pace for much of the finale, but lost contact in the closing kilometres, losing out on yellow by just one second. He had mixed feelings after finishing just out of the overall lead. "One second is not a lot. Maybe a turn that I could have taken differently... But I did a great stage today. It is not over yet!"

Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and Vladimir Efimkin (AG2R La Mondiale) took fourth and fifth, with Riccò leading home a group 2'17 after his victorious team-mates. Carlos Sastre (Team CSC – Saxo Bank), Evans (Silence Lotto), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and an impressive Christian Vande Velde (Team Garmin-Chipotle) were also there, with the latter holding on to third place overall and confirming that he is the dark horse of this Tour de France.

And perhaps a bit emotional
Photo ©: AFP

Previous yellow jersey Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia) cracked on the final climb and dropped to seventh, 1'56 back. Others who lost time included Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre), both losing contact on the Tourmalet and then failing to get back on before the final climb. They finished almost six minutes behind Piepoli and Cobo and, clearly, will have a very difficult time getting back into contention.

The significant break of the day was a seven-man move which went clear from a larger escape. Those present included Fabian Cancellara (CSC-Saxo Bank), Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale), Markus Fothen, Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Rémy Di Gregorio, Jérémy Roy (both Française des Jeux) and Leonardo Duque (Cofidis).

Fränk Schleck (CSC-Saxo Bank) had a great ride
Photo ©: AFP

Di Gregorio attacked on the Tourmalet and reached the top well clear of closest-chasers Roy, Dupont and Duque. Behind, Valverde, Cunego and several others were in trouble, with relentless driving by Jens Voigt (Team CSC – Saxo Bank) doing much of the damage. Cancellara was caught by this group and he joined with Voigt, the duo driving hard for the Schleck brothers and Carlos Sastre in order to stop Cunego and Valverde getting back on.

Freire's efforts saw him mop up the two intermediate sprints and take over from Kim Kirchen in the green jersey competition. Riccò succeeded team-mate David De La Fuente in the mountains classification, and also took over from Andy Schleck in the best young rider ranking.

Last breakaway rider to be caught, Rémy Di Gregorio (Française des Jeux), revealed his weapon of today. "I used a 39x25 today. Usually, I use a 23, but Hautacam is really difficult. Also, there was a headwind today."

How it unfolded

The jersey wearers roll out from Pau
Photo ©: AFP

Finally there was pleasant sunshine for the remaining 170 riders who took the start in Pau at 13:06 local time. The riders didn't enjoy it for long, though, as a large group of 24 took off before the 10-kilometre mark.

The group consisted of Yaroslav Popovych (Silence-Lotto), Iñaki Isasi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Iván Gutiérrez (Caisse d'Epargne) Fabian Cancellara (CSC-Saxo Bank), Marcus Burghardt (Columbia), John-Lee Augustyn and Giampaolo Cheula (Barloworld), Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas), Christophe Le Mevel (Crédit Agricole), Matteo Tosatto (Quick Step), Markus Fothen, Sebastian Lang and Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Romain Feillu and Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Pierrick Fédrigo (Bouygues Telecom), Sébastien Chavanel and Rémy Di Gregorio (Française des Jeux), Rubens Bertogliati and David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott), Leonardo Duque (Cofidis), Jérémy Roy (Française des Jeux)

After 16 kilometres Danny Pate (Garmin Chipotle - H30) and double stage winner Mark Cavendish (Columbia) hit the deck. The latter required a bit of treatment to his left side, while Pate was back up and riding quickly.

Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval - Scott)
Photo ©: AFP

After 23 kilometres the gap was already at almost two minutes. Fifteen kilometres later De La Fuente took the maximum four points over the top of the Côte de Benejacq. Despite being just four points behind, Sebastian Lang didn't contest the KOM, apparently thinking that the real points would be given out on the cat one climbs towards the end of the stage. Pozzato, Duque and Fédrigo took the remaining points while the peloton passed the top 1'15 back.

Freire had the clever idea of being in the early move, and added more points to his green jersey after 44 kilometres in Lamarque-Pontacq. Feillu contested the sprint and Freire slightly closed in to the right, leaving Feillu with nowhere to go. The Frenchman was slightly upset and made his feelings known to Friere while Pozzato followed in third.

After Lourdes, where some riders may have hoped for a miracle today, the front group split up and seven riders remained clear: Cancellara, Dupont, Fothen, Freire, Di Gregorio, Roy and Duque.

Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) brushed off his injuries
Photo ©: AFP

At kilometre 67, the break hit the Côte de Loucrup. Duque went over the top ahead of Di Gregorio, Fothen and Roy. Hushovd started to get nervous and went clear on the climb. His goal was to catch up with Freire before the next sprint, but the big Norwegian soon realised his waste of energy and sat up.

Freire on the other hand added six more points to his tally in Pouzac (km 74.5). Duque crossed the sprint line in second, ahead of Roy. Freddy Bichot was now on a counter move to catch up with the leaders.

With the two sprints over, Freire was changing shoes. Was he now using a lighter pair for the upcoming climbs?

At kilometre 95, on the climb up the infamous Tourmalet, Di Gregorio accelerated and quickly gained a minute on the others. He had a comforting eight minutes on the main bunch. Bichot came to within half a minute after his chase efforts, but when the road tilted upwards, he lost ground again.

Saunier Duval tried to make the pace hard at the back, but it was CSC that controlled the main bunch on the less steep part of the climb, sending mountains leader David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) into difficulty and out the back.

With less than five kilometres to the top, the tempo cranked up and one by one the main group was losing riders. After his performance in previous stages, Cunego wasn't necessarily expected to hold on, but that sight of Alejandro Valverde getting dropped was certainly a surprise.

Back at the front Di Gregorio continued to rule and crested the top of the sunny Tourmalet two minutes ahead of three chasers - Roy, Dupont and Duque while the others escapees had dropped back. Fothen followed three minutes after Di Gregorio, Cancellara was another 30 seconds further back. Freire was at 4'30, while the first big chase came over the top six minutes later. Once CSC gobbled up Cancellara, they really had the numbers, with Voigt, Sastre, and the Schleck brothers all together in the group maillot jaune. Riccò and Piepoli were there for Saunier Duval, while Menchov, Vande Velde and Evans also formed part of the move.

The Valverde group was 40 seconds behind at the summit, with the Spaniard's Tour de France ambitions, and his reputation as a Grand Tour rider, gradually going up in smoke.

After a furious descent, which saw a TV camera motobike have a spectacular crash, it was Voigt and Cancellara who set the pace in the valley. With their tremendous work, the gap to the front shrunk dramatically, while the Valverde-Cunego group behind had no answer to the CSC power.

Di Gregorio had 3'19 over the yellow jersey group with a little more than 20 kilometres to go while Valverde and Co were 1'35 behind the maillot jaune group.

With 20 kilometres to go, the three chasers Roy, Duque and Dupont sat up and joined the CSC-led chasers. Di Gregorio was trying to hold on but the gap melted like snow in the mountain sun, and only two minutes now separated him from the favourites.

Di Gregorio attacked the final climb of Hautacam with only 40 seconds. Not a comfortable advantage on the final 14 steep kilometres. Sure enough, he was passed by the group of favourites soon afterwards.

Fränk Schleck was the first to put in a serious attack, knowing his compatriot Kirchen was in trouble. Piepoli joined him along with Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner), Cobo, Piepoli and Efimkin. There were now eight kilometres left to the top as the Evans group, with Riccò, Menchov, Sastre, Vande Velde and Nibali, quickly fell back to a half-minute deficit. Both Evans and Riccò tried to attack, but neither could get away.

With six kilometres to go the fun and games began. Cobo went off the front, but Schleck, with Piepoli in tow, reeled him back in. With five kilometres to go Kirchen was over two minutes back from the leaders as Evans, sensing he was close to yellow, did much of the pulling behind.

Inside the three kilometre banner and Schleck finally cracked and had to let the Saunier Duval duo ride away for the stage win. Evans continued working hard behind and crossed the line to take the yellow jersey by a single second.

Tour de France Stage 9

Stage 9 - Sunday, July 13: Toulouse - Bagnères de Bigorre, 224km

Riccò wins second mountain stage via solo Col d'Aspin flyer alla Pantani

Kirchen holds on to maillot jaune while Evans survives tumble

By Gregor Brown in Bagnères de Bigorre

Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) takes the win
Photo ©: AFP

Italy's Riccardo Riccò opened up the throttle to distance his rivals on the Tour de France's Col d'Aspin in a move similar to the late Marco Pantani to gain a solo win in Bagnères de Bigorre. The chase including classification favourites finished over a minute behind Riccò and included race leader Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia) and a bruised Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), who crashed on the decent of the Col de Peyresourde.

Riccò had indicated that he is not at the Tour de France for the classification, and that fact must have put Team Silence-Lotto Evans' mind at ease when he saw the fiery Italian blaze up the road with 30 kilometres remaining overall and four kilometres to go until the top of the Col d'Aspin. The 31 year-old Australian, second overall in the race, crashed on a left-hand turn going on a slight downhill shortly following the race's feed-zone, at kilometre 106. Reports vary on whether it was due to a spectator's bag in his front wheel or due to Evans clipping the rear wheel of an Euskaltel rider.

"He had some sort of bag in his front wheel and it blocked it," claimed team-mate Christophe Brandt, who was just ahead of Evans when the crash occurred. "It was not a musette, but something from along the street. His front wheel stopped and he went over the bars."

Evans declined to comment following the stage while being ushered immediately to the team's car. He only indicated to gathered personnel not to touch his left shoulder.

During the stage, Evans received medical attention to his left shoulder and thigh some thirty kilometres later by race doctor Gerard Porte. The high-mountain passes of Col de Peyresourde (km 166.5) and Col d'Aspin (km 198) were still to come, but the 26-kilometre decent to the finish played into Evans' favour. Tomorrow, 156 kilometres to the mountaintop finish of Hautacam and the day before the race's first rest day, will be a different story and Evans will be looking to fend off the attacks that are sure to come.

The peloton was fast in the flatter parts
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Evans survived the Col de Peyresourde and braced himself for the attacks on the Col d'Aspin. Sebastian Lang of Team Gerolsteiner was the only rider left from an early escape and had some four minutes when Riccò started his show. Backing an earlier attack by team-mate David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval - Scott), Riccò gunned up the left side of the road with an acceleration that had many pundits recalling the late Pantani, winner of the 1998 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

"We were talking yesterday and he said he wanted to try an attack similar to one of Pantani, and look, he followed through on his proposition," Piepoli said following the stage.

Riccò stormed past Lang with 1.1 kilometres to the top of the Col d'Aspin. He kept riding in a trance-like state to gain 35 seconds to Lang and 1'15" over the favourites' group by the 1489-metre summit.

"The Cobra" Riccò kept charging on the descent to preserve his advantage to the finishing line along Allée Jean Jaurès. Only Vladimir Efimkin of Team AG2R La Mondiale was able to work free of the chase group that was being led by Lampre. Efimkin finished at 1'03. His team-mate Dessel sprinted for third, 12 seconds later, ahead of the classification favourites.

Riccò had started the race with the stated ambition of taking a stage, but has now doubled that total. He also won the sixth stage to Super Besse.

Evans is paced back by his team
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

"The others sort of looked at each other. I gave it everything I had and rode a time trial to the finish," said Riccò of Team Saunier Duval following his second Tour win in four days. His win came only one day after a crash midway through stage eight. "I did not feel the pain this morning after I had warmed up, and then I just had the itch to go out and win."

Riccò was one happy man at the finish. "It was a formidable stage. I have now two victories – I am super happy. I was impressive, I went very fast [on the final climb]. My directeur sportif was impressed with my power output the last three kilometres of the climb." He already has his eyes on the next stage. "We will look to tomorrow. [Leonardo] Piepoli is in great form. After that we just look day by day."

Missing from the top group was Thomas Lövkvist, who has been working tirelessly for Columbia team-mate Kim Kirchen. Therefore, Andy Schleck of Team CSC-Saxo Bank took over Lövkvist's maillot blanc of best young rider. Kirchen took back the point's lead maillot vert from Rabobank's Oscar Freire, but the jersey will remain with the Spaniard as Kirchen is still occupied with the yellow top of race leader for the moment.

Kirchen had a tough day in the saddle, appearing under pressure on several occasions, but he was happy to have survived another day in yellow. "I didn't have the best legs today. I was just concentrated on following the wheels." He was impressed with Riccò, but didn't think the Italian would figure in Paris. "Riccò is strong in the mountains, but he is not so good in the chronos [time trials - ed.]. 50 kilometres is long and he may lose three or four minutes."

Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) – who started the day third overall – cracked on the final climb and slipped to fourth. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Chipotle H3O) consequently moved up to third place.

How it unfolded

Evans needed treatment after his spill
Photo ©: AFP

The riders enjoyed the neutral start, rolling through the streets of Toulouse. They knew today would be a tough day, and it was their last chance to relax. And sure enough, the first attack happened right when the neutral zone ended. It contained David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott), who was trying to defend his polka dot jersey. David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Freddy Bichot (Agritubel), Stef Clement (Bouygues Telecom), Björn Schröder (Team Milram) and Giampaolo Cheula (Barloworld) went with him. But their move was brought to a halt at kilometre 14.

Then, at kilometre 22, a trio with Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) and Nicolas Jalabert (Agritubel) went clear and quickly gained a minute.

The sprint in Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze after 29.5 kilometres was won by Kuschynski, ahead of Jalabert and Lang. The peloton passed the PMU sprint line 1'40 later.

The peloton was not interested in what the break was doing. The gap shot up to 5'40 at kilometre 37 and only 2.5 kilometres later it was 7'30. Next up was the Côte de Saint-Pey, after 42 kilometres.

Only four kilometres later the leaders passed the category four côte de Sainte-Quitterie. Again, Lang took the maximum points, this time ahead of Jalabert and Kuschynski. The laissez faire peloton rolled over the top 13'30 later.

Riccò hit the descent at full speed
Photo ©: AFP

The break never got a larger gap then 14'20 and with 77 kilometres covered it was down to 10'30. Over the côte de Mane, another category four climb, it was again Lang who got three points. Jalabert and Kuschynski followed, receiving two and one point, respectively. Despite the three climbs, the average after two hours was 43.2 km/h.

The sprint at kilometre 113 was won by Jalabert, ahead of Kuschynski and Lang. At the same time, 11 minutes behind, the bunch was winding its way though the feed zone. Only three kilometres later, the category four Col de Buret followed. Lang took the points ahead of Jalabert and Kuschynski.

After the feed zone the Euskaltel-led bunch sped through Aspet at high speeds. Too high for Gorka Verdugo, who crashed in a left hand bend, while helping the team with the pulling. Favourite Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) also came to grief, but was quickly back. He suffered a bleeding elbow and a torn jersey and shorts. The entire team dropped back to get him back to the bunch as fast as possible.

With 100 kilometres to go the leaders went over the next climb, the Col des Ares. Lang led Kuschynski over the top, with Jalabert in third. De La Fuente moved up to the front in the peloton, wanting to secure the final point available. Alexandre Botcharov (Crédit Agricole) moved out of the peloton before the top, but it was only to greet his family.

Approaching the top, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) went clear to secure the final point of the climb. De La Fuente was left out in the cold this time.

With a little more than 80 kilometres to go Evans went to the car of Gerard Porte, the Tour doctor. Porte can work wonders from the passenger seat.

The gap had dropped to 10 minutes. That was also the gap when the break the first category one of this Tour, the col de Peyresourde. 13 kilometres and an average gradient of 7.1% awaited the riders.

Euskaltel took control today
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Jalabert, unable to follow the other two, was the first to get into trouble. Then Lang also dropped Kuschynski and did the last five kilometres to the top by himself. He crested the summit 34 seconds ahead of Kuschynski. Another half minute later it was Jalabert. Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) and David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) shot out of the peloton. De La Fuente secured fourth place and nine points. He was still 12 points ahead of Lang in the mountains classification. Luis León Sánchez (Caisse d'Epargne) took sixth and was tied with Lang (both 31).

On the descent the group came together with Jalabert, De La Fuente, Monfort and Sánchez. Kuschynski was dangling in-between.

Lang tackled the final climb of the day, the col d'Aspin, two minutes ahead of Kuschynski, five minutes ahead of the chasers and six minutes ahead to the peloton.

When Lang's team-mate Stefan Schumacher attacked all hell broke loose. Riccardo Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval-Scott) were the first to put pressure on some of the favourites. Race leader Kirchen was lucky to have Silence-Lotto pull for Cadel Evans and it came back together.

But the next attack by Riccò proved decisive. He flew by everyone, hands on the drops and with a kilometre to the top he passed leader Lang, who had nothing left. The peloton was 1'20 back. Lang hung on for second. Behind, his team-mate Bernhard Kohl attacked to get third, stealing a few more points from De La Fuente, he crested over the top in fourth. But it wasn't enough, as Lang was now still four points behind De La Fuente in the mountains classification.

Gerolsteiner got some more bad news when Schumacher was dropped on the ascent. His third place overall was in danger. All the other favourites were still there.

An attempt by Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) resulted in the Italian reaching Lang, but both got caught by the group of favourites.

Sunflower fields accompanied the riders
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

After the descent it was a time trial of Riccò on the flat run-in to the finish, with the group behind doing a multi-team trial. Riccò's bike held up in Sainte-Marie-de-Campan (where Eugene Christophe got his repaired in 1913, after breaking his fork in the descent of the Tourmalet).

With 10 kilometres to go the gap was still at 1'20. There was no cohesion in the group behind. Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sandy Casar (Française des Jeux) and Vladimir Efimkin (AG2R La Mondiale) used the lull to a counter, but only Efimkin was able to hang on to a slim lead.

With five kilometres to go, the gap between the group and Riccò was still 1'12, with Efimkin not more than half a dozen seconds ahead.

The outcome didn't change much, with Riccò taking a solo victory, 1'03 ahead of Efimkin. The main contenders came in at 1'17, except for third-placed Schumacher, who dropped to fourth.

Tour de France Stage 8

Stage 8 - Saturday, July 12: Figeac - Toulouse, 172.5km

Columbia carries Cavendish to second stage victory

USA team celebrates with second stage and Kirchen's race lead

By Gregor Brown in Toulouse

A happy Cav proved the strongest
Photo ©: AFP

Team Columbia ushered its sprint captain Mark Cavendish over the rain-soaked roads of Toulouse and to a second stage win in the 95th Tour de France. German team-mate Gerald Ciolek powered on after his lead-out to claim second over Frenchman Jimmy Casper.

"For Ciolek to finish second was beautiful," described Cavendish, 23 years old from the Isle of Man.

Not only did 'The Manx Express' have the help of Ciolek, but also team-mate and race leader Kim Kirchen. The 30 year-old Luxemburger pulled double-duty leading to Boulevard Lascrosses by helping Cavendish and keeping safe in the race leader's top.

With the last two of the four escapees hanging on by seconds, the day into France's southwestern département of Haute-Garonne was destined for a sprint win. Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale) and Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom) were left for the peloton's picking with 13 kilometres remaining and only nine seconds separated Spaniard Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Frenchman Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues Telecom) with five kilometres to go in the 172.5-kilometre stage.

"When I am away it always comes back," said Pineau. "I thought the escape could work until the last four kilometres. ... I will continue to attack every chance I can."

Riccò at the rolling hospital
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Liquigas and Crédit Agricole turned the screws on Pineau and company in the final 20 kilometres for its captains Francesco Chicchi and Thor Hushovd. The reins changed hands in the final four kilometres to Quick Step and Columbia. Led by Marcus Burghardt, Columbia finished off the escape at 3500 metres out. Belgian's Quick Step followed with a brief surge for Gert Steegmans.

"We did a lead-out for Mark by taking over at five kilometres before the finish. Everyone did their job really well. It is amazing with two stage wins and the yellow jersey," described Burghardt, the 2007 winner of Gent-Wevelgem. His lead-out was followed by Thomas Lövkvist, George Hincapie, Kirchen and Gerald Ciolek.

Kirchen in yellow was well protected, but even helped pulling in the end
Photo ©: AFP

Lövkvist took over from Burghardt at 2200 metres, along the Rue de Lyon. Havoc plagued the Columbia train entering a right-hand turn and the final kilometre. Quick Step took control with Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank) moving into third and fourth slot

"It was a really tight corner to the right," said Cavendish of the turn that started the last 1000 metres. "I did not panic, although I lost the wheel of Ciolek. He was three places ahead of me, but it was not a problem. I could move up and when he accelerated I had a perfect lead-out."

Freire held on for fourth over Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner), Erik Zabel (Team Milram), Steegmans, Sébastien Chavanel (Française des Jeux), Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and Robert Hunter (Barloworld).

"The last corner I lost seven metres and then I was no good for the sprint. I tried but it was impossible," said Spain's Freire, who took over the lead of the maillot vert from Kirchen.

Norwegian Hushovd, winner of the stage to Saint Brieuc, slipped ahead of his lead-out Mark Renshaw during the final kilometre. "It was a very fast sprint on slippery roads," Hushovd described. "I felt good throughout stage, but eventually I lacked the force to launch the sprint."

How it unfolded

170 riders started the day after stage seven brought a few DNFs, one rider not making the time cut and one arrested on suspicion of doping. Unlike the previous days there was no intermittent rain or showers; instead, it rained from start to finish.

Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom) takes a drink during his break
Photo ©: AFP

The action started quickly although Will Frischkorn (Team Garmin-Chipotle) was again denied to be in the move of the day. With the first climb, the côte de Loupiac, after only nine kilometres, Saunier Duval-Scott wanted to make sure that David De La Fuente would get the mountain points and he managed to do just that ahead of Simon Gerrans (Crédit Agricole) and Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

While De La Fuente sat up, Gerrans and Martínez continued off the front. But they were soon caught too and further attempts to go clear were kept in check by an attentive peloton. It wasn't until after more than 35 kilometres when Stéphane Goubert (AG2R La Mondiale) and Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom) got ahead in a promising move. Soon it was Lefèvre by himself, and he crossed the côte de Macarou solo. Behind, De La Fuente added more points to his mountains tally, with Yoann Le Boulanger (Française des Jeux) taking third over the top.

Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues Telecom) countered the move, followed by Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale). After 52.5 kilometres, Lefèvre was still ahead over the top of the côte de Guioni. The trio followed 1'30 later, led by Txurruka and Riblon over the top.

Damiano Cunego (Lampre) was not happy with the rain
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

The gaps and the order were the same at the sprint in Salvetat-Peyrales (km 57.5) when the bunch was already almost five minutes behind.

Over the final climb of the day, the côte du Port de la Besse (km 78.5) Lefèvre was 1'40 ahead. Txurruka was leading the break again as it crested the summit. This time, Pineau was in third, ahead of Riblon, who still got one point for the category three climb.

After 80 kilometres the break came within half a minute of Lefèvre, who had decided to wait. The junction was made at kilometre 83. The peloton kept its gap at around five minutes.

The sprint in Carmaux after 85 kilometres was taken by Riblon, ahead of Lefèvre and Txurruka. With more than 100 kilometres already raced in the rain, Riblon had had enough of his tubulars. He changed his back wheel to one with a clincher tire. Then, the peloton took the opportunity for a mass nature break, so the gap stayed fairly constant, at a good five minutes.

At 57 kilometres form the finish, Crédit Agricole decided to assist Columbia in the chase. Crédit Agricole was hoping to have Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) win the stage and stay in contention for the green jersey.

With 49 kilometres to go, a roundabout spelled trouble for some riders, who slipped when they entered into it. Jens Voigt (CSC-Saxo Bank) was one of the victims, but he calmly collected his bottles and went on. Gerald Ciolek (Columbia) also was back up quickly. However, Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott), took a long time to get going. He rode slowly for some time before picking up speed again.

The break's gap shrunk to 2'15.

Lefèvre won the last sprint in Rabastens, after 134.5 kilometres, ahead of Txurruka and Pineau.

With 33 kilometres to go and the break almost visible from the main peloton, Stéphane Augé (Cofidis) and Freddy Bichot (Agritubel) went clear, but were soon recaptured. The ever aggressive Niki Terpstra (Team Milram) was the next to give a go. He came within 17 seconds of the break before realizing that the move wasn't going to work.

The bunch cut the gap to the quartet in front to less than a minute in the meantime, with rain still coming down hard. The break hit the 20-kilometre to go banner still some 45 seconds behind the break.

Liquigas raced hard to try to get race-related questions again, but that will be difficult
Photo ©: Gregor Brown

The gap didn't go down an further as of the 15-kilometre mark. The break started to believe in its chances, but also all four believed they could do better without the others, so the attacking started. Bouygues Telecom had a good shot with two riders, and under the encouragement of Didier Rous in the team car, Pineau went clear with Txurruka.

Liquigas did a lot of work in the peloton, but couldn't get much closer. With ten kilometres to go, Lefèvre and Riblon were caught. The gap to the two leaders had shrunk to 37 seconds.

When Liquigas, Crédit Agricole, Quick Step and Gerolsteiner hit the front, the gap shrunk still more and with six kilometres to it was only 21 seconds. As the duo went under the five-kilometre to go sign, the lead was just ten seconds.

With 3.5 kilometres to go Columbia took over at the front, but was then replaced by Quick Step. Despite the wet roads, the final corner more than one kilometre from the line was safely mastered by everyone. Ciolek finished the job off for Columbia by leading out Mark Cavendish to a win.

Stage 9 - Sunday, July 13: Toulouse - Bagnères de Bigorre, 224km

Former pro Cédric Vasseur was in the start village as well
Photo ©: Isabelle Duchesne

The Tour will head upwards into the high passes of the Pyrenees. Leaving the city of Toulouse, the course heads south and east over a number of small hills, until it reaches Luchon where the climbing really starts. The two first category Cols de Peyresourde and Aspin are not the toughest climbs of the Tour, but both are tough enough to punish anyone who isn't on top form. A descent to the finish should make that any gaps between the contenders small.

Bagnères-de-Bigorre features on the Tour route on a regular basis, sitting as it does at the foot of the infamous Col du Tourmalet, which the race tackles in stage 10, but has only been a start or finish town nine times before. Recently, the town has tended to feature as a start town, rather than a finish. The last time was that incredible day in 2003 when Lance Armstrong took stage victory at Luz-Ardiden. He stormed away to win alone after being brought down by a spectator's bag at the foot of the final climb, the incident leading to the "did Ullrich wait?" debate that kept internet chat rooms buzzing for years afterwards.

Tour de France Stage 7

Stage 7 - Friday, July 11: Brioude - Aurillac, 159km

Sánchez storms to victory on tough Massif Central stage

Kirchen holds yellow; Cunego in red after crash

By Gregor Brown in Aurillac, with additional reporting from Hedwig Kröner

Luis León Sánchez (Caisse d'Epargne)
Photo ©: AFP

Spaniard Luis León Sánchez dominated the final descent into Aurillac after an undulating stage through the Massif Central to win ahead of an elite group of riders containing yellow jersey Kim Kirchen and former leader Stefan Schumacher. Notably absent from this group was Italian Damiano Cunego, who suffered a crash earlier in the stage and further damage to his overall challenge.

"I had my chance today, but I am working for Valverde and the real goal is to take the jersey in Paris," said Sánchez after his victory in the Cantal département of southwestern France.

Sánchez, who spends most of his time working for Caisse d'Epargne leader Alejandro Valverde, made the most of his freedom to join the final escape of David De La Fuente, Josep Jufré (both Saunier Duval-Scott) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas).

He made contact with De La Fuente over the top of the final climb of Saint-Jean-de-Donne and with 4.5 kilometres of descending and another 4.5 kilometres of flat to Aurillac, Sánchez took matters into his own hands.

"I have really learnt a lot in this team, I am only 24, I hope that in three or four years I can fight for the race overall," he added.

The yellow jersey group
Photo ©: AFP

Sánchez was solo for the final four kilometres in a move similar to his two stage wins in Paris-Nice. He won with arms pointing to the sky and had six seconds in hand over Schumacher, Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) and Kirchen. The latter continues to hold the race lead over Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) by six seconds.

The day in the Massif Central, despite only 159 kilometres in length, was marked by heavy winds and mayhem. The race splintered from the gun under numerous attacks on undulating roads. This made the going tough for Cunego, Lampre's earmarked rider for the overall classification, when he was caught out following a crash at kilometre 60.

Cunego was still on the ground as CSC-Saxo Bank were thundering along at the head of the peloton. A dramatic chase-back by his Lampre team worked, but his legs were weakened to the point that he was gapped on the final climb of Saint-Jean-de-Donne. He finished in a large group some 33 seconds down on the winner.

Damiano Cunego (Lampre) crashed today
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

"I crashed and everything was compromised," Cunego said, disappointed with his day. "I remained behind, chasing. We were able to catch up thanks to the last ditch effort by my team-mates. I have to give a big thanks to them. We caught up but I suffered a lot."

The classification favourites were also put on the rivet in what was expected to be part of two easier transitional stages leading to Monday's high-mountain finish at Hautacam. Team CSC-Saxo Bank rose to the top for its captains - Fränk and Andy Schleck and Carlos Sastre - over the windy stage with five categorised climbs.

Although the race for the most part came back together by Aurillac, there were classification men who missed out - namely Cunego, but also Manuel Beltrán (Liquigas) and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Briton's David Millar (Garmin Chipotle - H30), who was once within reach of the maillot jaune, also fell a further 27 seconds behind the leaders.

The seventh stage also saw the first mass time cut of riders; Millar's team-mate Magnus Backstedt, Mauro Facci (Quick Step), John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale), Christophe Moreau (Agritubel) and Lilian Jégou (Française des Jeux) will all not be allowed to start tomorrow's stage from Figeac.

Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

"It was a hard day. I think it was the hardest stage so far," said Luxemburger Andy Schleck. Team-mate Jens Voigt added: "We had a cross-wind section, we managed to split it up. It looked promising for a moment, but we did not have the people there to help us. Even having the strongest team in the race is not good enough."

"The whole day, it was crazy," said former race leader Stefan Schumacher. The German attempted to get clear in the finale. "I tried it in the end. I got second. It was nice to win a stage but today I tried to attack for the jersey."

"It was a hard stage - very hard," added Pozzato. "We went all out from the first to the last kilometre."

A consolation for Spaniard De La Fuente, the most aggressive rider of the 2006 Tour de France, is that he moved into the lead of the mountains competition. Topping the final climb first helped him move into the maillot blanc à pois rouges by one point over Frenchmen Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) and Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom).

How it unfolded

David Millar (Garmin Chipotle) goes on the attack
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

The day began with temperatures around 25° Celsius in Brioude. 176 riders took the start of the 7th stage with the départ réel at 1:17pm. There were no overnight abandons.

French darling Christophe Moreau (Agritubel) and US hope William Frischkorn (Garmin Chipotle - H30) attacked right from the gun, but were reeled at kilometre four. Aggressive racing continued with further breakaway attempts, all of which were quickly marked.

On the Cat. 3 Côte de Fraisse (km 11), David Millar (Garmin Chipotle - H30) was first to take the points, followed by Sandy Casar (Française des Jeux), David Moncoutié (Cofidis) and Bram Tankink (Rabobank). Over the top the attacks continued. Quinziato (Liquigas), Arrieta (AG2R), Pineau (Bouygues), Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Gerard (Francaise des Jeux) - attacked at the 22km mark but never got to over 30 seconds ahead of the peloton before being caught at the 32km mark.

CSC-Saxo Bank did its utmost to smash the race to pieces
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

The first sprint in St. Flour (km 46.5) was won by Robert Hunter (Barloworld), ahead of Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole). With a bit of rain coming down, the bunch approached the second KOM climb of the day, the Cat. 4 Côte de Villedieu (km 52). On the ascent, six riders managed to get a 20 second gap: David Millar (Garmin Chipotle - H30), Jens Voigt (CSC-Saxo Bank), Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom), Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner) and Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux).

A few kilometres later, Lilian Jégou (Francaise des Jeux) crashed into a tree and had to abandon because of a broken wrist, and another crash took down Damiano Cunego (Lampre) at kilometre 61, splitting the bunch into several groups. As Millar was still in front, the pace was high in the first group, led by CSC riders.

But the break of Millar would not last, as he began the move with a slow leak in one of his tyres. ""I had a flat when I was in the break with Jens Voigt," Millar said. "Fortuantely it took 15km to deflate."

Fabian Cancellara
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

As the break was reeled in the bunch was still split up, with Cunego in the second group being helped by strong man Marzio Bruseghin, but a third group behind was losing even more time.

The first group, led by CSC and Caisse d'Epargne riders, gave it full gas. leading the chasers by 30 seconds. The group included: Evans, Cioni, Sastre, Cancellara, Gustov, Schleck, Schleck, Voigt, Valverde, Pereiro, Sanchez, Kirchen, Lövkvist, Pozzato, Kreuziger, Nibali, Kohl, Valjavec, Menchov, Freire, Cobo, Ricco, Vaugrenard, Vande Velde and Millar.

Luis Leon Sanchez launched a solo attack at km 68, but didn't last long under the pressure of CSC' Voigt and Cancellara, who distanced the chase group more and more. 40 seconds mid-race, with 80 kilometres to go.

David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

At the sprint in Paulhac (km 74), Oscar Freire (Rabobank) took the points ahead of Kim Kirchen (Columbia).

With the race full-on, the riders in front didn't even slow as passed through the feed zone at km 85.5. and many missed out on their lunches. Damiano Cunego (Lampre), George Hincapie (Columbia) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) were amongst others were in the second group, desperately trying to come back, with Cunego doing a lot of the work himself. But Lampre also received some help from Quick Step, and the gap came down to 20 seconds at the feed zone.

They finally made it with 66 kilometres to the line, just before tackling the Cat. 2 Col d'Entremont. There was an immediate counter from Josep Jufré (Saunier Duval-Scott) and Luis León Sánchez (Caisse d'Epargne), again. The two got a gap, and some company when Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) went after them.

Luis León Sánchez (Caisse d'Epargne) sweeps through a corner
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Team Columbia in the front of the bunch let the four-men escape have their way. The leaders had a 37 seconds-gap with 2.5 kilometres to go to the summit of the mountain.

De La Fuente passed ahead of Jufré, Sánchez and Nibali over the top to score some more KOM points, which would later give him the polka dot jersey. The bunch crested the summit 1'15 minutes behind, with Christophe Le Mevel (Crédit Agricole) trying to bridge over to the break, but he never succeeded.

Halfway into the climb, two more riders quit the Tour: Christophe Moreau (Agritubel) and John Gadret (AG2R).

The next climb, the Cat. 2 Pas de Puy Mary (km117) was less hectic. The breakaway had two minutes over the bunch, with Le Mevel still hanging in there doing a chasse-patate. As he was caught, Eukaltel-Euskadi's Mikel Astarloza also tried to bridge up with four kilometres to the summit, but suffered a similar fate than the Frenchman later on.

Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) takes the sprint for second.
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

On a foggy mountaintop, De La Fuente scored another 10 points for the KOM jersey. On the descent, the Spaniard got scared and dropped a bit off the back. But he managed to stick with his breakaway companions nonetheless, catching up with them with 29 km to go.

20 kilometres to the line, Astarloza was caught by the bunch, which started putting some pressure on as it was still over one minute behind the leaders.

The Cat. 3 Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Donne (km 150) was the last climb of the day. De La Fuente was eager to get to the top first, as this would give him the polka dot jersey. He did so, saving a small margin ahead of the chasing bunch, out of which Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) attacked. But he was marked by Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) and did not get far.

In the descent towards Aurillac, De La Fuente continued his efforts, with the former breakaway riders all being caught. he sat up with 7.5 kilometres to go, seeing it was no use.

The climb had split the field, however, but the overall favourites were all together in the first group. Four kilometres to the line, the winning move went with Sanchez opening up a 20 seconds-gap. A reward for all of today's efforts, the Spaniard could hold his advantage all the way and saluted the heavens as he crossed the line. Yellow jersey Kim Kirchen (Columbia) crossed the finish in fourth position, securing his overall lead.