Saturday, July 19, 2008
Stage Fourteen: Nîmes to Digne-les-Bains
Nicholas Jalabert from Agritubel abandoned about 90km into today's stage.
Hmm, seems like a lot of people are saying that current leader Cadel Evans has a weak team in Silence-Lotto, while Robbie McEwen has no leadout guys. Are Evans' team members purposely avoiding him? I'd love to be a fly on the wall inside the Silence-Lotto team bus. Cadel finished today with the first group and most of his team finished with the back of the autobus just behind Robbie:
145. MC EWEN Robbie 6 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
146. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
147. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 66 LIQUIGAS 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
148. MÜLLER Martin 155 TEAM MILRAM 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
149. FÖRSTER Robert 112 GEROLSTEINER 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
150. FRISCHKORN William 194 GARMIN CHIPOTLE 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
151. CIONI Dario 4 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
152. HOSTE Leif 5 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
153. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 8 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
154. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
155. RENSHAW Mark 89 CREDIT AGRICOLE 4h 21' 37" + 08' 29"
156. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 4h 21' 41" + 08' 33"
157. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 26' 12" + 13' 04"
Naturally that keeps Vansevenant in the Lanterne Rouge position, although Sprick has reduced his time gap. Two-time Lanterne Rouge Jimmy Casper has moved up into 146th position in the rankings with some higher stage finishes. The final five have remained unchanged except Sprick moves down one notch:
153. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 61h 06' 47" + 2h 04' 52"
154. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 61h 07' 03" + 2h 05' 08"
155. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 61h 09' 13" + 2h 07' 18"
156. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 61h 12' 48" + 2h 10' 53"
157. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 61h 17' 40" + 2h 15' 45"
Hmm, seems like a lot of people are saying that current leader Cadel Evans has a weak team in Silence-Lotto, while Robbie McEwen has no leadout guys. Are Evans' team members purposely avoiding him? I'd love to be a fly on the wall inside the Silence-Lotto team bus. Cadel finished today with the first group and most of his team finished with the back of the autobus just behind Robbie:
145. MC EWEN Robbie 6 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
146. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
147. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 66 LIQUIGAS 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
148. MÜLLER Martin 155 TEAM MILRAM 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
149. FÖRSTER Robert 112 GEROLSTEINER 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
150. FRISCHKORN William 194 GARMIN CHIPOTLE 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
151. CIONI Dario 4 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
152. HOSTE Leif 5 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
153. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 8 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
154. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 4h 20' 51" + 07' 43"
155. RENSHAW Mark 89 CREDIT AGRICOLE 4h 21' 37" + 08' 29"
156. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 4h 21' 41" + 08' 33"
157. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 26' 12" + 13' 04"
Naturally that keeps Vansevenant in the Lanterne Rouge position, although Sprick has reduced his time gap. Two-time Lanterne Rouge Jimmy Casper has moved up into 146th position in the rankings with some higher stage finishes. The final five have remained unchanged except Sprick moves down one notch:
153. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 61h 06' 47" + 2h 04' 52"
154. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 61h 07' 03" + 2h 05' 08"
155. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 61h 09' 13" + 2h 07' 18"
156. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 61h 12' 48" + 2h 10' 53"
157. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 61h 17' 40" + 2h 15' 45"
Labels: Auge, Casper, Chavanel, Eisel, Evans, Jalabert, McEwen, Riblon, Sprick, Vansevenant
Friday, July 18, 2008
Stage Thirteen: Narbonne to Nîmes
Bunch sprints followed by the whole peloton crossing the line do little to shake up the General Classification either for the leaders or for those listed at the bottom of the page. No DNSs or abandons or dramatic doping arrests today, but the finish was sure fun to watch.
Three stragglers today (none of whom were in the long breakaway):
156. ROY Jérémy 168 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 32' 59" + 07' 17"
157. LE BOULANGER Yoann 167 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 32' 59" + 07' 17"
158. KRAUSS Sven 116 GEROLSTEINER 4h 40' 54" + 15' 12"
I haven't even looked up his name, but I'm betting Sven Krauss is the guy whose bike disintegrated on impact upon hitting a piece of road furniture. Amazing, sure to become a YouTube classic! Note to self: DO NOT hit something which is going to slice your bike COMPLETELY in half before it catapults into midair!! But if you do, tuck and roll and get up like that rider did.
Same old same old in the rankings, even though Jimmy Casper finished up in 20th for the stage:
153. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 56h 44' 22" + 1h 55' 35"
154. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 56h 45' 56" + 1h 57' 09"
155. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 56h 46' 12" + 1h 57' 25"
156. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 56h 51' 07" + 2h 02' 20"
157. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 56h 53' 15" + 2h 04' 28"
158. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 56h 56' 49" + 2h 08' 02"
So how long do you think Cavendish will last before he bails to go train for the Olympics? He keeps saying how "tired" he is, in his charming manner. Yeah, if I sprinted at 10,000 mph I'd be tired too. Will he last through the two category 4 climbs tomorrow, the final one less than 10k to the finish? Or until Sunday, with an Hors Categorie and a category 3 climb followed by a category 1 finish? Or will he try to set a record for sprint stage wins and ride into Paris? I'd make a voting box but I don't know how.
Three stragglers today (none of whom were in the long breakaway):
156. ROY Jérémy 168 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 32' 59" + 07' 17"
157. LE BOULANGER Yoann 167 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 32' 59" + 07' 17"
158. KRAUSS Sven 116 GEROLSTEINER 4h 40' 54" + 15' 12"
I haven't even looked up his name, but I'm betting Sven Krauss is the guy whose bike disintegrated on impact upon hitting a piece of road furniture. Amazing, sure to become a YouTube classic! Note to self: DO NOT hit something which is going to slice your bike COMPLETELY in half before it catapults into midair!! But if you do, tuck and roll and get up like that rider did.
Same old same old in the rankings, even though Jimmy Casper finished up in 20th for the stage:
153. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 56h 44' 22" + 1h 55' 35"
154. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 56h 45' 56" + 1h 57' 09"
155. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 56h 46' 12" + 1h 57' 25"
156. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 56h 51' 07" + 2h 02' 20"
157. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 56h 53' 15" + 2h 04' 28"
158. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 56h 56' 49" + 2h 08' 02"
So how long do you think Cavendish will last before he bails to go train for the Olympics? He keeps saying how "tired" he is, in his charming manner. Yeah, if I sprinted at 10,000 mph I'd be tired too. Will he last through the two category 4 climbs tomorrow, the final one less than 10k to the finish? Or until Sunday, with an Hors Categorie and a category 3 climb followed by a category 1 finish? Or will he try to set a record for sprint stage wins and ride into Paris? I'd make a voting box but I don't know how.
Labels: Auge, Casper, Cavendish, Eisel, Le Boulanger, Riblon, Roy, Sprick, Vansevenant
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Stage Twelve: Lavelanet to Narbonne
Ack! The whole Saunier Duval-Prodir team gone, Ricco positive for EPO from Stage 4, announced while he was wearing the polka-dot jersey and the young rider jersey! Two riders in the top ten!!
The official team statement reads like their entire team (whoops, I've been getting their name wrong) is shutting down:
"SAUNIER DUVAL-SCOTT announce that just an hour before the start of today's stage, the French anti-doping agency notified Riccardo Riccò that he'd tested positive for a banned substance after the fourth stage of the Tour de France 2008. Although the Tour organisers allow teams to continue to participate after a positive test, given Riccò's important role to the team in the race, SAUNIER DUVAL-SCOTT have decided to withdraw in order to preserve the positive image of the team´s sponsors and the Tour de France itself. Riccò has been suspended. Moreover, the team decided to temporarily abandon competition activities until this unfortunate incident is clarified."
Those gone include former Lanterne Rouge (stages 1-3, 2005) and stage winner Leonardo Piepoli, who previously had drug use issues of his own.
Here's the original 2008 Tour team lineup for Saunier Duval-Prodir (Sporting Manager: Joxean Fernandez):
171 RICCO Riccardo
172 BERTOGLIATI Rubens
173 COBO ACEBO Juan Jose
174 DE LA FUENTE David
175 DEL NERO Jesus
176 GOMEZ Angel
177 JUFRE POU Josep
178 PASSERON Aurélien
179 PIEPOLI Leonardo
Also: Baden Cooke from Barloworld went down today and abandoned.
And Mark Cavendish, a former Lanterne Rouge (Stage 7, 2007), now riding for Team Columbia, wins a historic third stage in the Tour! Well done! Side note: Over at Triple Crankset they seem to think Cavendish will soon come down with a nasty case of the dreaded Mountain Fever as soon as the Tour enters the Alps, in favor of leaving to train to represent Great Britain in the Olympics in track cycling along with Bradley Wiggins. Let's wait and see if they're right. It sounds likely to me, since Cavendish was originally planning to skip the Tour entirely. I'm thinking he will leave on or before Saturday (stage 14) to avoid the HC climb and category 1 uphill finish on Sunday (Stage 15).
There is some speculation that Agritubel's Christophe Moreau's causeless abandon in Stage 7 (immediately after Beltran was pulled that day for a positive dope test) was associated with abnormal pre-race blood values. Hmmm.
Lanterne Rouge Wim Vansevenant increased his time gap to the nearest rider today by arriving toward the end, just in front of the exhausted Gerard and Dumoulin who had ridden in a breakaway all day:
155. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 3h 43' 04" + 02' 12"
156. GERARD Arnaud 164 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 3h 43' 32" + 02' 40"
157. DUMOULIN Samuel 185 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 3h 43' 32" + 02' 40"
158. VERDUGO Gorka 29 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 3h 44' 58" + 04' 06"
The bottom of the General Classification remains largely unchanged other than the number in the peloton and a bigger gap in front of Vansevenant, and will not change much until we have an Alpine finish.
153. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 52h 18' 40" + 1h 55' 35"
154. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 52h 20' 14" + 1h 57' 09"
155. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 52h 20' 15" + 1h 57' 10"
156. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 52h 24' 53" + 2h 01' 48"
157. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 52h 25' 25" + 2h 02' 20"
158. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 52h 29' 19" + 2h 06' 14"
The official team statement reads like their entire team (whoops, I've been getting their name wrong) is shutting down:
"SAUNIER DUVAL-SCOTT announce that just an hour before the start of today's stage, the French anti-doping agency notified Riccardo Riccò that he'd tested positive for a banned substance after the fourth stage of the Tour de France 2008. Although the Tour organisers allow teams to continue to participate after a positive test, given Riccò's important role to the team in the race, SAUNIER DUVAL-SCOTT have decided to withdraw in order to preserve the positive image of the team´s sponsors and the Tour de France itself. Riccò has been suspended. Moreover, the team decided to temporarily abandon competition activities until this unfortunate incident is clarified."
Those gone include former Lanterne Rouge (stages 1-3, 2005) and stage winner Leonardo Piepoli, who previously had drug use issues of his own.
Here's the original 2008 Tour team lineup for Saunier Duval-Prodir (Sporting Manager: Joxean Fernandez):
171 RICCO Riccardo
172 BERTOGLIATI Rubens
173 COBO ACEBO Juan Jose
174 DE LA FUENTE David
175 DEL NERO Jesus
176 GOMEZ Angel
177 JUFRE POU Josep
178 PASSERON Aurélien
179 PIEPOLI Leonardo
Also: Baden Cooke from Barloworld went down today and abandoned.
And Mark Cavendish, a former Lanterne Rouge (Stage 7, 2007), now riding for Team Columbia, wins a historic third stage in the Tour! Well done! Side note: Over at Triple Crankset they seem to think Cavendish will soon come down with a nasty case of the dreaded Mountain Fever as soon as the Tour enters the Alps, in favor of leaving to train to represent Great Britain in the Olympics in track cycling along with Bradley Wiggins. Let's wait and see if they're right. It sounds likely to me, since Cavendish was originally planning to skip the Tour entirely. I'm thinking he will leave on or before Saturday (stage 14) to avoid the HC climb and category 1 uphill finish on Sunday (Stage 15).
There is some speculation that Agritubel's Christophe Moreau's causeless abandon in Stage 7 (immediately after Beltran was pulled that day for a positive dope test) was associated with abnormal pre-race blood values. Hmmm.
Lanterne Rouge Wim Vansevenant increased his time gap to the nearest rider today by arriving toward the end, just in front of the exhausted Gerard and Dumoulin who had ridden in a breakaway all day:
155. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 3h 43' 04" + 02' 12"
156. GERARD Arnaud 164 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 3h 43' 32" + 02' 40"
157. DUMOULIN Samuel 185 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 3h 43' 32" + 02' 40"
158. VERDUGO Gorka 29 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 3h 44' 58" + 04' 06"
The bottom of the General Classification remains largely unchanged other than the number in the peloton and a bigger gap in front of Vansevenant, and will not change much until we have an Alpine finish.
153. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 52h 18' 40" + 1h 55' 35"
154. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 52h 20' 14" + 1h 57' 09"
155. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 52h 20' 15" + 1h 57' 10"
156. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 52h 24' 53" + 2h 01' 48"
157. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 52h 25' 25" + 2h 02' 20"
158. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 52h 29' 19" + 2h 06' 14"
Labels: Auge, Beltran, Cavendish. Casper, Cobo, Cooke, De La Fuente, Dumoulin, Eisel, Gerard, Moreau, Piepoli, Pou, Riblon, Ricco, Sprick, Vansevenant, Verdugo, Wiggins
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Stage Eleven: Lannemezan to Foix
The peloton is down to no more than 168 today since Spanish rider Moisés Nevado Dueñas of Barloworld (their top rider since Soler is out, at 19th overall) was busted for EPO. The positive test was from the Stage 4 time trial, and was a followup to suspicious hematocrit levels before the Tour began.
Two other Barloworld riders abandoned today:
59 LONGO BORGHINI Paolo (ITA) BARLOWORLD withdrawal
53 CARDENAS Félix (COL) BARLOWORLD withdrawal
Longo Borghini broke his collarbone in a crash. Cardenas stopped at about 35 km left in the stage.
It may be that Jimmy Casper is considering contesting the Lanterne Rouge position! If either he or Wim Vansevenant take it at the end of the Tour, it will be a historic and unprecedented third time. Casper came in last for the stage again today, 16 seconds behind the autobus that arrived at 22:14 after the stage winner:
164. DUMOULIN Samuel 185 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 4h 20' 27" + 22' 14"
165. PORTAL Nicolas 38 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 4h 20' 27" + 22' 14"
166. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 4h 20' 43" + 22' 30"
In the overall standings, one less rider separates the two Tour de France Lanterne Rouges - now they only have 4 riders between them, 3 of them Frenchmen:
161. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 48h 37' 48" + 1h 55' 35"
162. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 48h 38' 09" + 1h 55' 56"
163. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 48h 39' 23" + 1h 57' 10"
164. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 48h 42' 46" + 2h 00' 33"
165. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 48h 44' 33" + 2h 02' 20"
166. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 48h 46' 15" + 2h 04' 02"
Two other Barloworld riders abandoned today:
59 LONGO BORGHINI Paolo (ITA) BARLOWORLD withdrawal
53 CARDENAS Félix (COL) BARLOWORLD withdrawal
Longo Borghini broke his collarbone in a crash. Cardenas stopped at about 35 km left in the stage.
It may be that Jimmy Casper is considering contesting the Lanterne Rouge position! If either he or Wim Vansevenant take it at the end of the Tour, it will be a historic and unprecedented third time. Casper came in last for the stage again today, 16 seconds behind the autobus that arrived at 22:14 after the stage winner:
164. DUMOULIN Samuel 185 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 4h 20' 27" + 22' 14"
165. PORTAL Nicolas 38 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 4h 20' 27" + 22' 14"
166. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 4h 20' 43" + 22' 30"
In the overall standings, one less rider separates the two Tour de France Lanterne Rouges - now they only have 4 riders between them, 3 of them Frenchmen:
161. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 48h 37' 48" + 1h 55' 35"
162. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 48h 38' 09" + 1h 55' 56"
163. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 48h 39' 23" + 1h 57' 10"
164. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 48h 42' 46" + 2h 00' 33"
165. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 48h 44' 33" + 2h 02' 20"
166. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 48h 46' 15" + 2h 04' 02"
Labels: Auge, Cardenas, Casper, Dueñas, Dumoulin, Eisel, Longo Borghini, Portal, Riblon, Soler, Sprick, Vansevenant
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The last shall be first
The sorting has begun, and the tremendous talents are starting to show of many of the professional cyclists in the peloton who haven't yet gotten much recognition this Tour. It simply underscores the fact that every rider out there is a phenomenal athlete in his own right. (And also why it truly rankles me when riders at the bottom of the General Classification are derided as "losers". Unfortunately, since I'm catching up from being away I will have to skip most details of stages 8, 9 and 10).
Losing significant time in Stage 9: Sprinter, 2006 stage winner, and former two-time Lanterne Rouge Jimmy Casper, dropped at about 65 km to go:
169. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 6h 10' 51" + 31' 23"
170. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 6h 10' 51" + 31' 23"
Two former Lanternes Rouges were making the headlines in Stage 10 yesterday.
Remy Di Gregorio (Stage 4 Lanterne Rouge, 2007) was recognized as the most combative rider for the stage and later said: "It was a beautiful day for me. I had planned to escape and I managed to spend a good part of the day in the lead. I was also able to climb well on the Col du Tourmalet and I went over the top with a lead of two minutes. This might have been sufficient if circumstances had been a little different in the race but with way that CSC swapped off behind me – to ensure that they put time into the Valverde group – I found myself in a situation that was rather dire despite the advantage I’d been able to build. I did not lose so much time in the valley and am proud of the way I raced. I loved this day, especially when I think that last year I only got to see the mountain stages of the Tour on television because I’d broken a rib in the first week. The experience of climbing at the front of the Tour de France as we went over the Tourmalet is something that provided me with a good revenge for the situation I found myself in last year.”
Leonardo Piepoli (Stages 1-3 Lanterne Rouge, 2005) came to the forefront finally as the stage 10 winner in an impressive ride along with his Saunier Duval-Prodir teammate Juan Jose Cobo Acebo.
Yuri Trofimov, a Russian rider in his first Tour riding for Bouygues Telecom, withdrew from the race on Stage 10, reducing the peloton to 169 riders.
Arriving at the back of the bus on the Hautacam on Stage 10:
167. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 4h 53' 33" + 34' 06"
168. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 4h 54' 22" + 34' 55"
169. CAVENDISH Mark 43 TEAM COLUMBIA 4h 54' 22" + 34' 55"
Eisel had been visiting the doctor as early as 36 km into the stage. Cavendish crashed at about 15 km before the finish line. Cavendish, the 2008 double stage winner riding for Team Columbia, was the Lanterne Rouge for Stage 8 of the 2007 Tour.
The final seven riders in the overall standings as of the first rest day of the 2008 Tour de France include two two-time Lanternes Rouges separated by only 8 minutes 43 seconds:
163. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 44h 17' 05" + 1h 47' 56"
164. CHICCHI Francesco 63 LIQUIGAS 44h 17' 11" + 1h 48' 02"
165. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 44h 17' 42" + 1h 48' 33"
166. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 44h 18' 56" + 1h 49' 47"
167. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 44h 22' 19" + 1h 53' 10"
168. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 44h 24' 06" + 1h 54' 57"
169. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 44h 25' 48" + 1h 56' 39"
I also happened to notice that in the last 20 places in the overall rankings there are 9 French riders, and no French riders at all in the top 20 places in the standings. That must be very difficult for the French to see in their national race on their national holiday!
Losing significant time in Stage 9: Sprinter, 2006 stage winner, and former two-time Lanterne Rouge Jimmy Casper, dropped at about 65 km to go:
169. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 6h 10' 51" + 31' 23"
170. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 6h 10' 51" + 31' 23"
Two former Lanternes Rouges were making the headlines in Stage 10 yesterday.
Remy Di Gregorio (Stage 4 Lanterne Rouge, 2007) was recognized as the most combative rider for the stage and later said: "It was a beautiful day for me. I had planned to escape and I managed to spend a good part of the day in the lead. I was also able to climb well on the Col du Tourmalet and I went over the top with a lead of two minutes. This might have been sufficient if circumstances had been a little different in the race but with way that CSC swapped off behind me – to ensure that they put time into the Valverde group – I found myself in a situation that was rather dire despite the advantage I’d been able to build. I did not lose so much time in the valley and am proud of the way I raced. I loved this day, especially when I think that last year I only got to see the mountain stages of the Tour on television because I’d broken a rib in the first week. The experience of climbing at the front of the Tour de France as we went over the Tourmalet is something that provided me with a good revenge for the situation I found myself in last year.”
Leonardo Piepoli (Stages 1-3 Lanterne Rouge, 2005) came to the forefront finally as the stage 10 winner in an impressive ride along with his Saunier Duval-Prodir teammate Juan Jose Cobo Acebo.
Yuri Trofimov, a Russian rider in his first Tour riding for Bouygues Telecom, withdrew from the race on Stage 10, reducing the peloton to 169 riders.
Arriving at the back of the bus on the Hautacam on Stage 10:
167. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 4h 53' 33" + 34' 06"
168. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 4h 54' 22" + 34' 55"
169. CAVENDISH Mark 43 TEAM COLUMBIA 4h 54' 22" + 34' 55"
Eisel had been visiting the doctor as early as 36 km into the stage. Cavendish crashed at about 15 km before the finish line. Cavendish, the 2008 double stage winner riding for Team Columbia, was the Lanterne Rouge for Stage 8 of the 2007 Tour.
The final seven riders in the overall standings as of the first rest day of the 2008 Tour de France include two two-time Lanternes Rouges separated by only 8 minutes 43 seconds:
163. CASPER Jimmy 123 AGRITUBEL 44h 17' 05" + 1h 47' 56"
164. CHICCHI Francesco 63 LIQUIGAS 44h 17' 11" + 1h 48' 02"
165. EISEL Bernhard 45 TEAM COLUMBIA 44h 17' 42" + 1h 48' 33"
166. RIBLON Christophe 108 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 44h 18' 56" + 1h 49' 47"
167. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 44h 22' 19" + 1h 53' 10"
168. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 44h 24' 06" + 1h 54' 57"
169. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 44h 25' 48" + 1h 56' 39"
I also happened to notice that in the last 20 places in the overall rankings there are 9 French riders, and no French riders at all in the top 20 places in the standings. That must be very difficult for the French to see in their national race on their national holiday!
Labels: Acebo, Auge, Casper, Cavendish, Chicchi, Eisel, Piepoli, Riblon, Sprick, Trofimov, Vansevenant
Friday, July 11, 2008
Stage Seven: Brioude to Aurillac
A big group of 61 riders crossed the line today at 21:53 after the stage-winning rider. Lanterne Rouge Wim Vansevenant of Silence-Lotto crossed the line just before them at 20:16, not far behind teammate Johan Van Summeren (who crashed on a descent).
It was a bad day for several riders - Manuel Beltran of Liquigas was pulled from the race for a positive EPO "A" test from stage one after finishing 33rd for the stage (26th overall), and there were four abandons:
166 JEGOU Lilian (FRA) FRANCAISE DES JEUX withdrawal
121 MOREAU Christophe (FRA) AGRITUBEL withdrawal
106 GADRET John (FRA) AG2R-LA MONDIALE withdrawal
95 FACCI Mauro (ITA) QUICK STEP withdrawal
According to the Cyclingnews coverage: Moreau attacked and was dropped on one of the first climbs at about 85 km into the stage, and abandoned at 96 km (but had not crashed). Facci abandoned at some point before that. Gadret abandoned at about 110 km in the stage/49 km to go.
Former Lanterne Rouge (2006, stage 4) Magnus Backstedt of Garmin-Chipotle was eliminated for finishing outside the time limit for the stage.
The last four riders in the standings (with 170 riders left in the race) remain mostly the same - although Nicki Sorensen of CSC-Saxo has moved up to 141st overall, and the margin between the last two riders has decreased to 33 seconds:
167. HAUSSLER Heinrich 114 GEROLSTEINER 29h 14' 29" + 50' 49"
168. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 66 LIQUIGAS 29h 15' 51" + 52' 11"
169. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 29h 16' 38" + 52' 58"
170. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 29h 20' 52" + 57' 12"
171. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 29h 21' 25" + 57' 45"
Note: Apologies to my regular readers, but I'm going out of town tomorrow to a race and may not be able to update this blog for a few days.
It was a bad day for several riders - Manuel Beltran of Liquigas was pulled from the race for a positive EPO "A" test from stage one after finishing 33rd for the stage (26th overall), and there were four abandons:
166 JEGOU Lilian (FRA) FRANCAISE DES JEUX withdrawal
121 MOREAU Christophe (FRA) AGRITUBEL withdrawal
106 GADRET John (FRA) AG2R-LA MONDIALE withdrawal
95 FACCI Mauro (ITA) QUICK STEP withdrawal
According to the Cyclingnews coverage: Moreau attacked and was dropped on one of the first climbs at about 85 km into the stage, and abandoned at 96 km (but had not crashed). Facci abandoned at some point before that. Gadret abandoned at about 110 km in the stage/49 km to go.
Former Lanterne Rouge (2006, stage 4) Magnus Backstedt of Garmin-Chipotle was eliminated for finishing outside the time limit for the stage.
The last four riders in the standings (with 170 riders left in the race) remain mostly the same - although Nicki Sorensen of CSC-Saxo has moved up to 141st overall, and the margin between the last two riders has decreased to 33 seconds:
167. HAUSSLER Heinrich 114 GEROLSTEINER 29h 14' 29" + 50' 49"
168. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 66 LIQUIGAS 29h 15' 51" + 52' 11"
169. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 29h 16' 38" + 52' 58"
170. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 29h 20' 52" + 57' 12"
171. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 29h 21' 25" + 57' 45"
Note: Apologies to my regular readers, but I'm going out of town tomorrow to a race and may not be able to update this blog for a few days.
Labels: Auge, Backstedt, Beltran, Facci, Gadret, Haussler, Jegou, Kuschynski, Moreau, Sorensen, Sprick, Van Summeren, Vansevenant
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Stage Six: Aigurande to Super-Besse
Climber extraordinaire Leonardo Piepoli of Saunier Duval-Prodir finished in 10th place today, 7 seconds back from the top finisher, while David Lopez Garcia of Caisse-d'Epargne finished well up in 87th place today, at 6:02 back from the first finisher, which pulls them both well up in the individual standings.
Meanwhile, Wim Vansevenant finished back in the final huge grupetto at 17:46, as did Nicki Sorensen and Matthieu Sprick.
So the last five riders in the standings today have changed only a bit from yesterday:
172. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 66 LIQUIGAS 25h 01' 05" + 30' 24"
173. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 25h 01' 52" + 31' 11"
174. SORENSEN Nicki 18 TEAM CSC SAXO BANK 25h 03' 17" + 32' 36"
175. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 25h 06' 06" + 35' 25"
176. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 25h 08' 16" + 37' 35"
Note: Aurélien Passeron of Saunier Duval-Prodir did not start the stage.
Meanwhile, Wim Vansevenant finished back in the final huge grupetto at 17:46, as did Nicki Sorensen and Matthieu Sprick.
So the last five riders in the standings today have changed only a bit from yesterday:
172. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 66 LIQUIGAS 25h 01' 05" + 30' 24"
173. AUGE Stéphane 182 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 25h 01' 52" + 31' 11"
174. SORENSEN Nicki 18 TEAM CSC SAXO BANK 25h 03' 17" + 32' 36"
175. SPRICK Matthieu 146 BOUYGUES TELECOM 25h 06' 06" + 35' 25"
176. VANSEVENANT Wim 9 SILENCE - LOTTO 25h 08' 16" + 37' 35"
Note: Aurélien Passeron of Saunier Duval-Prodir did not start the stage.
Labels: Auge, Garcia, Kuschynski, Passeron, Piepoli, Sorensen, Sprick, Vansevenant
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Stage One: Brest to Plumelec
A group of six riders, many of them familiar to us, finished the first stage of the 2008 Tour at the back of the pack. These included teammates Christopher Froome and Gianpaolo Cheula from Barloworld (4:04 back from the leader). Final group finishing at 4:56 back: two-time Lanterne Rouge Wim Vansevenant of Silence-Lotto; Stéphane Auge of Cofidis; Magnus Backstedt of Garmin Chipotle (stage 4 Lanterne Rouge in the 2006 Tour); and officially the last rider over the line today - becoming the first Lanterne Rouge of the 2008 Tour - was Aleksandr Kuschynski of Liquigas.This is a repeat performance - curiously, Kuschynski was also the Stage One Lanterne Rouge in the 2007 Tour. (Note: his team website spells his name Aliaksandr Kuchynski).
It already seems that Wim Vansevenant truly wants to retain the position of Lanterne Rouge for the third year and set a new record. Since it's a tremendously difficult accomplishment to even finish the entire 3500 km of Le Tour, let's wish him the best in accomplishing that goal. It should be noted that he is a teammate of favorite Cadel Evans and will be working on his behalf throughout the Tour.
According to Cycling News: "Wim Vansevenant (Silence-Lotto), the flamme rouge [sic] in the past has some plays on repeating for 2008. "It is not a goal, but why not?" he stated to compatriot Decaluwé at the day's start in Brest. He warned is not all that easy to be the last placed rider by the race's finish in Paris, "You need to do something for it." Vansevenant's team-mate Van Summeren joked, "wasn't there a day when you fell before the finish to gain time on your rivals!""
Two-time Tour de France Lanterne Rouge Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) was involved in a crash at 52 km to go, but went on to finish 1:52 behind the leader.
Labels: Auge, Backstedt, Casper, Cheula, Evans, Froome, Kuschynski, Van Summeren, Vansevenant
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Stage 17: Pau to Castelsarrasin
Velonews has already answered the first question of the day, for those of us tuning in online:
"There will be no yellow jersey worn in today's stage, although there will be a jersey awarded on the podium in Castelsarrasin. Rasmussen's teammates - the guys who rode their hearts out for the guy - are staying in the Tour."
So Rabobank is still in, and there should have been 142 starters if there were no other DNSs in the morning. I feel badly for the teammates - I wish they could pull off something like a stage win today, but probably they haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately.
Velonews adds, about the mood in the peloton, "A lot of riders appear to be relieved... some are just pissed. Really, you can't blame them, especially those who have made a real commitment to riding this Tour clean."
We now have late-arriving brief Stage Stats:
"There will be no yellow jersey worn in today's stage, although there will be a jersey awarded on the podium in Castelsarrasin. Rasmussen's teammates - the guys who rode their hearts out for the guy - are staying in the Tour."
So Rabobank is still in, and there should have been 142 starters if there were no other DNSs in the morning. I feel badly for the teammates - I wish they could pull off something like a stage win today, but probably they haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately.
Velonews adds, about the mood in the peloton, "A lot of riders appear to be relieved... some are just pissed. Really, you can't blame them, especially those who have made a real commitment to riding this Tour clean."
And Rasmussen is pleading innocence: "I'm shattered. I'm on the verge of tears," said Rasmussen today, quoted in the Danish tabloid BT. "I was not in Italy. Not at all. That's the story of one man who believes he recognised me. There is no hint of evidence."
Um, if he was in Mexico in June, shouldn't it be pretty simple to prove? Passport stamps? Plane tickets? Luggage tags? Photos wearing a big stupid sombrero and swilling Dos Equis? There are records of these things, Michael. Let's see them.
Here's a list of the fallen of stage 17:
149 WIGGINS Bradley (GBR) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE non partant
148 VERBRUGGHE Rik (BEL) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE non partant
147 SCHEIRLINCKX Staf (BEL) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE non partant
145 NUYENS Nick (BEL) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE non partant
142 AUGE Stéphane (FRA) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE non partant
141 CHAVANEL Sylvain (FRA) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE non partant
58 RASMUSSEN Michael (DEN) RABOBANK non partant
51 MENCHOV Denis (RUS) RABOBANK abandon
Many people are feeling very badly for Denis Menchov who worked hard for Rasmussen and now has been cheated by his teammate, and probably was exhausted already at the beginning the stage today, doubtlessly with little sleep last night.
Velonews tells the tale: "Menchov has pulled out of the Tour. He has climbed off of his bike in the feed zone. We don't see a physical reason... but an emotional reason? For sure. Do recall that Menchov won the Vuelta a Espana in 2005... but he was denied the chance to celebrate that victory, because Roberto Heras got to spend the day on the podium in Madrid. Folks thought that Heras had won... until the guy tripped the dopo-meter. Menchov, who began the Tour as Rabobank's team leader, deferred to Michael Rasmussen and then worked his arse off to help the skinny little cheat hold the lead. You have to feel for Menchov... sigh."
At the finish line today there were just three stragglers with familiar names, after a huge group of 124 riders came in at 9:39:
139. CANCELLARA Fabian 33 TEAM CSC 4h 24' 12" + 10' 08"
140. GUSEV Vladimir 113 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 4h 24' 12" + 10' 08"
141. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 4h 24' 26" + 10' 22"
Is Wim trying to conserve his position? That's just the way to do it! I don't see any mention of him during the stage -- perhaps he worked hard to protect Cadel Evans today in his probable podium spot. He's got over a 4 minute gap to the next rider now.
So here are our final five in the standings after the stage:
137. DE GROOT Bram 53 RABOBANK 84h 16' 06" + 3h 33' 58"
138. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 84h 17' 01" + 3h 34' 53"
139. KRAUSS Sven 96 GEROLSTEINER 84h 19' 27" + 3h 37' 19"
140. GERAINT Thomas 215 BARLOWORLD 84h 21' 05" + 3h 38' 57"
141. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 84h 26' 48" + 3h 44' 40"
Sadly, the folks at VeloNews appear to have been too busy today to produce Stage Stats for Stage 17, so I don't have any medical reports or jury decisions from them to pass along here. If anyone else has another place that those are available online, please let me know!
We now have late-arriving brief Stage Stats:
Medical report: no report
Jury decisions:
Voigt (CSC) fined 50 CHF, penalized 5 points and 10 seconds for pull on team car during mechanical
Pineau (Bouygues Telecom) fined 50 CHF, penalized 5 points and 10 seconds for bidon pull
Labels: Auge, Chavanel, De Groot, Hushovd, Krauss, Menchov, Nuyens, Rasmussen, Scheirlinckx, Thomas, Vansevenant, Verbrugghe, Wiggins
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Stage 3: Waregem - Compiègne
Stéphane Vervalle captured Tomas Vaitkus's pain after the crash in Stage 2. He had surgery that evening for multiple breaks of his thumb.Despite the incredible size of the pileup in yesterday's stage, and an endless 236.5-km stage to ride today, Vaitkus was the only rider involved to leave the Tour. 187 riders remain.
Fully 14 riders lost small amounts of time in today's stage as they straggled in after a long, long ride:
174. ARVESEN Kurt-Asle 32 TEAM CSC 06:36:52 + 00:00:37
175. ANTON Igor 72 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 06:36:58 + 00:00:43
176. TOSATTO Matteo 178 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 06:36:58 + 00:00:43
177. HINAULT Sébastien 108 CREDIT AGRICOLE 06:37:04 + 00:00:49
178. ZANDIO Xabier 19 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
179. CUESTA Inigo 34 TEAM CSC 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
180. BENNATI Daniele 82 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
181. DE GROOT Bram 53 RABOBANK 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
182. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
183. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
184. ONGARATO Alberto 187 TEAM MILRAM 06:37:12 + 00:00:57
185. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 06:37:12 + 00:00:57
186. O’GRADY Stuart 35 TEAM CSC 06:37:12 + 00:00:57
187. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 06:37:20 + 00:01:05
Cuesta, O'Grady, and Zabriskie probably wore themselves out working hard to protect the yellow jersey on their teammate Cancellara - which paid off enormously, saving Cancellara enough energy on the long route to allow him to dramatically won another stage today.
However, with a 9-minute deficit, our current Lanterne Rouge Aleksandr Kuschynski may not be dislodged until the mountain stages. Here are our final five riders in the General Classification after Stage 3:
183. AUGE Stéphane 142 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 15:16:22 + 00:04:14
184. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 15:16:29 + 00:04:21
185. HERVE Cédric 136 AGRITUBEL 15:16:29 + 00:04:21
186. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 15:16:32 + 00:04:24
187. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 15:21:09 + 00:09:01
Auge joined the breakaway today at about 58 km before the finish, and tonight will sleep in the polka-dot jersey.
Labels: Anton, Arvesen, Auge, Bennati, Charteau, Cuesta, De Groot, Herve, Hinault, Kuschynski, Nuyens, O'Grady, Ongarato, Tosatto, Vaitkus, Vansevenant, Zabriskie, Zandio
