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
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Stage Five: Cholet to Châteauroux
Some days it's not even worth it to get out of bed. Juan Mauricio Soler of Barloworld went down again today in the neutral zone and by 12 km into the stage he abandoned. VeloNews has the details on Soler's situation - his earlier wrist fracture "made it nearly impossible for Soler to brake". Better luck next year, Juan.
Five stragglers today:
173 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram 0.33
174 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia 0.57
175 Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia 1.41
176 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Saunier Duval - Scott 4.55
177 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6.30
But no shakeups in the back of the GC:
173 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 13.59
174 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 14.09
175 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 15.06
176 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 17.55
177 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence - Lotto 20.05
Five stragglers today:
173 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram 0.33
174 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia 0.57
175 Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia 1.41
176 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Saunier Duval - Scott 4.55
177 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6.30
But no shakeups in the back of the GC:
173 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 13.59
174 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 14.09
175 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 15.06
176 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 17.55
177 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence - Lotto 20.05
Labels: Burghardt, Garcia, Hansen, Haussler, Lancaster, Passeron, Piepoli, Soler, Sorenson, Sprick, Vansevenant
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Stage Two: Auray to Saint-Brieuc
Juan Mauricio Soler bravely made it to the start line and all the way to the end of the stage today, but it was NOT a fun day for him. VeloNews reports: "The Colombian condor had his wings clipped in a stage one crash that left him battered and bruised. Riding with bandages wrapping his tender wrists, Soler was dropped by the peloton with about 25km to go. He was able to hang on to finish the stage, but his overall GC hopes are done. "
Soler finished 7:18 after the stage winner along with Rubens Bertogliati of Saunier Duval-Scott, which dropped him into the Lanterne Rouge spot at 10:22 behind the overall lead. Let's wish him a better day tomorrow. Contrary to earlier reports, he did not have any broken bones.
Bertogliati crashed at 136 km, lacerating his hip and right elbow, and required stitches. Ouch.
Additionally, in today's stage, "Haussler (Gerolsteiner), Dean (Garmin-Chipotle) and Bonnet (Credit Agricole), all crashed at 163km without serious injury."
That's better than former Lanterne Rouge Magnus Backstedt (Stage 4, 2006) of Garmin-Chipotle, who was injured by whacking his kneecap against the shower door inside the team bus after Stage One.
Soler finished 7:18 after the stage winner along with Rubens Bertogliati of Saunier Duval-Scott, which dropped him into the Lanterne Rouge spot at 10:22 behind the overall lead. Let's wish him a better day tomorrow. Contrary to earlier reports, he did not have any broken bones.
Bertogliati crashed at 136 km, lacerating his hip and right elbow, and required stitches. Ouch.
Additionally, in today's stage, "Haussler (Gerolsteiner), Dean (Garmin-Chipotle) and Bonnet (Credit Agricole), all crashed at 163km without serious injury."
That's better than former Lanterne Rouge Magnus Backstedt (Stage 4, 2006) of Garmin-Chipotle, who was injured by whacking his kneecap against the shower door inside the team bus after Stage One.
Labels: Backstedt, Bertogliati, Dean. Bonnet, Haussler, Soler
