Sunday, July 12, 2009
Van Hummel
... is Lanterne Rouge again today (Stage 9: St. Gaudens to Tarbes), final finisher of the stage and last rider in the General Classification. Hang in there!! Now you have a rest day to bounce back!!
Here's a great photo of him heading into the finish with teammate Jonathan Hivert in Barcelona a couple of days ago, from .SantiMB. on Flickr:
Today Danilo Napolitano of Team Katusha failed to reach the finish line by the time limit and was eliminated, bringing the peloton down to 171 riders (from an original 180).
Here's a great photo of him heading into the finish with teammate Jonathan Hivert in Barcelona a couple of days ago, from .SantiMB. on Flickr:
Today Danilo Napolitano of Team Katusha failed to reach the finish line by the time limit and was eliminated, bringing the peloton down to 171 riders (from an original 180).Labels: Hivert, Napolitano, Van Hummel
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Stage 8: Andorre-la-Vieille to Saint-Girons
Kenny Robert Van Hummel of Skil-Shimano was 172nd and last on the Pyrenean stage today, finishing in a trio with Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and Angelo Furlan (Lampre) at 34:01 after the stage winner.
Van Hummel is also 172nd overall (about 3 minutes behind nearest rider in the General Classification), for his third day as Lanterne Rouge. Unfortunately it does not bode well for him finishing the entire Tour de France, unfortunately. Best of luck to him in recovering and succeeding in moving up the next few stages.
The (fairly worthless) withdrawals list on the official Tour site currently lists these casualties, but they're missing Piet Rooijakkers of Skil-Shimano who crashed out in the Stage 4 Team Time Trial:
NO LONGER RIDING Stage 8
177 LE LAY David (FRA) AGRITUBEL withdrawls
176 GONZALO RAMIREZ Eduardo (ESP) AGRITUBEL withdrawls
111 PEREIRO SIO Oscar (ESP) CAISSE D’EPARGNE withdrawls
63 FERNANDEZ Koldo (ESP) EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI outside time limit
Stage 7
105 JOLY Sébastien (FRA) FRANCAISE DES JEUX withdrawls
Stage 6
46 GESINK Robert (NED) RABOBANK non-starter
Stage 3
159 VAN DE WALLE Jurgen (BEL) QUICK STEP non-starter
Van Hummel is also 172nd overall (about 3 minutes behind nearest rider in the General Classification), for his third day as Lanterne Rouge. Unfortunately it does not bode well for him finishing the entire Tour de France, unfortunately. Best of luck to him in recovering and succeeding in moving up the next few stages.
The (fairly worthless) withdrawals list on the official Tour site currently lists these casualties, but they're missing Piet Rooijakkers of Skil-Shimano who crashed out in the Stage 4 Team Time Trial:
NO LONGER RIDING Stage 8
177 LE LAY David (FRA) AGRITUBEL withdrawls
176 GONZALO RAMIREZ Eduardo (ESP) AGRITUBEL withdrawls
111 PEREIRO SIO Oscar (ESP) CAISSE D’EPARGNE withdrawls
63 FERNANDEZ Koldo (ESP) EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI outside time limit
Stage 7
105 JOLY Sébastien (FRA) FRANCAISE DES JEUX withdrawls
Stage 6
46 GESINK Robert (NED) RABOBANK non-starter
Stage 3
159 VAN DE WALLE Jurgen (BEL) QUICK STEP non-starter
Labels: Fernandez, Furlan, Gesink, Gonzalo Ramirez, Joly, Le Lay, Napolitano, Pereiro, van der Walle, Van Hummel
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Carnage in the Alps
I haven't been able to watch the stage yet, so I actually gasped when I saw the list of today's 8 withdrawals:146 PARRA Ivan Ramiro (COL) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE withdrawls
136 HERVE Cédric (FRA) AGRITUBEL outside time limit
134 FEILLU Romain (FRA) AGRITUBEL withdrawls
86 NAPOLITANO Danilo (ITA) LAMPRE-FONDITAL outside time limit
46 MC EWEN Robbie (AUS) PREDICTOR - LOTTO outside time limit
35 O’GRADY Stuart (AUS) TEAM CSC withdrawls
23 CAVENDISH Mark (GBR) T-MOBILE TEAM withdrawls
21 ROGERS Michael (AUS) T-MOBILE TEAM withdrawls
O'Grady crashed and his injuries sound serious: "punctured one lung, broke his collarbone, shoulder blade, five ribs as well as some bones in his spine".
Personally, I hope this day - with O'Grady and McEwen out - improves old Erik Zabel's chances of wearing the green jersey a few more times, particularly on the last day in Paris. I think the decision to strip his green jersey win from 11 years ago is nasty, particularly when other living Tour winners have admitted to taking anabolic steroids while competing. Like, for example, Floyd Landis is accused of doing. But they're French. (Right now Zabel is in 2nd place with 134 points to Tom Boonen's 147 points, and Boonen couldn't finish the Tour in 2005 and 2006).
Our old friend Wim Vansevenant (Lanterne Rouge for the 2006 Tour, Belgian rider for Predictor-Lotto) is our new Lanterne Rouge from this stage. This is his 4th Tour de France. He's already shown that he's capable of surviving the entire 3 weeks of the Tour, and he's made it to the rest day now - maybe he'll make it to the bitter end.Vansevenant is the seventh man to hold the Lanterne Rouge title in this up-for-grabs Tour, and we're only at the end of Stage 8. However, he's far ahead of five of the previous holders of the title - he's still in the Tour, and they're not. Vansevenant has been earning his paycheck riding in support of his teammate, sprinter Robbie McEwen, although obviously now that tactic will change since McEwen is out of the Tour.
66 riders arrived at the finish line and their well-earned rest day in the huge autobus, all assigned a time of 39:07 after the stage winner. That results in our final five riders in the General Classification as:
168. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 16:51:19 + 01:13:37
169. HOSTE Leif 45 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 16:51:28 + 01:13:46
170. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 16:51:56 + 01:14:14
171. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 16:52:22 + 01:14:40
172. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 16:54:56 + 01:17:14
Well, if the Big Z loses a couple more minutes to Vansevenant, we may be able to talk about him as Lanterne Rouge after all. I have a feeling he would just laugh and bide his time until the 54-km individual time trial next Saturday, July 21st. Right now he's doing the job he is paid to do out there.
Labels: Boonen, Cavendish, Charteau, Herve Feillu, Hoste, Kuschynski, McEwen, Napolitano, O'Grady, Parra, Rogers, Vansevenant, Zabel, Zabriskie
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Stage 7: Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand
Six riders finished today's stage in a small grupetto, over 24 minutes after the stage winner:175. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 48 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
176. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
177. RODRIGUEZ Fred 47 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
178. HOSTE Leif 45 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
179. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
180. MC EWEN Robbie 46 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
The final five riders in the general classification after this stage include some familiar names:
176. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 11:23:09 + 00:39:29
177. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 11:23:35 + 00:39:55
178. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 11:26:09 + 00:42:29
179. NAPOLITANO Danilo 86 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 11:26:28 + 00:42:48
180. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 11:28:24 + 00:44:44
Kuschynski (previous Lanterne Rouge of stages 1-3), Napolitano, and Cavendish are all riding in their first Tour de France. Vansevenant was the overall Lanterne Rouge of the 2006 Tour.
The photo of Cavendish "off the back" above is from Stage 1, by Simon Clayson, when he finished 3rd from last.
Labels: Cavendish, Chavanel, Hoste, Kuschynski, McEwen, Napolitano, Rodriguez, Van Summeren, Vansevenant, Zabriskie
Friday, July 13, 2007
Stage 6: Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse
The official list of abandonments is still free of entries for today, which is hopeful news for Geoffroy LeQuatre, Benjamin Noval and Andreas Klöden, but it may not have gotten updated today yet. Noval and Klöden have been cleared to start. It looks to be a cookie-cutter flattish stage today, heading southeast with a couple of category 4 climbs.
Cyclingnews.com says that LeQuatre did finish outside the time limit, but was reinstated by the jury due to his crash (and I hope, a little bit, due to his brave finish). However, his team manager says that he will not be able to continue today.
Update: Yes, indeed, Geoffroy LeQuatre, the brave French rider for Cofidis, was subsequently listed as a DNS on the official page of withdrawals. We wish him a speedy recovery. Noval and Klöden were able to finish today's stage. The Daily Peleton says "Vinokourov has lots of stitches in his knee while Klöden has a broken coccygeal vertebra (tail bone)", and notes Noval was visiting the race doctor during the stage, so we've got several riders who are hoping the rest day comes quickly.
Speaking of time limits, does anyone have a link to the cutoff times for the 2007 stages? I haven't been able to find them. They're kind of complicated, because they depend on both the rated difficulty of the stage and also the time of the winning rider. And then they can be waived by the jury for special circumstances, as well.
Our new Lanterne Rouge is Italian rider Enrico Degano of the wildcard entry Barloworld. He crashed in the feed zone today but recovered sufficiently to finish 16th in the stage. However, in yesterday's stage 5 he was the penultimate rider ahead of Geoffroy LeQautre and finished 23:11 behind the stage winner.
In other coverage, James Raia has trotted out the standard Lanterne Rouge article again this year.
Cyclingnews.com says that LeQuatre did finish outside the time limit, but was reinstated by the jury due to his crash (and I hope, a little bit, due to his brave finish). However, his team manager says that he will not be able to continue today.
Update: Yes, indeed, Geoffroy LeQuatre, the brave French rider for Cofidis, was subsequently listed as a DNS on the official page of withdrawals. We wish him a speedy recovery. Noval and Klöden were able to finish today's stage. The Daily Peleton says "Vinokourov has lots of stitches in his knee while Klöden has a broken coccygeal vertebra (tail bone)", and notes Noval was visiting the race doctor during the stage, so we've got several riders who are hoping the rest day comes quickly.
Speaking of time limits, does anyone have a link to the cutoff times for the 2007 stages? I haven't been able to find them. They're kind of complicated, because they depend on both the rated difficulty of the stage and also the time of the winning rider. And then they can be waived by the jury for special circumstances, as well.
Only six riders lost time today, and notably, the final finisher was on a solo breakaway for 190 km:
178. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 05:21:52 + 00:00:53
179. CARDENAS Félix 212 BARLOWORLD 05:21:55 + 00:00:56
180. BURGHARDT Marcus 22 T-MOBILE TEAM 05:22:59 + 00:02:00
181. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 05:20:59 + 00:00:00
182. CHEULA Gianpaolo 213 BARLOWORLD 05:22:59 + 00:02:00
183. WIGGINS Bradley 149 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 05:24:41 + 00:03:42
Our final five riders in the General Classification are now:
179. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 06:09:12 + 00:19:17
180. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 06:10:11 + 00:20:16
181. NAPOLITANO Danilo 86 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 06:10:28 + 00:20:33
182. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 06:12:24 + 00:22:29
183. DEGANO Enrico 214 BARLOWORLD 06:15:14 + 00:25:19
Our new Lanterne Rouge is Italian rider Enrico Degano of the wildcard entry Barloworld. He crashed in the feed zone today but recovered sufficiently to finish 16th in the stage. However, in yesterday's stage 5 he was the penultimate rider ahead of Geoffroy LeQautre and finished 23:11 behind the stage winner.In other coverage, James Raia has trotted out the standard Lanterne Rouge article again this year.
Labels: Burghardt, Cardenas, Cavendish, Cheula, Degano, Klöden, Kuschynski, LeQuatre, Napolitano, Noval, Vinokourov, Wiggins, Zabriskie
Saturday, July 07, 2007
He did it again!!
Here are the final five finishers of the 2007 Tour de France Prologue in London:
185. HERVE Cédric 136 AGRITUBEL 00:10:20 + 00:01:30
186. DEGANO Enrico 214 BARLOWORLD 00:10:20 + 00:01:30
187. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 00:10:22 + 00:01:32
188. NAPOLITANO Danilo 86 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 00:10:23 + 00:01:33
189. LOBATO Ruben 206 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 00:10:41 + 00:01:51
Wim Vansevenant was the overall Lanterne Rouge of the 2006 Tour de France, but amazingly, Ruben Lobato is in the exact same position he was in after last year's prologue in the Lanterne Rouge spot. In comparison, Stuart O'Grady of CSC who crashed on the course finished 28 seconds faster than Lobato, coming to the line in 00:10:13 in the 179th slot.
What an exciting start to a fascinating Tour!
Oh, and just in case anyone scoffs at Robato's performance - he completed the course at an average of 27.5 mph. Just try maintaining that on a bike for 4.9 miles on a loop course and report back before you declare that is anything but amazing speed.
185. HERVE Cédric 136 AGRITUBEL 00:10:20 + 00:01:30
186. DEGANO Enrico 214 BARLOWORLD 00:10:20 + 00:01:30
187. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 00:10:22 + 00:01:32
188. NAPOLITANO Danilo 86 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 00:10:23 + 00:01:33
189. LOBATO Ruben 206 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 00:10:41 + 00:01:51Wim Vansevenant was the overall Lanterne Rouge of the 2006 Tour de France, but amazingly, Ruben Lobato is in the exact same position he was in after last year's prologue in the Lanterne Rouge spot. In comparison, Stuart O'Grady of CSC who crashed on the course finished 28 seconds faster than Lobato, coming to the line in 00:10:13 in the 179th slot.
What an exciting start to a fascinating Tour!
Oh, and just in case anyone scoffs at Robato's performance - he completed the course at an average of 27.5 mph. Just try maintaining that on a bike for 4.9 miles on a loop course and report back before you declare that is anything but amazing speed.
Labels: Degano, Herve, Lobato, Napolitano, O'Grady, Vansevenant
