Saturday, July 04, 2009
Stage 1 Monaco individual time trial
Yauheni Hutarovich, riding for Francaise de Jeux, became the Stage 1 Lanterne Rouge of the 2009 Tour de France today. He finished in 180th position in the 15.5-km individual time trial in Monaco with a time of 23:23. If my calculations are correct, that gives him an average speed over that super-hilly course of 24.71 mph.This is his first Tour de France for the sprinting specialist. Hutarovich is currently the road race champion of the nation of Belarus and therefore has the right to wear their national colors.
Placements today of previous Lanternes Rouges:
Geoffroy Lequatre (Stage 5, 2007): 99th
Filippo Pozzato (Stage 3, 2006): 101st
Bernard Eisel (Stage 19, 2008): 103th
Dimitry Muravyev (2008 Vuelta a Espana Lanterne Rouge): 122nd
Sébastien Joly (multiple stages, 2006): 129th
Aleksandr Kuschynski (Stage 1, 2007 and 2008): 165th
Mark Cavendish (Stage 7, 2007): 177th
Looking at Mark Cavendish's finishing position, the rider who may be the world's best sprinter at this time ranking 4th-to-last overall, I am reminded to make the point that the position in the General Classification says nothing about the inherent athletic ability of the cyclist, and everything about the important job they each play on their own team.
Labels: Cavendish, Eisel, Hutarovich, Joly, Kuschynski, LeQuatre, Muravyev, Pozzato
Sunday, June 28, 2009
2009 Tour: Former TdF Lanternes Rouges
Here is the substantial roster of former Lanternes Rouges (last place for at least one day in the General Classification in the Tour de France, 2005 and later; or last overall in another recent Grand Tour) who may be riding in the 2009 Tour:
Cut from roster:
Française des Jeux: Remy di Gregorio, Stage 4, 2007
BBox Bouygues Telecom: Evgeny Sokolov, 2009 Giro d'Italia Lanterne Rouge
Confirmed:
Agritubel: Geoffroy Lequatre, Stage 5, 2007
Astana: Dimitry Muravyev, 2008 Vuelta a Espana Lanterne Rouge
Columbia-Highroad: Mark Cavendish, Stage 7, 2007
Columbia-Highroad: Bernard Eisel, Stage 19, 2008
Française des Jeux: Sébastien Joly, multiple stages, 2006
Katusha: Filippo Pozzato, Stage 3, 2006
Liquigas: Aleksandr Kuschynski, Stage 1, 2007 and 2008
The fun starts this coming Saturday! Don't forget, I will be posting daily short updates on Twitter this year as TdFLanterne, and may not be doing extensive blog posts as in the past. Please be sure to subscribe to our Tour de France Lanterne Rouge feed there!
Cut from roster:
Confirmed:
Agritubel: Geoffroy Lequatre, Stage 5, 2007
Astana: Dimitry Muravyev, 2008 Vuelta a Espana Lanterne Rouge
Columbia-Highroad: Mark Cavendish, Stage 7, 2007
Columbia-Highroad: Bernard Eisel, Stage 19, 2008
Française des Jeux: Sébastien Joly, multiple stages, 2006
Katusha: Filippo Pozzato, Stage 3, 2006
Liquigas: Aleksandr Kuschynski, Stage 1, 2007 and 2008
The fun starts this coming Saturday! Don't forget, I will be posting daily short updates on Twitter this year as TdFLanterne, and may not be doing extensive blog posts as in the past. Please be sure to subscribe to our Tour de France Lanterne Rouge feed there!
Labels: Cavendish, Di Gregorio, Eisel, Joly, Kuschynski, LeQuatre, Muravyev, Pozzato, Sokolov
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
La Vuelta '07 startlist
The tentative riders' list for La Vuelta Espana is now posted over at Velonews.
Previous Lanternes Rouges include Magnus Backstedt on the list for Liquigas (and Filippo Pozzato on their reserves).
Climbing specialist Leonardo Piepoli is also returning to the peloton for Saunier Duval - Prodir.
Previous Lanternes Rouges include Magnus Backstedt on the list for Liquigas (and Filippo Pozzato on their reserves).
Climbing specialist Leonardo Piepoli is also returning to the peloton for Saunier Duval - Prodir.
Labels: Backstedt, Piepoli, Pozzato, Vuelta
Monday, July 23, 2007
Stage 15: Foix to Loudenvielle
Here's a poetic tribute to the Lanterne Rouge.
I don't yet have confirmation of any DNSs for the day. Possibly Philippe Gilbert? Ah, yes, Velonews says: "We see that Francaise des Jeux's Philippe Gilbert and Liquigas's Filippo Pozzato opted not to start." Pozzato was the Lanterne Rouge of Stage 3 in 2006. There are 163 riders at the start of the day.
Here's a somewhat garbled note in the Cyclingnews.com coverage about our Lanterne Rouge: "Philippe Gilbert had a fever yesterday and struggled to last place, some 40-odd minutes down. He made the time cut but Wim Vansevenant didn't (Predictor-Lotto) didn't think he'd be able to start and he didn't. Vansevenant for himself told Brecht Decaluwè that he is the master of managing the time cuts, but acknowledged it will be really hard today to make it. It's a very difficult stage. We'll keep you posted on the Belgian rider, who wants to save his Lanterne Rouge place all the way to Paris.""
They said on Versus that Cyril Dessel (Ag2r Prevoyance) abandoned today. Yes, at around 39 km into the stage. The head count is now 162, with 27 riders lost en route thus far in the Tour.
Alexandre Vinokourov should be nicknamed Rasputin. They can't kill him. Stabbing? Poison? Clubbing? Shooting? Drowning? Stupid spectators? Nothing can get that man down for long.
Oh no! The web updates reveal some more abandons that weren't covered on TV. Here's the full list for the day of riders who are finished with the 2007 Tour de France:
165 GILBERT Philippe (BEL) FRANCAISE DES JEUX non-starter
151 POZZATO Filippo (ITA) LIQUIGAS non-starter
109 LE MEVEL Christophe (FRA) CREDIT AGRICOLE withdrawls
64 DESSEL Cyril (FRA) AG2R PREVOYANCE withdrawls
47 RODRIGUEZ Fred (USA) PREDICTOR - LOTTO withdrawls
Le Mevel was the C.A. rider who crashed going around a right-hand curve at about the 40 km mark and then a rider in orange flipped over him, Jorge Azanza from Euskaltel-Euskadi.
I haven't found word about exactly what happened to Fast Freddie Rodriguez today, but he abandoned before the fourth climb. He said on his blog before the stage, "I managed to survive yesterday’s race with a real bad stomach. Don't ask me how. I think I really went deep mentally, because physically I was empty. I woke up with the same bad stomach this morning. This will be my chance to fight again and hang on."
Rik Verbrugge, Cofidis rider who was in our final five yesterday, had a great ride today and finished in 56th place, moving him up from the penultimate rider in the GC to 144th overall. There was a huge autobus of 47 riders who arrived at the finish line at 35:45 after the stage winner, with no late stragglers. Wim Vansevenant, the Lanterne Rouge, arrived about 4 minutes ahead of it, so that modified his time gap slightly. There are 160 remaining in the Tour.
Our final five in the standings are now:
156. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 72h 48' 08" + 2h 55' 54"
157. KRAUSS Sven 96 GEROLSTEINER 72h 50' 34" + 2h 58' 20"
158. GERAINT Thomas 215 BARLOWORLD 72h 52' 12" + 2h 59' 58"
159. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 72h 54' 13" + 3h 01' 59"
160. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 72h 57' 12" + 3h 04' 58"
(Um, their name in the official Tour standings is backwards, not me, the given name is Geraint, the family name is Thomas).
It seems that Thor Hushovd threw out his back while taking a leak off the bike earlier in the Tour. He indicated he might have been unable to continue if the rest day hadn't fortunately been next.
And here are the stage stats, courtesy of VeloNews:
Medical report:
Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) fall on the Col de Port, traumatism on right shoulder, transferred to hospital in Saint-Girons, X-rays revealed a fracture in the right clavicle
Efimkin (Barloworld) crash on Col de Port, superficial cuts and scrapes
Iglinskiy (Astana) crash at 100km, without apparent serious injuries
Rodriguez and Van Summeren (Predictor-Lotto), Moreau (Ag2r), Mercado (Agritubel), Nuyens (Cofidis), Sieberg (Milram) - all digestive problems
Jury decisions: No rulings
I don't yet have confirmation of any DNSs for the day. Possibly Philippe Gilbert? Ah, yes, Velonews says: "We see that Francaise des Jeux's Philippe Gilbert and Liquigas's Filippo Pozzato opted not to start." Pozzato was the Lanterne Rouge of Stage 3 in 2006. There are 163 riders at the start of the day.
Here's a somewhat garbled note in the Cyclingnews.com coverage about our Lanterne Rouge: "Philippe Gilbert had a fever yesterday and struggled to last place, some 40-odd minutes down. He made the time cut but Wim Vansevenant didn't (Predictor-Lotto) didn't think he'd be able to start and he didn't. Vansevenant for himself told Brecht Decaluwè that he is the master of managing the time cuts, but acknowledged it will be really hard today to make it. It's a very difficult stage. We'll keep you posted on the Belgian rider, who wants to save his Lanterne Rouge place all the way to Paris.""
They said on Versus that Cyril Dessel (Ag2r Prevoyance) abandoned today. Yes, at around 39 km into the stage. The head count is now 162, with 27 riders lost en route thus far in the Tour.
Alexandre Vinokourov should be nicknamed Rasputin. They can't kill him. Stabbing? Poison? Clubbing? Shooting? Drowning? Stupid spectators? Nothing can get that man down for long.
Oh no! The web updates reveal some more abandons that weren't covered on TV. Here's the full list for the day of riders who are finished with the 2007 Tour de France:
165 GILBERT Philippe (BEL) FRANCAISE DES JEUX non-starter
151 POZZATO Filippo (ITA) LIQUIGAS non-starter
109 LE MEVEL Christophe (FRA) CREDIT AGRICOLE withdrawls
64 DESSEL Cyril (FRA) AG2R PREVOYANCE withdrawls
47 RODRIGUEZ Fred (USA) PREDICTOR - LOTTO withdrawls
Le Mevel was the C.A. rider who crashed going around a right-hand curve at about the 40 km mark and then a rider in orange flipped over him, Jorge Azanza from Euskaltel-Euskadi.
I haven't found word about exactly what happened to Fast Freddie Rodriguez today, but he abandoned before the fourth climb. He said on his blog before the stage, "I managed to survive yesterday’s race with a real bad stomach. Don't ask me how. I think I really went deep mentally, because physically I was empty. I woke up with the same bad stomach this morning. This will be my chance to fight again and hang on."
Rik Verbrugge, Cofidis rider who was in our final five yesterday, had a great ride today and finished in 56th place, moving him up from the penultimate rider in the GC to 144th overall. There was a huge autobus of 47 riders who arrived at the finish line at 35:45 after the stage winner, with no late stragglers. Wim Vansevenant, the Lanterne Rouge, arrived about 4 minutes ahead of it, so that modified his time gap slightly. There are 160 remaining in the Tour.
Our final five in the standings are now:
156. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 72h 48' 08" + 2h 55' 54"
157. KRAUSS Sven 96 GEROLSTEINER 72h 50' 34" + 2h 58' 20"
158. GERAINT Thomas 215 BARLOWORLD 72h 52' 12" + 2h 59' 58"
159. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 72h 54' 13" + 3h 01' 59"
160. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 72h 57' 12" + 3h 04' 58"
(Um, their name in the official Tour standings is backwards, not me, the given name is Geraint, the family name is Thomas).
It seems that Thor Hushovd threw out his back while taking a leak off the bike earlier in the Tour. He indicated he might have been unable to continue if the rest day hadn't fortunately been next.
And here are the stage stats, courtesy of VeloNews:
Medical report:
Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) fall on the Col de Port, traumatism on right shoulder, transferred to hospital in Saint-Girons, X-rays revealed a fracture in the right clavicle
Efimkin (Barloworld) crash on Col de Port, superficial cuts and scrapes
Iglinskiy (Astana) crash at 100km, without apparent serious injuries
Rodriguez and Van Summeren (Predictor-Lotto), Moreau (Ag2r), Mercado (Agritubel), Nuyens (Cofidis), Sieberg (Milram) - all digestive problems
Jury decisions: No rulings
Labels: Azanza, Dessel, Gilbert, Hushovd, Krauss, Le Mevel, Nuyens, Pozzato, Rodriguez, Thomas, Vansevenant, Verbrugge, Vinokourov
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Geoffroy LeQuatre, the man of the day
There is a beautifully moving tribute to Geoffroy LeQuatre, Cofidis's brave rider, here. (Thanks to Frank of TdFBlog for the tip!) In part:
"What really struck me on Thursday, though, was the incredible guts displayed by a man who crossed the line three quarters of an hour after the winner. Geoffroy Lequatre, a 26 year old Frenchman with not a single career victory to his name since turning pro in 2004, was my rider of the day. With around 70km to go, Lequatre came off heavily just after the feed zone. It looked like he’d got his musette (food bag) tangled up in his spokes. Despite his obvious discomfort by the side of the road, we all managed to have a chuckle about poor old Geoffroy being brought down by his own sandwiches. The cameras didn’t linger on him too long and we were quickly taken back to the action at the front of the race. The Cofidis rider was soon forgotten. Having packed up our equipment at the end of our broadcast, we were just leaving when Graham pointed out that there was still a rider on the course. The crowd had dwindled away and not many people were there to witness the single bravest moment of stage five, 44 minutes after stage winner Filippo Pozzato nosed across the line and 21 minutes after the penultimate finisher. His face contorted with agony, shorts ripped to shreds, thigh looking like a side of meat, and fingertips all stripped of skin, Lequatre crossed the line and simply collapsed in tears. These are tough, tough boys here."
And that, dear readers, is why I write this blog -- so that their efforts will not be forgotten.
Another nice tribute to LeQuatre is here.
I should also point out that LeQuatre covered the 182.5 km of the hilly stage in 5:23:05, much of it solo. To us Americans, that's 113.4 miles at 21.06 mph average (33.89 km/hr), including his time spent in the crash - not a bad day's work for any cyclist.
"What really struck me on Thursday, though, was the incredible guts displayed by a man who crossed the line three quarters of an hour after the winner. Geoffroy Lequatre, a 26 year old Frenchman with not a single career victory to his name since turning pro in 2004, was my rider of the day. With around 70km to go, Lequatre came off heavily just after the feed zone. It looked like he’d got his musette (food bag) tangled up in his spokes. Despite his obvious discomfort by the side of the road, we all managed to have a chuckle about poor old Geoffroy being brought down by his own sandwiches. The cameras didn’t linger on him too long and we were quickly taken back to the action at the front of the race. The Cofidis rider was soon forgotten. Having packed up our equipment at the end of our broadcast, we were just leaving when Graham pointed out that there was still a rider on the course. The crowd had dwindled away and not many people were there to witness the single bravest moment of stage five, 44 minutes after stage winner Filippo Pozzato nosed across the line and 21 minutes after the penultimate finisher. His face contorted with agony, shorts ripped to shreds, thigh looking like a side of meat, and fingertips all stripped of skin, Lequatre crossed the line and simply collapsed in tears. These are tough, tough boys here."
And that, dear readers, is why I write this blog -- so that their efforts will not be forgotten.
Another nice tribute to LeQuatre is here.
I should also point out that LeQuatre covered the 182.5 km of the hilly stage in 5:23:05, much of it solo. To us Americans, that's 113.4 miles at 21.06 mph average (33.89 km/hr), including his time spent in the crash - not a bad day's work for any cyclist.
Monday, July 02, 2007
National Champion Lanterne Rouge
Magnus Backstedt, Swedish rider on the Liquigas team, became the national road race champion of Sweden on July 1, 2007 in a 200-km event. Backstedt was Lanterne Rouge of the 2006 Tour de France during Stage 4.
Filippo Pozzato, Lanterne Rouge of Stage 3 of the 2006 Tour, also competed in the Italian 262-km national road race championships on July 1, 2007 and finished in fifth place.
The two are teammates on Team Liquigas. Only Pozzato appears on the 2007 Liquigas Tour de France roster; apparently Backstedt will relax after winning his national championship.
Filippo Pozzato, Lanterne Rouge of Stage 3 of the 2006 Tour, also competed in the Italian 262-km national road race championships on July 1, 2007 and finished in fifth place.
The two are teammates on Team Liquigas. Only Pozzato appears on the 2007 Liquigas Tour de France roster; apparently Backstedt will relax after winning his national championship.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Past Tour de France Lanternes Rouges in 2007
Here's an update on what I've been able to dig up about the current situation of the Tour de France Lanternes Rouges of recent years. If you have any additional current information on any of these, please leave it in the comments!
2006 Prologue Lanterne Rouge Ruben Lobato Elvira will be in the 2007 Tour de France riding for Saunier Duval-Prodir.
2006 Stage 1 Lanterne Rouge Danilo Di Luca won the 2007 Giro d'Italia for Team Liquigas, and then announced that he would not be riding Le Tour, but soon after came under suspicion of doping. His case is still awaiting a resolution.
2006 Stage 2 Lanterne Rouge Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez was not named for the 2007 Tour de France roster for his team, Euskaltel-Euskadi.
2006 Stage 3 Lanterne Rouge Filippo Pozzato is on the Liquigas Team (which has not named their Tour roster yet) and will compete in the Italian national road race championship on July 1st, 2007.
2006 Stage 4 Lanterne Rouge Magnus Backstedt is on the Liquigas Team (which has not named their Tour roster yet) and will compete in the Swedish national road race championship on July 1st, 2007.
2006 Lanterne Rouge of 9 Stages, Sébastien Joly, is a member of the Française des Jeux team which has not yet announced its 2007 Tour de France rider roster. In his earlier years he rode with Bonjour alongside fellow Lanternes Rouges of 1998, Damien Nazon, and 2000, Olivier Parraudeau.
2006 overall Lanterne Rouge Wim Vansevenant is a member of the Predictor-Lotto team which has not yet announced its 2007 Tour de France rider roster.
2005 Stages 1-3 Lanterne Rouge Leonardo Piepoli, mountain climber for Saunier Duval-Prodir, won the mountain climber competition at the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but is under investigation for excessive levels of asthma medication during the Giro, and is not on their 2007 Tour de France roster.
2005 Stages 5 and 7 Lanterne Rouge Janeck Tombak, an Estonian now riding for the second-tier Jartazi Promo Fashion team, not a Team in the 2007 Tour. He recently won the 4th stage in the Tour of Picardie.
2005 Stage 6 Lanterne Rouge Steve Zampieri was a member of the now-disbanded Phonak cycling team. He now rides for Cofidis but was not named for their 2007 Tour de France team.
2005 overall Lanterne Rouge Iker Flores (brother of 2002 Lanterne Rouge Igor Flores) is now riding for Fuerteventura (a new pro-continental team, formerly Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme) and is "one of the favourites to win the Euskal Bizikleta which kicks off on June 8th in the Basque country of Spain."
Two-time Lanterne Rouge (2001 and 2004) Jimmy Casper now is a member of the Unibet.com cycling team, which as a gambling concern has been barred from racing (and thereby advertising their product) on French soil.
2003 overall Lanterne Rouge Hans de Clerq rode for Lotto-Domo, which has turned into the Predictor-Lotto team. According to the Dutch Wikipedia, "Hans De Clercq is since 2006 also competition leader of the Per Tour-competition Ghent-Wevelgem and since 2007 team leader of the cyclo-cross race team Sunweb-ProJob".
2002 overall Lanterne Rouge Igor Flores rode for Euskaltel-Euskadi and currently rides as a guide for Grupetto Tours.
2000 overall Lanterne Rouge Olivier Perraudeau rode for Bonjour in 2002 along with 1998 Lanterne Rouge Damien Nazon and subsequent 2006 stage Lanterne Rouge Sébastien Joly. I haven't found more recent news.
1999 overall Lanterne Rouge Jacky Durand worked for Eurosport in 2006.
1998 overall Lanterne Rouge Damien Nazon also rode for Bonjour in 2002 with subsequent Lanterne Rouge Olivier Parraudeau of 2000 and 2006 stage Lanterne Rouge Sébastien Joly. Until 2005 he rode for Credit Agricole.
2006 Prologue Lanterne Rouge Ruben Lobato Elvira will be in the 2007 Tour de France riding for Saunier Duval-Prodir.
2006 Stage 1 Lanterne Rouge Danilo Di Luca won the 2007 Giro d'Italia for Team Liquigas, and then announced that he would not be riding Le Tour, but soon after came under suspicion of doping. His case is still awaiting a resolution.
2006 Stage 2 Lanterne Rouge Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez was not named for the 2007 Tour de France roster for his team, Euskaltel-Euskadi.
2006 Stage 3 Lanterne Rouge Filippo Pozzato is on the Liquigas Team (which has not named their Tour roster yet) and will compete in the Italian national road race championship on July 1st, 2007.
2006 Stage 4 Lanterne Rouge Magnus Backstedt is on the Liquigas Team (which has not named their Tour roster yet) and will compete in the Swedish national road race championship on July 1st, 2007.
2006 Lanterne Rouge of 9 Stages, Sébastien Joly, is a member of the Française des Jeux team which has not yet announced its 2007 Tour de France rider roster. In his earlier years he rode with Bonjour alongside fellow Lanternes Rouges of 1998, Damien Nazon, and 2000, Olivier Parraudeau.
2006 overall Lanterne Rouge Wim Vansevenant is a member of the Predictor-Lotto team which has not yet announced its 2007 Tour de France rider roster.
2005 Stages 1-3 Lanterne Rouge Leonardo Piepoli, mountain climber for Saunier Duval-Prodir, won the mountain climber competition at the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but is under investigation for excessive levels of asthma medication during the Giro, and is not on their 2007 Tour de France roster.
2005 Stages 5 and 7 Lanterne Rouge Janeck Tombak, an Estonian now riding for the second-tier Jartazi Promo Fashion team, not a Team in the 2007 Tour. He recently won the 4th stage in the Tour of Picardie.
2005 Stage 6 Lanterne Rouge Steve Zampieri was a member of the now-disbanded Phonak cycling team. He now rides for Cofidis but was not named for their 2007 Tour de France team.
2005 overall Lanterne Rouge Iker Flores (brother of 2002 Lanterne Rouge Igor Flores) is now riding for Fuerteventura (a new pro-continental team, formerly Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme) and is "one of the favourites to win the Euskal Bizikleta which kicks off on June 8th in the Basque country of Spain."
Two-time Lanterne Rouge (2001 and 2004) Jimmy Casper now is a member of the Unibet.com cycling team, which as a gambling concern has been barred from racing (and thereby advertising their product) on French soil.
2003 overall Lanterne Rouge Hans de Clerq rode for Lotto-Domo, which has turned into the Predictor-Lotto team. According to the Dutch Wikipedia, "Hans De Clercq is since 2006 also competition leader of the Per Tour-competition Ghent-Wevelgem and since 2007 team leader of the cyclo-cross race team Sunweb-ProJob".
2002 overall Lanterne Rouge Igor Flores rode for Euskaltel-Euskadi and currently rides as a guide for Grupetto Tours.
2000 overall Lanterne Rouge Olivier Perraudeau rode for Bonjour in 2002 along with 1998 Lanterne Rouge Damien Nazon and subsequent 2006 stage Lanterne Rouge Sébastien Joly. I haven't found more recent news.
1999 overall Lanterne Rouge Jacky Durand worked for Eurosport in 2006.
1998 overall Lanterne Rouge Damien Nazon also rode for Bonjour in 2002 with subsequent Lanterne Rouge Olivier Parraudeau of 2000 and 2006 stage Lanterne Rouge Sébastien Joly. Until 2005 he rode for Credit Agricole.
Labels: Backstedt, Casper, de Clerq, DiLuca, Durand, Flores, Hernandez, Joly, Lobato, Nazon, Perraudeau, Piepoli, Pozzato, Tombak, Vansevenant, Zampieri
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Former Lanternes Rouges in cycling news
From Cycling News:
"Filippo Pozzato (Francaise des Jeux) has won the Omloop Het Volk, the unofficial start of the classics season. The Italian sprinted into the lead in the last 300 m to win the 200-km race in 5:04:38."
From Cyclingpost.com:
"Frenchman Jimmy Casper has won the first Walloon race of the season, the Memorial Samyn - Fayt-le-Franc, winning the sprint of a large group. ... In the sprint, Casper was first to cross the finish line ahead of Gilbert, who occupied the second spot last year as well. Dutchman Bastiaan Giling completed the podium."
"Filippo Pozzato (Francaise des Jeux) has won the Omloop Het Volk, the unofficial start of the classics season. The Italian sprinted into the lead in the last 300 m to win the 200-km race in 5:04:38."
From Cyclingpost.com:
"Frenchman Jimmy Casper has won the first Walloon race of the season, the Memorial Samyn - Fayt-le-Franc, winning the sprint of a large group. ... In the sprint, Casper was first to cross the finish line ahead of Gilbert, who occupied the second spot last year as well. Dutchman Bastiaan Giling completed the podium."
Labels: Casper, past Lanternes Rouges, Pozzato, Updates
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Today is Sinko de Mayo
Iban Mayo's sunk. The highly-regarded Spaniard, leader of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team and once thought to be a podium contender, abandoned about 3:40 PM local time, after struggling all day yesterday and in the first part of today's stage. "The Spanish team said earlier on Thursday that Mayo had caught a cold on the plane from Lorient to Bordeaux on Sunday." It was also reported that he had knee problems.Another interesting account: "Euskaltel team leader Iban Mayo showed his anger at a cameraman tracking his progress on Thursday afternoon as the Spaniard was unable to keep pace with the peloton. Apparently unwilling to be filmed abandoning the race, Mayo instructed the cameraman tracking his progress to continue up the road, before eventually stepping down off his bike. The 29 year-old has been suffering from a sore throat for the last couple of days, reportedly brought on by air conditioning in his hotel room." Gosh, I forgot that air conditioning is so rare at the riders' lodgings that when it's encountered it carries the threat of disease.
Giovanni Lombardi, an Italian on the CSC team also abandoned earlier in the day. Additionally, Wilfried Cretskens, Belgian rider on the Quickstep-Innergetic team, abandoned today. No news yet on the reasons for these withdrawals. (CSC cycling is usually prompt with their news updates, but nothing about Lombardi yet. Nothing new has been posted on the Quickstep team site for an entire week! Jeez, help us out here!) (Update: CSC's site says now that Lombardi had stomach problems.)
That leaves 165 riders still in the 2006 Tour.
The final finisher of this monster stage was Cristophe Mengin, French rider on the Française des Jeux team, at a colossal time gap of 46:13 behind the stage winner. Our former Lanterne Rouge and his teammate, Sébastien Joly, finished well up at 107th place at 35:47 today.
That allowed Joly to move up one place in the standings and means that we have a new Lanterne Rouge: Wim Vansevenant, a Belgian rider on the Davitamon-Lotto team. He finished in the autobus today at 44:20 for the stage. He actually had been in 166th place yesterday and moves UP to 165th, but with the three abandons today that gives him the greatest aggregate time of the riders remaining in the peleton. He finished the 2005 Tour in 154th place, the penultimate position.Stage finish positions for the other previous Lanterne Rouges of the 2006 Tour: Rubén Lobato 28th (7:22), Aitor Hernandez 108th (35:47), Filippo Pozzato 109th (40:32), Magnus Backstedt 140th (44:20).
Labels: Backstedt, Cretskens, Hernandez, Joly, Lobato, Lombardi, Mayo, Mengin, Pozzato, Vansevenant
