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92nd Tour de France - GT
France, July 2-24, 2005
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 6 - Thursday, July 7: Troyes - Nancy, 199 km
Commentary by Jeff Jones, with additional reporting from Tim Maloney and Anthony Tan
Complete live report
Live coverage starts: 12:20 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:15 CEST
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12:19 CEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage
of the sixth stage of the Tour de France, brought to you from our trusty blimp,
the Hindenburg IV. We're floating above the start line in Troyes, the
home of the Simon brothers (François, Pascal, and Jerome). Both François and
Pascal have sported the Tour de France's yellow jersey in their time.
Today's stage takes us 199 kilometres east to Nancy (roughly pronounced Naw-cy),
with a few small climbs thrown in. The first is the Cat. 4 Côte de Joinville
after 83.5 km, followed by the Cat. 4 Côte de Brouthières (km 104), Cat. 4 Côte
de Montigny (km 141), and Cat. 4 Côte de Maron (km 185). The latter comes with
just 13 km to go, so it may mean the sprinters teams take a back seat today
and finally let a breakaway go.
The intermediate sprints are at Nully
(km 56), Chalaines (km 144.5), and Dommartin-Les-Toul (km 169.5), with the first
one likely to be hotly contested by the green jersey contenders.
The weather's a bit cool and cloudy at the start, and there are even thunderstorms
predicted for the finish.
12:28 CEST
Today's stage will start at approximately
12:25pm with a 7 km neutral section. The official start is expected at 12:40.
We can probably expect another fast day at the office for the boys - the average
speed of the whole race so far is a blistering 48.242 km/h! The Tour's record
average speed was set in 2003 at 40.94 km/h, but we can expect the current speed
to fall as the riders hit the mountains next week. I wouldn't rule out a new
record though.
12:38 CEST
Although it's been fast and furious
in the first week, surprisingly there has only been one abandon: Tino Zaballa
(Saunier Duval) in yesterday's stage. That means there are still 188 riders
left in the race, an impressive statistic in what is usually a crash-filled
first week.
12:42 CEST
The flag drops for the start of stage
6 and they're off and racing! May the best man win, and all of that.
A crash in the neutral zone took down Laurent Lefevre (Bouygues), Jose Vicente
Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears), and Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo). None
were seriously hurt.
12:49 CEST 6km/193km to go
As expected, the attacks
have started straight away. A Credit Agricole rider was the first to try, followed
by Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r). In these early stages, it normally takes 20-30 km
for a break to get away, sometimes even more if the peloton is really going
for it.
12:52 CEST 9km/190km to go
After Dumoulin was
caught, six riders countered, including George Hincapie (Discovery), Bobby Julich
(CSC), Joost Posthuma (Rabobank), Alberto Contador (Liberty Seguros), Guido
Trenti (Quick.Step) and Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom). There was no way
the peloton was going to let Hincapie (2nd on GC) get clear, and the group came
back.
12:54 CEST
Our Inside
Discovery man Chris Brewer reports from the start: "Talking with Assistant
DS Sean Yates before the stage, he said that the Discovery Channel strategy
going in is to monitor the early attacks and cover things until the expected
escape sorts itself out. Asked if there was any chance of CSC's German strongman
Jens Voigt getting away as the Tour heads to Germany, Yates said "Well we're
not letting him go!' noting that George Hincapie would most likely be marking
Jens closely."
12:56 CEST 14km/185km to go
Posthuma has managed
to keep going and now has Michael Albasini (Liquigas) and Leon van Bon (Davitamon-Lotto)
with him for company. They are about 20 seconds ahead of the peloton.
13:01 CEST 19km/180km to go
Quick.Step has taken
over control of the peloton, which is sitting 20 seconds behind the lead trio
of Posthuma, Albasini and Van Bon. It has been a very fast start, with 19 km
covered in the first 21 minutes.
13:03 CEST 21km/178km to go
The three leaders
are coming back, courtesy of the Quick.Step chase. The gap is down to 12 seconds.
13:07 CEST 24km/175km to go
The break is over.
Van Bon and Albasini are back in the peloton, but Posthuma survives. Immediately,
Christophe Mengin (FDJ) counter-attacks. He has Posthuma and Geslin (Bouygues)
in pursuit.
13:09 CEST 27km/172km to go
Mengin is now solo
with a 15 second lead.
13:14 CEST 31km/168km to go
Four riders have
set off in pursuit of Mengin, including KOM leader Erik Dekker (Rabobank), Lorenzo
Bernucci (Fassa Bortolo), Sébastien Joly (Credit Agricole), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner),
and Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r-Prevoyance).
13:18 CEST 35km/164km to go
The Dekker group
has been hauled back, and now Mauro Gerosa (Liquigas) has joined Mengin up front,
the pair still only holding 20 seconds lead.
13:24 CEST 39km/160km to go
The two leaders,
Gerosa and Mengin, are hovering 20 seconds ahead of the peloton, where Cofidis
has been active in the chase. It's been a lightning fast start, with 39 km covered
in the first 44 minutes!
13:34 CEST 47km/152km to go
The two leaders have
now been joined by Karsten Kroon (Rabobank), Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole),
and Stéphane Augé (Cofidis), and this group has a lead of 2'30 after 47 km.
13:38 CEST
Yesterday we reported on London's
successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics. Today, unfortunately, several bombs
have exploded in the British capital, killing several people, injuring many
more, and bringing the city to a standstill. That's bad news, and we hope that
if you work there or have friends/relatives there, that they are OK.
13:39 CEST 50km/149km to go
The five leaders
have now reached the 50 km mark, holding their 2'30 advantage over the peloton.
Gerosa is the best placed on GC, starting the day 4'22 behind Lance Armstrong.
So he has a while to go before he is in the virtual yellow jersey.
13:46 CEST 56km/143km to go
The leaders are now
4 minutes ahead of the peloton as they reach the first sprint at Nully.
13:50 CEST 59km/140km to go
Mengin has taken
out the 6 points at the first sprint, followed Jaan Kirsipuu and Stéphane Augé.
51.5 km were covered in the first hour.
13:51 CEST 60km/139km to go
The lead is up to
4'25 as the break reaches the 60 km mark, which puts Gerosa in the maillot
jaune virtuel, but only by three seconds. Discovery Channel is leading the
peloton at a steady tempo.
13:55 CEST
A small correction: Stéphane Augé
(Cofidis) is in the break (and got third in that sprint), not Michael Albasini.
14:06 CEST 72km/127km to go
The leaders are now
up to 5'25 ahead of the peloton, which means that Gerosa is the virtual leader
by over a minute. Will this be the break that gets away?
14:16 CEST 80km/119km to go
Rain is falling on
the riders now, and the break's lead has jumped up to 6'50. This is the biggest
lead that a break has gotten in the Tour so far, and could be the signal that
Discovery will let the yellow jersey go. The boys in blue would normally control
things more tightly otherwise.
14:22 CEST 84km/115km to go
The five leaders
are on the first of the four Cat. 4 climbs today, the Côte de Joinville. It
looks like the mountains jersey will changes hands, with Karsten Kroon probably
wanting to keep it in the Rabobank camp. We'll see how he does on the climb.
14:29 CEST 87km/112km to go
The lead is now up
to eight minutes, and still growing. None of these riders is really a threat
for the final overall classification, and Armstrong's team could well
be handing over the reins to Liquigas today, as Gerosa started the day just
4'22 behind.
There are no Davitamon-Lotto or Quick.Step riders in
the break, so in theory those teams will have to chase if they want to win the
stage. But given the lumpy finale, they might not bother today. Both teams have
wins now, so the pressure is off them a little.
Of course, an 8 minute
gap is quite closeable in 110 km, if there is the necessary motivation.
14:35 CEST 93km/106km to go
Stéphane Augé (Cofidis)
has taken the points on the first climb, the Côte de Joinville, ahead of Christophe
Mengin and Karsten Kroon.
It's 15 degrees and raining at the moment,
making things tough for all the riders. There's also a 22 km/h tailwind, which
is helping to string the peloton out.
14:38 CEST 97km/102km to go
It's not raining
too heavily on the five leaders at the moment, and three of them aren't even
wearing arm warmers. The roads are wet though. Their gap is 8'15.
14:41 CEST 99km/100km to go
The peloton is riding
through the feed zone at Suzannecourt, where it is definitely raining. Quick.Step's
Knaven is pounding away on the front, with Johan Vansummeren and a few of the
Davitamon boys. Obviously, the two sprinters' teams haven't given up the ghost
yet.
14:42 CEST
The average speed after two hours
is a shade over 48 km/h, after 45 km were covered in the second hour. The riders
have had tailwinds for most of these early stages, which has helped push the
average up a bit.
14:45 CEST 100km/99km to go
The pace in the bunch
is by no means easy, as Quick.Step and Davitamon keep the pressure on. It's
Vansummeren, Brandt, Aerts (Davitamon), Hulsmans, Knaven, and Cretskens (Quick.Step)
doing the damage. The gap falls below eight minutes.
14:50 CEST
Of the leaders, Kirsipuu is the most
accomplished Tour de France rider, having won four stages. Mostly he specialises
in bunch sprints, but he is a very strong rider who can win in a solo break
too.
Karsten Kroon and Christophe Mengin have also won stages in
the Tour, while Augé and Gerosa have yet to do so.
14:51 CEST 104km/95km to go
Stéphane Augé sprints
for the mountain points on the Côte de Brouthières, going from a long way out.
But Karsten Kroon marks him and comes around him right at the end to take the
6 points. Mauro Gerosa takes third.
14:53 CEST 106km/93km to go
The Quick.Step/Davitamon
chase is having an effect, already carving a minute off the lead, which is down
to 7'11. A Domina Vacanze rider has also joined in the chase. All of the workers
are doing short turns, as they need to keep the speed up.
14:55 CEST
Christophe Moreau is chasing back
onto the peloton after a mechanical of some sort. Punctures would be more frequent
today.
14:59 CEST 110km/89km to go
Mario Aerts tells
the Domina Vacanze rider to take shorter pulls in the peloton, and he obliges.
The gap is now down to 6'50.
15:00 CEST
In the break, which is getting rained
on again, we can note that Christophe Mengin is from Nancy. He's towards the
end of his career, so today might be one of the last chances he has to win a
stage in the Tour. But it looks like Lotto and Quick.Step don't want that to
happen.
15:06 CEST 115km/84km to go
A report from the
CN team car on the road, which has just driven over the final 15 km of the course.
The final climb at 13 km to go is nasty and steep, and could provoke a few attacks.
There are huge crowds on the descent and run in to the finish, including a lot
of schoolkids wearing little yellow t-shirts.
Between km 10 and
km 5 it's a very steep downhill, and the riders will probably hit 100 km/h.
But at the bottom, there's a fairly sharp 90 degree left hander, and the riders
will still be travelling fast there. There are a fair amount of speed bumps
coming into town and the roads are wet at the moment. Fortunately (for safety
reasons), it's a long straight finish for the last 4 km.
15:09 CEST 119km/80km to go
Kirsipuu seems to
have had a mechanical or has stopped for a nature break, but is now chasing
back onto the break. He has no problems doing that.
The five leaders:
Karsten Kroon (Rabobank), Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole), Mauro Gerosa (Liquigas-Bianchi),
Stéphane Augé (Cofidis), Christophe Mengin (Française Des Jeux). They have 6'00
over the peloton, which is being led by the Davitamon and Quick.Step teams.
15:12 CEST 122km/77km to go
Some of the riders
have little black boxes on the back of their saddles. These are to transmit
power and heart rate data. At the moment, Tobias Steinhauser (T-Mobile) and
Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner) are sitting on 129 and 135 bpm respectively.
The peloton is a strange sight now: a group of 30 clustered together at the
front, then a long string of riders behind, fighting for position.
15:13 CEST
IT's very tough at the back of the
peloton as a crosswind rips from the left to the right. At 50 km/h, it's hard
to find much shelter.
15:15 CEST 124km/75km to go
The five leaders
cross over a slick set of train tracks, as they get cheered on by a local fire
department. Not much work for them today, because of the rain. It's more drizzle
than hard rain.
Jan Ullrich cruises up towards the front, behind
a teammate. Alex Vinokourov is on the right side of the bunch, near Lance Armstrong.
15:17 CEST
All the time it's the same six riders
chasing: Hulsmans, Knaven and Cretskens (in the blue corner), and Vansummeren,
Aerts, and Brandt (in the red corner). It's now 5'40 to the five leaders.
Lance grimaces at the nasty weather, with his dark blue rain jacket open.
15:19 CEST 127km/72km to go
The leaders come
into Abainville, cheered on by big crowds who have braved the rain. It's fine,
misty rain, the really annoying sort.
15:20 CEST
The peloton is going through Gondrecourt-Le-Château,
some 4 km behind the break.
15:21 CEST
Inside Discovery man Chris Brewer
reports from the finish line that it's currently 13 degrees celsius with a light
but steady rain. The roads are quite slick but the winds are light.
15:24 CEST 132km/67km to go
The front part of
the peloton is the place to be, and most of the GC riders are up here. CSC has
Basso there, Discovery has Lance, T-Mobile has Vino and Jan. The rear of the
peloton is strung out in misery, with each rider trying not to swallow too much
road grit.
15:27 CEST 135km/64km to go
The chasers have
pegged the gap back to 5'09. Mauro Gerosa's virtual yellow will be swapped for
an actual green jersey soon. And a damp, muddy one at that.
Cadel
Evans is riding next to Armstrong at the moment. Both are concentrating heavily
on what lies ahead.
15:30 CEST 136km/63km to go
Mauro Facci (Fassa
Bortolo) is sitting last wheel in the peloton, probably not the best place to
be.
Ivan Basso is now sitting next to Armstrong, Vinokourov and Evans.
Horner, Ullrich, Gonzalez de Galdeano, Van Bon, Moreau, and Sevilla are up there
too, right behind the chasing six.
15:32 CEST
Karpets has a flat, or something,
as he hangs back with Garcia Acosta. Maybe it just feels like a flat. You get
that on some days...
Wim Vansevenant has added his strength to the
chase, which means Lotto has four up there and Quick.Step three.
15:34 CEST 139km/60km to go
The sodden peloton
makes its way up and over a small hill en route to Nancy, now 4'50 behind the
four leaders, who still have a slim chance of staying away. The tricky finale
will help the break.
15:37 CEST 140km/59km to go
Gerosa does a turn
as the break rides up the Côte de Montigny, the third climb of the day. The
peloton is at 4'33.
15:38 CEST 141km/58km to go
Mengin attacks for
the points but Kroon and Augé come around, and it's Kroon who gets it! Pretty
tough sprint. That should give Kroon the dots. He and Augé congratulate each
other on a good sprint!
15:42 CEST 143km/56km to go
Mengin finished third
on the climb, with Kroon taking first and Augé second. Kroon and Augé are both
on 7 points, but Kroon should get the jersey as he has won more climbs. That
is assuming they get caught before the last climb.
The peloton climbs
the Montigny at a steady pace, and yesterday's most aggressive rider (with red
number) Juan Antonio Flecha goes to the back and hands his rain jacket to the
team car.
15:44 CEST 146km/53km to go
Gerosa wins the sprint
in Chalaines ahead of Kirsipuu and Augé. But he's running out of time in the
virtual yellow! He only had 4'22 to play with, and the gap is now 4'25.
The average speed after three hours is still very fast: 47.5 km/h
15:46 CEST 148km/51km to go
There goes the virtual
yellow for Gerosa, as the gap comes down to close to four minutes. There's a
fairly damp crowd cheering the riders through Chalaines. Little kids waving
their green PMU hands.
15:51 CEST 151km/48km to go
Ullrich looks comfortable
has he grabs some food from his pocket, as does Christophe Moreau. They are
right near the front of the chase, which is led by the same seven riders from
Quick.Step and Davitamon. Erik Dekker is up there too, not chasing, just watching.
If the bunch catches the break before the final climb at 13 km to go, he will
have to try for the mountain points.
15:53 CEST 153km/46km to go
Brandt tells Vansummeren
to take it a bit easier in the chase. The big Belgian (198cm) is an incredible
engine. Moreau finds time to have an on the bike nature break. That's not easy.
The gap is under four minutes now with 46 km to go. The peloton has a bit of
work to do, given the conditions. It's not raining quite as hard, even though
the roads are still wet.
15:55 CEST 154km/45km to go
Ivan Basso has a
flat, or a mechanical, but is now chasing back on as his teammates drop back
for him.
15:56 CEST 155km/44km to go
Basso gets the usual
"adjust the brakes trick" from the team mechanic out the window. This is a delicate
operation when you're riding behind two teammates.
The five leaders,
Kroon, Kirsipuu, Gerosa, Augé, and Mengin are now just 3'30 ahead of the peloton.
15:58 CEST
That's not our blimp (the balloon
in the trees, off the side of the road).
15:59 CEST 158km/41km to go
41 km from Nancy
and some new faces are getting towards the front of the peloton, including Rodriguez,
Tankink, and Rogers. But they're not working yet.
Ivan Basso is still
chasing on with Voigt and a couple of other teammates.
16:01 CEST
Another rider has abandoned today:
Claudio Corioni (Fassa Bortolo).
16:05 CEST
A heart rate update: both Michael
Rich (Gerolsteiner) and Tobias Steinhauser (T-Mobile) are sitting on 136 bpm
and putting out about 220 watts. Their speed is 69 km/h which indicates that
the road is probably sloping downhill.
16:08 CEST 166km/33km to go
This chase has been
relentless, through rain and more rain, over the last 80 km. The five leaders
still have 2'51 of their once eight minute plus lead left, and with 34 km to
go, they still have a chance of staying clear.
16:11 CEST 168km/31km to go
Armstrong is always
towards the front of the peloton, sheltering behind Paolo Savoldelli, Chechu
Rubiera, and Pavel "Jaws" Padrnos.
The five leaders are in Dommartin-Les-Toul
now, just before the final sprint of the day. Lots of folks are here, cheering
and getting wet.
16:14 CEST 171km/28km to go
The sprint in Dommartin-Les-Toul
is uphill and it's Augé who takes it ahead of Gerosa and Mengin. The peloton
is less than two and a half minutes behind.
16:16 CEST 172km/27km to go
The breakaways are
getting tired now, but there is still a lot of work to be done. They really
need to make it to the final climb of the Côte de Maron with 13 km to go with
a minute's lead. It's down to 2'20 at the moment though.
16:19 CEST 173km/26km to go
Axel Merckx has joined
in the chase for Davitamon-Lotto, which has four others contributing too (Brandt,
Vansummeren, Aerts, and Vansevenant). Quick.Step still has Hulsmans, Cretskens,
and Knaven doing the hard yards.
Bovine update: Some cows ignore
the peloton as it flies past.
16:20 CEST 174km/25km to go
It's getting heavy
going in front as Mengin leads with 25 km to go. Kirsipuu is on the back, trying
to nurse himself back onto the peloton.
Sebastien Joly has been shelled
by the bunch. It's been a hard day back here too.
16:21 CEST
Laszlo Bodrogi is also being dropped.
Not a great day for Credit Agricole.
16:22 CEST 176km/23km to go
Auge accelerates,
but Gerosa closes it down. The gap is now 1'50 and it's looking bad for the
breakaways. Kirsipuu rolls through, but stops pedaling after not very long.
16:24 CEST
Karsten Kroon looks fairly good,
and we can expect him to gut it out until the end. Gerosa and Augé are doing
OK as well.
16:25 CEST 179km/20km to go
Flecha is still hanging
at the back of the bunch, paying for his long attack yesterday. Oh well, he
got some kudos, cash, and a red number for it.
16:27 CEST 180km/19km to go
The roads are twisting
now as the leaders take a slick descent. Their gap is still 1'39 as they go
under 20 km to go. If this was a flat run into town, the break would be toast.
But it's not.
Thor Hushovd punctures his front wheel, but gets back
on quickly and uses another team car to chase behind to find the rear of the
peloton. Not many teammates to help though.
16:29 CEST 181km/18km to go
It's now 1'32 as
the seven man chase tackles the same descent, alongside the Moselle. It's fairly
scenic here, with lots of trees.
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) has a
puncture, also a front wheel.
16:31 CEST 183km/16km to go
Chavanel has to chase
alone and is not having an easy time of it. There aren't many cars helping him
either.
The five leaders hit the Cote de Maron with 1'22 on the peloton.
Gerosa does a turn, then Mengin. Kirsipuu sits last wheel.
16:32 CEST 184km/15km to go
Gerosa and Augé take
turns, both looking tired but still with a chance. The peloton is now at the
foot of the climb. Sinkewitz now takes over for Quick.Step with Merckx on his
wheel. Armstrong is well placed.
16:33 CEST
Kirsipuu does a turn in the break,
so he can't be feeling that bad. But the gap is coming down fast. Kroon doesn't
want to work, because he wants the mountain points. So Kirsipuu attacks! Kroon
and Augé are gapped, forcing Augé to chase the three leaders. Weird situation.
16:34 CEST
Augé looks at Kroon to do a turn,
but the Rabobank rider won't. He'll keep the mountains jersey if the other three
take the points. Gerosa is dropped. Kirsipuu and Mengin are away! Now Mengin
attacks on the steepest part. Kirsipuu feels it.
16:35 CEST 185km/14km to go
Mengin is now solo,
driving towards the top of the Cote de Maron. The peloton is 50 seconds behind
him, and is losing riders: Dumoulin - gone, Voeckler - gone.
16:37 CEST 185.5km/13.5km to go
Gerosa catches
Kirsipuu, who latches onto the Italian. They are chasing Christophe Mengin,
who is near the top of the Cote de Maron. Kroon and Augé are caught by the bunch,
where CSC is on the front.
Kroon will take the mountains jersey
today.
16:38 CEST 186.5km/12.5km to go
Mengin is cheered
over the top by a huge crowd. He's the home boy today, and could well take this
stage. But 13 km and 45 seconds isn't much.
Gerosa and Kirsipuu are
now working, but the CSC led peloton is not far behind. Hincapie is up there
too, looking after Armstrong. 37 seconds to Mengin, 22 to Kirsipuu and Gerosa.
16:40 CEST 187.5km/11.5km to go
Kirsipuu and
Gerosa are working hard to try to close to Mengin as the climb flattens out.
Gerosa took second on the climb ahead of Kirsipuu.
The peloton is
broken into several bits.
Mengin is flying on the descent as Kirsipuu
and Gerosa sit up.
16:41 CEST 189km/10km to go
One leader left:
Christophe Mengin (FDJ), who is motoring on the descent with 25 seconds.
Kirsipuu and Gerosa shake hands after their long break. Now the peloton has
to regroup to catch Mengin. Where are the sprinters?
16:42 CEST 190km/9km to go
It's still raining
lightly and 14 degrees as Christophe Mengin hammers for all he is worth. He's
in a bit of trouble, trying to keep his 28 second lead as he goes up another
little hill.
Tankink moves to the front with Merckx, so Boonen and
McEwen must have survived. O'Grady certainly has - he's on the wheel of Armstrong.
A Liquigas rider attacks the peloton...Dario Cioni!
16:43 CEST 191km/8km to go
Cioni, an excellent
time trialist, is moving away from the peloton and in pursuit of Christophe
Mengin. He's 18 seconds behind the FDJ rider.
A CSC jersey is on
the front of the bunch, helping the chase.
16:44 CEST 192km/7km to go
Mengin is on the quick
part of the descent, seven km to go and 16 seconds ahead of Cioni. He takes
the left hander at the bottom fairly gently.
16:45 CEST
Cioni takes the corner, then the
peloton. McEwen and Boonen are in the top 15.
16:46 CEST 194km/5km to go
Mengin is now on the
flat, as Cioni starts to lose gas on a false flat. The peloton is coming, but
it's not over for Mengin yet. He has 12 seconds.
16:47 CEST
Rogers gets to the front for Quick.Step,
so they're really bringing in the heavy artillery. Mengin rides through the
streets of Nancy that he knows so well.
Cioni is caught. 20 seconds
to Mengin!
16:47 CEST 195km/4km to go
Mengin knows he can
do it, but it will be very close. The road straightens out now with 4 km to
go.
16:48 CEST 195.5km/3.5km to go
The FDJ rider
is getting huge cheers as he rides through the streets of Nancy, 16 seconds
ahead of the peloton. Merckx does a big turn now as FDJ marks the front of the
bunch.
16:49 CEST 196km/3km to go
Boonen and McEwen
are well placed in the bunch, which may just catch Christophe Mengin. It will
be very close! 3 km. 13 seconds.
16:49 CEST 197km/2km to go
Lampre gets to the
front, then a Rabobank rider attacks - Weening.
Mengin takes a left
hander with 10 seconds on the peloton, which makes it through the corner.
16:50 CEST
Mengin drives towards 2 km to go,
holding his 10 second lead. Vinokourov attacks!!
16:50 CEST 197.5km/1.5km to go
Vino gets a bit
of a gap but Bortolami chases behind him. O'Grady right there.
Mengin
has five seconds.
16:51 CEST 198km/1km to go
Vino bears down on
Mengin and catches him just before 1 km to go. Bernucci is with him. Three leaders.
16:52 CEST
Mengin crashes on the last corner!
And most of the peloton crash into him. Bernucci misses it, but Vino doesn't
quite. He is chasing the Italian rider.
The sprinters are all down.
16:53 CEST 199km/0km to go
Bernucci drives to
the finish and Vinokourov will take second. Excellent ride by the Kazakh. Bernucci
celebrates! What a finish!
16:54 CEST
McEwen and Boonen ride in together
with Rodriguez and Chavanel. Armstrong will lose time to Vinokourov, but the
rest of the peloton should get the same time. Mengin's crash completely threw
the peloton off. Vino and Bernucci were lucky to avoid it.
17:00 CEST
Davis, Cooke, O'Grady all slid into
Mengin. What a mess!
Armstrong will keep the lead, but he loses
19 seconds to Vinokourov on GC. That was a great ride by Vino, who probably
would have won the stage had he not had to stop behind Mengin.
17:04 CEST
That wraps it up from us today -
a very tight finish and what a bad way to end for Christophe Mengin. Oh well,
that's how it goes sometimes, especially when you're fighting for every last
km/h in the wet.
Until tomorrow!
Results
Provisional 1 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4.12.52 2 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 3 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.07 4 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze 5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 6 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 7 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 8 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Lampre-Caffita 10 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC General classification after stage 6 1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 17.58.11 2 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.55 3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 1.02 4 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.04 5 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.07 6 Jose Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 1.14 7 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 1.16 8 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel 1.26 9 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 10 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 1.32
