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93rd Tour de France - ProT
France, July 1-23, 2006
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 15 - Tuesday, July 18: Gap-l'Alpe-d'Huez, 187 km
Live Commentary by Jeff Jones, with additional reporting from Anthony Tan, Hedwig Kröner and Brecht Decaluwé
Live report
Live coverage starts: 11:45 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:10 CEST
09:09 CEST
Phase three of the 93rd Tour de France
goes full bore with a massive stage through the dark heart of the Hautes Alpes
into Isčre. An early break of contenders' teammates will get established on
the Col d'Izoard, then it's up and over the Col du Lautaret, where the long
descent will probably bring the race back together at the foot of l'Alpe d'Huez
for a ding-dong battle up the final 14km to the legendary finish. Menchov and
his strong climbers' team at Rabobank will certainly go on the attack Tuesday,
while Landis and Klöden will try to hang tough.
11:45 CEST
Welcome to Gap for the start of the
final onslaught of this year's Tour de France. The destination today is cycling's
best known mountain, L'Alpe d'Huez: 13.8km at 7.9% with 21 tortuous switchbacks,
tautology intended. That will come at the end of 187 km of racing up some fairly
serious Alps. The first is the Col d'Izoard, an hors categorie 14.5 km
climb at 7 %, which has its summit after 86 km. Then it's the Cat. 2 Col du
Lautaret, 12.1 km climb at 4.4% after 134 km, and then the Alpe.
The sprinters have a bit of action too, with the intermediate sprint at Embrun
coming after just 35 km, then one in Le Monętier-Les-Bains at km 121.
It's sunny at the start, but we could be in for a thunderstorm by the finish.
Hopefully no mudslides though. We had enough of those yesterday.
11:53 CEST 1km/186km to go
The 156 riders left
in the race complete a 2.3 km neutral zone out of Gap and the flag drops to
commence the stage.
11:58 CEST 3km/184km to go
Mountains leader David
De la Fuente (Saunier Duval) attacks and gets away in a group of five riders.
Meanwhile, GC hope Cadel Evans has punctured, but he's back in the peloton.
12:01 CEST 6km/181km to go
The group contains
Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Joost Posthuma (Rabobank), Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital),
Florent Brard (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole),
David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval) and Michael Albasini (Liquigas). But it's
not allowed to get far, and the peloton is once again groupé.
12:09 CEST 14km/173km to go
It's still together
at the 14 km mark, as riders look for the early break.
We spoke
to CSC's Christian Vandevelde this morning. He is having a great Tour so far,
and gave us his thoughts. "I did a little training ride on the rest day. I have
mixed feelings for today, but I'm looking forward to an amazing stage," he said.
12:10 CEST
French riders Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis),
Benoît Vaugrenard and Sebastien Joly (FDJ) try the next attack at km 13.
12:13 CEST 17km/170km to go
The French trio is
caught by the bunch, which is still racing hard. The first part of the stage
is fairly flat.
12:20 CEST 23km/164km to go
The bunch continues
to roll onwards, towards Savines-Le-Lac. Ruben Lobato (Saunier Duval) and Patrick
Calcagni (Liquigas) are the next to try.
Luxembourg climber Frank
Schleck (CSC) told us today, "We'll have to wait and see. It's gonna be hard.
I did l'Alpe in training, but it might be different during the race. I expect
a big bunch to arrive at the foot of the climb. I'll see how I survive the first
few kilometres."
12:21 CEST 25km/162km to go
And that one goes
nowhere too. The first sprint is in about 10 km, so perhaps the sprinters teams
will keep it together until then.
12:26 CEST 29km/158km to go
Bernhard Eisel (FDJ),
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Stefano Garzelli
(Liquigas) and Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues) have a crack at an escape attempt.
They are joined by Fabian Wegmann, but lose Flecha, Chavanel, and Voeckler.
12:29 CEST 31km/156km to go
A medium sized group
of riders has split off the peloton in pursuit of the leading trio, as they
hurtle towards the first sprint with a 50 second advantage.
12:37 CEST 37km/150km to go
The break is caught
by the chase group, and we now have an interesting mob of 25 riders leading
the race: George Hincapie and Egoi Martinez (Discovery Channel), Frank Schleck,
Jens Voigt, David Zabriskie (Team CSC), Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile), José Luis
Arrieta (AG2R-Prevoyance), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Juan Antonio Flecha
(Rabobank), Axel Merckx (Phonak), Damiano Cunego and Patxi Vila (Lampre-Fondital),
David Arroyo and Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears),
Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole), Ińigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sylvain
Chavanel (Cofidis), David De La Fuente and Ruben Lobato (Saunier Duval), Bernhard
Eisel and Benoît Vaugrenard (Française Des Jeux), Michael Albasini (Liquigas),
Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas), Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues Telecom), and Christian
Knees (Milram).
Eisel wins the first sprint at Embrun ahead of Albasini
and Vila.
The leaders have 1'30!
12:39 CEST
Frank Schleck is the best placed
rider in this high powered break of 25. He sits in 20th overall at 10'06. Merckx
is in 21st at 10'08.
12:41 CEST 41km/146km to go
There are two riders
from the leader's team in this break: Arroyo and Garcia Acosta. They shouldn't
be working though. Arroyo is the better placed, in 35th at 19'43. But he's not
really high enough up on GC to 'protect' Pereiro.
12:46 CEST 45km/142km to go
It's been a mighty
quick start to this first Alpine stage - the riders have already covered 44
km in just over 52 minutes. The gap between the front break and the peloton
remains more or less steady at a minute and a half.
Axel Merckx looked
calm and relaxed when we chatted to him briefly this morning. "I had a good
rest day and I'm fit," said the Phonak rider, who is having a good Tour so far.
12:50 CEST
The lead grows to 2'50, so this break
is going to stay away for a while. The Caisse d'Epargne riders up front will
probably be trying to save themselves for later, when they may be able to help
Pereiro when he comes up.
12:53 CEST 50km/137km to go
The break is looking
on track for a 50 km/h first hour(!). The gap grows to 3'10 as the peloton has
no choice but to let it go. The situation can change on the climbs.
12:56 CEST
Bernhard Eisel (FDJ) is in the break,
but is not particularly looking forward to the finishing climb. "It is true
that l’Alpe d’Huez is a mythical place, but all we know today is that we will
be in a lot of pain," the Austrian told Cyclingnews. "But if it goes like in
the Pyrenees, I won’t have any problems to follow."
13:03 CEST 56km/131km to go
The lead keeps increasing
to 3'30, but Caisse d'Epargne starts to ride a bit harder behind and it's not
ballooning out. This is going to put a lot of pressure on the Spanish team,
with some potentially dangerous riders up the road but none of the really
big hitters.
13:06 CEST 58km/129km to go
Lobato attacks the
lead group, which obviously isn't going fast enough or isn't cooperating well
enough for his liking. It's hard to get 25 riders to work together. The Saunier
man leads by 15 seconds.
13:10 CEST 62km/125km to go
And the average speed
in first hour is 50.8 km/h. Ouch, that can't be good for you. That was even
quicker than the first hour of stage 13, which was 50.4 km/h.
Lobato
still has 15 seconds on the rest of the break as the road starts to go uphill,
while the peloton is at 3'53. There's another 10 km before the Izoard starts
for real.
13:14 CEST 65km/122km to go
Lobato comes back
to the fold as the break regroups before the Izoard. The peloton is fairly stretched
as it rides up the valley.
13:17 CEST 67km/120km to go
Brard leads the peloton,
resplendent in his tricolore French champion's jersey. Leader Pereiro is in
fourth wheel, with the long mullet of Vladimir Karpets flowing in the wind behind
him.
13:22 CEST
Bram de Groot is suffering at the
rear of the peloton. We asked his team director Erik Breukink how things were
with Rabobank this morning. "Everyone's fit except for Bram de Groot," he said.
"He had a cold and didn't feel well on the rest day. He's scared of this stage.
Little problems might lead to big ones."
As for the team's strategy,
Breukink wants to save his riders. "If we're there in the finale, and we feel
good, then we'll try it."
13:27 CEST 72km/115km to go
The break hits the
Izoard with 4'20 on the bunch. Arrieta feels good and does a strong turn. Eisel
and Chavanel sit at the back.
13:27 CEST
13:29 CEST 73km/114km to go
Rujano has attacked
the peloton! The first good sign from him since the start of the race. The small
Quick.Step climber has a good gap.
Meanwhile, Thomas Voeckler is
dropped from the bunch.
13:32 CEST 74km/113km to go
Voigt and De La Fuente
swap off in the break, trying to keep the tempo high.
In the peloton,
there's still three Caisse d'Epargne riders ahead of Pereiro. McEwen is at the
back of the bunch.
Rujano is within 4'01 of the leaders, while the
peloton cruises at 4'43.
13:38 CEST 77km/110km to go
The Izoard is starting
to take its toll on the bunch, as Tom Boonen is fairly visible at the rear with
teammate Steven de Jongh. Boonen puts in a little effort and regains the peloton.
Pereiro looks comfy at the front. Rujano is about 30 seconds ahead of the bunch,
but not really making much of an inroad into the leading 25.
13:41 CEST 78km/109km to go
Rujano is now 3'20
behind the front runners. That's good going for the Venezuelan climber.
Lance Armstrong visited the Tour in Gap. He was supposed to have flown in by
helicopter from l’Alpe d’Huez. He was in the Discovery Channel team bus, and
of course the media was waiting outside. He came out, spoke on camera for five
minutes, then he was escorted 10 metres to the SRM van and drove away.
13:43 CEST 78.5km/108.5km to go
Jose Angel Gomez
Marchante attacks the peloton in pursuit of Rujano, who is 2'45 the leaders.
Marchante is caught by an Euskaltel rider.
Boonen suddenly blows
a gasket, and drops out of the bunch for good.
13:46 CEST 79km/108km to go
Boonen catches Kopp,
while ahead of the peloton, Gomez Marchante is joined by Bruseghin and another
rider.
In the front group, Albasini, Vaugrenard, Knees and Pineau
are all dropped. Wegmann is also suffering, and Garcia Acosta.
13:46 CEST
Garzelli lifts the pace on the Izoard,
and gets a gap.
13:51 CEST 81km/106km to go
It's getting very
very messy... Garzelli leads a small group containing Frank Schleck, Jens Voigt
(CSC), George Hincapie and Egoi Martinez (Discovery Channel), Eddy Mazzoleni
(T-Mobile), Axel Merckx (Phonak), Damiano Cunego and Patxi Vila (Lampre-Fondital),
David Arroyo (Caisse d'Eparnge), Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole), Ińigo Landaluze
(Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Ruben Lobato and David De La
Fuente (Saunier Duval).
Then the rest of the break are following
at dribs and drabs. Rujano should start riding through these soon. Then Gomez
Marchante (Saunier Duval), Garcia Lopez (Euskaltel), Bruseghin (Lampre), Calzati
(AG2R). Then Mercado. Then the peloton.
I've said it before, but
don't try this at home, kids.
13:53 CEST
The sprinters bus forms with McEwen,
Vansevenant, Dean and a few more. Bram de Groot and Gert Steegmans also.
13:55 CEST 82km/105km to go
The peloton still
numbers a good 50 riders, including all the GC men. Landis is right up there
behind Pereiro and co.
Mercado is gaining on Marchante's group.
Casper and Coyot go out the back with Freire.
13:58 CEST 83km/104km to go
Garzelli has a nice
tempo going as he checks behind to see where the rest of the group is.
Rujano has started to make his way through the debris of the breakaway. He passes
Eisel. He's about 2'55 behind Garzelli, and 2'20 behind that next group.
Pena and Moos (Phonak) are dropped from the peloton.
Mercado catches
the Marchante group.
Why can't we have just two riders in the lead
and the whole peloton?
14:00 CEST 83.5km/103.5km to go
Most of the Phonak
team has been dropped from the bunch, and there are just two left with Landis.
He's probably given them an easy day today, as Caisse d'Epargne will do most
of the riding.
Garzelli is 2.5 km from the summit of the Izoard,
bobbing up and down, but with a nice style. The former Giro d'Italia winner
looks good as he nears the top of this alien looking mountain.
14:02 CEST 85km/102km to go
Garzelli looks up
as he powers along. He might have been better advised to hang out with the break
for a bit longer, but what the hell. He'll be first to the top of the Izoard.
Maybe he could make an attempt on the mountains jersey? De la Fuente is still
in that chasing group though.
14:04 CEST
Landis attacks the peloton to take
a nature break on the Izoard. That's gotta be a first! A Rabo rider also does
that.
14:06 CEST
Now Karpets does the same. His teammates
slow the tempo in front. Kessler is looking good, up near the front. He's wearing
his 'lucky' undershirt it seems. Or maybe he has several. Given the number of
times he has crashed in this race, we're not sure about what luck is being conferred
on Matze.
The peloton is at 5'00 as everyone follows Landis' example
and relieves themselves.
14:08 CEST 86km/101km to go
Garzelli powers to
the summit, determined to make this attack work. He's pedaling at 80-90 rpm.
The chase group is a minute and a bit down, and De La Fuente takes second ahead
of Cunego, and Patxi Vila.
14:13 CEST 90km/97km to go
Martinez, Schleck,
Charteau, Arrieta, Voigt and Arroyo are 5th-10th on the climb.
That
chase group consists of Frank Schleck, Jens Voigt (CSC), George Hincapie and
Egoi Martinez (Discovery Channel), Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile), Axel Merckx (Phonak),
José Luis Arrieta (AG2R-Prevoyance), Damiano Cunego and Patxi Vila (Lampre-Fondital),
David Arroyo (Caisse d'Eparnge), Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole), Ińigo Landaluze
(Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Ruben Lobato, David De La Fuente
(Saunier Duval).
Then Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank), Christian Knees
(Milram), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) at 2'10.
Rujano is with Pineau
and Vaugrenard(?) at 3'30.
The peloton is 6'30 back at the summit
of the Izoard.
14:18 CEST 96km/91km to go
A Caisse d'Epargne
rider crashes on the descent, but is back on his bike again and is going. It
was Nicolas Portal.
Garzelli is flying at 70-80 km/h on the nice
roads.
14:23 CEST 102km/85km to go
Egoi Martinez has
crashed on the descent and is being treated by the race doctor.
Garzelli, alone, still has 1'10 on the Schleck group, with the bunch at 6'20.
The wind is behind the riders at the moment, and that will help Garzelli.
14:24 CEST
Correction to the earlier story about
Armstrong. According to Chris Brewer (thepaceline.com), Armstrong did speak
on camera for five minutes before leaving.
Boonen is one of the last
riders on the road.
14:26 CEST 104km/83km to go
De Jongh also crashed,
but he's up and riding again. The peloton strings out on the descent in one
long line. Garcia Acosta is leading them, having dropped out of the break.
14:28 CEST 106km/81km to go
Garzelli flies through
Briancon, having done a good descent of the Col d'Izoard. The next climb is
the Lautaret, but that isn't too difficult.
14:30 CEST
Landis has a mechanical problem on
the descent. Garcia Acosta slows the pace.
Maxim Iglinsky (Milram)
has crashed. He nearly got run over by a race car. He's back on the bike, riding
very slowly.
14:33 CEST 108km/79km to go
Garzelli rides past
some scantily clad spectators, and even takes the time for a look. But the moment
is past and he's on his way again.
14:36 CEST 109km/78km to go
The chasers are 55
seconds behind the lone leader. Zabriskie seems to be back with them, so we
have: Frank Schleck, Jens Voigt David Zabriskie (Team CSC), George Hincapie
(Discovery Channel), Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile), José Luis Arrieta (AG2R-Prevoyance),
Axel Merckx (Phonak), Damiano Cunego, Patxi Vila (Lampre-Fondital), David Arroyo
(Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole), Ińigo
Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), David De La Fuente,
Ruben Lobato (Saunier Duval).
14:38 CEST 110km/77km to go
The first chasers
are coming back to Garzelli, and are now just 35 seconds behind the Liquigas
rider. They've caught him.
14:39 CEST
The leaders pass through the feed
zone in Chantemerle, and they all take food on board and eat it as fast as they
can. The tailwind is still there.
14:41 CEST
Wegmann and Flecha have caught the
leaders, so we have 18 ahead: Frank Schleck - best on GC at 10'06, Jens Voigt,
David Zabriskie (Team CSC), Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas), George Hincapie (Discovery
Channel), Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile), José Luis Arrieta (AG2R-Prevoyance), Axel
Merckx (Phonak), Damiano Cunego, Patxi Vila (Lampre-Fondital), David Arroyo
(Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole), Ińigo
Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), David De La Fuente,
Ruben Lobato (Saunier Duval), Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank), Fabian Wegmann
(Gerolsteiner).
14:43 CEST 115km/72km to go
Knees is the next
'group' on the road at 2'20. Then Rujano's group with Vaugrenard, Mercado and
Pineau at 3'02, and the bunch at 4'44.
14:45 CEST
Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) is in
the peloton at the moment. He told us before the start, "Today will be really
hard. We will try to do our best and see where we finish up. It is true that
I have really good form and I hope that I am in the same shape as in the Pyrenees.
I hope that I can be up front today but it will be very difficult. There will
be a lot of Dutch spectators today so if I am not on top, it won’t have been
for the lack of support, but because I missed my legs. We will see. "
14:47 CEST
Finally, the situation has simplified
a little. In front, we have the group of 18 with Schleck and Hincapie. Then
Christian Knees on his own at 2'20, then a group of eight riders: Jose Rujano
(Quick.Step), Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues Telecom), Benoît Vaugrenard (Française
Des Jeux), Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel), Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Saunier
Duval), Bruseghin (Lampre), Calzati (AG2R) at 2'59. And then the peloton at
4'41. So simple is it.
14:49 CEST
Knees has been absorbed by Rujano's
group, so we have just two groups on the road ahead of the peloton. Phew.
14:53 CEST 120km/67km to go
Gonchar comes to
the front to help out Caisse d'Epargne chase in the peloton. Meanwhile, up front,
De La Fuente gets some mechanical adjustment for his derailleur.
The crowds on Alpe d'Huez are significantly lower than in previous years, but
that has largely to do with the fact that this stage doesn't fall on a weekend.
There's a marching band playing at the finish. Yes!!!
Zabriskie takes
the sprint points ahead of Lobato and Hincapie in Le Monętier-Les-Bains.
14:55 CEST 122km/65km to go
The leaders are on
the Col de Lautaret, a 12 km climb averaging 4.4%. Gonchar is pulling on the
front of the bunch, which is at least 100 riders strong. He's working with Caisse
d'Epargne.
The Rujano group is at 3'23 behind the leaders, while
the peloton is at 4'17.
14:57 CEST 124km/63km to go
Rujano leads his
chase group through under the sprint banner, still determined to do something
today. But it doesn't look like happening. His group is 3'32 behind the bunch,
while the peloton follows at 4'06. Phonak's Victor Pena is back with the bunch,
and working.
14:57 CEST
Bram de Groot has abandoned.
14:59 CEST
Rujano's group will probably be swallowed
on the Lautaret. Nice try, but a bit futile. Yep, they've sat up and the peloton
sweeps them up, strung right out.
15:00 CEST 125km/62km to go
Patxi Vila attacks
on the Lautaret, and gets de la Fuente for company. He looks frustrated. De
la Fuente could secure his lead in the mountains comp today. They have a 5 second
gap over the rest of the break.
15:10 CEST 129km/58km to go
The two leaders get
to within 5 km of the summit of the Lautaret, with the rest of the break pursuing
at 10 seconds. Flecha is dropped from the break.
Boonen has abandoned.
He had problems breathing today.
In the peloton, Weening (Rabobank),
Gonchar (T-Mobile) and Pena (Phonak) are helping the chase. Brard (Caisse d'Epargne)
has been dropped, as has Rujano.
15:11 CEST
Egoi Martinez is back in the peloton
after his crash.
15:12 CEST 131km/56km to go
Pineau is also dropped
from the bunch. And Nicolas Jalabert. The Lautaret may only be a cat. 2 climb,
but it's hard enough. Garcia Acosta leads the bunch 4'10 behind the front riders.
Pereiro looks good in yellow, but Alpe d'Huez is going to hurt.
15:13 CEST
Ekimov is with the caravan, just
off the back of the 60-strong bunch as it rolls up the Col de Lautaret.
15:18 CEST 133km/54km to go
The leaders are 1
km form the summit of the Lautaret.
The average speed after three
hours is 40.2 km/h. That's pretty darn quick for a mountain stage.
15:20 CEST
Voigt and Zabriskie lead the break
up behind Vila and de La Fuente. This break has lost Charteau, Wegmann and Flecha.
The wind is more across them now as we turn back northwest.
15:20 CEST 134km/53km to go
David de la Fuente
takes more points for his mountains jersey at the summit, with Patxi Vila second.
15:21 CEST 135km/52km to go
The chase group comes
up wt 25 seconds, then Wegmann, Charteau and Flecha at 1'25, and the peloton
still at 4'00.
15:22 CEST
The time for the Lautaret: 26'52
for the 12 km. That's 26.8 km/h.
Garzelli, Voigt, Zabriskie, Merckx
take third through sixth on the climb.
15:24 CEST
The peloton now has the Caisse d'Epargne
riders in front as they get towards the summit of the Lautaret. Sandy Casar
is chasing through the caravan, where Chris Horner is getting bidons for Evans.
Garcia Acosta leads the bunch over at about 4'20.
15:26 CEST 138km/49km to go
Landis is right behind
Pereiro in the peloton, with two teammates (and he has Merckx up the road).
De La Fuente and Vila have sat up and are absorbed by the front group.
15:31 CEST
The peloton snakes down the descent
of the Lautaret, with dark clouds hovering in the horizon...
15:35 CEST 147km/40km to go
The break is still
mainly powered by two of the three CSC riders. Lobato is also working hard for
De La Fuente. It looks like a few rain drops are starting to fall. But the riders
won't have to descend in the wet today.
15:38 CEST 150km/37km to go
And now the storm
starts. Well, they're two thirds of the way down the descent of the Lautaret.
Garzelli puts his rain jacket on at 50 km/h.
15:43 CEST 155km/32km to go
Now the peloton hits
the storm as it flies down the valley towards Bourg d'Oisans.
Vila
attacks the break.
15:45 CEST 157km/30km to go
Vila is maybe just
trying to keep the pace high in the break. He takes his glasses off. Voigt is
on his wheel, enjoying the rain. De La Fuente is also there.
The
full composition of the lead group: Frank Schleck - best on GC at 10'06, Jens
Voigt, David Zabriskie (Team CSC), Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas), George Hincapie
(Discovery Channel), Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile), José Luis Arrieta (AG2R-Prevoyance),
Axel Merckx (Phonak), Damiano Cunego, Patxi Vila (Lampre-Fondital), David Arroyo
(Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), Ińigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sylvain
Chavanel (Cofidis), Ruben Lobato, David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval).
15:46 CEST 158km/29km to go
Flecha has dropped
back to the peloton, and is helping drive it for Rabobank. Caisse d'Epargne
are still there, as is Gonchar for T-Mobile.
Voigt has dropped off
the leaders for some reason.
15:48 CEST 160km/27km to go
Voigt is being passed
by the team cars now. He may have simply run out of gas, or he may wait for
the peloton to help out Sastre.
15:50 CEST 162km/25km to go
The rain is starting
to ease and the sun shows itself again. The peloton flows through a tunnel in
a long line, in pursuit of the break. Patxi Vila and Cunego are the front two
riders in the break, and they are on drier roads.
15:52 CEST 163km/24km to go
The bunch races over
the Barrage du Chambon dam wall.
In front, Zabriskie is powering
the break along with Vila. Schleck is CSC's protected rider up front.
15:53 CEST
Voigt is back with the break! Nice
chase.
15:54 CEST 165km/22km to go
Zabriskie drives
it on a small climb, really suffering as he keeps the break 3'40 ahead of the
peloton. Mazzoleni sits in last wheel.
15:54 CEST
15:54 CEST
Flecha and Gonchar are hammering
the peloton with Casse d'Epargne right on their wheels. Weening is also coming
up to help.
15:55 CEST 166km/21km to go
Zabriskie powers
on another descent. We're getting close to Bourg d'Oisans now.
15:57 CEST 167km/20km to go
Our TdF science diarist
Ric Stern has sent us some stats for the Lautaret:
"Assuming the
actual length of the Lautaret is 12 km, then for the 26'52, a
70 kg rider
(plus 10 kg for bike, clothes etc) is going to have needed to
produced
about 370 W, to get up the Lautaret. About 5.3 W/kg. I could have lasted a couple
minutes :-D "
15:59 CEST 168km/19km to go
The German tank Voigt
(as he is known in the team) is powering his way up the side of the break to
help out Zabriskie with the tempo making. Schleck sits comfortably about six
wheels back, eating.
16:01 CEST 170km/17km to go
The gap is down to
3'22 as the bunch winds it up on this steady descent into Bourg d'Oisans. At
14 km to go, l'Alpe d'Huez will start.
Voigt, Vila and Zabriskie
are doing all the work in front. Cunego might have a chance today too.
16:01 CEST
Or Hincapie...
16:03 CEST 172km/15km to go
The peloton is in
a very long line, 3'20 behind the leading 15, who are just under 15 km to go.
Merckx sits in fifth wheel. He's the second best placed on GC in the break,
at 10'08, a couple of seconds behind Schleck.
16:03 CEST 173km/14km to go
The climb starts!
Voigt leads, then pulls off. Vila takes over. Zabriskie also dropped.
16:05 CEST 174km/13km to go
Chavanel attacks,
but is marked by Lobato. Garzelli pulls the break up. Then Cunego attacks, but
is marked by Lobato and Arroyo. Schleck, Chavanel, Mazzoleni, Hincapie, De La
Fuente are all left.
Vila is dropped.
16:07 CEST 174km/13km to go
Cunego and Lobato
attack again, and Schleck marks them. Chavanel, Hincapie and Garzelli are dropped.
The peloton is at the foot of the climb, about 3'18 behind the break. Dessel
drops his chain at the foot, and has to stop.
16:08 CEST 174.5km/12.5km to go
Five leaders:
Lobato, Cunego, Schleck, Mazzoleni and Arroyo. Then de la Fuente. Cunego attacks
again.
The yellow jersey is in trouble, it looks like.
16:09 CEST
Perdiguero hammers the peloton, leaving
Landis, Kessler, Klöden and Evans. The yellow jersey is dropped.
16:10 CEST 175km/12km to go
Now Schleck and Cunego
lead the race, with Lobato and Mazzoleni chasing at 5 seconds, then Arroyo and
De la Fuente.
In the favourites' group, Menchov has caught Landis,
Klöden, and Kessler. Boogerd is coming up with Leipheimer, but Sastre is further
back.
16:12 CEST 175.5km/11.5km to go
Rasmussen is
also coming up, and Pereiro is not totally out of it. He's 15 seconds behind
the LAndis / Klöden group, where Kessler is putting the hammer down.
Boogerd, Rasmussen and Leipheimer can't quite close the gap to this group. Then
Sastre and Vandevelde(?) ahead of Pereiro.
In front, Schleck and
Cunego are lookin' good.
Klöden accelerates, with Landis and Evans
able to hold on. Then Menchov.
16:13 CEST
It's now just Klöden, Landis and
Evans, with Menchov at 5 seconds, then Boogerd, Leipheimer, Rasmussen, Sastre
and another.
16:15 CEST 177km/10km to go
Menchov climbs at
his own tempo, but can't get back to the three favourites. Klöden looks good,
doing all the work. Evans is glued to Landis' wheel. The crowds aren't insane,
but that's probably a good thing.
The Landis group is at 2'50, and
the maillot jaune is at 3'17.
16:15 CEST
Mazzoleni rides away from Lobato
and is just 10 seconds behind leaders Schleck and Cunego, who look good to fight
out this stage victory.
16:16 CEST 177.5km/9.5km to go
Voigt has been
caught by the 'bunch' and does a turn for Sastre, before pulling off.
Mazzoleni is now with Cunego and Schleck.
16:17 CEST 178km/9km to go
Leipheimer's group
passes Menchov, who has blown.
Then Landis attacks the Klöden/Evans
group. Klöden marks him. Evans doesn't.
16:18 CEST
Landis and Klöden caught and pass
Vila. then Evans is caught by Voigt, Sastre and Leipheimer.
16:19 CEST 178.5km/8.5km to go
Pereiro is with
Boogerd, Rasmussen, Rogers and Parra, trying to keep the gap to Landis at a
minimum.
In front, Cunego chats to Schleck. Mazzoleni sits on their
wheel, looking comfy on a flatter section of the climb. 8.5 km to go.
16:20 CEST 179km/8km to go
Landis and Klöden
now have 35 seconds on Pereiro. Then Sastre and Leipheimer have dropped Evans.
Voigt has also dropped off. Evans looks to be in the hurt box, maybe paying
for his efforts to follow Landis and Klöden in the beginning.
16:21 CEST 179.5km/7.5km to go
Cunego takes another
bend, looking great. Lobato is following them at about 20 seconds.
Landaluze has been caught by Landis and Klöden.
16:23 CEST 180km/7km to go
The Landis/Klöden
chase duo is being caught by Sastre and Leipheimer, and are just 2'20 behind
the three leaders. Bits of the early break are being caught by the GC favourites,
slowly.
16:24 CEST 180km/7km to go
There are still plenty
of fans on the road, but it's definitely not a crush.
Klöden and
Landis keep their rhythm, staving off the attempts of Sastre and Leipheimer
to get them.
16:25 CEST
Landis, Klöden, Leipheimer and Sastre
are now together, coming up to Merckx. But Landis attacks up to his teammate!!
16:26 CEST
Merckx looks surprised, gives Landis
a bidon, then sets tempo for a bit. They put Leipheimer in difficulty, but he
will come back.
16:27 CEST
The maillot jaune is at 2'57, while
Landis and co are 1'57 behind the three leaders: Schleck, Cunego and Mazzoleni.
A mad Norwegian or Luxembourg fan almost brings everyone down in front.
16:29 CEST 181km/6km to go
Moreau, Dessel and
Astarloza are 3'27 behind the leaders.
Hincapie is caught by the
five man Landis group.
16:30 CEST 181.5km/5.5km to go
Landis is now
the virtual maillot jaune, as he has 1'30 on Pereiro. Strategy critics can now
be quiet.
16:31 CEST 182km/5km to go
Dessel is riding really
well though, saving his top position on GC.
Schleck, Cunego and Mazzoleni
(who has not been working much) go under 5 km to go.
16:33 CEST 183km/4km to go
Hincapie is now dropped
from the Landis group, which is 1'41 behind the leaders. The yellow is at 2'50,
so Landis isn't quite in yellow...yet.
Meanwhile, Dessel is making
a great impression. He's caught the maillot jaune, who is with Rogers and a
few others.
16:34 CEST 183km/4km to go
Now the fans get closer
to the riders, as Cunego asks Mazzoleni to work. He doesn't, so Cunego attacks.
Klöden attacks with Landis. Sastre and Leipheimer can't follow. Merckx is dropped,
and Evans and Menchov come up to the Belgian.
16:35 CEST 183.5km/3.5km to go
De la Fuente is
caught and dropped by Landis and Klöden, who are joined - temporarily - by Sastre.
Menchov powers away from Evans, and they aren't that far behind Landis and Klöden.
16:37 CEST 184km/3km to go
Pereiro is doing his
best to keep yellow. Landis and Klöden are just 1'17 behind the three leaders,
with Sastre just off their wheels. Then Leipheimer, then Menchov at 1'54, then
Evans. The yellow jersey is at 2'40.
In front, Schleck and Cunego
have definitely dropped Mazzoleni. They go under 3 km to go.
16:39 CEST
Landis and Klöden are just 1'02 behind
the front of the race. Klöden is doing a lot of work, and Landis hangs tough.
They catch Mazzoleni, who waited for them.
Now Rasmussen and Caucchioli
have caught Menchov, and Rasmussen is riding tempo for his captain.
16:40 CEST 185km/2km to go
Mazzoleni does his
last turn, bringing Landis and Klöden to 54 seconds.
Schleck attacks
and Cunego is broken!! The Luxembourger has 5 seconds, 6, 7...
16:41 CEST 185.5km/1.5km to go
Lobato and Garzelli
are caught by the Landis group.
16:42 CEST 186km/1km to go
Mazzoleni, Klöden,
Landis, Chavanel, Garzelli and Lobato are together, but fighting it out for
third. Landis will be in yellow, as he has two minutes on Pereiro.
Schleck gets to 1 km to go, with Cunego doing his best to close the gap, but
failing. Schleck will win.
16:44 CEST 187km/0km to go
Frank Schleck will
be the first Luxembourger to win on l'Alpe d'Huez. He takes the last corner,
having done this climb in about 41 minutes. He wins the stage!!!!!
16:44 CEST
Cunego is second at 10 seconds. Then
the sprint for third winds up...
16:45 CEST
Landis leads into the final corner,
with Klöden on his wheel. He powers to the line but Garzelli gets him for third,
Landis, then Klöden , Lobato, Chavanel, then Mazzoleni. Then Sastre about 20
seconds behind Landis.
16:47 CEST
Leipheimer comes in another 10 seconds
behind. Menchov is about a minute behind Landis, and Evans comes in with the
maillot jaune at 2'50 behind the leader, or 1'40 behind Landis. Landis is the
new leader!!!
16:54 CEST
Schleck did that climb in a very
unofficial time of 41'00, while Landis and Klöden would have done it in about
39'00. Not a record pace, but still quick enough!
Pereiro drops into
second overall at 10 seconds behind Floyd, then Dessel is still in third at
2'02. Great ride by the Frenchman. Then Menchov (2'12), Sastre (2.17), Klöden
(2.29) and Evans (2.56) as the top seven on GC.
17:00 CEST
Jens Voigt, his shoulder bloodied
after a crash, comes up to the finish looking like a triumphant warrior. He
definitely played his part in Schleck's victory today, and he will be delighted.
And that's where we will leave you. Until tomorrow, for stage 16 between Le
Bourg-d'Oisans and La Toussuire, a stage just as tough as today. Au revoir!
Results
Provisional 1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 4.52.22 2 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.11 3 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas 1.10 4 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 6 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval 1.14 7 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 1.18 8 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile 1.28 9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 1.35 10 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 1.49 General classification after stage 15 1 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 69.00.05 2 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.10 3 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 2.02 4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2.12 5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 2.17 6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 2.29 7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 2.56 8 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 5.01 9 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 6.18 10 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6.20 11 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 6.22
