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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 9 - Tuesday July 11: Bordeaux-Dax, 170km
Live Commentary by Jeff Jones, with additional reporting from Anthony Tan, Hedwig Kröner and Brecht Decaluwé
Live report
Live coverage starts: 13:15 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:10 CEST
|
13:12 CEST
Welcome back, dear readers, to Cyclingnews'
uninterrupted live coverage of the Tour de France. During Monday's rest day
in Bordeaux, we've had a chance to deflate and reinflate the blimp with hot
air and restock the minibar.
Today's 9th stage is between Bordeaux
and Dax, just under 170 km and very flat. The sprints are at Le Barp (km 25.5),
Parentis-en-Born (km 72.0), and Saint-Girons (km 128.0). There are no climbs
though, so Jerome Pineau keeps the polka dot jersey until tomorrow, when he
will wear it in the first Pyrenean stage and possibly beyond.
At
the start, the sun is shining and temps are nudging the 30 degree mark. There's
a light seabreeze and there are big crowds lining Bordeaux's ancient streets,
which are filled with historic sandstone buildings. The centre of this town
is like a maze, and it will take the riders approximately 20 minutes to get
out before the stage starts at 13:35.
13:27 CEST
The riders roll through Bordeaux
at a steady pace, getting plenty of support from the city's residents and other
fans following the Tour. You could even squeeze a look at the Tour into your
extended lunch break, as today is a work day.
13:37 CEST
After 9.7 km of neutral riding, the
flag is waved to start the 9th stage on the outskirts of Bordeaux. There are
still 170 riders in the race, with only six riders withdrawing so far.
13:41 CEST 3km/166.5km to go
Arnaud Coyot (Cofidis)
has the honour of being the first rider to attack, trying to catch the peloton
off-guard in the opening kilometre.
13:44 CEST 4km/165.5km to go
And just like all
his previous attacks, the peloton catches the French rider. It's groupé again
as we pass through Gradignan, still in the urban part of Bordeaux.
13:47 CEST 8km/161.5km to go
After the capture
of Coyot, a new round of attacks and counter attacks begins, but nothing sticks
for the moment. Christian Knees (Milram) has a small gap after 7.5 km.
13:53 CEST 10km/159.5km to go
Knees is doing
well, and now has Stephane Augé (Cofidis) and Walter Beneteau (Bouygues) chasing
him at 20 seconds. The bunch is another 25 seconds back. Looks like a good break
forming.
13:57 CEST 12km/157.5km to go
Knees continues
to hammer away in front, pursued by Augé and Beneteau at 25 seconds. If the
bunch decides this is the right break, then the three will get together soon
enough.
14:00 CEST 14km/155.5km to go
Knees still has
22 seconds on the two chasers, with the bunch slipping back to 55 seconds. Generally,
once they hit the 'magic minute', that's it for a while - depending on who's
in the break of course. Three is a good number for the sprinters' teams, because
they soak up all the bonus points and seconds, which means the big guns can
save themselves for the final sprint. But as we saw the other day, sometimes
a break can go all the way.
14:03 CEST 20km/149.5km to go
As the leaders
race through the vineyards just outside Bordeaux, they are resisting strong
temptations to taste the July 2006 unlimited release Bordeaux bubbly. But the
peloton might stop a little while, as it now sits 1'30 behind the lone leader.
The first sprint is coming in 5 km, at the appropriately named town of Le Barp.
14:05 CEST 21km/148.5km to go
And lo! We have
the echappe du jour: Christian Knees (Milram), Stephane Augé (Cofidis),
and Walter Beneteau (Bouygues). Knees is the best rider on GC, sitting in 45th
at 5'19, so they won't be allowed too much rope.
14:11 CEST 26km/143.5km to go
The leaders hit
Le Barp, population 4206, with a handy 2'30 advantage over the peloton, which
will start to grow. Walter Beneteau wins the sprint from Augé and Knees.
14:17 CEST 31km/138.5km to go
The lead goes up
to 4'05 as the bunch passes through Le Barp, still locked in cruise control.
14:21 CEST 34km/135.5km to go
Bradley Wiggins
(Cofidis) spoke to Cyclingnews' Brecht Decaluwé this morning in sunny
Bordeaux. "I’ve been feeling quite good since my escape last week, even the
long time trial went well for me," he said. "Again, the job is to get into the
break if there is one. Boonen has a last chance to win a stage so Quick.Step
will control the race. Maybe they will let someone go, four of five riders,
but for sure they will control it."
Wiggins' teammate Stephane Augé
is in the break, so it's mission accomplished for Cofidis today.
5'08 after 34 km, which almost puts Knees in the maillot jaune virtuel.
14:27 CEST 37km/132.5km to go
As the leaders
race through Salles, their advance goes up to 5'38, which puts Knees in the
virtual lead, as he started the day 5'19 behind Gonchar spelled with a G and
pronounced with an H. Serguei's T-Mobile team is setting the tempo for the time
being.
14:33 CEST 44km/125.5km to go
Bernhard Eisel
(FDJ) told Cyclingnews today, "It’s the last opportunity for us to get
a bunch sprint. The rest will be breakaway stages because we didn't have many
breakaways just yet. If McEwen wins another stage today it will be over, because
nobody will want another bunch sprint anymore. Today’s stage should suit me
because it is a little bit shorter and with a final straight of two kilometres.
The speed might be higher and we probably will see a nice train from Quick.Step,
just like two days ago."
FDJ might put a few riders in the chase
later, as they have missed the break again. 6'50 is the lead. Any advance on
6'50? Going once, twice...yes, I think there will be an advance on that time
gap.
14:45 CEST 48km/121.5km to go
The lead of Knees,
Beneteau and Augé climbs to 7'20, and is starting to stabilise now.
14:47 CEST 53.5km/116km to go
Knees leads the
break now as it heads for the west coast of France. He's the biggest rider in
the break too. The lead is up to 7'35, the biggest so far.
The peloton
is lined out, probably because the leaders covered 46.3 km in the first hour.
Eddy Mazzoleni and Matthias Kessler lead the bunch.
14:49 CEST 55km/114.5km to go
Knees has done
by far the most work in the break: 43% of the time in front, compared to the
other two, who are both under 30%.
T-Mobile (with four) has one
Quick.Step rider up front to help them chase.
Hincapie, Rasmussen
and Leipheimer are sitting right at the back of the bunch, with its semi-permanent
resident David Moncoutié.
14:52 CEST 56km/113.5km to go
The bunch cruises
through the almost deserted hinterland towards Sanguinet, allowing the three
in front 7'49.
14:54 CEST
Caisse d'Epargne sprinter Isaac Galvez
is hoping for another bunch sprint. He told CN this morning, "I’m not happy
with my current results, because you can only be happy when you win. I finished
second and seventh already but today I hope to get that ultimate spot, the first
place."
14:59 CEST 61km/108.5km to go
Credit Agricole
and Lampre have put a rider each in the chase, along with the four T-Mobiles.
Quick.Step is just a little bit behind, surrounding their main man Tom Boonen.
The lead is getting close to 8 minutes: 7'55.
We spoke to Chris Horner
(Davitamon) about the battle between Robbie McEwen and Boonen. "Robbie is the
fastest sprinter in the World - there are three of course with Petacchi and
Boonen, but Robbie is the fastest pure sprinter. He is so savvy tactically,
and like a salmon swimming up the river! Never touches the sides, goes up the
middle. Boonen might be the strongest of the three, but Robbie is the fastest.
And Petacchi has both of these strengths.
"Quickstep didn't come
with the team that could do the leadout for him like you've seen a few months
ago. Before, Boonen won because his leadout was just impressive as hell - I
don't want to underestimate Boonen, but Robbie is just better than him now,
because he doesn't even need a team to lead him out. Boonen has to fight for
position now, and Robbie has been doing that for his whole career - he has had
a lot of practice at it, and Boonen is just starting to learn that I think!
Same procedure for today? "For us, we don't need a sprint today! Tactically,
it's better for us to let a breakaway go, because we already have the Green
jersey and three stage wins! So if the other teams want a sprint, they're going
to have to do the work without Davitamon."
15:03 CEST 64.5km/105km to go
The lead seems
to have topped out at 7'55 as the three in front continue to hammer along the
flat roads. They're going hard, because the bunch is fairly well strung out
just keeping the gap level. Eight minutes at this speed won't be that easy to
pull back.
15:07 CEST 68km/101.5km to go
There's only one
T-Mobile rider in the chase now, as the sprinters teams put more firepower in
front. Cretskens is there for Quick.Step. Race leader Gonchar is sitting in
about 50th wheel, getting plenty of shelter. There's not much of a crosswind,
but one rider still manages to run off the road - not seriously though.
15:15 CEST 74.5km/95km to go
The chase is starting
early today. Lampre is riding harder with Credit Agricole and Quick.Step also
up front. The gap comes back to 7'16.
Beneteau wins the second sprint
in Parentis-En-Born ahead of Knees and Augč
Axel Merckx (Phonak)
told CN this morning, "My mission is to stay with Landis all the time, keeping
him in front. Apparently, I did alright as he has a good GC. For myself, I’ll
have to see if we need to defend the jersey. If we have it, it will reduce my
chances to get into a break during a transition stage."
15:18 CEST 76km/93.5km to go
Floyd Landis, looking
very hip, cruises up to the front of the bunch for a chat. He does look strong
at the moment, and his team is protecting him well.
15:26 CEST 82km/87.5km to go
Most aggressive
rider and winner of stage 8, Sylvain Calzati (AG2R) is back with the race doctor
getting some treatment. He is now riding back to the peloton.
The
three team-led chase is having an affect, cutting the gap back to 6'39. Davitamon
is not interested in closing the gap though, because Robbie is in the green,
and he needs to protect that. There are more points up for grabs for stage winners,
so it's better to be sprinting for 10th place from a green jersey point of view.
Provided that none of your rivals are in front, of course!
15:31 CEST 86km/83.5km to go
Victor Pena loads
up with bidons from the team car and rides up to distribute them to deserving
teammates. We're over halfway now.
Up front, Knees looks the strongest.
This stage will suit the big rider from Milram.
15:33 CEST 87km/82.5km to go
All three riders
in front are now sharing the turns equally, each spending between 32-34% of
the time taking the wind. Beneteau and Augé have been in long breakaways already
in the Tour. 6'17, so the sprinters teams have it well under control.
15:39 CEST 92km/77.5km to go
Cretskens does another
turn at the front, keeping this lead falling to under six minutes. Lampre, Quick.Step
and Credit Agricole have taken all the responsibility to chase today, after
T-Mobile controlled the early part of the stage.
15:44 CEST 96km/73.5km to go
One of the Lampre
riders does a turn, and now we see an FDJ rider get involved, and even a Davitamon
rider: it's the TGV himself, Gert Steegmans.
The average after two
hours is a brisk 45.5km/h. We're actually following the slowest average speed
trajectory for the stage, as has been the trend for the whole first half of
the Tour. This stage has often been up around the 48-49 km/h mark.
15:48 CEST 99.5km/70km to go
The leaders are
already through the feedzone in Mimizan, but now the peloton was entered the
zone. Behind the sprinters teams, we can see CSC protecting Carlos Sastre, and
Liquigas protecting Paolini and Quinziato.
15:50 CEST
For those who haven't heard of the
TGV (as Robbie McEwen called leadout man Gert Steegmans a few stages ago), it
means 'Train ŕ Grande Vitesse', or high speed train. It's a common way to travel
around France and other bits of Europe, although the trains have different names.
15:51 CEST 102km/67.5km to go
The peloton looks
a bit like a TGV as it races through Mimizan in a long line, 5'28 behind the
three battling leaders. By the looks of it, those in front are riding in their
53x15s, which is a nice gear to maintain a 45 km/h average.
15:52 CEST
Marzio Bruseghin has flatted, or
has another mechanical problem. He impatiently signals for his team car, which
is a long way back in the caravan.
15:54 CEST 103km/66.5km to go
Bruseghin finally
gets a rear wheel change, and will hopefully not waste too much energy in regaining
the peloton. The pace has eased in the chase as the workers refuel.
It's a tailwind today, which explains why the chase has started so early, and
why the bunch is so lined out.
15:56 CEST
We've had several requests to update
the cow situation. I'm very sorry to say that we haven't spotted any bovines
as such today. Maybe they are hiding in the trees, which are plentiful today.
15:58 CEST 107km/62.5km to go
We have an update
on Bobby Julich, from teammate and best friend Jens Voigt. "Bobby suffers a
lot from his injured wrist and it's pretty bad. I talked to him yesterday (Sunday),
and it's really hard to have lost him. I room with Fränk [Schleck] now, he's
my new padawan, and I show him how to use the force... ;-) But that evening
when Bobby crashed, I was on my own in the room, and that was hard..."
15:59 CEST
The peloton passes through Bias.
That's begging for another bad pun, but I...must...resist...
16:03 CEST 112km/57.5km to go
After a brief pause
for feeding, the peloton is lined out with lots of riders hugging the left side
of the road. Landis is in 10th wheel, with Merckx right behind him. Boonen moves
up with Garate, then CSC protecting Sastre. Tankink now accelerates to help
out Cretskens in the chase.
In front, Augé, Beneteau and Knees are
stepping on the gas again as the gap is up to around 6'00 again.
16:05 CEST 113km/56.5km to go
The maillot
jaune of Gonchar is a fair way down in the peloton. T-Mobile hasn't been
up front for a while.
16:07 CEST 115km/54.5km to go
The bunch looks
like a very long dart now, as it pursues the three leaders at full speed. But
the leaders aren't going to give up without a fight.
16:11 CEST 117.5km/52km to go
The peloton passes
through Saint-Julien-En-Born, and Wim Vansevenant is the first Davitamon rider
to help out the chase. Davitamon doesn't have to, but they can sense a bunch
sprint. But it's 5'28 with 52 km to go, so a small mishap in the chase will
see the break stay away.
16:12 CEST 118.5km/51km to go
Bram Tankink and
Cedric Vasseur have turned on the turbo with their teammate and super workhorse
Cretskens in front. Bruseghin is there for Lampre, with a teammate, and there's
an FDJ rider, as well as Vansevenant for Davitamon, and a few Credit Agricoles.
That's a pretty powerful chase, and you wouldn't want to bet against a bunch
sprint today.
16:15 CEST 121.5km/48km to go
The peloton continues
to roll along the flat roads in humid conditions, stringing out the bunch into
a line. Most of Credit Agricole is in front.
The leaders are also
at full gas, having been away since km 7. But now, with the gap under 5'00,
Christian Knees is no longer the maillot jaune virtuel.
16:16 CEST
Vasseur asks the Credit Agricole
riders to do more work. They're certainly all up there, but haven't put all
their men in the chase (wisely, one would think).
16:19 CEST 124km/45.5km to go
Augé does another
powerful turn in the front trio, as Beneteau looks a little more relaxed with
his own speed. Knees is up front again, and has pushed his "time at the front
of the break" up to 42%.
16:21 CEST 125.5km/44km to go
About an hour of
racing to go, and the speed is high up front and behind. The leaders are probably
sitting on 48 km/h at the moment, while the peloton is going a little bit quicker.
16:22 CEST 127.5km/42km to go
The leaders are
within a kilometre of the day's final sprint in Saint-Girons. Beneteau has taken
both sprints so far today, but one of the others might get this one.
16:24 CEST 129.5km/40km to go
Knees drives the
break towards the line, flicking his elbow for Augé to come through. The Frenchman
does. He is from Pau, by the way, where tomorrow's stage will finish.
Beneteau does manage to time it right so he takes the sprint. Knees second and
Augé third. You'll note I have also strongly resisted making puns on
Knees' name. Like, for example, his knees are moving up and down very fast now.
That would be terrible, non?
16:25 CEST
The gap comes down to a nice round
4'00 with 40 km to go, and there will be no let up in the chase until we reach
Dax.
16:28 CEST 131.5km/38km to go
The compact Augé
rides through for a turn again, then stops pedaling for a second, and is on
the back of the break. In the chase, we have plenty of teams working: Quick.Step,
Davitamon, Credit Agricole, Lampre, FDJ and Rabobank.
Xavier Zandio
(Caisse d'Epargne) drops off the back to get some help, or a few bidons.
16:30 CEST 132.5km/37km to go
Credit Agricole's
workhorse Charteau is doing a fair bit, as is Rabobank's De Groot. The bunch
has the leaders within 3'50. They definitely have a chance, but the peloton
can probably up the tempo a bit more towards the finish.
16:32 CEST
Now I'm getting reader puns on a
kneed to know basis. Oh dear.
16:33 CEST 135.5km/34km to go
Tankink, De Groot,
Charteau, Vansevenant pull the peloton along at grande vitesse. They
reach a roundabout, split, reform, and keep chasing.
16:35 CEST 136.5km/33km to go
Knees gets a handup
from the Milram team car, then attacks on a small climb through a village. The
two Frenchman chase him hard, and get him.
16:35 CEST 137.5km/32km to go
Beneteau and Augé
tell Knees to keep a lid on it, as they still have 3'21 and a decent chance
of staying away.
16:36 CEST 139.5km/30km to go
The break is working
again now, losing time at 1 minute per 10 km. It's 3'04 with just over 30 km
to go.
16:40 CEST 142.5km/27km to go
A report from the
finish line: The last 5 km are pretty sinuous on small roads, which of course
aids a breakaway. When you pass through km 3 to go, you suddenly hit a small
lane and then go over a bridge. There are a few twists and turns before the
final straight, but the last 2 km are in fact straight.
2'45 with
27 km to go. It will be close. The bunch is verrrrrry struuuuuung ouuuuuuut.
16:42 CEST 144.5km/25km to go
Jimmy Engoulvent
is back with the race doc, not looking too crash hot. Not sure why though.
The peloton is relentless in its chase, and the leaders are slowly coming back.
Given the situation at the finish, it's still touch and go. The leaders go under
25 km to go.
16:44 CEST 146.5km/23km to go
Augé has sweat
pouring out of his helmet as he works with Beneteau and Knees at 48-50 km/h.
They're desperate to stay away, and have 2'35 of their once 8 minute lead.
16:45 CEST
We've got five teams working in the
chase and you would think it would be easy. But it ain't. The bunch goes under
25 km to go, 2'28 behind the break. It's still 1 minute per 10 km.
16:47 CEST 147.5km/22km to go
The leaders are
getting no help except from each other, unlike the other day when there was
a posse of camera bikes in the vicinity of lone leader Sylvain Calzati. Anyway,
that probably didn't change the result, as he had pretty big gap at the end.
Beneteau fights with his bike, trying to extract another kilometre per hour
out of it. The chase behind is at full gas, but much smoother.
16:49 CEST 149.5km/20km to go
Sandy Casar (FDJ)
is sitting last wheel as the leaders hit 20 km to go, still with over 2 minutes.
Don't write them off at all!
16:50 CEST 150.5km/19km to go
Augé flicks his
elbow for Knees to come through (argh, sorry). 2'06 is the gap.
16:51 CEST 151.5km/18km to go
The peloton goes
under 20 km to go at just under 2 minutes behind the leaders. 1'59, to be precise.
The effort is plain to see on the faces of the riders on the sprinters' teams.
This break has done very well to keep its gap though.
16:53 CEST 153.5km/16km to go
The peloton flies
through Magescq and heads inland again, direction Dax. 1'48 with 16 km to go,
as Knees attacks again. The Frenchmen chase him. But he makes them hurt.
16:53 CEST 153.5km/16km to go
Beneteau has to
give it everything to get Knees, and he closes the gap. That was a hard attack
though. It took a lot of gas for Augé and Beneteau to close it.
16:55 CEST 154.5km/15km to go
Augé misses a turn
as Knees has to work with Beneteau, who urges the German not to attack again.
But Knees does a short turn, then gets ready to attack, but they spot him this
time.
Engoulvent is dropped.
16:56 CEST 155.5km/14km to go
The peloton isn't
bothered by the antics up front, and continues its pursuit. Lampre, Quick.Step,
Davitamon, FDJ, Credit Agricole are all working. 1'40 is the gap.
16:57 CEST 156.5km/13km to go
1'35 with 13 km
to go, and falling. Speaking of which, there's one at the back. Plouhinec, Dumoulin,
and Lopez Garcia are all down, and a Lampre rider. Wegmann too, waiting for
a bike.
16:58 CEST
Everyone gets bikes and bits and
are chasing again. Righi was the Lampre guy.
16:59 CEST 158.5km/11km to go
Tankink does a
massive turn and the gap comes down to 1'17 with 11.5 km to go. the bunch should
be able to close this, but it will probably be in the last kilometre.
17:00 CEST 159.5km/10km to go
Knees, Beneteau
and Augé have just 1'05 of their advantage in hand as they get close to 10 km
to go. The sprinters are starting to manoeuvre up to the front. Boonen is there,
fighting for position.
17:01 CEST 160.5km/9km to go
The green jersey
of McEwen is about 30 wheels back. It's not time yet. Floyd's Phonak boys have
got him protected on the right hand side of the road.
Casar is chasing
on with Dumoulin, Zberg and Plouhinec and a few others.
17:02 CEST
The chasers are coming back, although
it will be hard at this, the pointy end of the bike race.
17:03 CEST 161.5km/8km to go
The trio up front
is looking a bit ragged now as it reaches 8 km to go with just 44 seconds. They're
going to need more than that.
17:04 CEST 162.5km/7km to go
Bram Tankink does
yet another monster turn, with Vasseur also there for Quick.Step. Pozzato is
a bit behind, getting ready to do the final kilometres. 33 seconds - I think
the breakaways are goooooone.
17:05 CEST 163.5km/6km to go
The bunch goes through
a roundabout, losing some speed. Some go the wrong way, losing a lot of time.
And Knees attacks again, putting Beneteau and Augé in the hurt box! Third time
lucky? Nope. That's probably sealed the break's fate. Beneteau doesn't want
to work, but he attacks! Nope. Now they're really gone.
17:07 CEST 165km/4.5km to go
Beneteau asks Augé
to do a bit more as Knees leads under 5 km to go. The cooperation has completely
vanished, and the peloton is not going to mind this. Knees in front, looking
at the others. They slow...
Flecha and Commesso, the reinforcements,
start to work in the front of the peloton.
Beneteau attacks again,
and Knees chases him with Augé on his wheel. Nope.
17:08 CEST 165.5km/4km to go
4 clicks to go,
and there is a discussion between Knees and Beneteau, as Augé tries to attack
and then realises he has no legs. The peloton is here. Thanks guys, it's been
swell. All over.
Liquigas takes over in the lead.
17:08 CEST
17:09 CEST 167km/2.5km to go
Now it gets technical
as they go over the bridge, and the Liquigas rider continues to drive it. No
break though. CSC is up there, then Quick.Step has massed for Boonen. One line.
17:09 CEST 167.5km/2km to go
Boonen is in about
8th wheel behind Pozzato, Tosatto and De Jongh. The Liquigas rider continues
to drive it up until 2 km to go.
17:10 CEST 168km/1.5km to go
Liquigas and Milram
have collected themselves behind Quick.Step. McEwen is a fair way back, but
he has the TGV... O'Grady attacks! Pozzato gets to the front and rides him down.
17:10 CEST
Pozzato doesn't panic and allows
O'Grady 10m. Nope.
17:11 CEST 168.5km/1km to go
Pozzato leads until
1 km to go, as McEwen moves up behind Steegmans and Freire.
17:11 CEST
Three Liquigas riders challenge Quick.Step,
then Credit Agricole leads out for Thor Hushovd who gets into the lead too early.
Now Boonen goes...
17:12 CEST 169.5km/0km to go
And it's Freire
who gets it from McEwen, who made a left hand turn in the middle of the bunch
and got through a gap!! Zabel third from Boonen, who went very early again,
but was kind of forced to as his leadout men came up short.
17:17 CEST
Freire was boxed in for a while as
he followed Zabel and Boonen. But he waited and got 'em at the last minute.
McEwen shouldn't be DQ'd for his manoeuvre in the final 50m, which almost saw
him net another stage win. That was a hell of a jump in the last part of the
sprint, but it wasn't quite enough to get the win.
GC pretty much
identical, with Gonchar going into tomorrow's Pyrenean stage in the maillot
jaune.
17:23 CEST
And that's all from us today in Dax.
Join us for tomorrow's 10th stage between Cambo-Les-Bains and Pau, the first
mountain stage of this year's Tour.
Results
Provisional 1 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 3.35.24 2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 5 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 6 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 7 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval 8 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 9 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner 10 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole General classification after stage 9 1 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile 38.14.17 2 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 1.00 3 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 1.08 4 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile 1.45 5 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.50 6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 7 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.52 8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 9 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 1.53 10 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2.00
