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93rd Tour de France - ProT
France, July 1-23, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Live report Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 4 - Wednesday, July 5: Huy (Belgium) - Saint-Quentin, 207 km
Encore McEwen, and ten Tour victories!
Maillot jaune stays put - but for how long?
By Anthony Tan & Brecht Decaluwé in Saint-Quentin, with additional reporting from Tim Maloney
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A straight, 1,200 metre slightly uphill finish on Saint-Quentin's Boulevard Gambetta led many pundits to believe this would be maillot jaune Tom Boonen's day. But with more push and shove than you could poke a stick at, the Tour tables began turning in favour of Robbie McEwen, who has an uncanny knack of safeguarding himself in his own little world until he crosses the line.
And that's exactly what happened today.
With the last of the early break caught less than two kilometres from the finish, a grande bagarre between the sprinters' teams ensued. Under the flamme rouge, though, the bigger boys appeared to grow scared of what was happening around them and focused more on dodging disaster - but pocket rocket Robbie put the power through the pedals to open a massive three bike-length gap by the finish, taking his tenth Tour de France stage victory.
"I saw in the road book that this finish suited me perfectly to my characteristics as a sprinter," began McEwen, "being slightly uphill and with a slight corner to the left with 200 metres to go.
"I had a tactic in my head already since last Wednesday for this sprint. I told [Gert] Steegmans what we would do with about 100 kilometres to go. I told him just to keep listening to me, and just wait for me to give him the signal.
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"He almost took off too early, but I got him back on the rails. We waited until 450 metres to go and from then, we came off the [other's] wheels. We went flat out, and imagined that the finish line was at 200 metres to go. He did exactly to the letter what I said. It made it simple for me, but I didn't dare to look around. Now I saw on TV that there was nobody in the neighbourhood. I want to dedicate this victory to Freddy [Rodriguez], who had to abandon yesterday."
A distant second and third were Caisse d'Epargne's Isaac Galvez and three-time world champion Oscar Freire; Hushovd and Boonen rounded out the top five until the former's irregular sprinting cost him his place. Consequently, we now find another change in the maillot vert - with McEwen enjoying his second spell in green in as many days.
"So much can happen in one day," said the 34 year-old Queenslander. "For example yesterday, I didn't get any points while others did take some, but I've taken back the jersey today. Hushovd came across today like what happened to me last year; he got disqualified. It shows you how quickly a green jersey dream can fade away."
Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) was one of five riders in today's day-long escape, and told Cyclingnews that even though a lot of hard work amounted to nothing, he was satisfied with his efforts.
"It was the plan with the team this morning to be in the break," said Wiggins. "I shouldn't spare my energy for the time trial of Saturday because I don't have a chance in a big race like this. I'll go flat out, but normally it will be too hard for me. The prologue was alright, although the second half was better for me than the first half.
"I knew we would never stay away. It would be a matter of time before Quickstep brought us back although it surprised me that we were caught that late."
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After four changes in four days, the maillot jaune stays put, continuing to rest on Boonen's broad shoulders. Although it's by no means a safe place; there's still just a second that separates him from T-Mobile's Michael Rogers, with George Hincapie and Thor Hushovd no more than seven seconds away.
In this opening week, however, it's all about chasing green. That's all McEwen's thinking about - as well as balancing his stage victories at the Giro and Tour - even though he's got a real shot of yellow if things keep going his way.
"I hope to bring it level in this Tour de France, but I will be happy as well if it develops into a 11-14 balance. We're just going to keep trying to win stages and in that way I can keep gathering points for the green jersey," McEwen said.
How it unfolded
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On a cooler day than Tuesday's ovenlike conditions, a Tour peloton of 172 riders headed west under sunny skies with temps in the upper twenties from Huy, located in south-central Belgium.
Maillot a pois Jerome Pineau took the GPM points after 13km of racing ahead of De la Fuente and Wegmann. After an attack that contained maillot jaune Boonen, Discovery Channel's Egoi Martinez made a countermove 18.5km past Ohey and was joined by three other riders by the 21km mark. The front quartet was Wiggins (Cofidis), Mengin (Francaise de Jeux), Lefevre (Bouyges Telecom) and Coutouly (Agritubel). The lead grew quickly as once again, the depeleted Tour de France peloton wasn't up to a big bagarre and let the break go.
After 37km near Yvoir, scene of the 1968 world championships, the break had gained 3' and Martinez was virtual maillot jaune, while 38.1km were raced in the first hour. Maillot jaune Boonen's Quick.Step-Innergetic squad was riding tempo on the front of the peloton. Atop the Cat 4 Cote de Falaen after 57.5km, it was the diminutive Lefevre who took the GPM ahead of Martinez, with the peloton trailing 4'30" behind.
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The pace was steady both in the break and in the peloton and after two hours of racing, the break was nearing Phillipeville and the average speed after two hours was 38.9km/h. At the feed zone in Cerfontaine after 84km, the breaks lead was almost 5', but one the peloton passed through, Quick.Step-Innergetic picked up the pace.
At the first intermediate sprint in Beaumont after 103km, Discovery Channel's Egoi Martinez took the honours over Lefevre. The break was just 2km from the French border, but the parcours turned due south, then southeast to head over the border 11km later. There were now 90km to the finish in and the break rode 41.8km in hour 3, with the overall average speed at 39.6km/h. The Quick.Step-Innergetic led peloton was riding faster now and the breaks lead was down to 4'. Across the flat green farmlands of northern France, the pursuit match was on as the break tried to make it to Saint-Quentin ahead of the sprinters.
At the second intermediate sprint in Sains-du-Nord after 135.5km, it was Martinez ahead of Mengin, with the lead just 3'30" and Davitamon-Lotto now in the chase with Quick.Step-Innergetic and 71km to go. 21km later in Le Nouvion-En-Theriade with 50km to race, the break's lead was 2'30" as the sprinters teams, now including the Milram milkmen cranked up the chase pace behind.
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With 30km to race in the tiny village of Grand-Verly, Lampre-Fondital had joined the chase and the break was doomed as their margin was now just at 2'. At the day's third and final intermediate sprints in Bernot after 188.0km, Martinez made it a clean sweep ahead of Lefevre and the peloton was rolling up fast, just 1'15" behind. With 15km to go, Isaac Galvez (Caisse d'Epargne-Iles Balears) and Iban Mayo (Eukaltel-Euskadi) hit the deck, but both got back in the peloton after a 5km chase.
With 12km to go, the break split, with Martinez, Lefevre and Coutouly dumping Wiggins and Mengin. At 7km to go, Wiggins and Mengin were swallowed up by the Liquigas-Bianchi peloton, while the three front riders still had a gap of 30".
The three riders looked like they might have a chance to come in ahead of the fast-closing peloton until Lefevre attacked the break with 3km to go and ruined the collaboration. They were caught with 1.5km to go and Team Milram led the charge into the final kilometre. Then Quick.Step-Innergetic took over and suddenly Davitamon-Lotto's Robbie McEwen made his move up the centre of the road after a huge leadout from Gert Steegmans, and rode a brilliant sprint to win his 10th career Tour de France stage, while Quick.Step-Innergetic's maillot jaune Tom Boonen was 5th, but still kept his race lead.
Stage 5 - Thursday, July 6: Beauvais-Caen, 225 km
After almost a week of racing, there are bound to be some tired legs in Le Tour and Stage 5 across the the lumpy, bumpy little roads of Normandy to Caen, the home of tasty tripe and le Trou Normand. One could see a break with newly crowned French champ Flo Brard staving off the onslaught of sprinters' teams in the finale. But not likely.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us
- Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) gives his morning interview before the stage.
- Egoi Martinez (Discovery) leads the breakaway group.
- Quickstep spent the day on the front controlling things for the yellow jersey.
- These guys went all out with the straw sculpting.
- The mad dash for the finish line.
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) easily takes the win.
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) celebrates his second win in two days.
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) at the start
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) exits the sign on
- The man in yellow: Tom Boonen
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) a little nervous
- Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) adjusts the gear
- Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) is best young rider
- Yesterday's winner Matthias Kessler
- Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) waits for the start
- Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile) with the Italian flag before the start of stage 4
- Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile) hopes for an Italian world cup win
- Discovery Channel still has the team classification
- Savoldelli and Popovych are two of Discovery's key men
- Florent Brard (Caisse d'Epargne) signs autographs
- David Millar (Saunier Duval) signs autographs
- Jaja and EZ shake hands
- The peloton is a sea of colour
- The peloton at the start
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) heads for the line
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) wins the stage
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) hands raised
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) can't believe how much we won by
- Oh yeah! McEwen celebrates
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) celebrates
- Boonen checks where Bennati finished
- Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas) did a good job for his team today, but no win
- Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) post stage
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) escorted to the podium
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) gives another V
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) is pretty happy
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) smiles on the podium
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) waves to the crowd
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) puts on his second maillot jaune
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) adjusts the jersey
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) waves his lion
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) grins in the yellow
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) back in the green
- Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) on the podium as best young rider
Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net
- Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile) was a happy man after his team's victory last night in the soccer
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) in his first maillot jaune
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) leads Johan Vansummeren
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) was king for a day
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) rides through Belgium in the maillot jaune
- Boonen and Bennati rivals for the green
- Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) wearing green today
- Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) collects a musette
- Are you lookin' at me?
- The peloton in the sunshine
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) had plenty of time to celebrate
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) wins the sprint in St Quentin
- Erik Zabel (Milram) an Italian supporter?
Images by AFP Photo
- Egoi Martinez (Discovery Channel) powers the breakaway
- Cows watch the Tour with at least a passing interest
- The Quick.Step train leading the bunch
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) was clearly the best today
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) celebrates a huge win in St Quentin
Results
1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 4.59.50 (41.423 km/h) 2 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 3 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 5 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 7 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval 8 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 9 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 10 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis 11 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 12 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 13 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 14 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 15 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis 16 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas 17 Yaroslav Popovyvch (Ukr) Discovery Channel 18 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 19 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 20 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 21 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 22 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 23 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 24 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak 25 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 26 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram 27 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 28 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 29 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 30 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval 31 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval 32 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 33 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 34 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 35 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 36 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 37 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 38 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 39 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 40 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel 41 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 42 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak 43 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Milram 44 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 45 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 46 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Milram 47 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 48 José Rujano (Ven) Quick-Step-Innergetic 49 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 50 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 51 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile 52 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile 53 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Fondital 54 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 55 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 56 Viatscheslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel 57 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel 58 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 59 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 60 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel 61 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Agritubel 62 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel 63 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak 64 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 65 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 66 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 67 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 68 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank 69 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 70 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 71 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 72 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 73 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 74 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 75 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 76 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 77 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Phonak 78 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 79 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 80 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile 81 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 82 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 83 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 84 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval 85 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas 86 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 87 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 88 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 89 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 90 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 91 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 92 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 93 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak 94 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 95 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval 96 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 97 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval 98 David Canada (Spa) Saunier Duval 99 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 100 Moises Duenas (Spa) Agritubel 101 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 102 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 103 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 104 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 105 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 106 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram 107 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram 108 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 109 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 110 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Cofidis 111 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 112 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 113 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile 114 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 115 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 116 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 117 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 118 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 119 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 120 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 121 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak 122 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 123 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 124 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval 125 Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 126 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 127 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2R-Prevoyance 128 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 129 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 130 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 131 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole 132 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 133 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 134 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 135 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quick-Step-Innergetic 136 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel 137 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 138 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 139 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 140 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 141 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 142 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 143 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis 144 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 145 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 146 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis 147 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 148 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole (Relegated for irregular sprinting) 149 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram 0.26 150 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 151 Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.27 152 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 0.29 153 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.36 154 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 155 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick-Step-Innergetic 156 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 157 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 158 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 159 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.42 160 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 0.52 161 Kjelt Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 162 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 163 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak 164 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.03 165 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.10 166 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 167 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.11 168 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 2.21 169 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 170 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 2.25 171 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis 2.54 172 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.06 Points 1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 35 pts 2 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 30 3 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 26 4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 24 5 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner 22 6 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 20 7 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval 19 8 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 18 9 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 17 10 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis 16 11 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 15 12 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 14 13 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 13 14 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 12 15 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis 11 16 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas 10 17 Yaroslav Popovyvch (Ukr) Discovery Channel 9 18 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 8 19 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 7 20 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 6 21 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 5 22 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 4 23 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 3 24 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak 2 25 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 1 Mountains Côte De Peu d'Eau - Cat. 3, km 13 1 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 pts 2 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 3 3 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2 4 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1 Côte De Falaën - Cat. 4, km 57.5 1 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3 pts 2 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 2 3 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 1 Sprints Beaumont, km 103 1 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 6 pts 2 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 3 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 2 Sains-Du-Nord, km 135.5 1 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 6 pts 2 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 4 3 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 Bernot, km 188 1 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 6 pts 2 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 3 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 2 Young rider 1 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval 4.59.50 2 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 3 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 4 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 6 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 7 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Milram 8 José Rujano (Ven) Quick-Step-Innergetic 9 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 10 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 11 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 12 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 13 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 14 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval 15 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 16 Moises Duenas (Spa) Agritubel 17 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram 18 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 19 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 20 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 21 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 22 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.26 23 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.06 Most combative 1 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Teams 1 Davitamon - Lotto 14.59.30 2 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 3 Discovery Channel Team 4 Liquigas 5 Francaise Des Jeux 6 Saunier Duval - Prodir 7 Lampre-Fondital 8 T-Mobile Team 9 Phonak Hearing Systems 10 Bouygues Telecom 11 Gerolsteiner 12 Quick Step - Innergetic 13 Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears 14 Credit Agricole 15 Team CSC 16 Team Milram 17 Agritubel 18 Rabobank 19 Euskaltel - Euskadi 20 AG2R Prevoyance General classification after stage 4 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 19.52.13 2 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 0.01 3 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.05 4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 0.07 5 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.10 6 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.12 7 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel 0.15 8 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 9 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 0.16 10 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.17 11 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile 12 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile 13 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.20 14 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 15 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval 0.21 16 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile 0.23 17 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 18 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 0.24 19 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.25 20 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 21 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 22 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 23 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile 0.26 24 Yaroslav Popovyvch (Ukr) Discovery Channel 0.27 25 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 0.28 26 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 27 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 28 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.29 29 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.30 30 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 0.31 31 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.32 32 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval 33 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.33 34 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 35 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 36 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak 37 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 38 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 0.36 39 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.37 40 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.38 41 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas 42 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.41 43 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 44 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 0.42 45 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 46 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 47 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak 0.43 48 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Milram 0.44 49 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak 50 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.45 51 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Fondital 52 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 53 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 54 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 0.46 55 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.47 56 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval 0.48 57 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 58 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.49 59 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel 60 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.50 61 José Rujano (Ven) Quick-Step-Innergetic 62 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 63 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.51 64 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 0.52 65 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 0.53 66 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 67 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 68 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 0.55 69 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.56 70 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quick-Step-Innergetic 71 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak 0.57 72 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel 73 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.58 74 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 75 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.00 76 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 77 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Agritubel 1.01 78 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Cofidis 79 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 1.03 80 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 81 David Canada (Spa) Saunier Duval 82 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2R-Prevoyance 83 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner 84 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 1.07 85 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 86 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 87 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.16 88 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Milram 89 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 1.17 90 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 1.20 91 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank 1.22 92 Moises Duenas (Spa) Agritubel 1.23 93 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram 1.25 94 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.26 95 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval 1.31 96 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.34 97 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.35 98 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.39 99 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 1.51 100 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.54 101 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak 1.58 102 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 2.01 103 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.13 104 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram 2.15 105 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.16 106 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 2.17 107 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 108 Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 2.20 109 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval 110 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 2.23 111 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.24 112 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis 2.31 113 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 2.36 114 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram 3.00 115 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 3.06 116 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 3.07 117 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 118 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas 3.36 119 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak 3.40 120 José Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval 3.43 121 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel 3.44 122 Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 3.48 123 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 3.52 124 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick-Step-Innergetic 125 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 3.58 126 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 4.05 127 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4.29 128 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel 4.53 129 Viatscheslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel 4.55 130 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 5.21 131 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 5.23 132 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 6.06 133 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 134 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 6.12 135 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 6.17 136 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step-Innergetic 6.33 137 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval 6.35 138 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole 6.37 139 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 7.19 140 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 7.34 141 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7.38 142 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8.13 143 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 8.22 144 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Phonak 8.23 145 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8.35 146 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 8.48 147 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8.49 148 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8.50 149 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 9.52 150 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram 9.59 151 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 10.28 152 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 10.33 153 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 10.46 154 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis 11.40 155 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 11.41 156 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 12.29 157 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 12.35 158 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 12.41 159 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis 12.48 160 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 13.02 161 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 13.24 162 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis 16.47 163 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 17.24 164 Kjelt Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 17.47 165 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 20.32 166 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 22.04 167 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 22.06 168 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 22.52 169 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis 24.21 170 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 27.55 171 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 28.45 172 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 29.09 Points classification 1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 100 pts 2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 91 3 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 86 Mountains classification 1 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 21 pts 2 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 17 3 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 14 4 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 5 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7 6 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R-Prevoyance 6 7 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 6 8 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 6 9 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5 10 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile 4 11 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 3 12 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel 2 13 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 2 14 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 15 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step-Innergetic 1 16 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1 17 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 1 Young rider classification 1 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 19.52.38 2 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.03 3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 0.11 4 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Francaise Des Jeux 0.17 5 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 0.20 6 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval 0.23 7 José Rujano (Ven) Quick-Step-Innergetic 0.25 8 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.35 9 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 10 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Milram 0.51 11 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 0.52 12 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.55 13 Moises Duenas (Spa) Agritubel 0.58 14 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram 1.00 15 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.52 16 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval 1.55 17 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.59 18 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 5.41 19 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 10.08 20 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 12.10 21 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 12.16 22 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 27.30 23 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step-Innergetic 28.20 Teams classification 1 Discovery Channel Team 59.37.25 2 Team CSC 0.01 3 T-Mobile Team 0.02 4 Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears 0.07 5 Gerolsteiner 0.18 6 Phonak Hearing Systems 0.26 7 Lampre-Fondital 0.37 8 Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.42 9 Rabobank 10 Credit Agricole 0.43 11 AG2R Prevoyance 0.44 12 Francaise Des Jeux 1.03 13 Bouygues Telecom 1.10 14 Davitamon - Lotto 1.12 15 Quick Step - Innergetic 1.15 16 Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.27 17 Team Milram 1.28 18 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 1.40 19 Liquigas 1.56 20 Agritubel 1.59
