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94th Tour de France - ProT
France, July 7-29, 2007
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 17 - Thursday, July 26: Pau - Castelsarrasin, 188.5km
Live commentary by Shane Stokes and Bjorn Haake
Complete live report
Live coverage starts: 13:15 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:15 CEST
Bonjour et Bienvenue at our Cyclingnews live coverage of the Tour de France. Today the riders may be less concerned with the stage 17 route from Pau to Castelsarrasin over 188.5 kilometres, but with digesting the news about Michael Rasmussen, who has been sacked by his team last night. So there will be no yellow jersey in today's race. And plenty of talk, no doubt. If the race starts in earnest then it will be a very hard day, with several cat 3 and 4 rises in the beginning. If not, it may become a protest ride like we saw in 1998 to Aix-les-Bains.
13:19 CEST 12km/176.5km to go
No problems, the
race has started as planned and we already had the usual flurry of attacks in
the beginning. Currently, a group of 8 is away, about 45 seconds ahead of the
peloton, about 12km into it.
13:26 CEST
The current situation in the overall
looks as follows:
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 76.18.25 2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 1.53 3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.49 4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 6.02 5 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6.29 6 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 10.18 7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 11.36 8 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 12.50 9 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 13.31 10 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 13.42
13:28 CEST
Contador has also extended his lead
in the young rider classification to 13'31" over Soler
13:34 CEST
The 8-man lead group has extended
the advantage to 1'20".
In the mountains classification Soler has
now a lead of 206 to 128 points against Contador. He is therefore the new KOM
winner of this year's Tour, barring accident or another dope scandal, of course.
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13:38 CEST 27km/161.5km to go
On quick glance
there should be 46 more mountain points till Paris. The first ones of today's
stage have been gobbled up by the following riders: Matteo Tosatto (Quickstep-Innergetic),
Jens Voigt (Team CSC), Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) and Daniele Righi (Lampre-Fondital)
13:48 CEST
Marc Madiot, DS for Française Des
Jeux, was asked his reaction before the start. His answer was simple "One cheater
less."
13:49 CEST 37km/151.5km to go
37 kilometres into
the race the lead is up to 2 minutes.
13:56 CEST
Bram de Groot talked before the start:
"Yes, we made the decision to start today. I hope this decision will be respected
by the public and I hope we will be respected."
13:59 CEST
de Groot said he didn't really know
what was happening with Rasmussen. The decision was made by the sponsor, but
he felt it was unfair to boo him on the podium.
He admitted that it is
hard to concentrate on the race. "We worked hard for the jersey. There was always
someone working. We were close to each other. But now this happened."
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14:02 CEST
Team-mate Grischa Niermann: We need
to continue to get to Paris. I don't know what he did in June. I haven't seen
him or trained with him in June, so I cannot say anything about this.
We
made the decision together which is why we start with seven riders today, nit
with three and four going home. We have a great sponsors and we continue for
them.
14:03 CEST
So yes, the Rabobank team did start
and according to hln.com all Rabo riders were subjected to an additional doping
control this morning.
14:09 CEST
Michael Rasmussen has given reporters
his reaction to his exclusion from the race. He has pleaded his innocence, despite
his succession of missed tests and the fact that team manager Theo de Rooy said
last night that the Dane had admitted lying to the team.
"I'm shattered.
I'm on the verge of tears," said Rasmussen today, quoted in the Danish tabloid
BT. "I was not in Italy. Not at all. That's the story of one man who believes
he recognised me. There is no hint of evidence."
He was referring
to former professional Davide Cassani, who said he saw Rasmussen training in
the Italian Dolomites on June 13th and 14th. Cassani said that he is "100% certain"
that it was Rasmussen. This was at a time when the rider had told the team and
the UCI that he was in Mexico.
"My career is ruined," he told Dutch
newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. "I have no idea what I should do or where I will
go. This is an enormous blow for me, and also for all the guys from the Rabo
team. They're devastated."
The UCI are understood to be considering
starting disciplinary proceedings against the rider.
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14:09 CEST
The two riders out of the Rabobank
team are Michael Rasmussen (duh) and Oscar Freire, who didn't start stage 7.
The other seven will continue, even though in an initial reaction Michael Boogerd
had declared he didn't want to continue. But the riders had discussions amongst
themselves and decided it was best to start the stage and continue to Paris.
In the mean time the lead of the front group has dropped to 1'45".
14:15 CEST
14:23 CEST
The leaders are: Martin Elmiger (Ag2r
– Prévoyance), Daniele Bennati, Daniele Righi (Lampre Fondital), Markus Fothen
(Schumacher), Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas), Matteo Tosatto (Quick.Step Innergetic),
Jens Voigt (CSC) and David Millar (Saunier Duval – Prodir).
14:24 CEST 62.5km/126km to go
They are 1'40"
clear.
14:26 CEST
On the third category Côte de Baleix,
23 kilometres after the start, Tosatto took the four points ahead of Voigt,
Fothen and Righi. The peloton was 1'10" back at this stage.
14:32 CEST
Next on the menu was the intermediate
sprint at Rabastens-de-Bigorre (km 44.5) Quinziato took the six points and six
seconds here, ahead of Millar and former Swiss national champ Elmiger.
This will suit green jersey Tom Boonen just fine; it means he doesn't have to
sprint at this early point of the stage.
Speaking to Eurosport just
before the start of the stage, he gave his view about the Rasmussen situation.
"I think it is logical. I don't know what has really happened - I heard that
the Rabobank team got some new information and that is what they are basing
their decision on, but don't know exactly what that information is as yet.
"This is something that has been hanging for a long time, putting pressure on
Rasmussen. If the team takes a decision like that, it didn't have another choice."
14:34 CEST
The leaders had 2'15" just before
that intermediate sprint, but by the time they passed the top of the fourth
category Côte de Villecomtal, this was down to 1'30". 2006 white jersey wearer
Fothen went over the top ahead of Tosatto and Elmiger.
14:37 CEST
This climb was followed in rapid
succession by two fourth category climbs, the Côte de Miélan (km 55) and the
Sainte-Dode-aux-Croix (km 63.5). The order over the first was Fothen, Tosatto
and Elmiger, while Millar took the prime on the second of these ascents. Righi
and Bennati were next.
14:38 CEST
At the top of that last climb, the
group was still 1'30" clear.
14:41 CEST
Millar was also first on the Côte
de Theux (km 72.5). Righi and Fothen were second and third.
The
gap had gone up to 1’50" at this point.
14:43 CEST 78.5km/110km to go
Upon learning the
news that Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive, a dejected Millar said that
he would try to win a stage to show it is possible to do so clean. He's in this
break today and will hope it works out.
Caisse d'Epargne is leading
the chase.
14:48 CEST
Jens Voigt is really pushing it...the
break needs to build this gap. So far it hasn't ballooned.
14:54 CEST
In relation to Rasmussen's protestation
of innocence, this appears to have been disputed by the team:
"When
Rasmussen was confronted with this information he confirmed to Theo de Rooy
[team manager] he was at that moment in Italy," said Rabobank press officer
Jacob Bergsma last night. "That was the reason De Rooy decided to get him out
of the Tour and the team."
15:00 CEST
Denis Menchov (Rabobank) has pulled
out of the race. He's just climbed into the team car. His morale is probably
broken, having spent the past few days riding himself into the ground for Rasmussen.
15:03 CEST 91.5km/97km to go
This group is not
really pulling away. The gap now is 2'28".
15:07 CEST
Millar has been suffering a skin
allergy in this race. He's got layers of cream on his legs to protect it; it
gives him a really bizarre look, though..his limbs look like purple marble.
15:11 CEST 97.5km/91km to go
The break remains
2'35" clear. Caisse d'Epargne is driving it now. Alejandro Valverde is 6th overall
but he's got very little chance of moving up as he is almost four minutes behind
fifth-placed Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel Euskadi).
15:21 CEST
Going back to the beginning of the
stage, Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) attacked straight after the start.
He was joined by Mickaël Delage (Française des Jeux) but the two were hauled
back. The current move went away soon afterwards, then a group of eleven chasers
tried but failed to bridge.
They were Nicolas Portal (Caisse d’Epargne),
Chris Horner (Predictor Lotto), Simon Gerrans (Ag2r Prévoyance), Amets Txurruka
(Euskaltel Euskadi), Paolo Bossoni (Lampre Fondital), Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner),
Jérôme Pineau, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), Lilian Jégou (Française des
Jeux), Benoit Vaugrenard (Française Des Jeux) and Carlos Barredo (Quick.Step
– Innergetic).
The peloton brought these back at km 11 but didn’t
manage to reel in the leading eight.
15:22 CEST 106.5km/82km to go
With approximately
two hours left to race, the gap is now 2'56".
15:26 CEST
German champion Fabian Wegmann has
pulled over on the left for a natural break. As he is sorting things a bottle
hits him. It does look like it is one of his team-mates who is having a bit
of fun with his fellow Gerolsteiner.
15:34 CEST 114.8km/73.7km to go
Race leader Alberto
Contador (Discovery Channel) rides along in the peloton. He's in the white jersey
rather than the maillot jaune due to the race organisers' decision not
to have a yellow jersey in the race today.
15:36 CEST 117.3km/71.2km to go
The break is
now pulling away; the pace appears to have settled down. It's now five minutes.
15:42 CEST
Cadel Evans and his Predictor Lotto
team-mate Chris Horner talk in the bunch. They have doubtlessly pondered if
Evans can beat Contador in the final time trial, taking enough time to grab
yellow.
Saturday's TT is a flat 55.5 kilometre test. Evans was 1'04"
quicker than Contador in the 54 kilometre Albi TT, but that was hillier. The
flat parcours should suit the Australian a bit better but, on the other hand,
the yellow jersey should give the Spaniard a psychological boost. If Evans is
on a great day it could be possible, but he'll really need to do a super ride.
15:43 CEST 122.5km/66km to go
The peloton has
definitely slowed. Some of the Caisse d'Epargne riders are at the back of the
bunch now, while Discovery roll through on the front.
The break
is 5'52" ahead now, so that's looking better for them than before.
15:47 CEST
Some Rabobank riders are hanging
at the back. Thomas Dekker and Juan Antonio Flecha, for example. How hard must
it e for those guys to get motivated, after all their hard for the last couple
of weeks has been effectively wasted.
15:49 CEST
The peloton is heading through the
French country side with its rolling hills. Fields are on both sides of the
road, mostly already harvested, so the farmers can relax as the Tour zooms by.
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15:50 CEST 127.5km/61km to go
Moreau is at the
back, talking to a fellow Ag2r rider, who has multiple bottles in his pockets.
The domestiques are the masters of stacking up bottles!
Current situation
- Group of 8: Martin Elmiger (Ag2r – Prévoyance), Daniele Bennati, Daniele Righi (Lampre Fondital), Markus Fothen (Schumacher), Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas), Matteo Tosatto (Quick.Step Innergetic), Jens Voigt (CSC) and David Millar (Saunier Duval – Prodir).
- Peloton at 6.00
15:59 CEST 133km/55.5km to go
The lead is increasing
to over 7 minutes. With only 55 kilometres left it does look like a bunch sprint
becomes more and more unlikely. Jens Voigt gets a saddle change on the fly.
It really is amazing how the mechanics change things while hanging out the window
at 40 or 50 km/h.
16:04 CEST
The field passes the Château
de Bartas. But what's more interesting is the field next door, where about 30
tractors are parked in a way to form a giant bicycle. It is clearly visible
from the blimp. What would be the Tour be without all the artists and creative
people?
16:06 CEST 137.5km/51km to go
The lead extends
to 8 minutes. So the break will likely stay away and the decisive move may come
at km 169.5, when the last climb of the gives a chance to break up the rhythm.
16:10 CEST
Cadel Evans thought the motorbike
with the photographer was a little too close to him and squirts a bit of water.
That causes some space. Or maybe it's just the high temperatures that made Cadel
feel for the photographer in his gear, including the big black helmet, that
doesn't look like it's allowing for much ventilation.
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16:16 CEST 144.5km/44km to go
Fabian Cancellara
is at the doc's car of Gerard Porte, as the peloton passes a village that displays
yet another piece of cycling art, made out of a couple of big hay balls. It
is about one km before the sprint for the lead group.
16:19 CEST 146.5km/42km to go
Not surprisingly
the 8 front runners do not contest the sprint. It is Voigt who 'takes' it, in
front of Bennati.
16:21 CEST
It turns out that the photo finish
of the 'sprint' was actually won by Bennati, in front of Voigt and Elmiger.
16:25 CEST
A couple of electric workers that
are doing some repairs on one of the electric poles are high up in the air on
the machinery. They take a time out 20 metres high to watch the peloton ride
by underneath them.
16:27 CEST
The peloton is just now passing Solomiac,
past its eglise, which there are plenty of in France. This is the village
where the sprint was, but the three places that pay points and seconds have
already been gobbled up.
16:29 CEST 154.5km/34km to go
Prudhomme spoke
to the press this morning and Cyclingnews' Gregor Brown was there. Here
is his what he reports
from France.
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16:31 CEST
The field switches departments again.
We are now entering Tarn et Garonne. The Garonne flows onto Bordeaux and into
the Atlantic. The peloton, where the Discoveries are busy exchanging bottles,
passes a Sunflower field, which is to their left.
Current situation
- Group of 8: Martin Elmiger (Ag2r – Prévoyance), Daniele Bennati, Daniele Righi (Lampre Fondital), Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner), Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas), Matteo Tosatto (Quick.Step Innergetic), Jens Voigt (CSC) and David Millar (Saunier Duval – Prodir).
- Peloton at 8.00
16:37 CEST
The break's chances are very high
and Lampre is looking really good, as they have two guys in the break. But we
will have to wait for the Montagnère climb to see how the 16 legs are
doing.
16:39 CEST
The riders are on one of the typical
French straight roads. Good thing the break has 8 minutes and is not visible.
Those straight roads are often the end of a break, as the field gets extra motivation
when they can see the guys ahead. This road is on the right of some rail road
tracks, which are equally straight.
16:41 CEST 163.5km/25km to go
We are passing
Beaumont de Lomagne, with its Eglise Notre Dame de l'Assomption in the centre.
The market square is actually covered with a giant roof.
And Jens Voigt
flats! Right before the 25 to go sign.
16:42 CEST
The wheel change is very quick, and
Jens is off again. There is a little problem with his breaks though.
16:43 CEST
The team mechanic fixes that on the
fly again. Voigt is already in the team cars again.
16:44 CEST
He is easily moving through the cars
of the breakaway companions. The break will also slow down a bit. You don't
mess with the big German!
16:45 CEST
Leipheimer empties a bottle on his
head. Have we mentioned it is hot today?
Contador is riding right in front
of him.
16:46 CEST
Markus Fothen passes Jens Voigt.
Yes, Jens is back in the break.
16:47 CEST
Voigt is eating after his little
mishap. With the climb coming up it is good to have every ounce of energy.
16:48 CEST
The road looks still it is straight
for about another few hundred miles, but the break has only about 20 km to go.
The gap is still just under 8 minutes.
16:49 CEST 168.5km/20km to go
The climb is starting.
They should reach the top in about one kilometre
16:50 CEST
The peloton is still led by Discovery
as the sprinters have given up. We are back to the Armstrong times!
16:50 CEST
Millar was the first to attack on
the climb!
16:50 CEST
Voigt counters, but can't get away
16:51 CEST
Voigt goes again, but now Fothen
goes
16:52 CEST
Righi is dropped, but the others
are together again. Bennati on Fothen's wheel.
16:53 CEST
Voigt checks back, then goes on the
left and surprises everyone. He takes the points in front of Bennati and Fothen
16:54 CEST
Things come back together and then
Bennati, Fothen and Elmiger jump away. Voigt accelerates and Millar can't hold
his wheel; the big German gets across to make it four up front.
16:55 CEST
Righi is dropped and so is Quinziato.
Millar and Tossato are riding together, but are also dropped off the front
16:55 CEST 173.5km/15km to go
That move went
with about 18 kilometres to go. Millar and Tosatto can't get across.
16:56 CEST
So at this point there are four leaders.
Bennati is a very quick sprinter so the other three won't want to bring him
to the line. However he seems strong today, so they might have a job to drop
him.
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16:57 CEST
The peloton is 7'50" back, with Discovery
continuing to lead.
16:59 CEST
Discovery has slowed down a bit.
Instead of being single filed on the front the main field is Discovery on the
right, and a few CSC riders to their left.
Current situation
- Jens Voigt (CSC), Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner), Martin Elmiger (Ag2r – Prévoyance) and Daniele Bennati (Lampre Fondital)
- Matteo Tosatto (Quick.Step Innergetic) and David Millar (Saunier Duval – Prodir)
- Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas)
- Daniele Righi (Lampre Fondital)
- Peloton at 8.00
17:05 CEST
The break passes the Garonne over
some nice bridges. But they don't look, just taking their turns.
17:06 CEST
Voigt spends a lot of time in the
front, but generally everybody pulls through nicely.
17:07 CEST
Voigt was also in the break on the
tenth stage to Marseille, which took place eight days ago. He finished fifth
that day and doesn't want to miss out again.
The CSC rider has won
two Tour stages in the past; he beat Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) last year
to take stage 13, then beat Bradley McGee to win stage 16 of the 2001 race.
17:07 CEST
The victory will go to Voigt, Fothen,
Bennati or Elmiger. They already have 1'20
17:08 CEST
The second group with Righi and Quinziato
is 2'15 back. The front four pass the 5km to go sign.
17:09 CEST 184km/4.5km to go
They are inside
the final five kilometres of racing and have a 9'44" lead over the main bunch.
Fothen was in the white jersey last year but finally lost out to Damiano Cunego.
17:09 CEST 183.5km/5km to go
The speed is incredibly
high. When will that stop and the tactics take over?
17:09 CEST 184.5km/4km to go
Now! Voigt attacks
with 4km to go
17:10 CEST 185.5km/3km to go
Voigt's move was
covered by Bennati and the other two come back up to them.
17:11 CEST
Still four riders going for the win.
Bennati is very quick, but he is also very strong at this point. They need to
take turns.
17:11 CEST
Bennati is on the front, looking
back. Fothen moves up, then Elmiger. Bennati is on the back, but goes through.
17:12 CEST
He takes some water, chucks away
the bottle and generally looks quite confident.
17:12 CEST
Elmiger is on the front, then Bennati,
Fothen and Voigt. The latter is playing it canny, wait for his chance.
17:12 CEST 187.1km/1.4km to go
Fothen goes! He
has a gap going under the kite.
17:13 CEST
Elmiger tried to close it but Bennati
does it. They have about 700 m to go.
17:13 CEST
Bennati is left on the front. They
are all across the road, rolling..
17:14 CEST
Elmiger tries to jump but they mark
him. He's on the front, then Bennati, Voigt and Fothen.
17:14 CEST
Fothen goes! But Bennati is right
onto his wheel...
17:14 CEST
No problem for the Italian...he makes
it look very easy to take his first Tour win. Very impressive.
17:16 CEST
Voigt tried to cover Bennati when
he jumped but didn't have the legs. The Italian got up to Fothen very quickly
and then flew past, consigning the Gerolsteiner rider to second. Voigt was then
passed by Elmiger just before the line.
17:17 CEST
Millar and Tosatto come in for fifth.
Millar leads, Tosatto jumps but Millar gets him easily. Fifth place for the
Scot, who will most likely keep his powder dry tomorrow in advance of Saturday's
time trial.
17:19 CEST
Seventh place goes to Quinziato ahead
of Righi. They don't sprint. Righi was happy enough that his team-mate won.
17:22 CEST
The peloton is still riding and Discovery
Channel are ramping up the pace to deter any possible attacks.
17:22 CEST
Boonen, Hunter and Zabel will sprint
as the points jersey is still not decided.
17:23 CEST
In contrast to previous days, the
Rabobank riders are sitting at the very back of the field. Their morale must
be pretty low.
Quick.Step are on the front and wind it up..three
riders and then Boonen, with Hunter and then Zabel behind him.
17:26 CEST
Boonen gets it ahead of Sébastien
Chavanel (Française des Jeux), Robert Hunter (Barloworld), Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner)
and Zabel. So that pads his lead somewhat.
17:27 CEST
So no change in the overall standings
today.Boonen moves one stage and a few points closer to green in Paris, and
looked quite confident out there.
17:28 CEST
Tomorrow Alberto Contador will get
to wear the first Tour maillot jaune of his career, several months after
winning Paris-Nice.
17:28 CEST
That's the first win by Lampre-Fondital
in this year's Tour.
17:31 CEST
So hard luck for Voigt, who misses
out again after another long day in the break. He might try again before the
end of the Tour, depending on how much gas he has left.
17:33 CEST
Clarification: Contador will get
a yellow jersey this evening, but tomorrow's stage will be the first chance
for him to ride with it.
17:33 CEST
He gets it now, looking quite happy
with himself.
17:35 CEST
Juan Mauricio Soler will get the
mountains jersey and Boonen earns himself another green. Contador also gets
white.
So that completes our coverage on the day after the night
before. It's been a dramatic 24 hours in the Tour de France, but we hope that
things settle down between here and Paris. Thanks for reading, and come back
later for more from the Tour!
Provisional standings
1 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r Prévoyance 4 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 5 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.42 6 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quickstep-Innergetic 7 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 3.20 8 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 9 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Innergetic 9.37 10 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française Des Jeux 11 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 12 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 13 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 1.53 3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.49 4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 6.02 5 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6.29 6 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 10.18 7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 11.36 8 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 12.50 9 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 13.31 10 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 13.42
