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71st Tour de Suisse - PT
Switzerland, June 16-24, 2007
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage
Stage 9 - June 24: Bern - Bern TT, 33.7km
Live commentary by Bjorn Haake
Live coverage starts: 15:30 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:15 CES
Complete live report
15:08 CEST
Cyclingnews welcomes you to
the live coverage from the ninth and final stage of the 2007 Tour de Suisse.
It is a time trial around Bern and one person will be extra motivated: Fabian
Cancellara, who was raised in this area. Of course it helps out that he's decent
in time trials, having won the Worlds last year. He also won the first stage
in Olten, a 3.8 kilometre race that would be called a prologue in most other
stage races.
With five riders within around 30 seconds of each other
this should make for an interesting day for the overall title as well.
15:26 CEST
Since Fabian Cancellara was not well
placed in the overall, he has started early. He has just finished and has crushed
the time of teammate Stuart O'Grady, beating him by almost three minutes! Cancellara's
time is 41'46.
15:29 CEST
Stefan Schumacher from Gerolsteiner
started strongly. With 10 kilometres to go he is only 26 seconds behind Cancellara's
time.
15:38 CEST
Australia's Matthew White is currently
in fifth position. He is only two seconds behind Leif Hoste.
15:41 CEST
There are a good 30 more riders to
start. Jens Voigt with 12'50 and Beat Zberg with 12'35 have just passed the
first time check.
15:44 CEST
Erik Zabel has finished the race
in 48'03
15:49 CEST
It is another beautiful day in Switzerland.
How do they do that? The riders have great conditions out on the road.
15:53 CEST
The Swedish time trial champion Larsson
is out on the road. It is slightly downhill and he is blasting down.
15:58 CEST
The course is not easy, there are
a few uphills where the riders are struggling up slowly. Gusev of Discovery
Channel just has an experience with a Swiss hill.
15:58 CEST
Gusev has a 12'17 at the first time
check at km 8.3. Not bad.
15:59 CEST
Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française
Des Jeux passes his two-minute man.
16:01 CEST
Lövkvist looks very comfortable
on his bike. He is doing a good time trial.
16:02 CEST
The top hasn't changed. It is still
Cancellara with a time that will be hard to beat.
16:02 CEST
Beat Zberg manages to get 5th right
now.
16:04 CEST
Andreas Klöden has just pulverized
the first intermediate time!
16:05 CEST
After 8.3 kilometres, he is 10 seconds
faster than Cancellara!!! Will there be an unexpected outcome or did he start
too fast?
16:05 CEST
Klöden is now on the flat Swiss
roads and he is flying!
16:06 CEST
At km 22, at the last time check,
three riders are approaching at the same time. Do they know they are riding
an individual time trial?
16:07 CEST
Marchante is now on a small secondary
road.
16:08 CEST
Of course, in an individual time
trial drafting is not allowed and the riders have to stay a certain amount behind
and to the side of other riders.
16:10 CEST
Schleck is now starting. He predicted
that Cancellara will win the time trail "for sure". And he hasn't given up on
the overall, either. He is 33 seconds behind Efimkin in 5th place.
16:11 CEST
Damiano Cunego is out on the road.
He is labouring hard, and maybe a little too hard. Andreas Klöden looks
smoother.
16:13 CEST
Carrara from Unibet.com is starting.
He is fourth and has given the team some reason to smile, which they didn't
have too often this year, being excluded from all major tours despite being
automatically qualified by UCI standards.
16:14 CEST
And now Karpets is on the start ramp.
He is third overall.
16:15 CEST
Gusev is now on this secondary road
that looks more like a farm road. There is probably more traffic with all the
team cars than all of last week together.
16:16 CEST
And the spectators are out and enjoy
a nice Sunday afternoon.
Gusev has the third best time at km 22!
He is 47 seconds slower than Cancellara.
16:18 CEST
Kirchen has now started, too. He
is a bit hard to recognize in his T-Mobile colours as we have been accustomed
to see him in his Champion of Luxembourg jersey. But in the TT they can't wear
those if they didn't win the national TT title.
16:18 CEST
And the last rider is starting, Vladimir
Efimkin.
16:19 CEST
Next Sunday many countries will have
their national Championships and then there will be a major reshuffle anyway.
16:21 CEST
Klöden at the second split.
He is now behind Cancellara
16:22 CEST
Kirchen doesn't seem to be too comfortable.
He is sliding back on his saddle.
16:23 CEST
Schleck at the first split. 14th
with a 12'30. That may not be enough for passing the four in front in the overall.
16:26 CEST
Karpets approaches first split
16:26 CEST
Looking good, only a second behind
Cancellara.
16:27 CEST
Kirchen is now on the uphill before
the first split at km 8.3 He is out of the saddle. Now he switches from the
left side of the road to the right, so he can take the inside of the slight
right-hand bend.
16:28 CEST
Looks like he is way off the front
runners.
16:29 CEST
Yes, a 12'30, over half a minute
behind Schumacher.
Gusev at the finish in third, with 42'51"
16:31 CEST
Efimkin has virtually the same time
as Kirchen.
16:32 CEST
The virtual overall currently has
Karpets only one second behind his teammate Efimkin. Looks like there will be
a chance in the GC before the end of the day!
16:33 CEST
Karpets is pushing a huge year.
16:33 CEST
Larsson sprints to the finish. He
just gets into the top 5 for now!
16:34 CEST
Klöden finishes
16:34 CEST
He beats Schumacher, but can't get
to Cancellara's time. Second place for him for now.
16:38 CEST
Efimkin looks not as smooth as some
of the other time trial specialists. He is stomping on those pedals. Maybe he
is also panicking a bit as there is no doubt he gets info from the times of
the others.
16:39 CEST
The Swiss afternoon sun is shining
on Cunego and his aero helmet.
16:40 CEST
Karpets is riding through a small
town, oblivious to the speed limit sign. Those guys are amazingly fast.
16:40 CEST
Fränk Schleck is now on another
uphill.
16:41 CEST
He is approaching the second a split
and he is three minutes behind Cancellara in 22nd.
16:42 CEST
Carrara is now riding up the same
section. Has he gained time on Schleck already?
16:43 CEST
And Karpets passes the spectators
that have lined the small uphill next to a wheat field just before the second
time check.
16:44 CEST
He passes the check in 5th, 36 seconds
behind Cancellara.
16:44 CEST
He is now enjoying the fast descent
on this narrow road out in the country side.
16:46 CEST
As he enters the town of Gümligen
he has to scramble to make the right turn at the end of the downhill. It's narrow
and the curb is fast approaching.
16:47 CEST
Kirchen comes through with the 15th
time. At this point from all the overall contenders Karpets looks the most likely.
He is stile pushing a big gear as he is inching closer to the finish.
16:48 CEST
Kirchen also as managed to make the
right turn. But the descent after that is also one where the riders will have
to concentrate hard to not go off the road.
16:49 CEST
Devolder is approaching the finish.
He can make the top 5.
Yes, he makes it.
16:50 CEST
The last rider, Efimkin in yellow,
comes through the second split over two minutes behind Cancellara, in 33rd.
Good bye, yellow.
16:50 CEST
He is now hitting the descent.
16:50 CEST
And has no problems with the right
turn. Maybe he is going down slower than the others?
16:51 CEST
Karpets is on a really long straight
away.
16:51 CEST
And at the end there is a sharp right.
That's where all the spectators have gathered.
16:52 CEST
Cunego does a great race. He is 15th
for the moment.
16:53 CEST
Efimkin is now also on a long straight
away and runs the red light of the pedestrian crossing.
16:54 CEST
Karpets rides underneath a giant
gate and onto the cobbles. No Swiss race without some cobbles in the older parts
of town.
16:55 CEST
Schleck finishes. Almost three minutes
behind. He'll be disappointed.
16:55 CEST
Karpets is now on the final uphill.
His long legs push the big gear while he is seated.
16:56 CEST
Carrara is on the finishing straight.
16:56 CEST
He grimaces as he pushes the last
ounce of strength out of his body. 2'35 and 20th place
16:57 CEST
And Karpets already arrives!!!
16:57 CEST
He is 1'06" behind and gets sixth.
Enough to win the overall!!!
16:59 CEST
Kirchen now shows the efforts. It
doesn't look too fluid anymore. The upper body is rocking left and right.
17:00 CEST
But he tries everything, tongue hanging
out.
17:00 CEST
He is 2'15 behind and gets 15th for
now.
17:01 CEST
Efimkin is the last rider on the
course. He is now entering the last kilometre.
17:02 CEST
He already knows he has lost the
jersey. At least it is to his teammate Karpets.
17:03 CEST
Efimkin loses more than 3 minutes!
17:13 CEST
Cancellara gets ready for the podium.
17:15 CEST
Thanks for joining the Cyclingnews
coverage of the 2007 Tour de Suisse. We hope you enjoyed the exciting finish
to this race and don't forget to check out then full report, results and great
photos later today on our website.
Next stop Tour de France! Stay
tuned.
Results
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 41.46 2 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0.20 3 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.33 4 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel 1.04 5 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel 1.05 6 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 1.06 Final general classification 1 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 2 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile 3 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel 4 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com 5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 6 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne
