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71st Tour de Suisse - PT
Switzerland, June 16-24, 2007
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 6 - June 21: Giubiasco - Crans-Montana, 190.8km
Live commentary by Bjorn Haake and Gregor Brown
Live coverage starts: 15:30 CEST
Estimated finish: 18:15 CEST
Complete live report
15:21 CEST 95.8km/95km to go
Hello and welcome
to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the 71st Tour de Suisse.
A big storm had the riders scramble for shelter under trees and the hail even
did some damage to team cars. The race jury therefore decided to interrupt the
race and skip the 2,749 metre high Nufenenpass.
This may come to
the relief of some riders and the dismay of others, but obviously the rider's
health goes first.
The restart in Ulrichen, with 95 kilometres to
the finish, will be momentarily.
15:24 CEST
I've never experienced anything like
that before. All of a sudden these huge hailstones were falling from the sky,"
said Gerolsteiner Directeur Sportif Reimund Dietzen. "Our team cars have several
dents and some of the bike frames have been broken from the hail. Beat Zberg,
Johannes Frohlinger, Markus Zberg and especially David Kopp, none of whom could
get under cover quickly enough, have lumps on their arms and backs [from where
they were hit by hailstones]. Some of the other teams' cars had their windshields
broken. I saw one rider changing clothes and his back was covered with really
big bumps."
15:39 CEST
Well the start has been postponed
twice again. As Reimund Dietzen indicated, some riders actually sustained injuries
during the hail storm.
15:42 CEST
This gives us some time to reflect
on the race so far. Fabian Cancellara showed he's back on form and won the prologue
in Olten. Oddly enough the Swiss didn't officially call it a prologue but stage
one instead. This is unusual for a race only 3.8 kilometres long.
15:44 CEST
Cancellara defended his jersey by
sprinting ahead of specialists like Robbie McEwen to take third place on stage
two.
15:45 CEST
Then it was Frank Schleck from Luxembourg
who took the lead, keeping CSC on top of the GC.
15:46 CEST
Now the race has finally started.
15:49 CEST
When the hail hit many riders were
able to find shelter in someone's garage. The bikes had to stay outside, though.
Still, getting there was an ordeal and some riders are bleeding.
15:50 CEST
The field is all together at the
moment.
15:55 CEST
As the storm stopped the riders came
out of the shelter and they gingerly rode across the icy surface. Then many
discussions started and eventually it was decided to start the race after the
pass, in Ulrichen.
The second start then was at 15:35
15:58 CEST 110.8km/80km to go
CSC is leading
the chase of an escape of two. Pena and a rider from Volksbank.
15:59 CEST 113.8km/77km to go
The gap is now
25". We are racing under sunny skies. It is really beautiful here.
16:03 CEST
The two in the front are continuing
to increase their lead, which is now 35".
The two must be motivated
by the sunny weather, which a few hours ago never appeared to be an option for
the remainder of the day.
16:06 CEST 117.8km/73km to go
And the next time
gap is 43".
The German Weissinger is riding for the Austria-based
Volksbank team which made the headlines earlier this year when they announced
they had hired Jan Ullrich. Eventually the contract got canceled due to the
continuing alleged Fuentes connections of the former Tour winner.
16:08 CEST 120.8km/70km to go
The riders are
heading down a descent with many switchbacks. They can now enjoy the view of
the very pretty country side - they are riding next to a pretty creek.
The two in the front have less time to enjoy this scenery, but as a reward their
lead has climbed to 50"
16:10 CEST 123.8km/67km to go
CSC is on the front
with their yellow boy, Fränk Schleck, safely attached behind them near the front
of the peloton.
16:11 CEST 123.8km/67km to go
There has been
a crash in the peloton. A Saunier Duval rider is quick to get up again, but
the Lampre man is lying on his back, not looking too good.
16:13 CEST
The lead has climbed over the minute
mark. It is currently 1'12.
16:17 CEST 130.8km/60km to go
The peloton is
riding through the Rhône valley, heading towards the skiing area of Crans Montana.
The lead is sky-rocketing, CSC-permitting. It is now at two minutes.
16:20 CEST
The streets are now dry, the street
surface in perfect condition as they ride on the main road through the towns
and the scenery is pretty. No wonder CSC is enjoying the calm day on the front,
letting the gap go up to 2'30.
16:21 CEST
Weissinger and Peña are going so
fast they have trouble with a sharp, narrow right-hand bend. They are heading
down into a tunnel.
16:25 CEST
The Lampre rider who crashed was
Paolo Tiralongo. He looks seriously injured and is strapped onto the stretcher
and taken away by the ambulance. We hope it is not too serious. We will try
to find out about Tiralongo's condition as soon as possible. Check the race
report after the race.
16:26 CEST 134.8km/56km to go
The peloton is
strung out now. CSC is increasing the pressure, which means the lead is currently
not going up anymore. It is at 2'50".
16:29 CEST 137.8km/53km to go
Juan José Cobo
is at the Saunier team car and gets some help with his radio system.
16:36 CEST 142.8km/48km to go
The two in front
have currently a lead of 2'59". So the field lets them dangle in the front.
The main climb of the day has been cancelled, but still the riders face an uphill
finish to Crans Montana at 1,452 metres.
16:39 CEST
The front group has already passed
the sprint where Weissinger was ahead of Peña. Stalder, a teammate of Weissinger
from the Volksbank squad, is getting third place.
16:42 CEST 146.8km/44km to go
The lead is coming
down now. It is currently 2'41
16:43 CEST
Fabian Cancellara went from yellow
jersey to team helper, and he is doing his job well. Stuart O'Grady also looks
comfortable in the CSC lineup on the front.
16:47 CEST
On one side of the valley a narrow,
unpaved road - or should we call it a path - is winding up its way. Good thing
that the days of racing on unpaved roads are mostly over.
Instead
the two riders in the front are heading west on the main, tree-lined road.
16:50 CEST 149.8km/41km to go
Bennati is talking
into his radio. He is wearing the points' jersey, which is a red jersey with
black dots and would be considered a mountain leader jersey in most other races.
Instead the mountain's leader jersey is pinkish, not to be confused with the
Maglia Rosa that the lead in the Giro d'Italia is wearing.
16:52 CEST
The lead has come down to 2'09. This
happens when stars like Stuart O'Grady and Fabian Cancellara are domestiques
for their team.
16:56 CEST 153.8km/37km to go
Fumiyuki Beppu
of Discovery Channel is wearing the jersey of the national champion of Japan.
The lead is down to 1'52 now.
The very long straight road is not
the breakaway's friend. Once the field can see the guys in front it is often
over.
16:58 CEST 156.8km/34km to go
John Gadret (Ag2r),
who was placed 14th overall before today's stage, has abandoned the race. He
has had knee problems the last few days and the weather today probably didn't
help.
17:03 CEST 158.8km/32km to go
The two in the
front work well together. Victor Hugo Peña rode for US Postal from 2001 to 2004
and helped Lance Armstrong to secure some of his Tour victories.
Riding through the valley they face a headwind. This helps the field to cut
down the lead to 1'38
17:04 CEST
Oscar Freire is riding is at the
back of the peloton. The three-time World Champion must be thinking of training
kilometres and the Tour de France. Today's mountain top arrival will not suit
his style.
17:07 CEST 161.8km/29km to go
Peña is now riding
for Unibet, a company that takes sports bet, such as outcomes of soccer games
or if their own squad is even be able to take part on certain races. Chances
are that if the race is in France they will not, due to the French gambling
laws.
But it's more of a political issue as the team has tried to
race in neutral colours (with a question mark across their chest) or with Canyon,
their co-sponsor.
|
17:10 CEST
To find out more about John Gadret,
who abandoned the race earlier, read this
article today's news.
17:16 CEST
Rabobank reports that Freire is suffering
from injuries from a crash last Sunday, and he supposedly went to the hospital
last night to get checked out.
17:18 CEST 168.8km/22km to go
In a few kilometres
the last sprint of the day will be coming up.
The Unibet and Volksbank
rider will definitely reach it before the field. Their lead is going back, it
is now 1'55
17:20 CEST
Last kilometre before the sprint.
Oscar Freire is riding at the back of the peloton, which has to go through a
construction zone.
17:23 CEST 170.8km/20km to go
Weissinger is riding
on the front and checks back with Peña, but the Unibet rider does not
seem to be interested in the points. So Weissinger gets to take the second sprint
as well.
17:23 CEST
Damiano Cunego noted before the start,
"it will be an explosive finish that will suit the attackers." This could be
why we see the Amstel Gold winner, Schumacher, moving up in the peloton.
17:24 CEST
Behind it is again Florian Stalder
of Switzerland who takes the third spot.
17:26 CEST 173.8km/17km to go
Going closer towards
the final obstacle of the day the lead has now diminished again and it just
over a minute.
17:27 CEST
Stalder is leading the sprint's jersey,
which is why he was sprinting for the points.
17:29 CEST
The field is riding between the Rhône
river on the left and the vineyards on the right, occasionally vanishing into
a tunnel.
17:30 CEST 176.8km/14km to go
With 14 kilometres
the go the two breakaway riders have been caught. It really went very quickly
in the end.
17:31 CEST
CSC is now really pushing the pace.
They don't want to have to control any counter attacks. The best way to prevent
is to keep the pace high enough that no one can attack.
17:32 CEST 177.8km/13km to go
A left hand bend
and we are on the final climb of the day, 11,300 metres long!
17:33 CEST
The peloton breaks into tow immediately.
Guess where the sprinters are.
The "autobus" is forming.
17:35 CEST 178.8km/12km to go
Schleck is currently
only helped by Cancellara. Astana is on their heels.
17:37 CEST 179.8km/11km to go
Sastre is coming
back up rapidly, though and helps out.
17:38 CEST
Andreas Klöden is sitting right
behind Schleck.
17:40 CEST 180.8km/10km to go
Cancellara has
done a tremendous amount of work and is now dropping back. Carlos Sastre is
taking over as the pacemaker for CSC.
17:41 CEST
Stijn Devolder of Discovery Channel
attacks with 10km to go! A Caisse d'Epargne rider goes with him
17:42 CEST 181.8km/9km to go
They come around
a switchback and they have about 100 metres.
17:42 CEST
David López García
is the rider for Caisse d'Epargne.
17:43 CEST
Devolder is 9th in GC, 2'03" back.
17:44 CEST
The two ride past a reservoir and
have a 6" lead.
17:44 CEST 182.8km/8km to go
They pass the 8
kilometre to go sign.
López García drops Devolder!
17:46 CEST
The group behind is down to maybe
25.
The Austrian Gerrit Glomser attacks and passes Devolder.
17:46 CEST
Glomser rides for Volksbank who had
a good day so far. He is about 100 metres behind López García
17:47 CEST
Devolder is still ahead of the field
but he has given up.
Now he is passed.
17:49 CEST
Glomser goes out of the saddle and
makes a strong effort to reach the Caisse d'Epargne in the front. He has reached
the Spaniard!
17:50 CEST 183.8km/7km to go
It is seven kilometres
to go. The duo has a lead of 20 seconds.
17:51 CEST
Sastre us still riding on the front
of the field, keeping Schleck out of the wind and out of trouble.
17:51 CEST
Saunier's magical duo Simoni and
Piepoli are moving to the fore beside Cunego.
17:52 CEST
The front group has entered the town
of Lens with 25 km/h!
17:53 CEST
After the town a horse has entered
the race!!!
17:54 CEST
But it was quickly disqualified for
short cutting the rest of the race and the course marshal guided the horse into
some other street. Phew.
17:55 CEST 185.8km/5km to go
The lead is now
down to eleven seconds. Glomser accelerates, but López García
can catch up.
Schleck is running out of horse power.
17:56 CEST
He had dropped back to the centre
of the group earlier, but is now dropped and loosing ground.
Simoni
has attacked and joined the front in a hurry!
17:57 CEST 186.8km/4km to go
Sastre is with Schleck,
but that is all of a sudden not looking good for CSC.
17:58 CEST
The trio in the front has 7 seconds
over the main group.
Schleck is a further 19 seconds down.
Cunego powers up with Marchante on his wheel!
17:58 CEST
Cunego attacks!
He is
followed by Marchante.
17:59 CEST 187.8km/3km to go
Schleck is now 45
seconds back and loosing ground all the time.
18:01 CEST
Cunego is trying to drop José
Angel Gomez Marchante of Saunier Duval-Prodir.
18:03 CEST 188.8km/2km to go
Eight guys are now
in the front.
18:04 CEST
They have passed the mountain points.
18:05 CEST 189.8km/1km to go
Thomas Dekker got
the mountain points. He is on the last kilometre
18:05 CEST
And Dekker wins it!
18:06 CEST
Gerrit Glomser gets second and Gilberto
Simoni third.
18:09 CEST
Schleck has come to the finish 1'20
back.
He likely lost the yellow jersey to Efimkin (Caisse)
18:12 CEST
Thanks for joining Cyclingnews
at our live coverage from the Tour de Suisse. Despite the cut of the main climb
of the day due to weather this was exciting finish. Check out the full report
and results later on the website.
See you tomorrow.
Provisional Results
1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 2 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Volksbank 3 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 6 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 7 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 8 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com General classification after stage 6 1 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne ????
