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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 8 - June 23: Innertkirchen - Schwarzsee, 152.5km
Live commentary by Bjorn Haake
Live coverage starts: 15:30 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:00 CES
Complete live report
15:26 CEST 90.5km/62km to go
Gruezi and welcome
back to the Cyclingnews live coverage here in Switzerland. Today is the
final road race, with the individual time trial capping the stage race tomorrow.
The action so far has been fast and furious, with the peloton riding about 20
minutes quicker than the fastest calculated schedule. The Swiss railway is proud
of the lycra boys!
For a long time attacks were immediately stopped
by the field, but a few kilometres ago a group of eleven was finally let go.
15:32 CEST
The eleven front runners only had
a small lead for a while, but have been able to extend it to 1'38 in the last
few kilometres.
Fast Freddy Rodriguez (Lotto) from the USA is in
the group along with three(!) Discovery Channel riders: White, Meersman and
van Goolen.
15:34 CEST
Also in the group is Carlos Sastre
(CSC) and Navarro (Astana) who was in the break yesterday and should be fairly
tired.
15:35 CEST 94.5km/58km to go
The lead has grown
to three minutes.
15:38 CEST 96.5km/56km to go
Frenchman Christophe
Laurent (Crédit Agricole) is loosing contact with the field. Californians may
remember his aggressive racing in February in the Tour of California which netted
him the mountain jersey.
15:46 CEST 100.5km/52km to go
The front group
has reached the Kanton of Fribourg. Their advantage has stabilized, it is currently
2'51.
15:50 CEST 108.5km/44km to go
The advantage has
now decreased to 2'19. The high field in the peloton finds it s first victims
and some cannot follow the high pace.
15:51 CEST
Saunier, Gerolsteiner riders are
at the front.
Gusev, who rides in the pink jersey of the mountain
leader (we are not at the Giro after all), is dropping back to the team car.
Yesterday's stage winner as a domestique!
15:53 CEST 110.5km/42km to go
The eleven in the
front are working well together, but the field has started to chase in earnest.
This is the last time to try for a stage win in a road race before the Tour
de Suisse concludes with a time trial tomorrow.
15:54 CEST 111.5km/41km to go
The front group
consists of: Carlos Sastre (Team CSC), Michael Albasini (Liquigas), Matthew
White (Discovery Channel), Gianni Meersman (Discovery Channel), Jurgen van Goolen
(Discovery Channel), Daniel Navarro (Astana), Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto),
Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital), Yannick Talabardon (Crédit Agricole), Enrico
Poitschke (Milram), Florian Stalder (Volksbank)
Their advantage is
2'03 in the moment.
15:54 CEST
Rodriguez is pulling through.
15:58 CEST 113.5km/39km to go
The field is taking
a left and heads over a rail road bridge. It is always a relief if there is
a bridge or and underpass with the many miles of tracks in Switzerland. A passing
train has decided races in the past!
16:00 CEST
The area is really pretty with rolling
hills, fields and narrow secondary roads to the left and right. The weather
is good; there are some clouds, but it's mostly sunny.
16:01 CEST 116.5km/36km to go
The front group
is going through a roundabout.
The advantage is still just over two
minutes.
16:04 CEST
The Russian Vladimir Efimkin of Caisse
d'Epargne is riding in yellow and is near the front of the field, surrounded
by his teammates.
Other teams are pitching in to the chase as it
is the last time they can try win a road race in this year's race. The finish
is not suited to the sprinters, but a powerful rider can make a difference on
the cat 3 climb that end the race today.
16:07 CEST 120.5km/32km to go
There are now the
occasional gaps building in the front group as some riders try to miss a turn
here or there.
16:08 CEST
The front runners are heading downhill
right now.
16:10 CEST 121.5km/31km to go
Now they cross
a really nice bridge as they enter the town of Fribourg. They pass the cathedral.
16:11 CEST
But the eleven in front have no time
to check out the scenery as the gap is coming down and is now at 1'43. They
have to keep the pace up if they want to stay away. It is still 30 km to the
finish in Schwarzsee.
16:13 CEST 125.5km/27km to go
Caisse has disappeared
from the front and lets other teams take over. Teams that are desperately looking
for a stage win and have missed the move of the day.
16:14 CEST
With three guys in the front Discovery
has great chances of making it two for two if the group can stay away. If...
16:15 CEST
The front riders are going through
down town and are hitting some cobbles. It is not Paris-Roubaix, but it is slightly
uphill, so one can be reminded on the Belgian classics.
16:17 CEST
1'21 back the field is hitting the
couples Zampieri of Cofidis hits them a little bit ahead of the field.
The scenery in this older part of Fribourg is stunning, with walls, cobbles
and the old buildings one can imagine being in the medieval ages.
16:18 CEST 128.5km/24km to go
The uphill in Fribourg
split the front. It is Sastre and Ballan in the front with Stalder desperately
chasing.
16:22 CEST
The group has temporarily split apart
completely, but it is now coming back together.
Sastre and Ballan are still
in the front by a couple of hundred metres. They pass a sign that tells them
that the 70 km/h speed limit is obsolete again.
16:22 CEST 129.5km/23km to go
Ballan/Sastre have
26" over the 9 chasers and 1'40 over the field.
16:24 CEST
Ballan won the Ronde van Vlaanderen
this year in a similar situation after outsprinting his other breakaway companion
Leif Hoste.
Their lead is now at 29"
16:26 CEST 131.5km/21km to go
Sastre has been
training in California this winter with his CSC teammates.
16:27 CEST
The 9 behind should be able to catch
the duo in the front as they have three riders from one team (Discovery) and
there shouldn't be much infighting.
16:30 CEST
Bouygues Telecom, Gerolsteiner, Caisse
are making the pace in the field. CSC and Discovery have guys in the break and
are just being attentive right now.
16:31 CEST
The field takes a left to go off
the main road.
Cancellara, who has his number 13 upside down like
in every stage, is dropping off the peloton. He wants to save his energy for
the time trial tomorrow which is held near Bern, in his backyard.
16:32 CEST 135.5km/17km to go
Sastre attacks
and drops Ballan going toward the mountain prize.
16:33 CEST
About 1,000 metre before the GPM
in Weissenstein (cat 4) Sastre says good-bye to Ballan.
16:34 CEST
Albasini and Rodriguez have lost
contact with the Discovery group.
16:34 CEST
Sastre goes over the top. Ballan
is 24 seconds back.
16:36 CEST 137.5km/15km to go
The field is string
out in one long line.
16:38 CEST
Sastre is now riding through some
nice country side with meadows left and right. But the wind doesn't look like
fun..
Sastre has still 24 seconds over Ballan and 1'15 over the peloton,
which has shrunk a lot..
16:39 CEST
Five guys are still dangling between
with White, Meersman, Navarro, Talabardon and Ballan
16:39 CEST
So Ballan has been caught by the
chasers.
16:40 CEST 140.5km/12km to go
The gap is now
38" between Sastre and the group of five, and the Spaniard has 1'07 over the
peloton.
16:41 CEST 141.5km/11km to go
Sastre is looking
good. He makes himself very small (not that he is tall to being with) and aerodynamic.
The uphill in the end should also suit him well.
16:42 CEST
The five are only a couple of hundred
metres ahead of the field.
16:43 CEST 142.5km/10km to go
Sastre passes the
sprint points. Ten more kilometres to go.
16:44 CEST
The field is now flying and the gap
is coming down rapidly. The last breakaway riders are passed by the field.
16:44 CEST
So everybody against Sastre. Fischer
for Liquigas is in the field.
16:45 CEST
Stuart O'Grady is in the field as
well. Sastre only has eleven seconds now. He won't be making it.
16:46 CEST
The field has the Spaniard in its
sight.
16:47 CEST 144.5km/8km to go
The field catches
Sastre and there is a counter attack by a Quickstep rider.
16:47 CEST 146.5km/6km to go
It is Tonti. Six
more kilometres.
16:48 CEST 146.5km/6km to go
He is labouring
hard, but it will be tough with the chasing peloton.
16:48 CEST 147.5km/5km to go
He is caught. Counter
by Horner!!
16:49 CEST
Zabel sitting pretty in the field.
16:49 CEST
Horner has a slight gap. He got second
yesterday. Can he get one better today?
16:50 CEST
He quickly builds a lead of eleven
seconds.
16:51 CEST 148.5km/4km to go
It'll be touch and
go! The field is chasing hard, but Horner is a strong rider for this kind of
finish.
16:51 CEST
He is pushing a huge gear. Looks
like Ullrich now.
16:51 CEST
But the field is coming closer. Can
he make it?
16:52 CEST
No, under the pressure of Lampre
Horner is caught.
16:52 CEST 149.5km/3km to go
They are passing
three to go. Efimkin close to the front.
16:52 CEST
Still Lampre pulling, Caisse behind
them.
16:53 CEST
Two Discovery guys - Devolder one
of them - are close to the yellow jersey.
16:54 CEST 150.5km/2km to go
Schumacher is close
to. This is a good finish for him. Also a good one for Cunego.
16:54 CEST
Attack by Saunier!
16:55 CEST
But he can't get away, so it's Quickstep.
16:55 CEST
Nobody can get away and it starts
to get tactical.
16:56 CEST
Riders everywhere, moving up on the
outside or dropping back. It gets crowded in the middle
16:56 CEST 151.5km/1km to go
A Unibet
rider attacks on the left hand side if the road. 20 metres gap
16:56 CEST
It is Uran.
16:57 CEST
He wins it!!!
16:57 CEST
Uran attacks inside the last kilometre
and gets in a couple of seconds ahead of the field.
16:59 CEST
This was a powerful attack. Efimkin
is safely in the front and will keep the yellow jersey for another day
17:00 CEST
Thanks for joining us today and we'll
see you tomorrow for the final day - the decisive time trial. With the time
gaps in the overall really close this should be an exciting day!
Provisional Results
1 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Unibet.com 2 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 3 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 4 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 5 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Volksbank 6 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital General classification after stage 8 1 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne
