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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 15 - Monday, July 23: Foix - Loudenvielle - Le Louron, 196km
Live commentary by Shane Stokes and Bjorn Haake
Complete live report
Live coverage starts: 13:00 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:15 CEST
Bonjour and welcome back for the Cyclingnews live coverage, where today we expect another major shakeup for the overall. The stage goes from Foix to Loudenville over 196 kilometre and features seven climbs.
11:30 CEST
Christian Prudhomme just waved the
flag - not the white flag of surrender, but the white flag that reads depart.
11:31 CEST 1km/195km to go
And there are immediate
attacks, Liquigas and Cofidis re the first to try, Discovery comes up as well.
And a Credit Agricole rider.
11:33 CEST
The field is immediately stretched
out. The front is not too far off the field yet, but there is definitely already
a lot of speed and rider sin the back are hurting.
11:35 CEST
This very active start has not been
kind to Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis), who dropped his chain and lost time.
Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) is prominent now. He won two stages in the
2006 Giro d'Italia but thus far in the Tour, hasn't been at his best.
11:36 CEST
Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) is
last man in the peloton. He's not one for the mountains so once things pop he'll
hope to get into the autobus [the cycling one] and get to the finish within
the time limit.
11:38 CEST
This is a big move...it includes
some strong riders including Jens Voigt (CSC), Schumacher, Oscar Pereiro (Caisse
d'Epargne), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) and others.
11:39 CEST
So there's a group of approximately
25 riders clear. Many of the teams are represented and they are working well
together, pulling clear.
11:41 CEST
Pereiro started the day 11th overall,
11'01" back. Rabobank don't want to let this move get too far [remember last
year?] so they are on the front now to control the gap.
11:42 CEST
The countryside is stunning here...very
lush.
Schumacher comes to the front, then Juan Manuel Garate (Quick.Step
- Innergetic) and Hincapie.
11:43 CEST
At the moment the peloton are on
flat plains but this area is surrounded by forested peaks.
11:45 CEST 12km/184km to go
The field is heading
through Tarascon sur Ariège. Too bad they don't have time to enjoy the
scenery. The old town with its old tower and the hills on the left and right.
The is also the Tower of Castilla on a little rise.
11:46 CEST
This move has been hauled back. Sylvain
Chavanel (Cofidis) was one of those clear and tries to go again, but he has
been brought back.
Leif Hoste (Predictor Lotto) sits last wheel
in the peloton, which is lined out. There is a stall up front so he will be
happy with that.
11:47 CEST 13km/183km to go
There is a small
valley, but the riders immediately head up to the first difficulty of the day,
the Port Pass. It's a category 2 climb.
11:50 CEST 15km/181km to go
An Euskaltel rider
is off the front, but is now joined by several riders, including Christophe
Moreau. The four riders in the front are Menchov, Moreau, Verdugo and Pereiro.
11:51 CEST
What happens on these stages is that
there are many accelerations early on, groups trying to go clear, and things
tend to be a little chaotic until the right group gets away.
Dario
Cioni (Predictor Lotto) looks to be in trouble, as does Cyril Dessel (Ag2r Prévoyance).
Both are off the back of the peloton [separately] and losing time.
Cioni is an important right-hand man for Evans in the mountains so if he is
struggling, that will make things tough. Dessel has been a surprise this year,
in that he has performed poorly in the race. He finished seventh last year,
only 8'41" behind Floyd Landis.
11:55 CEST 18km/178km to go
There a few discussions
between Moreau and the others about pulling through. Vino has enough and attacks.
11:55 CEST
Agritubel leader Juan Miguel Mercado
is also heading South.
Now Geraint Thomas (Barloworld) is also being
dropped. He's the youngest rider in the race, only 21 years of age and, should
probably have been pulled out several days ago. He's been riding solidly and
did a decent time trial but at such a young age, teams need to be very, very
careful in races as tough as the Tour de France. The last thing you want to
do is push a young rider too hard.
Lance Armstrong rode his first
Tour in 1993 - he was 22 then - and while he won a stage, he was sent home before
the halfway point. This year, T-Mobile pulled out Mark Cavendish who, like Thomas,
is riding his first Tour.
11:56 CEST
Thomas clearly has a lot of ability
but should be nurtured at this point.
12:01 CEST
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne)
may also have been in that move but now there are just four left up front; Pereiro,
Menchov, Verdugo and Vinokourov. Moreau has gone back.
12:03 CEST
Now a T-Mobile rider is on the front
of the peloton. It's hard to see exactly who it is from this height [we are
in the blimp today] but it looks like Axel Merckx. The Rabobank team are behind.
Ouch..Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) is off the back. Not sure if he has been
dropped or if he had a mechanical.
12:04 CEST
Vinokourov is still clear and has
been joined by several others.
12:05 CEST
Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and
Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) go clear of the others. The latter then drops Kohl.
12:05 CEST
Kohl is just two seconds behind.
12:07 CEST
Bert Grabsch (T-Mobile), William
Bonnet (Credit Agricole), Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank), Heinrich Haussler
(Gerolsteiner), Gert Steegmans (Quick.Step - Innergetic) and others have been
dropped. It's looking like a hard day ahead.
12:08 CEST
Kohl has been caught by the group
behind. There are perhaps 12 riders here.
12:08 CEST 23km/173km to go
Verdugo is clear
by about a good 100 metres. They just leave the town of Prat.
12:09 CEST
Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval - Prodir)
is here, as is Jens Voigt (CSC) and several others.
Wow...there
is only one Rabobank rider heading the field, with Michael Rasmussen next in
line. Have his team blown at this early point?
12:10 CEST
The chasing group is 20" back, with
the peloton coming up to them now.
12:12 CEST
The peloton nearly has the chasers
back.
12:13 CEST
Verdugo is now just 10" clear of
the peloton, so it seems that everything might be coming back together.
However Vinokourov goes to the front of the chasing group and pushes hard. He
wants this to stay clear.
12:14 CEST
Vino pulls aside and Garate takes
over. The peloton has slid back a bit now so that injection of pace seemed to
have worked.
12:14 CEST 25km/171km to go
The road goes up
in switchbacks. It is a real pretty area, the riders passing the steep meadow
on their way up. They are less than 3 km from the top.
12:16 CEST 26km/170km to go
In the peloton, a
Rabobank rider jumps hard and Rasmussen goes with him. It looked like they are
trying to go clear! However the others in the peloton set about hauling them
back.
Rabobank certainly seem to be low in numbers thus far; that
could be dangerous for Rasmussen. We've still got 170 km to go, after all!
12:16 CEST
From the blimp we have now a great
view on the switchbacks. It is so steep that the riders are happy they road
doesn't go straight up. It'd be a 50% gradient...
12:18 CEST
Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel)
is in a group of 15 who are being dropped.
12:20 CEST
It's very active back there in the
peloton. It seems there are some Rabobank riders, but they are further back
in the group. We'll see how things look in a few kilometres.
Garate
leads the break, pushing hard. Vinokourov and Mayo are further back. Garate
drags Verdugo and Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom) slightly clear.
12:21 CEST
Garate, Tschopp and Verdugo lead
over the top of the Col du Port.
12:22 CEST
Juan Jose Cobo (Saunier Duval - Prodir),
Vinokourov and Stéphane Goubert (Ag2r Prévoyance) are next over the top.
This descent looks to be a fast one.
12:24 CEST
Today's race is now heading towards
the first bonus sprint of the day. It takes place at the bottom of this descent,
some 40.5 kilometres after the prime line they just passed. It is in the village
of Saint Girons, then the riders race on to the feed zone and then the start
of the day's next climb, the Col de Portet d'Aspet. This second cat mountain
is, unfortunately, best known for being the place where Olympic road race champion
Fabio Casartelli was tragically killed.
12:33 CEST
There is a spectacular memorial to
the Italian on the mountain.
Once past the summit, the riders drop
down a four kilometre descent and then start the first category Col de Menté.
Once over the 1349 metre summit, the riders encounter the second bonus sprint
at Marignac (km 127), then they race on to the hors catégorie Port de Balès
(km 159.5), the Col du Peyresourde (km 184.5) and then on to the finish, which
comes 11.5 km later at the bottom of the descent.
12:34 CEST 40km/156km to go
Crash! Christophe
Le Mevel (Crédit Agricole) slipped in a slight right hand bend. Jorge Azanza
(Euskaltel-Euskadi) has no chance to avoid the French rider and goes right over
the handle bars.
12:34 CEST 39km/157km to go
The break was caught
a couple of kilometres ago.
12:36 CEST
The Euskaltel had a perfect position
as he did his somersault and would have been getting high ratings at the gymnastic
Olympics. He is up quickly, but the Le Mevel is still on the ground. In the
mean time Dessel, who was dropped immediately, has abandoned the race.
12:37 CEST 43.3km/152.7km to go
Kohl and Tschopp
are now clear, racing on towards the bottom of the descent. It's not much of
a drop here, so they are having to pedal pretty hard. In fact it's pretty flat
here.
12:38 CEST
The are in Biert. It's pretty small;
they are quickly back out the other side.
12:39 CEST
It looks like the break was not quite
caught by the peloton, but by a group which went clear from that. So there are
perhaps 25 riders there, including Denis Menchov (Rabobank).
12:42 CEST
George Hincapie is in this group
again. He is spending a lot of time on the front.
12:43 CEST
Cyclingnews' Ben Atkins rode the
l'Etape du Tour on Monday, covering these same roads. He sent us these notes:
Km 27.5: Col de Port: 11.4 km climb @ 5.3 % grade / 2nd Cat.
Not
particularly steep, in fact it's pretty flat for the last few kilometres.
Km 98.5: Col de Portet d'Aspet: 5.7 km climb @ 6.9 % grade / 2nd Cat.
Steep at the top, but pretty short - descent is really dangerous with bits of
up to 17%. Remember Fabio Casartelli!
Km 114: Col de Menté: 7.0 km
climb @ 8.1 % grade / 1st Cat.
Harder than I expected. Last five
or so kilometres really steep and directly exposed to the sun with very little
shade.
Km 159.5: Port de Balès: 19.2 km climb @ 6.2 % grade / hors
catégorie
Horrible! Only recently surfaced, first few km are pretty
easy, but that means that the last few have to do a lot of climbing to get the
average gradient up! Mid section has really uneven gradient, some bits unbelievably
steep! This was carnage last week with people walking, stopping at any shade
they could find. Also, surface was terrible loads of it melting quite badly
making things even harder.
The last three km are okay though, it
opens out to become like any normal mountain pass, and the surface is much improved.
Descent is a bit twisty at the top, but is really fast after that, and the surface
is pretty much perfect - unlike on the way up!.
Km 184.5: Col de
Peyresourde: 9.7 km climb @ 7.8 % grade / 1st Cat.
Starts immediately
the descent of the Port de Balès finishes. Pretty even gradient, really good
surface. Not too tough - apart from the fact that this is the fifth one today
and we've done so much distance.
Descent is really fast, but there
is a small climb with a couple to go (kite is pretty much at the summit) which
might surprise them. Might also provide a springboard for late attack.
After this small climb it's downhill all the way to the finish.
He
also says that:
The long flat bit between the bottom of the first
descent and the start of the next climb is really windswept and open. You wouldn't
want to be on your own at this point!
Watch out for an article
by Ben on his Etape experiences - coming soon.
12:43 CEST
Christophe Le Mevel is sadly on his
way to the hospital, following his crash. Looks like he joined the many cyclists
who break their collarbone each year.
12:45 CEST
A lot of the people in the current
group behind the two leaders are the same that were in front, including Cobo,
Vino, Garate, Arroyo. There is also Navarro, Halgand and Lefèvre
12:47 CEST
There is a major stall in the peloton
so this big group is going clear.
Rasmussen and the peloton are
now over 3 minutes back.
12:48 CEST
Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) and Alexandre
Vinokourov (Astana) are two of the most notable names up front.
Kohl
and Tschopp continue to lead. They are further up the road.
12:49 CEST
Kirchen started the day 14th overall,
13'16" behind Rasmussen.
12:50 CEST 53.7km/142.3km to go
The gap is 4'19".
The chasers are pretty disorganised and this group is splitting.
12:50 CEST
Vinokourov and Kirchen are in the
second half.
12:51 CEST
Rabobank have organised themselves
and there are now three of them on front of the peloton.
12:53 CEST 55km/141km to go
Tschopp and Kohl
have been caught by the 23 chasers.
12:55 CEST
The big lead group is rolling through.
Vinokourov is near the back. Has he got his legs back? We will see.
12:56 CEST
There's probably too many here, so
it will have to be whittled down at some point. Menchov won't ride, of course.
He might be called back to ride for Rasmussen, but for now he will sit on.
13:05 CEST
The gap is now over 5 minutes..
13:13 CEST 72km/124km to go
To recap, a group
of 25 riders is clear: Michael Albasini (Liquigas), Benoît Vaugrenard (Française
Des Jeux), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Serguei Ivanov and Alexander Vinokourov
(Astana), Christian Vande Velde and Kurt-Asle Arvesen(Team CSC), Christian Knees
(Milram), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole),
Daniel Navarro (Astana), Nicolas Portal and David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne),
Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile), Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r Prévoyance), Javier Vila and Daniele
Bennati (Lampre-Fondital), Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom), Iñigo Landaluze,
Rubén Pérez and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Juan Manuel Gárate (Quickstep-Innergetic),
Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and Johann
Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom).
The have a lead of 7'30" over the Rabobank-led
peloton. There are four orange riders there.
13:15 CEST
A few minutes ago Bennati won the
intermediate sprint in Saint-Girons, beating Ivanov and Kohl. That was some
68 kilometres after the start.
13:18 CEST
The peloton is in one long line so
the speed is on. Vinokourov is no longer a GC threat, but Rabobank will be wary
of him being up the road as he would be a dangerous ally for Klöden or Kashechkin
if either got clear later on.
13:18 CEST
Hincapie rolls through, then the
two Euskaltel riders. Menchov stays down the back.
13:20 CEST
There are two US riders in this break;
Hincapie and Vande Velde.
|
13:27 CEST
Cyclingnews' Gregor Brown
captured the start area this morning. You can find his pictures here
13:28 CEST 82.6km/113.4km to go
Former Tour stage
winner Pieter Weening leads the Rabobank pace line. He beat Andreas Klöden back
during the 2005 race, winning a close two-up sprint on the eighth stage to Gérardmer.
The gap continues to rise, however. It's now 8'05".
Current situation
- Michael Albasini (Liquigas), Benoît Vaugrenard (Française Des Jeux), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), (Astana), Alexander Vinokourov, Serguei Ivanov and Daniel Navarro (Astana), Christian Vande Velde and Kurt-Asle Arvesen(Team CSC), Christian Knees (Milram), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole), Nicolas Portal and David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne), Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile), Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r Prévoyance), Javier Vila and Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital), Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom), Iñigo Landaluze, Rubén Pérez and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Juan Manuel Gárate (Quickstep-Innergetic), Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom)
- Peloton at 8.13
13:36 CEST
The sun is shining but there are
clouds on top of some of the mountains.
Garate must be feeling good
today, as he has been spending a lot of time on the front of the break.
Rabobank leads the peloton (as expected). Bouygues Telecom sits just behind
the Dutch team. The French squad has Tschopp in the day's big move, so it is
very unlikely to go through.
13:46 CEST 93km/103km to go
With an advantage
of 8'35", the break now moves onto the lower slopes of the Col de Portet d'Aspet.
They have 5.4 km to the summit.
13:47 CEST
Nicolas Portal and George Hincapie
roll through, taking their turn. Hincapie then sits up and drops back..not sure
why that is. Don't think he has a problem, so he might be going to have a chinwag
with the team car.
13:51 CEST
Rasmussen and Juan Mauricio Soler
were at the very back of the bunch. Of course, with so many riders clear, Soler
can't get any KOM points at the moment. He started the day just two points behind
Rasmussen.
Soler is 12th overall, 11'31" back. His best hope would
be to get clear in a long-range break. We didn't see him attack earlier (which
is not to say he didn't try - we may have been watching the break at that time)
but if he can get away in a move, it would be perfect for his KOM chances.
13:53 CEST
In the past riders have stopped at
the Casartelli memorial to pay their respects. They are unlikely to do so today,
however, as the break of the day has now gone.
Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis)
is at the back of the peloton. He appears to be looking for his team car.
Weening leads up front.
13:55 CEST
The break is pretty well organised,
with most of the riders rolling through. Ivanov is on the front, bearing a bandage
on his left knee after his crash yesterday. He and Vinokourov were brought down
when a spectator's flag got caught in the former's wheel. That's pretty poor
by the fan; by all means support the riders, but don't put them in danger.
13:57 CEST
We believe that the driver of the
medical car went after the spectator, who was hiding...he was very apologetic,
apparently.
14:01 CEST
On the stage that Casartelli was
killed, the riders were travelling in the same direction as today. They finished
at St Girons-Cauterets/Crêtes du Lys on that occasion, but covered the Portet
d'Aspet, the Mente and the Peyresourde before deviating off.
14:01 CEST
The leaders are nearing the top of
the climb. Vande Velde has been gapped slightly, but should get back on.
14:02 CEST 98.5km/97.5km to go
Garate leads as
they near the summit. Ivanov is on his wheel, then one of the Euskaltel riders.
14:04 CEST
Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom) jumps
and takes the points at the top.
14:05 CEST
The peloton is together and makes
its way up the slopes. Some of those who were dropped earlier got back on before
the climb.
Flecha now leads the peloton. Rasmussen sits fourth.
Steegmans is dropped from this group.
14:06 CEST
Heinrich Haussler is also at the
back, but hangs on for now.
14:08 CEST
Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) sits right
behind Rasmussen. He's having a good debut Tour.
On the descent,
Arroyo drops his chain. He's trying to get it back on. Meanwhile Ivanov is flying
down, looking very skilful.
Arroyo goes past the Casartelli memorial
but then has to stop to change bikes.
14:09 CEST 104km/92km to go
It may have been
more than just a dropped chain, given that he changed bikes.
Ivanov
now has a gap on the others and presses on alone.
14:10 CEST 104.5km/91.5km to go
Wegmann is having
a tough day; he's suffering and dropping just off the back of the peloton once
again.
The front of that group is 7'54 behind Ivanov, who is first
man on the road.
14:11 CEST
Ivanov isn't waiting around. Vinokourov
may have realised that the group was a bit big, so perhaps he will attack in
a while and try to get across with seven or eight others.
The peloton
goes over the top 7'50" back.
14:12 CEST 105.4km/90.6km to go
Ah, Ivanov is
waiting now. Actually, he stops and has a leak...maybe that is what he was at,
getting the gap.
14:14 CEST
Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) crashes
on the descent. He gets back up but has to change bikes.
He's up
and running (well, riding) again and is passing team cars now in a bid to get
back on.
14:17 CEST
Charly Wegelius' mother has been
in touch looking for information on her son. Glad you are enjoying the coverage,
we'll keep an eye out for him. He should be in the peloton so when it thins
out later we'll have a better chance of tracking his progress.
Charly
is a good climber. He's doing his first Tour, but has already ridden many Giri
d'Italia during his career. This year his team leader Danilo di Luca won the
race, so we hope he got a nice bonus :)
14:17 CEST
The break is already on the next
climb, the Col de Mente.
14:18 CEST
Ruben Perez leads up the climb, his
orange Euskaltel jersey standing out from the others. He's setting a fairly
rapid tempo.
14:27 CEST
Euskaltel continues to push the pace
in the break. Ivanov and Kohl are right up there.
George Hincapie
gave a TV interview this morning. "We knew we had a good chance to win yesterday
so we put everything into it," he said before the stage.
"Alberto
[Contador] is absolutely one of the strongest climbers out there and we will
try to get as much time as possible for the overall."
Hincapie also
said that Contador is an excellent climber like Lance Armstrong, but that the
latter had better time trial skills.
14:28 CEST
The break is lined out on the climb,
while the peloton is a little more bunched up. It could mean that the yellow
jersey group is going slower, or that the guys in the break are just more tired.
Current situation
- Michael Albasini (Liquigas), Benoît Vaugrenard (Française Des Jeux), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), (Astana), Alexander Vinokourov, Serguei Ivanov and Daniel Navarro (Astana), Christian Vande Velde and Kurt-Asle Arvesen(Team CSC), Christian Knees (Milram), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole), Nicolas Portal and David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne), Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile), Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r Prévoyance), Javier Vila and Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital), Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom), Iñigo Landaluze, Rubén Pérez and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Juan Manuel Gárate (Quickstep-Innergetic), Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom)
- Peloton at 7.49
14:32 CEST
Weening takes over on the climb.
He and four of his team-mates are leading Rasmussen, so they are more prominent
than earlier.
George Hincapie and Kim Kirchen sit at the back of
the break, saving their legs for later.
14:35 CEST
Rasmussen is near the front of the
peloton, while KOM challenger Soler is further back. He has a laboured style,
but this is deceptive. He looked to be in trouble yesterday but was one of the
strongest on the last climb.
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne)
goes back to the team car for something. His form has slumped quite dramatically.
He looked to be one of the strongest riders in the race during the Alpine stages,
but since then he's faded.
14:36 CEST
Cyclingnews' Gregor Brown
and Brecht Decaluwè chatted with several riders and team staff before the race
today. Carlos Barredo (Quickstep-Innergetic) and Frederik Willems (Liquigas)
both indicated that they wanted to be a in a break, but it's not always that
easy. There were a lot of attempts to go into the break, and only 25 were lucky
enough to make it. One of them is Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), which
is rather surprising , given that his legs hurt so much this morning, he could
barely walk.
14:36 CEST 112.8km/83.2km to go
Landaluze sits
last wheel in the break. Menchov, Hincapie and Kirchen are just ahead of him.
14:39 CEST
Weening has been on the front for
quite some time; he's still there.
Chris Horner is close to the
front of the group, his jersey completely open and thus letting a lot of air
onto his chest.
14:40 CEST 114km/82km to go
The gap is 8'29.
|
14:41 CEST
And Rolf Aldag told our clean shaven
Brecht Decaluwè that today his T-Mobilers won't force it. "Yesterday, Kim Kirchen
tried hard to stay with the leaders on the first climb, but then blew up on
the second. Today we'll try to be in a break without forcing it." Well, seems
like Kirchen has found his legs, as he is in the break. Or maybe he forced it,
but since he's fluent in German you'd think he understood what Aldag told him.
14:41 CEST
Garate jumps and gets the points,
crossing the top of the Col du Mente first.
14:43 CEST
The leaders are on the descent, where
Lefèvre leads. He was second at the top, with Halgand, Bennati, Kohl and Cobo
completing the top six.
Bennati is a sprinter but he was climbing
well on those slopes.
14:45 CEST 118km/78km to go
Alexandre Botcharov
(Crédit Agricole) got granted a ticket to get ahead and great the locals, as
he lives in the area. Too bad it's uphill and there is really now chance to
stop for an elongated break. But he smiles and waves left and right.
14:48 CEST
The Pyrénées. A wonderful
area. The temperatures aren't too hot today, a slight cloud cover is hanging
over the riders, but it's not like it'd be pouring. Often, stages here are influences
by the weather (Too hot! too cold!), but not today.
14:48 CEST
The field is gliding over the top,
led by Rabobank. No more points left to fight for, so they go over tranquilo.
14:49 CEST
The downhill looks amazing. The switchbacks
have about 180 degree turns, and the field is flying. Watch it now, we don't
want anybody tumbling down the meadows, though it looks it'd be actually a short
cut.
14:51 CEST 124km/72km to go
With less than 72
kilometre to go, the lead is at 8.25 This may not be enough for the front runners.
14:52 CEST 125km/71km to go
The peloton looks
like a gigantic snake as they head down the winding road single file. It is
a beautiful picture as they ride through an area that is dominated by trees,
but still open and not a complete, dark forest.
14:53 CEST 126km/70km to go
Rasmussen is in second
position, guided by his Dutch team. He has two equipiers in front of him and
two behind. They are not taking unnecessary risks on the descent. He wouldn't
be the first one to crash out of yellow.
14:55 CEST
Hincapie is back at the black and
green team car and takes some advise as well as some liquid refreshment. The
liquids go into the pocket, the advise in the right ear. We'll hope it doesn't
just get out of the left.
14:56 CEST
The field passes through Boutx, some
8 minutes behind the breakaway. This means the peloton is still on the downhill.
15:00 CEST
Philippe Gilbert had a fever yesterday
and struggled to last place, some 40-odd minutes down. He made the time cut
but Wim Vansevenant didn't (Predictor-Lotto) didn't think he'd be able to start
and he didn't. Vansevenant for himself told Brecht Decaluwè that he is the master
of managing the time cuts, but acknowledged it will be really hard today to
make it. It's a very difficult stage. We'll keep you posted on the Belgian rider,
who wants to save his Lanterne Rouge place all the way to Paris.
15:01 CEST 131km/65km to go
Cobo is pulling through,
then Lefèvre, Ivanov and Kohl. The break is going well, everybody takes their
turns. It looks like a well-oiled machine.
15:04 CEST 133km/63km to go
Marignac in the open
valley gets some sun, but the cols on the left and right have some threatening
cloud covers. The field is now coming to the sprint, but all the points have
been taken by the break. No surprise that it was sprint ace Daniele Bennati
in front of Kurt-Asle Arvesen and Benoît Vaugrenard who went over the line in
first.
15:06 CEST
The gap is fairly steady, currently
at 8'11" But that will surely change with the next climb, the Port de Balès.
It is an HC climb, after all. It will also likely disintegrate the break and
reduce the head count.
15:07 CEST
The riders are next to the river
Garonne, which is to their right, and the mountains on their left.
15:09 CEST
The Garonne flows all the way to
Bordeaux and then on to the Atlantic Ocean. But Bordeaux is not a stage finish
this year. It often features as the sprinters' heaven.
15:10 CEST 137km/59km to go
There is an acceleration
by Landaluze in the front group. He drags five riders with him, including Vino
15:11 CEST
There is also Kohl and Arroyo who
made the cut. The people behind aren't interested, looks like. They all sit
up.
15:12 CEST
The valley opens up a bit and there
are some fields to the left and right, as the field passes through. The fifth
rider in the break is Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom).
15:14 CEST
Correction, it is not Vino. The 5
front guys are: Iñigo Landaluze Euskaltel-Euskadi), Johann Tschopp (Bouygues
Telecom), David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne), Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and
Serguei Ivanov (Astana) and are 20 seconds ahead.
15:18 CEST
There was a crash at the back of
the peloton, with several riders going down. Sergio Paulinho (Discovery Channel)
was one of them. We think that all have remounted.
15:19 CEST 142km/54km to go
Menchov takes off,
in pursuit of the five leaders. He has to make up close to a minute by now.
15:19 CEST 142km/54km to go
Rabobank continue
to lead the peloton. The gap is 7'58"; it's been around eight minutes for quite
some time.
The chasers (Vinokourov group) are 59" behind the leading
five.
15:20 CEST
It will be interesting to see what
Menchov's goal is. Is he after a stage win today, or is the plan for Rasmussen
to attack later on and for the two to join up, taking time out of the maillot
jaune's rivals?
15:21 CEST
The weather is overcast, but not
too dark.
15:21 CEST
It's 17 more kilometres to the top,
as the front group looks determined now, each taking their short turn, as they
are still on a flat stretch of road, in a narrow valley that features a few
farms left and right.
15:22 CEST
The Pyrenees is known for very changeable
weather. It can be blazing sun in the rest of France, but conditions can be
iffy here.
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15:23 CEST
Landaluze is on the front and makes
a strange tongue gesture to the camera. He's obviously a Kiss fan, so. (the
band, not the action)
15:24 CEST
There is a traffic sign warning of
a curvy road ahead as the break hits a road that is fairly narrow now. They
are small meadows to the left and right, but no cows. There are quite a few
locals out, though, to see the riders rush by.
|
15:27 CEST 145km/51km to go
Rabobank are doing
a good team effort; six orange and blue-clad riders are ahead of Rasmussen now.
The peloton is winding its way through the streets of Mauleon Barousse.
The break is pulling away, slightly; the gap is 8'16". Menchov is ten seconds
behind. He drinks from his bottle and then chucks it aside. However it hits
a low wall and bounces back onto the road. We hope that won't cause a crash
later.
They are now on the big climb of the day, the hors catégorie
Port de Balès.
15:28 CEST
Menchov gets across, chucking a food
wrapper away. This is a one man litter disaster :)
Current situation
- Iñigo Landaluze Euskaltel-Euskadi), Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom), David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne, Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and Serguei Ivanov (Astana)
- Michael Albasini (Liquigas), Benoît Vaugrenard (Française Des Jeux), Alexander Vinokourov and Daniel Navarro (Astana), Christian Vande Velde and Kurt-Asle Arvesen(Team CSC), Christian Knees (Milram), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole), Nicolas Portal and David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne), Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile), Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r Prévoyance), Javier Vila and Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital), Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom), Rubén Pérez and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Juan Manuel Gárate (Quickstep-Innergetic), Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) at 0.49
- Peloton at 8.16
15:31 CEST 147.4km/48.6km to go
Maillot vert
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step - Innergetic), Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis), Bert Grabsch
(T-Mobile), Geraint Thomas (Barloworld) and several others are in a group behind
the peloton now.
The leading six riders are 8'30" up on the Rabo-led
bunch.
Thomas Dekker is 35th overall, 38'46" behind his team-leader
Rasmussen in the overall standings. He would be much higher overall if he had
been riding for himself, of course. Many see him as one of the big future contenders
for a Tour victory.
15:33 CEST 148km/48km to go
Ivanov is getting
dropped from the 6 man in front. That makes it 5 front runners, a little more
than 10 km to the top of the only HC climb of the day.
15:34 CEST 149.5km/46.5km to go
The riders are
heading now through a typical, narrow valley in the Pyrénées.
The forest is getting thicker, on both sides of the road.
15:38 CEST
The chasing group is breaking up...Hincapie,
Arvesen and others slip back, while several press ahead. Kirchen is still there,
with Vinokourov, Ivanov, Cobo, Zubeldia and Vandevelde also closing up on the
break.
However Vandevelde is slipping back, as does Kirchen.
Ivanov completely exploding, nearly falling over! He must have given his all
to get Vino across. But that was really a dramatic collapse.
15:39 CEST 150.8km/45.2km to go
They closed up
to the leaders really quickly. Kirchen was a couple of seconds behind but may
do it.
Tschopp has however jumped away; he must have gone as they
got across.
Back in the bunch, Kashechkin attacks!
15:40 CEST
As is the case with many of the Astana
team, he's got a bandage on his knee. They've been pretty unlucky in the race.
15:41 CEST
The hard part of the climb has started.
Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) and Schumacher are being dropped from the bunch.
15:42 CEST 152km/44km to go
Julian Dean is getting
dropped. No surprise. But Schumacher and Gerdemann are also losing contact with
the main peloton. That is a surprise. Gerdemann continues to lose time in the
young rider's competition.
15:42 CEST
Willems is next to Zabel. That is
far from his ambition to be in the break.
15:44 CEST
There is a steep ravine on the left,
but at the snail's pace they are going up the hill there is no threat of them
going off the road. Except if you ride like the totally exhausted Ivanov, who
didn't really see anymore where he was going.
15:45 CEST
The bunch is thinning out. Rasmussen
has now just one team-mate ahead of him - Michael Boogerd, doing his final Tour.
Pereiro and Moreau have been dropped, as have Charly Wegelius and Manuel Beltrán
(Liquigas).
15:46 CEST 153km/43km to go
Tschopp pushes on.
Vandevelde can see the break ahead of him, but he's running out of legs.
The chasers are now 34" behind Tschopp.
Kirchen attacks!
15:48 CEST
The yellow jersey group is down to
perhaps 25 riders. Boogerd, Leipheimer, Sastre, and more are there...stand by
for names.
15:49 CEST 154km/42km to go
Kirchen attacks again
and this chasing group is starting to jump around.
Kirchen is being
chased by Landaluze. Tschopp continues to lead.
Kashechkin is 23
seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group.
15:50 CEST 154.2km/41.8km to go
Tschopp reaches
the banner signifying 5km to go to the summit.
15:51 CEST
The yellow jersey group can see Kashechkin.
Boogie Woogie leads, then Rasmussen, Popovych, Leipheimer, Contador.
Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel Euskadi) had been dropped but he claws his way back
on.
15:52 CEST
Karpets has been dropped, along with
Astarloza and John Gadret (Ag2r Prévoyance).
15:53 CEST
Evans, Klöden, Mayo, Sastre, Contador,
Popovych, Leipheimer and several others are with the Rasmussen/Boogerd group.
15:54 CEST
Kirchen chases alone, trying to catch
Tschopp. He's having a very solid Tour. He was second in the Tour de Suisse
and also second in Tirreno-Adriatico, so he's had a good year.
|
15:56 CEST
Behind, the Vino group has been rejoined
by Turpin and Garate.
Kirchen is gradually drawing Tschopp in. His
magenta jersey stands out in this mist.
They have just over 3km
left on this climb.
15:57 CEST 156.4km/39.6km to go
Karpets and Gadret
got back up to the yellow jersey group. There are 17 here, and they are 7'35
behind Tschopp.
The Moreau/Beltrán/Wegelius group is 50" further
back.
15:58 CEST 156.5km/39.5km to go
Kirchen joins
Tschopp.He moves ahead; Tschopp will take his wheel if he has the power. And
he does.. Two in front.
15:58 CEST
There is a bike length between them...Tschopp
is straining to hold the wheel.
16:00 CEST 157km/39km to go
Tschopp has been
slightly distanced, but rejoins as the hill levels out.
The seven
chasers are Vino, Menchov, Arroyo, Cobo, Zubeldia, plus Garate and Turpin. The
latter two have just got back on.
16:01 CEST 157km/39km to go
Back in the peloton,
Popovych has been dropped, while Kashechkin is reeled in.
16:03 CEST
Kirchen leads and looks good for
now. T-Mobile had a great early part of the Tour due to Linus Gerdemann's stage
win and yellow jersey, but then they had to deal with the fallout of Patrik
Sinkewitz's positive A sample. The team's future is uncertain as a result, so
if Kirchen could get a stage win that would be a big plus.
Arroyo
is now chasing the two leaders.
16:05 CEST
Kirchen is doing all the work. There
is a lot of mist so the spectators on the corners above are looking down and
trying to pick out the jerseys through the fog.
Current situation
- Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) and Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom)
- Iñigo Landaluze Euskaltel-Euskadi)
- Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Alexander Vinokourov (Astana), Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r Prévoyance) and Juan Manuel Gárate (Quickstep-Innergetic) at 0.41
- Yellow jersey group including Evans, Soler, Klöden, Leipheimer, Boogerd, Sastre, Mayo at 7.04
- Peloton at ?
16:07 CEST
Kirchen goes on alone, so it's a
Tschopp dropp (say that out loud a few times). Arroyo passed Tschopp just before
the top. So the KOM is Kirchen, Arroyo, Tschopp.
16:09 CEST 161km/35km to go
Boogerd continues
to lead the bunch.
Arroyo caught up, bottle in his hand. The descent
is pretty stunning, as the mist suddenly lifts and you can see the valley below.
Menchov drops off the back of the group on the descent...perhaps a puncture.
Popovych comes back to the peloton, which is still climbing.
|
16:10 CEST
Popo still has 150 metres to close,
but should do so on the descent.
Mayo looks to be going much better
today. He's on Contador's wheel.
Horner and Daniel Navarro (Astana)
are on the back of the group, with Klöden and Kashechkin just ahead of them.
16:11 CEST
Wow...Tschopp not only caught the
other two, but also shot by them on the descent. The three are together. The
roads are very fast and narrow...best not to overshoot the bend, though, as
there is a bit of a drop...
Popo is now back up to the Rasmussen
group.
16:13 CEST
Klöden is near the front. This group
is staying together on the climb, so it's likely to be all-out confrontation
on the Peyresourde.
Navarro is now dropped.
16:16 CEST
Klöden grabs a musette from the side
of the road. Well, that or an Astana-coloured handbag. We hope it was the former..
Boogerd led over the top of the climb, with Rasmussen next.
Going
back to the order over the top of the climb, we have the full list. Kirchen,
Arroyo and Tschopp went over ahead of Garate, Zubeldia, Cobo, Vino, Menchov,
Turpin and Kohl.
That was a while ago, of course.
16:18 CEST 169km/27km to go
The three leaders
are working hard on the run down to the start of the next climb. That's in about
seven kilometres.
They have 6'36", so it's looking likely that someone
from this group or the chasers will win the stage.
16:19 CEST 171km/25km to go
This side of the
mountain is a lot more open and offers breathtaking views. The front trio passes
the 25 to go sign -If only the Peyresourde weren't in the way.
16:21 CEST
A group of 4 chasers is heading down
at full speed. Good thing they stayed on the main road - a little too far to
the left and they would have gone up a side street.
16:22 CEST
The three in front take a sweeping
left, where Kirchen is a bit distanced. They don't have those kinda downhills
in Luxembourg.
16:23 CEST
The Vino chase group is only 27 seconds
behind. The second chase is several minutes behind.
16:24 CEST 175km/21km to go
The trio is done
with the fun downhill and has now 9km of uphill in front of them , up to the
Col de Peyresourde
16:25 CEST
Tschopp hit the bottom of the climb
very hard, but quickly cools off. Kirchen is leading them now.
16:26 CEST 176km/20km to go
Kohl is trying to
go clear...Vino goes after him. They are still behind the leaders.
16:26 CEST 176km/20km to go
Kirchen accelerates
right at the 20km to go sign. Tschopp can't follow.
16:26 CEST
Now Rasmussen leads them under 25
km to go. He's got no team-mates left... Boogerd gets a really blatant handsling
from his team car.
16:27 CEST
Tschopp has got the chop. Two in
front.
16:27 CEST
It is Kirchen and Arroyo on the front
now. Tschopp is now a couple of hundred metres behind and has blown.
16:28 CEST
Vinokourov puts in a big attack,
but for now Cobo and Garate can follow. They just passed Tschopp.
16:29 CEST 176.8km/19.2km to go
The Vino group
is closing up to the two leaders. They are 7'03" ahead of Rasmussen's group.
After his magic bottle, Boogerd gets back up.
16:30 CEST
Zubeldia gets up to the chasers,
but then Cobo attacks and drags Vino clear. They are nearly up to the leaders.
16:31 CEST
The Peyresourde often features in
the Tour and the inhabitants of the villages are out in force.
16:31 CEST
Now Vinokourov attacks, going to
the far side of the road and shelling Cobo. He gets up to, and goes by, the
leading two. They join him, though.
16:33 CEST
The yellow jersey group is taking
the whole road. The quiet before the storm. The Rabo guys talk to each other
and everybody looks around, very nervously so.
16:34 CEST 178.5km/17.5km to go
Popo attacks!
The storm has started less than 18 km before the finish
16:35 CEST
Evans is there, maybe eight riders
back.
16:35 CEST
Vinokourov attacks up front, dropping
Kirchen. Zubeldia has got up to the others, so Vinokourov, Cobo, Arroyo and
Zubeldia are together. Kirchen returns to the front.
16:37 CEST
Popo quickly gets 100 metres. Rasmussen
has Boogerd and Menchov still. Evans with Horner. Astana has Kash, Klödi.
Discovery with Leipheimer and Contador, showdown time
16:37 CEST
Cobo moves to the front, with Vinokourov
then taking over. Then Cobo goes back again.
Meanwhile, Popovych
is chasing. That's two days in a row where he's been in difficulty on the penultimate
climb, got dropped, then came back stronger than before.
16:38 CEST
The leaders are 5 kilometres from
the top of the climb. Zubeldia attacks. Kirchen is distanced again, but comes
back on. He may have played his card too soon.
16:38 CEST 180km/16km to go
The yellow jersey
group is no longer riding side by side.It is now stretched out in one long line.
Ouch.
16:39 CEST
Moreau had returned but he is gone
again. No sign of the panting tongue today. Mayo is also gone...
16:39 CEST
Next to drop is Soler. He scoffs
down some food to try to recover.
Popovych has been caught by the
Boogerd/Menchov led group.
16:41 CEST
Valverde is there in the yellow jersey
group.
Zubeldia attacks! Then Cobo goes by him. Vinokourov surges
and goes by both of them. Vino is pulling clear as he goes under the 15 km to
go banner.
16:41 CEST
Kirchen has blown up and is losing
time now. Cobo is on Zubeldia's wheel now, perhaps 12" behind Vinokourov.
16:44 CEST 182km/14km to go
Looks like there
are perhaps 14 riders in the main bunch, 6'24" behind a charging Vinokourov.
16:45 CEST
Zubeldia and Cobo are chasing but
it looks like Vinokourov is stronger.
16:45 CEST
Menchov and Boogerd lead. The fireworks
will surely start soon.
16:47 CEST
Vino has just 2 kilometres to go
until the top of the climb, then just over 10 kilometres from there to the finish.
He'll try to eke out a good lead before the top, then stay upright (always a
good thing) on the descent.
16:47 CEST 183km/13km to go
Menchov has blown...he
nearly stops.
Meanwhile Zubeldia has left Cobo.
16:47 CEST
The Peyresourde does have no trees
on this side, it is just meadows. It almost looks like rolling hills almost,
but the Peyresourde is over 1500 metres high
16:48 CEST
Two CSC riders have gone off the
back of the Rasmussen group; they are Arvesen and Schleck.
16:49 CEST
Vinokourov looks to be moving much
faster than the other two as he nears the summit.
16:49 CEST
And as expected there are many Basque
fans. They are cheering Cobo on, who dropped Zubeldia. Well, that's the rider
the fans with their Basque flags really would like to see.
16:50 CEST
There is a wall of fans here. He
heads towards the top and is really moving.
16:50 CEST
A French flag is flying as well,
but their hero Moreau has been dropped again.
16:51 CEST
He has 500 metres to go, give or
take a few. Zubeldia chases but he's maybe 30 seconds down.
16:51 CEST
Vinokourov is in and out of the saddle,
fighting for time. He goes over the top now.
16:53 CEST
Kirchen is coming back! He's gone
past Zubeldia, but the Basque then just pips him over the top. They will chase
hard together on the descent.
Contador goes!
16:53 CEST
Contador has a gap...Rasmussen claws
his way back. The others are dropped.
16:54 CEST
Vino went over the top half a minute
clear of the chasers, who are now surprisingly Kirchen and Zubeldia. Kirchen
made a comeback. No word on Cobo right now.
16:55 CEST
Contador was reportedly unhappy with
Rasmussen after yesterday's stage. Rasmussen claimed there was no agreement
as regards the Spaniard getting the stage, while Contador initially said there
was. But afterwards both played it down.
However, seemingly Contador
was annoyed with the Dane for sprinting.
Contador goes again! Rasmussen
goes after him but is finding it hard.
16:55 CEST
Rasmussen got him that time, but
Contador goes again! Rasmussen can't hold the wheel, but he is trying to get
back up.
16:57 CEST 189.2km/6.8km to go
Rasmussen got
back up to him but that hurt a lot. He moves slightly ahead of him, seeming
to say 'I'm here, don't try it again.'
In fact, he does in the front
and then continuously looks back. Contador goes once more!
16:58 CEST
Rasmussen slipped back, then was
closing up to him. But cars were in the way and Contador had to ease back.
They are 5'25 back now going over the top.
16:58 CEST 191.5km/4.5km to go
Right over the
top Rasmussen and Contador caught up with Hincapie, 5'25 behind Vino
16:58 CEST
Evans and Klöden now reach the top
38 seconds behind Rasmussen and Contador. They look pretty strained. Sastre
is also here, plus several others.
16:59 CEST
Kirchen, Cobo and Zubeldia are together
but Vino is moving much quicker.
17:00 CEST
Vino is flying down the mountains.
It is all downhill, except for a little rise 2km before the finish. He has a
good 40 seconds
17:00 CEST 193.5km/2.5km to go
Vino has left
the downhill part and is close to the little rise
17:00 CEST 194km/2km to go
Vino is right at rise,
with 2 km to go.
17:01 CEST
Not that he minds uphills. And the
spectators are shouting encouragement.
17:02 CEST 194.7km/1.3km to go
Vino only has
a good kilometre to go now. Looks good.
17:02 CEST
Zubeldia has attacked and leaves
the others. Contador leads Hincapie and Rasmussen on the descent.
17:02 CEST
He pushes a huge gear on the slight
uphill.
17:03 CEST
The barriers have started. And it's
downhill again. Les than one kilometre to go.
17:03 CEST
Rasmussen should hold on today, but
his confidence will be shaken by Contador's attacks. What will happen on the
final climb of stage 16?
17:03 CEST
Vino turns around - nobody there.
17:03 CEST
Vino sprints down the finish, turns
around again. Another 200 metres.
17:04 CEST
And Vino visibly tired, lefts his
arms and smiles as he crosses the line. What a comeback after yesterday!
17:05 CEST
Zubeldia comes in with Kirchen, who
caught him. Kirchen leads in the final kilometre, and starts the sprint. He
gets it, crossing the line 49" behind Vinokourov. Cobo is next.
17:06 CEST
Hincapie is leading the descent,
then Contador and Rasmussen.
Garate comes in 2'15 back.
17:07 CEST
Arroyo is next, 3'22 down.
Contador has tried again to get clear, but Rasmussen is with him. Hincapie is
gone.
17:08 CEST
Kohl and Vandevelde finish now, Kohl
getting the sprint.
17:08 CEST
Contador drives it towards the line.
He looks to be quite a bit stronger today, but hasn't managed to crack the Dane.
17:10 CEST
Contador sprints home; Rasmussen
didn't try. He's just glad to get to the line in the same time.
Now Evans, Klöden, Sastre, Valverde and the others come in. They have lost more
time today.
17:12 CEST
So the leading two riders on the
general classification have reaffirmed their superiority over the other contenders
today. Contador is still over two minutes behind Rasmussen, though, so if he
wants to win the Tour he needs to try to distance him on the next stage.
Popo finishes with Chris Horner.
Now Schleck is next, 7'20 back.
Moreau is 7'37" back.
17:13 CEST
Rasmussen remains 2'23 clear in the
overall standings, with Evans now 4'00" back. Leipheimer is at 5'25" so Evans
is looking good for a podium place. He was hoping for more than that, though.
17:29 CEST
Michael Rasmussen spoke after the
stage, saying that Contador was very strong. "He has an incredible acceleration
and a couple of times I was almost dropped.
"I think if I can stay
with Contador [tomorrow] I have a good chance. If I have the jersey with a couple
of minutes advantage that should be enough to win the Tour."
That completes our live coverage of today's stage, which further shook up the
general classification. Come back later for more from Tour stage 15! Thanks
for reading.
Provisional standings
1 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 2 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile 0.49 3 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.51 5 Juan Manuel Gárate (Spa) Quickstep-Innergetic 2.16 6 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.24 7 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 4.25 8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC 9 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance 5.16 10 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel 5.25 11 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 12 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 6.27 General classification 1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.23 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 4.00 4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5.25 5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 5.34 6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 6.46 7 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7.27 8 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 7.54 9 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile 8.24 10 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9.21
