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94th Tour de France - ProT
France, July 7-29, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Live report Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 16 - Wednesday, July 25: Orthez - Gourette - Col d’Aubisque, 218.5km
Rasmussen delivers one-two punch on Col d'Aubisque
Maillot jaune takes stage and extends overall lead by 47 seconds
By Gregor Brown and Brecht Decaluwé in Ley, with additional reporting by Tim Maloney
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In the last mountain stage of the 2007 Tour de France maillot jaune Michael Rasmussen withstood the Discovery Channel attacks of Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer to deliver a punch of his own, surging at 900 metres remaining to take the stage and add 47 seconds to his overall lead. American Leipheimer finished second to gain time on Cadel Evans in the fight for a podium spot while 'Kid Contador' placed third.
"This is a great victory since winning in the yellow jersey is very hard," Rasmussen said with a grin. "Nevertheless, the overall victory is more important than a stage win.
"Two days ago I noticed I could not follow the accelerations of Discovery Channel's Contador, so today I used a different tactic. I maintained my own pace and apparently Contador got tired, I used this advantage in the last kilometre."
Rasmussen responded amazingly after the Tour's second rest day and a bombardment of doping allegations, proving his abilities on the Aubisque and showing he has a strong chance to win the overall in four days. Contador remains in second in the general classification, now at 3'10".
"Three minutes is too much," stated Discovery Team Manager Johan Bruyneel to Jean-François Quénet of Cyclingnews. "Alberto did all he could, we must accept the defeat. It will be necessary to go flat-out in the time trial because we never know."
The area of Green Mountain Honey was the last chance for Contador to gain some time on current race leader Rasmussen but, after numerous and honourable attempts, the Spaniard had to resign himself to riding in the wheels of super-domestique Leipheimer.
At the base of the 16.6-kilometre climb, the game was on as the escape was starting to shatter under the influence of CSC's Carlos Sastre who was desperate to grab a stage win. The 32 year-old Spaniard attacked Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) and Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) at 13.6 kilometres remaining to leave the polka dot-clad Colombian struggling while his compatriot latched on.
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The artilleries led to Soler's capture by the Rasmussen groupe at kilometre 10.8 while the Spanish duo was caught 1300 metres later to clear the way for a two-in-one GC/stage battle. Rabo's Russian/Dutch combo of Denis Menchov and Michael Boogerd proved its strength; Menchov jammed the accelerator up the seven percent gradients to good effect, dropping Alejandro Valverde and Fränk Schleck before he released control to Boogerd.
The former Dutch champion did wonders in his last Tour de France for team captain Rasmussen while Menchov faded off the back. Discovery Channel took over next with Yaroslav Popovych to whittle the group down to Contador, Rasmussen, Leipheimer and Evans by 10 kilometres to go.
Leipheimer took over after 'Popo' peeled off but his accelerations did not seem violent enough to put Rasmussen on the ropes. It did, however, provide a setup for Contador's first move at 8.5 kilometres to go. The Spaniard went as the four men exited a tunnel but Rasmussen was able to close down while Evans showed signs of stress. The Aussie was dropped 2000 metres later as Rasmussen countered 'Kid Contador' with a move of his own.
Leipheimer held tight during the accelerations and eventually came through to ride a long three-kilometre section on the front. He was encouraged by Rasmussen who sensed the American was vying for third overall in addition to helping Contador.
Rasmussen stopped spending his energy swatting flies and waving the motorbikes forward to land the deathblow on Contador. Like the days before, the Spaniard had tried his attacks (around three today) but found the Dane too resilient and, today, Rasmussen countered in the last 900 metres to go clear.
Once the gap was established, Discovery gave Leipheimer the permission to pull away from Contador and ride for time on Evans. He gained 17 seconds by the day's end and moved within 56 seconds of third overall, currently 5'59" back on Rasmussen.
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Evans wound his way up the hot Aubisque as the cool water of Valentine fell downwards. He was encouraged by the large numbers of Australians cheering who had turned out to watch a beautiful spectacular, oblivious to cycling's recent controversies. Evans limited his losses to give himself a fighting chance in next Saturday's time trial, finishing fourth, 43 seconds down.
"I did not want to concede any time to Leipheimer. I had to ride at my own pace," Evans let out at the finish to Cyclingnews' John Trevorrow. "I might have underestimated Leipheimer a little bit.
"[Leipheimer] was working for Contador; I thought they were more interested in the win than the [final overall] podium. I know Bruyneel is not such a silly directeur, maybe he was playing with me. There were times were I could have accelerated, but when it is two to one I am always at a disadvantage. I had to ride my tempo.
"I don't' feel secure [in my third overall]. It is not over because Leipheimer is good in a flat time trial."
"It was our goal to reach the podium in this race, that is getting closer," Predicator Team Manager Marc Sergeant confirmed. "We were afraid of today's stage but we came through."
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"We were happy to see that Cadel is a lot better than last year. We have built a good program for him and there is no more to expect."
Rasmussen may have increased his overall lead but he lost his lead in the fight for the maillot à pois rouges of best climber. Soler rode free early on to garner maximum points on the Col de la Pierre-Saint-Martin and the Col de Marie-Blanque. He clawed his way up the Col d'Aubisque, retaking Sastre and Mayo, to finish fifth and gain additional points. In addition, the 24 year-old Colombian picked up the prix de la combativité for most aggressive rider.
"It was a difficult day but it turned out to be fantastic for me, as I could grab the points on the first climbs. I am very happy with the jersey," Soler noted of his successful day. He explained how he clawed his way back for the stage finale. "There were always attacks and I tried to dose my forces to finish well."
The Colombian was followed by Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Sastre, and Caisse d'Epargne's Oscar Pereiro and Valverde, who rounded out the top ten.
How It Unfolded
After a turbulent rest day in Pau thanks to the positive test for a homologous blood transfusion by Alexandre Vinokourov, the Tour resumed with five more stages to go until Paris. Today’s stage was the last in the Pyrenees, making it crucially important for the general classification.
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The start was delayed due to a brief protest by riders from French and German teams but eventually things got underway. The peloton moved through the 2.9 kilometres neutral zone and crossed the start at kilometre zéro at 10h58, 13 minutes later than planned. 151 riders were at the start, this number missing the Astana team who had pulled out after the news concerning Vinokourov.
Cofidis rider Stéphane Augé attacked after eight kilometres of racing, jumping away in the verdant bocage outside Orthez. One kilometre later, three riders came across; they were big Vicente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d’Epargne), go-go Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel Euskadi) and Christophe Rinero (Saunier Duval).
The peloton had no interest in this break and in Bastanes, after 15 kilometres of racing, the quartet had a two minute lead. Six kilometres later this had soared to 6'20" and it kept climbing due to Rabobank’s decision not to drive things hard back in the peloton. But at the 30 kilometre point near Laruns, the lead hit 8'30" and Rabobank then accelerated at the front of the peloton to keep things under control.
Rinero took the points at the intermediate sprint of Mauléon-Licharre (km 36), while back in the bunch Barloworld was now riding tempo on the front of the peloton. They had pulled the gap back to 7’30” within ten kilometres. However, as the first slopes of the hors category Port de Larrau climb began 66 kilometres after the start, the hard-working break had gained time once again and was now 8'55" ahead of the chasing peloton.
Barloworld's Cardenas attacked as the climb began for the chasers, this being a set-up move for his team-mate and countryman Soler, who was wearing the Maillot Pois of Best Climber. Soler was actually lying second in the competition this morning but wore the maillot a pois due to the fact that KOM leader Michael Rasmussen also held yellow.
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The Colombian was becoming attached to the jersey and was determined to do his utmost to keep it. The long, lean Barloworld climber got a gap on the climb and was quickly followed by CSC's Carlos Sastre and Euskaltel's tiny Amets Txurruka, one of the revelations of this years Tour.
Realising this was a dangerous move, Discovery Channel's Sergio Paulinho and Yaroslav Popovych tried to bridge with Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval – Prodir). However they were left behind by the Basque and reabsorbed by the Rabobank-led peloton. As Txurruka was being dropped, Mayo managed to jump across to Soler and Sastre. This meant that there were still three riders in pursuit of the escape.
Garcia Acosta took the KOM on the top of the hors categorie Port de Larrau, 70 kilometres into the stage. Rinero and Augé were dropped on the steep 14.7 kilometres climb, but the Sastre group was closing in at 3'05 and Soler led that group across for fifth place.
Maillot Jaune Rasmussen didn’t want to let the KOM jersey go and thus led the rest of the riders over the top for 8th, 4'35" back. Meanwhile Bouygues Telecom rider Mathieu Sprick decided he had enough and abandoned.
By this point the Tour De France had entered Spain for a 52 kilometres ride through the Province of Navarre, and descended the Port de Larrau to the second climb of the day, the third category Alto Laza. This was a 3.5 kilometres climb at a 6.8 % grade.
Going over the summit of this little bump of a climb, the break of Garcia and Verdugo were still riding hard off the front. Augé and Rinero were two minutes back and the Sastre-led chasers were a further 45 seconds down. The group Maillot Jaune were chasing at 5'40". The race had averaged 34.8 kilometres per hour by this point, 93 kilometres after the start.
Co-operation at the front
Sastre and his two companions were coming up fast and finally hit the front of the race after 110km. Some small bombs had been set off by ETA as the Tour riders traversed the town of Belagua in Navarra, but no riders were near to the improvised explosive devices.
Next up was the third climb of the day, the 1st Cat. Col de la Pierre-Saint-Martin. This was a 14.2 kilometres ascent at a 5.2 % grade that climbed back out of Spain into France.
As they scaled the climb, Cente Acosta, Verdugo, Soler, Sastre and Mayo were 1’35’’ ahead of Augé and 1’55’’ up on Rinero. The groupe maillot jaune was led by Rabobank's bad boy Thomas Dekker, and they were at 4’20’’.
A long descent followed, taking the riders back into France from the Spanish border at the summit of the Col de la Pierre-Saint-Martin. The gap between the break and the peloton began to fall and, as the first category, 9.3 kilometre Col de Marie-Blanque began, the break had 3'48" with some 48 kilometres remaining.
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Once again, the Rabobankers lived up to their nickname "Orange Crush”; their pace had reduced the yellow jersey group to 20 riders and reeled the break back to a two minute lead.
Garcia Acosta had been dropped back from the break on the climb and as he was caught on the decent, the big Caisse d'Epargne rouleur went to the front of the group Maillot Jaune to chase the break down. His huge pulls gave the Rabobankers a little relief just when it counted.
As the final ascent of the day approached, the legendary Col d'Aubisque, the now 15 strong groupe maillot jaune had the break in their sights. The mountain was first climbed in the 1910 edition of the Tour De France, and was a hors categorie ascent which was even tougher due to the fact that it began after some 202 kilometres of racing.
The break began the climb with a 40" lead over the Mechov/Boogerd chasing group. Verdugo came off the break as the climb began, while Soler cranked up the pace and put the hurt on Sastre and Mayo with 15 kilometres still to climb. Sastre countered and this action gapped Mayo, who then powered a huge gear past Soler and grinded his way back on to Sastre. The Colombian was dropped 13.5 kilometres from the top.
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Meanwhile back in the Rasmussen group, Menchov was crouched low over his bars while Boogerd was dancing out of the saddle behind him. Rasmussen sat next in line with Contador then glued to the Danes wheel.
Sastre attacked Mayo once more twelve kilometres from the top. The peloton was just 30” back at this point and while Menchov dropped off the back, Discovery Channel's Popovych took over on the front of the group with Contador now glued to the Ukrainian’s wheel.
This group caught Soler with 11.5 kilometres to go, and he tried to follow. One and a half kilometres later Sastre and Mayo were hanging on as the Aubisque steepened notably. The rapidly dwindling peloton was 20" behind and the pace had popped Frank Schleck (CSC) and the Caisse d'Epargne duo of Valverde and Periero.
Showdown for yellow jersey
It was now just Popo, Contador, Rasmussen, Leipheimer and Evans left up front. As Sastre and Mayo were caught with 9 kilometres to race, having spent 140 kilometres in the break, Popo finally dropped off after a huge effort. Leipheimer then made an acceleration but it was easily covered by Rasmussen.
Behind them, the experienced Sastre was going all out to try and lose as little time as possible to the front quartet.
Exiting the tunnel with 7.3 kilometres to go, Contador had attacked. Rasmussen didn't respond immediately, but slowly but surely upped the pace behind the Discovery Channel rider and
pulled him back after 300 metres. Then it was the turn of Leipheimer to try again, but once more,
Rasmussen just rode the other Discovery Channel rider down. Sastre was going all out 35" behind, while the Caisse d'Epargne chase group was a minute adrift and had caught Mayo.
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Contador went again with 6.5 kilometres and, his face a mask of pain, Rasmussen responded again. This time it took the maillot jaune more time to get back to the Spaniard. Leipheimer was gapped by this acceleration and as Rasmussen got up to Contador, he attacked the Discovery Channel rider. This dropped Evans, who had been clinging on.
It meant another ding-dong battle between Rasmussen and Contador, who had punched their way clear of the rest in Gourette, 5 kilometres from the top. Evans and Leipheimer were now 15" behind, Sastre at 55", Popo and Soler were at 1'05" and the Valverde group were closing on them at 1'10". Levi had attacked Evans and gotten back across to the front duo so now it was two Disco boys on one Rabobanker, bad odds for Rasmussen. However, so far, he had handled anything the Discovery Channel riders could dish out.
Evans, meanwhile, was still trying. After an all-out chase over 1500 metres, the Australian had almost clawed his way back to the front trio. However the gutsy Aussie just couldn't close the final few seconds. In contrast to his laboured style, Rasmussen was making it look easy as he continually waved the TV motor further away from the break.
Leipheimer was making tempo at this point, riding both for Contador and to further distance Evans who was hanging tough 10" behind. Further down the mountain, Soler had accelerated away from the front of the Valverde group and gotten across to and passed Sastre. The Colombian didn't know his own strength as he was simply flying up the mountain, 1'05" behind the leading trio and 45” up on the Valverde group.
With 1.8 kilometres left to the line the riders entered the barriers zone and were now protected from the crazy crowds. That freed up more room to attack but when Contador didn’t try again, Rasmussen attacked inside the final kilometre. This caused Leipheimer to drop off the pace.
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The chicken then scratched and kicked dirt in the face of his rival, blowing Contador away to race to a fantastic solo win atop the Aubisque. It was his second stage win of the 2007 Tour De France and taken at an average speed of 34.20 kilometres / hr.
Leipheimer came across second at 26", Contador was third at 36" and the gutsy Evans was fourth at 43". New maillot pois Soler made a strong comeback to finish fifth at 1'25, placing ahead of Zubeldia at 1'52', a heroic Sastre at 2'12" and Valverde and Periero at 2'27".
Reshuffling
Rasmussen's tremendous ride has now put him 3'10" ahead of Contador, with Evans still hanging on in third, 5'03" behind Rasmussen. The gap between Contador and Evans is 1'53"; 127 seconds. Evans will have to ride just over 2 seconds per kilometre faster than Contador in Sunday's 55.5 kilometres time trial in Cognac. That’s possible for the Aussie but unlikely, as Contador is a decent tester and will be motivated to keep his second place.
It could however be a close call as to which rider ends up second or third in this years Tour De France. With his solid second place today, American Levi Leipheimer is on his way to his best Tour De France finish ever. The Discovery Channel rider is currently in fourth, 5'59" behind Evans and if the Aussie has bad legs or a mechanical in Saturday's TT, Leipheimer might even be able to get on the podium.
As for the others, CSC’s Carlos Sastre rode courageously today to stay away for 140 kilometres and then hold on for dear life on the final ascent of the Aubisque. He made sure his fifth place on GC wasn't just because Andreas Klöden, the rider ahead of him after Stage 15, had left the Tour.
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However Euskaltel's Haimar Zubeldia, currently sitting sixth, made up time on Sastre today and may be able to ride past the CSC man in the Cognac TT. The gap between the two riders is only 27" and Zubeldia will probably be a better time trialist on the power course on Saturday.
There is then a big gap back to 7th. Alejandro Valverde is sitting 13'28" from Rasmussen, which is a decent position for the Caisse d'Epargne rider in his first full tour. T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen (8th at a 14'46") and Discovery Channel's Yaro Popovych (9th at a 16'00") are next on the Tour De France GC list, with incredible discovery Barloworld's Mauricio Soler tenth at 16'41". The long, lean Colombian took over the lead in the competition for the best climber on today's stage, but is only ten points clear. If Rasmussen want two jerseys, tomorrow could see the two clash on the smaller hills.
Stage 17: Thursday 26 July Pau-Castelsarrasin / 188.5 km
After the mountains come the rolling hills from Pau to Castelsarrasin. This will see the opportunistic rouleurs go on the attack for what could be their last chance for a stage win. With five lower category climbs across upper Gascony certain to provoke agression, a break should make it home across the hot, dry plains of Haute-Garonne west of Toulouse to Castelsarrasin.
Climbs:
Kilometre 23: Côte de Baleix: 1.4Kilometre climb at a 8 % grade / 3rd Cat.
Kilometre 54: Côte de Villecomtal: 3.7Kilometre climb at a 4.3 % grade / 4th
Cat.
Kilometre 59.5: Côte de Miélan: 1.4Kilometre climb at a 5.4 % grade / 4th Cat.
Kilometre 63.5: Côte de Sainte-Dode-aux-Croix: 2.0Kilometre climb at a 5 % grade
/ 4th Cat.
Kilometre 72.5: Côte de Theux: 1.4Kilometre climb at a 6.4 % grade / 4th Cat.
Kilometre 169.5: Côte de la Montagnère: 1.4Kilometre climb at a 5.3 % grade
/ 4th Cat.
Sprint:
Kilometre 44.5: Rabastens-de-Bigorre
Kilometre 146.5: Solomiac
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Gregor Brown/Cyclingnews.com
- Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne) waits to start the last Pyrenean stage.
- Start line in Orthez.
- A small meeting before the start of the day.
- Riders line to start stage 16, the day after the rest day chaos.
Images by AFP Photo
- Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) awaits the start of stage 16. The French teams staged a protest, and started the race minutes after the rest of the peloton following news of Vinokourov's doping positive
- Prudhomme gives encouraging words to the riders before stage 16
- Race director Christian Prudhomme stands in front of the peloton before stage 16
- Cofidis' Cristian Moreni finishes stage 16 to face news of his positive doping control for testosterone
- Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) wins on the Aubisque
Images by Cyclingnews.com
- Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) rode strongly and put time into Evans.
- Cristian Moreni (Cofidis) was suffering on the climb, but it was likely the last time in this Tour.
- These Fuentes helpers predict chaos.
- The fans don't want doping.
- Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) has to look like he is riding through hell.
- Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) goes uphill with the jersey unzipped for more air.
- Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel) could ride his own pace after his team duty was done.
- Zubeldia and Cobo on the climb. The Spaniards were partly riding through their own country today.
- Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) was also motivated by the fact that the race went through Spain.
- Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) fought very hard at the final climb and was able to limit his losses. If he makes the podium will be decided in the time trial now.
- Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) was the former KOM leader, but has since dropped in the rankings for the polka dot.
- Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne) comes up the slopes
- Iván Gutiérrez (Caisse d'Epargne) battered but not beaten.
- Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole) was in the yellow jersey group until fairly late, but had to ride up the last bit by himself.
- Charles Wegelius (Liquigas) finished in the top25, less than 8 minutes back.
- David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Prodir) is a man for the mountains, but is not in the run for the polka dot this year.
- Manuel Beltrán (Liquigas) looks like he is suffering a bit. The Spaniard fought well, though, and lies 19th overall now.
- Juan Manuel Gárate (Quickstep-Innergetic) had a good day and was only a little more than six minutes behind the winner.
- Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) did his team duty to perfection, then rolled in by himself.
- Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) lost time in the end.
- Tom Boonen (Quickstep-Innergetic) leads the autobus up the Aubisque.
- Everybody was inside the time limit. What a great day for the sprinters!
- Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) in a small group after his work was over. He rode on the front a lot.
- Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) finally got the polka dot back for real.
- Fans, and mostly Basque ones lined the climbs in the Pyrénées.
- George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) rides up to the finish after his work was over; well, almost over.
- Denis Menchov (Rabobank) set the pace for Rasmussen early on the final climb.
- Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre-Fondital) and Christian Vande Velde (Team CSC)
Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net
- Riders have a protest sit-in at the start.
- The Pyrénées offered a scenic background to a day full of action.
- Rasmussen wins the stage
- Moreni on his final kilometres in the 2007 Tour
- The Italian was questioned by police at the finish line and is now due to suspected doping.
- His whole team Cofidis is out, in fact.
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) out of the saddle in the final part of the race.
- Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) found the climb to be taxing.
- Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) is glad the hard work is over and all he has to do is finish.
- Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) pushes towards the finish line.
- Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) had a so-so day, but stayed in the top 10 overall.
- Manuel Beltrán (Liquigas) labours upwards.
- Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) enjoys pedalling in at his own pace after working for captain Evans earlier.
- Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
- Tadej Valjavec (Lampre-Fondital) the Slovenian champion.
- Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) with the jersey wide-open.
- The stunning view from the top.
- The autobus takes in the scenery as they had not much trouble making the cut today.
- The autobus on the last bends before the finish.
- 250 metres to go for the last group.
- The speaker of the house.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) in the finish, his dreams of a podium shattered, but he still wants to finish the race for once.
- Rasmussen looks back and sees no rivals, other than the mountains.
- Time to celebrate even though that may have cost a couple of seconds.
- Rasmussen crosses the line no hands, on an uphill.
- Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) wins on the Aubisque
- The Dane wins his second stage
- Leipheimer finished strongly in second.
- Contador lost some ground to Rasmussen.
- The Spaniard was a bit more than half a minute behind, plus lost a net of 12 seconds in time boni.
- Evans is now only concerned with keeping third
- Soler pumps fist as he realizes that he will get polka dot for real again.
- Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi) finished ahead of Cobo.
- Cobo did well on the 'hilly' affair.
- Sastre stops the clock but unfortunately a little later than expected.
- The Caisse duo of Pereiro (front) and Valverde.
- Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel) finishes after a strong ride for the team.
- The first thing on his mind was water.
- Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) rolls in. He was hoping that CSC would be still in contention by now.
- 'Popo' smiles for the camera.
- Leipheimer in the finish after getting second and taking time out of Evans.
- Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) extended his lead.
- The autobus passes the police motorbikes.
- Rasmussen during his late attack taking out more time on Contador.
- The Dane rode a tactically brilliant race.
- Leipheimer guides Contador before taking off for getting time on Evans.
- Evans fought hard but lost some more time to the trio ahead.
- Soler's fifth secured the lead in the polka dot, for now.
- Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
- Juan José Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) with another strong showing.
- Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) was hoping to be closer to the GC top after the mountains.
- Pereiro and Valverde near the top.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne)
- Leipheimer at the finish.
- Boogerd looks beat. No wonder, after the monster stage.
- Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) fights his way through the spectators.
- Rasmussen on the podium and celebrating his second stage win.
- Rasmussen gets another yellow jersey. He intends to do this procedure until Sunday.
- Soler smiles on the podium as he finally gets the jersey back for real and doesn't have to beg Rasmussen to borrow it anymore.
- Contador is the best young rider and will likely stay atop until Sunday. His overall victory changes were slightly diminished, however.
- One of the groups coming in.
- The spectators enjoyed it more than the riders.
- The fans were waiting for the big showdown.
- The 500m sign.
- Rasmussen to another victory.
- Leipheimer checks on Contador but the latter didn't quite have it.
- Soler on a brilliant day for him.
- The Caisse d'Epargne double jet.
- Frankie goes to Aubisque
- George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) close to the finish
- 800 more metres and all are uphill, you can bet on it.
- Spot with a view
- The sun in the back and the finish up ahead.
Results
1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 6.23.21 (34.20 km/h) 2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.26 3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.35 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.43 5 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 1.25 6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.52 7 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 1.54 8 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 2.12 9 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.27 10 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 11 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.11 12 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.37 13 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 4.42 14 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 5.32 15 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 6.02 16 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 6.06 17 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 6.17 18 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 6.36 19 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 7.05 20 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto 21 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 7.11 22 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre - Fondital 7.15 23 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 7.23 24 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 7.27 25 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas 7.50 26 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 8.00 27 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 8.31 28 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 8.48 29 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 8.50 30 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 9.13 31 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance 9.42 32 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 10.11 33 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC 34 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 10.14 35 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 10.27 36 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 17.08 37 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 38 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 18.30 39 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 20.02 40 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 21.06 41 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 42 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 21.36 43 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Fondital 44 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 45 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 46 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 47 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 48 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 49 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic 50 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 51 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 52 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 53 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quickstep - Innergetic 54 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 22.01 55 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 22.03 56 Iñigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa) Team CSC 23.29 57 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 27.30 58 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 29.20 59 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 60 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Predictor - Lotto 61 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 62 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 63 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 64 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 65 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 66 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 67 Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas 68 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 69 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 70 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 71 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld 29.42 72 Félix Rafael Cardenas Ravalo (Col) Barloworld 73 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 74 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 75 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 30.13 76 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 77 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 37.03 78 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 41.49 79 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic 80 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 81 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team 82 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 83 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Team Milram 84 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 85 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 86 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram 87 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic 88 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 89 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2r Prévoyance 90 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 91 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 92 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 93 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 94 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 95 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 96 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 97 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 98 Juan Miguel Mercado Martin (Spa) Agritubel 99 Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 100 John Gadret (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 101 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 102 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance 103 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 104 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram 105 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 106 Axel Merckx (Bel) T-Mobile Team 107 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 108 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 109 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 110 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld 111 Bert Grabsch (Ger) T-Mobile Team 112 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 113 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 114 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 115 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 116 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel 117 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 118 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 119 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 120 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 121 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 122 Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 123 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 124 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 125 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 126 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 127 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 128 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld 129 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 130 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 131 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 132 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 133 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 134 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 135 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 136 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas 137 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 138 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval - Prodir 139 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 140 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 141 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 142 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 143 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 144 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 145 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 146 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 147 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team 148 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 149 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 150 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom DNS Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana DNS Gregory Rast (Swi) Astana DNS Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana DNS Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana DNS Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana DNS Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Astana DNS Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana DNS Antonio Colom (Spa) Astana DNS Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana DNF Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom Points Mauleon-Licharre (D.2-d.918) - km 36.0 1 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 6 pts 2 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 4 3 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2 Laruns - km 200.0 1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 6 pts 2 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 4 3 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2 Col D'Aubisque - km 218.5 1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 20 pts 2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 17 3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 15 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 13 5 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 12 6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 10 7 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 9 8 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 8 9 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 7 10 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 6 11 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5 12 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4 13 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 3 14 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 2 15 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 1 Mountains Port De Larrau - km 79.0 1 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 20 pts 2 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 18 3 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 16 4 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 14 5 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 12 6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 10 7 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 8 8 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 7 9 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 6 10 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5 Alto Laza - km 93.0 1 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4 pts 2 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 3 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 2 4 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 1 Col De La Pierre-Saint-Martin - km 131.0 1 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 15 pts 2 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 13 3 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 11 4 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 9 5 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 8 6 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 7 7 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 6 8 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 5 Col De Marie-Blanque - km 180.5 1 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 15 pts 2 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 13 3 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 11 4 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9 5 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 8 6 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 7 7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 6 8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 5 Col D'Aubisque - km 218.5 1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 40 pts 2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 36 3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 32 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 28 5 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 24 6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 20 7 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 16 8 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 14 9 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 12 10 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 10 Young Rider 1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 6.23.56 2 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 0.50 3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 6.48 4 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9.52 5 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 19.27 6 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 21.01 7 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 28.45 8 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 9 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 10 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 41.14 11 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 12 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 13 Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 14 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 15 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 16 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld 17 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 18 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 19 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 20 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 21 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 22 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team Most Aggressive Rider 1 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld Teams 1 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 19.14.15 2 Caisse D’Epargne 4.19 3 Saunier Duval-Prodir 10.53 4 Team CSC 12.53 5 Euskaltel-Euskadi 15.05 6 Rabobank 19.50 7 Liquigas 31.50 8 Predictor-Lotto 32.56 9 Lampre-Fondital 34.50 10 Crédit Agricole 42.32 11 Quickstep-Innergetic 44.47 12 Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 48.08 13 AG2r Prévoyance 54.46 14 Barloworld 56.37 15 T-Mobile Team 1.12.59 16 Bouygues Telecom 1.20.49 17 Française des Jeux 1.23.47 18 Gerolsteiner 1.26.49 19 Agritubel 1.27.57 20 Team Milram 1.48.46 General Classification After Stage 16 1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 76.15.15 2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.10 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 5.03 4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5.59 5 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 9.12 6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9.39 7 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 13.28 8 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 14.46 9 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 16.00 10 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 16.41 11 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 16.52 12 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 17.17 13 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 21.08 14 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 25.24 15 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto 26.22 16 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 27.37 17 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 31.00 18 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 31.48 19 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 32.58 20 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre - Fondital 36.31 21 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 37.42 22 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 39.23 23 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 45.15 24 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 48.33 25 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 49.04 26 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 50.08 27 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC 56.33 28 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 57.15 29 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 57.45 30 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.04.57 31 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Fondital 1.07.07 32 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.10.57 33 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.13.30 34 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld 1.15.07 35 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.17.40 36 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 1.19.42 37 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.29.46 38 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 1.31.20 39 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.32.01 40 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.32.30 41 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.33.39 42 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 1.34.13 43 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 1.34.48 44 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic 1.36.59 45 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 1.37.02 46 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.39.10 47 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.39.43 48 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas 1.44.15 49 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 1.49.20 50 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 1.50.05 51 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 1.52.11 52 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.52.28 53 Iñigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa) Team CSC 1.55.08 54 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 1.56.11 55 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.56.41 56 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance 1.58.21 57 John Gadret (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 2.03.12 58 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.03.52 59 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quickstep - Innergetic 2.04.48 60 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Predictor - Lotto 2.06.52 61 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 2.15.03 62 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 2.16.38 63 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.17.03 64 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.17.13 65 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.19.22 66 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 2.20.50 67 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.21.22 68 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.22.10 69 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 2.22.35 70 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.22.59 71 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 2.23.04 72 Axel Merckx (Bel) T-Mobile Team 2.28.10 73 Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 2.29.54 74 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 2.30.38 75 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.34.13 76 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.34.24 77 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.37.10 78 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.37.50 79 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 2.38.25 80 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 2.38.39 81 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.40.37 82 Juan Miguel Mercado Martin (Spa) Agritubel 2.40.56 83 Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 2.42.15 84 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 2.44.17 85 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2r Prévoyance 2.46.00 86 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.46.07 87 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.47.37 88 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 2.52.21 89 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 2.52.24 90 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.52.47 91 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 2.55.35 92 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.56.15 93 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.57.09 94 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 2.58.41 95 Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas 2.58.55 96 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.00.17 97 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 3.00.58 98 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance 3.06.22 99 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 3.06.34 100 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 3.08.47 101 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 3.10.06 102 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.10.25 103 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas 3.10.36 104 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 3.11.20 105 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3.11.37 106 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 3.12.00 107 Félix Rafael Cardenas Ravalo (Col) Barloworld 3.12.25 108 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 3.13.32 109 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 3.14.35 110 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 3.15.32 111 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld 3.17.39 112 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 3.18.44 113 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 3.19.48 114 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.20.18 115 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.20.28 116 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel 3.20.45 117 Bert Grabsch (Ger) T-Mobile Team 3.21.08 118 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 3.22.01 119 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team 3.22.23 120 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram 3.22.33 121 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3.22.53 122 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 3.23.00 123 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team 3.23.06 124 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 3.23.12 125 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.23.32 126 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld 3.23.51 127 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 3.24.03 128 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic 3.24.07 129 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Team Milram 3.24.09 130 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 3.24.10 131 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 3.24.29 132 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 3.25.01 133 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 3.25.32 134 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic 3.25.56 135 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 3.26.54 136 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 3.27.51 137 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.28.45 138 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 3.30.38 139 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram 3.31.11 140 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3.31.58 141 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.32.03 142 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3.33.40 143 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.34.44 144 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 3.36.57 145 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 3.37.08 146 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 3.38.03 147 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.40.29 148 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 3.42.07 149 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 3.44.08 150 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Predictor - Lotto 3.47.07 Points Classification 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 195 pts 2 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 175 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 174 4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 132 5 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 127 6 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 95 7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 93 8 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 84 9 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 76 10 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas 73 11 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 72 12 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team 72 13 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 71 14 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team 67 15 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 66 16 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 64 17 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 63 18 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 54 19 Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas 44 20 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 44 21 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 43 22 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 43 23 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 42 24 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 42 25 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quickstep - Innergetic 41 26 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 41 27 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 39 28 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 38 29 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 38 30 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 37 31 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 36 32 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 35 33 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 34 34 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2r Prévoyance 33 35 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 32 36 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 32 37 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 31 38 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 30 39 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 30 40 Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 29 41 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 29 42 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 27 43 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 27 44 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 27 45 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 27 46 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 26 47 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 26 48 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 26 49 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 25 50 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 24 51 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 23 52 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic 23 53 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 22 54 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 22 55 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 21 56 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 21 57 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 21 58 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 21 59 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 20 60 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 19 61 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel 18 62 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 18 63 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 17 64 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC 17 65 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 16 66 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 15 67 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 15 68 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 15 69 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 15 70 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 15 71 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 14 72 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 14 73 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 14 74 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram 14 75 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 13 76 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 13 77 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 13 78 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval - Prodir 12 79 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 11 80 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 10 81 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic 9 82 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 9 83 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld 9 84 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 8 85 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 8 86 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 8 87 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto 7 88 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 7 89 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 7 90 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 6 91 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 6 92 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 6 93 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 6 94 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 5 95 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre - Fondital 4 96 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4 97 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 4 98 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld 3 99 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 3 100 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 3 101 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 2 102 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 2 103 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 2 104 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 2 105 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram 2 106 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic 1 107 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 108 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC -1 109 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld -3 110 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance -5 111 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner -5 112 Juan Miguel Mercado Martin (Spa) Agritubel -5 113 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir -10 114 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone -16 Mountains Classification 1 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 206 pts 2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 196 3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 128 4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 104 5 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 92 6 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 78 7 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 77 8 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 74 9 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 68 10 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 64 11 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 64 12 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 61 13 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 54 14 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 53 15 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 52 16 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 51 17 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 50 18 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 45 19 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 43 20 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 43 21 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 42 22 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 42 23 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 41 24 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 32 25 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 31 26 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 30 27 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 30 28 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 27 29 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 26 30 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 25 31 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 25 32 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 25 33 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 24 34 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval - Prodir 23 35 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 22 36 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 18 37 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 16 38 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval - Prodir 16 39 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 15 40 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 15 41 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 15 42 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 14 43 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 14 44 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 13 45 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 13 46 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 12 47 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC 12 48 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 12 49 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2r Prévoyance 12 50 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 10 51 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 10 52 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 10 53 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld 10 54 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 9 55 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 8 56 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 7 57 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 6 58 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 6 59 Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas 5 60 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4 61 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 4 62 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 4 63 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld 3 64 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 3 65 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 3 66 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 3 67 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 2 68 Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 2 69 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 2 70 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 2 71 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 1 72 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 1 73 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 1 Young Rider Classification 1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 76.18.25 2 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 13.31 3 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 45.54 4 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.10.20 5 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld 1.11.57 6 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.26.36 7 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 1.28.10 8 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.28.51 9 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 2.19.54 10 Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 2.39.05 11 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.42.57 12 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.44.27 13 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 2.57.48 14 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.17.18 15 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team 3.19.13 16 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3.19.43 17 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.20.22 18 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital 3.21.00 19 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 3.21.51 20 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.25.35 21 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.37.19 22 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 3.38.57 Teams Classification 1 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 229.09.32 2 Caisse D’Epargne 16.48 3 Team CSC 25.01 4 Rabobank 35.00 5 Euskaltel-Euskadi 39.04 6 Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.37.01 7 Predictor-Lotto 1.46.21 8 Crédit Agricole 2.13.19 9 AG2r Prévoyance 2.20.40 10 Liquigas 2.20.55 11 Lampre-Fondital 2.24.42 12 Quickstep-Innergetic 2.55.27 13 T-Mobile Team 3.19.56 14 Bouygues Telecom 3.43.56 15 Barloworld 3.44.04 16 Gerolsteiner 4.10.09 17 Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 4.15.30 18 Agritubel 5.58.44 19 Team Milram 6.35.18 20 Française des Jeux 6.42.27
