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95th Tour de France - GT
France, July 5-27, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Live report Next Stage
Stage 1 - Saturday, July 5: Brest - Plumelec, 197.5km
Viva España! Newly crowned Spanish Champ guns down maillot jaune and stage
By Shane Stokes and Brecht Decaluwé in Brest, with additional reporting from Bjorn Haake
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First in the Dauphiné Libéré, first in the Spanish road championships, Alejandro Valverde kept up his strong run of success when he sprinted to his first-ever Tour de France yellow jersey in Plumelec today. The Caisse d'Epargne rider uncorked his characteristic fast uphill finishing gallop to overhaul Kim Kirchen, passing the Team Columbia rider with approximately 200 metres to go and opening up a one second gap on the 46-man lead group by the line.
Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) and Jerome Pineau (Bouygues Telecom) were second and third, with Kirchen holding on to fourth place. Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval-Scott), Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto), Frank Schleck (CSC), Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) and Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) completed a very strong top ten, with the 1.7 kilometre uphill finish proving very selective.
"This is a victory for all of the fans who supported me for so many years, and also for the general supporters who just love cycling," said Valverde after receiving the maillot jaune. "I didn't know the finale, I followed Kirchen. This finish suited my abilities perfectly.
"I have no extra pressure now, I have already achieved two of my objectives in this Tour; wearing yellow and winning a stage. Keeping the jersey will be hard because the Tour de France is so long, but I will enjoy it now."
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Schumacher attacked with a kilometre to go and opened up a decent gap. The 2007 Amstel Gold winner may have held on had the climb not been so tough, but tiring legs and a sharp acceleration by Kirchen saw him overhauled. But Kirchen also went too early, with Valverde's better-timed effort proving to be the successful one.
"I went away with one kilometre to go but it was just too early with the wind," said Schumacher. "I could only try, I will try every day. Tomorrow is another chance."
Gilbert told Cyclingnews at the recent Tour de Suisse that he would aim for success on the stage, given that it was taking place on his birthday. He might have done it, except he came up against a Valverde in very good form.
"He is a real specialist at this type of finish," the Belgian stated. "The last climb was very hard, at the finish my legs were very heavy. Second is disappointing but I was close. I will try again. My sensations are good and I hope for a good finish tomorrow."
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The stage was marked by a long breakaway of eight riders - Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), Rubén Pérez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), José Luis Arrieta (AG2R La Mondiale), Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel), Björn Schröder (Team Milram), Lilian Jégou (Française des Jeux), David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) and Stéphane Augé (Cofidis).
De La Fuente and Jégou then pushed on ahead in the closing part of the stage, the duo finally being caught with seven kilometres to go.
Most of the race favourites finished to the fore, but one contender who lost time was Team Barloworld's Mauricio Soler. The 2007 King of the Mountains crashed inside the final 10 kilometres and ended up losing three minutes and four seconds. More worrying for the Colombian was the damage to the same wrist he broke in the Giro d'Italia, and he had to go to hospital in nearby Vannes after the stage for X-rays.
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CSC's Frank Schleck echoed the feelings of many when he spoke about what was a nervous, physically and mentally demanding opening stage.
"It was really strange because when the first breakaway got clear, it just went away," he stated. "Everybody seemed to want to control the race. That is what happened, but there was so much wind that everyone was nervous. It was totally crazy for the last 80 kilometres, it was really, really dangerous. I was really scared, I said it in the radio to my team-mates. They said 'don't worry,' we will take care of you and they brought me to the front and the final climb, where I finished seventh.
"Unfortunately Cadel Evans closed me in with 200 metres to go, and I clicked out of the pedal. Otherwise I think that I could have had done better. But I didn't lose time, I think we have a good card for tomorrow and that is the most important thing."
Schleck crashed hard in the Tour de Suisse and nearly went down again today. However he escaped with no damage to himself. "Somebody crashed in front of me. I couldn't go around them so I just bumped into them. I didn't go down, I just jumped over the bike. Nicki [Sorensen] was there straight away and brought me back to the peloton. The other guys did great work today as well - they were all life-savers for the three leaders, for Carlos, Andy and me."
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Crédit Agricole's Simon Gerrans said before the stage that he hoped Thor Hushovd would challenge for the win. In the end the climb was a little too much for the big Norwegian, who placed 15th. The Australian said that the team rode hard for their leader and would continue to do so. The finale of tomorrow's 164.5 kilometre second stage from Auray to Saint Brieuc may be better for the usual sprinters; if so, Hushovd and the other fast men should be up there.
"Today was pretty hard," Gerrans said. "It was just so quick all day and such a nervous bunch with that crosswinds and the narrow roads all day, up and down. It was a real dogfight to be at the front. There wasn't much chatting in the bunch today, everyone was pretty focussed on staying up at the front.
The run-in was super quick and narrow. Once you were up the front in the first 20 or 30 guys it wasn't too bad...that is where I was in the last 20 or 30 kilometres, trying to keep Thor up at the front. It was stop-start, there were so many corners. Thor was about 15th. Considering the finish, that is not bad for a big guy like him."
How it unfolded
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One hundred and eighty riders lined up in Brest to tackle the 95th Tour de France without the traditional prologue. Instead, the opening day was a 197.5-kilometre stage with four category four climbs. The national champions lined up in the front to display their distinct jersey. There were Nicolas Vogondy (France), Fränk Schleck (Luxembourg), Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Norway), Nicki Sørensen (Denmark), Julian Dean (New Zealand), Alejandro Valverde (Spain) and Fabian Wegmann (Germany). In the centre was the wearer of the number one – Australian Cadel Evans.
The départ fictif saw the riders take in some of the scenery of Brest, such as the Océanopolis – a gigantic aquarium. But once Christian Prudhomme dropped the flag for the sharp start, the sightseeing was over and quickly a group of eight riders were able to break clear: Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), Rubén Pérez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), José Luis Arrieta (AG2R La Mondiale), Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel), Björn Schröder (Team Milram), Lilian Jégou (Française des Jeux), David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) and Stéphane Augé (Cofidis).
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The gap grew to six minutes after just 25 kilometres, and shortly thereafter the leaders hit the first climb of the day where a battle royale for the polka dot jersey ensued. Breakaway specialist Voeckler looked to take it, but he was passed by Schröder just before the line. De La Fuente crossed the category four climb in third, with the gap now at eight minutes.
Augé flatted only a few kilometres before the second climb of the day, but was back in the lead group as they approached the top at kilometre 48.5, and was the one to make the first move for the points. However, he couldn't hold his effort, and this time it was Voeckler ahead of Schröder, with Lequatre – not true to his name – taking the third spot.
Nicolas Portal of Caisse d'Epargne was helping Crédit Agricole to pull the peloton behind, until a team-mate came up to him and called him back. So it was back to Christophe Le Mevel to do the pulling for his captain, Thor Hushovd. Caisse stayed attentive at the front, though, hoping that Alejandro Valverde could take the win on the uphill finish.
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The gap never went past eight minutes and started to drop continuously. The first sprint of the day was in Plonevez-du-Faou, after 62 kilometres. This time, Lequatre won ahead of Jégou and Pérez. The peloton crossed the line 5'35 later.
With a 120 kilometres to go the advantage had dropped below the five-minute mark. The break was working well together, but the peloton had the luxury of several teams contributing to the chase. Liquigas, Caisse d'Epargne, Rabobank and Crédit Agricole all did a share of the work.
The first col of the Tour was rapidly approaching at kilometre 85.5, the Col de Toullaëron. Jegou took off with a kilometre to the top, while Schröder and Voeckler, tied on points, were nervously looking at each other. Schröder opened the throttle first, but Voeckler marked him well. The two almost caught Jégou at the top, but the order over the line was Jégou, Voeckler and Schröder, giving Frenchman Voeckler the maillot à pois virtuel by one point ahead of Schröder.
The gap to the peloton was around four and a half minutes at that point, and a strong tail wind on the straight roads of northwestern France was helping out the riders.
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The second sprint at kilometre 90.5 was won by Lequatre, ahead of Augé and Jégou. Six kilometres later the riders were going through the feed zone, with the gap of the break still around four and a half minutes. The feed zone is always a nerve-wrecking affair, and this time it took a victim: Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis), the son of former Paris-Roubaix winner Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle crashed. He had to abandon with a broken wrist, and his French outcry of a word starting with 'm' described his emotions.
With less than 80 kilometres remaining, the gap had dropped below the four-minute mark. But the break, still working together well, was kept on a medium leash, losing about 30 seconds per ten kilometres as Rabobank and Crédit Agricole pitched in to do more than half the work, while Liquigas and Caisse did the remainder.
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A big crash woke up the bunch with 52km to go. Fabian Wegmann, Fränk Schleck (CSC-Saxo Bank), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Yaroslav Popovych (Silence-Lotto) and Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) were involved in the wreck, but all continued on - much to the relief of Cadel Evans who will need Popovych at his side in the mountains.
De La Fuente took the final KOM, ahead of Schröder and Voeckler, who were then tied with eight points apiece for the mountains jersey, and would need to wait until the finish and their respective placings to see who would get the polka dot.
The crash had interrupted the chase somewhat, and as the break neared the final intermediate sprint, they still had three minutes on the peloton. Lequatre took the points in a fiercely contested affair in Remungol. The sprint was countered by De La Fuente as the bunch bore down on the tiring leaders, now just two minutes behind.
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De La Fuente was joined by Jégou, but the gap was falling rapidly. With 26 kilometres to go the other six riders were swallowed up by the charging peloton, while the two leaders continued to have a 90-second gap.
A crash with a little more than 20 kilometres to go brought down Stéphane Goubert (AG2R La Mondiale) and Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) as the sprinters started to get into position. With the finish now just 15 kilometres away, the leaders were brought within the one-minute mark, and then with 12 kilometres to go the pair had just a dozen seconds. As the lead-out men eased up to time the catch, mountain hopeful Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) hit the deck and was left chasing with his team-mates.
With seven to go De La Fuente and Jégou were finally caught. The uphill drag to the line was too tough for pure sprinters like Erik Zabel and Thor Hushovd, and it was clear the day would belong to a punchier sprinter. Romain Feillu (Agritubel) was the first to launch an attack, but went far too early, and was passed by a surge from Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner). He, too, faded and was overtaken by Kim Kirchen (Columbia) who opened up a promising gap. But the line just would not come for the Luxembourger, and Alejandro Valverde sprinted from the thinned out front of the bunch to take the win and the first maillot jaune.
Stage 2 - Sunday, July 6: Auray - Saint Brieuc, 164.5km
Once again, the rolling and hilly roads of Brittany will dominate this stage as it crosses the region from south to north from the Atlantic coast to that of the English Channel. Like yesterday's stage, the course features a number of small climbs including the third category Mûr-de-Bretagne. The sprinters' teams will be keen to deliver their fast-men to the finish line first; so a breakaway win here will be difficult.
Auray hosts the Tour for the first time, although it did host the start of last year's Hexagonal VTT (the MTB equivalent of the Tour). The town is situated on the coast of the southern Brittany department of Morbihan. It has a pretty harbour and is filled with atmospheric and narrow cobbled streets.
Saint-Brieuc has been a stage town ten times before, most recently in 2004 when Italian Filippo Pozzato (then Fassa Bortolo, now Liquigas) out-sprinted his two Spanish breakaway companions Iker Flores (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears-Banesto). This part of Brittany has the births of both of cycling's Hinaults to its credit: Bernard, the five-time Tour de France winner, was born seven-kilometre away, and Crédit Agricole rider Sébastien was born in the town 20 years later – they are not related.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by AFP Photo
- French marine cadets were part of the ceremonies but took pictures once they had the chance to do so.
- Rémy Di Gregorio (Française des Jeux) signs in for the fans before signing in for the race.
- Erik Zabel (Team Milram) was looking ahead to a beginning of a Tour that leaves him with much better chances for a stage win than a prologue.
- Thomas Lövkvist (Columbia) signs an autograph for a long time cycling fan.
- The fans were excited that the Tour started in their town. There was a tremendous number of people on the side of the road.
- The Tour village before the start of the 95 Tour de France.
- Christian Prudhomme keeps the race neutralised heading out of Brest.
- The peloton passes through a Breton village on its way to Plumelec.
- A few new jerseys but it's still unmistakably the Tour de France.
- Lilian Jegou (Française des Jeux) leads the eight-man break.
- It's curtains for the escapees as the peloton swarms behind them.
- Lilian Jegou (Française des Jeux) was the most aggressive rider today.
- Crédit Agricole drives the chase in the peloton.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) makes his move on the uphill finish into Plumelec.
- Kim Kirchen (Columbia) tries to follow Valverde but has no answer to the Spaniard's strength.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) exploded out of the peloton to take victory in Plumelec.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) fires a warning to his rivals with victory on stage one of the Tour de France.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) accepts the first yellow jersey of the 95th Tour de France.
- Few would have expected the Spaniard to be in yellow after just one stage.
Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net
- This is what happens when photographers are allowed into the team bus.
- Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) applies the sun cream (or is it hair product?) in the bus.
- The Saunier Duval - Scott team enjoying the 'privacy' of their team bus.
- David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) in the day's breakaway.
- Lilian Jegou (Française des Jeux) and David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott) get some TV time for their sponsors.
- Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) rides to the finish after crashing in the final 10 kilometres.
- Alejando Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) has a quick check behind.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) celebrates a fine victory.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) was easily the strongest on the Côte de Cadoudal in Plumelec.
- Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) finished fifth today.
- Damiano Cunego (Lampre) comes over in 21st.
- Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) finishes a tough stage.
- The winner is congratulated by team-mates after the stage.
- Cunego breathing hard after stepping off his bike.
- Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) examines his wrist after crashing during the stage.
- Valverde said he had achieved his objectives already of winning a stage and wearing yellow.
- Valverde laps up the applause on the podium.
- Valverde dons the first leader's jersey.
- Will he defend it for the entire three weeks?
- It wouldn't be a Tour podium without the customary lion for the winner.
- Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) took the best young rider's jersey.
Images by Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com
- Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Caisse d'Epargne) came prepared with a special edition Pinarello Prince
- Note the fine detail - even the brake calliper has been painted in yellow.
Images by John Pierce/Photosport International
- The peloton in full flight as they chase down the days break away.
- Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Caisse d'Epargne) was the heavy favourite for the stage and delivered as promised.
- The Tour peloton crosses a bridge in Brest.
- All the colours of the Tour.
- The Break included France's favourite son Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) who ended the day in the mountains jersey after a count back.
- Caisse d'Epargne did a lot of work to set up the win for their leader.
- Unfortunately one rider, Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) , was not able to finish the first stage today after a crash.
- This is what it may look like if you were part of the bunch.
- Valverde was too strong for the rest , but only finished one second ahead of GC favourite, Cadel Evans.
- Valverde in the first yellow jersey of the 2008 Tour de France.
- Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) kept out of trouble today
- David Millar (Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30) was also in the lead group at the finish but was unable to cross for the win.
Results
1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4.36.07 (42.91 km/h) 2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux 0.01 3 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia 5 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 8 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas 9 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 10 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 11 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 12 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 13 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Quick Step 14 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.07 15 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 16 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 17 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 18 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 19 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 20 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 21 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 22 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 23 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 24 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 26 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 27 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 28 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia 29 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia 30 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 31 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre 32 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale 33 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 34 Baden Cooke (Aus) Barloworld 35 Iouri Trofimov (Rus) Bouygues Telecom 36 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 37 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia 38 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 39 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 40 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 41 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 42 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 43 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 44 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 45 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 46 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 47 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 48 Gorka Verdugo Markotegi (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.18 49 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence - Lotto 50 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 51 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 52 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Crédit Agricole 53 José Iván Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 54 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 55 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 56 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 57 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 58 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre 59 Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step 60 Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) Agritubel 61 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank 0.26 62 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Saunier Duval - Scott 63 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.31 64 Moises Dueñas Nevado (Spa) Barloworld 65 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank 66 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 67 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas 0.37 68 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram 69 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 70 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel 0.39 71 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 72 John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Barloworld 73 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 74 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 75 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 76 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld 77 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram 78 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 79 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Columbia 0.42 80 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval - Scott 0.49 81 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 82 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 0.52 83 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.57 84 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 85 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Silence - Lotto 86 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step 0.59 87 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step 1.01 88 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 89 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre 90 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 91 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 92 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel 93 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 94 Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 1.12 95 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre 96 Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Française des Jeux 97 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step 98 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram 99 Danny Pate (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 100 Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram 101 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Silence - Lotto 102 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step 103 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step 104 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 105 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 106 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 107 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole 108 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 109 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 110 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.37 111 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre 0.52 112 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Agritubel 1.52 113 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 114 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 115 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 116 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 117 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 118 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole 2.00 119 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia 120 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia 121 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram 122 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Lampre 123 David Le Lay (Fra) Agritubel 124 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 125 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Silence - Lotto 126 Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 127 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 128 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 129 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 130 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 131 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 132 Laurent Lefèvre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 133 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 134 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 135 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 136 Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia 137 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia 138 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 139 Jesús Del Nero (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 140 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 141 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre 142 Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence - Lotto 143 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto 144 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 145 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 146 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto 147 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 148 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Crédit Agricole 149 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 150 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 151 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Française des Jeux 152 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale 153 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 154 Juan José Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 155 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 156 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 157 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 158 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 159 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 160 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 161 William Frischkorn (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 162 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre 163 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 164 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 165 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 166 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 167 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 168 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 169 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 2.08 170 Félix Rafael Cárdenas (Col) Barloworld 3.04 171 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 3.21 172 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas 173 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0.52 174 Christopher Froome (GBr) Barloworld 4.04 175 Gianpaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld 176 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence - Lotto 4.56 177 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 178 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 179 Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas DNF Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone Sprints Plonevez-du-Faou - 62.0 km 1 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 6 pts 2 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 4 3 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2 Gourin - 90.5 km 1 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 6 pts 2 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 4 3 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 2 Remungol - 157.0 km 1 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 6 pts 2 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4 3 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 2 Mountains Côte de Ty-Jopic (Pont-de-Buis-les-Quimerch) - 29.5 km 1 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 3 pts 2 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 3 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 1 Côte de Kerivarc'h - 48.5 km 1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3 pts 2 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 2 3 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 1 Col de Toullaëron - 85.5 km 1 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 3 pts 2 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 3 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 1 Côte de Guenervé - 146.5 km 1 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 3 pts 2 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 2 3 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1 Most aggressive rider 1 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux Teams 1 Caisse d'Epargne 13.48.26 2 Team CSC Saxo Bank 0.07 3 Team Columbia 4 Garmin Chipotle 5 Quick Step 6 Liquigas 7 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.13 8 Saunier Duval - Scott 0.20 9 Credit Agricole 0.24 10 Lampre 11 Gerolsteiner 12 AG2R-La Mondiale 13 Rabobank 0.26 14 Team Milram 0.43 15 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 0.48 16 Agritubel 1.07 17 Silence - Lotto 1.09 18 Barloworld 1.12 19 Francaise des Jeux 1.52 General classification after stage 1 1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4.36.07 2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux 0.01 3 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia 5 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 8 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas 9 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 10 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 11 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 12 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 13 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Quick Step 14 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.07 15 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 16 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 17 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 18 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 19 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 20 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 21 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 22 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 23 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 24 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 26 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 27 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 28 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia 29 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia 30 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 31 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre 32 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale 33 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 34 Baden Cooke (Aus) Barloworld 35 Iouri Trofimov (Rus) Bouygues Telecom 36 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 37 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia 38 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 39 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 40 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 41 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 42 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 43 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 44 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 45 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 46 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 47 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 48 Gorka Verdugo Markotegi (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.18 49 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence - Lotto 50 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 51 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 52 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Crédit Agricole 53 José Iván Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 54 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 55 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 56 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 57 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 58 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre 59 Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step 60 Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) Agritubel 61 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank 0.26 62 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Saunier Duval - Scott 63 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.31 64 Moises Dueñas Nevado (Spa) Barloworld 65 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank 66 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 67 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas 0.37 68 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram 69 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 70 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel 0.39 71 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 72 John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Barloworld 73 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 74 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 75 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 76 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld 77 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram 78 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 79 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Columbia 0.42 80 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval - Scott 0.49 81 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 82 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 0.52 83 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Silence - Lotto 0.57 84 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step 85 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step 86 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 0.59 87 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre 1.01 88 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 89 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 90 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel 91 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 92 Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 93 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre 94 Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.12 95 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step 96 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram 97 Danny Pate (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 98 Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram 99 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Silence - Lotto 100 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step 101 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step 102 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 103 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 104 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 105 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole 106 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 107 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 108 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 109 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre 110 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Agritubel 1.37 111 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.52 112 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.52 113 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 114 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 115 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 116 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 117 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole 118 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia 2.00 119 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia 120 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram 121 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Lampre 122 David Le Lay (Fra) Agritubel 123 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 124 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Silence - Lotto 125 Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 126 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 127 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 128 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 129 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 130 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 131 Laurent Lefèvre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 132 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 133 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 134 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 135 Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia 136 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia 137 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 138 Jesús Del Nero (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 139 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 140 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre 141 Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence - Lotto 142 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto 143 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 144 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 145 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto 146 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 147 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Crédit Agricole 148 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 149 José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 150 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Française des Jeux 151 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale 152 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 153 Juan José Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 154 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 155 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 156 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 157 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 158 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 159 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 160 William Frischkorn (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 161 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre 162 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 163 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 164 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 165 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne 166 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 167 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 168 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 169 Félix Rafael Cárdenas (Col) Barloworld 2.08 170 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 3.04 171 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas 3.21 172 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 173 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 0.52 174 Christopher Froome (GBr) Barloworld 4.04 175 Gianpaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld 176 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence - Lotto 4.56 177 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 178 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 179 Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas Points classification 1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 35 pts 2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux 30 3 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 26 4 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia 24 5 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 22 6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 20 7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 19 8 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 18 9 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas 18 10 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 17 11 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 16 12 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 15 13 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 14 14 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Quick Step 13 15 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 12 16 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 11 17 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 10 18 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 9 19 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 8 20 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 8 21 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 7 22 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6 23 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6 24 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 5 25 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 4 26 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 4 27 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 3 28 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2 29 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 1 Mountains classification 1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 8 pts 2 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 8 3 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott 4 4 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 3 5 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel 1 Young rider classification 1 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 4.36.07 2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 3 Iouri Trofimov (Rus) Bouygues Telecom 4 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 5 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia 6 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 7 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 8 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 9 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 10 Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) Agritubel 11 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Saunier Duval - Scott 12 John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Barloworld 13 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram 14 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Columbia 15 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 16 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre 0.01 17 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 18 Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Française des Jeux 19 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 20 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 21 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 22 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia 23 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia 24 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 25 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 26 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 27 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 0.03 28 Christopher Froome (GBr) Barloworld 0.04 Teams classification 1 Caisse d'Epargne 13.48.26 2 Team CSC Saxo Bank 0.07 3 Team Columbia 4 Garmin Chipotle 5 Quick Step 6 Liquigas 7 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.13 8 Saunier Duval - Scott 0.20 9 Credit Agricole 0.24 10 Lampre 11 Gerolsteiner 12 AG2R-La Mondiale 13 Rabobank 0.26 14 Team Milram 0.43 15 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 0.48 16 Agritubel 1.07 17 Silence - Lotto 1.09 18 Barloworld 1.12 19 Francaise des Jeux 1.52 20 Bouygues Telecom
