Awww, Unlucky im sure you were going to win

Stage 4



The tricky hill so close to the end of the day was always going to cause attacks. Pliuschin countered Plaza, the first to go


Luis Leon Sanchez put in the best attack


But got no gap as at the top a group of 7 led.

Sanchez, Pliuschin, Plaza, Gerdemann, Gesink, Menchov, Cunego

Cunego is in the only danger to Pliuschin in the sprint - particularly if he gets on the Moldovan's wheel. But in the end, nobody wanted Pliuschin's wheel and just gave him a gap


Not very clever were they?


Pliuschin wins!


1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h39'03
2 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 32
3 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
4 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
5 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
6 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Robert Gesink RABOBANK s.t.
8 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'31
9 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
11 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'25
12 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
15 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
16 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
17 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
18 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
19 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
21 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
22 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
23 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
24 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
25 Marcus Ljungqvist LIQUIGAS s.t.
26 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
27 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
28 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
29 Sebastian Schwager TEAM MILRAM s.t.
30 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
31 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
32 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
33 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
34 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
35 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
36 David Blanco RABOBANK s.t.
37 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
38 Johan Vansummeren QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
39 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC s.t.
40 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
41 Maxim Iglinskiy TEAM ASTANA s.t.
42 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
43 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS s.t.
44 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
45 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
46 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
47 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC s.t.
48 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
49 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
50 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 15h16'10
2 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 1'09
3 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'13
4 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 1'26
5 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'07
6 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'08
7 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'22
8 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'59
9 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'15
10 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'17
12 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'25
13 Maxim Iglinskiy TEAM ASTANA s.t.
14 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
15 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA s.t.

Woa he sure knows how to ride a bike!

32 seconds in a sprint

Stage 5



The Rettenbachferner will be decisive today, and Pliuschin is sitting comfortably as even if he loses time today - the TT is still to come.

Chris Anker Sorenson is not really having a successful year with Lamonta and went on a long solo breakaway


But he was caught before the Rettenbachferner and the sprinters could battle the intermediate sprint. Vaitkus won over Cavendish and Haussler


Menchov led the attacks


Kreuziger was the strongest attacker


Pliuschin, Gesink and Cunego came together behind him


The trio would not let Kreuziger get away


and caught him with 4.4km to go


With 2km to go, Cunego injected some pressure and Gesink and Kreuziger could not follow


Pliuschin was happy to let Cunego do the work as the gap grew


The sprint began, Cunego has the advantage


Victory for the Italian!


1 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA 4h30'58
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 42
4 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 52
5 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 2'39
6 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'50
7 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
8 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
9 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'13
11 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 5'17
12 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK s.t.
13 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 5'39
15 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 5'49
16 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
19 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
20 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
22 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA s.t.
23 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 6'13
24 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 6'29
25 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'37
26 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'45
27 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
28 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6'53
29 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 7'01
30 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'09
31 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 7'17
32 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 7'25
33 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
34 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 7'33
35 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
36 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
37 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 7'41
38 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
39 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
40 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 7'49
41 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
42 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'57
43 Carlos Castaño TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 8'05
44 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
45 Maxim Iglinskiy TEAM ASTANA + 8'13
46 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'21
47 Matteo Bono LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
48 Gabriele Tassinari LIQUIGAS + 8'37
49 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 8'45
50 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 8'53

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 19h47'02
2 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 1'22
3 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 1'53
4 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'09
5 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 5'02
6 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 5'03
7 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'04
8 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 6'13
9 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'41
10 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 6'42
11 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 8'22
12 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 9'03
13 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 9'20
14 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA s.t.
15 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
16 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'22
17 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
18 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 9'56
19 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
20 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 9'57
21 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'14
22 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 10'15
23 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 10'16
24 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC s.t.
25 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'18

didnt you have anyenergy left to attack him!!!
should have wiped them all out!

I didnt need to attack Cunego Cunego has 66 TT - Pliuschin has 78 TT - and I already have over a minute on him

Looking really good before the TT, what can possibly go wrong?

Belgian TT Champs

Nolf's form is 40 fitness, so its no surprise that he did not do too well.

1 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO 50'16
2 Dominique Cornu PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 27
3 Bram Deprez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 40
4 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'16
5 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'18
6 Kristof Goddaert DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN + 1'20
7 Dieter Cappelle UNIBET.COM CONTINENTAL + 1'27
8 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1'28
10 Jan Ghyselinck DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN + 1'29
11 Kristof Vandewalle ROUBAIX LILLE MÉTROPOLE + 1'37
12 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'43
13 Tom Stubbe RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 1'50
14 Maarten Neyens DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN + 1'51
15 Bart Vanheule LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
16 Tom Criel BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS s.t.
17 Jurgen Roelandts DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN + 1'52
18 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
19 Nick Nuyens COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1'53
20 Wim Vansevenant CONTINENTAL TEAM DIFFERDANGE + 1'56
21 Andy Cappelle LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 1'59
22 Gert Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'00
23 Xavier Hérinne PÔLE CONTINENTAL WALLON BODYSOL - EUROMILLIONS s.t.
24 Kenny De Ketele CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 2'06
25 Olivier Pardini STOREZ LEDECQ MATERIAUX + 2'07
26 Kevin Crabbe DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN s.t.
27 Kevyn Ista PÔLE CONTINENTAL WALLON BODYSOL - EUROMILLIONS + 2'08
28 Timothy Vangheel FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM + 2'15
29 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
30 Tim Mertens DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN + 2'19
31 Sven Vandousselaere DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN + 2'22
32 Rob Peeters LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER + 2'23
33 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'24
34 Klaas Sys NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 2'25
35 Gil Suray TEAM CSC + 2'26


Dutch TT Champs

Rabobank were always going to win with Stef Clement prevented from riding. Everyone expected it to be Dekker but Flens pulled off a shock win.

1 Rick Flens RABOBANK 1h04'55
2 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 2
3 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK + 8
4 Martijn Keizer UNE - ORBITEL + 51
5 Dennis Van Winden RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 56
6 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK + 1'10
7 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK + 1'17
8 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 1'24
9 Kai Reus RIBERALVES - BOAVISTA + 1'27
10 Jos Van Emden RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 1'36
11 Daan Rijntjes TIME - VAN HEMERT + 1'44
12 Jens Mouris DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'45
13 Sjoerd Botter TIME - VAN HEMERT + 1'47
14 Ronny Brunings BABES ONLY - VILLAPARK LINGEMEER - FLANDERS + 1'48
15 Tim Van der Zanden UBBINK - SYNTEC CYCLING TEAM s.t.
16 Wout Poels FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
17 Tim Dees TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN + 1'51
18 Eelke Van der Wal FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM + 1'52
19 Sander Oostlander TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
20 Savié Van Horik FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
21 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
22 Steven Kruijswijk RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 1'53
23 Jos Pronk TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN + 1'59
24 Thomas Berkhout RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
25 Martijn Maaskant FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM + 2'01

Volta a Portugal

The final 2 stages were both ITTs totalling over 70km between them. This was bad news for race leader Emmanuelle Sella. He clung on to the lead after the first ITT but fell to 6th overall after the 2nd.
Barloworld produced an amazing 1-2-3 of Sartasov-Orozco-Nicacio and the result puts them back in pole position in the 3-way promotion battle.

I like it how you dont chase every win, i think stories can get boring if a manager wins all the time. Pliuschin Ftw!

who is fighting for promotion with barloworld?

Ag2r and Agritubel

Nice! Can you show the stats of Sastre, Kreuziger and Rogers?

Thanks

Ill screenshot them when next on PCM

Stage 6

It came down to a sprint

1 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER 4h20'35
2 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
3 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
4 Óscar Freire RABOBANK s.t.
5 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
6 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
8 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
10 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
11 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
12 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
13 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
14 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
16 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
17 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
18 Sebastian Schwager TEAM MILRAM s.t.
19 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
20 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC s.t.
21 Sören Hofmann CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
22 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
23 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
24 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
25 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.

Stage 7

The break stayed away

1 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 4h28'14
2 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
3 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
4 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
5 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
6 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
8 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'30
10 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
11 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
16 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
18 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
19 Óscar Freire RABOBANK s.t.
20 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
21 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
22 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Robert Wagner TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
24 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
25 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER s.t.

Stage 8

Easy win for Pliuschin


1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 1h01'26
2 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 1'39
3 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 2'20
4 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'25
5 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 2'28
6 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'40
7 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'50
8 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'59
9 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 3'03
10 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'05
11 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'17
12 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'18
13 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA + 3'20
14 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 3'23
16 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 3'27
17 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'36
18 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'41
19 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'45
20 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'47
21 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'51
22 Carlos Castaño TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 3'54
23 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER + 3'57
24 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
25 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
26 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'00
27 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 4'01
28 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
29 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'04
30 Mathieu Heijboer COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 4'05
31 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER + 4'08
32 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 4'11
33 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 4'12
34 Evan Oliphant DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'14
35 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 4'22
36 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 4'23
37 David Blanco RABOBANK + 4'25
38 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM + 4'27
39 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'28
40 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'33

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 29h40'47
2 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 6'29
3 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7'29
4 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 7'39
5 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 8'21
6 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'38
7 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'48
8 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'46
9 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 9'53
10 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 11'05
11 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 12'13
12 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 12'36
13 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 13'05
14 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'08
15 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 13'32

He makes it look way too easy!

Despite a flat rating, the circuit is quite 'bumpy' and having seen the final kilometre with some steep parts up to 9%, Pliuschin fancied his chances with it.

Medina and Bossoni were the attacker, but I had the team make sure to catch them
. Here they can be seen approx. 6km ahead about to go under the bridge that the peleton is riding over.


They are easily caught and in the sprint, Stevic gives Pliuschin a strong leadout


But Pliuschin waits behind Stevic longer than he should as Duque takes the lead with Del Nero and Cavendish up there


Pliuschin struggles to make up ground towards the front 2 as Del Nero edges infront


The steep sections have little affect and Pliuschin must settle for 4th while Duque comes back past Del Nero to win.


Earlier in the stage, Denis Menchov had crashed out through injury.

1 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 4h08'09
2 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
7 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
8 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
9 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
11 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
13 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC s.t.
14 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
15 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
16 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
17 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
18 Óscar Freire RABOBANK s.t.
19 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
21 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
22 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
23 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
24 Sören Hofmann CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
25 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
26 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
27 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
28 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
29 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA s.t.
30 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
31 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
32 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
33 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
34 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA s.t.
35 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK s.t.
36 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 33h48'56
2 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 6'29
3 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7'29
4 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 7'39
5 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 8'21
6 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'38
7 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'46
8 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 9'53
9 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 11'05
10 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 12'13
11 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 12'36
12 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 13'05
13 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'08
14 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 13'32
15 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 13'42
16 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 13'50
17 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14'00
18 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'22
19 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 14'27
20 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'38
21 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15'05
22 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 15'40
23 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 15'44
24 Philippe Gilbert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 15'45
25 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15'48
26 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 15'53
27 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 16'12
28 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 16'16
29 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
30 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 16'23
31 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 16'25
32 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 16'38
33 Maxim Iglinskiy TEAM ASTANA + 16'57
34 Carlos Castaño TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 17'05
35 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 17'40
36 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 17'42
37 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 17'44
38 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 17'54
39 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 18'39
40 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 19'08
41 David Blanco RABOBANK + 19'27
42 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 20'25
43 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 20'31
44 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 20'51
45 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 21'00
46 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 21'02
47 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 21'12
48 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 21'37
49 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM + 21'40
50 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 21'43
51 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA + 22'01
52 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 22'27
53 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 23'31
54 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 23'46
55 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 24'01
56 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA + 24'19
57 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK + 24'24
58 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 24'40
59 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24'58
60 Matteo Bono LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 25'19
61 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 25'28
62 Tim Klinger GEROLSTEINER + 25'48
63 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 26'12
64 Johan Vansummeren QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 26'17
65 Christophe Laurent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 26'34
66 Martin Gilbert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 26'49
67 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 27'06
68 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM + 27'14
69 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 27'30
70 Sebastian Schwager TEAM MILRAM + 28'17
71 Daniel McConnell TEAM CSC + 28'37
72 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 28'49
73 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA + 29'14
74 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER + 30'00
75 Óscar Freire RABOBANK + 30'07
76 Christian Knees ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 30'46
77 Michael Barry T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
78 Alberto Benítez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 30'57
79 Stefan Denifl ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 31'26
80 Christian Leben TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 31'37
81 Dries Devenyns PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 31'50
82 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM + 32'23
83 Marko Ullmann T-MOBILE TEAM + 32'27
84 Marcus Ljungqvist LIQUIGAS + 33'17
85 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 33'35
86 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 34'06
87 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM + 34'23
88 Błażej Janiaczyk PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 34'29
89 Mikel Nieve TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 34'38
90 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 34'41
91 Jorge Azanza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 34'57
92 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 34'58
93 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 35'20
94 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 35'59
95 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 36'05
96 Mathieu Heijboer COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
97 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM + 36'13
98 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM + 36'16
99 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 36'21
100 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 36'27
101 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 36'49
102 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 36'58
103 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 37'11
104 Sören Hofmann CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 37'32
105 Evan Oliphant DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 38'07
106 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 38'17
107 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM + 38'20
108 Christophe Rinero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 38'28
109 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS + 38'42
110 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 39'04
111 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 39'10
112 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 40'10
113 Domenik Klemme TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 41'19
114 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM + 41'24
115 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 41'58
116 Gabriele Tassinari LIQUIGAS + 42'25
117 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM + 42'51
118 Bram De Groot RABOBANK + 42'53
119 Coen Vermeltfoort ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 43'32
120 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER + 44'02
121 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 44'05
122 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 44'20
123 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 46'51
124 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 48'05
125 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 48'17
126 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 48'31
127 Johannes Fröhlinger GEROLSTEINER + 48'42
128 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 49'23
129 Ben Gastauer ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 49'33
130 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 49'53
131 Tobias Erler TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 50'50
132 Robert Wagner TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 51'01
133 Chris Sørensen TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 51'06
134 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK + 52'15
135 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 52'26
136 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 54'27
137 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 54'32
138 Blake Caldwell LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 56'36
139 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 57'35
140 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 57'42
141 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM + 59'08
142 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 1h00'05
143 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC + 1h00'48
144 Troels Vinther UNIBET.COM + 1h01'51
145 Alan Pérez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
146 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h01'57
147 Christophe Edaleine CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h02'02
148 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h02'30
149 Frederic Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h02'37
150 Marco Zanotti ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 1h03'59
151 Nicolas Portal CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1h04'15
152 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h04'49
153 Thomas Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 1h04'52
154 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM + 1h05'09
155 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h05'55
156 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1h06'09
157 Michael Pichler ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 1h06'24
158 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h09'00
159 Yvan Muratet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h10'17
160 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h12'40
161 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM + 1h13'15
162 Kjell Carlström LIQUIGAS + 1h14'41
163 Walter Pérez TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 1h19'09
164 Fabien Patanchon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h19'32
165 Arnaud Gérard FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h20'41
166 Michael Albasini LIQUIGAS + 1h23'19
167 Aitor Ocampos EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h25'11
168 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM + 1h25'26
169 Kurt Steffen TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 1h28'13
170 Malte Knödler ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 1h32'13
171 Matthias Friedemann TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 1h35'02
172 Daniel Daunis ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 1h40'53

Points
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 103
2 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM 62
3 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 55
4 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 54
5 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER 53
6 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA 52
7 Robert Gesink RABOBANK 42
8 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL 38
9 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 36
10 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 36

KoM
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 24
2 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 20
3 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL 20
4 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA 20
5 Chris Sørensen TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA 16
6 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE 14
7 Robert Gesink RABOBANK 14
8 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 14
9 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 11
10 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM 10

Kreuziger is pretty good