Stage 11

After a rest day, its time for the 48km ITT


When Fabian Cancellara finishes, he takes a lead of 2'23 of Manuel Quinziato


Langeveld goes 2nd, 1'27 behind and then Ignas Konovalovas (69 TT) pulls off an awesome ride to go 4th - 2'29 behind Cancellara.


Uran and Hagen are the next DFL riders to come in. Starting the day 29th and 28th Overall. Uran (69 TT) goes 13th 3'04 down - but 3 seconds ahead of a disappointing Laszlo Bodrogi (76 TT). Hagen then comes in with a brilliant ride, taking 3rd (+2'15). A great result for a rider with 70 TT. (He eventually ends 7th)


Igor Anton is bound to lose his leaders jersey today but does great to only lose 4'33, finishing 62nd- thats only 7 seconds more than Cunego lost (Anton has 62 TT, Cunego 65), and less than 2 minutes lost on Valverde (72 TT). As another example, like Anton teammate Dan Lloyd has 62 TT, but was 90 seconds slower.


With 2nd place on the stage, Janez Brajkovic takes over the race lead. 4th place on the stage lifts Stijn Devolder to 2nd, while Haimar Zubeldia is up to 3rd after 3rd on the stage - the crash a few stages ago has cost him the race lead.


1 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC 1h04'36
2 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 20
3 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 29
4 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 36
5 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'24
6 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK + 1'28
7 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'16
8 Vladimir Gusev DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'17
9 Manuel Quinziato LIQUIGAS + 2'24
10 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'29
11 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'32
12 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'34
13 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'37
14 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'38
15 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'49
16 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'55
17 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 2'56
18 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
19 Enrico Franzoï LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'57
20 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'59
21 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 3'03
22 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'05
23 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'08
24 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
25 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 3'13
26 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'16
27 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 3'19
28 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 3'24
29 André Steensen TEAM CSC + 3'33
30 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'35
31 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 3'36
32 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL + 3'37
33 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM s.t.
34 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 3'45
35 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 3'48
36 David Cañada SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
37 David Herrero KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
38 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 3'49
39 David Blanco RABOBANK + 3'50
40 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3'51
41 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 3'52
42 Pedro Barnabé TEAM CSC + 3'53
43 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'55
44 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'56
45 Alejandro Ramírez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'59
46 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'00
47 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 4'03
48 Volodymyr Dyudya TEAM MILRAM s.t.
49 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 4'04
50 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC + 4'11
53 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 4'14
55 Jens Mouris DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'18
56 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'20
60 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 4'26
62 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'33
67 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'45
69 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'47
75 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'59
84 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'13
104 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 5'51
116 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'06
191 (AKA Last) Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'01


GC
1 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 41h25'50
2 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'56
3 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 2'23
4 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'29
5 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'31
6 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'40
7 Vladimir Gusev DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'33
8 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 4'51
9 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'53
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'08
11 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 5'14
12 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 5'47
13 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 5'53
14 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'57
15 André Steensen TEAM CSC + 5'58
16 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 6'10
17 David Blanco RABOBANK + 6'17
18 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'36
19 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'37
20 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 6'38
21 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 7'17
22 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN GALICIA + 7'20
23 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 7'27
24 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'35
25 Pietro Caucchioli COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 7'55
35 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 9'00
42 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 9'28
45 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'41
46 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 9'58
49 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'09
52 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 10'19
62 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'32
114 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 37'38
116 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 38'40
154 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 59'42
166 Jens Mouris DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h08'36
179 Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h24'39
191 Theo Bos LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2h46'14

You'll take them in the mountains!

Stage 4

With no KoM sprints, Blythe can stay in the peleton and Oliphant goes with the break


60km to go is a bad time to have a puncture, McCann could lose 4th overall


But incredibly he caught up again, after a 17km pursuit


Its a good job he caught up when he did as wind became a factor


All DFL riders were caught out at one point but Millar fought his way back to the front


Knowing that if Ciolek wins this stage, he takes over the race lead by 1 second so Millar gets himself involved in the sprint behind Vanoverschelde, Schets and Caethoven. Ciolek is behind Klier


Caethoven pulls his 3 followers away from the pack - Ciolek won't win today - but can Millar grab a time bonus?


Schets powers through to win and by following him, Millar takes a great 2nd


1 Steve Schets CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN 3h36'04
2 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Kobe Vanoverschelde NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
4 Steven Caethoven CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
5 Robert Hunter BARLOWORLD s.t.
6 Oleg Chuzhda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
7 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Alexei Zaitsev FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
9 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Giosuè Bonomi BARLOWORLD s.t.
11 Jos Van Emden RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
12 Daniele Callegarin NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
13 Nico Eeckhout CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
14 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
15 Kenny Van Hummel SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
16 Nicolas Sanderson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
17 Aitor Galdos FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
18 Geoffroy Lequatre DUJA - TAVIRA s.t.
19 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
20 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
21 Enrico Degano BARLOWORLD s.t.
22 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
23 Sjef De Wilde LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
24 Mashahiro Shinagawa SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
25 Glen Alan Chadwick NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.

GC
1 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 11h35'22
2 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM + 31
3 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM + 34
4 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 35
6 Robert Hunter BARLOWORLD + 36
7 Bram Deprez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
8 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
9 Shaun Higgerson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 38
10 Lars Boom RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 39
11 Steve Schets CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 40
12 Jos Van Emden RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 41
13 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL + 43
14 Ben Day NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 45
15 Oleg Chuzhda FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM + 48




Stage 4

It must be a windy day in Europe as like in Britain, wind plays a part in Poland too. The peleton is torn apart, with DFL having Geraint Thomas always at the front.


Ben Swift got to the front aswell when an opportunity arose


It all eventually calmed down though and with 9km to go, Matti Breschel has snook away from the peleton and caught up with the 5 man break


Ben Swift finds that all the sprinters are on his wheel, but he then spots Leif Hoste moving up on the left and latches on


Hoste surges forward, it looks to have been a great choice by Swift to follow him. The break's hopes are now ended.


Hoste leads out the sprint


Swift comes through with 2km to go


But Bonnet passes Swift into the final kilometre


Bonnet wins the stage...


.. but who is 2nd? Its close between Cavendish, Capecchi, Napolitano and Swift


Swift gets 2nd! Cavendish 3rd. And even better - thanks to the work of Hoste, the first 10 finishers gain 49 seconds on the peleton!

1 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 5h25'15
2 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
7 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.

11 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM + 49
12 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
16 Graziano Gasparre AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
17 Hans Dekkers PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
18 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
19 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
21 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
22 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
23 Michael Vanderaerden AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
24 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
25 Davide Viganò QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
68 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
101 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

134 Bernard Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'14
137 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
138 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
140 Rhys Pollock DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
159 Mickey Smith DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'42


GC
1 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 14h52'44
2 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 17
3 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC + 24
4 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
5 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 29
6 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 32
7 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 33
8 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 35
9 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 42
10 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
11 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'01
12 Michael Vanderaerden AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S + 1'06
13 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM + 1'08
14 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
15 Graziano Gasparre AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S + 1'13

great results - this has taken it's place as the best ever story imo

i've read it since i started 3/4 months ago and i absolutely love it - you could make it a novel

thankyou

Thanks



Stage 12

Today is the start of a crucial period for Anton. Starting the day 5th overall:
1 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 41h25'50
2 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'56
3 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 2'23
4 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'29
5 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'31
6 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'40

The new target after the TT is at least a Podium. Devolder will struggle in the mountains and I have yet to be fully impressed by Brajkovic or particularly Valverde. To win, I estimate that Anton should enter Stage 20 with a minimum 5 minutes lead on the likes of Brajkovic, Devolder, and Zubeldia.

So it is the start of a critical period and what better place to gain time than the Angliru?


Skipping right to the foot of the mythical climb and having got away on the penultimate hill, Pereiro was allowed to build a 40 second lead.


Anton is ready to attack on the 'flatter' part of the climb that preceeds the steeper sections but when Di Luca goes, he counters immediately


Anton tears past Di Luca who's attack makes little impact. Devolder also goes but predictably failed to get a gap - why waste energy on KoM points when a good GC is possible?


Its a great timing for a green moment as Anton passes Pereiro. Zubeldia and Brajkovic have now reacted.


So after the attacks, Anton holds 1'20 on Zubeldia and Pereiro, with Brajkovic 20 seconds back. Any other big name is in the peleton and not attacking, a further minute behind the race leader (and losing ground).


Anton increases his pace as the gap increases


Victory is assured, but the celebration is quick as time is vital


Zubeldia dropped Pereiro in the final kilometre and finishes 2nd, 1'51 behind Anton - therefore dropping below the DFL rider in the GC


Pereiro must have cracked as he struggles home in 3rd - 2'48 behind Anton - is he now the Caisse leader instead of Valverde?


I can only assume Brajkovic also cracked on the climb. I knew he had started to lose ground on Zubeldia/Pereiro on the climb but not this much. Finishing 3'10 behind Anton, his jersey is safe .. for this stage at least.


Valverde took 5th leading in the next group. Id call it a chase group but that would be false as they never really chased. Hagen incredibly finishes in this group, continuing to punch much above his weight as he stays in 10th Overall.


1 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 5h00'51
2 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 1'51
3 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'48
4 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'10
5 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'35
6 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
7 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
8 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
9 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
11 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
14 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
16 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Vladimir Gusev DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
18 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
20 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA s.t.
21 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
22 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7'28
23 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
24 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
25 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
26 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN GALICIA + 7'58
27 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
28 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS s.t.
29 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'12
30 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
31 Alberto Benítez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 8'36
32 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 8'44
33 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'09
34 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
35 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
36 Rubén Lobato SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
37 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
38 Gorka Verdugo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'39
39 David Cañada SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
40 David Blanco RABOBANK s.t.
41 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
42 Dries Devenyns PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 9'59
43 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 10'07
44 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
45 Dimitri Muravyev TEAM ASTANA + 10'15
46 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'23
47 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
48 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
49 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 10'31
50 Pietro Caucchioli COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 10'39

GC

A podium place now looks much easier. Time must be gained still on Zubeldia and Brajkovic but on his current form - would you bet against Anton?

1 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 46h29'51
2 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 21
3 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 1'04
4 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'18
5 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 5'21
6 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'54
7 Vladimir Gusev DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'58
8 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 8'16
9 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 8'18
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'33
11 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 8'39
12 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 9'18
13 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'01
14 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'02
15 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 10'05
16 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 11'00
17 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 11'12
18 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN GALICIA + 12'08
19 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 12'12
20 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 12'19
21 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 12'25
22 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'26
23 David Blanco RABOBANK + 12'46
24 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA + 12'52
25 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'06
26 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 13'18
27 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 13'26
28 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 13'44
29 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 13'48
30 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 14'16
31 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA + 14'22
32 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 14'28
33 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14'37
34 André Steensen TEAM CSC + 15'19
35 Pietro Caucchioli COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 15'24
36 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 15'34
37 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 16'08
38 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 16'11
39 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 16'12
40 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 16'16
41 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'34
42 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 16'37
43 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 17'09
44 Dimitri Muravyev TEAM ASTANA s.t.
45 David Cañada SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17'13
46 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 17'18
47 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 17'24
48 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 17'27
49 Rubén Lobato SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17'29
50 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 17'40

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 141
2 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE 101
3 Stuart O'Grady TEAM CSC 75
4 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 66
5 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL 66
6 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 57
7 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 57
8 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 57
9 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK 56
10 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 53

KoM
Proof that winning the climb that matters is better than attacking for minor points on other climbs. The likes of Cunego, Di Luca, Devolder and Pellizotti should take notice of that.
1 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 60
2 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK 50
3 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA 45
4 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 32
5 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 32
6 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER 32
7 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 30
8 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE 28
9 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 28
10 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM 20

I assume you mean a 5 min lead going into stage 20 not stage 10, but nice win

To quote Smoothie, "smashing win"

Great job, I think that you will take 2nd place, losing out on the win by around 30 seconds, which you will lose on stage 20

great job

Graet job, really looking forward to the other mountain stages

Continue doing this! Very nice reporting, and of course playing!

Great results SN!

Thanks



Stage 5

The stage ends with a tricky uphill rise to the line


With 4km to go, Wes Sulzberger holds a minutes lead and is the virtual race leader


So Millar attacks


With a +5 daily form, he closes in on Sulzberger


Millar gains inspiration from his fans as he enters the final kilometre


He storms past Sulzberger


And wins the stage!


1 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h08'04
2 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 23
3 Paul Martens SKIL - SHIMANO + 46
4 Shaun Higgerson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
5 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL s.t.
6 Denys Kostiuk TEAM KONICA MINOLTA s.t.
7 Rodrigo García FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
8 Javier Cherro BARLOWORLD s.t.
9 Tom Leezer RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
10 Andy Cappelle LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
11 Daniele Callegarin NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
12 Ben Day NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
13 Robert Hunter BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Nico Eeckhout CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
15 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Sven Nys RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
17 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
18 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
19 Ian McLeod DUJA - TAVIRA s.t.
20 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
21 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
22 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
23 Sjef De Wilde LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
24 Bram Deprez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
25 Lars Boom RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
26 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.
27 Baoqing Song DUJA - TAVIRA s.t.
28 Elias Schmäh CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
29 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 Glen Alan Chadwick NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
31 Anders Lund TEAM CSC s.t.
32 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
33 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
34 Jos Van Emden RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
35 Efrem Salvi TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.

GC
1 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 15h43'06
2 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 1'32
3 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'37
4 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'40
5 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
6 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'41
7 Robert Hunter BARLOWORLD + 1'42
8 Bram Deprez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
9 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
10 Shaun Higgerson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 1'44



Stage 6

Van Avermaet wins the sprint as only 11th place for Swift since I wasnt really paying attention until 5km to go, comprimising his positioning.


1 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO 5h59'46
2 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
3 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
4 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
6 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
7 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
9 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC s.t.
10 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Graziano Gasparre AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
14 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
16 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
17 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Aleksandr Kuschynski LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
20 Karsten Kroon LIQUIGAS s.t.
21 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
22 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM s.t.
23 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
24 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
25 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.

GC
1 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 20h52'30
2 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 17
3 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC + 24
4 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
5 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 26
6 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 29
7 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 31
8 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 32
9 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 33
10 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 42

Wow, what a nice attack with Millar

Storming Win by Millar, he is totally dominating. Im sure you can take the GC with Anton also. He is extremly strong

As I have said before, Anton crushes them in the mountain. I think you need 4,15 before the time trial, and I think you will do it

Amazing riding of Millar.

Stage 13



A challenging hilly stage - Anton isnt as strong in the hills so will mainly aim to not lose any time today rather than gain time.

Tjalingii and Mayoz formed the break but they were chased down by Alejandro Valverde who had slipped away from the peleton and been allowed to make a gap


But once the gap got too dangerous, DFL helped Discovery in the chase


Disaster struck with 82km to go!


Lloyd, Hammond, Bodrogi, Konovalovas, Mouris and Chtioui drop back to help Anton


Thankfully, the chase of Valverde hasnt hit full flow yet and they rejoin the peleton after a 14km chase.


Devolder attacked on the penultimate of the day's hills

Over the top, he was 1'20 behind Valverde and 2 minutes ahead of the peleton.

Anton made his move on the last hill with the rest of the top 4. Zubeldia, Pereiro and Brajkovic.


Devolder led over the hill with 30 seconds on Valverde


Pereiro is 20 seconds behind his teammate and they soon lonk up. Anton and Cunego are 40 seconds behind the Spaniard and are caught by Pellizotti and Brajkovic in the run in to the finish.


Devolder takes the stage


Pereiro is 2nd, just over a behind behind, with Valverde 3rd


Cunego leads in the Anton and Brajkvoic group 2 minutes after Devolder


1 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 4h48'29
2 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'04
3 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'27
4 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 2'03
5 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
6 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
7 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 3'29
9 Vladimir Gusev DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
12 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
13 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
14 David Blanco RABOBANK s.t.
15 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
16 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Dimitri Muravyev TEAM ASTANA s.t.
18 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
19 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
20 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
21 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
22 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
23 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
24 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
25 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS s.t.

GC
1 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 51h20'23
2 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 21
3 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'19
4 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 2'30
5 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'18
6 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'18
7 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 8'16
8 Vladimir Gusev DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'24
9 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 9'44
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'59
11 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10'05
12 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 10'44
13 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 11'27
14 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 11'28
15 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 11'31
16 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 12'26
17 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 12'38
18 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN GALICIA + 13'34
19 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 13'44
20 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'45
21 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 13'51
22 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 13'52
23 David Blanco RABOBANK + 14'12
24 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'32
25 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 14'44

KoM
1 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 63
2 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 55
3 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA 50
4 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK 50
5 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 36
6 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 36
7 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER 35
8 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE 33
9 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 33
10 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 30

Stage 6

Van Hummel takes the stage


1 Kenny Van Hummel SKIL - SHIMANO 3h20'59
2 Steve Schets CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
3 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Geoffroy Lequatre DUJA - TAVIRA s.t.
6 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Jos Van Emden RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
8 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
9 Robert Hunter BARLOWORLD s.t.
10 Nico Eeckhout CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
11 Nicolas Sanderson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
12 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Kobe Vanoverschelde NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
14 Sean Finning SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
15 Daniele Callegarin NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
16 Aitor Galdos FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
17 Tom Leezer RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
18 Steven Caethoven CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
19 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
20 Giosuè Bonomi BARLOWORLD s.t.
21 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
22 Benoit Sinner AGRITUBEL s.t.
23 Nick Krings NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
24 Piet Rooijakkers SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
25 Benny De Schrooder CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.

GC
1 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 19h04'05
2 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 1'32
3 Steve Schets CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 1'34
4 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'37
5 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'40
6 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
7 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'41
8 Robert Hunter BARLOWORLD + 1'42
9 Bram Deprez LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
10 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.




Stage 7

A hilly terrain has cut the peleton to 20 at the finish, Efimkin is the only DFL rider. Breschel is the best placed overall and leads the sprint


Breschel will win the stage - but not take yellow as the time gaps were ruled out.


1 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC 5h36'43
2 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
3 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
4 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
6 Nick Nuyens COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
7 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
8 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
9 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
11 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM s.t.
12 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
13 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
14 Karsten Kroon LIQUIGAS s.t.
15 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
17 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
18 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 Marcus Ljungqvist LIQUIGAS s.t.
21 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
22 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
25 Giorgio Brambilla LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
26 Andrea Palini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
27 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
28 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
29 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
30 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
31 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
32 Graziano Gasparre AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
33 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
34 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
35 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.

GC
1 William Bonnet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 26h29'13
2 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC + 14
3 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 17
4 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 24
5 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 26
6 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 29
7 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 31
8 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 32
9 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 33
10 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 42

Woa that was a worring Stage for Anton

Very unlucky with the puncture! Good you managed to get in the right group

Great ride by Anton

Oh and, go Breschel!