Stage 2


Its the first hilly stage of the tour and as predicted, many attacks came on the last hill - but surprisingly, Cobo and Nibali were not amongst them, and I feel them to be Pliuschin's rivals here. Pliuschin did try to attack but all he got was 2 red bars for his effort.

Two frenchmen did get away though. Sebastien Joly (CSC) and Remi di Gregorio (Discovery) - both former FDJ teammates.


And they would stay away. Di Gregorio led the sprint out and Joly waited and waited - before making his move late with 600m to go. But it was enoug htime for Joly as he edged through to win the stage and take the race lead.


1 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC 4h42'40
2 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 53
4 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
5 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
6 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
7 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
11 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
12 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
13 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
14 Marcus Burghardt FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
15 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
16 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 Alexis Rodríguez TEAM CSC s.t.
19 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
21 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
22 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
23 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
24 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
25 Paul Martens AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.

GC
1 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC 4h51'58
2 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 8
3 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 36
4 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 40
5 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 41
6 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
7 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 42
8 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 45
9 Dimitri Champion SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 46

Stage 3

Easy win for Boonen in a weak sprinting field.


1 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 5h01'31
2 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
3 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
4 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
8 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
10 Geert Omloop CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
11 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
12 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
13 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
15 Rik Verbrugghe CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
16 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
17 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC s.t.
19 Benoit Salmon AGRITUBEL s.t.
20 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
21 Alexis Rodríguez TEAM CSC s.t.
22 Jesús Ramírez CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
23 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM s.t.
24 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
25 Jimmy Engoulvent FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.

Stage 4

Its another hilly stage


Pliuschin seems pretty relaxed here with 37km to go - but he is isolated, the only DFL rider left in the bunch.


However he is feeling strong, and +5 daily forms need taking advantage of - he attacks with 14km to go.


Theres no response, he gets a minutes lead!


He charges towards the line, only celebrating after it is crossed! He takes the leaders jersey.


1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 5h48'54
2 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'09
3 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS s.t.
4 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
5 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
7 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
8 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
9 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
11 Ben Hermans LIQUIGAS s.t.
12 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
13 Jérôme Pineau EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
14 Alexandr Kolobnev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 Benoit Salmon AGRITUBEL s.t.
17 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
19 Michael Albasini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
20 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
21 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
22 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
23 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
25 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
26 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
27 Luis Orán Castañeda LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
28 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
29 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
30 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK s.t.
31 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
32 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
33 David Arroyo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
34 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
35 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
36 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
37 Rémi Pauriol CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
38 Christophe Moreau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
39 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
40 Óscar Sánchez BARLOWORLD s.t.
41 Christophe Kern T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
42 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK s.t.
43 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
44 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
45 Paolo Bailetti T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
46 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC s.t.
47 Michael Rasmussen CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
48 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK s.t.
49 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
50 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA s.t.
51 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA s.t.
52 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 15h42'58
2 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 34
3 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 42
4 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'14
5 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'15
6 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'16
7 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'20
8 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'23
9 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'25
10 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1'27
11 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'29
12 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'31
13 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'32
14 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'33
15 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 1'35
16 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 1'36
17 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 1'37
18 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK s.t.
19 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'39
20 Christophe Moreau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
21 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'45
22 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA s.t.
23 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK + 1'47
24 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK s.t.
25 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 1'48

Incredible!

Stage 5

This TT is a good opportunity for Pliuschin to distance rivals in the GC.


Sebastien Rosseler was expected to win and set a good time


But surprisingly, JJ Cobo beat him. Cobo must be in top form and is now a real threat to Pliuschin having won the stage


Pliuschin took 3rd, losing 35 seconds on Cobo but keeping a 45 second advantage on him overall.


1 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 40'47
2 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 16
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 35
4 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 47
5 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 54
6 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 1'13
7 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'17
8 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'22
9 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Kevin De Weert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1'33
11 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 1'35
12 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'36
13 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 1'38
15 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA s.t.
16 Bert Roesems LIQUIGAS + 1'39
17 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'40
18 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 1'43
19 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD + 1'46
20 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1'48
21 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 1'50
22 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'51
23 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'54
24 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'55
25 Dimitri Champion SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'56

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 16h24'20
2 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 45
3 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'28
4 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 1'49
5 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 1'55
6 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'01
7 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'15
8 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'16
9 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'17
11 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'19
12 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'28
13 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 2'37
14 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 2'38
15 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 2'53
16 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'57
17 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'04
18 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 3'07
19 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK s.t.
20 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 3'10
21 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 3'26
22 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK + 3'28
23 Luis Orán Castañeda LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'32
24 Christophe Moreau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 3'33
25 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'38

Reaaly great results with Pliuschin, on EXTREME!

B-E-A-utiful

Wow, extreme results heheh

Stage 6

Its the critical mountain stage and Cobo will be hard to beat - if Cobo can beat Pliuschin in an ITT by 35 seconds when he has 73 TT and Pliuschin has 78TT - how can Pliuschin hope to stay with him now in the mountains when they both have the same mountain stat? Itll certainly be tough.


With a KoM just 1km into the stage, Geraint Thomas got himself to the front of the peleton on the startline and made a quick attack to take the points


The break that forms today has plenty of German interest with Gerdemann (Caisse), Burghardt (FDJ) and Kloden (Lampre) - although neither Kloden nor Gerdemann are in form and are both over 20 minutes down in the GC.


Credit Agricole have controlled the pace all day and when Cobo attacks, Pliuschin knows he must follow


But following Cobo proves impossible, the Spaniard (No doubt with a +5 daily form and a green moment) stormed away.


Pliuschin had to settle in the chase group with Nibali, Rasmussen, Leipheimer and Di Gregorio - Cobo is already 2 minutes ahead though


Cobo must be on drugs, his lead extends


Cobo wins


Pliuschin is 4th as hig group comes in over 3 minutes down


1 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 4h42'34
2 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'09
3 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK s.t.
6 Michael Rasmussen CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 4'25
8 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA s.t.
9 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC s.t.
10 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
11 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
12 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
13 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'10
15 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK s.t.
16 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
17 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Julien Loubet AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
19 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
20 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
21 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
22 David Moncoutié AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
23 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
24 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
25 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
26 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
27 Christophe Moreau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
28 Óscar Sánchez BARLOWORLD s.t.
29 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
30 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC s.t.
31 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
32 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 6'39
33 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
34 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
35 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
36 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
37 Dario Cataldo BARLOWORLD s.t.
38 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
39 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA s.t.
40 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK s.t.
41 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
42 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 6'59
43 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
44 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 7'15
45 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
46 Andrea Tonti AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
47 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
48 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
49 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
50 Alexandr Kolobnev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
51 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
52 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
53 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
54 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
55 David De la Fuente DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'57
56 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM + 8'15
57 Benoit Salmon AGRITUBEL + 8'50
58 Alexis Rodríguez TEAM CSC s.t.
59 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
60 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS s.t.
61 David Arroyo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
62 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
63 Philip Deignan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'22
64 Michael Albasini LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 9'31
65 Rémi Pauriol CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'39
66 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'47
67 Luis Orán Castañeda LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 9'55
68 Evgeni Sladkov BARLOWORLD + 10'03
69 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'11
70 Paul Martens AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 10'19
71 Grischa Niermann PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10'27
72 Nicolas Fritsch PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 11'07
73 Dimitri Champion SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 11'55
74 Christophe Kern T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
75 Jérôme Pineau EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.

GC
1 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 21h07'33
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'30
3 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'56
4 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 4'25
5 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'45
6 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 5'35
7 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'47
8 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'14
9 Michael Rasmussen CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'18
10 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 6'23
11 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 6'39
12 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 6'56
13 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'24
14 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'47
15 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 8'09
16 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'38
17 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'51
18 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK + 8'59
19 Christophe Moreau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 9'04
20 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK + 9'07
21 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 9'24
22 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'26
23 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 9'37
24 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'38
25 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'58

When will Cobo be taken for EPO?

Stage 7

Another hilly test and Pliuschin is now looking to take the points jersey, a competition which he currently leads.


Pliuschin finishes 4th in the stage as Boonen wins.


1 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 5h00'53
2 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS s.t.
3 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
4 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
6 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
7 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 Jérôme Pineau EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
9 Jesús Ramírez CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
10 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
11 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
12 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
13 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
14 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
15 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 Davide Rebellin TEAM CSC s.t.
17 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 Ben Hermans LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
21 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC s.t.
22 Grischa Niermann PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
23 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
24 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
25 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.

GC
1 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 26h08'26
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'30
3 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'56
4 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 4'25
5 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'45
6 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 5'35
7 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'47
8 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'14
9 Michael Rasmussen CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'18
10 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 6'19

Points
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 103
2 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS 79
3 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 79
4 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 76
5 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL 67
6 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL 57
7 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM 57
8 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 55
9 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM 54
10 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 54

Cobo is crazy! What'e hell!

SportingNonsense is crazy. He needs a new difficulty level on PCM 08

Good result eventhough you didn't win ..
Cobo is just crazy ..

Stage 8

Barberi, Botero, and Zubeldia clung on and just managed to beat the sprinters, with Barberi winning the final stage


Pliuschin ends 2nd overall and wins the Points and Young rider jersey


1 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 3h36'58
2 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA s.t.
3 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
4 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
5 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
6 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
7 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
8 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS s.t.
11 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
12 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
13 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
15 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
16 Jérôme Pineau EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
17 Rémi Pauriol CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 Alexis Rodríguez TEAM CSC s.t.
19 Pierre Rolland CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
20 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
21 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
22 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
23 Ben Hermans LIQUIGAS s.t.
24 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
25 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.

GC
1 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 29h45'24
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'30
3 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'56
4 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 4'25
5 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'45
6 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 5'35
7 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'47
8 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'14
9 Michael Rasmussen CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'18
10 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 6'19
11 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 6'39
12 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 6'56
13 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'24
14 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'47
15 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 8'09
16 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'38
17 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'51
18 Christophe Moreau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 9'04
19 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK + 9'07
20 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 9'24
21 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'26
22 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 9'37
23 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'38
24 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'58
25 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 10'02
73 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 27'22
76 David De la Fuente DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 30'30
108 Philip Deignan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 57'19
118 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h07'42
133 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h16'07
142 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h26'49
165 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h50'18

Points
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 103
2 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 95
3 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS 90
4 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL 80
5 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 76
6 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL 72
7 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM 63
8 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 61
9 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM 57
10 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 56

KoM
1 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA 34
2 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL 32
3 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 32
4 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 30
5 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK 27
6 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS 23
7 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 21
8 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 18
9 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO 17
10 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER 17
34 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4
35 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4

Was Pliuschin's form bad? I hope so!

Sponsor Goal - Win Paris-Nice = X

So, heres a fairly brief report of the boring Tirreno-Adriatico.
Team: Nolf, Coyot, Goss, Ignatiev, Stevic, Sulzberger, Efimkin, Wiggins

Stage 1
Hushovd wins ahead of Bennati and O'Grady. Only Ignatiev and Nolf finish with the peleton.

Stage 2
Pozzato outsprints Haussler and Haedo. Ignatiev takes DFL's best stage finish on the whole tour with 42nd, while Nolf and Stevic also finish with the peleton.

Stage 3
Flat stage but with a tough hill/mountain at the short that needs climbing and then descending. Wiggins, Coyot and Goss all finish outside the time limit. Matti Breschel opened up a huge gap in the sprint but stopped sprinting with 1km to go - he was only passed with 300m to go so he threw away a victory but its okay for him since teammate Di Luca won the sprint ahead of Capecchi and Sutton. No DFL rider finished in the peleton.

Stage 4
The all-important mountain stage saw Alejandro Valverde power to victory. Over a minute ahead of Di Luca, Cunego, Gusev, Chavanel and Nocentini. Efimkin is the best placed DFL rider in 80th. I abandoned Ivan Stevic from the race to save race days.

Stage 5
Efimkin and Sulzberger abandoned to save race days leaving just Nolf and Ignatiev in the race for us - Nolf for race days and Ignatiev for XP. Mark Cavendish is fastest in the sprint but a poor position means he cant quite win, finishing a tight 3rd behind stage winner Farrar and 2nd placed Capecchi. Ignatiev and Nolf finished in the peleton.

Stage 6
Cancellara won the time trial. Ignatiev was 47th and Nolf 60th.

Stage 7
Cavendish was again the fastest sprinter but again didnt win, taking 2nd behind Haedo.


Final GC:
1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 20h20'12
2 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 54
3 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'02
4 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'34
5 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
6 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 1'50
7 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'16
8 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'56
9 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 3'09
10 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'11
11 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
12 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 3'28
13 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'44
14 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
15 Manuel Medina CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'59
16 Chris Horner CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'07
17 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 4'11
18 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 4'14
19 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
20 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'15
21 Gabriele Tassinari QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'24
22 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD + 4'32
23 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 4'35
24 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'38
25 Johan Vansummeren TEAM MILRAM + 4'39
26 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 4'41
27 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 4'49
28 Philippe Gilbert RABOBANK + 4'57
29 Dainius Kairelis BARLOWORLD + 5'00
30 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 5'30
31 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 5'39
32 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 5'47
33 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 5'56
34 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 6'19
35 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
36 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
37 Daniele Pietropolli CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 6'24
38 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'27
39 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 6'31
40 Giampaolo Cheula SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'36
41 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'51
42 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 6'59
43 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 7'07
44 Dimitri Fofonov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
45 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 7'17
46 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'18
47 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 7'23
48 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'29
49 Santo Anzà AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 7'31
50 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
96 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22'29
105 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 27'27

Paris-Nice was one of his peak races. His form was in the 90s all race.

Looks like your story ends soon if these reports continues

Why do you say that?