great 2nd place finish.

While I could spend around half an hour reporting Romandie stage by stage - I wont. It held no DFl interest and it is wasting valuable Giro d'Italia playing/posting time. The only interesting battle involving DFL was who would finish with a better GC position, Blythe or Lloyd?
Blythe took a 29 second advantage after the Stage 1 TT but Lloyd moved ahead on the hilly stage 2, finishing 62 seconds ahead of Blythe to take the 'lead'. They finished together on Stage 3 and on the Mountain stage 4, they rode together until Blythe sprinted away in the final kilometre to finish 34 seconds ahead of Lloyd, moving 1 second up on him overall. Lloyd then beat Blythe on the mountain TT but Blythe gained time on Lloyd on the final stage.

Here's the final GC, including the all important Lloyd v Blythe result:

1 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 19h00'16
2 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 2'28
3 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'30
4 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 4'43
5 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'29
6 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 5'33
7 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'52
8 Roberto Heras TEAM ASTANA + 5'55
9 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'07
10 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
11 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD + 6'09
12 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 6'17
13 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 6'18
14 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6'27
15 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 6'47
16 Tadej Valjavec UNIBET.COM + 6'52
17 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6'57
18 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 6'58
19 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD s.t.
20 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 7'02
21 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'08
22 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 7'13
23 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 7'33
24 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 7'39
25 Bauke Mollema SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'42
26 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 7'50
27 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 8'05
28 Jérôme Pineau EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 8'06
29 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 8'40
30 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK + 8'49
31 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 8'56
32 Bobby Julich QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 9'12
33 Pierrick Fédrigo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'35
34 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 9'51
35 Alexandr Kolobnev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 11'06
36 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 11'27
37 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 11'38
38 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 12'02
39 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 12'20
40 Serguey Yakovlev TEAM ASTANA + 12'22
41 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 12'24
42 Dario Cataldo BARLOWORLD + 12'26
43 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL + 12'30
44 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD + 12'35
45 Andrea Tonti AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 12'47
46 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM + 13'00
47 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 13'01
48 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 13'02
49 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 13'10
50 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 13'12
51 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL + 13'20
52 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 14'20
53 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD + 14'47
54 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 14'54
55 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL + 14'57
56 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 15'31
57 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'50
58 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'00
59 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'25
60 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 16'57
61 Michael Albasini LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 17'44
62 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 18'37
63 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18'44
64 Juan Miguel Mercado AGRITUBEL + 19'01
65 Javier Mejías SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 20'37
66 Charles Wegelius RABOBANK + 21'09
67 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 21'24
68 Emanuelle Bindi LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 21'25
69 Christian Müller UNIBET.COM + 21'29
70 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 21'35
71 Bingen Fernández CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 22'28
72 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER + 22'50
73 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 23'45
74 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 23'59
75 Pasquale Muto RABOBANK + 26'07
76 Kevin De Weert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 26'52
77 David Cañada SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
78 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 27'19
79 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 27'25
80 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 27'39
81 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM + 30'00
82 Philip Deignan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 30'20
83 René Weissinger TEAM ASTANA + 31'04
84 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM + 31'17
85 David Muñoz CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 32'53
86 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 32'54
87 Pieter Riis Andersen TEAM CSC + 33'18
88 Andrei Kunitski COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 33'54
89 Fumiyuki Beppu DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 34'49
90 René Haselbacher TEAM ASTANA + 35'39
91 Francesco Failli TEAM MILRAM + 36'08
92 Pierre Rolland CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 36'40
93 Benoit Salmon AGRITUBEL + 38'28
94 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM + 39'05
95 Vladimir Bileka DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 40'09
96 Nicolas Roche CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 40'11
97 Kenny Van der Schueren RABOBANK + 40'44
98 Denis Kudashev UNIBET.COM + 40'57
99 Marco Marcato UNIBET.COM + 41'21
100 Gorka Verdugo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 41'26
101 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 42'25
102 Carl Naïbo AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 42'27
103 Leon Van Bon TEAM CSC + 42'45
104 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 43'15
105 Steffen Wesemann LIQUIGAS + 43'21
106 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 44'07
107 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 45'42
108 Robert Hunter GEROLSTEINER + 45'58
109 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 46'04
110 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 46'05
111 Maxime Bouet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 46'32
112 Mickael Delage FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 46'43
113 Dailos Díaz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 46'57
114 David García Dapena TEAM ASTANA + 47'03
115 Mikhail Timochine LIQUIGAS + 47'14
116 Jean-Marc Bideau TEAM MILRAM + 47'25
117 Alexandre Botcharov DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 47'43
118 Philipp Walsleben QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 47'50
119 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 48'05
120 Eric Berthou CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 48'23
121 Kazuo Inoue AGRITUBEL + 48'30
122 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 48'40
123 José Antonio Baños COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 49'14
124 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 49'16
125 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 49'57
126 Lucas De Visscher RABOBANK + 50'18
127 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM + 50'27
128 Imanol Erviti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 50'28
129 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER + 50'47
130 Maarten De Jonge AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 50'48
131 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA + 51'32
132 Jonathan Hivert CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 51'39
133 Enrico Poitschke AGRITUBEL + 51'42
134 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 51'45
135 Pedro Barnabé TEAM CSC + 51'49
136 Patrick Calcagni LIQUIGAS + 52'01
137 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 52'25
138 Alberto Ongarato LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 53'24
139 Rafael Valls CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 53'40
140 Bobbie Traksel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 54'09
141 Marc Lotz BARLOWORLD + 54'56
142 Sören Hofmann CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 55'38
143 Carlo Westphal GEROLSTEINER + 56'00
144 Alexandre Usov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 56'01
145 Laszló Bodrogi BARLOWORLD + 56'34
146 Cameron Jennings QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 57'18
147 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 57'20
148 Gert Steegmans T-MOBILE TEAM + 57'34
149 Ricardo Martins T-MOBILE TEAM + 57'36
150 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM + 57'49
151 Cédric Coutouly AGRITUBEL + 58'14
152 Bert Roesems LIQUIGAS + 1h00'17
153 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 1h01'13
154 Roy Sentjens PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h01'20
155 Didier Lerda AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1h02'03
156 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER + 1h02'50
157 Angelo Furlan UNIBET.COM + 1h03'03
158 Hans Dekkers PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h04'18
159 Marcel Sieberg PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h04'47
160 Randolph Konerding LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1h05'07
161 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 1h06'19
162 Alan Pérez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h07'51
163 Jimmy Engoulvent FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h11'16
164 Koen Barbé LIQUIGAS + 1h11'40
165 Nico Eeckhout TEAM CSC + 1h11'49
166 James Lewis Perry BARLOWORLD + 1h17'14
167 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h20'11
168 David Navas AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1h21'08
169 Volker Ordowski GEROLSTEINER + 1h24'15
170 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM + 1h27'24
171 Cor De Vogt RABOBANK + 1h27'28
172 Yao Ju PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1h32'57
173 Retief Beighton TEAM MILRAM + 1h34'17
174 Gianni Aliberti LIQUIGAS + 1h54'18
175 Theo Bos LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2h08'13

The Startlist:

DFL - Cyclingnews
1. A.Contador
2. A.Blythe
3. P.Deignan
4. A.Efimkin
5. M.Goss
6. D.Lloyd
7. I.Stannard
8. G.Thomas
9. B.Wiggins

Rabobank
11. R.Gesink
12. G.Brown
13. M.Celestino
14. L.De Visscher
15. L.Leipheimer
16. M.Lloyd
17. P.Muto
18. M.Soler
19. K.Van der Schueren

Caisse d'Epargne
21. A.Valverde
22. D.Blanco
23. A.Celades
24. P.Lastras
25. M.Medina
26. H.O.Mesa
27. D.Muñoz
28. M.Rasmussen
29. J.J.Rojas

T-Mobile Team
31. D.Di Luca
32. P.Bailetti
33. M.Gilbert
34. R.Martins
35. A.Olsen
36. M.Pinotti
37. S.Sousa
38. G.Steegmans
39. B.Vaugrenard

Team CSC
41. J.A.Gómez Marchante
42. P.Andersen
43. K.Arvesen
44. N.Eeckhout
45. J.Haedo
46. E.Petrov
47. D.Rebellin
48. N.Sörensen
49. J.Voigt

Team Astana
51. J.Rodas
52. S.Botero
53. D.Cunego
54. R.Haselbacher
55. G.Mikhailov
56. G.Rast
57. S.Sánchez
58. P.Voss
59. R.Weissinger

Crédit Agricole
61. J.Cobo
62. A.Bazayev
63. A.Charteau
64. L.Duque
65. D.Fofonov
66. P.Fédrigo
67. P.Halgand
68. C.Lemoine
69. R.Pauriol

Discovery Channel
71. J.Augustyn
72. V.Bileka
73. S.Cummings
74. T.Danielson
75. D.George
76. D.Rincón
77. J.Rujano
78. B.Traksel
79. W.Van Huffel

Barloworld
81. R.Riccò
82. L.Agostinelli
83. F.Bellotti
84. D.Caccia
85. L.Capozzi
86. D.Cataldo
87. P.Caucchioli
88. Y.Offredo
89. E.Orozco

Saunier Duval
91. M.Ortega
92. R.Alarcón
93. B.Castanheira
94. D.Champion
95. G.Cheula
96. D.Grigalevichius
97. A.Gómez
98. R.Lobato
99. L.Piepoli

Lampre - Fondital
101. A.Klöden
102. J.Azevedo
103. D.Bennati
104. P.Bossoni
105. M.Marzano
106. D.Napolitano
107. A.Ongarato
108. P.Savoldelli
109. G.Stangelj

Predictor - Lotto
111. V.Efimkin
112. M.Aerts
113. C.Carlotti
114. G.Dockx
115. Y.Ju
116. O.Kaisen
117. M.Sieberg
118. A.Vicioso
119. S.Zanini

Euskaltel
121. A.Txurruka
122. C.E.Alzate
123. Y.Bru
124. D.Galparsoro
125. J.Herrada
126. J.C.López
127. L.Mazzanti
128. A.Ocampos
129. A.Pérez

Française des Jeux
131. S.Casar
132. M.Delage
133. D.Díaz
134. J.Engoulvent
135. A.Grivko
136. T.Gudsell
137. S.Higgerson
138. M.Ladagnous
139. M.Mori

Unibet.com
141. M.Kvasina
142. A.Furlan
143. M.Golas
144. M.Marcato
145. M.Pedersen
146. A.Rasmussen
147. C.Sutton
148. L.Ten Dam
149. T.Valjavec

Liquigas
151. F.Pellizotti
152. L.Bertagnolli
153. E.Bertini
154. S.Cadamuro
155. E.Capecchi
156. M.Fischer
157. E.Gasparotto
158. Y.Krivtsov
159. M.Timochine

Gerolsteiner
161. M.Ruß
162. T.Farrar
163. T.Fothen
164. T.Hiekmann
165. S.Lang
166. S.Langeveld
167. A.Moletta
168. O.Pollack
169. N.White

AG2R
171. D.Moncoutié
172. S.Anzà
173. J.L.Arrieta
174. C.Corioni
175. G.Levarlet
176. R.Nocentini
177. J.Posthuma
178. A.Tonti
179. A.Usov

Ceramica Panaria
181. D.Pietropolli
182. M.Ardila
183. S.Bertolucci
184. A.Bucciero
185. M.Giunti
186. P.Grillo
187. L.F.Laverde
188. S.Matveyev
189. R.Retschke

Team Milram
191. S.Ghisalberti
192. W.Bonnet
193. E.Calogero
194. A.Davis
195. A.Loddo
196. M.Lorenzetto
197. E.Rigotto
198. F.Sabatini
199. F.Sacchi

Cofidis
201. J.Huizenga
202. S.Augé
203. J.A.Baños
204. M.Bouet
205. S.Kleynen
206. M.Mori
207. M.Van Heeswijk
208. S.Zampieri

QuickStep
211. F.Piamonte
212. A.Aldegani
213. P.Bettini
214. D.Foder
215. A.Kolobnev
216. A.Proni
217. I.Santaromita
218. L.Scarselli
219. G.Tassinari

Stage 1

Astana's Colombian duo of Botero and Rodas set some strong times on the flat 6km route of the opening stage. They were the lead 2 riders when Contador hit the road.

With a daily form of +5, Contador led at the checkpoint but ended up 3rd, 6 seconds behind Botero.

Bradley Wiggins was one of the last riders to go and he took 6th, 8 seconds behind Botero


But just when it looked like Botero had won, Sebastien Langeveld - the rider after Wiggins, and the penultimate one of the stage, went fastest to take the maglia rosa.


1 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER 7'19
2 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 2
3 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 3
4 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8
5 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 10
6 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
7 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 11
8 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13
9 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
11 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 14
12 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 15
14 Marcel Sieberg PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 16
15 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
16 Dimitri Champion SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17
17 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
18 Maxime Bouet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 18
19 Jenning Huizenga COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
20 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Robert Gesink RABOBANK s.t.
22 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 19
23 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC s.t.
25 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 20
26 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER s.t.
27 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
28 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 21
29 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
30 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
31 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
32 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
33 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 22
34 Manuel Medina CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
35 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
36 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
37 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 23
38 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
39 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
40 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 24
41 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 25
42 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 26
43 Gert Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
44 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 27
45 David George DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 28
46 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
47 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
48 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 29
49 Daniel Rincón DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
50 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.

Stage 2

Alex Rasmussen wins the stage and takes the Maglia Rosa


Goss really struggled and was down in 27th.

1 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM 4h02'43
2 Claudio Corioni AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
3 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
4 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
5 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
6 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER s.t.
7 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
8 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
10 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
11 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
12 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
13 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
14 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
15 Paride Grillo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
16 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
18 William Bonnet TEAM MILRAM s.t.
19 Alberto Ongarato LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
20 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
21 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
22 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
23 Yon Bru EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
24 Antonio Aldegani QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
25 Gert Steegmans T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
26 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
27 Matthew Goss DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
28 Marco Marcato UNIBET.COM s.t.
29 Andrea Tonti AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
30 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
31 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
32 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
33 Daniel Foder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
34 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
35 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.

GC
1 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM 4h10'01
2 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 1
3 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 3
4 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 4
5 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9
6 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 11
7 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 12
9 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 14
10 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.

Yayy! A danish win !

Stage 3

The first testing stage of the race


As the road starts to rise at the finish, Contador attacks


Its a great victory and Contador becomes the 3rd Maglia Rosa wearer in 3 days


Di Luca takes 2nd with Ricco 3rd while they and Cunego gain time on the rest of the peleton


1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h49'41
2 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 57
3 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
4 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
5 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 1'10
6 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
7 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
8 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
9 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
11 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
12 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Robert Gesink RABOBANK s.t.
14 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
15 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
17 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
18 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
19 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD s.t.
20 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
21 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC s.t.
22 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
23 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM s.t.
24 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
25 Pierrick Fédrigo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
26 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD s.t.
27 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK s.t.
28 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
29 Mirko Celestino RABOBANK s.t.
30 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA s.t.

GC
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 8h59'31
2 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'20
3 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 1'21
4 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 1'24
5 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 1'25
6 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 1'29
7 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'32
8 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 1'33
9 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'35
10 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
12 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'36
13 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'37
14 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'38
15 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.

good win

Stage 4

Goss has got the team severely doubting his ability with another dreadful sprint. Continental team Milram grab victory with Allan Davis.


1 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 4h08'44
2 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
3 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
4 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
5 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER s.t.
7 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Paride Grillo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
9 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
10 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
11 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
12 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
13 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Claudio Corioni AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
16 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
17 William Bonnet TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
21 Daniel Foder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
22 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
23 Mikhail Timochine LIQUIGAS s.t.
24 Robert Retschke CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
25 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
26 Andrea Tonti AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
27 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
28 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
29 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
30 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
31 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
32 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
33 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
34 Simone Cadamuro LIQUIGAS s.t.
35 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
36 Matthew Goss DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
37 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
38 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER s.t.
39 Alberto Ongarato LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
40 Antonio Aldegani QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.


Stage 5

Having failed badly, our attentions turn from Matt Goss to see if Geraint Thomas can do better. And he can! The Welshman takes 4th place while Eros Capecchi is the stage winner.


1 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS 4h23'33
2 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
3 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Claudio Corioni AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
11 Daniel Foder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
12 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
13 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
14 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
15 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
16 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
17 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
18 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
19 Yuri Krivtsov LIQUIGAS s.t.
20 Gert Steegmans T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
21 Matthew Goss DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
22 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
23 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
24 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
25 William Bonnet TEAM MILRAM s.t.

GC
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 17h31'48
2 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 1'09
3 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'20
4 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 1'24
5 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 1'25
6 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 1'29
7 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'32
8 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 1'33
9 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'35
10 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.

What is up with Goss, can you post his fitness and morale

Goss:
Fitness: 92
Morale: Happy

Then that is really stange...

Aill I can guess that his Stamina stat of 66 is the problem

that, plus his flat skill. (and maybe hill, if there are any bumbs in the race)

u have worked alot for this

Stage 6

Two big hills dominate the stage


At the top of the 2nd with 30km to go, Leonardo Bertagnolli holds a 3 minute lead on the peleton, having been the only attacker on the hill.


He is only 2 minutes down on the GC but I am not going to waste energy chasing him since he will not be a danger to Contador once the real race starts. So he still has a 3 minute gap with 10km to go.


Maglia rosa for Bertagnolli!


Capecchi and Gasparotto make it a Liquigas 1-2-3


1 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS 4h54'55
2 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 2'53
3 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
4 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
5 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER s.t.
6 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
7 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
8 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
9 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
11 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
12 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
13 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Claudio Corioni AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
17 Marco Marcato UNIBET.COM s.t.
18 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Robert Retschke CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
20 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Pieter Riis Andersen TEAM CSC s.t.
22 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
24 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
25 Alberto Ongarato LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.

GC
1 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS 22h28'30
2 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'06
3 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 2'15
4 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'26
5 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 2'30
6 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 2'31
7 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 2'35
8 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'38
9 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 2'39
10 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 2'40

yay its back, go contador!!!!

Stage 7



Rebellin, Pauriol, Cataldo, Sacchi and Higgerson still have a good lead going up the Montevergine


Contador went on the attack


Going over the top the gap to the break has been reduced dramatically. Di Luca is closest to them then comes Soler with Contador, then Ricco, then Valverde.


The 10 riders come together in the descent


Valverde wins the stage...


... but Contador takes the race lead back from Bertagnolli - who never even tried to keep the jersey for more than a day


1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 3h37'19
2 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
3 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK s.t.
4 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
5 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
6 Dario Cataldo BARLOWORLD s.t.
7 Davide Rebellin TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
9 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Rémi Pauriol CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
11 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 31
12 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
14 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 1'21
15 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 1'45
16 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 1'59
17 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA s.t.
18 Daniele Pietropolli CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
19 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
20 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
21 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
22 Tadej Valjavec UNIBET.COM s.t.
23 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
24 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
26 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
27 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
28 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
29 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
30 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
31 Luis Felipe Laverde CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
32 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
33 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
34 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
35 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
36 Yon Bru EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
37 Marco Marcato UNIBET.COM s.t.
38 Dailos Díaz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
39 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM s.t.
40 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
41 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
42 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
43 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
44 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
45 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
46 Paul Voss TEAM ASTANA s.t.
47 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
48 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
49 Santo Anzà AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
50 Andrea Tonti AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.

GC
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 26h06'55
2 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 53
3 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'08
4 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'24
5 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 1'29
6 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 1'51
7 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM + 2'02
8 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'06
9 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'09
10 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
11 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 3'12
12 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 3'23
13 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 3'24
14 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 3'25
15 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 3'31

Stage 8

Back to the mountains, well, just one


Deignan went off in the break while Ricco launched the attacks at the foot of the climb


Contador countered and formed a gorup with Ricco, Soler and Rodas - Di Luca and Valverde nowhere to be seen.


Deignan is the last of the break to be caught by this group, and he puts in a relay


Before dropping off, job done for the day


Rodas wins the stage, but more importantly - Contador gains 1'24 on Di Luca and 3'23 on Valverde.


1 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA 3h40'09
2 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK s.t.
3 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
5 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 1'24
6 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
7 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM s.t.
8 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
9 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Philip Deignan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Manuel Medina CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'23
13 David Moncoutié AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
14 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
15 Andrea Tonti AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
16 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
17 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
19 Guillaume Levarlet AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
20 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
21 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
22 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
24 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD s.t.
25 Robert Gesink RABOBANK s.t.
26 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
27 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA s.t.
28 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
29 Matthew Lloyd RABOBANK s.t.
30 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
31 Santo Anzà AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
32 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
33 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
34 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
35 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
36 Ivan Santaromita QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
37 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
38 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
39 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
40 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
41 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
42 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
43 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
44 Cetteo Carlotti PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
45 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
46 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
47 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK s.t.
48 José Luis Arrieta AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
49 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
50 Daniele Pietropolli CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.

GC
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 29h46'56
2 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 1'37
3 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 1'47
4 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'40
5 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 3'12
6 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'38
7 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'41
8 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'55
9 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 5'05
10 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 5'14
11 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 5'17
12 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 5'40
13 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 6'43
14 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 6'54
15 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 6'56
16 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 7'02
17 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 7'03
18 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC + 7'11
19 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 7'12
20 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 7'13

Stage 9



The only reason Wiggins is still in the Giro is for this stage - even though he isnt in good enough form to do too well.


Shaun Higgerson is the best of the TT specialists


Surprisingly, Gesink is the first to beat him - makes me wonder why Rabobank seem to have made Soler their GC hopeful.


Botero goes quicker though and will win the stage


His teammate and fellow countryman Rodas is just 2 seconds slower


Contador finishes in 8th, just over a minute behind. He now holds just a 2 minute lead over Rodas but I honestly dont think Rodas is GT winning material just yet so things are looking good.


1 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA 1h06'48
2 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 2
3 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 19
4 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 32
5 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 44
6 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 54
7 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 1'04
8 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'11
9 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1'15
10 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'23
11 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'31
12 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 1'37
13 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'57
14 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 1'59
15 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'04
16 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 2'07
17 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'11
18 Dimitri Champion SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'17
19 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'24
20 Jenning Huizenga COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 2'28
21 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 2'30
22 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM + 2'32
23 Maxime Bouet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 2'35
24 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 2'36
25 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
26 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'37
27 David George DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'38
28 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
29 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'39
30 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'40
31 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
32 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'43
33 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'50
34 Marcel Sieberg PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'53
35 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'55
36 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
37 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 2'56
38 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'03
39 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 3'07
40 Manuel Medina CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'08
41 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
42 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER + 3'12
43 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'19
44 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 3'20
45 Yuri Krivtsov LIQUIGAS + 3'23
46 Serhiy Matveyev CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 3'24
47 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER + 3'26
48 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 3'28
49 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 3'29
50 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 3'30
51 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
52 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'34
53 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
54 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'43
55 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'45
56 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'46
57 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 3'47
58 Daniel Foder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'48
59 Daniel Rincón DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
60 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'49

GC
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 30h54'55
2 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 2'03
3 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'00
4 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'21
5 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 3'56
6 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 4'05
7 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'27
8 Santiago Botero TEAM ASTANA + 5'43
9 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 6'04
10 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 6'13
11 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'47
12 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 7'14
13 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 7'51
14 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 8'27
15 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 8'35
16 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'39
18 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 8'40
19 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 8'42
20 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC + 8'55