Yeah, its back

Stage 3

A time trial, so not much interest for us.

1 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 48'50
2 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 41
3 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 43
4 Rick Flens RABOBANK + 49
5 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 51
6 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 58
7 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
8 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'15
9 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
10 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'16
11 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'17
12 Christian Müller UNIBET.COM + 1'19
13 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'20
14 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 1'26
15 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
37 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'15
48 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'44
51 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'53
59 Justo Tenorio DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'08
98 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'10
101 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'12
106 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'16
111 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'22


Stage 4

Nolf went in the break


It didnt work though, and in the sprint Eisel led Ciolek, Hagen, Davis and Swift


Ciolek looks strong today though


And Ciolek wins ahead of Hagen, with Swift 7th


1 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM 4h44'51
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
4 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
5 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
7 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
10 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
11 Robert Förster PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
12 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 Robert Hunter GEROLSTEINER s.t.
16 Francisco Pacheco TEAM LPR s.t.
17 Samuel Dumoulin AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
18 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
19 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
20 Eric Baumann T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
21 Alberto Loddo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
22 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM s.t.
24 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
25 Mauro Da Dalto LIQUIGAS s.t.
46 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
84 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
128 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
141 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'07
152 Justo Tenorio DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
162 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'15

GC
1 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 15h17'42
2 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 41
3 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 43
4 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD + 58
5 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
6 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'05
7 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 1'13
8 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 1'26
9 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 1'32
10 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 1'35
11 Kai Reus TEAM LPR + 1'37
12 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 2'08
13 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 2'13
14 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'17
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'43
16 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'45
17 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 2'53
18 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 2'58
19 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
20 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 3'41
21 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'48
22 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 3'55
23 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 4'00
24 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'02
25 Dario Cataldo BARLOWORLD + 4'04

Points
1 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 42
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 39
3 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM 38
4 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 33
5 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM 24
6 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM 20
7 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM 20
8 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 18
9 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL 15
10 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 15
11 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 14
12 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM 13
13 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 12
14 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA 12
15 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 12

Nice 2nd place with Boasson Hagen

Stage 5

Another hilly stage with a mountain-like hill near the end


And like in Stage 2, Hagen is keen to keep himself in contention going up the climb


He manages to cross in 5th - just behind Saul Raisin, who is throwing himself back into the frame for that Tour de France spot


Gerdemann, Zubeldia and Barredo got a gap over the top. Gerdemann wins the stage, Zubeldia takes the race lead


12th on the stage for Hagen, Raisin 16th


1 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 4h20'55
2 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
4 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM + 53
5 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
7 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
8 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
10 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK s.t.
11 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK s.t.
12 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
14 Dario Cataldo BARLOWORLD s.t.
15 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 Francisco Pacheco TEAM LPR s.t.
19 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
20 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
22 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
24 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
26 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
27 Steffen Wesemann LIQUIGAS s.t.
28 Jean-Marc Bideau TEAM MILRAM s.t.
29 Yuri Krivtsov LIQUIGAS s.t.
30 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
31 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
32 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
33 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
34 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
35 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
42 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
68 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
86 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
96 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
156 Justo Tenorio DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'07

GC
1 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 19h39'14
2 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 16
3 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18
4 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 57
5 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'14
6 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
7 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 1'29
8 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 1'32
9 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 1'42
10 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 1'48
11 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 1'51
12 Kai Reus TEAM LPR + 1'53
13 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 2'24
14 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'33
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'59
16 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'01
17 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 3'09
18 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 3'14
19 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
20 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 3'57

Points
1 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 42
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 40
3 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM 38
4 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 33
5 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 29
6 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM 24
7 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 22
8 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 22
9 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM 20
10 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM 20

Stage 6

The first of the tough mountain stages


Swift, Chtioui, Nolf and Stannard were hard at work early on preventing any break to get away, for Hagen to go clear and take the points on offer at the intermediate sprint and take the lead in the points classsification


The climbs themselves werent particularly interesting. The 5 men who wanted to win this race went clear while the rest either couldnt get away or did not try.

Zubeldia won the stage ahead of Andy Schleck and Lloret


Raisin won the peleton's sprint for 6th, with Iglinskiy in 9th and Hagen also clinging on in there


1 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 5h16'06
2 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
3 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'35
5 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
6 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'33
7 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
8 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK s.t.
9 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
11 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
12 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
13 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
15 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD s.t.
18 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
19 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA s.t.
20 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
21 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
22 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
24 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
25 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
26 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
27 Kai Reus TEAM LPR s.t.
28 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
29 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
30 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
31 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
32 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
33 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
34 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
35 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
36 Serguey Yakovlev TEAM ASTANA s.t.
37 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
38 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 6'15
39 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR + 6'26
40 David George DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'06
41 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio TEAM LPR s.t.
42 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
43 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
44 Hector Orlando Mesa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
45 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
46 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
47 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD + 7'39
48 David García Dapena TEAM ASTANA + 8'31
49 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
50 Jorge Azanza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.

GC
1 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 24h55'10
2 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 22
3 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 1'55
4 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'03
5 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 3'14
6 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 6'40
7 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'57
8 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
9 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 7'15
10 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 7'25
11 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 7'31
12 Kai Reus TEAM LPR + 7'36
13 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 8'07
14 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'16
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'39
16 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 8'44
17 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 8'57
18 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 9'39
19 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'47
20 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'54

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 46
2 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 42
3 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 38
4 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM 38
5 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 37
6 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 33
7 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 32
8 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 30
9 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA 26
10 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM 24

The nominees for the 2010 worlds have been announced. I have my fingers crossed for Liverpool!

Liverpool! Nice

Stage 7

The very long and hard summit climb will surely shake things up GC wise


But our only aim of the day was the early intermediate sprint. Swift, Nolf, Chtioui and Stannard controlled the peleton early on


Hagen was free to attack the peleton 6km prior to the intermediate sprint, which he duly won ahead of fellow countryman Thor Hushovd


That was it for our plans today, the final climb would see Hagen lose his 15th place overall


Discovery and Saunier Duval controlled things for a lot of the climb before one man attacked and went clear.


Raisin and Iglinskiy were fairly evenly matched. They both cracked with 4km to the summit.


Andy Schleck was the lone stage winner but other gaining a lot of time, he fell 5 seconds short of the race lead


Iglinskiy beat Raisin by 38 seconds, a blow to the American's tour hopes


1 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 5h19'29
2 Hector Orlando Mesa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'40
3 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
5 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
6 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
7 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
8 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
9 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 3'03
10 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
11 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'13
12 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
13 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
14 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK + 3'31
15 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK s.t.
16 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
17 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA s.t.
18 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'49
19 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'58
20 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD s.t.
21 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD s.t.
22 Kai Reus TEAM LPR s.t.
23 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
24 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
25 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio TEAM LPR + 4'36
26 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
27 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR s.t.
28 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'00
29 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'27
30 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 6'59
31 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
32 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
33 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
34 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
35 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD s.t.
36 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'29
37 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'40
38 David George DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
39 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
40 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
41 Jorge Azanza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'52
42 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
43 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
44 Justo Tenorio DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
45 Dario Cataldo BARLOWORLD s.t.
46 Serguey Yakovlev TEAM ASTANA + 8'06
47 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 11'03
48 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
49 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
50 Ivan Santaromita QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.

GC
1 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 30h16'19
2 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 5
3 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18
4 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'03
5 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 3'14
6 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 7'31
7 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 8'03
8 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 8'30
9 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 8'48
10 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
11 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD + 9'15
12 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'47
13 Kai Reus TEAM LPR + 9'54
14 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 10'34
15 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 10'53
16 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 11'30
17 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 13'10
18 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 13'26
19 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 13'42
20 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK + 14'00
21 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 14'16
22 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 14'18
23 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'25
24 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR + 15'15
25 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD + 15'29

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 52
2 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 46
3 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 46
4 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 45
5 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 42
6 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 42
7 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM 38
8 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA 33
9 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 33
10 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM 24

Stage 8

A flat stage .. but with a mountain.


A good finish from Hagen is a must today in order to secure the points jersey. So Swift, Stannard, Chtioui, Nolf and Tenorio all help chase down the days breakaway - Tenorio and Chtioui will later abandon as they hope to race in Eindhoven tomorrow.


So with 11km to go, Hagen, Iglinskiy and Raisin are the only DFL riders left in the peleton. Dessel of Ag2r is the 2nd man in the relay train .. and crashes. A mass crash of over 40 riders then rips apart the peleton. The DFL riders avoid it but 3 of the Top 5 GC are down: Schleck, Gerdemann and Popovych


The crash also affected sprinters - the only challenge to Hagen now is fellow countryman Hushovd. But having a very bad -5 day, Hagen just cant get to the front of the peleton. He tries everything, but to no avail. He starts the sprint in 36th position, with Duque already leading off Hushovd in the distance.


Hagen works himself up to 20th with a kilometre to go


And does manage a strong final kilometre to take 8th position, he can only watch on as Hushovd celebrates long after the finish line. That should have been him.


Surprisingly, no time gaps were given so the crashed riders are let off the hook

1 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 4h15'33
2 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
3 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
4 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
5 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
7 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR s.t.
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Hector Orlando Mesa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Marco Marcato UNIBET.COM s.t.
11 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD s.t.
12 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD s.t.
13 Paul Martens AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
14 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
15 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
16 Dario Cataldo BARLOWORLD s.t.
17 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
18 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 Rubén Lobato SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
20 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
21 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
22 Bruno Castanheira SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
23 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
24 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK s.t.
25 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
26 Cláudio Apolo BARLOWORLD s.t.
27 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
28 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
29 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
30 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
51 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
52 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
118 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
123 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
142 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'37

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 57
2 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 46
3 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 46
4 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 45
5 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 42
6 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 42
7 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM 38
8 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA 33
9 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 33
10 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 27

Solid riding by Edvald

Stage 9

The final stage of the race - and winning the first intermediate sprint will be enough to secure the points jersey for Hagen


He is set up by Swift, Stannard and Nolf, and easily takes it


Unlike previous stages though, this time he decides to stay with the breakaway and it is not chased down


This means he is also able to win the intermediate sprint placed after the first of the days climbs


The break stays away until the start of the last climb of the race. The peleton is already thinned down and a major name not in there is Andy Schleck. Its not due to the crash he had on Stage 8 - its due to yet another crash that happened when descending the penultimate climb.


Just the two riders got away from the lead group on the climb: Lloret and Zubeldia. Lloret would win the stage, but could not gap Zubeldia who wins overall.


The crowd had to wait some 4 minute for the next group, of 15 men, to arrive. And some good tactics saw Maxim Iglinski lead them in taking 3rd. Thats a ProTour point for him - and also his place on the Tour team, Saul Raisin will miss out, despite another strong showing by him today.


1 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 5h40'48
2 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'12
4 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
5 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA s.t.
6 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
7 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
8 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
9 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK s.t.
10 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
11 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
12 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
13 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
15 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
17 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
18 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 5'18
19 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
20 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 6'21
21 Kai Reus TEAM LPR s.t.
22 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR s.t.
23 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'11
24 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD s.t.
25 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD s.t.
26 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio TEAM LPR + 7'26
27 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
28 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'59
29 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD + 8'09
30 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK + 8'34
31 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
32 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 8'47
33 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'06
34 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 10'16
35 Cyril Dessel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
46 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'17
77 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 29'45
101 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 39'53
106 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 45'15

GC
1 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 40h12'34
2 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14
3 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'21
4 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 10'27
5 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 11'49
6 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 13'06
7 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
8 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'05
9 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 14'30
10 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 15'11
11 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 15'48
12 Kai Reus TEAM LPR + 16'21
13 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD + 16'32
14 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 17'28
15 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18'00
16 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 18'36
17 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 19'14
18 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD + 19'47
19 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 21'36
20 José Carlos Rodrigues TEAM LPR + 21'42
21 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 22'34
22 Sergio Paulinho RABOBANK + 22'40
23 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24'48
24 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 24'50
25 Pietro Caucchioli BARLOWORLD + 26'56
26 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 27'32
27 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 27'41
28 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
29 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 27'58
30 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 28'42
31 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 29'57
32 Saul Raisin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 30'20
33 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 31'45
34 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 32'06
35 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD + 32'38

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 69
2 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 58
3 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 57
4 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 55
5 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 45
6 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 42
7 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM 38
8 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA 33
9 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 33
10 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 27
11 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL 26
12 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 25
13 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM 24
14 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM 24
15 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK 23

KoM
1 Christophe Laurent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 54
2 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL 49
3 Hector Orlando Mesa CAISSE D'EPARGNE 45
4 David Loosli TEAM LPR 40
5 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 39
6 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 38
7 Paul Martens AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 36
8 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL 30
9 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 28
10 Pasquale Muto RABOBANK 27
11 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA 26
12 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM 23
13 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 21
14 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 20
15 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE 18

Eindhoven TTT



The team received a blow when Rafaa Chtioui and Justo Tenorio's flight from Switzerland was cancelled at the last moment, so Fran perez and Adam Blythe were drafted in to join an already strong team of Bradley Wiggins, David Millar, Michail Ignatiev, Cadel Evans, Rigoberto Uran and Geraint Thomas.



After a steady start, Millar, Ignatiev and Wiggins led the charge


And in the end it was a comfortable victory, a good sign for the long 63km TTT that features in the Tour de France

National Championships



German TT

Clashing with the Tour de Suisse and Eindhoven, usually we get an unworthy winner, but not this year. The strongest German TTist won the title: Jakob Fiedler.

Italy TT

The two time reigning champion Marco Velo has retired, so we get a new champion. And it is Vincenzo Nibali.

Swiss TT

Fabian Cancellara won back the championships as last years champion Michael Schar only managed 4th. Schars career has gone downhill since signing for the Babes Only team.

Ireland

Former DFL rider David McCann took victory, he now rides for the Luxembourg national team! Deignan left emptyhanded.

United Kingdom

With a team of 8, we were always the team to beat. And beat us they could not! The decisive move was Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard and Steven Cummings - with Geraint Thomas outsprinting the other 2 for victory.

Norway

A great win for Edvald Boasson Hagen, he is well set for the Tour.

Lithuania

Ignas Konovalovas may be completely out of form. But he seemed to only have to turn up and win. He will wear the jersey proudly later in the season.

Luxembourg

The Schleck brothers decided it was Andy's turn this year. Avoiding falls unlike in Suisse, the younger of the two will wear the national jersey as we expect him to challenge in the Tour.

Others
Kazakhstan - Dmitri Muravyev
Estonia - Janek Tombak
Slovenia - Grega Bole
Sweden - Hakan Nilsson

Great riding in Eindhoven, and congrats on taking the sprinters jersey in Swiss land. However, I am annoyed that you gave your last tour spot to Iglinsky over Raisin

Well, I did say it would be about who did best in Switzerland and even though Raisin had better form, Iglisnkiy is the one who performed better.

Great win in Eindhoven!

Great riding in the NC, and in Switzerland, and Eindhoven.

Yeah, but Raisin has a messed-up brain, doesn't that count for something.

Can't wait for this tour bro! Good luck!

Great results SN, you look in stomping form for le tour. Best of luck!