Stage 9

A much flatter stage but it was taken at a faster pace than previously, with the peleton perhaps feeling it okay to stretch themselves a little more as the rest day approaches. This of course meant there was no hope for the days break.

Hagen took Hushovd's wheel in the sprint as his fellow Norwegian followed Juan Pablo Forero


Mikhail Ignatiev was feeling good today and had an early spurt at the front in the sprint


The fact that Forero wasnt closing in outlined the Colombian's weekness and as other sprinters started to come alongside Hagen, he knew it was time to go


Behind him is Danniele Bennati - a disappointing Tour so far for Bennati, with just two top 10 results, and a best of 4th - taken anonymously on Stage 8. Today he is ready to challenge though.


Bennati just edges infront and theres nothing that can be done, Hagen is edged out once again.


The consolation is the extension of his points jersey lead - Hushovd never made his move, sticking with Forero. He crosses the line 16th, but is only awarded 19th - an added bonus for Hagen.


Just 93 men finished in the peleton, with the rest lacking the strength to follow. Contador, Uran and Iglinskiy came home 3 minutes later in the next group.

There was a minor crash, but that was amongst riders already struggling. It did however cause 66th and 67th overall riders Cyril Dessel and Maxim Belkov to abandon.

1 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL 5h07'12
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
4 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
6 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
7 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
12 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER s.t.
14 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
15 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
16 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
17 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
18 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
19 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
20 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
21 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
22 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
24 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
25 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
59 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
63 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
65 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
91 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
94 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'27
105 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
107 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
121 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

GC
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 35h19'13
2 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'21
3 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'50
4 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'05
5 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
6 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 3'19
7 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 3'48
8 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'27
9 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 4'35
10 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'08

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 187
2 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 161
3 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER 152
4 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL 119
5 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 112

KoM
1 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 68
2 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 34
3 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 30
4 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL 26
5 Paul Martens AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 24

Rest Day Review

Serious questions no doubt have to be asked of race organisers - a rest day already? Just the 9 stages gone, 6 for the sprinters, 1 short ITT, a TTT and a hilly stage - hardly worthy of a rest is it?

Not that I should complain, the terrain so far has suited the team well, and we enter the rest day with all four leaders jerseys.

Edvald Boasson Hagen
1st 1st 38th 1st
No doubt the stand out rider so far. 3 wins if you include the TTT, 2 second places, and a 3rd. He leads the GC by over 2 minutes - and who knows how long he can keep it, dont forget that he was 8th overall in last years Vuelta! Ultimately, his aim will be the green jersey, and he now leads Hushovd by 26 points.

Cadel Evans
2nd 39th 53rd N/A

Our team leader can be happy with how the race has started, despite a poor prologue. The TTT provided a huge aid and although losing some time on the tricky hilly stage, he is leading his rivals without the pressure of Yellow and should thrive in the mountains.

Mikhail Ignatiev
4th 15th N/A 3rd

Perhaps surprisingly, it is our Russian who has led the way so far in the time trials. 6th in the prologue and then leading the team across the line in the TTT placed him 2nd overall. Then followed on Stage 6 with a strong attack near the end to take 2nd behind Hagen, he rested on the hilly stage before taking 10th and 15th in the next two sprint stages. A good start, and he will aim for some breakaways at some point in the race.


David Millar
8th N/A 40th N/A

13th in the prologue, and playing a key part of the TTT, Millar has been spending the bulk of his time protecting Hagen in the pack. Focus may soon turn to protecting Evans but he will also be keeping an eye on breaks later in the race.


Alberto Contador
63rd N/A N/A N/A

Any hope the Giro winner had of a Giro/Tour double soon faded as he was dropped by the pack on Stage 4. He has been disappointing and did not shine in the TTT. Sure he was 6th, but he was expected to be part of the 5 at the finish that would have set a stronger time. Now 10 minutes down in the GC, he must look to salvage something later in the race.

Maxim Iglinskiy
79th N/A N/A N/A

Having battled past Saul Raisin to take his tour spot, he has been biding his time, waiting for the mountain to rise and for him to truly aid Evans.


Rigoberto Uran
117th N/A 1st 38th

After an early season injury, this is just his 3rd race of the season after Eindhoven and a pre-Tour one day race. Although 20th in last years Giro and 14th in last years Vuelta, he is not aiming at a high GC playing but rather the King of the Mountains jersey. So far, so good.

Ben Swift
120th N/A N/A 40th

It was always going to be a steep learning curve, but perhaps Swift didnt realise just how tough it would be. Whatever happens, this race will have benefited him, and he will be determined to improve his current high stage finish position of 60th.

Bradley Wiggins
126th 68th N/A N/A

Just 7th in the prologue but a 2 minute victory in the TTT for the team meant job done for Bradley. He will now be helping out wherever he can, as well as targeting the other ITT of the race.


Full GC

198 started, and so far 193 still remain.

1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 35h19'13
2 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'21
3 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'50
4 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'05
5 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
6 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 3'19
7 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 3'48
8 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'27
9 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 4'35
10 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'08
11 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 5'20
12 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM + 5'24
13 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 5'29
14 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 5'33
15 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 5'39
16 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'41
17 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 5'55
18 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 6'06
19 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 6'10
20 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 6'38
21 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'39
22 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 6'42
23 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
24 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 6'43
25 Robert Hunter GEROLSTEINER + 6'44
26 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 6'52
27 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 6'53
28 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 6'59
29 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 7'00
30 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 7'05
31 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL + 7'06
32 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
33 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 7'07
34 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 7'11
35 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 7'27
36 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'43
37 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7'46
38 Dainius Kairelis BARLOWORLD + 7'52
39 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7'54
40 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 7'58
41 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
42 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 7'59
43 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 8'02
44 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 8'11
45 Alexandr Kolobnev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 8'14
46 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 8'15
47 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 8'16
48 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL + 8'22
49 Jérôme Pineau EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
50 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 8'38
51 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8'43
52 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'45
53 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8'52
54 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'59
55 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 9'03
56 Matteo Carrara BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 9'05
57 Rémi Pauriol CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'08
58 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 9'12
59 Domenico Pozzovivo BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 9'14
60 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'24
61 Matti Breschel T-MOBILE TEAM + 9'38
62 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'55
63 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'05
64 Mikaël Chérel TEAM CSC + 10'12
65 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM + 10'42
66 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD + 10'59
67 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK + 11'39
68 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 12'07
69 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
70 Bauke Mollema SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 12'23
71 David Moncoutié AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 12'36
72 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER + 12'50
73 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'03
74 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM + 13'05
75 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM + 13'10
76 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
77 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 13'11
78 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 13'35
79 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 13'43
80 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 13'58
81 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 14'02
82 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 14'25
83 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 14'27
84 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 14'44
85 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 14'49
86 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 14'53
87 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 15'02
88 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 15'15
89 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 15'54
90 Christophe Kern T-MOBILE TEAM + 15'59
91 Blaise Sonnery AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 16'19
92 Andrei Kunitski COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 16'39
93 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 17'13
94 Giovanni Chacón CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 17'21
95 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
96 Robert Förster PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 18'10
97 Michael Albasini LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 18'34
98 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK s.t.
99 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 18'35
100 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 18'43
101 Alexis Rodríguez TEAM CSC + 19'06
102 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 19'12
103 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 19'14
104 Bram Schmitz RABOBANK + 19'58
105 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 20'38
106 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS + 20'45
107 Eric Berthou CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 21'04
108 Andy Flickinger BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 21'36
109 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 21'42
110 Laszló Bodrogi BARLOWORLD + 22'19
111 Arnaud Labbe BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 23'05
112 Philipp Walsleben QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 23'30
113 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 23'36
114 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK + 23'43
115 Pieter Riis Andersen TEAM CSC + 23'59
116 Dimitri Champion SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 24'06
117 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24'13
118 Nicolas Jalabert AGRITUBEL + 24'31
119 Jérôme Coppel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 24'35
120 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24'39
121 Yoann Bagot BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 24'56
122 Marc Lotz BARLOWORLD + 25'18
123 Tadej Valjavec UNIBET.COM + 25'21
124 Maxime Bouet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 25'27
125 Gil Suray TEAM CSC + 26'06
126 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 26'52
127 Nicolas Crosbie BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 27'21
128 Mickael Delage FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 27'33
129 Nicolas Fritsch PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 27'53
130 Paul Martens AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 28'18
131 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 28'35
132 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM + 28'53
133 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
134 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 28'54
135 Grischa Niermann PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 29'13
136 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 29'43
137 Renaud Dion LIQUIGAS + 29'50
138 Julien Loubet AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 30'11
139 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 30'28
140 David García Dapena TEAM ASTANA + 30'29
141 Michael Rasmussen CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 30'57
142 Maxime Méderel QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 31'56
143 Libardo Niño PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 32'09
144 Juan Miguel Mercado AGRITUBEL + 32'31
145 Damien Gaudin LIQUIGAS + 33'11
146 Christophe Edaleine CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 34'32
147 Ivan Santaromita QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
148 Manuel Cardoso GEROLSTEINER + 34'57
149 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 35'11
150 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 35'19
151 Serguey Yakovlev TEAM ASTANA + 36'36
152 Juan Carlos López EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 37'47
153 Denis Kudashev UNIBET.COM + 38'04
154 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM + 39'50
155 Steven Tronet AGRITUBEL + 39'54
156 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER + 40'20
157 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 40'46
158 Carl Naïbo AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 42'26
159 Charles Wegelius RABOBANK + 42'52
160 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD + 43'14
161 Alan Suchoparek DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 44'14
162 René Haselbacher TEAM ASTANA + 44'20
163 Javier Mejías SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 44'27
164 Cameron Jennings QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 44'44
165 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 44'55
166 Pierre Drancourt BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 46'18
167 Sébastien Portal CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 47'54
168 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 48'29
169 Bruno Castanheira SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 49'37
170 Charles Guilbert AGRITUBEL + 51'29
171 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle LIQUIGAS + 54'41
172 Christophe Mengin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 54'45
173 Henk Vogels GEROLSTEINER + 55'33
174 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 56'08
175 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 56'26
176 Denis Robin AGRITUBEL + 57'35
177 Jaime Castañeda LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1h00'27
178 Ludovic Auger FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h00'38
179 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1h00'54
180 Markel Irizar EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h00'58
181 Fabrizio Guidi BARLOWORLD + 1h03'40
182 Jonathan Balbuena AGRITUBEL + 1h05'04
183 Maurice Coué TEAM ASTANA + 1h05'37
184 Loic Herbreteau UNIBET.COM + 1h06'33
185 Cyril Lemoine CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h07'57
186 Guennadi Mikhailov TEAM ASTANA + 1h13'08
187 Virgile Hervier BARLOWORLD + 1h13'23
188 Thomas Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 1h23'08
189 Jakob Siim TEAM CSC + 1h33'42
190 Lander Aperribay EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h39'25
191 Kevin Boutal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h59'30
192 Yohann Gené BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 2h00'33
193 Theo Bos LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2h43'58

A banana for you sir. Congrats on a tour, so far, well done.

I wanna know if Evans can do it though. I am dubious of his skills

Yell for Cadel!

*psst* I take bets on Bos pulling out later on

I`m in!

I like the Latern Rouge.

Stage 10

Clearly a mountain stage .. no wait its classed as hilly.


Not that the rating matters to Rigoberto Uran. Ignoring the very early KoM (Contador just relayed to the front so he could at least win something in this race), Uran then got away in the successful break.

40 points on offer for the first big climb, and as the break whittled down to just him, Wegelius, Trampusch, and Valjavec with Astana's Coue struggling, our Colombian crossed over the top first


10 points for the next smaller climb: Check
30 points for the next bigger climb: Check


But that was that, he ran out of energy in the descent, after Wegelius but just before Trampusch and Valjavec


He then picked up another KoM point on the small climb at 156km, shortly before being caught. The GC riders attacked there and Evans reluctantly had to follow, but fortunately the descent blocked the moves so there would be no crazy early move.

As expected, the attacks came on the final tough climb of the day. Kohl led off and Evans was quick to follow - but Dekker and Andy Schleck waited a little while. Having led the pack all day, would their teammates be able to chase everyone down?


Kohl has a gap over Menchov and then Kreuziger and then Evans' group


Andy Schleck, Dekker and also Gesink then made their moves and swept past Evans to join Menchov and Kreuziger in the chase of Kohl.

Evans is with Van den Broeck, Brajkvoic, Rogers, Pereiro, Zubeldia and Gerdemann.

Kohl leads over the top of the climb


While the Dekker/Schleck group trail by around 50 seconds.


Despite a +5 day, Evans has been unable to make an impact and he can only watch as his GC hopes slip away even before the mountains. He follows fellow countryman Rogers down the descent


Kohl isnt going to be caught as the line nears


The Austrian celebrates victory - but not the Yellow jersey


Dekker takes 2nd with teammate Gesink 3rd - Thomas Dekker now takes the leaders jersey, with a small advantage over Andy Schleck


Evans is shattered - if he loses this much on a +5 day, what hope is there? 2'39 down on Kohl, 2'12 down on Dekker's group.


Hagen leads in the next group to take 14th, just ahead of Kirchen and Hushovd. He was completely exhausted by the finish, while the strongest DFL rider (apart from Evans) was Iglinskiy, who is also in this group


1 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA 5h33'10
2 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 27
3 Robert Gesink RABOBANK s.t.
4 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
5 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
6 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'39
8 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
9 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
11 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM s.t.
12 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
13 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
14 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'52
15 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS s.t.
16 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
17 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
21 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
22 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
23 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
24 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
26 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
27 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
28 Matteo Carrara BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
29 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK s.t.
30 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
31 Domenico Pozzovivo BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
32 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
33 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
34 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
35 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
36 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
37 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
38 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
39 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
40 Rémi Pauriol CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
41 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK s.t.
42 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7'31
43 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
44 Dainius Kairelis BARLOWORLD s.t.
45 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
46 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'30
47 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 9'08
48 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
49 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
57 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.


GC
1 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK 40h55'43
2 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 26
3 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 55
4 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'40
6 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'09
7 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'27
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'32
9 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 4'04
10 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'27
11 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 4'48
12 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'58
13 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'00
14 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 5'14
15 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'05
16 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 8'38
17 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS + 8'42
18 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'53
19 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'14
20 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 9'15
Theo Bos, and FDJ riders Mengin and Auger were out of the time limit, so the new lantern rouge is Yohann Gené.

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 199
2 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 171
3 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER 155
4 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL 121
5 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 112

KoM
1 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 149
2 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD 71
3 Charles Wegelius RABOBANK 60
4 Tadej Valjavec UNIBET.COM 56
5 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL 48

no hope for cadel now

That was a hilly stage, so not his element.

How is 77 hill stat and 98 fitness not his element?

Compared to others, it wasn't excactly his terrain.

You forgot the +5 daily form And the fact that the hills were like mountains

Anyway, we'll find out for sure in Stage 11, its the first actual mountain stage. *gulp*

Current 2nd overall Andy Schleck gave an interview after the stage:

So Andy wants to be Frank. Tsk tsk.

Weird interview

Stage 11

Time for the mountains to begin.


Uran is already King of the Mountains and he hopes to keep it that way. He went with the first attack, but Rabobank chased it down. So to compensate, Hagen went in the 2nd break - as surely Rabobank would chase him? Well, they did so reluctantly, since none of the attackers were relaying. It did allow Hagen (now in Green, a suitable DFL colour) to win the first KoM for 10 points though.


Uran wasnt really gaining muich blue back and it wasnt helped by the increase in pace of capturing Popovych who had attacked, so we formed a plan. Hushovd was to beat Hagen at the intermediate sprint...


.. but Uran followed and used the pace to catapult himself into a solo lead


He was later joined by 11 others as they pulled away, the plan had worked!


However Uran was not having such a great day, not fully recovered from Stage 11 it seems, and he was unable to prevent only coming 4th on the first climb


He made up for it on the 2nd one (Col d'Aspin) though - rather than taking his last drink in the descent, he took it early and used the blue bar to guarantee full points on the Aspin


And so to the Tourmalet. 62km still to go and damn, Kreuziger attacks


There goes Kohl, Gerdemann and Andy Schleck is off!

Evans, Pereiro, Menchov and Dekker soon follow the Luxembourg rider.

They cant follow him for long though as he powers up to the breakaway group


Pereiro is solo behind the break/Schleck and ahead of Kohl, Menchov, Kreuziger, Dekker, Rogers and Evans


Andy Schleck rips through the break group and although Uran follows him for a short while, the Colombian is soon out of energy


Its all coming together behind as the break merges with the other attackers


Into the tunnel and Janez Brajkovic puts in a storming attack. Coming out of it he has a minute over Dekker/Evans but is still a minute behind Schleck


But behind Brajkovic its all back together! The break, the attackers and the peleton are back amongst each other. Not ideal, but at least Evans now has some teammates with him.


Schleck soars over the top of the Tourmalet. He leads by 3 and a half minutes!


Its not as if Brajkovic is doing too badly either


The Slovenian holds nearly 2 minutes on 3rd over the top Kreuziger, who made a mini attack for points with Popovych, Menchov and Gesink


16 men are chasing these 4 - including Evans, Contador, Iglinskiy and Millar! Pereiro and Gerdemann are missing though.


Andy Schleck is 'frankly' inbeatable. While his 3'30 gap over Brajkovic is maintained - the Maillot Jaune group are now 6 and a half minutes back!!!


A minute in front of the Dekker/Evans group is Kreuziger


Kreuziger had attacked over the top with Popovych, Menchov and Gesink. But while he is still clear the other 3 have gone off the back!!! Kloden is also dropping back to ask teammate Menchov was on earth he is doing, but theyre gapped now!


As we reach the end of the descent and the start of the climb to Cauteret and the finish, the DFL helpers are starting to feel the pace. First Contador, then Millar and latterly Iglisnkiy.


Zubeldia is also struggling backwards as the group catches Kreuziger


Menchov tries to attack back to the group but to no avail. He will have to drag himself up to Iglinskiy and Zubeldia, although Iglinskiy certainly wont help him. Others who thought they could attack back include Pereiro and Gerdemann.


The Dekker/Evans group drops Di Gregorio and thins to 10. They are unable to make any impact on the 2 minute gap Brajkovic has over them - but Jani is losing time on the stage leader, soon to be race leader and now the likely race winner. Andy Schleck wins the stage!


With around 4km to go (Yes, Schleck was 4km ahead), Dekker and Gomez Marchante try to attack their group but get nowhere. Seeing an opportunity, Evans drinks up and attacks!!


Brajkovic meanwhile will take 2nd place, just under 5 minutes behind Schleck, he did well not to crack


Evans comes in for 3rd, gaining a useful 30 seconds on Dekker, Kohl, Kreuziger and the rest of the group


Menchov loses 3 minutes to Evans (8 and a half to Schleck) as he finishes with Pereiro and Gerdemann. His hopes of even a Top 5 finish are surely over.

Just behind Menchov came Maxim Iglinskiy. Proving himself as the leading helper to Evans, taking the role Contador was supposed to fill, his ride will lift him 20 places in the GC - from 50th to 30th. Well done also to David Millar, who rode brilliantly today - outsprinting Contador at the finish.

1 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 6h00'36
2 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'51
3 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'13
4 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 6'45
5 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK s.t.
6 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA s.t.
7 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 7'00
11 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
12 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 7'07
13 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 7'59
14 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 8'25
15 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
16 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
17 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'49
18 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'21
19 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 10'44
20 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 11'09
21 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 12'37
22 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 12'47
23 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
24 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK s.t.
25 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
26 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
27 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
28 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
29 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
31 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
32 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'21
33 Domenico Pozzovivo BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
34 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC s.t.
35 Tadej Valjavec UNIBET.COM s.t.
36 Michael Rasmussen CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
37 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 13'54
38 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'16
39 David Moncoutié AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 14'23
40 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
41 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
42 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
43 Francis Mourey FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 15'15
44 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
45 Przemyslaw Niemiec TEAM ASTANA + 15'42
46 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
47 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
48 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 16'29
49 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM + 16'48
50 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
51 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
52 Zdenek Stybar AGRITUBEL s.t.
53 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
54 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
55 Pedro Nicacio BARLOWORLD + 17'21
56 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD + 17'31
57 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
58 Dainius Kairelis BARLOWORLD + 17'43
59 Libardo Niño PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 17'59
60 Charles Wegelius RABOBANK s.t.
61 Matteo Carrara BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 18'31
62 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18'39
63 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 18'47
64 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 18'55
65 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 19'51

GC
1 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 46h56'25
2 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 6'39
3 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'42
4 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 7'34
5 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS s.t.
6 Cadel Evans DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'39
7 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 10'46
8 Michael Rogers T-MOBILE TEAM + 11'52
9 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 12'15
10 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 13'07
11 Linus Gerdemann CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 13'19
12 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 13'42
13 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15'53
14 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK + 15'54
15 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 16'33
16 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 16'35
17 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'38
18 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 17'09
19 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 17'31
20 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 21'09
21 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 21'18
22 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 22'26
23 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22'56
24 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 23'15
25 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 23'28
26 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 23'42
27 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 23'56
28 Andreas Klöden LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 24'16
29 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 24'40
30 Maxim Iglinskiy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24'58
34 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 26'57
37 Mikhail Ignatiev DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 27'26

Points
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 203
2 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 177
3 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER 155
4 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL 121
5 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 114

KoM
1 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 197
2 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 82
3 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS 79
4 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL 77
5 Maurice Coué TEAM ASTANA 75

See? It was the hills. Once t comes to mountains Evans is A-OK.

sort of

Andy Can`t loose this, can he?