Looking ahead

It may still be August, but rider availability is thinning down as now many of our Tour riders join the Giro riders on the fatigued out list. Coming up is the Vuelta and we are now able to name the provisional list of X riders, from which the selection of 9 will be made.

Aleksandr Pliuschin, Igor Anton, Rafaa Chtioui, Anuar Manan, Evan Oliphant, Bernard Sulzberger, Ivan Stevic, David de la Fuente, Fran Perez, Saul Raisin, Ignas Konovalovas.

Also in September are some other important races - the Tour de Pologne, Tour of Britain and of course, the Worlds. Rigoberto Uran will lead our team in Poland with Maxim Iglinskiy providing support, while dynamic duo Bradley Wiggins and David Millar have their names right at the top of the startlist for the Tour of Britain. For the worlds? Look out for Uran, Konovalovas and Pliuschin.

Before all that we have the Pre-Vuelta races! Aleksandr Pliuschin leads the team as he targets a Top 5 overall, and we also see if Edvald Boasson Hagen has anything left in the tank. Wiggins, Manan, Uran, Chtioui, De la Fuente and Anton also ride. The rest of the provisionary Vuelta team will ride together in various smaller races, so that they can also build race form and fight amongst themselves for selection,

Stage 1

A short 4km prologue - but the gradient means it is not as simple as going 99% all the way as Rafaa Chtioui was to find out. His time at the check halfway through the course would not be beaten, but his time at the finish was beaten 99 times.

Pliuschin led the way for DFL with a solid Top 10 performance. Wiggins was 22nd


All eyes were on Cancellara but they should instead have been on one of his teammates


Cancellara took 3rd, with Danish CSC rider Martin Mortensen winning

1 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC 6'02
2 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 2
3 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 4
4 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5
5 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6
6 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 8
7 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Laszló Bodrogi BARLOWORLD + 9
9 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER s.t.
10 Bert Roesems LIQUIGAS + 10
11 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 11
13 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
14 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
15 Kevin De Weert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
16 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12
17 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 13
18 Manuel Quinziato QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 14
19 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 15
21 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 16
22 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
23 Jonas Decouttere LIQUIGAS s.t.
24 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18
25 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER s.t.
26 Daniel Becke FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
27 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
28 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
29 Markel Irizar EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
30 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
31 Chris Horner CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
32 Marcel Beima LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 19
33 Damien Gaudin LIQUIGAS s.t.
34 Marc Lotz BARLOWORLD s.t.
35 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.

Making the switch from T-Mobile to join some of his fellow compatriots. No its not Mark Cavendish, but Michael Rogers!


Also joining the team, from Namibia - Erik Hoffman


And in order to support Nolf on the cobbles, Evert Verbist joins the team - taking the role formerly filled by outgoing rider Coyot

Great signing with Rogers

isn t roger getting a bit old

Don't forget its only '10, hes only around 30-31

Maxed out at level 4, with 73 mountain and 70 hill.



As Deadpool mentioned, Rogers only turns 30 in December 2009, so plenty of years left in him

Stage 2

The first hilly stage was a battle of attrition but noone seemed able to get clear until Philippe Gilbert did so


But despite building a 45 second lead, Gilbert could not keep it. Pliuschin is well placed near the front, while Uran, Hagen and Chtioui are also just about keeping up.


So despite all the hills, it will come to a sprint


Hushovd was at the front all the way as he takes the win


With riders ahead of him on the previous day losing time (including Cancellara), Pliuschin is up to 4th overall

1 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 5h34'37
2 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
4 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
5 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
6 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
10 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
11 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
12 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
13 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
14 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS s.t.
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
16 Luca Paolini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
17 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
19 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
20 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
21 Philippe Gilbert RABOBANK s.t.
22 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
23 Matti Breschel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
24 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
25 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
26 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
27 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
28 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
29 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
30 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
31 Kevyn Ista CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
32 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
33 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER s.t.
34 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
35 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
36 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
37 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC s.t.
38 Kenny Van der Schueren RABOBANK s.t.
39 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
40 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
41 Pedro Horrillo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
42 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
43 David Kopp GEROLSTEINER s.t.
44 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
45 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
46 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
47 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
48 Björn Schröder CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
49 Ludovic Turpin AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
50 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
51 Evert Verbist CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
52 Jonas Decouttere LIQUIGAS s.t.
53 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
54 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
55 Chris Horner CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
56 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
57 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'14
58 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
59 Alberto Ongarato LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
60 Christophe Moreau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
61 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
62 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
63 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC s.t.
64 Fumiyuki Beppu DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
65 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
66 Kevin De Weert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
67 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
68 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
69 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
70 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
71 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
72 Thierry Marichal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
73 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
74 Roy Sentjens PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
75 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
76 Yon Bru EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
77 Daniel McConnell T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
78 Kristof De Zutter CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
79 Darren Lill TEAM ASTANA s.t.
80 Jonathan Hivert CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
81 Davide Rebellin TEAM CSC s.t.
82 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
83 David De la Fuente DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
84 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
85 Damien Gaudin LIQUIGAS s.t.

GC
1 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC 5h40'39
2 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5
3 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 6
4 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8
5 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER + 9
7 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 11
8 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
9 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
10 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
11 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12
12 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 13
13 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 15
14 Jonas Decouttere LIQUIGAS + 16
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18

Tough stage

Stage 3

Its a very Fleche Wallone like stage, with 3 climbs up the Mur de Huy, including the one at the finish


With 12km to the finish, on the false flat of the Cote de Ben-Ahin, Devolder puts in a strong attack


The Euskaltel rider gets a gap


And he still leads as we reach the Mur de Huy - Pliuschin attacks!


Rovny and Hagen attempt to follow him


But there is a strong surge from Kim Kirchen


Devolder leads into the final kilometre


But Kirchen is quickly on to him, charging up the climb


Pliuschin is looking a safe 3rd as Kirchen and Devolder battle


Kirchen pulls away at the top and takes victory

Devolder does enough to take the race lead though

Pliuschin takes 3rd and is now 3rd overall


1 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS 5h03'20
2 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 46
4 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'04
5 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 1'23
7 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
8 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC s.t.
9 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 Philippe Gilbert RABOBANK s.t.
11 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
12 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
13 Kenny Van der Schueren RABOBANK s.t.
14 Kevyn Ista CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
15 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
16 Matti Breschel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
17 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
18 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
19 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
20 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
21 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
22 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Davide Rebellin TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
25 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
26 Constantino Zaballa CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
27 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
28 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
29 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
30 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC s.t.
31 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
32 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER s.t.
33 Chris Horner CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
34 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
35 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
36 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
37 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
38 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
39 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD s.t.
40 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
41 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
42 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
43 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
44 Damien Gaudin LIQUIGAS s.t.
45 Björn Schröder CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
46 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
47 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
48 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
49 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
50 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.


GC
1 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 10h44'19
2 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 5
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 34
4 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'03
5 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'07
7 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'08
8 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'11
9 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER + 1'12
10 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 1'14
11 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
12 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
13 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'16
14 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'18
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'21
16 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Chris Horner CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Kevyn Ista CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 1'23
19 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK + 1'25
20 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC s.t.

Stage 4

Onto the flat roads, where the main feature will be the strong headwinds.


The peleton were stretched as they chased down the break, but then kept the pressure going once it was caught, and 11 men built up a minutes gap with 35km to go. Including Mortensen, Hushovd, Cancellara, Arvesen, Maes and Higgerson.


After 5km the group had thinned down to Hushovd, Mortensen and Maes


Then with 17km to go, Hushovd and Mortensen sat up as Maes attacked


Pliuschin and Hagen are towards the front, but Pliuschin is starting to struggle, being on a bad form day there is nothing more he can do yet he is struggling to keep up with the lead peleton of around 45 riders


Hagen supports Pliuschin while with 5km to go, Maes is caught


As you can see, Hagen and Pliuschin have been gapped slightly, but they will not give up


Up front, Greipel celbrates winning the stage


Fortunately for Pliuschin a group of 102 riders was not far being him, and all gaps were swallowed up in the sprint


1 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM 5h01'02
2 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
3 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
4 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Robert Förster PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
7 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC s.t.
12 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
13 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
14 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
15 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
17 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 Philippe Gilbert RABOBANK s.t.
19 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
20 Graeme Brown RABOBANK s.t.
21 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
22 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Kenny Van der Schueren RABOBANK s.t.
24 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
25 Kevin Van Impe RABOBANK s.t.
26 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
27 Markus Eichler UNIBET.COM s.t.
28 Matti Breschel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
29 Guennadi Mikhailov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
30 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
31 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
32 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
33 Paul Voss TEAM ASTANA s.t.
34 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
35 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
65 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
142 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
145 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

GC
1 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 15h45'21
2 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 5
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 34
4 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC + 1'03
5 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'07
7 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'08
8 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'11
9 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER + 1'12
10 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'14
11 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
12 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'16
14 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'18
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'21

Stage 5

More strong winds as the flat roads continue


But 4 survivors of the break are doing very well to stay ahead of the pack: Franzoi, Sentjens, Hayman and Capozzi


They still lead as the sprint begins, and both Sentjens and Hayman are useful sprinters - they cant afford to stay behind Franzoi tho


But that is what they do and with a kilometre to go, Ventoso and Bauge are the first to catch them


Ventoso will win the stage as Gregory Bauge is an incredible 2nd


1 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 3h52'45
2 Gregory Baugé TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
3 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
4 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
5 Mattia Gavazzi TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
6 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
10 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
11 Matti Breschel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
14 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
15 René Haselbacher TEAM ASTANA s.t.
16 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Leonardo Duque CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
18 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
19 Lucio Capozzi BARLOWORLD s.t.
20 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
21 Matthew Hayman RABOBANK s.t.
22 Roy Sentjens PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
23 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
24 Philippe Gilbert RABOBANK s.t.
25 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.

GC
1 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 19h38'06
2 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 5
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 34
4 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'03
5 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'07
7 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'08
8 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'11
9 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER + 1'12
10 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'14
11 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
12 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'18
14 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'21
15 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.




In one of the Warmup races 5 of our other Vuelta hopefuls are riding, the GP Cidade di Vigo, Ivan Stevic used a virtual leadout from Continental leader Romain Feillu to take a victory ahead of former Auber rider Drujon. Its Stevic' first win of the year.


There was further bad news for Feillu as a strong showing in the Tour of Ireland had allowed Slipstream's Stefan Schumacher to take over the lead at the top of the standings.

1 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 3h14'05
2 Mathieu Drujon EXTREMADURA - SPIUK s.t.
3 Elia Armellini CERAMICA FLAMINIA s.t.
4 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
5 Ovidio De la Paz ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.

Nice win by Stevic and I must wish you good luck before the Vuelta!

Thanks



Stage 6

More wind, but this time it is DFL causing the gaps


Wiggins and Chtioui are then able to use the wind to get away


They are in pursuit of Hoste and Van Impe who had used the same trick earlier on


However they couldnt catch up with them - and it was not to matter as they were all caught


Hagen's strong sprinting legs may now have left him, but he is still putting in the effort. 11th today as van Avermaet wins


1 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO 4h51'06
2 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
3 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
4 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
5 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
6 Graeme Brown RABOBANK s.t.
7 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
8 Matthew Hayman RABOBANK s.t.
9 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
11 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Mattia Gavazzi TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
15 Philippe Gilbert RABOBANK s.t.
16 Kevyn Ista CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
17 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
18 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
19 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
20 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.

Stage 7

For once there is not much wind, and an 11 man break beats the pack ... just. Barloworld's Capozzi is the main benefactor


1 Lucio Capozzi BARLOWORLD 3h18'46
2 Matthew Hayman RABOBANK s.t.
3 Olaf Pollack GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Kurt Hovelynck CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
5 Alexandre Usov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
7 Roy Sentjens PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 Marvin Van der Pluijm UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Gil Suray TEAM CSC s.t.
10 Paul Voss TEAM ASTANA s.t.
11 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
12 Enrico Franzoï LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
13 Gregory Baugé TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
14 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
15 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
16 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
17 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
19 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.

GC
1 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 27h47'58
2 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 5
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 34
4 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC + 1'03
5 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'07
7 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'08
8 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'11
9 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER + 1'12
10 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'14
11 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
12 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'15
14 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'18
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'21

Stage 8

Wiggins continues his disappointing season, only managing 20th today


It was more positive news for Rafaa Chtioui though. His ride to 14th place secures him a spot on our Vuelta team!


The stage winner? Fabian Cancellara, by over a minute. He may have lost time on the flat stages but his dominance in the time trials looks ominous ahead of the World champs, to be held in Switzerland.


Starting 3rd overall, the young riders jersey may be secure, but Pliuschin is aiming upwards, taking 8th on the stage


However Sebastien Rosseler but in a strong ride for 2nd, leaping ahead of Pliuschin to 2nd overall


Pliuschin remains 3rd as Kirchen predictably loses time, while Stijn Devolder takes 4th on the stage to secure a hugely important result for Euskaltel - it lifts them up to 18th place, from 20th - meaning Predictor-Lotto join Cofidis in the relegation zone.


1 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC 34'30
2 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'02
3 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'37
4 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'50
5 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER + 1'55
6 Bert Roesems LIQUIGAS + 2'02
7 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 2'04
8 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC + 2'09
10 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'15
11 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 2'17
12 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'19
13 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'25
14 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'29
15 Kevyn Ista CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 2'35
16 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'36
17 Kevin De Weert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'37
18 Manuel Quinziato QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'46
19 Shaun Higgerson FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'49
20 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'50
21 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
22 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
23 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'53
24 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 2'58
25 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC + 3'05

GC
1 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 28h24'18
2 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 30
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 48
4 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 55
5 Dmytro Grabovskyy GEROLSTEINER + 1'17
6 Martin Mortensen TEAM CSC + 1'22
7 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 1'28
8 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'40
9 Kevyn Ista CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 2'08
10 Kim Kirchen LIQUIGAS + 2'11
11 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'15
12 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'18
13 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 2'29
14 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 2'33
15 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC + 2'40
16 Yuri Trofimov COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 2'46
17 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'51
18 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK + 2'52
19 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 2'53
20 Matti Breschel T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'01
21 Chris Horner CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'03
22 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3'06
23 Tom Stamsnijder T-MOBILE TEAM + 3'07
24 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'19
25 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 3'21
26 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'28
27 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
28 Philippe Gilbert RABOBANK + 3'30
29 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'34
30 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'49
31 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'54
32 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 3'58
33 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'03
34 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 4'07
35 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'08

Solid riding all around

Out of the original shortlist, the 9 riders have been chosen

Aleksandr Pliuschin - 9th in Deutschland Tour, 3rd in Eneco Tour recently after an earlier 2nd in Paris-Nice and 5th in last year's Giro. He is the team leader and he is after a podium

Igor Anton - The reigning champion has midjudged his form but still hopes for at least a Top 10.

Anuar Manan - Our sprinter for the race, hoping to survive the hills

Ignas Konovalavas - Building form for the late season classics, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege runner up returns to the Vuelta

Saul Raisin - Having been the 10th man on our Tour squad, Raisin gets his Grand Tour go here.

David de la Fuente and Fran Perez - The Spaniards are our climbing domestiques and where better for them than in their home race?

Rafaa Chtioui - Showed his form in Eneco, he is glad for the opportunity to ride here.

So our final spot - would it be Stevic, Oliphant, or Sulzberger? Despite a recent victory, Stevic was snubbed. Oliphant and Sulzberger are two of just the 5 riders who have been with us all the way, and as Sulzberger has not yet ridden a Grand Tour, we felt the time was right for the Aussie, so he is our 9th rider!

Moving moving on to September - it is worth reflecting on not only August but the past two months as the Monthly Awards have been announce. Edvald Boasson Hagen has been in stunning form and truly deserves his prize and well earnt rest.

Caisse d'Epargne
1. A.Valverde
2. D.Blanco
3. F.Brard
4. H.Guerra
5. T.Machado
6. H.O.Mesa
7. A.Ramírez
8. M.Rasmussen
9. X.Zandio

T-Mobile Team
11. D.Di Luca
12. S.Davis
13. J.Fiedler
14. R.Martins
15. D.McConnell
16. A.Olsen
17. J.Piil
18. G.Steegmans
19. M.Tjallingii

Team CSC
21. J.A.Gómez Marchante
22. R.Alicicco
23. N.Eeckhout
24. J.Haedo
25. N.Nuyens
26. D.Rebellin
27. L.Roberts
28. C.Sastre
29. N.Sörensen

Rabobank
31. M.Soler
32. C.Barredo
33. L.De Visscher
34. J.Flecha
35. M.Hayman
36. L.Leipheimer
37. S.Martínez
38. P.Muto
39. K.Van Impe

DFL - Cyclingnews
41. A.Pliuschin
42. I.Antón
43. R.Chtioui
44. D.De la Fuente
45. I.Konovalovas
46. A.Manan
47. F.Pérez
48. S.Raisin
49. B.Sulzberger

Unibet.com
51. O.Pereiro
52. M.Eichler
53. G.Gardeyn
54. M.Kvasina
55. A.Marti
56. C.Müller
57. I.Pugaci
58. A.Quadranti
59. L.Ten Dam

Team Astana
61. J.Rodas
62. D.Cunego
63. D.García Dapena
64. R.Heras
65. G.Rast
66. S.Sánchez
67. J.Tição
68. P.Voss

Discovery Channel
71. L.L.Sánchez
72. V.Bileka
73. A.Botcharov
74. M.Lloret
75. J.McCartney
76. G.Meersman
77. U.Murn
78. E.Sella
79. A.Suchoparek

Barloworld
81. R.Riccò
82. F.Bellotti
83. D.Caccia
84. L.Capozzi
85. F.Guidi
86. M.Lotz
87. I.López Duque
88. E.Sladkov
89. G.Trampusch

Saunier Duval
91. M.Ortega
92. R.Alarcón
93. R.Belohvosciks
94. T.Eltink
95. K.Gil
96. J.Montaña
97. G.Simoni
98. I.Uribarrena
99. H.Zubeldia

Gerolsteiner
101. M.Fothen
102. T.Fothen
103. T.Hiekmann
104. D.Kopp
105. S.Langeveld
106. A.Moletta
107. M.Ruß
108. R.Scholz
109. J.Segura

Lampre - Fondital
111. M.Marzano
112. D.Bennati
113. T.Bos
114. E.Franzoï
115. M.Friedemann
116. F.Gavazzi
117. P.Horrillo
118. P.Savoldelli
119. G.Stangelj

Team Milram
121. T.Lövkvist
122. R.Beighton
123. J.Benítez
124. W.Bonnet
125. E.Calogero
126. V.Dyudya
127. F.Failli
128. S.Ghisalberti
129. B.Lancaster

AG2R
131. B.Sonnery
132. J.L.Arrieta
133. J.Coppel
134. C.Corioni
135. D.Navas
136. R.Nocentini
137. J.Posthuma
138. W.Routley
139. A.Tonti

Predictor - Lotto
141. A.Vicioso
142. C.Brandt
143. K.De Haes
144. B.Dockx
145. G.Dockx
146. R.Förster
147. Y.Ju
148. G.Steurs
149. G.Van Avermaet

Crédit Agricole
151. P.Rolland
152. A.Bazayev
153. A.Charteau
154. P.Halgand
155. J.Hivert
156. T.Hushovd
157. C.Lemoine
158. R.Pauriol
159. C.Zaballa

Karpin Galicia
161. E.Mosquera
162. U.Artola
163. G.Bravo
164. V.Cabedo
165. G.Domínguez
166. D.Herrero
167. I.Nozal
168. R.Troncoso
169. D.Valyaev

Cofidis
171. S.Zampieri
172. S.Augé
173. F.Høj
174. S.Kleynen

Liquigas
181. L.Bertagnolli
182. L.Balciunas
183. E.Bertini
184. J.Decouttere
185. H.Duclos-Lassalle
186. B.Giling
187. K.Sys
188. M.Timochine
189. A.Vanotti

QuickStep
191. P.Brutt
192. P.Bettini
193. T.Boonen
194. D.Foder
195. A.Proni
196. S.Rosseler
197. L.Scarselli
198. G.Verheyen
199. P.Walsleben

Euskaltel
201. L.Mazzanti
202. B.Albízuri
203. C.E.Alzate
204. O.Fernandez
205. D.Galparsoro
206. J.Herrada
207. M.Irizar
208. A.Pérez
209. G.Verdugo

Française des Jeux
211. S.Higgerson
212. D.Becke
213. K.Boutal
214. T.Gudsell
215. M.Ladagnous
216. J.Lindgren
217. M.Mori

Good luck for the Vuelta. It would be great if Pliuschin could make the podium