very close GC

Stage 12

Time for the TT - and Pliuschin's chance to regain some time in the GC


Sebastien Rosseler rode early on and put in a very good time


14th and 12th overall Kvasina and Lloret both rode to strong times


And it was soon time for Pliuschin to ride and he was going well. Predictably, the same could not be said for Anton who was first passed by Zubeldia, and then by Pliuschin


Ricco, Heras, and Sastre are all weaker time trialists and its a great opportunity to gain time today


A strong finish for Pliuschin would take him to 3rd place on the stage


Luis Leon Sanchez rode a storming ride though, winning the stage and extending his race lead.


1 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL 57'45
2 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 11
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 47
4 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'14
5 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 1'18
6 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 1'20
7 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'04
8 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'16
9 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 2'21
10 Jérôme Coppel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'31
11 Sebastian Langeveld GEROLSTEINER + 2'34
12 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 3'02
13 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 3'04
14 Volodymyr Dyudya TEAM MILRAM + 3'10
15 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 3'11
16 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'12
17 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 3'14
18 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'16
19 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'21
20 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 3'30
21 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER + 3'40
22 Alan Suchoparek DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'42
23 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 3'44
24 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'46
25 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 3'49
26 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 3'51
27 Paolo Savoldelli LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'00
28 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 4'01
29 Roberto Heras TEAM ASTANA + 4'09
30 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'10
31 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 4'14
32 Alejandro Ramírez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'19
33 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'27
34 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 4'33
35 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
36 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'34
37 Blaise Sonnery AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 4'35
38 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 4'37
39 Hector Orlando Mesa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'41
40 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'43
41 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'44
42 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 4'47
43 Enrico Franzoï LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'48
44 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'52
45 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 4'53
46 Brett Lancaster TEAM MILRAM s.t.
47 Christian Müller UNIBET.COM + 4'54
48 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'55
49 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 4'57
50 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.


GC
1 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL 42h47'25
2 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 1'42
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'29
4 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 3'46
5 Roberto Heras TEAM ASTANA + 5'17
6 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 5'46
7 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'18
8 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'25
9 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 12'29
10 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 12'32
11 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 13'29
12 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'48
13 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 15'01
14 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17'25
15 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 17'32
16 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 18'45
17 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 19'11
18 David De la Fuente DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 20'22
19 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 20'46
20 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 20'59

Points
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 145
2 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL 125
3 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD 103
4 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM 98
5 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC 84
6 Roberto Heras TEAM ASTANA 79
7 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 74
8 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 72
9 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 52
10 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 48

It's ironic how you put Valverde out of contention and LL Sanchez comes and dominates the Vuelta so far

Edit: Not as ironic seeing how they are not in the same team anymore, but I'll stick by my smartass remark

Well you say that, but LL Sanchez does ride for Discovery Channel

*Ahem* Actually I already had updated my post. Again, they are both spanish so my reamrk's still valid

Hardly

Well, hardly is good enough for me

Stage 13



That hill towards the end provides an opportunity and Pliuschin of course is here to take it, attacking with 3km to go


He pulls out quite a lead!


But here comes the response - from Sastre and LL Sanchez


Pliuschin still leads into the final kilometre, but the Spaniards are closing


The line just doesnt come soon enough for the Moldovan as Sastre takes the lead


Victory for Carlos Sastre! Pliuschin must settle for 3rd, and although not gaining any time where it really matter, on LL Sanchez, he gains on everyone else (bar Sanchez) and is now up to 2nd overall, above of Pereiro.


Igor Anton also managed to gain some time as he took 4th


1 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC 4h34'21
2 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 52
5 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 1'06
6 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
7 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM s.t.
8 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
9 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.
10 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
11 Roberto Heras TEAM ASTANA s.t.
12 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
14 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK s.t.
15 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
16 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM s.t.
18 Hector Orlando Mesa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
19 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
20 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK s.t.
21 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
22 Alejandro Ramírez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
23 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
24 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
25 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
26 Tiago Machado CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
27 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
28 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
29 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
30 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.

GC
1 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL 47h21'46
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'29
3 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 2'48
4 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 3'46
5 Roberto Heras TEAM ASTANA + 6'23
6 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 6'52
7 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'24
8 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'17
9 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 13'35
10 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 13'38
11 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 14'35
12 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15'54
13 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 16'07
14 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 18'31
15 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 18'38
16 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 19'51
17 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 20'17
18 David De la Fuente DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 21'28
19 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 21'52
20 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 22'05

Nice stage there from Pliuschin, a smart attack!

Yeah, great riding

Stage 14

Its a flat stage now and Rafaa Chtioui went into the breakaway


But it was caught, meaning a sprint finish. Bennati leads out Manan and Valverde


But Hushovd wins it.


4th for Manan while Pliuschin decided to join in due to a +5 day, and took 10th.

Stage 15

Another flat stage, another sprint, and Manan is near to the front


They pass through the corner okay but Gianni Meersman rcomes down right infront of his teammate - and Luis Leon Sanchez crashes too!!!


Lets deal with the stage result first, as Van Avermaet takes the lead with Manan on his wheel


Hushovd follows Manan and he will take a 2nd consecutive stage, ahead of JJ Haedo and Van Avermaet. Manan is 5th


But more importantly, Luis Leon Sanchez did crash - and whats this? He isnt moving!!!!




He has quit the race!!! It turns out to be a broken rib, but whatever the injury, it was too much pain to continue, and Pliuschin is back in the race lead!!

1 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 3h37'56
2 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
3 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
4 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
5 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
6 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
7 William Bonnet TEAM MILRAM s.t.
8 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
9 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Robert Förster PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
11 Gustavo Domínguez KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
12 Claudio Corioni AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Theo Bos LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
15 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
16 Ernesto Bertini LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
18 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
19 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
20 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
21 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
22 Bart Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
23 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
24 Matthias Friedemann LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Volodymyr Dyudya TEAM MILRAM s.t.
26 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.
27 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
28 Alan Pérez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
29 Enrico Franzoï LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
30 Nico Eeckhout TEAM CSC s.t.
31 Gert Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
32 Hector Orlando Mesa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
33 Fabrizio Guidi BARLOWORLD s.t.
34 Yao Ju PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
35 Lucio Capozzi BARLOWORLD s.t.
36 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC s.t.
37 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
38 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
39 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC s.t.
40 Retief Beighton TEAM MILRAM s.t.
41 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
42 Joost Posthuma AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
43 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
44 Luca Mazzanti EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
45 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
46 Sébastien Rosseler QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
47 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
48 Daniel Foder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
49 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
50 Francesco Failli TEAM MILRAM s.t.
DNF Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 54h58'51
2 Óscar Pereiro UNIBET.COM + 19
3 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 1'17
4 Roberto Heras TEAM ASTANA + 3'54
5 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 4'23
6 Haimar Zubeldia SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'55
7 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'48
8 Levi Leipheimer RABOBANK + 11'06
9 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 11'09
10 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 12'06
11 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'25
12 Matija Kvasina UNIBET.COM + 13'38
13 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 16'02
14 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 16'09
15 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 17'22
16 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 17'48
17 David De la Fuente DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18'59
18 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 19'23
19 Matthias Ruß GEROLSTEINER + 19'36
20 Mauricio Soler RABOBANK + 20'08

Lucky you

just what you needed

lucky lucky but 19 seconds isn't alot so it will be tight

That is luck

haha you lucky!

you jammy bastard you

great twist to the story even if it s luck

Geraint Thomas was unable to capture the stage win he had been hoping for, managing 5th in Stage 4 and 10th in Stage 6.

Final overall standings:
1 Janek Tombak LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER 21h37'12
2 Fabien Bacquet SKIL - SHIMANO + 5
3 Geoffroy Lequatre DUJA - TAVIRA + 13
4 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Mariusz Wiesiak TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 15
6 Brad Huff NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
7 Pieter Riis Andersen TEAM CSC + 34
8 Pol Bolks SKIL - SHIMANO + 39
9 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 45
10 Christoff Van Heerden TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 51
38 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'00
70 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'51
71 Evan Oliphant DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 13'01
73 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'07
74 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'13
88 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 32'36





Stage 4

A further win for Rojas as Stevic made use of a good day to take 2nd. Hagen ended 9th


1 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE 5h50'16
2 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
4 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
6 Luca Paolini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.

Stage 5

O'Grady caught the other sprinters by surprise to win, Hagen is 12th, Stevic is nowhere


1 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL 5h44'53
2 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
3 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
5 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
6 Luca Paolini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
11 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

Stage 6

With a hilly finish, Uran put in an attack and O'Grady went with him


The gap isnt huge going into the sprint, but Hagen is also up there


Rojas moves into the lead now, past the 2 attackers


Yet another win for the Spaniard, as Hagen comes in 3rd - a great performance with his form fading. Uran fades to 13th.


1 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE 5h22'16
2 Stuart O'Grady DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
5 Fran Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
6 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
7 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
8 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
9 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Luca Paolini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
11 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
12 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
13 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
14 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 Jesús Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.