Stage 6



Its time for Wegelius to continue his KoN challenge - but no sooner has he got in a break of 6, did Bettini (level on pts with Wegelius) attack from the peleton

So Wegelius pushed on, and only a Japanese rider Otsuka could follow as they went towards the 1st climb. There was no banner, but the line was somewhere in the tunnel and Wegelius crossed first.


Bettini was coming though, not ideal so Wegelius kept pushing


Inevitably the Japanese rider pushed in front of Wegelius without the same urgency and when Wegelius had managed to get back in front the damage was done - the gap had dropped from a steady 25 seconds to barely 15, and Bettini would soon bridge over and go and take the pts for the 2nd climb


It was 2nd place for Wegelius on the 2nd and 3rd climbs and soon after he ran out of energy, having put such effort in. Theres still 2 climbs left and so Efimkin got called into action at the front of the peleton to set a fast pace and try to catch Bettini


Bettini did get 1 more before he was caught by the pack


The final climb could have seen some favourites attack, but it was short and those that tried, like Joly and Ballan, couldnt get a gap before the descent

Looking at the profile with 13km to go, Pliuschin saw that there was a couple of kilometres of slightly upward slope before mostly descent into the finish. Now leading the young riders competition, he went for it


He has a gap of around 20 second as he pushes towards the finish


Can he hold on?


Pozzato, Wegmann and former DFLer Iglinskiy lead the sprint of the pack but Pliuschin is going to do it!


1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 5h00'06
2 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
3 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Maxim Iglinskiy CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
5 Alessandro Ballan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
6 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
8 Romain Feillu LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Jesús Del Nero TEAM CSC s.t.
11 Rinaldo Nocentini CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
12 Matteo Carrara BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
13 Marco Marcato PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 John Gadret TEAM ASTANA s.t.
17 Steve Morabito T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
18 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
19 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD s.t.
20 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
47 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
49 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
57 Chris Froome DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
60 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
113 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'03
146 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 13'11
167 Charles Wegelius DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18'57

GC
1 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS 23h10'53
2 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 21
3 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 42
4 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 48
5 Maxim Iglinskiy CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 54
6 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 58
7 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 1'00
8 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'05
9 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'37
10 Alessandro Ballan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 2'09

KoM
1 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 54
2 Charles Wegelius DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 47
3 Rinaldo Nocentini CAISSE D'EPARGNE 41
4 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC 22
5 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS 15

Nice finish by Pliuschin!

Ahh, still the best story on the forum Insane win, considering it's on extreme. Kudos for the great tactics.

Stage 7

Paris-Nice really is mostly hilly this year


Wegelius of course went in the break. And with no Bettini or Nocentini he was free to take the KoM jersey


Good news GC wise for Pliuschin, Lloret crashed early in the stage. He made it back up to the pack but was later dropped


The break was but a distant memory at the hill on 197km as Cunego launched away. Its the first ive seen him all race but he must be doing something right wearing the green jersey that signifies the most consistent non-Pozzato rider right now


Pliuschin was ready and waiting for the final hill up to the climb, with a launch from Efimkin away he went


But the fact that he is not in peak form showed as 4 riders rode past him and also Cunego


Its a battle between Ricco and Pozzato for the stage and jersey. Ricco got the stage, Pozzato keeps the jersey ... for now.


Pliuschin hits red right on the finish line as he takes 5th on the stage


1 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD 5h40'12
2 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 8
3 Alessandro Ballan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
4 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 35
5 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'44
6 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
7 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
8 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
9 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
10 Steve Morabito T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
12 Giovanni Visconti BARLOWORLD s.t.
13 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Vitor Rodrigues T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Jesús Del Nero TEAM CSC s.t.
17 Pierrick Fédrigo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
19 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
20 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
37 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
39 Chris Froome DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
80 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'24
95 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'19
100 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'35
141 Charles Wegelius DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'35

GC
1 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS 28h51'09
2 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD + 11
3 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 1'19
4 Alessandro Ballan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 2'11
5 Maxim Iglinskiy CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 2'34
6 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 2'38
7 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 2'40
8 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'45
9 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'17
10 Chris Horner FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 3'59
11 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'02
12 Sandy Casar CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 4'10
13 Guillaume Levarlet TEAM MILRAM + 4'13
14 Giovanni Visconti BARLOWORLD + 4'16
15 Domenico Pozzovivo BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 4'21
28 Chris Froome DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 7'42
44 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'12

KoM
1 Charles Wegelius DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 70
2 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 54
3 Rinaldo Nocentini CAISSE D'EPARGNE 41
4 Terauchi Otsuka FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 40
5 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC 26

Still the best story on the forum, and nice win by Pliuschin there

Nice one with Pluischin and Wegelius. what are Otsuka's stats?

Has rode for Ceramica Fliminia, Auber 93 and now Francaise des Jeux, no Top 10 results yet


Curiously there is another Terauchi Otsuka in the db with the same age - no team and not as good though

Stage 8

At last in the KoM jersey, Charly Wegelius can pretty much enjoy the day. Not that he takes it too easy, taking the lead at the finish


He has slipped down though by the time Alex Efimkin came to the finish, but the Russian puts DFL back on top for now


16 riders later it is Chris Froome's turn - Efimkin is still there in 2nd, while the Brit takes a provisional 7th.


Now for Pliuschin. He holds the young rider jersey by 45 seconds over Gianni Meersman, with the Belgian now the leader at the finish. But our Moldovan of course secures the jersey, as he takes the lead


It will eventually be 6th on the stage, while he moves up to 8th in the GC - by less than a second!

Those interested in the overall winner of the race now looked to Ricco and Pozzato


11 seconds down on GC, Ricco laid down the mark by going faster than everyone else. Pozzato rode well but not well enough, 21 seconds slower and so Ricco has won Paris-Nice.

1 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD 19'27
2 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 8
3 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 11
4 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 21
5 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
6 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 23
7 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 30
8 Maxim Iglinskiy CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 33
9 Giovanni Visconti BARLOWORLD s.t.
10 Alessandro Ballan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 35
11 Sandy Casar CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 37
12 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 40
13 Óscar Sánchez TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
14 Steve Morabito T-MOBILE TEAM + 47
15 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 49
16 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Przemyslaw Niemiec CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Chris Horner FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 50
19 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 51
20 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
21 Sébastien Rosseler LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 53
22 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 55
23 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
24 Mauricio Soler DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 57
25 Guillaume Levarlet TEAM MILRAM + 58
26 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
27 Chris Froome DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 59
28 Dario Cataldo GEROLSTEINER + 1'01
29 Dimitri Champion SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'02
30 John Gadret TEAM ASTANA + 1'05
61 Charles Wegelius DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'21
66 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'23
93 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'38
106 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'44
112 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'47

GC
1 Riccardo Riccò BARLOWORLD 29h10'47
2 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS + 10
3 Sébastien Joly TEAM CSC + 1'29
4 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM + 2'35
5 Alessandro Ballan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
6 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 2'40
7 Maxim Iglinskiy CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 2'56
8 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'29
9 Jaume Rovira AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
10 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'21
11 Sandy Casar CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 4'36
12 Giovanni Visconti BARLOWORLD + 4'38
13 Chris Horner FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
14 Guillaume Levarlet TEAM MILRAM + 5'00
15 Domenico Pozzovivo BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 5'17
16 Roman Kreuziger LIQUIGAS + 5'48
17 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 6'08
18 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'27
19 �ngel Vicioso PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 6'28
20 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'34
21 Pierrick Fédrigo TEAM MILRAM + 6'38
22 Johan Vansummeren TEAM MILRAM + 6'39
23 John Gadret TEAM ASTANA + 6'47
24 Przemyslaw Niemiec CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 6'49
25 Saul Raisin CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 7'27
26 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 7'34
27 Óscar Sánchez TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 8'06
28 Chris Froome DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'30
29 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER + 9'18
30 Matteo Carrara BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 9'41
43 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'50
82 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 30'11
99 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 40'28
129 Evert Verbist DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h09'22
136 Wes Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h13'57
144 Charles Wegelius DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h19'25

Nice racing in France , but what are Pozzatos stats considering him doing so great even on a moutain TT.

Team: Millar, Wiggins, Swift, Thomas, Blythe, Nolf, Chtioui, Hoffman

Route: No variation in Tirreno once again. Stages to watch are number 3 - flat but a mountain early on that could make it interesting; 4 - the mountain stage of the race; and 6 - a 19km trail. The rest of the other 7 stages are flat.

Last Year: Not much happened, only Nolf and Ignatiev finished for us.

Plans: Only 1 real decisive stage not counting the TT, lets see what Millar can do

Good luck in Tirreno Adriatico!

Stage 1

Bunch sprint was won by Boonen but a lot of DFL struggled with the pace and so only 3 made it in with the peleton

1 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 3h40'39
2 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
3 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Greg Van Avermaet LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Antonio Aldegani QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
26 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
46 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
66 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

Stage 2

Chtioui went in the break but that was caught with Boonen winning again as Geraint Thomas sprints to 11th, Ben Swift 17th


1 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 4h39'01
2 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
3 Manuel Cardoso GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 William Bonnet TEAM MILRAM s.t.
6 Greg Van Avermaet LIQUIGAS s.t.
7 Juan Pablo Forero LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
8 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
9 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Allan Davis CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
11 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
13 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 Stuart O'Grady LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
16 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
18 Daniel Foder QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
19 Luca Mazzanti TEAM MILRAM s.t.
20 Alexis Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.

Stage 3

There was a big climb early on, but theres little to say about it. 15km to go there is an interemediate sprint with a greater interest towards it.

Boonen wins but Millar following wheels takes 3rd


And attack! Is there any better sight ofr an attacker than a green moment on +5 daily form?


Blimey. He has a minutes gap with 6km to go


Boonen can sprint as fast as he likes, the stage is Millars and the race lead too!


1 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 3h35'42
2 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 26
3 Greg Van Avermaet LIQUIGAS s.t.
4 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
5 Allan Davis CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
6 Thor Hushovd T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
7 Heinrich Haussler LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.
9 Juan Pablo Forero LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
11 Christopher Sutton UNIBET.COM s.t.
12 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Gerald Ciolek T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
17 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
18 Mattia Gavazzi TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
19 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

GC
1 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 11h55'11
2 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 5
3 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM + 25
4 Greg Van Avermaet LIQUIGAS + 31
5 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.

Brillinat racing there

Nice win there.

Stage 4



Millar probably wont keep the race lead, but how well he actually does only time will tell.

He wont be following attacks, just keeping pace in the peleton with Blythe being the last line of support as we are onto the summit finish climb


Millar was somewhat fortunate to have Luis Leon Sanchez, Gusev and Sella to set the pace of the group


And the end result was a superb 19th on the stage to limit his fall to 12th overall.


1 Vincenzo Nibali CAISSE D'EPARGNE 5h11'40
2 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
3 Alejandro Valverde LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
4 Samuel Sánchez LIQUIGAS + 1'05
5 Amets Txurruka TEAM ASTANA + 1'23
6 Juanjo Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'01
7 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
9 Igor Antón BARLOWORLD s.t.
10 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 2'18
11 Gabriele Tassinari RABOBANK s.t.
12 Denis Menchov QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'12
13 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
14 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
15 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 3'20
16 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
17 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
18 Blaise Sonnery BARLOWORLD s.t.
19 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Edwin Parra CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 3'48
21 David Blanco CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
22 Juanma Gárate PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'02
23 Tadej Valjavec SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
24 Alberto Losada CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
25 Giorgio Brambilla TEAM ASTANA s.t.
41 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'34
75 Erik Hoffmann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'42

GC
1 Vincenzo Nibali CAISSE D'EPARGNE 17h07'18
2 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 4
3 Alejandro Valverde LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6
4 Samuel Sánchez LIQUIGAS + 1'15
5 Amets Txurruka TEAM ASTANA + 1'33
6 Igor Antón BARLOWORLD + 2'11
7 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
9 Juanjo Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Gabriele Tassinari RABOBANK + 2'28
11 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
12 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'53
13 Emanuele Sella DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'22
14 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
15 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'30

Stage 5

A decent sprint for DFL - Swift 4th, Thomas 7th


1 Greg Van Avermaet LIQUIGAS 3h12'54
2 Tyler Farrar GEROLSTEINER s.t.
3 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
4 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 William Bonnet TEAM MILRAM s.t.
6 Juan Pablo Forero LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Thor Hushovd T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
9 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Ersilio Calogero TEAM MILRAM s.t.

Stage 6

Its a flat 19km ITT today.

Rafaa Chtioui led when he finished but Manuel Quinziato knocked 10 seconds off the time.

Brad Wiggins was hoping for a good time but was dissapooointed to be slower than Quinziato by less than second


Erik Hoffman got a good sight of the day's winner, a storming ride by Cancellara


David Millar rode determinedly, looking to achieve a top 10 placing in the GC. He passed Sella in his efforts as he rode to 3rd place on the stage and 8th in GC


A quick word on the soon-to-be race winner. Nibali held off Di Luca and Valverde and looks set to win his first major stage race


1 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC 22'58
2 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 20
3 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'00
4 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'10
5 Stefan Schumacher AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'14
6 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Manuel Quinziato QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'15
8 Bradley Wiggins DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'16
11 Alexander Khatuntsev BARLOWORLD s.t.
12 Martin Mortensen CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
13 Joost Posthuma TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1'18
14 Vincenzo Nibali CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'19
15 Thomas Lövkvist CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'20
16 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'21
17 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'22
18 Thor Hushovd T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
19 Juanjo Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'23
20 Alejandro Valverde LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'25
21 Kevin De Weert FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
22 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'26
23 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 1'27
24 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'30
25 Nick Nuyens TEAM CSC + 1'36

GC
1 Vincenzo Nibali CAISSE D'EPARGNE 20h44'29
2 Danilo Di Luca T-MOBILE TEAM + 7
3 Alejandro Valverde LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 12
4 José Iván Gutiérrez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'12
5 Samuel Sánchez LIQUIGAS + 1'45
6 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 2'07
7 Juanjo Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'15
8 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'34
9 Amets Txurruka TEAM ASTANA + 2'37
10 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 3'07
11 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'21
12 Gabriele Tassinari RABOBANK s.t.
13 Igor Antón BARLOWORLD + 3'24
14 Vladimir Gusev QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'25
15 Luis León Sánchez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'33

Stage 7

A breakaway of 11 went away on a completely flat stage including DFL's Erik Hoffman and a former DFL rider in Ivan Stevic.

Interestingly, the gap is 5 minutes with 30km to go - surviving is certainly a possibility.

With 16km to go Sylvain Chavanel attacks from the break with Kevin de Weerdt and Erik Hoffman following. Half of the rest made it up, including Stevic, while the other 4 did not.

And so here we are with 4.5km to go:


Hoffman has been left to do the pace and is really going for it with 1.5km to go. The gap to the pack? 40 seconds


Stevic makes his move past Hoffman and as Hoffman makes to follow him the riders are starting to be swamped by the sprinters as Ciolek leads the charge with Forero as they are forced to go all the way to the right of the road to avoid Plaza (Saunier) and Krivtsov (Liquigas)


Stevic clung on to win but Hoffman had to settle for 6th - still its good for the Namibian with it being his first Top 10 in a race other than Langkawi since 2007. Unseen on the picture, Swift also took another Top 10 with 9th.




GC