Stage 2

Theres 5 different sprint trains today - which one will be the best?

Manan has picked the wheel of Julian Dean, who is behind Takashi Miyazawa, while Ben Swift, who has a great daily form, is behind the SouthAustralia duo of Sanderson and Sulzberger.

Moving into the final kilometre, it is clear that Manan picked the best train, but also that he is struggling. Miyazawa leads from Dean while Swift is in 3rd, Manan is down in 7th.


Miyazawa looks to have it won, but then Julian Dean sneaks past at the finish. Swift follows Miyazawa in much of the final kilometre and takes an amazing 3rd place, while Manan recovers for 4th.


1 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 3h22'02
2 Takashi Miyazawa NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
3 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
6 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
7 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
8 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
9 Lars Croket SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
10 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
11 Nicolas Sanderson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
12 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
14 José Martins VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
15 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.

GC
1 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 5h20'37
2 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
3 Takashi Miyazawa NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 4
4 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
5 Carlos Da Cruz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
6 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6
7 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
8 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 10
9 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
10 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
12 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Nicolas Sanderson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
14 Lars Croket SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
15 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.

Points
1 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 22
2 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 22
3 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 21
4 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 20
5 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 20
6 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 18
7 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC 17
8 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 15
9 Takashi Miyazawa NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 14
10 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 13

Nice podium - but we want to see mountains

Well Stage 3 is classed as hilly, then theres 2 mountain stages and another hilly stage.

Stage 3

Ben Swift chose to go in the breakaway and by winning all 3 intermediate sprints, he has become the new leader of the points classification.


And with 7km to go, the gap is at 2 and a half minutes, it is clear that the break will make it ... but .... Swift has just ran out of energy


The break group splinters further as Laurent rides away from the rest


Meanwhile back in the pack, we move forward to control things and to make sure that we will get the leading positions in the bunch sprint


Laurent wins!


Gardeyn takes 2nd, while Mengin becomes the new race leader


Perez, McCann and Uran take 8th, 9th and 10th


1 Christophe Laurent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 4h04'35
2 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM + 39
3 William Frischkorn TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
4 Miyataka Shimizu NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
5 Christophe Mengin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
6 Nicolas Crosbie BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 59
7 Yukihiro Doi SKIL - SHIMANO + 1'52
8 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
12 Tiaan Kannemeyer TEAM KONICA MINOLTA s.t.
13 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
14 Stef Clement BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
15 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
16 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
17 Anton Mindlin TEAM KONICA MINOLTA s.t.
18 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
19 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Koji Fukushima NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
21 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
22 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM s.t.
23 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
24 Michael Creed TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
25 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM s.t.
72 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

Since he finished in the peleton, Swift is now 3rd overall!

GC
1 Christophe Mengin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 9h26'01
2 Miyataka Shimizu NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
3 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'00
4 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'03
5 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
6 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC + 1'07
7 Takashi Miyazawa NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
8 Carlos Da Cruz FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
9 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 1'09
10 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'13
11 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
12 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
14 Michael Creed TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
15 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
20 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
25 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
60 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'59

Points
1 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 28
2 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 22
3 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 22
4 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 21
5 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 20
6 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 20
7 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 18
8 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC 17
9 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 15
10 Takashi Miyazawa NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 14

Stage 4

We head towards Bukit Fraser, and riders are allocated just 1 bottle for this 120kmish stage.


Its stupid to go in the breakaway, but riders try anyway ~ including Pozzovivvo. Pozzovivvo obviously isnt in form though as he is dropped by FDG's Roy and Nippo's Shimizu before they are all caught.

Fran Perez should get a good result today - his daily form is +5.

We wait for an attack to go and with 14km to go, Sella makes his move


Perez keeps up with him, and just gets a green moment. What horrible timing for him to take his sole drink of the race.


By the time his drink is done, the damage is clear. Sella has a good gap, while noone else has managed to get away


Fortunately, Perez does still have some blue bar and attacks again. He manages to get a small gap and on a relay of 90% starts to pull away from the peleton.


Sella takes the KoM points with Perez not losing any time on him. Noone else has managed to get away from the peleton.


4km later and Perez has managed to reach Sella


Sella seems eager to keep the front position though and Perez is happy to oblige, Sella isnt going to drop him. We reach the final 2km of Bukit Fraser, which is at a 10% gradient and Perez puts the pressure down.


Sella cant responds and completely falls away as Perez powers up the climb with ease


And its a comortable victory for the Spaniard! It seems Sella completely ran out of energy as he lost 2 minutes in the final kilometre.


1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 3h36'24
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 1'57
3 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
4 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
5 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
6 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
7 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
8 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 2'23
9 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
10 Tiaan Kannemeyer TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 2'31
11 Santo Anzà SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
12 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
13 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
15 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
16 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 2'59
17 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM s.t.
18 Iván Velasco SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 3'19
19 Jason Donald TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
20 Laurent Lefèvre SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
21 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM + 3'40
22 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
23 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 4'00
24 Yukihiro Doi SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
25 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 4'13
26 Nicolas Crosbie BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 4'27
27 Anton Mindlin TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 4'35
28 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'03
29 Christian Meier VITÓRIA - ASC + 5'16
30 Björn Papstein TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 5'59

GC
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 13h03'28
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 2'01
3 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 2'03
4 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'07
5 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
6 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
7 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC + 2'33
8 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC + 2'41
9 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
10 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
11 Santo Anzà SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
12 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 3'09
13 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM s.t.
14 Jason Donald TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 3'29
15 Iván Velasco SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
16 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3'50
21 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'13
47 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'39
53 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'20
55 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'36

Points
1 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 28
2 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 22
3 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 22
4 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 22
5 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 21
6 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 20
7 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 20
8 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM 19
9 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 18
10 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC 17

KoM
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 37
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 35
3 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 18
4 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 18
5 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA 16
6 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 10
7 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 9
8 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 9
9 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 6
10 Miyataka Shimizu NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 4

Good win

Very nice win

Smashing win, Turned out to be a good signing eh

He isnt even in a particularly great form (67 pts I think)

Stage 5


An evil stage today. 120km with one bottle was hard yesterday, today the challenge is 150km with one bottle ... and a tougher terrain aswell!

The likes of Swfit, Thomas and Manan all used up half their energy on the early climb alone and it was no surprise when many riders started dropping off as we hit the long stretch of climbs at the end of the stage.


A few riders attack at the first KoM, Perez Cuapio and Kannemeyer get a slight gap. Sella makes a small gap too but Perez wisely chooses not to. Perez takes his drink with 16km to go, in the descent this time and not at an important moment!


Incidentally, for the 2nd day in a row Perez's daily form is +5!

With 9km to go at the foot of the final uphill section, Perez attacks.


Sella makes a feable attempt at following as Perez pulls away with the support of a fellow Spaniard.


And with 3km to go, just 2 riders have any energy left! Perez and Panaria's Baliani, who is catching teammate Sella.


Baliani does catch Sella but runs out of energy soon after.

As soon as he attacked, there was never any doubt that Perez would win the stage, and he does so with ease.


Panaria take a 2-3-4 with Baliani-Sella-Perez Cuapio


A lot of riders lost time today, here are Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas finishing.


1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h25'24
2 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 2'44
3 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 2'56
4 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 4'01
5 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC + 4'38
6 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 4'56
7 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
8 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
9 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
10 Christian Meier VITÓRIA - ASC + 5'39
11 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 5'51
12 Jason Donald TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 6'01
13 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
14 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
15 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 6'26
16 Tiaan Kannemeyer TEAM KONICA MINOLTA s.t.
17 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 7'09
18 Santo Anzà SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 7'38
19 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 8'04
21 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM + 8'32
22 Laurent Lefèvre SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 8'46
23 Björn Papstein TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 9'02
24 Anton Mindlin TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 9'27
25 Yukihiro Doi SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
26 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
27 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
28 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'52
29 Yukiya Arashiro NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 10'56
30 Christophe Laurent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 11'04
31 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 11'16
32 Mattia Turrina SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 11'33
33 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'45
34 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM + 12'16
35 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 12'40
51 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'37
53 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
57 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'47
87 Herman Fouché TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 22'36

GC
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 17h28'52
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 4'57
3 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 5'25
4 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 7'02
5 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 7'03
6 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC + 7'11
7 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC + 7'37
8 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 8'04
9 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 8'08
10 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 8'52
11 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 9'00
12 Jason Donald TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 9'30
13 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'50
14 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 10'12
15 Santo Anzà SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 10'19
16 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 10'49
17 Tiaan Kannemeyer TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 11'50
18 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM + 12'22
19 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'51
20 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 13'37
21 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 14'25
22 Laurent Lefèvre SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 14'58
23 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'35
24 Yukihiro Doi SKIL - SHIMANO + 15'42
25 Anton Mindlin TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 16'19

Points
1 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 28
2 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 27
3 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 24
4 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 24
5 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 22

KoM
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 37
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 36
3 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 26
4 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 22
5 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 18

The only jersey we dont have is best young rider, where Uran is ranked 2nd - 5 minutes behind Kiserlovski

great form of Perez

Stage 6

Classified as hilly but the terrain should lead to a bunch sprint. With a KoM point 2kms in, Perez decides to attack and take the 4 points on offer, extending his lead.


A break goes away but it gets caught as Geraint Thomas takes 2nd behind Dean in the intermediate sprint at 12km to go


The sprint today will only last for 1km and Gadret is well positioned


And Gadret takes the stage! 2nd for Perez extends his lead in the GC to over 5 minutes. Rigoberto Uran withdrew today, theres no point wasting any race points on the final 4 stages here.

1 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 4h05'31
2 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
4 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
5 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
6 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
7 Tiaan Kannemeyer TEAM KONICA MINOLTA s.t.
8 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Cyril Dessel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
10 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
11 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
12 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Christophe Edaleine CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Björn Papstein TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
15 Björn Glasner SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
16 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
17 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM s.t.
18 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
19 Christophe Laurent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
20 Yukiya Arashiro NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.

GC
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 21h34'17
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 5'03
3 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 5'31
4 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 6'58
5 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 7'09
6 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC + 7'13
7 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC + 7'43
8 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 8'10
9 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 8'14
10 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 8'58

Points
1 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 39
2 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 35
3 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 29
4 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 29
5 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 28
6 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 27
7 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 24
8 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 24
9 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 23
10 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 22

KoM
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 42
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 36
3 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 26
4 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 22
5 Ermes Cipollone TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 22

Stage 7

We come down to a bunch sprint. Casper and Dean hit the front first.


But Sanderson moved clear as Manan made his move, Swift is contempt to follow Manan still.


Sanderson wins the stage ahead of Manan, with Swift 3rd. Langkawi is a good race for Sanderson as his only 2 wins in 2007 came here.


1 Nicolas Sanderson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 3h47'09
2 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
6 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
7 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
9 Yukiya Arashiro NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
10 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
11 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
12 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC s.t.
14 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
15 Lars Croket SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
16 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
17 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
18 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
19 Takashi Miyazawa NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
20 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.

Points
1 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 43
2 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 41
3 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 41
4 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 39
5 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 38
6 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 31
7 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 30
8 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 29
9 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 27
10 Nicolas Sanderson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 25

Stage 8

Todays stage will end in an uphill sprint, and now within 2 points of the points jersey lead, Ben Swift had gone with the break again looking to retake his jersey. He takes 2nd, 3rd and 3rd in the sprints.


With no team willing to chase too hard, the break will make it. Swift's daily form is +5, but he struggles to cling on towards the last few kilometres and is forced to lead out.


Dall'Antonia came through from the back to hit the front with 1.5km to go


Dall'Antonia kept up the pressure as Nippo's Inoue fought to find a way through, Swift is going neck-a-neck with Jegou


Panaria get a stage win at last thanks to Dall'Antonia, Inoue is 2nd while Jegou takes 3rd as Swift cracks in the last few metres and gets his 4th red bar


Nocentini, Gadret and Perez led home the peleton


1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 4h28'11
2 Kazuo Inoue NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
3 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
4 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Herman Fouché TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 38
6 Takamitu Tsuji SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
7 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'57
8 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
9 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
11 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
12 Laurent Lefèvre SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
13 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM s.t.
14 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
15 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
16 Cyril Dessel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
17 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
18 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
19 Santo Anzà SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
20 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.

Points
1 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 60
2 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 51
3 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 41
4 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 40
5 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 39
6 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 38
7 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 36
8 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 36
9 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 31
10 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 30

Stage 9

An 8km TT, and todays stage winner started so early that I completely missed him. Its Stef Clement!


David McCann is still showing his early season form as he took 2nd


Ondrej Sosenka was 3rd


1 Stef Clement BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 11'11
2 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9
3 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 11
4 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 16
5 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 19
6 Christophe Edaleine CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 20
7 Koji Fukushima NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 23
8 Jérôme Coppel AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 25
9 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 26
10 Jason Donald TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 28
11 Jenning Huizenga FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 29
12 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 30
13 Christian Meier VITÓRIA - ASC + 32
14 Yukiya Arashiro NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
15 Michael Creed TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
16 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
17 José Martins VITÓRIA - ASC + 33
18 William Frischkorn TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
19 Björn Papstein TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
20 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 35

GC
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 30h04'11
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 5'33
3 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 6'02
4 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 7'20
5 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC + 7'31
6 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 7'49
7 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC + 8'06
8 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 8'26
9 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 8'36
10 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 9'10
22 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'24

Awesome job, i've read all 23 pages

good showing, Swift needs to hold on to that jersey

Stage 10

Its the final stage, and Anuar Manan is desperate for a stage win.

Geraint Thomas went with the break but the presence of 11th overall Perez Cuapio meant the peleton would chase.


But as most of the break got caught, Thomas kept going, giving it his all


And Thomas wins!!!!!


No sorry, he still has 1 lap of 6km to go (Hope I fooled someone )

With 3.5km to go, Thomas' hopes end.


The sprint starts and Manan is very well placed by Van Heerden


They go head to head in the charge to the line


But the damn South African wins, Manan will have to come back next year to net a win in his home country


1 Juan Van Heerden VITÓRIA - ASC 1h31'48
2 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Wes Sulzberger SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
4 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 Nicolas Sanderson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t.
6 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
7 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
8 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
10 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
11 Lars Croket SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
12 Kazuo Inoue NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
13 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
14 Yukiya Arashiro NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA s.t.
15 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
27 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
37 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

GC
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 31h35'59
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 5'33
3 Fortunato Baliani CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 6'02
4 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 7'20
5 Robert Kiserlovski VITÓRIA - ASC + 7'31
6 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 7'49
7 José Carlos Rodrigues VITÓRIA - ASC + 8'06
8 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 8'26
9 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA + 8'36
10 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM + 9'10
11 Erik Hoffmann SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 10'30
12 Santo Anzà SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA + 10'59
13 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 11'11
14 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 11'42
15 Tiaan Kannemeyer TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 12'22
16 Jason Donald TEAM SLIPSTREAM + 12'39
17 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM + 12'52
18 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 13'33
19 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 14'16
20 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 14'47
21 Laurent Lefèvre SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS + 15'15
22 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'24
23 Anton Mindlin TEAM KONICA MINOLTA + 16'44
24 Björn Papstein TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 18'07
25 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 18'38
32 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24'44
51 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 28'10
54 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 29'53

Points
1 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 60
2 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE 51
3 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 43
4 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 42
5 Taha Yusri TEAM SLIPSTREAM 41
6 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 40
7 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 39
8 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 38
9 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 36
10 Rony Martias BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 30

KoM
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 42
2 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 36
3 Julián Sánchez Pimienta NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 26
4 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE 22
5 Ermes Cipollone TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 22
6 Mattia Turrina SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA 20
7 Ricardo Serrano TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 18
8 Walter Pedraza SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI - SELLE ITALIA 16
9 Tanel Kangert TEAM KONICA MINOLTA 12
10 Miyataka Shimizu NIPPO - MEITAN HONPO - ASADA 11

Smashing Results well done SN

Unlucky with Manan on that last stage, but what a Tour