Stage 5

The lead up to the sprint could not have gone much better! Bennati leadsManan, Napolitano and Thomas. Lorenzetto is the Milram rider looking to get across.


But as the pack hit that corner, Marzoli lost control taking himself, Nolf and Efimkin down.


Lots of other people followed them onto the deck, including the likes of Di Luca and Brajkovic


Up front, Bennati is still looking strong with 1km to go


But he stops sprinting, leaving Manan in the lead, just ahead of Napolitano


Napolitano had the strength to come through for his 2nd stage win though, a great 2nd place for Manan and 4th for Thomas.


Pietropolli, Nibali, Russ and Mourey abandoned due to injuries from the crash, while Julian Dean finished outside the time limit.

1 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 4h29'23
2 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
4 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
6 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
7 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
8 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
9 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
10 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
11 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
12 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
13 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
15 Stefan Radochla TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
16 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
17 Alberto Loddo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
19 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
21 André Schulze TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
22 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA s.t.
23 Fabio Baldato COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
24 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
25 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
26 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
27 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
28 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
29 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
30 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
31 Sébastien Hinault CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
32 Paolo Fornaciari LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
33 Jimmy Engoulvent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
34 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
35 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
36 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
37 Henk Vogels GEROLSTEINER s.t.
38 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM s.t.
39 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
40 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
41 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
42 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
43 Antonio Aldegani QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
44 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
45 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
46 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
47 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
48 Wilfried Cretskens QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
49 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
50 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

GC
1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 17h21'25
2 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1
3 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 2
5 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3
6 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 4
7 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 5
8 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6
9 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 7
11 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 8
12 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 9
13 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
14 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11
15 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
16 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 12
17 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
18 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 14
19 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 15
20 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 16

Points
1 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 53
2 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 51
3 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL 50
4 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM 45
5 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 45
6 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 39
7 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO 36
8 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 35
9 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 35
10 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 29

nice work

You need to get Geraint in a break at some flat stage, it could be awesome to see him win

And good job with Manan

Stage 6

Having not featured in any breakaway so far in the Giro, Nolf went in the break

But they were caught a long way from the finish.

Marzoli does have an injured symbol by his name after the crash yesterday, but showed no ill effects. This cant be said for many others, and to the dismay of Discovery Channel, Janez Brajkovic could not stay with the peleton. 7 of his 8 teammates dropped back to join him in losing time, only Tom Danielson had some common sense.


Jaroslav Popovych and Maxime Monfort also struggled


Geraint Thomas was not feeling up for the sprint today so only Manan got in position. It seems Lampre are alternating which sprinter will lead stage by stage, after Napolitano won yesterdays, its Bennati's turn today. Manan is in front of Bennati and behind Napolitano


But Petacchi is on fire today, so much so that the force of him accelerating past Sebastien Chavanel was enough to knock the frenchman over


Petacchi quickly brought himself up to the Lampre duo


Easy victory for Petacchi and Davis completes a Milram 1-2. Manan fades to 11th.


Unfortunately, this means the end of Pliuschin's spell in the Maglia rosa. The time bonuses are enough for Petacchi to grab the jersey. It was Petacchi's last opportunity too, the next stage is the first mountains stage.

Julian Mazet finished outside of the time limit today.

1 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM 6h07'44
2 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
3 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
4 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
5 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
6 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
7 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
9 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
10 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
11 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
13 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
14 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
15 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
16 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
17 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
18 Alberto Loddo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
19 Fabrizio Guidi BARLOWORLD s.t.
20 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
21 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
22 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
23 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
24 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
26 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
27 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
28 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
29 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
30 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
31 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
32 Wim De Vocht PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
33 Maxime Bouet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
34 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
35 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
36 Henk Vogels GEROLSTEINER s.t.
37 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
38 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
39 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
40 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
41 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
42 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA s.t.
43 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
44 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t.
45 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM s.t.
46 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
47 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
48 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM s.t.
49 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
50 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.

GC
1 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM 23h29'05
2 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4
3 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 5
4 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 6
5 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 7
6 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 8
7 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 9
8 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 10
9 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
10 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 11
11 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 13
12 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15
13 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK s.t.
14 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM + 16
15 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 18
17 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 20
18 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
19 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
20 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 22
21 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
22 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
23 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
24 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 23
25 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
26 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 25
27 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 26
28 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER + 27
29 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
30 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM + 28
31 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
32 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 29
33 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
34 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
35 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 30

Points
1 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM 70
2 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL 67
3 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL 66
4 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 59
5 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 49
6 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 44
7 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM 40
8 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 39
9 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO 38
10 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 35
11 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 34
12 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 34

KoM
1 Antxon Luengo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 5
2 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 3
3 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM 3
4 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 3
5 Ivan De Nobile TEAM CSC 3
6 Thorwald Veneberg RABOBANK 3
7 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL 3
8 Raivis Belohvosciks SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 3
9 Pieter Weening RABOBANK 2
10 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 2

Stage 7

Let the real Giro begin!


The Blockhaus climb is one of the toughest on this years route, falter here and your overall victory chances may already be gone.

When we reached the climb, Di Luca attacked early on in it - this was not going to be an easy climb.


Unsurprisingly, it was Valverde who emerged as the strongest


And Bernhard Kohl brought himself and Pliuschin up to Valverde's chase group, containing Ricco, Di Luca, Pellizotti, Txurruka, Vandenbroeck, and Zubeldia.


But after just 3 more kms, Di Luca and Sella were dropped, with Pliuschin quickly following. The 3 link up with Pliuschin just looking to cling on - going 10km more up a tough climb with 3 red bars is going to be hard.


Valverde is simply pulling away up front, while Zubeldia loses contact with the chase group.


A couple of kilometres further down we see Sella, Di Luca and Pliuschin get caught by the remnants of the peleton. Uran, Perez, Efimkin, and Marzoli are still there to support Pliuschin.


The stage belongs to Valverde, he takes the win and will don the Maglia Rosa. Id be very surprised if he doesnt keep it all the way now.


In the battle for 2nd place, Ricco cracks early on in the final kilometre leaving Pellizotti as the only Italian but he too cracks close to the finish. It is Amets Txurruka who takes a surprise 2nd, infront of Kohl and Vandenbroeck.


It is nearing 9 minutes after Valverde's finish when Cunego leads in the group containing Pliuschin. The young Moldovan did very well to avoid cracking and will have to reconsider his future approach. Attacking with the riders targeting a top 5 GC place does not seem to work.

1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 5h28'37
2 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'46
3 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 3'54
4 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
5 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 4'15
6 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'24
7 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 5'34
8 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 8'41
9 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 8'50
11 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'05
13 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
14 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
15 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
16 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
17 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 9'18
18 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'25
19 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
20 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
21 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
22 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
23 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
24 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 9'59
25 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'22
26 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 11'07
27 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 11'39
28 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'47
29 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 12'00
30 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 12'31
31 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
32 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 13'50
33 Dario Cataldo T-MOBILE TEAM + 13'58
34 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
35 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD s.t.
36 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
37 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
38 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD s.t.
39 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
40 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD s.t.
41 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
42 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 14'39
43 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS s.t.
44 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
45 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
46 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
47 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 14'59
48 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
49 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
50 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
51 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 15'18
52 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS + 15'50
53 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK + 16'13
54 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
55 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
56 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
57 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 17'15
58 Dimitri Fofonov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 17'24
59 Ivan Santaromita QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 18'04
60 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM + 19'40
61 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM + 20'16
62 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
63 Christophe Brandt PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 20'28
64 Antonio García González SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
65 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
66 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
67 Pedro Barnabé TEAM CSC s.t.
68 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
69 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
70 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
71 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 21'00
72 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 21'12
73 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 21'32
74 Evgeni Sladkov BARLOWORLD + 21'44
75 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 21'56
76 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 22'28
77 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 22'36
78 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 22'56
79 Michele Scotto d'Abusco CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
80 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM + 23'08
81 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 23'20
82 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK + 23'36
83 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM + 23'56
84 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
85 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 24'08
86 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS + 24'16
87 Thorwald Veneberg RABOBANK s.t.
88 Bram Schmitz RABOBANK s.t.
89 Pietro Caucchioli COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
90 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
91 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t.
92 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
93 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
94 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
95 Antonio Quadranti UNIBET.COM s.t.
96 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
97 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
98 Philip Deignan DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
99 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 25'04
100 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
130 Taylor Phinney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 27'48
131 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
132 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 27'59
148 Anuar Manan DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 28'16
187 Indalecio López Duque BARLOWORLD + 38'10
188 Thomas Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 38'22
189 Mads Kaggestad CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
190 Robert Retschke TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
191 Antxon Luengo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 42'06

GC
1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 28h57'44
2 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 3'55
3 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 4'09
4 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'21
5 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 5'04
6 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'44
7 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 5'45
8 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 9'01
9 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'07
10 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 9'16
11 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'26
12 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'28
13 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 9'31
14 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 9'33
15 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'36
16 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'38
17 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
18 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 9'46
19 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'49
20 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS + 9'59
21 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 10'08
22 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'14
23 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 10'39
24 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'40
25 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 11'27
26 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'12
27 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 12'14
28 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 12'33
29 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 12'36
30 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'58

Valverde leads the Points and KoM competition. Txurruka is the best young rider.

Stage 8



If Im not going to gain time in the high mountains, why not in these hilly classified stages?

Ruggero Marzoli made an attack shortly before the hill, and as we reached it, out sprang Rigoberto Uran. Pliuschin wasnt going to counter but on seeing Di Luca and Pellizotti follow Uran, I thought - why not? So Pliuschin went too!


In the descent of the hill, a group of 6 has formed. Uran, Marzoli, Pliuschin, Danielson, Di Luca and Pellizotti.


Unfortunately, there is another group of riders further ahead. The peleton gave up chasing the break down hard when fully in control, so they will decide who wins.


And Wiesenhof's Anthony Geslin comes from the back of the group to the front to take the stage victory. Important PT points there for Wiesenhof.


Marzoli led the 6 man group in the sprint, and by catching up with 2 dropped breakaway riders, they gained an extra 12 seconds.


In the end, a minute is gained on the peleton - good work as far as I am concerned - but theres more. A crash towards the back of the peleton with 8.5km to go saw Pereiro, Sella, Visconti and Txurruka all down, and with the peleton at full pelt chasing after the Pliuschin/Di Luca group, the crashed riders ended up losing 2 minutes on the peleton (And 3 on Pliuschin, Di Luca and co)!

1 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 3h49'44
2 Jakob Piil T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
3 Matej Jurco TEAM MILRAM s.t.
4 Niels Scheuneman UNIBET.COM s.t.
5 Maxime Bouet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
6 Thorwald Veneberg RABOBANK s.t.
7 Mikaël Chérel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
8 Pedro Barnabé TEAM CSC + 1'38
9 Luca Barla CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
10 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
11 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
13 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
15 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
16 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 2'36
17 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Grégory Rast TEAM ASTANA s.t.
19 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
20 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
22 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
23 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
24 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
25 Allan Davis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
26 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
27 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
28 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
29 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
30 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
31 Henk Vogels GEROLSTEINER s.t.
32 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
33 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
34 Koen De Kort TEAM ASTANA s.t.
35 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
36 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
37 Robbie McEwen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
38 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
39 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
40 Daniele Righi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
41 Geraint Thomas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
42 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
43 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
44 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
45 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
46 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
47 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
48 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
49 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
50 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
51 Dimitri Fofonov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
52 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
53 Christophe Brandt PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
54 Wim De Vocht PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
55 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
56 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
57 Ivan Santaromita QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
58 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
59 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
60 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
61 Dario Cataldo T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
62 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
63 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
64 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
65 Bram Schmitz RABOBANK s.t.
-
-
132 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 4'42
133 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
134 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
135 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
136 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
137 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
138 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
139 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
140 Michele Scotto d'Abusco CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
141 Marc Lotz BARLOWORLD s.t.
142 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
143 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
144 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
145 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD s.t.
146 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
147 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
148 Cyrille Monnerais FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
149 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
150 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
151 Gerhard Trampusch BARLOWORLD s.t.
152 Uros Murn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
153 Fabrizio Guidi BARLOWORLD s.t.
154 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD s.t.
155 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
156 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
157 Diego Caccia BARLOWORLD s.t.
158 Vladimir Bileka DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
159 Bart Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
160 Eduard Vorganov EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
161 Daniele Colli CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
162 Ivan De Nobile TEAM CSC s.t.
163 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
164 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
165 Lilian Jégou FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
166 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
167 Stefan Radochla TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
168 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
169 Ernesto Bertini LIQUIGAS s.t.
170 Filippo Savini CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
171 Sébastien Chavanel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
172 Jimmy Casper UNIBET.COM s.t.
173 Paolo Fornaciari LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
174 Alberto Loddo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
175 Antonio García González SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
176 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
177 Unai Uribarri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
178 Adamo Casisa RABOBANK s.t.
179 Lander Aperribay EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
180 Gwenaël Merville COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
181 Indalecio López Duque BARLOWORLD s.t.
182 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM s.t.
183 Mads Kaggestad CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
184 Fernando Capecchi CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
185 Kasper Klostergaard TEAM CSC s.t.
186 Wilfried Cretskens QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7'12
187 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'28
188 Antxon Luengo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 11'20
189 Johannes Fröhlinger GEROLSTEINER + 12'32
190 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 16'40
Ruben Bongiorno abandoned.

GC
1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 32h50'04
2 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 3'55
3 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 4'06
4 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'21
5 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'44
6 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 5'45
7 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 6'15
8 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'09
9 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 8'35
10 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'40
11 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 9'16
12 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'26
13 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 9'28
14 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 9'31
15 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'36
16 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'42
17 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 9'46
18 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 9'49
19 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS + 9'59
20 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 10'08
21 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'14
22 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'29
23 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 10'39
24 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 11'07
25 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 11'44
26 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 12'12
27 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 12'33
28 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 12'36
29 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'58
30 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 13'57

Nice luck with the crashes SN

Alberto Contador is felling strong and ready to defend his title here in Catalunya. With him comes Igor Anton, another very talented Spanish climber. Laszlo Bodrogi, David Millar, Chris Hoy and Rafaa Chtioui, although not in top form, provide extra firepower for the opening TTT while Edvald Boassoan Hagen is here for the couple of sprint stages and Dan Lloyd will look for a couple of breakaways, like his succesful one in Alcobendas. Anything less than an overall win for Contador will be disappointing (Even if his form is limited at no more than 80 fitness in order to gain no fatigue).

Stage 1

With the advantage of being the penultimate team to start, we know who the teams to beat are. T-Mobile and Discovery Channel have the joint lead time at the first checkpoint.


And DFL check in a long way down, 43 seconds back. A change of plan is needed and we switch from 90% to 99% as the riders went flat out to the finish.

With no time to waste on who should finish first, it was Bodrogi to cross the line first and although only he, Millar and Contador had any green left, we had done enough! Overturning a 43 second deficit and turning it into an end result of a 10 second victory.


We also have anoter mini-achievement in that Igor Anton only lost 9 seconds on the rest of the team. With 59 TT, time trials are often his weakness but he just stuck to the back of our team throughout the course and it worked.

1 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 35'50
2 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 3
7 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9
8 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM + 10
9 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
11 Michael Barry T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
13 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Rick Flens RABOBANK + 17
15 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
16 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
17 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK s.t.
18 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
19 Marko Ullmann T-MOBILE TEAM + 18
20 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 20
21 Dmytro Grabovskyy QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
22 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Alan Suchoparek DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
24 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
25 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
26 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
27 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
28 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
29 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
30 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
31 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 21
32 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 22
33 Dominique Cornu PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
34 Marcel Sieberg PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
35 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
36 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
37 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 23
38 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
39 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 24
40 Błażej Janiaczyk PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 25
41 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 28
42 Trent Lowe DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
43 David Blanco RABOBANK + 29
44 Serafín Martínez RABOBANK s.t.
45 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 30
46 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
47 Volodymyr Dyudya TEAM MILRAM s.t.
48 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
49 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM s.t.
50 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
51 Eric Baumann T-MOBILE TEAM + 32
52 Hans Dekkers PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 33
53 Alexandre Pichot QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 34
54 Steffen Wesemann TEAM MILRAM s.t.
55 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 35
56 Rubens Bertogliati SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
57 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
58 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
59 Yannick Talabardon SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
60 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 36
61 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA s.t.
62 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA s.t.
63 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA s.t.
64 Benoît Joachim TEAM ASTANA s.t.
65 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 38
66 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC s.t.
67 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
68 Iñigo Cuesta TEAM CSC s.t.
69 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
70 Angel 'Litu' Gómez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
71 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 40
72 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
73 Kevin De Weert COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
74 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
75 Yann Huguet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
76 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
77 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 41
78 Darren Lill TEAM ASTANA s.t.
79 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 45
80 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
81 Christophe Edaleine CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
82 Sören Hofmann CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
83 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
84 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
85 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM + 46
86 Gil Suray TEAM CSC s.t.
87 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 48
88 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 49
89 Jenning Huizenga FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
90 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
91 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
92 Fabien Patanchon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
93 Christophe Rinero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
94 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 52
95 René Haselbacher TEAM ASTANA s.t.
96 Daniel McConnell TEAM CSC s.t.
97 Ondrej Sosenka UNIBET.COM + 53
98 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM s.t.
99 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
100 Alexandr Dyachenko UNIBET.COM s.t.
101 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
102 Igor Pugaci UNIBET.COM s.t.
103 Ludovic Auger FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 54
104 Jonathan Hivert CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 55
105 Javier Mejías SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 57
106 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 58
107 Stefan Schaefer TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
108 Markus Reich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
109 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
110 Eric Berthou CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
111 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
112 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
113 Alexeï Markov CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
114 David García Dapena TEAM ASTANA s.t.
115 Martin Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
116 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
117 Christian Leben TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
118 Benoit Poilvet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 59
119 Thierry Marichal FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1'00
120 Gregory Baugé TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
121 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1'01
122 Marvin Van der Pluijm UNIBET.COM s.t.
123 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER + 1'04
124 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
125 Tom Stamsnijder GEROLSTEINER s.t.
126 Tim Klinger GEROLSTEINER s.t.
127 Maarten Wynants GEROLSTEINER s.t.
128 Robert Wagner TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
129 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'05
130 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
131 Massimilliano Mori LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
132 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
133 Pedro Horrillo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
134 Giorgio Brambilla LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
135 Rafael Valls CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'06
136 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
137 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM s.t.
138 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'09
139 Malcolm Lange UNIBET.COM + 1'10
140 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'14
141 Volker Ordowski GEROLSTEINER + 1'16
142 Manuel Quinziato LIQUIGAS + 1'17
143 Mikhail Timochine LIQUIGAS s.t.
144 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
145 Aleksandr Kuschynski LIQUIGAS s.t.
146 Staf Scheirlinckx LIQUIGAS s.t.
147 Matteo Bono LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
148 David Herrero KARPIN GALICIA + 1'19
149 Rubén Reig KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
150 Santos González KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
151 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
152 Gustavo Domínguez KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
153 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER + 1'20
154 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'21
155 Markel Irizar EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
156 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
157 Iñaki Isasi EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
158 Kevin Neirynck LIQUIGAS s.t.
159 Iban Iriondo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
160 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 1'24
161 Juan Mourón KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
162 Mikel Artetxe EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'26
163 Alessandro Vanotti LIQUIGAS + 1'27
164 Carlo Westphal GEROLSTEINER + 1'28
165 Iban Mayoz EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'29
166 Garikoitz Bravo KARPIN GALICIA + 1'30
167 Beñat Albízuri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'33
168 Gaizka Lasa KARPIN GALICIA + 1'34
169 Arnold Alcolea ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 1'52
170 Juan Olmo ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
171 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
172 Giovanny Báez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
173 Claudio José Casas ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
174 Juan Carlos Cariñena ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 1'57
175 Manuel Vázquez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 2'01
176 Albert Torres ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 2'04

Very nice work in 2 countries - although Valverde is a bit annoying

Meh, if I had to choose which Grand Tour I'd most like Valverde to dominate in, it would be the Giro, so I dont really mind it

Good results. Who is the American TT champ.

Hincapie

[img][/img]

Stage 9



Wegelius led over the toughest climb of the day with Cuacchioli, Medina and Azevedo.


They would not make it to the finish though. Valverde and Ricco were the strongest attackers on the final hill.


And Valverde took the stage


Pliuschin and Uran were with Pellizotti, Cunego, Kohl and Napolitano in the lead chase group, and Napolitano took 3rd. But there were no time gaps between this group and the peleton.


1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 4h29'28
2 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 59
4 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
6 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
7 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA s.t.
8 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
11 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
12 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
14 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
15 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
16 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
18 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
19 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
20 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
21 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK s.t.
22 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
23 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
24 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
25 Dioni Galparsoro EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
26 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
27 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
28 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
29 Dimitri Fofonov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
30 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
31 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
32 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
33 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC s.t.
34 Paolo Bossoni LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
35 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
36 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
37 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
38 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
39 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
40 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
41 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
42 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
43 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
44 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
45 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
46 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
47 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD s.t.
48 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
49 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
50 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.

Stage 10


Attacks came on the final climb of the day, but only Bernhard Kohl got clear. He held a 1 minute lead after the climbs descent


And the Austrian kept ahead for the rest of the stage to take the win


Marzoli paid attention well in the battle for 2nd and was right at the front when the likes of Valverde were further back. Cunego came out of Marzoli's wheel to make it an Astana 1-2 but Marzoli took 3rd place and his first PT points of the season.


1 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA 4h16'11
2 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 1'19
3 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
6 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM s.t.
8 Mauricio Ortega SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
9 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
10 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
11 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
12 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Pietro Caucchioli COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
14 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
15 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC s.t.
16 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
17 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
18 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
20 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
21 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
22 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
23 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK s.t.
25 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
26 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
27 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
28 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
29 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS s.t.
30 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
31 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
32 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
33 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
34 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
35 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA + 2'31
36 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
37 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
38 Philip Deignan DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
39 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
40 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
41 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
42 Xavier Zandio CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
43 Maxime Monfort COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
44 Massimiliano Gentili QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
45 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
46 Assan Bazayev CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 4'05
47 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
48 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
49 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
50 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.


GC
1 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 41h36'42
2 Bernhard Kohl TEAM ASTANA + 3'35
3 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 5'25
4 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 5'40
5 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'52
6 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 7'04
7 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'34
8 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'28
9 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 9'54
10 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'59
11 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA + 10'23
12 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'45
13 Paolo Savoldelli EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 10'47
14 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS + 10'50
15 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 10'53
16 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'55
17 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 11'05
18 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 11'08
19 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS + 11'18
20 Manuel Medina SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 11'33
21 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 11'48
22 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 11'58
23 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 12'26
24 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'39
25 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 13'03
26 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 13'31
27 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 13'52
28 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 15'16
29 Hernán Buenahora QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 15'29
30 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 15'39
31 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 16'08
32 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 16'33
33 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 16'41
34 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA + 17'25
35 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 17'26

Jay-Z in second, that is awesome

Danilo Napolitano podiums on a mountain stage

wtf?

It was classified as hilly and the sprint was 3km long

Stage 2

Bodrogi is the race leader, and Chtioui the best young rider they definately won't be keeping the jerseys, but the jerseys should instead be held by Contador.


And as expected, when we come to the climb, Bodrogi is in difficulty.


Dekker began the attacks with 17km to the summit and 31km to the finish.


Contador was clearly the strongest


The group of attackers behind got caught again by the peleton but Contador held a 2 minute gap buy the summit


The descent splits the group behind, with Anton, Hagen and Millar all making the cut.


Its a clear victory for Contador though


Hagen should have took 2nd in the sprint, but was poorly positioned and had to settle for 5th behind Perez Arrieta, Kirchen and Rodriguez despite clearly finishing ahead of Rodriguez.


1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h54'11
2 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'52
3 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
6 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
7 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
8 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
9 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
11 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
12 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
13 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
14 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
15 David Herrero KARPIN GALICIA + 2'49
16 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
17 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
18 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
19 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
20 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
21 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
22 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
23 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
24 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
25 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
26 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 4'00
27 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
28 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
29 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
30 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
31 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
32 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM s.t.
33 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
34 Gustavo Domínguez KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
35 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
36 David Blanco RABOBANK s.t.
37 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
38 Yann Huguet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
39 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
40 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
41 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM s.t.
42 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC s.t.
43 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
44 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
45 Yannick Talabardon SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
46 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
47 Santos González KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
48 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA s.t.
49 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA s.t.
50 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.


Stage 3

Contador leads in all 4 competitions, with any luck, hell be able to keep them.


Ezequel Mosquera, last years runner-up, went off in search of Mountain points today.


But he was caught by the penultimate climb though, as Barredo and Gomez Marchante kicked off the attacks.


Contador was again the strongest, but Barredo somehow managed to keep with him.


Contador took the KoM points and almost as soon as the final climb began, Barredo was dropped.


He fell back to a chasing duo of Gomez Marchante and Gil.
Casar, Rodriguez, Anton, Kirchen, Rovira and Menchov are a minute further back.


As they move up the climb, Barredo falls away completely while Menchov and Kirchen are also distanced from Anton's group. With 5km to the top, Anton makes a move as the group caught Gil (Who had been dropped by Gomez Marchante)


While all this action happened behind Contador, Alberto eased to a simple victoy.


Gomez Marchante just managed to limit his loss to under 5 minutes finishing 2nd, with Anton finishing 3rd, a minute later.


Contador retains his lead in all 4 competitions.

1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 5h31'45
2 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 4'46
3 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'49
4 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 6'10
5 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
6 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 7'38
9 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 8'49
10 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
11 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
12 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
13 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
14 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
15 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
16 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
18 Giovanny Báez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
19 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
20 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
21 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
22 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
23 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
24 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
25 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 11'05
26 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 11'16
27 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 11'34
28 David Blanco RABOBANK + 11'42
29 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 11'51
30 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 12'13
31 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 12'47
32 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 12'55
33 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
34 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 13'22
35 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
36 Iban Mayoz EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 13'40
37 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
38 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 14'17
39 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM s.t.
40 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
41 Alessandro Vanotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
42 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 15'11
43 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
44 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
45 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15'29
46 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
47 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
48 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
49 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
50 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 15'56


GC
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 11h01'26
2 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 7'32
3 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 8'06
4 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 8'57
5 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 9'11
6 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 9'20
7 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
8 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 9'56
9 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 11'50
10 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 12'01
11 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 12'15
12 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'18
13 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
14 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 12'28
15 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 12'33
16 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 12'34
17 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 12'38
18 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 12'43
19 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 13'29
20 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'33
21 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 13'54
22 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
23 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 14'13
24 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 14'24
25 Giovanny Báez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 15'01
26 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 15'30
27 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 16'00
28 David Blanco RABOBANK + 16'31
29 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 17'38
30 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 17'41
31 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 17'45
32 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 17'46
33 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 18'04
34 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 18'10
35 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 18'22
36 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 18'31
37 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18'55
38 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM + 18'59
39 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM + 19'07
40 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 19'40
41 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 19'44
42 Alessandro Vanotti LIQUIGAS + 20'04
43 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 20'11
44 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 20'17
45 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 20'36
46 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 20'41
47 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 21'10
48 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 21'38
49 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 22'07
50 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 22'22

Points
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 50
2 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE 24
3 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM 24
4 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC 22
5 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE 22
6 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 20
7 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 19
8 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 18
9 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 15
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 13

KoM
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 62
2 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA 51
3 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM 44
4 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC 43
5 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 26
6 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 22
7 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 22
8 Matteo Bono LAMPRE - FONDITAL 21
9 Tim Klinger GEROLSTEINER 18
10 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE 17

Great results

Contador is on fire!

I concur

Stage 4

A mountain TTT - can Contador get a 3rd stage in a row?

Michael Rasmussen showed signs of coming into form, he set a good time today and led for a while


Gomez Marchante beat the Dane by 2 seconds


But no surprises, as despite a poor daily form, Contador is a comfortable victor. The scary thing for his opponents is that he is not at his peak condition yet, thats being saved until July.


1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 29'55
2 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 20
3 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 23
4 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 31
5 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 32
6 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 34
7 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 36
8 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 40
9 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 42
10 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 47
11 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 49
12 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 51
13 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
14 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 52
15 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 54
16 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 55
17 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
18 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 59
19 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
20 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1'01
21 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 1'02
22 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA + 1'04
23 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 1'05
24 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 1'06
25 Giovanny Báez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 1'11
26 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'12
27 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
28 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1'13
29 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'14
30 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'22
31 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'23
32 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
33 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 1'24
34 Santos González KARPIN GALICIA + 1'28
35 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'31
36 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM + 1'35
37 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 1'36
38 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'37
39 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA + 1'38
40 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
41 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM + 1'40
42 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'42
43 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'43
44 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'45
45 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'46
46 Iñigo Cuesta TEAM CSC + 1'48
47 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1'50
48 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 1'51
49 Nicki Sörensen TEAM CSC + 1'56
50 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'57

GC
1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 11h31'11
2 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC + 7'56
3 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 9'03
4 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'38
5 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 10'20
6 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 10'25
7 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 10'31
8 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 10'42
9 Michael Rasmussen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 12'47
10 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 12'57
11 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 13'02
12 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
13 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 13'13
14 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 13'23
15 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 13'33
16 Iván Parra COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 13'43
17 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 13'55
18 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM + 14'14
19 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 14'21
20 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'35
21 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 14'55
22 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 15'17
23 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 15'40
24 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 15'46
25 Giovanny Báez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 16'22
26 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 16'54
27 Arkaitz Durán SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17'56
28 David Blanco RABOBANK + 18'39
29 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 19'00
30 Matthew Lloyd PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
31 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 19'36
32 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 19'44
33 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR + 19'47
34 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 19'51
35 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 20'04
36 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 20'25
37 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 20'43
38 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM + 20'52
39 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM + 21'20
40 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 21'28
41 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 21'44
42 Ricardo Mestre LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 22'09
43 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 22'14
44 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 22'21
45 Alessandro Vanotti LIQUIGAS + 22'33
46 Daniel Lloyd DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 22'43
47 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 22'51
48 Alexandre Botcharov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 23'45
49 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 23'54
50 Stefano Barberi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 24'00