Yet another win for Contador... If you don't win the Tour with victories in all stages I will be disappointed...

A race which I am honestly not too bothered about. So therefore the stage reports are short.
Team: Perez, Marzoli, Stevic, Stannard, Blythe, Konovalovas, Sulzberger, Pollock

Stage 1

Boonen edged out Chicchi while Stevic got some ProTour points for Serbia by finishing 3rd.


1 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 4h45'13
2 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
3 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
5 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
6 Óscar Freire RABOBANK s.t.
7 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
9 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
10 Leonardo Duque COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.

Stage 2

A hilly stage with a hilly terain from 50km to go onwards. Marzoli attacked from 50km to go and won 3 of the 4 KoM sprints. He was then caught and Konovalovas tried to get away. The Lithuanian couldnt manage it but then Perez made his move and did get away, solo. He went flat out to the line and he wasnt going to get caught!
Perez wins the stage and the race lead, Konovalovas finished 3rd.


1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h55'51
2 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 18
3 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
5 Luca Paolini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Massimilliano Mori LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
8 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD s.t.
9 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
11 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

GC
1 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 9h40'54
2 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 18
3 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 22
4 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 24
5 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

KoM
1 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 21
2 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 10
3 Cândido Barbosa EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 8
4 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM 6
5 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 6

Stage 3
Another stage for the sprinters. Stevic took the wheel of Dean that was supposed to be for Hushovd. The train was Dean > Stevic > Boonen > Hushovd > Farrar.
Stevic led into the final kilometre and was looking strong, it was going to be very very tight between Boonen, Stevic, Hushovd and Farrar in the charge towards the line and Farrar edged out the photo finish. Only just ahead of Hushovd while Stevic took 3rd.


1 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 3h25'47
2 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
3 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
4 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
5 Óscar Freire RABOBANK s.t.
6 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Francesco Chicchi UNIBET.COM s.t.
8 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Juan Pablo Forero PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.

Smoothie is around, he's just working hard at the moment on some other adventures.

Stage 4

The day's tricky climb saw 4 men break clear. Dekker, Menchov, Andy Schleck and Lloret. They maintained their gap and Dekker won the stage to take the race lead.


1 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK 4h13'08
2 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
3 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
4 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM + 1'25
6 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
7 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
8 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
10 Yannick Talabardon SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.

Stage 5

Another mountain stage and it was the same 4 riders who were the best today, this time joined by Botero too. But Menchov was the strongest and the others couldnt catch him as he soloed to a small victory and grab the race lead from his former teammate Dekker.


1 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL 4h57'00
2 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 15
3 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
5 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 1'32
7 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD s.t.
8 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
9 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
10 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
27 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

Stage 6

Thomas Dekker won the Mountain TT to move back into yellow


1 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK 45'35
2 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 29
3 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 33
4 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 50
5 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 59
6 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 1'01
7 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 1'20
8 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'35
9 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'40
10 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
11 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'44
12 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
13 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD + 1'45
14 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD + 1'46
15 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'48

GC
1 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK 23h02'57
2 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 12
3 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 35
4 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'57
5 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'13
6 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'42
7 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 3'53
8 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'12
9 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
10 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'27
11 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'32
12 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
13 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'36
14 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD + 4'38
15 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'40
22 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5'39

Stage 7

Dekker, Schleck and Menchov once again showed their dominance in the mountains as they once again were the strongest. Dekker wins and even gets a gap.


1 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK 3h56'20
2 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 9
3 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
4 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'38
5 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
6 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Sylvester Szmyd BARLOWORLD s.t.
8 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
10 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.

Stage 8
Menchov powered to a solo win that lifts him ahead of Dekker in the GC once again,. while Perez slips down to 11th overall.


1 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL 5h29'29
2 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 1'13
3 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
5 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD s.t.
7 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'44
8 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 3'20
9 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
10 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
11 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
12 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
13 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
15 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA s.t.

GC
1 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL 32h28'51
2 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 52
3 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 1'48
4 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'39
5 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 9'13
6 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 9'18
7 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'06
8 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'35
9 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 10'46
10 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 10'49
11 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'05
12 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 11'29
14 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 11'33
15 Mauricio Ardila RABOBANK + 11'48
21 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 13'38


Stage 9
Fran Perez dropped below Jose Ivan Gutierrez (3rd on the stage) in the GC but moved ahead of Piamonte and Pozzovivvo to finish 10th. Botero took the stage victory as Menchov secured his overall win.


1 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 26'03
2 Michael Schär TEAM ASTANA + 4
3 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 7
4 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10
5 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 12
6 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 20
7 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 21
8 Alexander Kvachuk SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 22
9 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 28
10 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 32
11 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 34
12 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS + 36
13 Benoît Vaugrenard T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 42
15 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 46
38 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'09


GC
1 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL 32h55'26
2 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 32
3 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 1'37
4 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'17
5 Edwin Orozco BARLOWORLD + 9'32
6 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'34
7 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 9'35
8 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 11'04
9 Rémy Di Gregorio DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 11'21
10 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 11'42
11 Thomas Lövkvist TEAM MILRAM + 12'00
12 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'08
13 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER + 12'14
14 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 12'15
15 Julián Rodas TEAM ASTANA + 12'17
16 Freddy Piamonte QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 12'39
17 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC + 12'47
18 Saul Raisin FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 13'28
19 Mauricio Ardila RABOBANK + 13'46
20 Alexis Castro DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 14'10
21 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 14'56
22 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 17'15
23 Wim Van Huffel DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 17'25
24 Yannick Talabardon SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 17'26
25 Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 17'32
26 Philip Deignan DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 17'50
27 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 17'54
28 Peter Velits TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 18'09
29 Kanstantsin Siutsou BARLOWORLD + 18'32
30 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 18'44
31 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC + 19'01
32 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 19'03
33 Stijn Devolder EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 19'16
34 Kevin Seeldraeyers QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 20'32
35 Andrea Pagoto CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 20'54
53 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 40'45
69 Bernard Sulzberger DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 55'23
87 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h06'06
106 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h22'47
127 Ian Stannard DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h40'36
156 Rhys Pollock DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1h59'12
174 Mads Kaggestad CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 2h39'59

top 10
not bad

Mads obviously climbing well
he finished!

Eindhoven TTT

The Catalunya TTT was good preparation for this race which we hope to win.

Team: Aleksandr Pliuschin, Laszlo Bodrogi, David Millar, Chris Hoy, Alberto Contador, Evan Oliphant, Rafaa Chtioui and Mickey Smith (In his ProTour debut).

The team went through the first split in the lead, 14 seconds ahead of CSC


They had passed Wiesenhof as Pliuschin led the team across the line for a whopping 97 second victory




All 8 riders earn 5 ProTour points each for the win, so in his one and only ProTour race of the season, Mickey Smith scores some points, making him seem much better than he really is.

TTT Domination indeed...

Micky Smith gets PT points....oh my god....THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END

now you have to share your TTT tactics! I never win!!

National Championships

These will not only allocate the jerseys but also indicate who is and who isnt in good form ahead of the Tour de France.


In a tight sprint, Janek Tombak of Landbouwkredit succeeded.


Navigators' Ciaran Power keeps hold of his national jersey


Konovalovas was unable to distance himself from Tomas Vaitkus of Discovery Channel who sprinted to win.


The Kazakh jersey stayws with Credit Agricole as it switches from Bazayev to Dmitri Fofonov.


Kirchen could not retain his title as Frank Schleck was victorious.


Maxbo Bianchi made good use of their numbers as Stian Sommerseth won, presumably from a breakaway.


Marcus Ljunqvist of Liquigas is the new Swedish champion.


With 11 entrants to the race, DFL were able to dominate the race to deliver David Millar to the finish line to become the new national champion.

Time Trials



Markus Reich benefited from stronger Germans being either injured, out of form, not having their team in the race, riding in Eindhoven, or riding in the Tour de Suisse as he took a surprise victory.

1. Markus Reich - Wiesenhof
2. Tim Klinger - Gerolsteiner +17
3. Christian Muller - Skil Shimano +27



Marco Velo retained his title as pre-race favourite Quinziato underperformed and the likes of Pinotti, Nibali and Savoldelli being prevented from riding.

1. Marco Velo - Milram
2. Luigi Sestilli - Aurum +17
3. Alessandro Ballan - Lampre +33
27. Ruggero Marzoli - DFL +1'25



21 year old Michael Schar pulled off a huge shock as he defeated Fabian Cancellara.

1. Michael Schar - Astana
2. Fabian Cancellara - CSC +12
3. Rubens Bertogliati - Saunier Duval +36



As expected, Benoit Vaugrenard was able to retain his title.

1. Benoit Vaugrenard - T-Mobile
2. Jerome Coppel - Ag2r +7
3. Jimmy Engoulvent - Credit Agricole +20



A dominant performance from Giro Champ Bernhard Kohl saw him take the win.

1. Bernhard Kohl - Astana
2. Stefan Rucker - ElkHaus +1'12
3. Rupert Probst - Storez Ledecq +1'56



Piotr Mazur only ever does well in this race and that continued as he won today.

1. Piotr Mazur - Saunier Duval
2. Blazej Janiaczyk - Predictor Lotto +29
3. Piotry Przydzial - Designa Kokken +40



First win of the season for Michael Mortensen

1. Michael Mortensen - Liquigas
2. Andre Steensen - CSC +31
3. Alex Rasmussen - Unibet.com +54



With Karpets not riding, Evgeni Petrov had been handed a great opportunity to win and he did not fail. Ignatiev will be disappointed though. Efimkin was saving himself for the road race.

1. Evgeni Petrov - CSC
2. Michail Ignatiev - Tinkoff +12
3. Maxim Belkov - Wiesenhof +51
24. Alex Efimkin - DFL +5'30



A disappointing 4th for reigning champion Popovych as Kvachuk won convincingly.

1. Alexander Kvachuk - Saunier Duval
2. Volodomiyr Dyudya - Milram +2'30
3. Dmytro Grabovskyy - Quick Step +3'25



Hugo Sabido won a tight contest

1. Hugo Sabido - Designa Kokken
2. Pedro Barnabe - CSC +1
3. Jose Martin - Vitoria +3

Spanish TT Championships

Reigning champion Jose Ivan Gutierrez is the favourite today, and he finished 44 seconds ahead of Ruben Plaza.


But Alberto Contador is in good form and looking to build upon 3rd place last year. He is 8 seconds down at the first check, and 8 seconds down at the second check too. But at the finish he is not 8 seconds down - he is 17 seconds up. Contador wins the time trial!


Valverde finished a long way down, he will not be a threat at this years tour.

1 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 1h05'41
2 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 17
3 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 49
4 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'02
5 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'03
6 Sergi Escobar GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 1'07
7 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL + 1'11
8 Carlos Castaño TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 1'21
9 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA + 1'27
10 Héctor Guerra CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'33
11 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK + 1'36
12 Beñat Intxausti GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 1'38
13 Igor Romero ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. + 1'39
14 Isidro Nozal KARPIN GALICIA + 1'49
15 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA + 1'52
16 Javier Aramendía ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. + 1'57
17 Unai Uribarri EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'58
18 Juan José Oroz TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA + 2'12
19 David Blanco RABOBANK + 2'15
20 Feliciano González Albiol ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. + 2'17
21 Josu Agirre ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. + 2'18
22 Eloy Teruel GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS + 2'20
23 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 2'22
24 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'23
25 Santos González KARPIN GALICIA + 2'24
82 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'49
102 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 4'17

Contador finally wins a monthly award, while the award givers show their blatant french nationalism by giving Bauge the young riders award. I dont know how he won a race, since he is in the same mould as Theo Bos.



Rankings Update:

Russian RR Championships - Hilly

With 85km to go Alexander Efimkin attacked as the 3 man breakaway held an 11 minute lead.

Michail Ignatiev countered but was not as strong. I knew I could not let Ignatiev catch Efimkin since there was a Tinkoff rider, Chernetskiy, in the 3 man break.


But Ignatiev did manage to catch Efimkin and just sat in his wheel as Efimkin caught up with the break. With 14km to go, Chernetskiy had been reached and its Efimkin v Tinkoff.


Ignatiev capitalised on the fact that he was now the strongest and rode at a fast tempo, distancing Efimkin


And Ignatiev takes the win


1 Mikhail Ignatiev TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 5h43'40
2 Alexander Efimkin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 38
3 Sergei Ivanov TEAM ASTANA + 2'41
4 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
5 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
6 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Ilya Chernetskiy TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 4'13
8 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Evgeni Popov RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 6'16
10 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
11 Serguei Klimov DYNATEK s.t.
12 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM s.t.
13 Anton Mindlin TEAM KONICA MINOLTA s.t.
14 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
15 Viktor Rapinski NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
16 Ilja Syrtsev UNIBET.COM CONTINENTAL s.t.
17 Yuri Trofimov QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
18 Andrei Klyuev MOSCOW STARS s.t.
19 Denis Kudashev RELAX - GAM s.t.
20 Vladislav Borisov TEAM UNIVERSAL CAFFÉ - ECOPETROL s.t.
21 Dmitri Nikandrov TEAM UNIVERSAL CAFFÉ - ECOPETROL s.t.
22 Pavel Korzh MOSCOW STARS s.t.
23 Ildar Zakirov MOSCOW STARS s.t.
24 Ivan Rovny LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Boris Shpilevski DYNATEK s.t.
26 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
27 Sergei Sherbakov MOSCOW STARS s.t.
28 Vasili Khatuntsev MOSCOW STARS s.t.
29 Valeri Valinin MOSCOW STARS s.t.
30 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
31 Guennadi Mikhailov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
32 Denis Vorontsov MOSCOW STARS + 7'38
33 Alexander Filippov TEAM GLS + 8'50
34 Alexei Bauer AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S + 9'22
35 Ivan Kovalev AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
36 Alexei Schmidt MOSCOW STARS s.t.
37 Roman Maximov MOSCOW STARS s.t.
38 Aslan Kazikhanov VIÑA MAGNA - CROPU + 9'54

Mickey Smith has more points than Anuar Manan

Halle - Ingooigem

Frederik Nolf comfortably won this race in preperation for his last season aim, the Belgian championships.


1 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 4h54'38
2 Gorik Gardeyn UNIBET.COM + 1'34
3 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
4 Geert Omloop JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
5 Nick Ingels PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
6 Marvin Van der Pluijm UNIBET.COM s.t.
7 Kevin Hulsmans QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
8 Vincent Bastaens JARTAZI PROMO FASHION s.t.
9 Frank Høj COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
10 Bert Scheirlinckx LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
11 Steven De Jongh QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
12 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
13 Dmytro Grabovskyy QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Geert Verheyen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Koen Barbé CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
16 Fumiyuki Beppu DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Andy Cappelle LANDBOUWKREDIET - TÖNISSTEINER s.t.
18 Roger Hammond DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
19 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
20 Simone Masciarelli DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.

Belgian Championships

Nolf made his attack with 12km to go. Nuyens, Van Impe and Hermans had already attacked and got a minute and a half, it was a mistake by Nolf to not attack when they did. After a lot of effort, Nolf managed to catch up to Nuyens and Van Impe (Having passed Hermans) just as the sprint was to begin.


Nolf was unable to get past Van Impe though, settling for 2nd


1 Kevin Van Impe RABOBANK 6h23'42
2 Frederik Nolf DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Nick Nuyens COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 28
4 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 49
5 Kenny De Ketele CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
6 Nico Eeckhout CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
7 Iljo Keisse CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
8 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Geert Steurs PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
11 Steven Caethoven CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
12 Olivier Pardini STOREZ LEDECQ MATERIAUX s.t.
13 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Timothy Vangheel FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
15 Gert Dockx PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
17 Jonathan Godfroid STOREZ LEDECQ MATERIAUX s.t.
18 Jurgen Roelandts DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN s.t.
19 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
20 Evert Verbist CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.

Italian Champs



1 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 7h15'08
2 Mirko Celestino TEAM LPR + 2'55
3 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'35
4 Stefano Garzelli ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO + 4'57
5 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
6 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
10 Luca Paolini LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
11 Luca Mazzanti LIQUIGAS s.t.
12 Francesco Bellotti BARLOWORLD s.t.
13 Giuseppe Palumbo ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO s.t.
14 Giorgio Brambilla LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
15 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
16 Paolo Tiralongo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
17 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
18 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Alberto Ongarato LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
20 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t.
21 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
22 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
23 Andrea Masciarelli ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÉ MOKAMBO s.t.
24 Alessandro Cortinovis TEAM MILRAM s.t.
25 Andrea Pagoto CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
26 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
27 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
28 Eddy Ratti AURUM HOTELS - SAPORE DI MARE s.t.
29 Christian Murro TEAM TENAX - MENIKINI s.t.
30 Gabriele Bosisio CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
31 Matteo Bono LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 5'46
32 Davide Malacarne CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
33 Ruggero Marzoli DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
34 Emanuele Sella CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
35 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.


French Champs



1 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX 6h23'19
2 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 36
3 Rémi Pauriol BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 2'27
4 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Benoit Salmon AGRITUBEL s.t.
6 Franck Rénier BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 3'38
7 Yann Huguet COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
8 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
9 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
10 Mathieu Ladagnous FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
11 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
12 Guillaume Levarlet AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Jérôme Pineau AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 Mickael Delage FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
16 Samuel Dumoulin AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
17 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
18 Pierre Rolland CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
19 Nicolas Vogondy AGRITUBEL s.t.
20 David Lelay CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
21 Clément L'Hottelerie SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
22 Romain Feillu AGRITUBEL s.t.
23 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
24 Frederic Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
25 Mickael Buffaz COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
26 Jimmy Engoulvent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
27 Christophe Moreau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
28 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
29 Christophe Le Mével CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
30 Pierrick Fédrigo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
70 Arnaud Coyot DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 6'38


Dutch Champs



1 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM 6h00'19
2 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 1'12
3 Bauke Mollema RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 2'06
4 Robert Gesink RABOBANK + 2'17
5 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'31
6 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
7 Theo Eltink SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Servais Knaven T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
9 Ricardo Van der Velde RABOBANK CONTINENTAL + 3'03
10 Pieter Weening RABOBANK + 3'50
11 Bram Schmitz RABOBANK s.t.
12 Rick Flens RABOBANK s.t.
13 Gerben Löwik RABOBANK s.t.
14 Joost Posthuma RABOBANK s.t.
15 Remmert Wielinga SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
16 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
17 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
18 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 4'28
19 Steven De Jongh QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Stefan Cohnen FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
21 Johnny Hoogerland TEAM LÖWIK MEUBELEN s.t.
22 Tom Veelers COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
23 Addy Engels QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
24 Lars Boom RABOBANK CONTINENTAL s.t.
25 Martijn Maaskant FONDAS P3TRANSFER TEAM s.t.
47 Jens Mouris DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 16'05

Spanish Championships

The route is hilly but perhaps not hilly enough for Contador, he will need to be coming into the finish solo to stand a good chance.

He made his move with Barredo, Rodriguez and Herrerro


With 11km to go he put in his do or die attack


But it failed. Herrerro led off the sprint


And Herrerro won, thats a major success for the Karpin team


1 David Herrero KARPIN GALICIA 5h53'27
2 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
3 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
4 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 46
6 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
7 Eduardo Gonzalo AGRITUBEL + 1'43
8 Alexis Rodríguez FERCASE - ROTA DOS MÓVEIS + 2'30
9 Diego Milán GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS s.t.
10 José Joaquín Rojas CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
11 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
12 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
13 Javier Aramendía ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
14 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
15 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
17 David Blanco RABOBANK s.t.
18 Óscar Freire RABOBANK s.t.
19 Francisco Pacheco BARBOT - HALCÓN s.t.
20 Óscar Sevilla RELAX - GAM s.t.
21 Santos González KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
22 Luis Pérez Romero ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
23 Moisés Dueñas AGRITUBEL s.t.
24 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
25 Paco Lara ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
26 Juan José Oroz TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
27 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
28 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
29 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
30 Alberto Losada CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
31 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
32 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
33 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
34 Luis Pasamontes EXTREMADURA - SPIUK s.t.
35 Beñat Intxausti GRUPO NICOL�S MATEOS s.t.
36 David López DAVITAMON - WIN FOR LIFE - JONG VLAANDEREN s.t.
37 David Bernabéu FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
38 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN GALICIA + 5'38
39 Alberto Martínez AGRITUBEL s.t.
40 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
41 Santi Pérez RELAX - GAM s.t.
42 Iban Mayoz EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
43 Juan Olmo ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
44 Jorge Nogaledo FERCASE - ROTA DOS MÓVEIS s.t.
45 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
46 Rubén Reig KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
47 Juan Miguel Mercado AGRITUBEL s.t.
48 Rodrigo García FUERTEVENTURA - CANARIAS TEAM s.t.
49 Josu Agirre ORBEA - OREKA S.D.A. s.t.
50 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA s.t.

So close with Contador and Nolf

And Efimkin

Im going to wait for the Spanish TT jersey to be made before starting the Tour de France