aaah no everyone post

i gotta go in 15 minutes


aaaaaaaaaaah!

Blackmail is a pretty effective way of keeping us posting

i did it!

yay!

Contador isnt even listed amongst the favourites on the screen for some reason, despite Hagen featuring as a 1-Star favourite. But despite a strong field, Im confident that Alberto's awesome form will be enough to complete the Top 5 sponsor goal.

This could be the only race for Contador to wear his ProTour leaders jersey as this may well be his final race of the season.


When Paulinho attacked on the Jaizkibel, Contador and Di Luca immediately countered.


A few others made the move too as they reached the breakaway group


Di Luca, de la Fuente, Paulinho, Valjavec, Devine, Sanchez and Contador


By the descent, it was down to 4 - Sanchez, Valjavec, Di Luca and Contador.


Valjavec was soon dropped though


Behind the leading trio at a minutes gap was Valjavec, Grivko, Paulinho, Kroon, Schleck, Bettini and Valverde on the Gurutze.



But they werent going to close down Sanchez, Contador and di Luca. With 6km to go, Contador took a drink to get some blue bar so he could attack - but Sanchez beat him to it.


Contador got his way back to Sanchez but Di Luca did not.


Samuel Sanchez led the sprint


And ultimately Contador had no chance. Sanchez wins in San Sebastien!


2nd is still a great performance for Contador. Sponsor goal accomplished!

1 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA 5h48'15
2 Alberto Contador DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
3 Danilo Di Luca UNIBET.COM + 43
4 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'17
5 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Karsten Kroon LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 Sergio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
9 Andriy Grivko FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
10 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER + 2'13
11 Fabio Sacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
12 Eros Capecchi LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 David Herrero KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
14 Edvald Boasson Hagen DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
15 José Iván Gutiérrez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Damiano Cunego TEAM ASTANA s.t.
17 Simone Ponzi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 �ngel Vicioso TEAM MILRAM s.t.
19 Juan Olmo ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
20 David Blanco RABOBANK s.t.
21 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
22 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
24 Nikolas Maes RABOBANK s.t.
25 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
26 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
27 David García Dapena TEAM ASTANA s.t.
28 Martin Gilbert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
29 Giovanni Visconti TEAM ASTANA s.t.
30 David Millar DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
31 Manuele Mori FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
32 Joaquim Rodríguez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
33 Josep Jufré PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
34 Yaroslav Popovych TEAM ASTANA s.t.
35 Mickael Buffaz COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
36 Michael Barry T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
37 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
38 Jelle Vanendert TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
39 Steve Morabito TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
40 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER s.t.
41 Jaume Rovira TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
42 Toni Colom TEAM ASTANA s.t.
43 Johan Vansummeren QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
44 André Steensen TEAM CSC s.t.
45 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
46 Linus Gerdemann QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
47 Vladimir Efimkin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
48 Oliver Zaugg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
49 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
50 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC s.t.
51 Pavel Brutt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
52 Óscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
53 Pieter Weening RABOBANK s.t.
54 Juanjo Cobo CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
55 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
56 Carlos Barredo RABOBANK s.t.
57 Denis Menchov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
58 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
59 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC s.t.
60 José Angel Gómez Marchante TEAM CSC s.t.
61 Vladimir Karpets RABOBANK s.t.
62 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
63 Jorge Azanza EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
64 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
65 Rubén Plaza SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
66 Juanma Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
67 Rigoberto Urán DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
68 Ezequiel Mosquera KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
69 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
70 Matija Kvasina PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
71 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
72 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
73 Patxi Vila LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
74 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
75 Mathieu Sprick T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
76 Steve Zampieri COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
77 Igor Antón DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
78 Xavi Tondo TEAM ASTANA s.t.
79 Jorge Ferrio ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
80 Tom Danielson DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
81 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
82 José Rujano DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
83 Sébastien Joly FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
84 Ronny Scholz GEROLSTEINER s.t.
85 Laurens Ten Dam UNIBET.COM s.t.
86 Santiago Botero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
87 José Azevedo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
88 Manuel Lloret DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
89 Matteo Bono LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
90 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t.
91 Ignas Konovalovas DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
92 Fabio Gilioli UNIBET.COM s.t.
93 Roberto Heras DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
94 Torsten Hiekmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
95 Dominique Cornu PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
96 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS s.t.
97 Maxim Belkov TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
98 Haimar Zubeldia RABOBANK + 4'17
99 Iñigo Cuesta TEAM CSC s.t.
100 Jérémy Roy FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
101 Mikel Astarloza QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
102 Iñigo Landaluze EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
103 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
104 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
105 Elia Rigotto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
106 Martin Pedersen UNIBET.COM s.t.
107 Max Van Heeswijk COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
108 Francesco Gavazzi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
109 Marcel Sieberg PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
110 Dani Navarro TEAM ASTANA s.t.
111 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
112 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
113 Sebastian Schwager TEAM MILRAM s.t.
114 Jakob Piil T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
115 Sören Hofmann CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
116 Yon Bru EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
117 Bingen Fernández COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
118 Aitor Pérez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
119 Santiago Ojeda UNIBET.COM s.t.
120 Dimitri Fofonov CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
121 Giampaolo Cheula SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
122 Floren Márquez ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
123 Cédric Vasseur LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
124 Christophe Rinero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
125 Mikaël Chérel FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
126 Óscar García-Casarrubios COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
127 Rafaâ Chtioui DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
128 Pedro Horrillo LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
129 Alexandr Dyachenko UNIBET.COM s.t.
130 David Cañada SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
131 Nico Keinath T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
132 David De la Fuente ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
133 Claudio José Casas ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
134 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
135 Gabriele Tassinari LIQUIGAS s.t.
136 Jussi Veikkanen FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
137 Mathieu Heijboer COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
138 Adam Blythe DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
139 Imanol Erviti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
140 Steven De Jongh QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'09
141 Robert Wagner TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
142 Tim Gudsell FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
143 Frank Høj COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
144 Vicente Reynès CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
145 Carlos Eduardo Alzate EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'05
146 Gonzalo Rabuñal KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
147 Jean-Marc Marino CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'17
148 Johan Lindgren FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8'41
149 Serafín Martínez RABOBANK s.t.
150 Patrick Calcagni LIQUIGAS s.t.
151 Yvan Muratet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
152 Arnold Alcolea ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
153 Antonio Olmo ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
154 Amaël Moinard COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
155 Stefan Radochla TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
156 Garikoitz Bravo KARPIN GALICIA + 9'37
157 Javier Benítez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
158 Joseba Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
159 Markel Irizar EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
160 Michiel Van Aelbroeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
161 Ramón Troncoso KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
162 Luis Fernández Oliveira KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
163 Jakob Fiedler T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
164 Lars Michaelsen LIQUIGAS s.t.
165 Hossein Askari CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
166 Alex Rasmussen UNIBET.COM + 11'21
167 Angelo Furlan UNIBET.COM s.t.
168 Jimmy Engoulvent CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
169 Hans Dekkers PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
170 Manuel Ortega ANDALUC�A - CAJASUR s.t.
171 Volodymyr Dyudya TEAM MILRAM + 12'09
172 Enrique Sanz KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
173 Scott Davis T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
174 Iosu Uribarrena SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
175 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 15'05
176 Iban Iriondo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 15'53

unlucky in the sprint

but still good result

and 50 pages is quite an achievement

oh unlucky, very nice ProTour jersey What do the standings for the ProTour look like now?

you surely extend your lead

Stage 4

Looking for a 4th win in a row, Stevic again has Swift as a leadout man, and the Brit is much improved from the previous stage


Swift's strength means Stevic doesnt need to start sprinting himself until later. Still wanting to make the first move though, he began at 1.5km to go.


Haddou battled with Stevic for the inside line as they took the final corner


The charge towards the line! Haddou is coming up on the inside and Van Avermaet is looking quicker than Stevic too on his outside


It's a photo finish!


The line could not come any sooner for Stevic - he takes the win!


A split in the pack boosts Stevic overall hopes as both Cancellara and Pliuschin were in the 2nd half.

1 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 1h51'02
2 Saïd Haddou CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
3 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
4 Maurizio Biondo TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
5 Stuart O'Grady TEAM CSC s.t.
6 Marco Zanotti ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
7 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
9 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
10 Jacob Moe Rasmussen TEAM GLS s.t.
11 André Korff T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 Jonas Hoberg ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
13 Linas Balciunas LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Aart Vierhouten SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
15 Kurt Hovelynck CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
16 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
17 Thomas Oredsson TEAM GLS s.t.
18 Piet Rooijakkers SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
19 Daniel Foder TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
20 Fabien Bacquet SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
21 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
22 Gerrit Glomser TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
23 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS + 47
24 Alexander Filippov TEAM GLS s.t.
25 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
26 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
27 Glenn D'Hollander CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
28 Alessandro Vanotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
29 Nick Gates PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
30 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
31 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC s.t.
32 Kevin Fouquet TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
33 Hayden Josefski ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
34 Christian Knees ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
35 Wolfgang Murer ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
36 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
37 Hrvoje Miholjevic ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
38 Anders Lund TEAM CSC s.t.
39 Stefan Rucker ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
40 René Jorgensen TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.

GC
1 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 16h12'35
2 Saïd Haddou CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 50
3 Maurizio Biondo TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 1'02
4 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'06
5 Erik Zabel PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'10
6 Stuart O'Grady TEAM CSC + 1'22
7 Marco Zanotti ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
8 Murilo Fischer LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 Jacob Moe Rasmussen TEAM GLS s.t.
10 Aart Vierhouten SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
11 Jonas Hoberg ACTION - UNIQA s.t.
12 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
13 Thomas Oredsson TEAM GLS s.t.
14 Kurt Hovelynck CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
15 Linas Balciunas LIQUIGAS s.t.
16 Daniel Foder TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
17 Piet Rooijakkers SKIL - SHIMANO s.t.
18 André Korff T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
19 Gerrit Glomser TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
20 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 2'09
21 Alexander Filippov TEAM GLS s.t.
22 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS s.t.
23 Fredrik Johansson TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
24 Stefan Rucker ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
25 Alessandro Vanotti LIQUIGAS s.t.
40 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.

Stage 5

Ivan Stevic is unlikely to win a 5th stage in a row in this 10km flat ITT but DFL maintained their dominance with 5 riders in the top 7.


Mickey Smith, David McCann, and Laszlo Bodrogi were 7th, 6th and 5th. Marco Pinotti was 4th, while Fabian Cancellara only 3rd.


Chris Hoy took 2nd as Aleksandr Pliuschin won.

1 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 13'07
2 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 5
3 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 6
4 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 11
5 Laszló Bodrogi DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 17
6 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 19
7 Mickey Smith DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 20
8 Vincenzo Nibali T-MOBILE TEAM + 28
9 Olivier Kaisen PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 29
10 David Abal ACTION - UNIQA + 31
11 Kevin Van Impe RABOBANK + 37
12 Damien Gaudin LIQUIGAS s.t.
13 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Fran Pérez DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 38
15 Tom Thill CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 42
16 Hayden Josefski ACTION - UNIQA + 44
17 Sebastian Langeveld RABOBANK s.t.
18 Soren Kirkegaard TEAM GLS + 45
19 Alexander Filippov TEAM GLS s.t.
20 Mikhail Timochine LIQUIGAS + 47
21 Linas Balciunas LIQUIGAS s.t.
22 Nichlas Klarlund TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
23 Chris Horner PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 48
24 Sven Renders CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
25 Serge Pauwels CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
26 Jacob Moe Rasmussen TEAM GLS s.t.
27 Fredrik Johansson TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
28 Janusz Duzikowski ACTION - UNIQA + 49
29 Jami Kasanen TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI + 51
30 Christian Knees ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 52
31 Jan Valach ELK HAUS - SIMPLON + 53
32 Kristoffer Nielsen TEAM GLS s.t.
33 Maurizio Biondo TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 54
34 Daniel Foder TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
35 Thomas Guldhammer TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 55
36 Dario Cataldo T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
37 Anders Lund TEAM CSC + 56
38 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 57
39 Kasper Jebjerg TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 58
40 Maarten Tjallingii T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
41 Piet Rooijakkers SKIL - SHIMANO + 59
42 Jesper Odgaard Nielsen TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 1'00
43 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'01
44 Stian Sommerseth TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
45 Bartosz Kuszczak ACTION - UNIQA + 1'02
46 Stefan Rucker ELK HAUS - SIMPLON s.t.
47 Kurt Hovelynck CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 1'04
48 Svein Erik Vold TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI + 1'05
49 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
50 Daniel McConnell TEAM CSC s.t.

GC
1 Ivan Stevic DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED 16h26'47
2 Maurizio Biondo TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 51
3 Linas Balciunas LIQUIGAS + 1'04
4 Aleksandr Pliuschin DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED s.t.
5 Jacob Moe Rasmussen TEAM GLS + 1'05
6 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'07
7 Chris Hoy DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'09
8 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 1'10
9 Daniel Foder TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN + 1'11
10 Saïd Haddou CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 1'13
11 Ben Swift DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'14
12 Marco Pinotti T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'15
13 Piet Rooijakkers SKIL - SHIMANO + 1'16
14 Kurt Hovelynck CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN + 1'21
15 David McCann DFL - CYCLINGNEWS - LITESPEED + 1'23

Total Domination!!

you are so good

even better squad for next year - is cavendish available?

Cavendish has a contract with T-Mobile until 2010, Ill try to get him if possible though

good good
any other good brits you are targetting?

amazing and long story to read on this time but i want to say some words to you SN. This is one of the best stories i ever have seen. keep it up, i will look inside some times

and awesome results you have got!

Fantastic story, keep it up

Nope, Im limiting myself to a maximum10 Brits, mainly due to the 30 rider squad limit. This season I had 11. Hammond is leaving, Im going to sack Haynes to make squad space and Im bringing in Wiggins.

Wiggins will add a good dimension to the team.

has wegelius had a stats collapse?

I already posted that he signed for Rabobank

has he had a stats collapse though?