Leipheimer, Joly, Andy Schleck, Tschopp, Geslin, Eisel, Marzano, Caethoven, Grendene.

Maybe you should take it easy on one of the flat/hilly stages and loose about 10 minutes and go for breakaways in the mountains.

In the first season with regular DB, I won 2 stages and the mountain classification in the Vuelta a Espana finishing solo in front of Andy and co.

Although the 1.0 improvement made your career rather unrealistic, so you are already a great rider. I think many put this stat to 1.0 which is way to high.

But a great story so far.

Well because Vadevelde is in the yellow jersey, I'm gonna help relay and help him out, so falling off my happen anyway. But I won't be that good in the Mountains.

The pic of silence is the same as the one of Caisse

Updates will resume tomorrow and there will be a lot of them.

It's good to hear that, I'm eagerly waiting for the update.

Stage 5

Today’s stage is flat with two chances for Lowe to get more King of the Mountain points. A large breakaway group got away at the beginning.



Hesjedal and I brought back the break just in time for Lowe to take the KOM points.



The riders who fought for the KOM points got a gap and started another breakaway.



This was a relief because other teams trying to set up there sprinter took control of the peloton. Unfortunately for Lowe, Jens Voigt took the Polka Dot jersey from Lowe and the breakaway was caught with 16 kilometers left. Farrar couldn’t hold the wheel and was too far back to contend for the sprint. Napolitano won the sprint for Katusha.




Stage Rankings

Stage 6

Today is the last flat stage before we go into the Mountains. Lowe is looking to take back the KOM jersey from Voigt. Lowe was able to get in the break and took the KOM points and took back the Polka Dot jersey. The break looked really strong and looked like they could survive.



Lowe was in a group of 4 in front that was barely holding off the peloton. With less then 3 kilometers left Lowe was caught and Cunego went on to win the sprint.




Stage Rankings
1 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C 4h03'28
2 Tom Boonen Quick·Step s.t.
3 Fabian Wegmann Team Milram s.t.
4 Philippe Gilbert Silence - Lotto s.t.
5 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
6 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
7 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux s.t.
8 David Millar Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
9 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
10 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
11 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
12 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
13 Simon Gerrans Cervélo Test Team s.t.
14 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
15 Jérôme Pineau Quick·Step s.t.
16 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto s.t.
17 John Gadret AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
18 George Hincapie Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
19 Heinrich Haussler Cervélo Test Team s.t.
20 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
21 Christopher Sutton Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
22 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
23 Robert Gesink Rabobank s.t.
24 Thomas Dekker Silence - Lotto s.t.
25 Vasil Kiryienka Caisse d'Epargne s.t.


GC
1 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream 18h30'44
2 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream + 2
3 David Millar Garmin - Slipstream + 11
4 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 28
5 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 37
6 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 48
7 Christopher Sutton Garmin - Slipstream + 57
8 Vasil Kiryienka Caisse d'Epargne + 58
9 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 1'11
10 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne + 1'14
11 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 1'17
12 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 1'40
13 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team + 1'43
14 Mathieu Drujon Caisse d'Epargne + 1'51
15 Philippe Gilbert Silence - Lotto + 1'56
16 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 1'57
17 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step + 2'09
18 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 2'11
19 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram + 2'12
20 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 2'17
21 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 2'18
22 Heinrich Haussler Cervélo Test Team + 2'21
23 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha s.t.
24 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 2'28
25 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 2'29
41 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 3'17

Stage 7

Today is the first Mountain stage of the tour and the team is working for Vandevelde today. There weren’t any major breakaways because we were able to control the peloton and keep breakaways from getting too far away. With 130 kilometers to go I attacked looking to get a gap. I went with two other riders and we survived for 60 kilometers. I took enough KOM points to move to 3rd place overall.



I had to drop back in order to help out Vandevelde. I wasn’t able to survive the big climb and dropped back leaving Vandevelde by himself. He did well staying upfront and holding on to 4th place. Gesink went on to victory ahead of Sastre.



I finished a ways back, losing so much time that I am clearly not a GC threat.




Stage Rankings
1 Robert Gesink Rabobank 5h53'22
2 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 32
3 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 1'10
4 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 1'18
5 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'26
6 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 1'42
7 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 1'50
8 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
9 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C s.t.
10 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux + 2'14
11 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas s.t.
12 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 2'40
13 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
14 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram s.t.
15 Ivan Basso Liquigas s.t.
16 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team s.t.
17 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 2'55
18 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
19 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
20 Christophe Moreau Agritubel s.t.
21 Denis Menchov Rabobank s.t.
22 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 3'37
23 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
24 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto s.t.
25 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
26 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha s.t.
27 Rémi Pauriol Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
28 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
29 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
30 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank s.t.
31 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
32 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 4'02
85 Marco Pinotti Team Columbia - High Road + 14'43
86 Simon Gerrans Cervélo Test Team s.t.
87 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.


GC
1 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne 24h26'24
2 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 49
3 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 1'10
4 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 1'19
5 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 1'24
6 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'25
7 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 1'33
8 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 1'56
9 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 2'17
10 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 2'29
11 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 2'33
12 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 2'36
13 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 2'39
14 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 2'51
15 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 3'24
16 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha + 3'40
17 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 3'46
18 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 3'47
19 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 3'55
20 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 4'00
21 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 4'02
22 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 4'20
23 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 4'25
24 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 4'27
25 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 4'29
26 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux + 4'30
27 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 4'34
28 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 4'35
29 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank + 4'43
30 Christophe Moreau Agritubel s.t.
82 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 15'42

Stage 8

Another Mountain stage and since I’m in 3rd place in the Mountain Classification I will try to take some KOM points during today’s stage. I was able to get in the breakaway and managed to finish in 1st in all the mountain sprints and will wear the Polka Dot Jersey tomorrow.



After I was caught the favorites began to attack and a small group got away including Contador, Samuel Sanchez, Basso, and Luis León Sánchez. L.L. Sanchez was in the yellow jersey and had a small gap ahead of the three other riders.



Sanchez still had a small gap but at the final sprint Basso flew around and beat all the Spaniards.



I finished way back but I do get the polka dot jersey.




Stage Rankings
1 Ivan Basso Liquigas 4h34'09
2 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
3 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team s.t.
4 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
5 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 44
6 Robert Gesink Rabobank s.t.
7 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 1'11
8 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha s.t.
9 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
10 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 2'25
11 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team s.t.
12 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
13 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank s.t.
14 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 2'56
15 Thomas Dekker Silence - Lotto + 3'44
16 Yuri Trofimov Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
17 Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
18 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
19 George Hincapie Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
20 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
21 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team s.t.
22 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank s.t.
23 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
24 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step s.t.
25 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha s.t.
26 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas s.t.
27 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C s.t.
28 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto s.t.
29 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram s.t.
30 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
100 Tony Martin Team Columbia - High Road + 13'26
101 Fabian Wegmann Team Milram s.t.
102 Evgeni Petrov Team Katusha s.t.
103 Andrea Noè Liquigas s.t.
104 Cristiano Salerno LPR Brakes Farnese Vini s.t.
105 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.


GC
1 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne 29h00'33
2 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 49
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'25
4 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 2'08
5 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 2'51
6 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 3'23
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 3'28
8 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 4'29
9 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 4'54
10 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 4'58
11 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 5'03
12 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 5'11
13 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 5'36
14 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 5'40
15 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 6'12
16 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 6'13
17 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 6'20
18 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 6'59
19 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 7'08
20 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha + 7'24
21 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 7'30
22 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 7'39
23 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 7'46
24 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 7'56
25 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 8'04
26 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 8'11
27 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 8'13
28 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux + 8'14
29 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 8'19
30 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank + 8'27
90 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 29'08


Mountain
1 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream 105
2 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 58
3 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 55
4 Robert Gesink Rabobank 54
5 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom 54

fuck Vandevelde, go for the Polka dots

Stage 9
The third Mountain stage of the Tour but the last 60 kilometers are downhill so there will probably be a large group of favorites in the lead by the end of the race. I started the race in the polka dot jersey, a great honor as a 22 year old rider.



I was looking to take even more KOM points during today’s stage so I attacked within 5 kilometers of the start.



I got a gap and went solo up and down the Mountains, taking both of the KOM sprints.



After I was caught by the peloton and dropped, the favorites began to attack on the downhill. Vandevelde was the only Garmin rider in the front group. They all stayed together to the finish and Cadel Evans won the sprint.



I lose even more time but I do push my KOM lead farther ahead.


Stage Rankings
1 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto 4h16'10
2 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank s.t.
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
4 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
5 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha s.t.
6 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
7 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team s.t.
8 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C s.t.
9 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
10 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
11 Robert Gesink Rabobank s.t.
12 Vladimir Efimkin AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
13 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux s.t.
14 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
15 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team s.t.
16 Ivan Basso Liquigas s.t.
17 Markus Fothen Team Milram s.t.
18 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram s.t.
19 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 1'37
20 Denis Menchov Rabobank s.t.
21 Iker Camaño Fuji - Servetto s.t.
22 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram s.t.
23 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto s.t.
24 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team s.t.
25 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
106 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 12'12


GC
1 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne 33h16'43
2 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 49
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'25
4 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 2'08
5 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 2'51
6 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 3'23
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 3'28
8 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 4'29
9 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 5'03
10 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 5'11
11 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 5'36
12 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 6'20
13 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 6'31
14 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 6'35
15 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 7'08
16 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 7'17
17 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 7'30
18 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 7'39
19 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 7'49
20 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 7'50
21 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 7'56
22 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux + 8'14
23 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 8'36
24 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha + 9'01
25 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 9'23
91 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 41'20


Mountain
1 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream 165
2 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom 88
3 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 78
4 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 76
5 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team 72

Great that you are having the polka dot jersey! Really nice story btw.

nice job getting in polka dots

Best rider story i've seen in a long time...

Keep it up!

thanks everyone. Getting support makes it easier to keep going. Stage 10 will be coming soon. I hope to be done with the Tour by Friday.

Stage 10
Today is a flat stage that should be a battle between the sprinters. Our team’s plan was to take is easy and to not do too much work. At the beginning of the stage a small group of riders broke away.



I didn’t bother going for the KOM points because they were worth so few points that they wouldn’t help me. After the breakaway was caught, the sprinters fought for the stage. It was Boonen who beat out Hushovd in the final sprint.



Tomorrow is a rest day, so I will look forward to getting some of that energy back. We won’t have another Mountain stage for a while so I will stay in the peloton during the flat stages.


Stage



GC

Stage 11
Another flat stage today and we are still looking to set up Farrar for his first win. A break got away early in the stage and their gap peaked at about 9 minutes.



Thanks to LPR and Quickstep, the break was caught with 30 kilometers to go. We had a great train set up with Zabriskie in front followed by Sutton and Farrar. When Zabriskie threw off we were in great position.



Thanks to great position, rested legs, and great fitness we finished 1-2. Farrar took his first stage win of the tour.






Stage
1 Tyler Farrar Garmin - Slipstream 4h29'18
2 Christopher Sutton Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
3 Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank s.t.
4 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank s.t.
5 Romain Feillu Agritubel s.t.
6 Robbie McEwen Team Katusha s.t.
7 Andreas Klier Cervélo Test Team s.t.
8 Alessandro Petacchi LPR Brakes Farnese Vini s.t.
9 Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
10 Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
11 Yann Huguet Agritubel s.t.
12 Danilo Napolitano Team Katusha s.t.
13 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
14 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
15 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha s.t.
21 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.


GC
1 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne 42h22'07
2 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 49
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'25
4 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 2'08
5 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 2'51
6 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 3'23
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 3'28
8 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 4'29
9 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 5'03
10 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 5'11
11 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 5'36
12 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 6'31
13 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 6'35
14 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 7'08
15 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 7'17
16 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 7'30
17 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 7'49
18 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 7'50
19 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 7'56
20 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 8'36
21 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha + 9'01
22 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 9'23
23 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 9'41
24 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 9'44
25 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 9'48
91 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 41'20

Now we are over half way through the Tour de France and it has been very successful so far. We held the White and Yellow jersey. We now have the polka dot jersey. We won the TTT and stage 11. Lets hope the 2nd half will be just as good.

So far the Tour has been really really great for Martin and for Garmin, keep the good job.