Vandevelde won't move much farther up though. The guys in front are too good. I think I might stay out of the breaks and help Vandevelde from now on.

just make sure you take the polka dots

I'm not sure but it may be imossible for me to lose it. I will check.

Actually the next stage has 130 KOM points on the line so I may try to take those.

Vandevelde doing welll, great win, and you seem to have secured polka dots

LLS still leading, his progression maust have been crazy. Stats?

I think still not stats to win the Tour...

More surprise for me is Pierre Rolland...

Oscar Pereiro signs with palmeiras resort and Kirchen signs with Liquigas

Stage 17
There are a lot of climbs during the stage and there are a lot of KOM points on the line. One of the first riders to attack was Gesink. He was in 4th place overall in the KOM so I had to follow him.



Eventually I caught up to Gesink. We worked well together and built up a large gap. He won most of the KOM sprints but since I was always right behind him in 2nd I didn’t lose enough to lose 1st. We kept building on our lead and it looked like we might win.



With about 10 kilometers left we were caught by Gesink’s teammate Menchov and he went on to win his first stage of the 2009 Tour de France.



I still managed to hold on to 8th and I have also locked in the KOM jersey for the whole race.



Unfortunately Farrar and Wiggins were eliminated from the race.




Stage
1 Denis Menchov Rabobank 5h10'24
2 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 22
3 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 1'06
4 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 1'47
5 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 2'09
6 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 3'27
7 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team s.t.
8 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
9 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto s.t.
10 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 4'43
11 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
12 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank s.t.
13 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram s.t.
14 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
15 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha s.t.
16 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
17 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
18 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto + 5'38
19 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team s.t.
20 Christophe Moreau Agritubel s.t.
21 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 6'26
22 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step s.t.
23 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
24 Janez Brajkovič Astana Cycling Team s.t.
25 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank s.t.


GC
1 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 73h02'14
2 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 3'19
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 3'28
4 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 4'02
5 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 4'18
6 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 8'29
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 9'36
8 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 10'01
9 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 10'39
10 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 10'49
11 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 11'17
12 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 11'53
13 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 12'43
14 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 12'51
15 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 13'19
16 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 14'59
17 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 16'09
18 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 16'14
19 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 16'32
20 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 16'57
21 Christophe Moreau Agritubel + 17'41
22 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 18'13
23 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 18'21
24 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 18'35
25 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 19'56
26 Vladimir Efimkin AG2R La Mondiale + 20'21
27 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step + 20'48
28 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank + 21'06
29 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 21'07
30 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 21'28
63 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 48'18


Mountain
1 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream 340
2 Robert Gesink Rabobank 223
3 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team 185
4 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 128
5 Bingen Fernández Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 109
6 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom 108
7 Sylvain Calzati Agritubel 101
8 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto 96
9 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto 95
10 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 91

On a side note, Sutton is 11th in points and I think that's pretty spectacular for a guy who was only brought here to lead out Farrar.

LLS finally lost yellow jersey.. B) Eventually nice 6th place for Vandevelde and polka dot jersey fo Martin of course too.

good job winning the polka dots

I'm so happy that LL lost yellow jersey
PS Of course great that you've won Polka Dot

In other news. Menchov fills the open spot left by the leaving of Valverde at Caisse and Boonen will join Rabobank now that menchov left.

Oh my...who so idiotic did sign with Boonen? We don't want cocaine in our team

After the TDF which will be posted soon, I will race in the Tour of Britain and that will be my final race of the season.

Stage 18
Today is a very important time trial. Since GC is not important to me anymore, then this stage isn’t important for me, but Vandevelde is currently in 6th place and he has a chance to move closer to 5th place if he sets a great time. I set a great time and felt great but still only managed to finish in 25th place overall.



In 3rd place was Vladamir Karpets who set a great time and when he finished was in 1st place.



But when Evans came through he beat Karpets’ time by 8 seconds.



The winner of the stage was Alberto Contador who extends his lead even farther ahead of L.L. Sanchez.



Vandevelde finished in 6th place but doesn’t move up in the GC.



Stage
1 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 56'26
2 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 11
3 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 19
4 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 25
5 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 57
6 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 1'02
7 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 1'11
8 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 1'14
9 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 1'18
10 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'23
11 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
12 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'27
13 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 1'28
14 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team s.t.
15 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 1'32
16 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 1'35
17 Thomas Dekker Silence - Lotto + 1'42
18 Marco Pinotti Team Columbia - High Road + 1'43
19 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 1'45
20 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
21 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 1'54
22 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 1'59
23 George Hincapie Team Columbia - High Road + 2'02
24 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto + 2'03
25 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 2'06
26 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank + 2'11
27 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'18
28 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 2'19
29 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team + 2'24
30 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step + 2'30
31 David Millar Garmin - Slipstream + 2'32
32 Tom Boonen Quick·Step s.t.
33 Janez Brajkovič Astana Cycling Team + 2'36
34 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream + 2'45
35 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 2'47



GC
1 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 73h58'40
2 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 4'29
3 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 4'42
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 4'55
5 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 5'37
6 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 9'31
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 9'55
8 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 11'12
9 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 11'57
10 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 12'18
11 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 13'02
12 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 14'47
13 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 14'50
14 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 15'30
15 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 17'18
16 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 17'23
17 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 17'37
18 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 17'54
19 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 18'45
20 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 19'58
21 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 20'03
22 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 20'27
23 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 21'10
24 Christophe Moreau Agritubel s.t.
25 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 21'28
62 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 50'24


Mountain
1 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream 340
2 Robert Gesink Rabobank 223
3 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team 185
4 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 128
5 Bingen Fernández Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 109
6 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom 108
7 Sylvain Calzati Agritubel 101
8 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto 96
9 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto 95
10 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 91

Stage 19
Today is classified as a flat stage but a small climb at the end will eliminate most of the sprinters from contention. Our whole team is very tired so we stayed out of the breaks and just relaxed in the peloton but there were some riders who dared to go on an attack.



They were caught long before the finish and on the final climb Sutton was dropped so we didn’t have a sprinter. Kirchen, who loves this king of finish, went on to win ahead of Damiano Cunego.



Tomorrow is the biggest stage of the Tour and it is Vandevelde's last chance to move up in the GC.


Stage
1 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road 4h45'43
2 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C s.t.
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
4 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team s.t.
5 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
6 Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
7 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
8 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
9 Tom Boonen Quick·Step s.t.
10 Martin Elmiger AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
11 Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
12 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
13 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
14 Enrico Gasparotto Lampre - N.G.C s.t.
15 George Hincapie Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
16 Daniele Bennati Liquigas s.t.
17 Robert Gesink Rabobank s.t.
18 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step s.t.
19 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team s.t.
20 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team s.t.
21 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto s.t.
22 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team s.t.
23 Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank s.t.
24 Vladimir Efimkin AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
25 Philippe Gilbert Silence - Lotto s.t.
26 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team s.t.
27 Laurent Lefèvre Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
28 Thomas Dekker Silence - Lotto s.t.
29 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto s.t.
30 Yuri Trofimov Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
31 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step s.t.
32 Denis Menchov Rabobank s.t.
33 Mathieu Sprick Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
34 Romain Feillu Agritubel s.t.
35 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas s.t.
36 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram s.t.
37 John Gadret AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
38 Alessandro Petacchi LPR Brakes Farnese Vini s.t.
39 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank s.t.
40 Nicolas Roche AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
41 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
42 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto s.t.
43 Ricardo Serrano Fuji - Servetto s.t.
44 José Angel Gómez Marchante Cervélo Test Team s.t.
45 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.


GC
1 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 78h44'23
2 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 4'29
3 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 4'42
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 4'55
5 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 5'37
6 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 9'31
7 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 11'12
8 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 11'57
9 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 12'18
10 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 12'40
11 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 13'02
12 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 14'47
13 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 14'50
14 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 15'30
15 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 17'18
16 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 17'23
17 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 17'37
18 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 17'54
19 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 18'45
20 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 19'58
21 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 20'03
22 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 20'27
23 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 21'10
24 Christophe Moreau Agritubel s.t.
25 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 21'28
26 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 23'01
27 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step + 23'18
28 Vladimir Efimkin AG2R La Mondiale + 23'22
29 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 23'46
30 George Hincapie Team Columbia - High Road + 24'00
31 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 24'16
32 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank + 24'36
33 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto + 25'00
34 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 26'15
35 Amael Moinard Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 28'02
36 Pierrick Fédrigo Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 28'48
37 José Angel Gómez Marchante Cervélo Test Team + 29'04
38 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram + 29'20
39 Janez Brajkovič Astana Cycling Team + 30'20
40 Thomas Dekker Silence - Lotto + 30'26
59 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 50'24


Mountain
1 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream 340
2 Robert Gesink Rabobank 235
3 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team 205
4 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 128
5 Bingen Fernández Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 109
6 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom 108
7 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto 103
8 Sylvain Calzati Agritubel 101
9 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto 96
10 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 91

Stage 20
Today is the final Mountain stage and also Vandevelde’s last chance to move up in the GC. The 21.2 kilometers averaging 7.6 percent gradient promise to be epic, as anyone can still win - or lose - the 2009 Tour de France today. It was a surprise to me that the peloton was so in control. No breakaways ever got farther than a minute ahead and coming up to Mount Ventoux everyone was all together. I was able to help Vandevelde much more today and helped him up the Mountain but with around 6 kilometers left, Contador and Sastre were proving to be too strong.



Eventually Contador dropped Sastre and went on to a solo victory and secures his Yellow Jersey.



Gesink surprised everyone and finished in 2nd place and moves up to 3rd overall! Vandevelde holds on to 6th overall and finishes in 9th place. I manage to show my strength and finish in 13th place. After a surprising start to the Tour L.L. Sanchez has fallen all the way to 5th overall. The Tour de France is pretty much over and I head into Paris still holding the Polka Dot Jersey.



Stage
1 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 4h47'04
2 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 18
3 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 42
4 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 1'24
5 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 2'06
6 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 4'14
7 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
8 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 4'49
9 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
10 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 5'09
11 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
12 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 5'44
13 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
14 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
15 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram s.t.
16 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team s.t.
17 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C s.t.
18 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
19 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
20 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
21 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team s.t.
22 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram + 6'38
23 Vladimir Efimkin AG2R La Mondiale + 6'57
24 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha s.t.
25 Stéphane Goubert AG2R La Mondiale + 7'05
26 Ivan Basso Liquigas s.t.
27 José Angel Gómez Marchante Cervélo Test Team s.t.
28 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto s.t.
29 Amael Moinard Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
30 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.



GC
1 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 83h31'27
2 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 5'53
3 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 5'55
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 9'09
5 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 9'51
6 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 14'20
7 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 15'26
8 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team + 15'32
9 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 17'06
10 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram + 18'02
11 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 19'37
12 Ivan Basso Liquigas + 20'07
13 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 20'19
14 Tadej Valjavec AG2R La Mondiale + 20'31
15 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 23'02
16 Andreas Klöden Astana Cycling Team + 23'07
17 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 23'34
18 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 24'29
19 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 24'42
20 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 25'42
21 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 25'47
22 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 26'11
23 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 26'54
24 Christophe Moreau Agritubel + 28'23
25 Vladimir Efimkin AG2R La Mondiale + 30'19
26 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank + 31'49
27 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto + 32'05
28 Markus Fothen Team Milram + 32'22
29 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step + 32'23
30 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 33'05
31 George Hincapie Team Columbia - High Road + 33'21
32 David Moncoutié Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 33'36
33 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 34'35
34 Amael Moinard Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 35'07
35 Thomas Rohregger Team Milram + 35'58
56 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream + 56'08


Mountain
1 Daniel Martin Garmin - Slipstream 344
2 Robert Gesink Rabobank 270
3 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team 251
4 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team 168
5 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto 147
6 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto 122
7 Bingen Fernández Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 109
8 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom 108
9 Sylvain Calzati Agritubel 101
10 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi 97