Didn't get a shot of the stage profile, however it is a flat stage fit for a sprinter.
A break of 4 men occurs today. They are caught easily and there will, indeed, be a mass sprint. Cavendish intially follows Farrar, then grabs the wheel of Van Avermaet.
Farrar takes a different approach, grabbing the wheel of Alex Rasmussen.
Cavendish and Farrar end up side-by-side in the sprint, trailing Boasson Hagen, Boonen and Vrillard.
They can't close in on the top two slots, however, and Boasson Hagen takes 1st followed by Boonen.
Cavendish manages to pass Vrillard and will take 3rd on the day with Farrar taking 5th.
Results
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK 4h55'37
2 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t. 3 Mark Cavendish DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Stéphane Vrillard CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t. 5 Tyler Farrar DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
6 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
7 Yuri Trofimov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
8 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
9 Diego Milán CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
11 Alex Rasmussen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 Jonas Hoberg CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
13 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Stèphane Poulhiès RABOBANK s.t.
15 Filippo Pozzato BARLOWORLD s.t.
16 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Francesco Failli TEAM ASTANA s.t.
18 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
19 Giorgio Brambilla QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Koldo Muñoz González CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
21 Iñigo Landaluze TEAM ASTANA s.t.
22 Juan Rafael Michalski PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
23 Ruggero Marzoli RABOBANK s.t.
24 Piercarlo Casbarra TEAM ASTANA s.t.
25 Ignas Konovalovas RABOBANK s.t.
GC
1 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS 9h53'02
2 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 26 3 Markus Reich DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 35
5 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 39
7 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 40 8 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 42
9 Arkaitz Durán CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 44
10 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 47
Difficult to predict what will happen today. Could be a day for the sprinters, however the hills could also lead to a break or at least wear out the main sprinters.
We send Beppu in the break in the hopes the break might win it today. He's ultimately joined by 3 others.
Today is not the breaks day (at least not the first break). They are caught. However, Pardilla, Rohregger and Orozco manage to make an audacious break despite relatively flat ground and a long way to the finish line.
As we near the finish line, the break still has a small lead but the sprint trains are coming fast.
As the sprint starts, Farrar and Cavendish are well behind Balsamo and Jorgensen but well positioned on everyone else.
With the sprinters coming fast, the 3-man break just barely manages to hang on with Pardilla taking the win.
Results
1 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK 5h57'13
2 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
3 Edwin Orozco TEAM ASTANA s.t.
4 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
5 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t. 6 Tyler Farrar DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
7 Yuri Trofimov TEAM ASTANA s.t. 8 Mark Cavendish DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
9 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Ruggero Marzoli RABOBANK s.t.
11 Ignas Konovalovas RABOBANK s.t. 12 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 Pieter Vanspeybrouck T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
15 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
16 Diego Milán CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
17 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
18 Jérôme Pineau BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
19 Michal Kwiatkowski TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
20 Theo Eltink RABOBANK s.t.
21 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
22 Giorgio Brambilla QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
24 Piercarlo Casbarra TEAM ASTANA s.t.
25 Koldo Muñoz González CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
GC
1 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS 15h50'15
2 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 26 3 Markus Reich DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 35
5 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 39
7 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 40 8 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 42
9 Arkaitz Durán CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 44
10 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 47
2007: Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile)
2008: Egoi Martinez (Caisse d'Epargne)
2009: Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile)
2010: Alejandro Valverde (T-Mobile)
2011: Maxime Monfort (Discovery Channel)
2012: Danilo Di Luca (QuickStep)
While our main focus at the moment is Paris-Nice, we have to race in the Tirreno-Adriatico as well. This race is of secondary importance to us, although we'd love to get a decent result and are hopeful that Jason Donald is in strong enough form to perform well in what is a talented field.
Our team:
Leader: Jason Donald
Lieutenant: Yaroslav Popvych
Sprinter: Heinrich Haussler
Free: Zhou Sui
Teammates: Mauricio Ardila, Elia Casanova,Brian Vandborg, John Devine
The field looks much tougher than that present for Paris-Nice, although it is tough to say who is in good form and who isn't.
Break doesn't get far today so the sprinters move forward to position for the win. With a couple of small uphills and downhills in the last 2km, it should be interesting. As the trains form, neither Haussler nor Sui is particularly well placed.
The sprint starts and we hit an uphill, bunching the sprinters together and pulling Haussler forward.
As we get back to the flats, Hassuler just doesn't look to have enough today.
The battle for the stage win is going to come down to Capecchi and Corioni. We'll see who is the stronger man.
As they cross the line, it is close but it will be Corioni. Nice win for him.
Results
1 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER 3h40'12
2 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
3 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
4 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
6 Enrique Mata TEAM LPR s.t.
7 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Marco Bandiera TEAM MILRAM s.t. 9 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t. 11 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
12 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
13 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 Gerald Ciolek TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
16 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC s.t.
17 Danilo Wyss CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
18 Martijn Maaskant T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
19 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
20 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
21 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
22 Andrea Palini TEAM CSC s.t.
23 Gregory Baugé LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
24 Philippe Gilbert GEROLSTEINER s.t.
25 Jan Almblad LIQUIGAS s.t.
The winner will likely be decided over this stage and the next. Big day for us here, then. Need a strong time trial out of Andy but team concern increases as he tells us that he doesn't feel very good today. This doesn't bode well.
First strong time of the day is set by the young American now racing for Saunier Duval (after we tried, but failed to buy him from Astana last season only to see them sell to Saunier), Numba Ting. He sets a time of 42'54". Good time but will ultimately leave him +1'22 (33rd).
Pardilla comes flying through a short while later to set a new best time. +43 (7th).
Di Gregario, +1'01 (16th).
Trofimov continues to hang around with a great ride, +10 (3rd).
Kohl, +56 (11th).
Mestre, +40 (5th).
Rovny, +56 (12th).
Schleck hits the road, still feeling poorly. We wait nervously. First checkpoint, not so good. Then he hits the uphill. Second checkpoint, 1st! As he crosses the line...... best time of the day at 41'40"! Wow, would love to see what he would have done had he felt well. Just have to wait now and see how this holds up.
Giesecke, +46 (8th).
Boasson Hagen, +1'04" (19th).
Turns out we didn't have to wait long. Tony Martin again proves to be a thorn in our side, coming in 8 seconds faster than Andy at 41'32". Martin is a revelation this season and is only level 3. Scary to see how good he might become. Another rider we tried to sign but failed.
Plaza, +42 (6th).
Markus Reich is the only guy left with a legitimate shot at topping Martin and, in any case, as he had a lead over Martin coming into this stage he could still lose but take back yellow. As he crosses the line he is 4th at +10. Will be close to see who is in yellow.
Kruopis, +1'02 (18th).
Wyss won't be in yellow after today, only question is how much time he will lose. Answer: a lot. +1'47 (54th).
We wait for the official GC to go up. And, oh my, it is Martin in yellow by only 1 second over Reich. Andy is 15 seconds back in 3rd. This sets things up for quite a nice battle tomorrow in the queen stage. A strong Predictor Lotto team against Discovery Channel. Should be fun.
Results
1 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO 41'32 2 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 8
3 Yuri Trofimov TEAM ASTANA + 10 4 Markus Reich DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 40
6 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 42
7 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK + 43
8 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 46
9 Arkaitz Durán CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 48
10 Lucas Persson TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 49
11 Bernhard Kohl SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 56 12 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 Linus Gerdemann DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 57
14 Haimar Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'00
15 Óscar Sánchez QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
16 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'01
17 Pieter Vanspeybrouck T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'02
18 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
19 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 1'04
20 Tim Klinger TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1'08
21 Matthias Hahn CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
22 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
23 Alexander Khatuntsev BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 1'10
24 Ignas Konovalovas RABOBANK + 1'11
25 Matthias Ruß RABOBANK s.t.
26 Awazbek Dang CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'12
27 Filippo Pozzato BARLOWORLD + 1'13 28 Mark Cavendish DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
29 Annunziato Campanile LIQUIGAS + 1'14
30 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
GC
1 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO 16h32'22 2 Markus Reich DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1
3 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15
4 Yuri Trofimov TEAM ASTANA + 31
5 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 42
6 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 51
7 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 53
8 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 56
9 Arkaitz Durán CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 57
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 1'08 11 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'10
12 Óscar Sánchez QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'12
13 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Bernhard Kohl SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'13
15 Pieter Vanspeybrouck T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'15
16 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'26
17 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 1'29
18 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'33
19 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'38
20 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1'44
21 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS + 1'49
22 Diego Milán CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'07
23 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM + 2'09
24 Raúl Gurpegi TEAM CSC + 2'15
25 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK + 2'20
Interesting stage; the sprint near the end followed by a short uphill then downhill to a flat finish provides the potential to attack out of the sprint. With Haussler being good uphills and not bad on downhills and Sui being very good on downhills, we may try this if the chance arises.
A 13 man break split over 3 groups goes today. Gerolsteiner started the chase to defend yellow with 120km to go. Predictor Lotto joins with 80km to go. This plays to our strategy as it tires out the teams most likely to chase if we attack out of the final sprint which we will more than likely do as Haussler reports he feels very strong today and wants to try something.
Final sprint underway and Haussler takes the points.
While the other sprinters ease off, Haussler attacks joined by Sui.
It's a very strong attack by Haussler which catches everyone by surprise and leaves the peloton in disarray. Haussler quickly establishes a 1 minute lead.
Sui could not follow but we tell him to keep going anyway as he has a lead and is a great downhiller. His lead grows through the downhill and he comes into the flat with a decent lead, although the peloton is coming fast.
Haussler, however, is far too strong for the peloton to catch and he picks up a great solo win.
Sui holds off the peloton for 2nd although the race officials determine there was no time gap between him and the chasers.
There was a time gap to Haussler, however, and he'll move into the race lead.
Results 1 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL 4h32'56
2 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 35
3 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
4 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC s.t.
5 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
6 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
8 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Gerald Ciolek TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
10 Bernhard Eisel LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
11 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
12 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
13 Simone Ponzi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
15 Andrea Palini TEAM CSC s.t.
16 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Philippe Gilbert GEROLSTEINER s.t.
18 Diego Ulissi LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
19 Alessandro Ballan CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
20 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
21 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
22 Matthew Goss TEAM MILRAM s.t.
23 Sergei Kolesnikov LIQUIGAS s.t.
24 Danilo Wyss CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
25 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
GC 1 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL 8h12'55
2 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER + 38 3 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 42
4 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
5 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM + 44
6 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC + 46
8 Gerald Ciolek TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 47
9 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS + 48
10 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
Points 1 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL 17 19
2 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER 6 18
3 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM 8 14
4 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC 10 14
5 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 5 13
Mountain
1 Andrea Pagoto TEAM LPR 11 11
2 Andrew Towers TEAM ASTANA 10 10
3 Ivan Santaromita TEAM ASTANA 0 5
4 Dominique Cornu CERAMICA FLAMINIA 0 5
5 Jan Almblad LIQUIGAS 5 5
Failed to catch the stage profile, however it is relatively flat after a long climb near the start. As with the previous stage, there is a sprint 15 km from the finish line. Haussler reports he is feeling outstanding again and Sui is feeling strong so we might try an attack out of the sprint again. Worked yesterday so, who knows?
The days break is caught easily. As planned, coming out of the sprint Haussler and Sui attack. Haussler's attack is very strong and Sui can't keep up.
The attack appears to work and Haussler gets a 1'30" lead before the peloton gets organized. Sui is not so luck and gets caught.
Haussler fares much better, winning the stage again by a decent margin to solidify his spot at the top of the GC. Another great effort by Haussler!
Results 1 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL 3h28'22
2 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER + 37
3 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC s.t.
5 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
6 Gerald Ciolek TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
7 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
8 Martijn Maaskant T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
9 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC s.t.
11 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
12 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t. 13 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
14 Martin Mortensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
15 Marco Bandiera TEAM MILRAM s.t.
16 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
17 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
18 Danilo Wyss CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
19 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
20 Philippe Gilbert GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
22 Guido Seinig TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
23 Martin Gilbert BARLOWORLD s.t.
24 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC s.t.
25 Wim De Vocht T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
GC 1 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL 11h41'04
2 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER + 1'22 3 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'31
4 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'32
5 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'34
6 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
8 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
9 Gerald Ciolek TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1'37
10 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'38
Points 1 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL 17 36
2 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER 10 28
3 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC 10 24
4 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO 6 19
5 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 2 15
Mountain
1 Andrea Pagoto TEAM LPR 0 11
2 Andrew Towers TEAM ASTANA 0 10
3 Ivan Santaromita TEAM ASTANA 1 6
4 Diego Ulissi LAMPRE - FONDITAL 5 6
5 Dominique Cornu CERAMICA FLAMINIA 0 5
The winner of the tour will be decided today on the final climb. Our strategy is very simple: push the pace, tire out the field then attack with Andy.
Cavendish goes in the break to try and get sprinter points today. It has the additional benefit of forcing Predictor Lotto to do all of the chasing.
Cav wins both sprints. Meanwhile, Predictor Lotto are, indeed, at the front leading the chase. If we're lucky, they'll tire out and we can isolate Martin.
Discovery Channel takes over the front of the peloton over the second to last climb. As we move up the final climb, Rovny moves forward to push things with Andy close behind.
The first attack comes from an unexpected souce, Vanspeybrouck. Sanchez follows.
We're 12 km from the finish and Andy figures this is as good a time as any to counter-attack. Martin watches in the background.
Boasson Hagen tries to followed by Martin, Gomez Marchante, Plaza and Kohl.
Martin, Gomez Marchante and Boasson Hagen form a group, 41 seconds behind Andy.
Behind them are Di Gregario, Kohl, Ulbrich and Plaza.
The two groups come together with Gomez Marchante now pushing the pace.
The chase group can see Andy but his lead continues to grow and is now 53 seconds.
Plaza falls off the back.
Andy crosses the finish line for the stage win and most definitely will be in yellow! Barring anything strange happening over the next 2 stages, we'll make our sponsors very happy!
The chase group crosses 1'09" later as Kohl takes 2nd followed by Ulbrich and Martin.
Great couple of days for Discovery Channel!
Results 1 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL 4h43'38
2 Bernhard Kohl SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'09
3 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
4 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
5 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
8 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 2'30
9 Tiaan Kannemeyer QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'24
10 Leopold König CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t. 11 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
12 Edwin Orozco TEAM ASTANA s.t.
13 David Arroyo CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
14 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK s.t.
15 Manuel Medina TEAM ASTANA s.t.
16 Iñigo Landaluze TEAM ASTANA s.t.
17 Annunziato Campanile LIQUIGAS s.t. 18 Maxime Monfort DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 Linus Gerdemann DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
20 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
21 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA s.t.
22 Theo Eltink RABOBANK s.t.
23 Óscar Sánchez QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
24 Arkaitz Durán CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
25 Matthias Ruß RABOBANK s.t.
GC 1 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL 21h16'09
2 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'00
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 2'08
4 Bernhard Kohl SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'09
5 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'26
6 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'29
7 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 2'42
8 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'03
9 Yuri Trofimov TEAM ASTANA + 3'46
10 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 4'06
11 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 4'11
12 Arkaitz Durán CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 4'12 13 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'25
14 Óscar Sánchez QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'27
15 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
16 Pieter Vanspeybrouck T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'30
17 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'53
18 Diego Milán CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'22
19 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK + 5'35
20 Theo Eltink RABOBANK + 5'48
21 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 6'03 22 Linus Gerdemann DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'08
23 Matthias Ruß RABOBANK + 6'10 24 Markus Reich DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6'15
25 Leopold König CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 6'22
Points
1 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO 18 61
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK 14 58
3 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL 13 56
4 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM 0 53 5 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL 25 52
Now just need to make sure no accidents and that we don't let a dangerous break get away.
Huge number of attacks up the first climb with the peloton chasing them all down. As a result, by the peak 36 riders have already been dropped and many more are struggling. With 130 km to go, no breaks have gotten away. Finally one does and it contains some strong cyclists including Brambilla. Still, the Discovery Channel lead peloton hunts them down. However, with 20 km to go, Brambilla still has a 1'43" lead.
He's caught with 2 km to go and the sprint is on. There are only 43 cyclists left in the pack so many sprinters are gone or worn out. This makes for an odd sprint and it's Boonen vs. Gottfried, Van Ameraet and Micalski with others trailing.
Cavendish is in the front pack but doesn't have many legs left. He's well back.
Nobody can really challenge Boonen today, and he'll get the stage win.
Results
1 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 5h03'54
2 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
3 Greg Van Avermaet PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
4 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
5 Sergej Fuchs EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
6 Juan Rafael Michalski PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
7 Bernhard Kohl SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
9 Ignas Konovalovas RABOBANK s.t.
10 Piercarlo Casbarra TEAM ASTANA s.t.
11 Yannick Talabardon LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t. 12 Mark Cavendish DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
13 Lucas Persson TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
14 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA s.t.
15 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK s.t.
16 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
17 Theo Eltink RABOBANK s.t.
18 Sebastian Langeveld EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
19 Jonay Pereiro TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
21 Raúl Gurpegi TEAM CSC s.t.
22 Dario Cataldo CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT s.t.
23 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
24 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t. 25 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
26 Abdelkader Belmokhtar TEAM CSC s.t.
27 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
28 Francesco Failli TEAM ASTANA s.t.
29 Pieter Vanspeybrouck T-MOBILE TEAM s.t. 30 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
GC 1 Andy Schleck DISCOVERY CHANNEL 26h20'03
2 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'00
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 2'08
4 Bernhard Kohl SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'09
5 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'26
6 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'29
7 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 2'42
8 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'03
9 Yuri Trofimov TEAM ASTANA + 3'46
10 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 4'06
11 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 4'11 12 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'25
13 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS + 4'27
14 Óscar Sánchez QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Pieter Vanspeybrouck T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'30
16 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'49
17 Diego Milán CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'19
18 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK + 5'35
19 Theo Eltink RABOBANK + 5'48
20 Aidis Kruopis BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 6'03
21 Iñigo Landaluze TEAM ASTANA + 6'31
22 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'41
23 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS + 7'07
24 Lucas Persson TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 7'51
25 Ignas Konovalovas RABOBANK + 8'00
Today is the queen stage. The tour will be won between here and the ITT in stage 6. Need to keep Jason close.
Today is Haussler's last day in the leaders jersey, although he'll still have a great shot at the points jersey.
Bit of a dangerous break today with Pagoto, Sorensen and Wegmann but they are allowed to go.
Eventually Milram starts the chase for Nibali. He must be feeling pretty strong today.
The pace is still too slow, however, for Rui Costa who attacks up the first major climb of the day. He is joined by Intxausti, Gutierrez, Soler and Imhof. An impressive group but it is probably still too early for this.
The chase picks up speed as a result of this attack. We eventually send Ardial and Casanova forward to help and to push the pace up the mountains.
As we begin the assault on the Passo Lanciano, Di Luca is the first to attack followed by Ricco.
Jason can't let these guys get away and counters. Samuel Sanchez comes with him as they blow past the Costa group.
Eventually a group forms that includes Di Luca, Donald, Sanchez, Nibali, Ricco, Morca and, surprisingly enough, Capecchi.
Trailing them is a chase group comprised of Cobo, Broco, Ciano and Popovych. This group is 1'18" back.
Jason decides to go to the front of the group to see if he can drop anyone.
As we near the finish, Capecchi is dropped and the group stops cooperating with each other.
The sprint starts with Nibali in control followed by Ricco, Jason and Sanchez. Morca and Di Luca have both fallen off the pace.
Nibali powers to the win. Clearly he was feeling strong today. Ricco takes second and Jason 3rd.
It is a great result for Jason and maybe positions him for the win and a Discovery Channel double to open the season. Jason is the strongest time trialist of this group and might just be able to take the lead in stage 6.
Results
1 Vincenzo Nibali TEAM MILRAM 5h06'17
2 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM s.t. 3 Jason Donald DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA s.t.
5 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 31
6 Danilo Di Luca QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'28
8 Hernâni Brôco BARLOWORLD + 2'37
9 Luca Zanasca SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Michele Ciano RABOBANK s.t.
11 Juanjo Cobo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
12 Janez Brajkovic TEAM CSC s.t.
13 Saul Raisin EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t. 14 Yaroslav Popovych DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'03
15 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'41
16 Donato Cannone SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 4'31
17 Abram Garcia TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Stijn Devolder CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'45
19 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t. 21 Elia Casanova DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'57
22 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
23 Alejandro Valverde AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
24 Javier Moreno CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
25 Valerio Agnoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
GC
1 Vincenzo Nibali TEAM MILRAM 16h48'49
2 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM + 4 3 Jason Donald DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 6
4 Samuel Sánchez TEAM ASTANA + 10
5 Danilo Di Luca QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 41
6 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
7 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 2'32
8 Janez Brajkovic TEAM CSC + 2'47
9 Hernâni Brôco BARLOWORLD s.t.
10 Saul Raisin EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
11 Luca Zanasca SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
12 Juanjo Cobo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
13 Michele Ciano RABOBANK s.t. 14 Yaroslav Popovych DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'13
15 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'29
16 Abram Garcia TEAM CSC + 4'41
17 Donato Cannone SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
18 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC + 4'55
19 Stijn Devolder CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
20 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
Points 1 Heinrich Haussler DISCOVERY CHANNEL 0 36
2 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER 0 28
3 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO 6 25
4 Patrick Bertin TEAM CSC 0 24
5 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 0 15
Mountain
1 Andrea Pagoto TEAM LPR 3 14
2 Vincenzo Nibali TEAM MILRAM 12 12
3 Andrew Towers TEAM ASTANA 0 10
4 Chris Sørensen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 8 8
5 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM 8 8
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