@Dippofix: Punctuation is never my stron point, so I'll try to improve that. Ok I was already on hard so I'll switch it up to extreme Thanks for your feedback and I'll take it all on board
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So know we start to get into the tough end of the race with another difficult mountains stage finishing on the Grossglockner. At 164 kilometres the race isn't an extreme length and with a number of difficult climbs, I have a feeling that the race wont be together for long. From the start it's Lotto that control the race as they try to protect there leader Adam Yates. A group of 6 riders are the first to attack amongst them is Cummings (MTN) and Amador (Movistar). On the first climb Meintejes punctured, but Lotto didn't seem to want to wait for him, as he has been ill for the past few days, but thats his GC chances over. Over the Iselsbergspass, Lotto press on and gap the field over thge top of the climb with Wiggins and Kennaugh comitting 100% to the move they wont have anything left for the climb! Well the leader of Lotto is clear, Yates attacks! Wiggins, Kennaugh and Pinot have blown and are dropping back fast know Yates is holding the favourites at 30 seconds. Uran attacks and bridges to Yates! 3 kilometres to go! Uran starts to distance Yates under the Kilometre banner. Yates is dropping quickly, is Duarte going to cathc him? RIGOBERTO URAN WINS THE STAGE!!
Uran Doubles Up On The Zoncolan
Today is another climbing EPIC, The Zoncolan, one of the hardest climbs in professional cycling! However when the race begins the Lotto team take a back seat, and then suddenly Meintjes goes for it, was this the plan yesterday? The bunch has sat up completely, so the gap to the break balloons. Meintjes looks to be suffering in the break as he yo-yos off the back of the break. The bunch seem to have woken up Gallopin and Monfort start to chase the break down as Lotto seem to be preparing for the finial few climbs. The acceleration from Lotto brings the gap down to under 15 minutes. As they race into the foot of the climb the gap is down to 8 minutes, with Lotto pressing on. URAN ATTACKS! Rigoberto Uran attacks on the climb, but Yates doesn't panic the gap goes out to two minutes! Yates goes for it over the summit of the climb, is it to late? Uran has caught the break and has sat up, Yates manages to close across the gap and goes straight to the front. As they hit the foot of the climb Kennaugh is setting the pace on the front. YATES ATTACKS! Adam Yates attacks and begins to ride away, however Uran and Duarte are chasing hard. Uran and Duarte catch Yates. 1 Kilometre to go! Uran attacks and goes for the gap. Uran Wins the stage.
Before the stage Adam Yates didn't seem to think about the stage as he said, "I just want to wish my brother Simon a speedy recovery again after his crash in training yesterday, which saw him break his collarbone. I mean he has been so unlucky this year as that means he misses another race so his race calender is starting to look pretty bare, but hopefully he'll recover quickly and will be back soon. I mean he's out of California and Norway, but he may be back for the Dauphine." So yet again Simon gets a setback disrupting his season! Anyway back to today's stage and a break of 8 riders went early containing two Lotto riders, they were Kennaugh and Geoghegan Hart. Kennaugh managed to take the first KoM point so defending the lead of Adam Yates. In the finale the break was reeled in by a chasing bunch, it was Peraud sat 7 minutes down on GC, who attacked and with no response from the other GC favoruites soloed to a great win as Adam Yates came home 2nd 2 minutes down on Peraud.
Yates Wins the Mountain TT as Lotto Show Their Strength.
Today's stage is another epic stage with an uphill time trial, however the relatively short length of 12 kilometre seems to limit time loss to under a minute or so. However Adam Yates told the media this morning that he hoped that he could almost seal the overall victory with a strong ride today on the climb. The best early time of the day was set by Meintjes who registerd a 29' 43" 8 seconds ahead of the current leader Monfort of Lotto. Meintjes time was then beaten by Geoghegan Hart who looked comfortable at the top as Adam Yates started his ride up the climb. However Wiggins then went 28 seconds faster, it seemed that Lotto were the only team to get there pacing right as the other riders were going to hard to early and running out of puff, where as Lotto didn't feature at the first time check, yet dominated the finish. Cadel Evans of Orica then beat the time set by Wiggins to become the first non Lotto rider at the top for a good few hours. Then as the big boys started to come in no one was able to beat Evans' time so with just Yates to go he was the only one who could deny Evans............................and he did it besting Evans by 18 seconds to make s superb stage win.
The Break Stays Away As Kolobnev Wins
Alexander Kolobnev took his second stage win as the break stayed away as the bunch took an unofficial rest day as they try to recover before the next mountain top finish. However it was Yates who made a surprise attack in the final few kilometres to gain time over all his rivals as he came home over 5 minutes behind Kolobnev, but 40 seconds ahead of the other favourites.
Navardauskas Wins As Favourites Prepare For The Final Assault.
Today everyone expected the race to finish in a sprint, however with 1 category 2 climb the sprinters didn't have a chance especially when Garmin and Lotto rode hard to get rid of any dead weight on the climb, and Garmin;s work paid of as Navardauskas took a superb sprint victory, with Adam Yates riding in for second place meaning he extended his lead giving him a 6 minute buffer with only 3 stages to go.
Lopez wins as the Break Triumphs Again
As is normally seen all riders wanted to be in the break today, meaning that the final break didn't go until 100 kilometres into the stage, after that the pack sat back and pulled the brakes as the gap to the break rocketed to up to 20 minutes, however Lotto then took over at the front setting a steady tempo, which slowly saw the gap come down and the group shrink, then on the final climb Adam Yates followed the wheels until the final kilometre where he made his move with only Evans able to follow as Cadel starts to show a return to the form that saw him win the 2011 Tour De France. Meanwhile 8 minutes up the road Lopez won an aggressive sprint to manage to come across the line just ahead Caruso of Cannondale, it's not often that you see a match sprint at the top of a mountain but this was something to behold with riders almost trackstanding on the steep gradients up to the line. Lopez was very emotional after the stage and cried during the podium presentation saying, "We have been through a lot over the past three weeks and I crashed on the first road stage and nearly had to pull out, but my team is awesome and they helped me through so I have them to thank for this win as we deserved it.
Yates Seals The Race In Style
Adam Yates seemed to seal his overall Giro Title with a spectacular solo win, further extending his lead at the top of the tables going into the final 32 kilometres TT stage. Yates was set up perfectly by his team as they controlled the race and led him up to the 1 kilometre to go banner, where Yates attacked, but his rivals had no response to the stinging attack and he rolled across the line with his arms in the air. The stage was a simple one a break went away early with 6 riders in it, with the best placed rider being Horner in 16th place, but over half an hour down on Yates. That means that going into tomorrow's TT stage 2nd place is all to play for with only 3 seconds separating 2nd and 3rd.
Wiggins Wins With Ease.
With today's flat Time Trial stage of 32 kilometres to go it seemed that Yates had sealed the overall victory, yet it was far from a done deal. The best early time was Adriano Malori, however Rohan Dennis then went faster by a couple of second. But then it was the turn of Bradley Wiggins! The Lotto riders up to this point hadn't featured in the top 10 at the finish, however Wiggins led throughout crossing the line 58 seconds ahead of Dennis. As Wiggins finished his spectacular ride his team leader Adam Yates was setting off. Of course Wiggins, who has decided to retire at the end of the year has targeted this TT specifically, but it seemed at the first check that Uran was the best placed of the GC contenders to challenge him at 7 seconds down, with Yates over a minute back on Wiggins. So that meant that in the fight for second Uran was in the lead! Uran comes in 1 and a half minutes down on Wiggins. Peraud comes in 20 seconds behind Uran. Yates has done it he's won the Giro d'Italia as he comes home 11th on the day.
Lotto Belisol did what was expected and took the opening Team Time Trial of this year's Dauphine, they crossed the line in just over 11 minutes. Second place was taken by Omega Pharma just 4 seconds down on the Lotto team, with BMC 3rd at 7 seconds. So going into tomorrows stage Tony Gallopin will be in the leaders jersey, however Simon Yates may take it off him if he can get up there in the sprint.
Sagan Wins, as Yates Returns To The Top.
As expected Simon Yates took over the lead of the race as Sagan won the first road stage of the race. Sagan came past a flagging Nizzolo in the final few metres after benefiting from a lead out for Trek Factory racing sprinter Nizzolo, who faded in the final 50 metres. Bouhanni and Kristoff came home 2nd and 3rd, however they were well beaten by Sagan. Simon Yates showed a recent return to form after two months of "hell" from injury and illness, as he came home 11th after an attack in the final kilometre which saw him caught in the final 200 metres of the stage .
Bouhanni Wins After A Hectic Finale
Its official Simon Yates is back, the young Briton showed a splendid return to form as he came home 4th, after following the wheels of Sagan and Kristoff. However it was the bouncing Bouhanni who took the win after another lead out misfired, however this time it was the normally powerful and organised Giant Shimano team who failed to lead out nominated sprinter Luka Mezgec as they were to far back coming into the final kilometre, following which they panicked and went to early leaving Mezgec on the front with 300 metres to go.
Rolland Wins As The Break Stays Away.
The first mountain stage of the race and as expected Lotto showed there strength, with the stage being just over 130 kilometres riders were animated from the start, however on the first climb Lotto went to the front and pressed on pulling Nibali and Froome away with them, however that meant Froome nd Nibali found themselves isolated from their teammates leaving them at the mercy of Contador and Yates. However Lotto weren't going to show any mercy as Yates attacked on the second climb of the day with no response from Froome and the rest meaning he quickly pulled out a 1 minute lead with just over 70 kilometres to go. Yates then caught the break, and set about extending his lead to a maximum of 14 minutes, however he did all of the pace setting and had nothing left when Rolland attacked in the final few kilometres. That meant that Adam Yates took the race lead with 10 seconds over Rolland in second place.
Here is the awesome new banner that the_hoyle has created for this story. Grateful is not the word, so than you for this. Love It.
Edited by JoeArmstrong13 on 17-03-2015 21:03
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The race started with a bang as a 12 man group went up the road immediately, this included Vanendert of Lotto and Henao of Sky. At the front of the bunch it's Netapp that are doing all the work for their leader Konig, but in the break its Vanendert and Fuglsang that are dueling for the King of the Mountains points. Howevever the bunch starts to daydream and the gap mushrooms to 18 minutes that puts Fuglsang in virtual yellow, but Lotto see this and immediately start to ramp up the pace on the front. We hit the penultimate climb and Chaves starts to kick on the pace for Lotto, the gap starts to tumble. We are know on the final climb and Contador is doing a great ride for the yellow jersey of Yates, what a great teammate! Up front Fuglsang and Schleck are starting to increase the hurt on the other riders, they have 3 kilometres to go and the gap is just over 11 minutes. Henao takes the stage win, but behind Yates has taken over the pace making as Contador has given everything for Yates. Froome and Nibali attack and get the gap, Yates starts to falter here the gap to Fuglsang has gone out slightly, could he do it? No Yates holds onto the lead as Fuglsang moves up to within 3 minutes of Yates, and that is all down to the superb work of Contador on the final climb.
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From the start the racing was aggressive as all the contenders who had suffered because of the Yates/Rolland break earlier in the race, wanted to get in the break. Quintana who was over 10 minutes down tried to go in the break, but Lotto monitored the gap and made sure it didn't get to out of hand. Then on the first climb the peloton split into two pieces with Lotto forcing the split, it meant that Froome and Nibali (who has been allowed to race this race as the Astana case starts to run through the courts, but he wont be riding after this race,) found themselves in the back split completely out of contention for the win. The gap mushrooms as nobody wants to chase the break of Yates down. Attack from Contador on the Sarenne as he trys to protect Yates, that leaves Fuglsang setting the pace on the front. Fuglsang is riding hard behind Contador causing the group to split up dramatically, Contador is starting to ride away though. Contador takes the win by over 6 minutes. Yates attacks over the top of the final climb and manages to hold on to the finish. Froome and Nibali put in a superb ride to catch the group with 10 kilometres to go and then come home just behind Yates, who extends his lead by a minute over Ten Dam
Froome Wins The Uphill TT
Another key stage in the race is the uphill time trial that we have on the menu for today, the best early time was set by Thomas Lofkvist of IAM, but as the favourites started to come in the times got faster and faster with Froome coming home for the win, just over 13 seconds ahead of Nibali and Quintana. Adam Yates couldn't match there times and came home a minuted back in 14th place.
Yates Seals The Race With A Final Day Win.
Adam Yates took a methodical stage win as he was set up perfectly by teammate Alberto Contador as he took the overall win in the Dauphine to sela a successful week for the Giro champion. The race started with Fuglsang of Astana attackin trying to hold his KoM lead, but his high placing on GC meant he was never given more then a minute lead and he was reeled in at the bottom of the climb as Contador set the pace up until 3 kilometres to go before Yates set off alone before catching the break of Sagan and Visconti in the final kilometre. The move meant Contador took second place overall with the controversial Nibali in 3rd.
Results
Stage
1
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
4h50'32
2
Peter Sagan
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
3
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
4
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
+ 1'29
5
Daniel Martin
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
6
Andrew Talansky
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
7
Chris Froome
Team Sky
s.t.
8
Jean-Christophe Peraud
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
9
Rafal Majka
Tinkoff - Saxo
+ 2'06
10
Fabio Duarte
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
GC
1
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
27h24'14
2
Alberto Contador
Lotto Belisol
+ 8'51
3
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
+ 9'26
4
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+ 10'39
5
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
+ 10'56
6
Laurens Ten Dam
Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
+ 13'17
7
Pierre Rolland
Team Europcar
+ 14'02
8
Fabio Duarte
MTN - Qhubeka
+ 14'46
9
Rigoberto Urán
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 17'17
10
Domenico Pozzovivo
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 17'51
Points
1
Peter Sagan
Tinkoff - Saxo
12
40
2
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
15
40
3
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
8
33
4
Chris Froome
Team Sky
4
29
5
Nacer Bouhanni
FDJ.fr
0
28
KoM
1
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
25
106
2
Daniel Martin
Garmin Sharp
41
85
3
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
4
77
4
Yury Trofimov
Team Katusha
0
60
5
Laurens Ten Dam
Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
0
56
Young Rider
1
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
+ 4h50'32
27h24'14 (1)
2
Peter Sagan
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
+ 56'31 (7)
3
Rafal Majka
Tinkoff - Saxo
+ 4h52'38
+ 27'24 (2)
4
Romain Bardet
Lotto Belisol
+ 4h56'28
+ 30'42 (3)
5
Sébastien Reichenbach
IAM Cycling
+ 4h56'51
+ 47'59 (6)
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So here we are the first stage of this year’s Tour De France and a simple stage with a difficult finish, on paper it looks like it should suit Simon Yates of Lotto, however Dan Martin is the bookies favourite for the day after the difficult season Yates has been having up until this point. However the result was unexpected as you can get as Peter Sagan showed the field a clean pair of heels taking the win ahead of Gerrans and Kwiatkowski, the three of them had taken there chances on the small climb before the final climb, and with the teams looking at Lotto to do the chasing they got a gap that stuck, it was Simon Yates who lead home the bunch, with Contador being the first of the team leaders in 6th place after a split on the final climb saw him gain time on most of the GC riders, including his teammate Adam Yates who came home 30 seconds behind Sagan. However the big loser on the day was Chris Froome who lost over a minute to Contador after hitting the deck with 3.1 kilometres to go just 100 metres later would have meant he got the same time as Contador. Contador who spoke to journalists after wards said, “It’s a great thing that I have gained time on my rivals on the very first stage and it puts me in a great place for the rest of the race, my team is strong but so are a lot of other teams like Sky who have Porte and Froome, so any time gain is a bonus for me.”
Lotto Win A Close Fought Team Time Trial.
The next day was a 32 kilometre Team Time Trial around Hannover. However with BMC, Lotto and Sky all fielding super strong teams the winner was anybody’s guess, however it seemed that after yesterday’s showing Contador’s men had the upper hand, which would mean that it would be Simon Yates who went into the jersey, which would mean a superb return to form for the young Briton after a start of season ruined by injury and illness. At the first check it was Sky who led with a 1 second advantage over BMC and a 4 second advantage over Lotto. Then at the second check it was Sky that led but BMC were on the same time and Lotto were only 3 seconds behind with half the stage left it could go either way, and Omega Pharma were still in with a shout as was Tinkoff as they were both just 5 seconds back. The third and final check point before the finish was even closer with Sky, BMC and Lotto all on the same time with OPQS just 2 seconds back and Tinkoff at 3 seconds. That meant it was only the last few slightly uphill kilometres that would decide the stage. Virtual timing saw the lead swing from BMC to Lotto with Sky starting to flag. It was Tinkoff the hit the line first besting the current time by 5 seconds. Then it was the turn of Sky who came home 15 seconds ahead of Tinkoff. Then Omega Pharma come home 4 seconds behind Sky. Then it was the turn of BMC who started to break up towards the line and they did it 4 seconds ahead of Sky. So it was down to Lotto the only team on the course and the only team that could beat BMC, going under the kilometre banner they were a second behind BMC, but they’re pressing on now. BMC could lose this as they broke up in the last kilometre. Lotto come up to the line and fan out like a Team Pursuit team. It seems Ivan Basso hast trained them very well. AND THEY’VE DONE IT! Lotto take the stage win by 0.16 of a second BMC lost it in the last kilometre. Contador takes the Jersey after Yates is distanced in the last few metres of the stage.
Mark Cavendish Closing In On Another Record.
The first sprint stage of the race was never going to be as exciting as the past two stages, but with all the best sprinters in the world here it was going to be a close race or the finish and so this proved as Mark Cavendish took a superb sprint win ahead of Marcel Kittel and Peter Sagan as all the top 3 finished within half a wheel of each other. The stage followed a normal plan with Lotto controlling the race until 50 kilometres to go when Giant and Omega Pharma took over and raised the tempo. Going into the final 500 metres it was Omega that led with Tom Boonen providing the perfect lead out for Cavendish, but it was Kittel who came into the sprint ahead with Degenkolb leading him into the final 300 metres. However Cavendish came storming past to take the win with Sagan finishing a close 3rd place. However it was the mid bunch that caused a change in race lead with Simon Yates’ 18th place meaning he took the yellow jersey, to cap a superb rise to form after a number of injuries at the start of the year. Yates was emotional as he topped the podium, telling journalists afterwards, “I’m over the moon I never thought I would be in this position when I missed the Ardennes Classics, as I thought that would be my season over. I’d just like to thank all the team for supporting me, especially Ivan who wanted me here and it worked in the end, so it’s all worth it and I couldn’t be happier.”
Vanmarcke Wins an EPIC stage on the Cobbles.
The favourites going into today’s stage were Simon Yates and Alexander Kristoff, although it says it is a sprint stage this wasn’t going to end in a big bunch sprint. The stage started with a number of riders trying to get in the break as a group could stay away with the difficult cobbled climbs of the Bosberg among others in the final few kilometres. The break was then caught with 60 kilometres to go and Wiggins went with an attack of a couple of outsiders and the bunch let him go, the group gained 4 minutes, however they were brought back over the first cobbled climb by a flying Sep Vanmarcke who soloed to a great win. Behind Tom Boonen and Simon Yates came home 51 seconds back, however the big gain of the day was Adam Yates who moved right up the GC after taking a minute out of the main favourites including his teammate Contador. After his day in the break Bradley Wiggins took the KoM jersey as Yates extended his lead in yellow to 30 seconds. Adam Yates told journalists after, “To be honest I wasn’t expecting to move so far up on GC in one day, I was hoping to gain time but I wasn’t expecting to gain a minute on all the GC guys. The team rode great today I mean to take 4th when there is a load of good classics riders is like a dream for me, and to have Simon in yellow and to take a 3rd place is a great result for us guys and we are super happy.”
Kittel Takes A Superb Win
The main favourite for today’s stage was the Manx Missile as he aimed to go for his 34th stage win as he aims to equal Eddy Merckx record, of course he does already have a record of his own after winning 8 stages during the 2013 Tour De France. That of course isn’t his only record as he won the fastest ever Tour De France stage on stage 10 of the 2013 race after they averaged a staggering 51.3 kilometres per hour. However this stage wouldn’t be as fast as the bunch dawdled along for the first 50 kilometres before the break went away, however the bunch never gave them to big a gap and they were reeled in with 25 kilometres to go, however it was Giant who got the lead out right with Marcel Kittel being given a 4 bike length lead coming out the final corner, which not even a flying Sagan could make up. The man of the moment Mark Cavendish struggled in 7th after his teammate Boonen crashed coming around the outside of Kittel on the final bend. That means that Cavendish will have to wait till tomorrow for another crack at a stage win. Meanwhile Yates held onto the jersey for another couple of days, however he admitted, “I’m tired after yesterday, but I’m happy that today was an easy day for us and I’ll have recovered by tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ve ear marked for a proper crack at the stage win for Andre so we are going to ride for him properly tomorrow.”
Sagan Wins as Contador Loses Time.
With Simon Yates’ words of yesterday’s interview saying this would be a day for Greipel, however the bookies favoured a number of sprinters over the Gorilla. Marcel Kittel went into the stage as favourite after his win yesterday, however Cavendish wasn’t far behind with Sagan the first of the outsiders. The bunch stayed together until the first sprint, which was won by Marcel Kittel with Simon Yates and Greipel 2nd and 3rd. Straight after the sprint 5 riders went away and they built up a two minute lead, however it was Lotto that sent riders to monitor the gap, showing real intent to set up Greipel for the stage win. However on the final climb with 6 kilometres to go there is a big split in the field and Greipel is distanced along with Contador, they’ll cross the line over 2 minutes down on the leaders. The hill took the punch out of Kittel and Cavendish, however Omega pharma led Cavendish out perfectly but he faltered with Sagan capitalising to take a great win. He was followed home by Boasson Hagen of MTN and Yates of Lotto. However the big shock of the day was the breaking of Contador after he struggled over the final climb, he crossed the line and went straight for the team bus, were he normally would of talked to journalists.
Wiggins: A Threat For The Overall Win?
The first Individual time trial of the race was a flat race against the clock. The result was as expected as Bradley Wiggins of Lotto took the win after a close fought battle with Team Sky’s Richie Porte. Wiggins who was behind Porte and 3rd placed Kwiatkowski at the first time check, fought back strongly to take the win by 5 seconds over the 25 mile course. That meant that Wiggins moved to within 11 seconds of the lead of Simon Yates who faltered losing 49 seconds to the stage winner, meanwhile Adam Yates moved up to third place on GC after finishing 27 seconds back on Wiggins. It meant that he appears to be the leader for Lotto on the GC, after Contador is now 3 minutes behind Yates after losing a couple more seconds in Today’s race against the clock. However Chris Froome and Tejay Van Garderen gained some time back on Yates after strong rides along the course. Wiggins said after the stage, “I’m glad to get the win and to be up at the front of the race, it would be a dream for me to win the Tour De France again, however I’m here to ride for Adam and Alberto, but sure I want to win the race again so if the opportunity aroused I’d take it. Today wasn’t a stage for Adam though and the mountains wont be a stage for me. I mean I’m talking as if Adam is our leader but I don’t know and I’m not sure he knows, but on paper now he should be.” So does Wiggins think he can win the Tour now? “Well I wouldn’t say I couldn’t, I’ve got good form and I’m in a good place so I guess I could if I was leading the team, but I’m here to ride for Adam and Alberto.”
Results After Stage 7
Stage
1
Bradley Wiggins
Lotto Belisol
45'20
2
Richie Porte
Team Sky
+ 5
3
Michal Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 10
4
Edvald Boasson Hagen
MTN - Qhubeka
+ 11
5
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+ 19
6
Tom Dumoulin
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
7
Tejay van Garderen
BMC Racing Team
+ 21
8
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
+ 27
9
Geraint Thomas
Team Sky
+ 29
10
Alberto Contador
Lotto Belisol
+ 36
16
Simon Yates
Lotto Belisol
+ 49
Overall
1
Simon Yates
Lotto Belisol
24h03'08
2
Bradley Wiggins
Lotto Belisol
+ 11
3
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
+ 59
4
Michal Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 1'27
5
Peter Kennaugh
Lotto Belisol
+ 2'47
6
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+ 2'55
7
Andrew Talansky
Garmin Sharp
+ 3'09
8
Tom Boonen
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 3'12
9
Cadel Evans
Orica GreenEdge
+ 3'24
10
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 3'29
Points
1
Peter Sagan
Tinkoff - Saxo
0
191
2
Marcel Kittel
Team Giant - Shimano
0
146
3
Simon Yates
Lotto Belisol
0
130
4
Mark Cavendish
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
0
125
5
Edvald Boasson Hagen
MTN - Qhubeka
13
106
KoM
1
Bradley Wiggins
Lotto Belisol
0
4
2
Sep Vanmarcke
Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
0
2
3
Tom Boonen
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
0
1
4
Peter Sagan
Tinkoff - Saxo
0
1
5
Zdenek Stybar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
0
1
Young Rider
1
Michal Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
45'30
+ 1'27 (3)
2
Tom Dumoulin
Team Giant - Shimano
+ 9
+ 3'35 (6)
3
Adam Yates
Lotto Belisol
+ 17
+ 59 (2)
4
Simon Yates
Lotto Belisol
+ 39
24h03'08 (1)
5
Peter Kennaugh
Lotto Belisol
+ 1'20
+ 2'47 (4)
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So Here we are The Mountains, the start of the true Tour De France, and the day that many people will hope to see the GC favourites come to the fore. This is a day that the lotto team will have circled with a big red marker pen to show there strength and power on the first big day. The bookies favourites were the big guns, Froome, Contador and maybe surprisingly considering Quintana and the rest are here, Adam Yates. Before the stage Simon Yates admitted, "This is going to be my last day in the lead, as Adam and Brad are just behind me on GC so I'm going to lose it to one of them at least." A very honest view from the current leader of the Tour De France. In the early part of the race a break went away containing Andre Greipel and Michael Rogers, however the big surprise was Simon Yates doing all the work on the front of the bunch, he then was able to pick up the sprint to move up to 3rd in the Points Classification. On the final few climbs Lotto set an unbelievable tempo with Wiggins and Kennaugh killing themselves for their leaders. Then with 3 kilometres to go Yates attack to bridge across to Rodriguez, then in the final kilometre he tries o go again, but Quintana is coming fast. Quintana is flying now. Quintana takes a great mountain stage win! Wiggins now Leads The Race by 48 seconds from Yates.
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The fact that everyone though would be true is now official, The Yates Brothers are leaving Lotto. However what many fans wouldnt be expecting is the new team they are going to! McLaren Honda are expanding their sponsorship from Formula 1 to cycling. The formula 1 team that boasts back to back world champion Jenson Button. The 3 World Championship victories, is believed to have pushed for the cycling team as he himself is a huge fan of the sport. Button told the media, "After all the stop start with Fernando Alonso's team, and now he's been here with us for a few years now, so we both pushed for the cycling team and I hope that I can help with the team as I very much want to." Of course the two leaders of the team will be The Yates Brothers, and it means that they can form a team suited to their targets, therefore expect the brothers to choose their loyal teammates of the past and it seems like they have already started recruiting with ex teammates like Geraint Thomas, Jens Voigt and Teo Geoghegan Hart already pledging allegiance to the team. However the team will also have a development team to help young riders to develop and its believed that the team will feature a number of up and coming British riders including, climber and stage racer contenders like Joseph Armstrong, as well as talented sprinters such as Richie Allen, Ben Moody and Jordan Stanworth. Adam Yates told the media yesterday, "I think everyone knew we were going to move at the end of the year, and I like what Darren and the McLaren team were trying to do. I mean I'm good friends with Jenson as we live near each other in Monaco and Manchester so we often go on bike rides together and when he told me he would be involed I knew it would be a good team. I'm happy as I get to pick the guys I want, although the sponsor has a few requests for riders so we'll look and pick them from there. I mean I know who I want on the team. I also like the development side of it as it helps to bring on the young, i mean I've ridden with a few of the young guys and there all amazing for their age, so I'm looking forward to getting to help them." Of course for some of the riders linked with the team, it will act as a second chance as Joseph Armstrong was a member of the failed Leopard Trek team, and now aged 18 is making a second effort after losing out aged just 16. He told journalists, "It's great to get a second chance at the big leagues, I mean I was pretty successful at Leopard, but I'm glad to be back. I'm not yet sure which part of the team I'll be on, but I'm looking forward to it none the less.
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The big news that everyone was talking about today, was of course the Yates Brothers new team. McLaren Honda is what all the journalists wanted to here about before the stage, however The Yates Brothers didn't speak to them. With DS Ivan Basso sending the journalists away to allow his riders to focus upon the stage ahead, and what a monster! 6 categorized climbs for the climbers to sink there teeth into. And so the break proved it! Thibaut Pinot and Robert Gesink were among the riders in the break, as well as World Champion Simon Yates, however he was dropped on the first climb and had to drop back to the bunch. However the whole bunch knew he wanted the sprint points, and so it proved with him taking 11th over the line. Gaining points on all his green jersey rivals. Later on in the race Thibaut Pinot attacked the break, meaning he took enough points to take the lead in the KoM standings. On the final climb there's an attack from Froome and he takes a group away with him, but that doesn't include Yates or Contador and Wiggins is a long way back now. Quintana took the stage win, as Kwiatkowski takes the GC lead by 13 seconds from Yates with Froome moving up to 3rd. Wiggins loses 5 minutes and drops to 10th on GC.
Valverde The Mountain Sprinter!
Adam Yates came bouncing back after losing time yesterday, as he was able to follow the attack of Talansky and Froome over the final climb. However Kwiatkowski was unable to after finding himself out numbered on the final climb. It meant that Yates took back the GC lead by 33 seconds from Kwiatkowski, with Froome getting ever closer to the lead just 1 minute 15 seconds down. Meanwhile in the Mountains Classification Gesink fought for yet more points as him and Pinot wage war on each other up the climbs. However back to today's stage and Valverde easily won the sprint from a bunch of non sprinters, almost making up for his poor GC position after losing a mass of time on the cobbles and on some flat stages. Yates said afterwards, "I'm very happy to get the jersey, and I hope I can keep it for the rest of the race! Next year I will be stronger and with a team solely suited to me, so I'm looking forward to riding for McLaren Honda as they are great in Formula 1, as they dominate the world championships now, so hopefully we can do the same in cycling!
Here we are the longest mountains stage of the race, and it seemed that the peloton weren't to fussed by how long it is. The break went early, but Orica chased it down. Then another similar group went away with Pete Kennaugh and Simon Yates in. Simon Yates then picked up the intermediate sprint meaning he moved up to second in the points ranking. On the final climb of the day, Yates blew and lost over two minutes to Chris Froome who took a great solo stage win. This means that Kwiatkowski goes back into the lead with Yates dropping to 5th just over 2 and a half minutes back. Yates said afterwards, "I just had nothing left, I'm sorry to the team as I didn't manage to pay off their work. I mean after the Giro I'm just tired, I think from now I'm going to have to change my aims and maybe let Contador be our GC guy, but we'll have to see.
Froome Takes The GC Lead
Simon Yates is out of the Tour De France! After struggling home in last place yesterday after crashing on the short descent to the finish, causing him to go to hosiptal. Where it was confirmed he had broken two ribs and his ankle, that means yet again he is hit by setbacks. However back to today's action and with Adam Yates' words still ringing in the ears of journalists the young Briton attacked on the first climb of the day, apparently chasing KoM points and stage wins. He quickly built up a lead of over three minute, putting him in the virtual lead. Then on the penultimate climb Kwiatkowski appear to be cracking and Lotto have seen this and press the pace on, their pulling down the gap to Yates but Kwiatkowski is miles behind now. He's over 12 minutes back by the top of the climb. Then on the final climb there are a couple of attacks but they don't go anywhere and coming into the final kilometre everyone is together, and Froome attacks and takes a second stage win as he moves into the yellow jersey.
Kittel Takes The Stage Win
Marcel Kittel took another sprint stage in what was an uneventful sprint stage after a hard few days in the mountains.
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Thomas Voeckler added another stage win to his collection as he took a well timed win, to mean he just passed second placed Jasper Stuyven as he approached the line. The break had gone early and with no real care from the bunch, they were able to hold on for the win, just under 2 minutes ahead of the bunch, which was led in by Peter Sagan, followed by Dan Martin and Rodriguez.
The Strangest Stage In Tour De France History?
Today's stage may have just been the strangest stage in the history of the Tour, an early break full of sprinters went away containing Bouhanni and Greipel, however with 80 kilometres to go Pierre Rolland and Sylvain Chavanel attacked and bridged across on the final climb. However they were unable to distance Bouhanni on the climb, and on the descent he was able to recover and then kill them both in the sprint. Behind Froome lost a minute to Quintana, but gained time on the rest of the bunch.
Froome Extends Lead
Chris Froome took another great stage win as he extended his lead at the top of the standings of the GC. He came home just 9 seconds ahead of Rodriguez and Dan Martin. The start of the stage seemed pretty simple as an early break containing Thomas Voeckler went away, however they were caught coming onto the final climb. From then on Sky dominated and led Froome to an easy victory as Contador lost more time as did all his teammates who appear to be struggling at the moment.
Yates Bounces Back From Illness
Adam Yates fought hard for the win in today's stage of the Tour De France, he managed to get in an early break with three teammates who worked hard to set him up for what ended up being a close fought finish as Froome chased across hard and closed up to Yates in the final kilometre, however gave Yates the win after easing up before the line. The result meant Yates took the KoM jersey with only a few days to go, a prize he has previously won when working for Froome in last years Tour De France when they both rode for Cannondale. Yates after the stage said, "Today was a hard fought win, which I wouldn't of done without the strength and support of the team. I've suffered a lot for the past few days, but I'm starting to feel better now and maybe I can keep this jersey, but sure I'm gutted I'm not at the top on the GC."
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After yesterday's breakaway triumph Adam Yates was back in the break today, fighting for all the KoM points. However on the penultimate climb he blew dropping from the break like a stone, and ending up over 10 minutes behind the stage winner of Froome. Froome had attacked on the penultimate climb in response to an attack by Contador in a bid to gain time. However Froome distanced Contador and Quintana came home 2nd, with Valverde fighting home for third. So it appears the Froome has all but sealed the GC win, meaning he'll take his 3rd win as many years, meaning he's slowly closing in on the record of 5 Tour De France wins in a row set by Indurain in the early 1990s.
Barguil Holds Off The Pack
Warren Barguil held off the peloton today as the main teams took a break after another difficult few days in the breakaway. Barguil got in the break of the day and then soloed away with 50 kilometres to go. Marcel Kittel led home the pack to make a Giant 1-2, with Boasson Hagen and Farrar 3rd and 4th to double up the places for MTN as well.
Wiggins Wins The Final TT.
Bradley Wiggins Won The Final Time Trial for this years Tour De France having put in a solid and confident performance to seal a close fought GC race, which saw Chris Froome come out on top again, after he came home in second. Meanwhile Tom Dumoulin came home 3rd just 14 seconds back on Wiggins. This also marked the victory in the King Of The Mountains Classification meaning he won his second jersey in as many years, not bad considering he had a stomach bug, which caused him to lose the GC lead. He told journalists, "I'm glad that the race is over, but I'm happy to get the KoM jersey again, as after my illness I thought the race was over for me. I mean I've still got plenty of time to win the Tour De France."
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Change Of Calender Means The Yates Brothers Won't Be Starting The Volta Portugal, After Simon Is Still Out Injured And Adam Is Taking Some Time To Rest.
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