Tour de France - Stage 19

Richie Porte capitalizes on another stage win as the peloton really didn't want any part of chasing the breakaway, and even at one point allowed Alexandre Vinokourov enough time (20 minutes plus) to be in virtually yellow! However they were reeled back to around 10 minutes nearing the finish.

A pretty boring day for Sagan as the large morning breakaway left just 3 points at the sprint point. And since every point counts, Sagan snatched the 3 points while Bennati followed to grab 2. And that was his day in a nutshell as he coasted with the peloton to the finish line.

The GC battle on the other hand was more exciting. Evans triggered the first attack followed by the Schleck brothers on the final climb of the day. Nibali took a few kilometers to react but eventaully bridged the gap to that group. But it was all for nothing as Sanchez and Wiggins combine to drag them back. Just a kilometer from the top it was the yellow jersey creating the next move! Evans and Van den Broeck quickly jumped on his wheel, Nibali however was boxed in! But not to fear as he quickly rejoined the trio on the downhill and even started to pull away from Sanchez and Van den Broeck with the help of Cadel. However when they started sprinting Sanchez was able to pull back the time and keep yellow. The biggest loser on the slopes today, anybody not named
Sanchez, Evans, Van den Broeck, or Nibali as the
rest of the climbers come in more then a 1'30" later.

The final mountain stage provided the final fireworks everyone had hoped for all tour long. The breakaway wasn't even given a chance today as the climbers not only wanted to gain lost time but be rewarded with a stage win as well.

Peter Sagan even extended his points lead back out to 96 points on Bennati after the sprint. And with just 3 stages left, he looks in complete control of continuing his Quest for History into Spain.

But back to the GC battle as a huge bold move was made on top of the HC climb Tourmalee by Nibali as he used the downhill to catch up with teammate Sylvester Szmyd who was riding in the breakaway. Szmyd then continued to pace Nibbles up the next climb two minutes in front of the other climbers. Liquigas really put a lot of effort into planning out today's stage. But it was all for nothing as Sanchez and Evans work together to bring Nibali back! Thus leaving the final upkick to the line left to race. And after watching and waiting Andy Schleck made his move with 3kms to go. Sanchez, Evans, Van den Broeck, and brother Frank still had energy left in the tank to follow, but the same couldn't be said of Nibali. Sanchez gave Andy a run for his money, but in the end it's Andy Schleck snaging a well deserved stage win in a brutal tour for him. Nibali drops from 2nd overall to 4th with Evans and Van den Broeck jumping over him. And with Wiggins losing more time, it looks like it will be a battle between Sanchez and Evans on the stage 20 ITT
that will decide who will win the 2012 Tour de France.

The last sprint stage before the riders raid through Paris on Sunday.



After a few breakaway wins the breakaway looks rather confident
with a 8 minute lead heading through the sprint point.



Bennati scrapes back 2 more points on Sagan's
massive points lead as the peloton rides by.



But Bennati and his RadioShack team doesn't put in the effort
to bring the breakaway back!



Pierrick Fédrigo salutes the home crowd,
who knows it could be another Frenchmen doing the same in two days time
if nobody wants to put in the effort to chase in the peloton.



Using this to his advantage is none other then Vincenzo Nibali,
he still isn't giving up on the idea of winning the Tour.



But somebody should tell him that his dreams are over...



EBH wins the sprint for 8th with Bennati right behind him in 9th.
Sagan gets boxed in and can only manage 19th.
His points lead is cut to 80 points,
surely he can celebrate and start looking forward to the Vuelta.

Tour de France - Stage 21

The final test against the clock proved to be a fantastic finale. With Wiggins just crushing the course and easily taking the stage win it put a lot of pressure on both Evans and Sanchez to preform, and they did. Cadel Evans gave everything he had, but in the end it was the yellow jersey that gave Samuel Sanchez wings to claim his first GT by holding off the Aussie by 19 seconds! Jurgen Van Broeck has enough time to hold off Wiggins for a podium while Nibali rounds out the top 5. There is a 3 minute drop off to get to 6th overall in Denis Menchov, then Fränk Schleck, Robert Gesink, and Andy Schleck.
Jean-Christophe Péraud takes 10th as the best placed Frenchmen.

Come in all Peter Sagan had to do to win the Points competition and keep his Quest for History alive was to stay on his bike...



And I can happily say he did! See you all at the Vuelta in a few weeks.



Anthony Roux makes the French proud as he beats the sprinters
to win on the Champs-Élysées!

Stage

GC

Points

Mountain

Youth