Stage 14: Revel - Ax 3 Domains 183 KM

Stage Favourites:
***** Contador (DSC) Schleck (CSC) Froome (SKY)
**** Klöden (TMO) Valverde (GCE)

What a day we have in order. In the last 50 KM we have two brutal climbs, which are: Port de Pailhères and the final climb up to Ax 3 Domaines. The GC contenders will come to the fore, at the end of the stage we will have a good idea of who is capable of winning this Tour de France.


10 men sneak up the road.

The break of the day: Konovalovas, Fothen, Lofkvist, Lefevre, Veikkanen, Vogondy, Charteau, Pinotti, Merckx and Vaughters. A strong enough break, perhaps strong enough to contest the stage win?


Caisse d'Epargne defending the yellow jersey once again.

Joaquím Rodríguez would start his fifth day in yellow, how would he fair today?


Carlos Sastre on the attack!

Clearly CSC - Saxo Bank have more than just Andy Schleck's wellbeing on their agenda in this tour. With 73 KM to go and the break at 10'00 we see the former TDF winner attack on the flat! A Suicidal move?


Moncoutié and Basso on the attack!

Two riders, attack with 60 KM to go, still needing to get something out of this TDF. Richard Virenque would attack out of the peloton shortly after, but never looks like getting far. He has not had the form in this TDF.


We hit the Port de Pailhères

The race with 41 KM to go:

11 man break (including Sastre who has bridged across)

Moncoutié and Basso @ 8'01

Virenque @ 9'10

L L Sanchez and N Roche @ 9'50

Peloton @ 10'20



Luis Leon Sanchez (@ 4'11) and Nico Roche (@ 4'50) would attack out of the peloton, the peloton soon accelerates as these two are too far up in GC to be allowed any leeway.


Schleck, Evans and Nibali attack early!

As Sastre distances the original break, well up the road, the favourites are attacking yet we are still one the Port de Pailhères. Valverde, in his role as super domestique, shuts down these moves but some favourites are really suffering ....


28 KM to go.

Sastre takes 20 KOM points at the top of the climb, with only Axel Merckx being within 1'00. With the peloton over 8 minutes behind Sastre looks like he is bound to pick up CSC's second stage win.


Vinokourov in trouble!

Alexander Vinokourov, despite being the most aggressive GC rider in this Tour, is dropped on the Port de Pailhères. We mean WELL DROPPED! Maybe the Kazakh is suffering after his constant attacks in the first two weeks of this Tour de France.

Race with 28 KM to go:

Sastre

Merckx @ '58

24 man GC group (Evans, Schleck, Valverde, Yellow Jersey) 8'20

25 man GC group (Froome, Contador) @ 8'50

Vinokoruov @ 10'06


Nibali descending.

The Italian, who is after a podium, ensures both GC groups form up on the descent before the tough final climb.


Froome attacks!

Almost as soon as we hit the final climb Chris Froome puts in a big attack. This really tests the metal of the other favourites.


Froome brought back.

Upping of the pace by Leipheimer and Nibali, with the rest of the favourites in tow, ensure Froome is brought back. Will there be another attack as the likes of Klöden and Moreau are distanced?


Froome speeds up the mountain.

Froome would be the next to attack. This time there would be no bringing him back as he catches stragglers from the early break. Sastre has now won the stage, but a good ride from Froome will see him put major time into the other GC men.


Contador/ Schleck: The best of the rest.

Alberto Contador didn't destroy everyone on the final mountain today so it looks his quest for the GC win is over. However, behind Froome he climbed the final mountain the quickest with Andy Schleck not too far behind.

Cadel Evans and Chris Horner lead home a 14 man group home, including the yellow jersey '52 behind Froome. Lotto - Domo show they are geared for the team ranking title with the immensely impressive accolade of having 3 riders finish in the top 7 today, with Merckx holding on for 2nd.

Joaquím Rodríguez would hold the GC lead but Froome now looks the man to beat in this Tour after rising to 2nd.


SASTRE!

The Spanish super climber takes the stage win after a superb solo ride today. He summited first on the two major climbs and therefore moves into the polka dots.

Vinokourov was the big loser today he falls from 2nd to 12th just like that, T-Mobile look set for a difficult week.

Stage 15: Pamiers - Bagneres-de-Luchon

Stage Favourites:
***** Froome (SKY) Valverde (GCE) Evans (LOT)
**** Schleck (CSC) Rodriguez (GCE) Sastre (CSC)

Another day in the mountains. The Port de Balès (19 KM @ 6.2%) is the key climb of this stage, however, with a 20 KM descent to the finish it may be too far from home to see the favourites distancing each other.


Green Jersey, Freire, being protected.

A 12 man break got away today, the riders: Miller, Pozzato, Halgand, Pinot, Flecha, van Garderen, Dessel, Mercado, Knees, Kern, Navarro and Hesjedal were the riders. With Pozzato (@ 1hr +) being the best placed, there were certainly no troubles for the GC men, although many in this break would have eyes on Sastre's King of the Mountains jersey.


The fight rages on.

Boonen (3 points), Hushovd (2 points) and Zabel (1 point) would be the only sprinters to pick up points today, the fight for green is not over.


Not a good few kilometres for Europcar.

With 83 KM we would see Tommy Voeckler fall and with 80 KM to go we would see Pierre Rolland hit the deck. Not the best three kilometres for Europcar in this Tour de France.


No break win today?

The break seems well in control with 60 KM to go. We have Sky Procycling and CSC - Saxo Bank doing the lion share of the pace setting. Porte, Wiggins, Voigt, Kiryienka, Cuesta and Sastre are all taking turns.


VIVE LE FRANCE!

We hit the Port de Balès and the favourites soon attack. With 33 KM to go Moreau (@ 2'40) and Voeckler ( @ 2'27) attack out of the peloton, these two are too high up in GC to be allowed any distance.

they are soon caught .....


Only to attack again!

This time the yellow jersey goes with them!


It is all kicking off!

Froome is the next to put in a dig. The rain pours down, but does not saturate the attacking spirit of many of the GC men.

Only Dessel and Kern hang out in front of the peloton with hundreds of metres of the climb to go.


Kern takes the KOM points

Christophe Kern takes the 20 points after summiting the Port de Balès first, with Cyril Dessel right on his coattails.

The race with the 20 KM descent to the finish:

Kern and Dessel

Evans, Valverde, Kloden, Schleck, Froome, Contador, Rodriguez, Nibali @ '43

Rest of the GC men @ 1'10

The question is will the GC men take risks on the wet descent? ....


Kern and Dessel pull out time!

The two Frenchman are putting in the descent of their lives as the gap to the GC men grows out to 1'10 with 10 KM to go, behind GC groups merge as no one is willing to take major risks today.


Dessel vs. Kern for the win!

Kern drives along into the last few hundred meters, knowing Cyril Dessel is all that stands between him and victory. Can Dessel come around the strong Europcar rider?


Win NO.2 for AG2R!

Cyril Dessel wins stage 15, making it a second stage win for AG2R in a spectacular TDF for them. Dessel and Kern rode terrifically to hold off the peloton, surviving the dramatic descent.


Nibali leads home the favourites.

Vincenzo Nibali finishes 3rd today, leading home the 25 man yellow jersey group. Joaquím Rodríguez will start stage 16 in the race lead his 7th day in yellow. The favourites showed sparks today, but there were no fireworks and therefore we have a large group of favourites finishing together.


Dessel!

What a win!

Stamps Unlocked: (0)

Stage Results:

Stage 16: Bagnères de Luchon - Pau 199 KM

Stage Favourites:
***** Rodriguez (GCE) Valverde (GCE) Froome (SKY)
**** Sastre (CSC) Evans (LOT) Schleck (CSC)

The penultimate day in the mountains is jam packed with mountains. Today is the day for those who want to be King of the Mountains here, summit first on all climbs and 60 KOM points are yours. However, we might not see any action from the GC men with a 57 kilometre descent from the peak of the last climb to the finish line.


Sérgio Paulinho leads the peloton early on.

The Portuguese rider sets the pace, he has had a good TDF already.


The Break: Kern, Pinot and Hesjedal.

Three quality climbers make the break today, all started well down in GC so they were allowed some lead. Kern started the stage 9 in the KOM classification with 23 points. However, all three had eyes on the polka dots today.


Kern beats Pinot to this summit.

The three riders could hardly have split the KOM points on offer today. Kern and
Pinot would each take 50 KOM points and Hesjedal would take 44 KOM points.


Iban Mayo!

Surely it is too late for the Euskaltel rider to take victory today, he attacks with the break at 14'38. Moncoutié and Riblon (18th) would also attack, but could not match Mayo on the col d'Aubisque.

Race with 76 KM to go:

Hesjedal, Pinot and Kern

Lefèvre (Who was in no mans land for most of the day) @ 2'48

Mayo @ 14'00

Moncoutié and Ribon @ 14'20

Peloton @ 14'38

No action from the big favourites today, they will save it for the Tourmalet tomorrow.


Hesjedal summits the Col d'Aubisque.

The Canadian, has clearly recovered after his injuries, and is on a real charge today. He would drop both Pinot and Kern on the descent, one after the other. The victory was surely his with 57 KM to go, wasn't it?


Sagan creeping up the points ranking.

Sagan would take 9 points at the intermediate sprint point today, the only sprinter to take any points. This would move him into 2nd in that competition, level with Boonen on 163 points.

With 57 KM to go Mayo was 5'30 behind Hesjedal, It looked like a 3rd win was coming for Garmin - Cervelo.


Mayo will catch Hesjedal!

We still have over 10 KM to go and Iban Mayo has Ryder Hesjedal in his sights! Few can believe their eyes. Hesjedal, is really struggling to turn the pedals over, can he recover?


Mayo passes Hesjedal knowing the victory is in bag!

Iban Mayo would fly straight past the Canadian and continue on for the stage victory in Pau. Knowing the victory was in the bag made the final few kilometres very sweet indeed.

Hesjedal, would hang on for 2nd but, loses more than 2'00 to Mayo in the final 10 KM. Kern holds on for third.


Riblon and Moncoutié

Riblon would move up to 17th in GC and Moncoutié would move up to 24th, minor rewards for their efforts today.

Valverde and Pereiro lead the 80 man peloton home at 10'45 today.


Win No.2 for Euskaltel - Euskadi

If you offered the Basque team two stage wins before this TDF they would gladly have accepted that. Thanks to Etxebarria and, now, Mayo they have multiple wins in the bank.


Kern: Polka dots for good?

Christophe Kern takes the polka dots. It is mathematically possible for onlu five riders to surpass him in that competition.

Stamps Unlocked: (0)

Stage 17: Pau - Col du Tourmalet

Stage Favourites:
***** Schleck (CSC) Contador (DSC) Froome (SKY)
**** Valverde (GCE) Virenque (QSI)

The final mountain stage. We end on the fabled Tourmalet. Rodriguez, Froome, Evans, Schleck .... who will be in yellow at the end of day?


10 tired riders make the break.

This deep into the race many are sure to be running on empty, the break today: Roy, Garate, Flecha, Nocentini, Weening, Knees, Navarro, Lofkvist, Halgand and Merckx.

Merckx (8th w/ 32 points) and Garate (10th w/30 points) were real dangers to take Kern's polka dots.


Hesjedal on the hunt!

The adage 'you can't keep a good man down' certainly applies to Ryder Hesjedal. After finishing empty yesterday he attacks with the break well up the road, no doubt, after some more KOM points.


Honchar on the attack.

The Ukrainian has had one fantastic TDF. He would attack with 80 KM to go, well behind the original chasers. After Riblon leapfrogged him in GC yesterday he may be after revenge and retribution.


Garate claiming more KOM points.

Garate summits the Col du Souler first, if the break stays out-front he has a great chance of moving into the polka dots.

The race with 61 KM to go:

10 man break

Hesjedal @ 2'54

Honchar @ 7'29

Peloton @ 9'26


The Grand Finale!

Before you know it there is just 16 KM left and we are on the Tourmalet. Hesjedal has bridged across to the original break who have a steady gap back to the peloton. Jeremy Roy attacks out of the break. The race:

11 man break

Honchar @ 2'30

Peloton @ 8'36


Mountain Train of Doom!

Kiryienka - Wiggins - Porte, that is the front of the peloton. It is clear Sky want Froome in the yellow jersey .... today!


Voeckler on the attack!

Of the GC men, Tommy Voeckler, is the first to try his luck with 13 KM to go. Being just 2'27 down in GC, he won't be allowed to get away.


Meanwhile.....

The early break have caught Roy and look set to battle out the stage win amongst themselves.


Froome attacks! / Valverde sacrifices himself

Under the 10 KM banner Chris Froome puts in a monster sized attack. He goes flying past Voeckler. Caisse d'Epargne send Valverde to the front to chase Froome down. Is it enough?


Froome is caught.

The next favourite to attack is Levi Leipheimer, but that attack quickly comes to nothing. Perhaps setting up something for Contador later on?


Garate Goes!

With 5 KM to go Juan Manuel Garate attacks the rest of the break with the favourites 2'30 behind. Lofkvist looks the most capable of catching the Spanish climber ... but can't. Is that the stage win for Garate?


Froome!

With 4 KM to go Froome puts in a big attack, the biggest yet. No can go with this one and the other favourites eat Froome's dust as he catches the stragglers from the break.


Froome into the last kilometre.

Froome has well over '40 on the yellow jersey heading into the last kilometre, he is in virtual yellow. Will we see anything more from Joaquím Rodríguez?

Andy Schleck distances the rest of the favourites, shortly followed by Contador in a reversal of stage 14.

The stage win is out of the question for Froome but he looks to be going into yellow.


Hesjedal catches Garate!

The Canadian, using up all of his reserves, comes alongside Garate with 100 meters to go. This is the battle for the stage win and the polka dots jersey. Who would win?

It would be a narrow one ....

Hesjedal takes it!

It is win no.3 for Garmin - Cervelo. Hesjedal wins one of the narrowest finishes up a climb you will ever see, Garate has to settle for second after a valiant attempt. Honchar would move up two places in GC today as he holds on for 3rd.


Froome!

Froome finishes fourth on the stage, he was the quickest favourite up the Tourmalet. Andy Schleck, wasn't too far behind, moves onto the podium today replacing Valverde who sacrificed himself for Rodriguez.

Contador moves up to 10th with the likes of Klöden and Vinokourov struggling on the final climb.


Hesjedal in polka dots.

What a battle we have had for the mountain jersey. There are no more categorised climbs at this Tour de France so only Hesjedal abandoning will see the jersey change hands.


Froome moves into yellow!

The performance of Team Sky has to be admired. They set the pace up the final climb and Froome was good enough to finish it off. He is now the overwhelming favourite to win the GC here.

Stamps Unlocked: (1)