Things got slightly more difficult today. The winding and hilly route offered a mixture of rises and inclines, such as the first 2nd category climb in the race. It wasn't exactly the Alps, but distinctly lumpy compared to what we have seen so far.
[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/zabel.jpg[/IMG-r]
However, if it all came together, there was a certain German ready to pounce. The man with most the green jersey in Tour history, Erik Zabel (Milram), hasn't had luck on his side so far. Two 2nd places is closest he has come in the sprints. As one of the stronger sprinters going uphill, Zabel had probably been looking forward to this stage.
Rabobank leads the peloton over the 2nd category climb, almost four minutes down on the five escapees. The Dutch team was hoping to bring it back for their sprinter Oscar Freire.
The gap to the five leaders dwindled on the long downhill towards the last climb. As the breakaway hit the last climb, Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) decided to take matters into his own hands!
Landaluze didn't want anyone slowing him down, as the peloton was closing in rapidly.
The other four escapees had nothing to respond with after a long day in the saddle. Landaluze easily got away. The peloton was steaming up the climb though, sweeping up the other breakaway riders. Would the Euskaltel rider be swept up too? He kept a slender lead across the top of the climb. Only the downhill was left now.
The peloton thundering down the hill in pursuit of Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel).
As he reached the last few flat kilometres, Landaluze could feel the peloton breathing down his neck! He mobilized all his strength to keep the pedals going, and in the end he was rewarded with the stage victory!
The controversial Basque climber wins in Autun!
Just seconds behind, came the peloton. They had been fooled yet again. Surprisingly, the yellow jersey won the sprint for second!
Chavanel brings in the peloton.
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) therefore extends his lead in the general classification. Some sprinters, like Boonen, Hushovd and Zabel, managed to cling on to the peloton over the last climb, but exhausted as they were, they couldn't manouvre themselves to the front.
The Frenchman also led the breakaway over the Tour's only 2nd category climb so far, Haut-Folin.
The breakaway on the final climb.
Iñigo Landaluze with his winning move.
Race leader Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) looked good on the final climb.
The Caisse d'Epargne team were the main pace-setters behind Landaluze on the 3rd category climb.
Today's stage claimed its first casualty among the big names. Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) lost four minutes. The former top climber is no longer who he once was.
Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) descending towards the finish.
The Euskaltel rider's advantage wasn't much as he went under the flamme rouge.
But it was enough, as he could raise his hands to celebrate victory.
Back to back breakaway wins, I think that was the first unrealistic stage
But none the less I love the report style. Edited by Mresuperstar on 04-06-2012 23:16
lluuiiggii wrote:
Great win for Chavanel, but one stage too early of his real life combativity award Looking forward for the hillier terrain
Things tend to happen a bit early in this Tour
Boonen's stage win, Chavanel on the attack, and now Landaluze, who wasn't in the breakaway until stage 7 in the real Tour de France. Michael Rasmussen will probably win tomorrow's flat stage
Like others have already said, the report is amazing again Really liked the pics again, my favorites are Landaluze attacking (report) and descending (photogallery). I also liked a lot Chavanel going away from Patxi's pic in stage 4. Really looking forward for the mountains
Schleck 2nd in the sprint, I agree with Mresuperstar, first unrealistic stage.
But still a nice presentation, I guess we're all just waiting for the mountains now!
Today was to be the last chance for the sprinters for a while. After the first few hilly kilometres, the peloton reached the plains of Bresse. It was flat and fast, and certain to come down to a bunch sprint.
The only thing worrying the sprinters was the weather. At the beginning of the stage, it was awful, with the rain pouring down. Eight courageous riders defied the wet conditions and established today's breakaway. They were an easy match for the peloton though, despite the escapee Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) trying on his own for a few kilometres after the others had been caught.
After going solo, Elmiger was finally caught 11 kilometres from Bourg-en-Bresse.
Eventually, the weather lightened a bit. The rain disappeared, and the finish probably wouldn't be as dangerous as first expected.
All the usual suspects tried to position themselves as far to the front as possible. Once again, Tom Boonen's Quickstep - Innergetic team failed to give him a clear path to victory. The green jersey was not well positioned.
Quickstep - Innergetic losing out.
With Boonen out of contention, it was Robbie McEwen's race to lose. The Aussie didn't disappoint. After a great lead-out from Fred Rodriguez, the Predictor - Lotto sprinter took his second victory of the 2007 Tour de France!
McEwen hits the line ahead of Robert Hunter (Barloworld).
The stage provided no worries for race leader Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis). Andriy Grivko (Milram), who picked up time bonuses out on yesterday's stage, moves past Benoit Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux) because of stage placings and takes over the white jersey for best young rider. That's the first time we have a change in that competition.
Geezar10 wrote:
There's a possibility of the yellow jersey being on a new pair of shoulders soon, cannot wait for the next report.
I don't know. Chavanel might stay within three minutes over Col de la Colombier (plus he's a good descender), so we may have to wait until Tignes (stage 8) to see the GC shaping up. Let's find out
After a week of racing at Le Tour 2007, the first mountain stage in the Alps would certainly upset the status quo and it would likely show the real contenders for overall victory. Today was France's national holiday and huge crowds were certain to be lining the road.
Race leader Sylvain Chavanel faced a tough test today, with the first big climb of this year's Tour, the Col de la Colombière, coming at the end of today's stage. Luckily for him, and anyone else who would be suffering at the summit, there was a 14 kilometre descent down to the finish in Le-Grand-Bornand.
Having been laying low for the first week, the Astana[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/vino-1.jpg[/IMG-r] team would probably come to the fore today. The new team, named after the newly constructed capital city of Kazakhstan, has put together a formidable lineup to help Alexandre Vinokourov to victory. Maybe we would see his first move coming on the Col de la Colombière?
Before the stage, the main favourites were separated in the GC by only about 40 seconds. Andreas Klöden (Astana), the best placed big name, could take over the yellow jersey if Chavanel faltered on the slopes of the Alps.
Alberto Contador (Discovery) encountered some bad luck early in the stage. In the rain, on the way down from the first climb, he crashed not only once, but twice. While pacing him back, his teammate George Hincapie had a flat tire. This wasn't Discovery's lucky day.
Discovery's young Spanish climber Alberto Contador wasn't happy with the wet descent, but eventually he got back into the peloton.
Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) wasn't part of the intital move, but bridged the gap to the breakaway, making it six strong riders out front.
The break, consisting of Fränk Schleck (Team CSC), Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner), Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval), Chris Horner (Predictor - Lotto), Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) and Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) hit the big climb of the day almost four minutes ahead of the pack.
The breakaway consisted mainly of the favourites' domestiques, and Iban Mayo, who lost time on the road to Autun, but was seemingly back to form today. With a healthy advantage on the Colombière, it looked like they were about to fight it out for the stage win. But what happened as the peloton reached the climb?
The Dutch team of Rabobank set the pace in the peloton on the final climb. Was this a day for their leader Denis Menchov or the Danish climber Michael Rasmussen?
Syvlain Chavanel (Cofidis) seemed to have a good day, staying near the front of the bunch. Up the road, Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) tried to go on his own.
Schleck's acceleration dropping Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel).
The Luxembourger only managed to get rid of Mercado, but there was no doubt that Fränk Schleck looked the strongest in the breakaway. In the peloton, not much happened at the front, but the scenes at the back caused grave concerns for a couple of teams!
Andreas Klöden (Astana) and Denis Menchov (Rabobank) were out the back!
Rabobank's pace seemed to have cracked their own captain Denis Menchov, and even more surprising was the weakness of Andreas Klöden. And not only Klöden: Discovery's team leader Levi Leipheimer was also in trouble! Big surprises on the first day in the mountains!
The breakaway, with Iban Mayo in first place, cresting the summit 1'30 ahead of the peloton, where Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) mopped up the remaining points.
Going over the top of the Col de la Colombière, the favourites group had been thinned out quite drastically, and was missing big names like Klöden, Menchov and Leipheimer. But guess who was still there?
The yellow jersey clinging on to the back of the favourites group! What a ride by Sylvain Chavanel!
The leaders, now down to five riders after Mercado (Agritubel) was gone, stayed together on the descent, and would sprint it out for the stage victory in Le-Grand-Bornand. Sitting in the wheel of Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval), Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) timed his sprint perfectly to claim Euskaltel's second stage win!
Victory for Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel)! The Basque rider had ridden up to the breakaway on his own earlier in the stage.
One of the many big stories of the day: Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) defends his yellow jersey.
A minute and four seconds behind the group with Vinokourov and Chavanel, came the big losers of the first Alpine stage: Andreas Klöden (Astana), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Levi Leipheimer (Discovery). Astana were hugely disappointing, with only Vinokourov in the first group.
So, where does that leave us? Astarloza grabs Euskaltel's second win, Robert Hunter (Barloworld) now has the green jersey, young Austrian Bernhard Kohl's (Gerolsteiner) efforts in the breakaway earns him the white jersey, Vinokourov is now the best placed among the favourites, and of course: Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) keeps the yellow jersey! At least for one more day...
Chavanel's Cofidis team leading the peloton through a miserable first half of the stage.
George Hincapie (Discovery) punctures as he helps Contador get back up to the peloton after the Spaniard's two crashes. The day would get even worse for the Discovery team later on.
The cheekiest move of the day: Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) nabs the green jersey through an intermediate sprint.
The breakaway before stage winner Astarloza (Euskaltel) came up: Fränk Schleck (Team CSC), Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval), Chris Horner (Predictor - Lotto), Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) and Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner).
Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) closing in on the breakaway. That was some ride by the Basque climber today!
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) looked comfortable on the Col de la Colombière, which was more than you could say about some of the more renowned climbers.
Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) put in several digs on the final climb, but his breakaway companions didn't let him go. Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) did a good showing on the first day in the mountains. Is he finally back to his best?
Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) being paced by his loyal domestique Yaroslav Popovych. Leipheimer lost a minute to the other favourites, and doesn't quite look like a podium candidate anymore.
Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) leading the breakaway on the descent from the Col de le Colombière.
On an otherwise disastrous day for the Discovery team, the performance of young Alberto Contador was the only bright spot. Despite crashing twice, he finished with Vinokourov, Valverde & co.
Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) on the front of the favourite group on the descent. In his wheel is Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), who came through the day without problems. Kirchen's T-Mobile team leader, Michael Rogers, was among the losers.
Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) biding his time in the wheel of Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) as the finishing line was approaching.
Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) crossing the line in Le-Grand-Bornand ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne).
Vinokourov's Astana teammate Andreas Klöden had a day he would rather forget quickly.
The young Austrian Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) got his reward for a strong showing in the breakaway: the white jersey.
Looking forward for the hillier terrain 
