Sorry for the slow update on yesterday's stage -- not much internet connectivity up here in Sun Peaks, BC.
The folks from Phonak played a canny game of "after you, sir" by allowing Oscar Pereiro to take a half-hour on the stage and the yellow jersey. Is this a sign of confidence ("we don't need the jersey now, and we can get it back when we want to") or weakness ("if we have any hope of winning the Tour, we'd better hand over the jersey so we don't kill ourselves by defending it")?
We can't answer that now, but what we do know is Voigt won the stage, Pereiro took the jersey and CSC took over the team classification.
Status quo at the head of the Tour Pool as our key players all neutralized one another. Even Meylina Kandoy took a pause in her relentless march up the rankings. Further back, Alex Lai and Rob Grondin, refreshed from their holiday in Spain, tied for the stage win, with Vicki Thomas in third.
A nod of respect, too, to Mr. Glen, who was a remarkable seventh on the stage, putting the ghastly memories of his lanterne rouge days behind him ...
Date: 15-Jul Stage: 13 Start/Finish: Béziers > Montélimar Distance 230,0 1st VOIGT Jens GER CSC 2nd PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI 3rd CHAVANEL Sylvain FRA COF 4th QUINZIATO Manuel ITA LIQ 5th GRIVKO Andriy UKR MRM 6th MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL 7th EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ 8th BOONEN Tom BEL QSI 9th DA CRUZ Carlos FRA FDJ 10th COYOT Arnaud FRA COF Mountains CHAVANEL Sylvain FRA COF Young rider GRIVKO Andriy UKR MRM Aggressive VOIGT Jens GER CSC Teams CAISSE D’EPARGNE-ILLES BALEARS Overall: Yellow PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI Team TEAM CSC Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots DE LA FUENTE David ESP SDV Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 500 33 13 Peter Metuzals 2 482 33 13 Helena DeVeer 3 461 33 13 Linda Gilligan 4 455 33 13 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 5 447 33 13 Orange Scheisse 6 439 33 13 Meylina Kandoy 7 431 33 13 Markus Chiang 8 429 33 13 Stefan Sander 9 428 33 13 Jamie Bryan 10 419 33 13 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 11 410 17 20 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 12 409 33 13 Steve Proulx 13 403 33 13 Nat Faulkner 13 403 17 20 Tyler Lawlor 15 397 33 13 Grimpeur George 16 393 4 39 Chris Holzauer 17 391 33 13 "Barnet CC" 18 389 33 13 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 19 384 17 20 Ian Dalling 20 383 33 13 Blaine Penny 20 383 33 13 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 22 376 10 29 Julie Deschenes-Furry 23 375 33 13 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 24 370 17 20 Chris & Storm 25 365 33 13 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 26 364 17 20 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 27 361 5 36 Natasha Elliott 28 354 5 36 Derrick St. John 29 353 1 51 Alex Lai 29 353 17 20 Kevin Field "Fev" 31 350 33 13 Mhairi Gilmore 32 347 3 48 Vicki Thomas 32 347 33 13 Doug Hinan 32 347 58 10 Matt Toulouse 35 345 17 20 Jeffrey Furry 36 337 29 16 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 37 336 33 13 Courtnay Romkey 38 335 10 29 Sandy Fulton 39 333 72 3 The Cyclery 40 332 17 20 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 40 332 33 13 Ross Knight 42 328 17 20 Marc Boudreau 43 316 1 51 Rob Grondin 44 313 72 3 Lori Meyers 45 312 33 13 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 46 311 17 20 Gordon Dalling 47 305 10 29 SUPERFAN 47 305 58 10 Julie Jay 49 296 29 16 Neil la Plante 50 289 31 15 Musky Ninja 51 282 72 3 Josh Hall 52 254 72 3 J to the U 53 247 8 34 Richard and Catherine 54 245 58 10 "Dick und Doof" 55 244 14 22 Team Damdom 56 242 31 15 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 57 240 72 3 Wilby McKnight 57 240 27 19 Team Boyz on Bikes 59 238 72 3 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 60 236 58 10 Mike Larochelle 60 236 58 10 Team Oro Rocks 62 234 72 3 Dave Thomas 62 234 72 3 Ed Makarchuk 64 233 58 10 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 65 230 72 3 Jennifer Garrett 66 218 9 33 Kiwi Mike 67 215 58 10 Team 18 Wheeler 68 211 72 3 Shawn Clarke 69 192 28 17 Donelli 70 184 58 10 Reed Archer 70 184 13 25 Adrian Das 70 184 58 10 Larginski 73 181 58 10 Rob Kerr 74 175 72 3 Sheri Jay 75 164 70 7 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 154 57 12 Les Boyz 77 133 84 0 Dave Shirley 78 132 58 10 Chris White 79 119 58 10 Kate Scallion 80 111 14 22 Operation Spain 81 96 84 0 Team OK 82 88 14 22 Los Spics 83 64 70 7 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 50 7 35 Mr. Glen 85 39 84 0 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 86 32 72 3 Il Gatto 87 4 84 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"Posted by kriswestwood at July 16, 2006 10:28 AM