The inevitable has happened and Floyd Landis took back yellow in today's penultimate stage, a 57 km individual time trial. Mind you, it didn't look inevitable just three days ago and I think this Tour will go down in history as one of the great ones. Landis' ride to Morzine was the stuff of legend.
Despite losing yellow today, Pereiro still put up a game struggle, finishing fourth on the stage, and Kloden did what he had to do by finishing second on the stage behind Honchar -- it just wasn't enough to hold the American off.
So, all the classifications look locked going into tomorrow's final stage to the Champs Elysees: Landis has to crash or something to lose yellow; ditto for Cunego in white; it's mathematically impossible for McEwen and Rasmussen to lose their jerseys (unless they abandon); and T-Mobile have the team ranking wrapped up, too.
Speaking of inevitable, we finally have a new leader in the pool. Peter Metuzals, who led the pool from day one, has surrendered his lead to Chris Holzauer, and Julie Deschenes-Furry (who won yet another stage today) and Paul Crowley sit two and three points behind the Gentle Giant, respectively. It's all gone askew for Helena DeVeer, too, who now sits in ninth overall. 51 points still cover the top 16 entries, though, so a lot may come down to tomorrow's romp to the finish and - who knows - maybe the guess of the number of finishers will come into play as a tie breaker.
Robbie Hunter missed the time cut in the time trial today, bringing us down to 140 riders, a number picked by Luise Sander, Linda Gilligan, Sheri Jay and Boyz on Bikes. Paul Scafel and Tyler Lawlor will be hoping for another abandon to bring it to 139, and there are still 32 entries that guessed fewer than 140, though none so pessimistic as Jennifer Garrett with 98.
Enjoy the final stage, there's more action to come!
-- KW
Date: 22-Jul Stage: 19 Start/Finish: C.L.M. Ind. - Le Creusot > Montceau-les-Mines Distance 57,0 1st HONCHAR Serhiy UKR TMO 2nd KLÖDEN Andréas GER TMO 3rd LANDIS Floyd USA PHO 4th PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI 5th LANG Sebastian GER GST 6th ZABRISKIE David USA CSC 7th EKIMOV Viatceslav RUS DSC 8th EVANS Cadel AUS DVL 9th GRABSCH Bert GER PHO 10th CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM Aggressive Teams T-MOBILE TEAM Abandon HUNTER Robert RSA PHO Overall: Yellow LANDIS Floyd USA PHO Team T-MOBILE TEAM Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 590 7 38 Chris Holzauer 2 581 47 22 Peter Metuzals 3 579 1 43 Julie Deschenes-Furry 4 578 12 34 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 5 571 18 32 Meylina Kandoy 6 562 4 40 Grimpeur George 7 561 6 39 Vicki Thomas 8 560 22 30 Linda Gilligan 9 559 47 22 Helena DeVeer 10 558 2 42 Nat Faulkner 11 556 22 30 Tyler Lawlor 12 553 18 32 Markus Chiang 13 552 54 20 Stefan Sander 14 546 33 27 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 15 543 33 27 Jamie Bryan 16 539 30 29 Ian Dalling 17 536 12 34 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 18 534 33 27 Orange Scheisse 19 526 22 30 Alex Lai 20 520 10 35 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 21 518 18 32 Derrick St. John 21 518 40 25 Rob Grondin 23 510 8 37 "Barnet CC" 24 502 22 30 Marc Boudreau 25 499 8 37 Gordon Dalling 26 498 33 27 Blaine Penny 27 496 30 29 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 28 494 22 30 Jeffrey Furry 29 482 4 40 SUPERFAN 29 482 22 30 Matt Toulouse 29 482 33 27 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 32 481 63 15 Steve Proulx 33 478 47 22 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 34 473 12 34 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 35 471 69 13 Chris & Storm 36 470 12 34 Courtnay Romkey 37 459 12 34 Ross Knight 38 456 33 27 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 38 456 63 15 Mhairi Gilmore 40 449 47 22 Kevin Field "Fev" 41 437 40 25 Doug Hinan 42 432 63 15 Sandy Fulton 43 427 10 35 Richard and Catherine 43 427 72 8 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 45 420 72 8 Natasha Elliott 46 407 22 30 Josh Hall 47 398 40 25 Julie Jay 48 397 39 26 Team Damdom 49 396 61 17 The Cyclery 50 393 61 17 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 51 387 12 34 J to the U 52 376 63 15 Lori Meyers 52 376 69 13 Neil la Plante 54 367 47 22 Team Oro Rocks 55 357 54 20 Musky Ninja 56 351 44 24 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 57 349 2 42 Shawn Clarke 58 348 63 15 Ed Makarchuk 59 343 22 30 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 60 340 54 20 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 61 331 30 29 Jennifer Garrett 62 329 54 20 Mike Larochelle 63 311 47 22 Chris White 64 308 72 8 "Dick und Doof" 65 306 80 5 Wilby McKnight 66 304 40 25 Rob Kerr 67 292 47 22 Reed Archer 68 289 80 5 Kiwi Mike 69 287 60 18 Adrian Das 70 274 18 32 Dave Shirley 71 262 72 8 Team 18 Wheeler 72 249 71 9 Donelli 73 248 54 20 Les Boyz 74 245 44 24 Kate Scallion 75 237 84 0 Team Boyz on Bikes 76 231 80 5 Sheri Jay 77 229 84 0 Dave Thomas 78 204 84 0 Larginski 79 197 83 3 "Team Wheelywotten" 80 175 72 8 Operation Spain 81 159 72 8 Los Spics 82 154 54 20 Team OK 83 141 63 15 Mr. Glen 84 138 44 24 Il Gatto 85 117 72 8 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 86 104 72 8 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 87 -3 84 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"
A typical transitional stage today, with the contenders happy to let the no-hopers play up the road while they wait for the time trial. Matteo Tosatto saved the Tour for Quick Step, who lost Boonen a couple days ago, with the stage win. In other news, Freire dropped out. McEwen pretty much has a lock on the green jersey anyway, so it doesn't change too much.
Meanwhile in Germany, Jan Ullrich got fired by his team, so things aren't great for the Kaiser.
Despite the relatively inconsequential stage, there were some changes in the pool. Metuzals' lead is down to a mere seven points over Holzauer, and DeVeer has dropped another place to fifth. Julie Deschenes-Furry took the stage and moved up to sixth overall, within striking distance of the overall win. The top 16 in the pool are covered by a mere 50 points now ...
On another note, there are now 141 riders left in the Tour. Three entries picked that number: Rob Kerr, Barnet CC and Superfan. Cross your fingers there are no Julich-style crashes tomorrow!
It's going to be an awesome TT ...
By the way, the list of prizes for this year's Pool has yet to be published. We haven't forgotten, we're just waiting for them all to come in.
-- KW
Date: 21-Jul Stage: 18 Start/Finish: Morzine > Mâcon Distance 197,0 1st TOSATTO Matteo ITA QSI 2nd MORENI Cristian ITA COF 3rd SCHOLZ Ronny GER GST 4th QUINZIATO Manuel ITA LIQ 5th HINAULT Sébastien FRA C.A 6th PINEAU Jérôme FRA BTL 7th CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R 8th VAUGRENARD Benoît FRA FDJ 9th ISASI Inaki ESP EUS 10th MARTINEZ Egoi ESP DSC Mountains CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R Young rider VAUGRENARD Benoît FRA FDJ Aggressive LEIPHEIMER Levi USA GST Teams GEROLSTEINER Abandon LOPEZ GARCIA David ESP EUS Abandon FREIRE Oscar ESP RAB Overall: Yellow PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI Team T-MOBILE TEAM Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 559 44 6 Peter Metuzals 2 552 7 17 Chris Holzauer 3 544 30 10 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 4 539 11 13 Meylina Kandoy 5 537 57 5 Helena DeVeer 6 536 1 24 Julie Deschenes-Furry 7 532 8 16 Stefan Sander 8 530 44 6 Linda Gilligan 9 526 17 11 Tyler Lawlor 10 522 30 10 Vicki Thomas 10 522 5 18 Grimpeur George 12 521 17 11 Markus Chiang 13 519 30 10 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 14 516 30 10 Nat Faulkner 14 516 30 10 Jamie Bryan 16 510 57 5 Ian Dalling 17 507 44 6 Orange Scheisse 18 502 4 19 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 19 496 14 12 Alex Lai 20 493 2 22 Rob Grondin 21 486 30 10 Derrick St. John 22 485 30 10 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 23 473 44 6 "Barnet CC" 24 472 17 11 Marc Boudreau 25 471 30 10 Blaine Penny 26 467 30 10 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 27 466 17 11 Steve Proulx 28 464 30 10 Jeffrey Furry 29 462 9 15 Gordon Dalling 30 458 17 11 Chris & Storm 31 456 57 5 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 32 455 17 11 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 33 452 17 11 Matt Toulouse 34 442 5 18 SUPERFAN 35 441 17 11 Mhairi Gilmore 36 439 9 15 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 37 436 44 6 Courtnay Romkey 38 429 57 5 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 39 427 57 5 Kevin Field "Fev" 40 425 17 11 Ross Knight 41 419 44 6 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 42 417 30 10 Sandy Fulton 43 412 57 5 Natasha Elliott 43 412 57 5 Doug Hinan 45 392 11 13 Richard and Catherine 46 379 87 -5 The Cyclery 47 377 57 5 Josh Hall 48 376 57 5 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 49 373 57 5 Julie Jay 50 371 3 20 Team Damdom 51 363 17 11 Neil la Plante 52 361 80 0 Lori Meyers 53 353 57 5 J to the U 54 345 44 6 Team Oro Rocks 55 337 74 1 Musky Ninja 56 333 17 11 Ed Makarchuk 57 327 17 11 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 58 320 80 0 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 59 313 44 6 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 60 309 57 5 Mike Larochelle 61 307 43 7 Shawn Clarke 62 302 74 1 Jennifer Garrett 63 301 44 6 Wilby McKnight 64 300 74 1 "Dick und Doof" 65 289 30 10 Chris White 66 284 57 5 Kiwi Mike 67 279 44 6 Rob Kerr 68 270 44 6 Reed Archer 69 269 11 13 Adrian Das 70 254 44 6 Team 18 Wheeler 71 242 14 12 Dave Shirley 72 240 57 5 Donelli 73 237 80 0 Team Boyz on Bikes 74 229 80 0 Dave Thomas 75 228 74 1 Les Boyz 76 226 57 5 Sheri Jay 77 221 17 11 Kate Scallion 78 204 74 1 Larginski 79 194 86 -4 "Team Wheelywotten" 80 167 72 2 Operation Spain 81 151 72 2 Los Spics 82 134 80 0 Team OK 83 126 14 12 Mr. Glen 84 114 30 10 Il Gatto 85 109 44 6 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 86 96 74 1 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 87 -3 80 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"
Holy Moses, that was some bike racing. The Floyd Landis show today was so spectacular that it almost made sitting through seven years of the bland Texan worthwhile. Everybody loves a fighter, and I think Landis won over the hearts of a lot of armchair enthusiasts with his amazing alpine exploit.
Not only did Landis dominate the stage (and it was his first career Tour stage win) and ride himself back into GC contention, but he caused such confusion behind that it messed everything else up. De la Fuente, who already lost the polka dot jersey to Rasmussen yesterday, dropped to third on the climber standings. Fothen lost the white jersey to Cunego. T-Mobile is back on top of the team standings. Mercado, Marchante, Rujano and Perdiguero all dropped out. And the top three on the overall GC are separated by just 30 seconds with two flat stages and a 57 km time trial to go.
I won't even try to predict what's going to happen between now and Sunday ...
Catherine and Richard, your gracious Tour Pool breakfast hosts, took stage honours, narrowly beating Vicki Thomas and Julie Deschenes-Furry. Meanwhile, Chris Holzauer has sprung past Crowley and DeVeer to move into second in the pool just 18 points behind the faltering Metuzals. Crowley sits third and DeVeer has had her "jour sans" and is now fourth with Meylina Kandoy, Linda Gilligan, Stefan Sander, Tyler Lawlor, Vicki Thomas, Julie Deschenes-Furry, Markus Chiang, Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson, Nat Faulkner, Jamie Bryan, Ian Dalling, Grimpeur George and Orange Scheisse all lining up to take her spot.
There was movement at the back of the pool, too, with Il Gatto pouncing up to fourth-last and Luise Sander dropping to the Lanterne Rouge runner-up spot.
The time trial on Saturday is going to be fun ... !
-- KW
Date: 20-Jul Stage: 17 Start/Finish: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Morzine Distance 200,5 1st LANDIS Floyd USA PHO 2nd SASTRE Carlos ESP CSC 3rd MOREAU Christophe FRA A2R 4th CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM 5th BOOGERD Michael NED RAB 6th SCHLECK Frank LUX CSC 7th PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI 8th KLÖDEN Andréas GER TMO 9th ZUBELDIA Haimar ESP EUS 10th EVANS Cadel AUS DVL Mountains LANDIS Floyd USA PHO Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM Aggressive LANDIS Floyd USA PHO Teams RABOBANK Abandon MERCADO Juan Miguel ESP AGR Abandon GOMEZ MARCHANTE Jose Angel ESP SDV Abandon RUJANO José VEN QSI Abandon MARTIN PERDIGUERO M.Angel ESP PHO Overall: Yellow PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI Team T-MOBILE TEAM Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 553 55 23 Peter Metuzals 2 535 10 40 Chris Holzauer 3 534 18 37 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 4 532 55 23 Helena DeVeer 5 526 10 40 Meylina Kandoy 6 524 50 24 Linda Gilligan 7 516 47 25 Stefan Sander 8 515 32 29 Tyler Lawlor 9 512 2 53 Vicki Thomas 9 512 3 52 Julie Deschenes-Furry 11 510 37 28 Markus Chiang 12 509 37 28 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 13 506 25 32 Nat Faulkner 13 506 37 28 Jamie Bryan 15 505 4 47 Ian Dalling 16 504 27 31 Grimpeur George 17 501 45 26 Orange Scheisse 18 484 7 44 Alex Lai 19 483 9 42 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 20 476 16 38 Derrick St. John 21 475 32 29 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 22 471 5 45 Rob Grondin 23 467 43 27 "Barnet CC" 24 461 13 39 Marc Boudreau 24 461 37 28 Blaine Penny 26 457 25 32 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 27 455 76 10 Steve Proulx 28 454 32 29 Jeffrey Furry 29 451 77 8 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 30 447 8 43 Gordon Dalling 30 447 73 11 Chris & Storm 32 444 37 28 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 33 441 32 29 Matt Toulouse 34 430 16 38 Courtnay Romkey 34 430 30 30 Mhairi Gilmore 36 424 13 39 SUPERFAN 36 424 23 33 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 36 424 43 27 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 39 422 55 23 Kevin Field "Fev" 40 414 18 37 Ross Knight 41 413 78 6 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 42 407 47 25 Sandy Fulton 42 407 50 24 Doug Hinan 42 407 78 6 Natasha Elliott 45 384 37 28 The Cyclery 46 379 1 54 Richard and Catherine 47 372 20 36 Josh Hall 48 371 67 18 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 49 368 50 24 Julie Jay 50 361 68 16 Lori Meyers 51 352 73 11 Neil la Plante 52 351 22 34 Team Damdom 53 348 20 36 J to the U 54 339 23 33 Team Oro Rocks 55 336 64 19 Musky Ninja 56 322 30 30 Ed Makarchuk 57 320 27 31 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 58 316 60 22 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 59 307 50 24 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 60 304 64 19 Mike Larochelle 61 301 27 31 Jennifer Garrett 62 300 13 39 Shawn Clarke 63 299 73 11 "Dick und Doof" 64 295 63 20 Wilby McKnight 65 279 5 45 Chris White 65 279 70 15 Kiwi Mike 67 273 50 24 Rob Kerr 68 264 55 23 Reed Archer 69 256 45 26 Adrian Das 70 248 78 6 Team 18 Wheeler 71 237 83 0 Team Boyz on Bikes 72 235 81 5 Donelli 73 230 10 40 Dave Shirley 74 229 83 0 Dave Thomas 75 227 32 29 Les Boyz 76 221 70 15 Sheri Jay 77 210 60 22 Kate Scallion 78 203 83 0 Larginski 79 198 82 1 "Team Wheelywotten" 80 165 70 15 Operation Spain 81 149 55 23 Los Spics 82 134 64 19 Team OK 83 114 47 25 Mr. Glen 84 104 60 22 Il Gatto 85 103 68 16 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 86 95 87 -4 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 87 -3 83 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"
If you heard a distant rumbling on the horizon this morning, that was probably the sound of Floyd Landis blowing up and losing 10 minutes in the stage to La Toussiere. Oscar Pereiro is now poised to become the fifth Spaniard to win the Tour, after Federico Bahamontes (1959), Luis Ocana (1973), Pedro Delgado (1988) and Miguel Indurain (1991 to 1995).
But it's not game over for the other contenders by any means. There is still a nasty stage to tackle tomorrow, and a 57-kilometre time trial on Saturday. Kloden took a minute out of Pereiro in the first time trial, and he sits at 2:29 now. Sastre sits at 1:50, and he also beat Pereiro in the opening test, but by only 30 seconds. And with the top five riders all within three minutes of the lead, nothing is guaranteed.
As is the case with the pool. Metuzals and DeVeer continue to lead, but a dismal showing on the stage - 80th and 83rd respectively - has tightened the race up considerably. But nobody behind seems to be able to put in a consistent run at the lead. Linda Gilligan could only manage 64th today, Paul Crowley dropped to fourth with a truly awful 82nd, but Chris Holzauer jumped into contention with a second-place finish. Stage winner today was Chris White, but he is too far down to worry the leaders. The top 10 in the pool are covered by 49 points, so it's still open season out there.
A nod to Remi Berube, by the way, who lurched past Il Gatto into 86th overall, leaving Phil Brun del Re to contemplate life at the bottom of the pool.
Hasta manana -- KW
Date: 19-Jul Stage: 16 Start/Finish: Bourg d'Oisans > La Toussuire Distance 182,0 1st RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB 2nd SASTRE Carlos ESP CSC 3rd PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI 4th EVANS Cadel AUS DVL 5th KLÖDEN Andréas GER TMO 6th MOREAU Christophe FRA A2R 7th CAUCCHIOLI Pietro ITA C.A 8th DESSEL Cyril FRA A2R 9th LEIPHEIMER Levi USA GST 10th ZUBELDIA Haimar ESP EUS Mountains RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM Aggressive RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Teams T-MOBILE TEAM Abandon IGLINSKIY Maxim KAZ MRM Abandon JOLY Sébastien FRA FDJ Abandon DE JONGH Steven NED QSI Abandon BENNATI Daniele ITA LAM Abandon KOPP David GER GST Overall: Yellow PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP CEI Team TEAM CSC Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 530 80 7 Peter Metuzals 2 509 83 5 Helena DeVeer 3 500 64 15 Linda Gilligan 4 497 82 6 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 5 495 2 60 Chris Holzauer 6 491 16 39 Stefan Sander 7 486 9 45 Tyler Lawlor 7 486 64 15 Meylina Kandoy 9 482 37 30 Markus Chiang 10 481 27 35 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 11 478 43 28 Jamie Bryan 12 475 80 7 Orange Scheisse 13 474 13 42 Nat Faulkner 14 473 6 52 Grimpeur George 15 460 19 38 Julie Deschenes-Furry 16 459 3 58 Vicki Thomas 17 458 57 18 Ian Dalling 18 446 26 36 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 19 445 37 30 Steve Proulx 20 443 75 11 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 21 441 35 31 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 22 440 29 34 Alex Lai 22 440 53 21 "Barnet CC" 24 438 14 40 Derrick St. John 25 436 9 45 Chris & Storm 26 433 43 28 Blaine Penny 27 426 3 58 Rob Grondin 28 425 12 43 Jeffrey Furry 28 425 69 13 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 30 422 7 50 Marc Boudreau 31 416 37 30 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 32 412 19 38 Matt Toulouse 33 407 64 15 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 34 404 11 44 Gordon Dalling 35 401 55 20 Natasha Elliott 36 400 53 21 Mhairi Gilmore 37 399 73 12 Kevin Field "Fev" 38 397 27 35 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 39 392 49 25 Courtnay Romkey 40 391 59 17 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 41 385 8 47 SUPERFAN 42 383 69 13 Doug Hinan 43 382 56 19 Sandy Fulton 44 377 78 8 Ross Knight 45 356 83 5 The Cyclery 46 353 63 16 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 47 345 48 26 Lori Meyers 48 344 69 13 Julie Jay 49 341 19 38 Neil la Plante 50 336 19 38 Josh Hall 51 325 31 33 Richard and Catherine 52 317 3 58 Team Damdom 52 317 76 10 Musky Ninja 54 312 29 34 J to the U 55 306 24 37 Team Oro Rocks 56 294 33 32 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 57 292 16 39 Ed Makarchuk 58 289 47 27 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 59 288 51 22 "Dick und Doof" 60 285 50 24 Mike Larochelle 61 283 31 33 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 62 275 24 37 Wilby McKnight 63 270 69 13 Jennifer Garrett 64 264 59 17 Kiwi Mike 65 261 51 22 Shawn Clarke 66 249 14 40 Rob Kerr 67 242 64 15 Team 18 Wheeler 68 241 33 32 Reed Archer 69 237 85 0 Team Boyz on Bikes 70 234 1 62 Chris White 71 230 43 28 Adrian Das 71 230 73 12 Donelli 73 229 85 0 Dave Thomas 74 206 43 28 Sheri Jay 75 203 77 9 Larginski 76 198 64 15 Les Boyz 77 197 59 17 "Team Wheelywotten" 78 190 35 31 Dave Shirley 79 188 16 39 Kate Scallion 80 150 37 30 Operation Spain 81 126 42 29 Los Spics 82 115 78 8 Team OK 83 99 59 17 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 89 57 18 Mr. Glen 85 87 19 38 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 86 82 37 30 Il Gatto 87 -3 85 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"
Ouch ouch ouch ... that looked hard. Lots of movement on today's stage, and new yellow jersey Landis looked solid without completely stamping his authority on the race. A promising result from Schleck and Cunego, too.
Now everyone has to recover and do tomorrow's heinous stage, and then do Thursday's merely nasty stage.
Still no real change to the top of the Tour Pool. In fact, Metuzals padded another point onto his lead over DeVeer. But what's this? Paul Crowley has clawed to within 13 points of DeVeer, and Linda Gilligan and Meylina Kandoy continue to stalk the leaders, chipping away at their lead in tiny but significant chunks.
A special nod to the Dalling brothers, who tied, along with Craig Hawkes and his "Sith Riders", for the stage win. It was carnage lower down, as Team Damdom, Wilby McKnight, Team Boyz on Bikes, Dave Thomas and Sheri Jay all lost points on the stage. Happier news for Phil Brun del Re, who gained three points to sit at -3, but he has a solid lock on Lanterne Rouge: he is fully 52 points behind 86th-placed Remi Berube.
Until tomorrow, KW
Date: 18-Jul Stage: 15 Start/Finish: Gap > L'Alpe d'Huez Distance 187,0 1st SCHLECK Frank LUX CSC 2nd CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM 3rd GARZELLI Stefano ITA LIQ 4th LANDIS Floyd USA PHO 5th KLÖDEN Andréas GER TMO 6th LOBATO Ruben ESP SDV 7th CHAVANEL Sylvain FRA COF 8th MAZZOLENI Eddy ITA TMO 9th SASTRE Carlos ESP CSC 10th LEIPHEIMER Levi USA GST Mountains GARZELLI Stefano ITA LIQ Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM Aggressive GARZELLI Stefano ITA LIQ Teams T-MOBILE TEAM Abandon GRIVKO Andriy UKR MRM Abandon BOONEN Tom BEL QSI Abandon DE GROOT Bram NED RAB Abandon ZBERG Beat SUI GST Overall: Yellow LANDIS Floyd USA PHO 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 1 523 40 16 Peter Metuzals 2 504 46 15 Helena DeVeer 3 491 7 28 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 4 485 40 16 Linda Gilligan 5 471 29 19 Meylina Kandoy 6 468 40 16 Orange Scheisse 7 452 40 16 Markus Chiang 7 452 53 14 Stefan Sander 9 450 46 15 Jamie Bryan 10 446 16 22 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 11 441 12 23 Tyler Lawlor 12 440 1 35 Ian Dalling 13 435 16 22 Chris Holzauer 14 432 24 21 Nat Faulkner 14 432 70 6 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 16 422 12 23 Julie Deschenes-Furry 17 421 61 10 Grimpeur George 18 419 16 22 "Barnet CC" 19 415 79 1 Steve Proulx 20 412 1 35 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 21 410 5 29 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 21 410 46 15 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 23 406 9 26 Alex Lai 24 405 46 15 Blaine Penny 25 401 4 34 Vicki Thomas 26 398 16 22 Derrick St. John 27 392 79 1 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 28 391 66 8 Chris & Storm 29 387 16 22 Kevin Field "Fev" 30 386 40 16 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 31 382 16 22 Jeffrey Furry 32 381 69 7 Natasha Elliott 33 379 53 14 Mhairi Gilmore 34 374 16 22 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 34 374 24 21 Matt Toulouse 36 372 12 23 Marc Boudreau 37 370 46 15 Doug Hinan 38 369 5 29 Ross Knight 39 368 10 24 Rob Grondin 40 367 10 24 Courtnay Romkey 41 363 55 13 Sandy Fulton 42 362 29 19 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 43 360 1 35 Gordon Dalling 44 351 61 10 The Cyclery 45 338 24 21 SUPERFAN 46 337 70 6 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 47 331 27 20 Julie Jay 48 319 73 3 Lori Meyers 49 307 46 15 Musky Ninja 50 303 79 1 Neil la Plante 51 298 46 15 Josh Hall 52 292 7 28 Richard and Catherine 53 278 40 16 J to the U 54 269 35 18 Team Oro Rocks 55 266 73 3 "Dick und Doof" 56 262 29 19 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 56 262 29 19 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 58 261 59 11 Mike Larochelle 59 259 83 -1 Team Damdom 60 257 39 17 Jennifer Garrett 61 253 64 9 Ed Makarchuk 62 250 59 11 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 63 247 57 12 Kiwi Mike 64 239 29 19 Shawn Clarke 65 238 84 -2 Wilby McKnight 66 237 85 -5 Team Boyz on Bikes 67 229 85 -5 Dave Thomas 68 227 70 6 Team 18 Wheeler 69 218 57 12 Donelli 70 209 35 18 Rob Kerr 70 209 35 18 Reed Archer 72 202 64 9 Adrian Das 73 194 73 3 Larginski 74 183 27 20 Les Boyz 75 180 66 8 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 178 85 -5 Sheri Jay 77 172 12 23 Chris White 78 159 35 18 Dave Shirley 79 149 16 22 Kate Scallion 80 120 77 2 Operation Spain 81 107 61 10 Team OK 82 97 77 2 Los Spics 83 82 66 8 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 71 55 13 Mr. Glen 85 52 29 19 Il Gatto 86 49 79 1 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 87 -3 73 3 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"
A nail biter of a finish today in Gap, as Fedrigo outfoxed Commesso, and the two of them held off the peloton by a mere seven seconds. Kudos to Christian Vendevelde for a fine 11th-hour move to take third. Too bad Fedrigo waited a couple days after Bastille day for his French hour of glory.
A bizarre and nasty incident took out two popular riders (in the Tour Pool, at least): David Canada busted his collarbone, and Rik Verbrugghe, who went down in sympathy on the same corner, may have broken his leg. Magnus Backstedt is also out, despite the support shown by a number of Tour Pool entries ...
Is the Tour Pool creating domestic strife for one couple? After sharing first place yesterday, Rob Grondin pipped his wife Alex Lai by a single point to take the stage win. We'll let you guys sort that one out. Meanwhile, Metuzals and DeVeer are still 1-2, but the erosion of their lead continues. Do they have enough to hold on until next Sunday?
Sadly, Phil Brun del Re's team nickname, "The Lucky Lucky Nine", has proved to be almost comically inapt. Five of his riders (Brochard, Celestino, Backstedt, Julich and Di Luca) have abandoned, and he has the dubious honour of sitting at -10 points. Lucky he picked O'Grady, otherwise things would be even worse.
Enjoy the rest day, and just think how lucky you are not to be facing two brutal mountain stages on Tuesday and Wednesday!
-- KW
Date: 16-Jul Stage: 14 Start/Finish: Montélimar > Gap Distance 180,5 1st FEDRIGO Pierrick FRA BTL 2nd COMMESSO Salvatore ITA LAM 3rd VANDEVELDE Christian USA CSC 4th MOREAU Christophe FRA A2R 5th TOTSCHNIG Georg AUT GST 6th GARZELLI Stefano ITA LIQ 7th BOOGERD Michael NED RAB 8th MORENI Cristian ITA COF 9th HINCAPIE George USA DSC 10th EVANS Cadel AUS DVL Mountains COMMESSO Salvatore ITA LAM Young rider CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM Aggressive COMMESSO Salvatore ITA LAM Teams LAMPRE-FONDITAL Abandon CELESTINO Mirko ITA MRM Abandon BACKSTEDT Magnus SWE LIQ Abandon CANADA David ESP SDV Abandon VERBRUGGHE Rik BEL COF 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 1 507 55 7 Peter Metuzals 2 489 55 7 Helena DeVeer 3 469 42 8 Linda Gilligan 4 463 42 8 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 5 452 26 13 Meylina Kandoy 5 452 73 5 Orange Scheisse 7 438 37 9 Stefan Sander 8 436 73 5 Markus Chiang 9 435 55 7 Jamie Bryan 10 426 55 7 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 11 424 21 14 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 12 418 16 15 Tyler Lawlor 13 414 73 5 Steve Proulx 14 413 7 20 Chris Holzauer 15 411 42 8 Nat Faulkner 15 411 21 14 Grimpeur George 17 405 5 21 Ian Dalling 18 399 3 23 Julie Deschenes-Furry 19 397 65 6 "Barnet CC" 20 395 65 6 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 21 391 42 8 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 22 390 55 7 Blaine Penny 23 383 26 13 Chris & Storm 24 381 65 6 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 25 380 2 27 Alex Lai 26 377 26 13 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 27 376 4 22 Derrick St. John 28 374 26 13 Natasha Elliott 29 370 73 5 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 30 367 7 20 Vicki Thomas 31 365 16 15 Mhairi Gilmore 31 365 30 12 Kevin Field "Fev" 33 360 16 15 Jeffrey Furry 34 355 42 8 Doug Hinan 35 353 65 6 Matt Toulouse 36 352 7 20 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 37 350 16 15 Sandy Fulton 38 349 5 21 Marc Boudreau 39 344 1 28 Rob Grondin 40 343 65 6 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 40 343 55 7 Courtnay Romkey 42 341 42 8 The Cyclery 43 340 42 8 Ross Knight 44 331 10 19 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 45 325 21 14 Gordon Dalling 46 317 30 12 SUPERFAN 47 316 77 3 Lori Meyers 48 311 65 6 Julie Jay 49 302 65 6 Neil la Plante 50 292 77 3 Musky Ninja 51 283 80 1 Josh Hall 52 264 12 17 Richard and Catherine 53 263 11 18 "Dick und Doof" 54 262 42 8 J to the U 55 260 15 16 Team Damdom 56 251 16 15 Team Oro Rocks 57 250 21 14 Mike Larochelle 58 244 32 10 Ed Makarchuk 59 243 80 1 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 59 243 32 10 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 61 242 79 2 Team Boyz on Bikes 62 240 32 10 Jennifer Garrett 62 240 85 0 Wilby McKnight 64 239 80 1 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 65 235 12 17 Kiwi Mike 66 234 85 0 Dave Thomas 67 221 65 6 Team 18 Wheeler 68 220 37 9 Shawn Clarke 69 206 21 14 Donelli 70 193 37 9 Adrian Das 71 191 32 10 Rob Kerr 71 191 55 7 Reed Archer 71 191 55 7 Larginski 74 183 42 8 Sheri Jay 75 172 42 8 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 163 37 9 Les Boyz 77 149 12 17 Chris White 78 141 42 8 Dave Shirley 79 127 42 8 Kate Scallion 80 118 55 7 Operation Spain 81 97 80 1 Team OK 82 95 55 7 Los Spics 83 74 32 10 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 58 42 8 Mr. Glen 85 48 37 9 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 86 33 80 1 Il Gatto 87 -6 87 -10 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"
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"