| 96th Tour de France - Stage 13 LIVE TICKER (Part 2) |
96th Tour de France - Stage 13 Live Part 2
Reporting by Chris Graetz, Nick Bull and Vaughn Trevi Up towards the top of the Schlucht, the 13 man chase group feature: Linus Gerdemann (Milram), Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) and Sergio Paulinho (Astana) among others. David Millar appears to be in the Cancellara chase group. This could be handy for Wiggins and Vandevelde later on today. 1455 CEST - 95km to go. Leading trio @ 6'34 to chase group, peloton @ 7'03" Brice Feillu (Agritubel) is trying to make a move. He has attacked from the chase group. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) is trying to respond. With Agritubel ending their sponsorship at the end of the year, the Frenchman needs to find a team for 2010. He's French and increasingly popular - so Bouygues Bbbbbox could sign him. Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) had a crash on the climb. He's on his bike and riding away sporting a small cut on his left thigh. I'm sure many more will fall on this descent, and the remaining climbs Euskaltel-Euskadi are trying to lead out Martinez to take some points for fourth place. Pellizotti went with him. It's too close to call. Up in the break, Chavanel is taking it rather easily on this descent. There's a lot of standing water, and some lovely grass verges... Results of the Schlucht: 1. Ruben Perez (10pts), 2. Sylvain Chavanel (9pts), 3. Heinrich Haussler (8pts), 4. Egoi Martinez (7pts), 5. Franco Pellizotti (6pts), 6. Gorka Verdugo (5pts). I think the peloton are taking this seriously today. They now trail by 5'55. They made up over 3 minutes on that climb. 1509 CEST - Linus Gerdemann is in no man's land on the descent. If you're watching, children, don't try his descent style at home. Great Tour de France fashion styles #245 (in association with the Castorama 1991 Jersey): Gerdemann is sporting some bright yellow shoes along with his sheep-styled Milram jersey and a fetching rain cape. 1512 CEST - 80km to go. 1515 CEST - The joy for this breakaway group is that, having finished the descent of the Col de la Schlucht, within 10km, they are climbing the extremely difficult Platzerwasel. Remaining Climbs: The last intermediate sprint was contested at Luttenbach. The results: 1. Chavanel (6pts), 2. Haussler (4pts), 1. Perez (2pts) Nick says: 1523 CEST - 73km to go. Why do so many teams have plain blue jackets? Makes our job so much harder. It's like identifying different types of mud. I mean, to me, they're all brown... 1528 CEST - 8km for Haussler, Chavanel and Perez to the summit of this climb. I've heard stories of some nasty insects that 'lurk' on this climb - perhaps ASO have planted some Bees nests to make the riders ride faster? This weather is taking me back to the 2001 Tour, when Javier Oxtoa won at the top of Lourdes - Hautacam. He won from a breakaway, while an American called Lance Armstrong took Yellow. 1535 CEST - Christophe Kene - who initiated the unsuccessful breakaway on the last climb - has attacked from the peloton again! Can't blame a man for trying! 1537 CEST - It's good to see Sylvain Chavanel in this lead group. Someone told me Quick Step were riding, but I didn't believe them. Haussler appears to be comfortable on this Col de Lederhosen despite his 6ft or so frame (180cm). 1540 CEST - Ruben Perez is dropping off the rear of the leading trio. 3 become 2.....and I think Haussler is next to drop off personally. Remember the German/Australian is more at home in the Sprints (*unless that Cavendish wallah isn't riding). I think he's one of those rare sprinters capable of climbing myself; much like Freire and of course who can forget Erik Zabel... and latterly Jalabert. 1544 CEST - 65km to go. Behind the mountain is making the selection as Ciolek, Eisel, Cavendish, Boonen, Hushovd - the Sprinters - are all in the groupetto, unsurprisingly. This group is often called the "laughing group" with the riders working together to limit their time loss sharing the work to come in under the time limit and avoid elimination. 1547 CEST - Team Saxo Bank take over at the front of the field. I still suspect an attack on Astana is coming today.Sergio Paulihno is there marking any such move. Contador, Armstrong, the two Schlecks, Evans, Kreuziger are all upfront. Menchov is in that second group and even trailing team mate Oscar Freire; Gerdemann is just seconds away from being caught by the peloton. 1551 CEST - Pellizotti accelerates from the front of the pack, but only seems to be positioning himself for the KoM points. 1552 CEST - 1km to the top of the climb for our two leaders. Pellizotti passes Gerdemann, whose breakaway attempted has failed. Euskatel now responding to Franco's move. However, it appears the Martinez is a long way off the main group. 1556 CEST - It's dark at the top of the Col de la Platzerwasel. Very dark. The leaders are working well, and Haussler doesn't contest the sprint for first. Over the summit with 3:54 the gap, but we'll have to see if that holds up when the yellow jersey group comes through. 1557 CEST - With Polka Dot jersey wearer Martinez distanced, Liquigas are pulling hard at the head of the group. Having been caught, Gerdemann has been distanced by the peloton. Txurruka and Astarloza (Euskatel) are trying to attack Pellizotti to weaken him for the sprint. Now Armstrong comes to the front of the 'GC' group. Show of force Armstrong and Contador climb side by side over the summit. Pellizotti takes the points over the climb (11pts), and so is one point behind Martinez in the KoM classification. 1600 CEST - 60km to go. 3'11" is the gap for our two leaders. One suspects they will be caught on the final climb. Contador, Armstrong, the Schleck's with Vande Velde lead the yellow jersey group... Nocentini's yellow helmet bobbing in the background. The leaders are weaving their way through massive crowds that part as they pass. What do you think the chances are that Nocentini can defend to be in the maillot jaune at the end of the stage Nick? I think he should be ok. The distance from the final climb to Colmar is enough for him to rejoin. Should he be dropped. And do Astana want the jersey yet? Not yet, says Chris, Astana. I tend to agree the Italian may get his 7th yellow jersey this afternoon. 1604 CEST - Txurruka has attacked ONCE again. I wish I had his energy levels - making it upstairs after two pints of Ale is hard enough at times. Chris: LLS will attack on the last climb and take the stage win. Nocentini stays in yellow The Peloton are 2'51" in arrears - they climb the Col de la Ullrichplatz four minutes quicker than our two leaders. Remaining climbs: 1607 CEST - Still th rain is pouring. Chapeau to those French spectators who braved the elements to see their heroes - and Lance - today. (Perhaps I shouldn't assume that all French fans embrace the opinions of L'Equipe....) Breaking News: Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ricardo Serrano (Fuji) have been provisionally suspended by the UCI after testing positive for the EPO derivative CERA. 1609 CEST - Txurruka has been joined by Brice Feillu, another aggressive rider in the 2009 Tour. 1610 CEST - Leaders and chase on the descent. The leaders have 2'36" in hand on our chasers, and 3'06" on the peloton. Advantage goes to our lead duo on the descent.. they will work to extend their gap. Riders are rejoining the chase group of thirty some on the downhill section. Results of the climb: 1. Chavanel (15pts), 2. Haussler (13pts), 3. Perez (11pts), 4. Pellizotti (9pts), 5. Astraloza (8pts), 6. Contador (7pts), 7. Armstrong (6pts), 8. Schleck (5pts) Haussler is flying down this descent. He is crazy. This duo have 2'42 on the chasers and 3'22 on the peloton. They have increased their lead on the descent. Can they be caught from here? Depends on what tactics teams employ on the final climb of the day. The sprinters will be having a hard day today in the groupetto. They have a chance for stage glory tomorrow with a relatively flat stage. Though after today's tough conditions, I can't see them having the legs tomorrow even though it's their last chance until Paris. Haussler is taking massive risks on the descent and they are pulling away. The two chasers led by Feillu is over a minute ahead of the peloton. Can they catch the front two? Probably not. The peloton are settling down. They are waiting for the next climb one would think. Pellizotti is looking comfortable in the peloton. I think Popovych has caught back onto the peloton. Haussler is doing 83% of the work in the lead group. That shows how serious he is taking this slippery descent. 1620 CEST - 44km to go, The gap to the chasers is 2.29. The peloton are 3'57 behind. Chavanel has lost touch with Haussler on the descent. No doubt he will probably come back to him. Chavanel is 20 seconds behind with the chasers at 2'28 and the peloton over 4 minutes behind. Chavanel knows he can climb better than Haussler. Even though the gap is 21 seconds, he should get back on duringthe 2 kilometer climb of the Col du Bannstein. 1626 CEST - 40km to go Haussler is looking very comfortable on the bike. Who would have tipped Haussler for the win today? I know I didn't. Haussler is on the category 3 Col du Bannstein. This will be Chavanel's best chance to get back to him. The peloton are slipping further behind. Now 5'15. The chase group continues to grow as more riders catch on during the descent. 34 km to go, the gap is up to over 6 minutes for Haussler... a solo victory isn't out of picture at this point... the remaining climbs are neither too long nor steep for the talented young rider of Cervélo TestTeam. 1633 CEST - 30km to go 1641 CEST - 29km to go |
Friday, July 17, 2009
96th Tour de France - Stage 13 LIVE TICKER (Part 2)
Date: 7/17/2009
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