96th Tour de France - Stage 14 Live Part 1
Last chance for the sprinters. A relatively flat stage over 199 km to Besancon. Cavendish #5? Another sprinter to take glory? Or a breakaway? Live coverage
Tour de France 2009
Stage 14: Colmar - Besancon, 199 km
Saturday 18th July 2009
Live Ticker PART ONE
Giles Belbin's course preview
The last stage before the race enters crunch time and the Alps and also probably the last opportunity for the sprinters before the the prestigious last stage on the Champs Elysees. 
raphic © 2009 tour de France/ASO
There are just a couple of third category hills for the peloton to get themselves over on the 199 km ride south-east from Colmar, the last of which comes a very comfortable 85 kms before the finish. Again, expect a dash for the line involving all the Green Jersey contenders.
Besancon WikipediaTM Fact(?): There should be no problem here if the Tour's electronic time keeping systems should suffer unexpected problems as Besancon is the French capital of Watch making.
General Classification after Stage Thirteen
1. Rinaldo Nocentini 53:30:30
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 00‘06”
3. Lance Armstrong (Astana) @ 00‘08”
Points Classification after Stage Thirteen
1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) 205pts
2. Mark Cavendish (Columbia – HTC ) 200pts
3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d’Epargne) 116pts
King of the Mountains Classification after Stage Thirteen
1. Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) 98pts
2. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 95pts
3. Brice Feillu (Agritubel) 64pts
Yong Riders Classifcation after Stage Thirteen
1. Tony Martin (Columbia HTC) 53:31:30
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo-Bank) @ 00‘49”
3. Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas) @ 00’54”
News from the start line:
RIDERS SHOT AT - The biggest news to come out of stage 13 was that Oscar Freire and Julien Dean were hit by lead pellets shot from an air rifle. Oscar Freire was shot in the leg and the pellet was removed at the end of the stage. Julien Dean was shot in the index finger. Both riders appear to be okay and will be starting Stage 14.
Live Coverage of Stage 14
Reporting by Chris Graetz & Nick Bull
G'day and welcome to stage 14 of the 2009 Tour de France. Hard to believe we're 2 weeks into the Tour already. Only one week to go with plenty of climbing. Today, however, the road to Besancon only features two minor category 3 climbs halfway through the stage. The last comes with nearly 90km to go.
The question has to be asked now. Will this be a stage for the sprinters? It's their last chance for stage glory until Paris, but tomorrow's stage is hard. The GC men will want to have an easy ride today. It all depends on the mood of Columbia-HTC and Cavendish. Cavendish did say after his 4th win that the only stage he wants to win now is Paris. So the question has to be asked whether or not Columbia will want to work today. Mind you, they don't have the green jersey anymore, but that wasn't one of their goals at the start of the Tour. My guess is that they will wait and see what the other teams intend on doing.
I'm Chris Graetz and I'll be bringing you the coverage of stage 14.
1230 CEST - It's an intriguing stage. Don't miss it. Live coverage should be getting underway in the next 15 or so minutes. Nick Bull will be joining me in the ticker today. Hello Nick!
1240 CEST - The riders have reached KM0, and so begins Stage 14 of the 2009 Tour de France.
Once again the weather is horrible. Not only is it horrible for the riders, but also a nightmare for us. Astana had two different colours of rain jacket yesterday, and identifying individuals is much harder (except Lance in this distinguishable helmet, thanks LA!) That last comment thanking Armstrong sounds more at home on Twitter. Who needs PR and Media guys when you've got 150 characters to say what you think!?!
The pace is fast to start Stage 14. No riders are allowed any room to get away at the moment. 3km in there have been numerous escape attempts, but none that have stuck.
The motto of Besancon, the finishing city today, is 'If God wills'. Well, if the Lord is playing ball, let's have a breakaway group consisting of Evans, Menchov and Sastre today - just to see how Astana react. Scrap that - Menchov is only used to riding behind the main field in the 2009 Tour.
It is also twinned with Huddersfield back in my native England. If you've ever been to Huddersfield, I assume you're extremely familiar with the roads OUT of the town. It's the Specialized 2D Helment of the Giro Ionos World.
That comment was from Nick. I'm not a Pom. I'm an Aussie!
1257 CEST - 188km to go
The peloton continue to travel at a rapid pace. I'm finding it hard to type as my pet cockatiel is on the keyboard.
The rain is starting to come down now. This is going to be a difficult stage. The chances of it being a sprint finish today might be low. There is no way any of the main GC contenders want to have a hard stage today. So we just might see the "Spring Classics" type of stage I am after.
1304 CEST - 14 riders have broken free of the peloton. One of the riders is Mark Cavendish. Could the sprinters today be trying a breakaway?
There are now 13 riders in the break. Cavendish is back in the peloton. Was Cavendish looking at some intermediate sprints today? Before the stage, I would have said that Columbia would let a break go today. With a tricky finish to Verbiers tomorrow, then two horrific peaks on Tuesday, my view was that Cavendish would conserve energy and wait until next week to go for the stage wins.
But did he do it as a marker, to show Cervelo he's still got the strength to ride?
1312 CEST - 175km to go. Our breakaway (full riders unknown right now) lead by 25 seconds.
1320 CEST - In the lead group are Hayden Roulston (Cervelo), Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), George Hincapie (Columbia), Nicolas Roche (Ag2R), Daniele Bennati and Frederik Willems (Liquigas), Daniele Righi (Lampre), Serguei Ivanov (Katusha), Christophe Le Mevel (Francaise des Jeux), Gerald Ciolek (Milram), Albert Timmer (Skil Shimano) and Sebastien Minard (Cofidis).
Hincapie, Ivanov, Voigt and Bennati have all won Tour stages in the past.
The gap is hovering around 30 seconds as Bouygues are doing the chasing in the peloton. They're not represented upfront. Silence Lotto and Euskatel are leading the peloton too.
1325 CEST - 165km to go
The peloton look like they want to chase this break down. The gap was at 25 seconds, but now is at 32. They are not getting any freedom out front. Perhaps some of these riders would realise this and attack from the escape group?
1328 CEST - Intermediate sprint: Pulversheim KM34. 1. Gerald Ciolek (6pts), 2. Daniele Bennati (4pts), 3. Daniele Righi (2pts). The leading 13 have a 32" lead right now.
The escapees are trying hard, but they have four strong teams trying to peg them back. Silence Lotto, Quick Step, Rabobank and Bbox Bouygues Telecom. They still lead by around half a minute.
1332 CEST - This is a strange start to the stage. The leading group have had a consistent lead, albeit it is still lurking around the thirty-second mark. With the fact that the sprinters teams are working hard today already, it's hard to get a read on what this stage will do. I still reckon an escape will be allowed to run free, but these four teams want someone there.
1340 CEST - 154km to go
The gap is hovering between 20 - 25 seconds now. It's 25 seconds as the peloton still don't want this escape to get away.
1347 CEST - 148km to go
It's an interesting and exciting start to the stage. The break seems to be getting clear now. It's up to 41 seconds with Hincapie and Roche not help setting the pace. Surprising that Hincapie isn't helping. It's understandable Roche isn't as his team has the yellow jersey.
Jerome Pineau (Quick-Step) is trying to bridge the gap. He is 40 seconds behind but 5 in front of the peloton. It will be interesting to see if he's allowed to get clear. The break would want him to get there to help as it means all sprinters teams except Rabobank will be represented up front and their chance of survival would then be high. You don't want a fired up Rabobank and Quick Step squad on the front of the peloton chasing it down.
Pineau, however, has been swallowed up by the peloton as the lead is now starting to go out. It's now 58 seconds, 54 km into the stage.
1358 CEST - 141km to go
The escape is now clear leading by 1'23 over the peloton. Will it survive? Let's analyse the makeup. Ciolek and Bennati are there. They are the two sprinters in this group. Hincapie is there which means Columbia won't chase for Cavendish. The presence of Roulston is there so Cervelo have no reason to chase. The probability this break stays away, 98%. If it does stay away then hopefully Maaskant or Ivanov can grab the stage win.
Jens Voigt has had a mechanical and is now trying to catch up the chase group. He's around 40 seconds behind. With the strength he provides, it will be interesting to see if they let him back on.
1406 CEST - 134km to go
Unforunate for Voigt. The mechanical has set him back and now he is waiting for the peloton. He won't be able to rejoin the break. Was he on the same bike Schleck has been on? Saxo Bank seem to get a lot of punctures and bike troubles this tour.
Now the break is allowed to get clear, let's acknowledge the riders in this break.
28 year old New Zealander, Hayden Roulston (Cervelo) is one of the riders in this break. He also is a track rider gaining most of his success on the track. In the 2008 Olympics, he won Silver behind Bradley Wiggins in the Individual pursuit. He won bronze in the Team pursuit.
Gerald Ciolek (Milram) was one of Mark Cavendish's lead-out men in 2008, but left the Columbia team for this year. In 2005, he became the youngest man ever to become German National Champion - he was just 18 years old. Now aged 22, the majority of his success has come in the Tour of Germany, where he has won 5 stages.
Lampre are served by Daniele Righi, who has not won a race since 2007 - Stage 1a of the Tour of Poland. Today would be a good day for the 33 year old Italian to update his palmares.
Results of the second intermediate sprint at Dannemarie: 1. Roulston (6pts), 2. Le Mevel (4pts), 3. Minard (2pts).
Garmin-Slipstream, who are after a stage win, have Martijn Maaskant in the break. The 25 year old from the Netherlands has had a few wins in his career. He has grabbed two of them in the Tour de Normandie back in 2006 and 2007. He finished fourth in the Tour of Flanders this year. Can he breakthrough for the biggest win of his career today and give Garmin the much needed win they are after?
1420 CEST - 126km to go
The break have an advantage of 5'50 over the peloton as Voigt is back in the peloton after showing frustration at the neutral service vehicle as they didn't attend his puncture on time and therefore he lost the momentum to be able to stay in the break.
24 year old Albert Timmer has ridden for Skil Shimano since 2007, and was involved in the breakaway on Stage 5. Here, Thomas Voeckler broke free on the outskirts of Perpignan, dropping Timmer and his escapees and won the stage. The Skil Shimano has no victories to his name, despite his aggressive riding style.
Frenchman Sebastien Minard had more success as a young rider than in recent years, taking a stage in the 2005 Tour de l'Avenir and finishing 3rd in the Under 23 Paris Tour race five years ago. This year he led the 4 Days of Dunkirk for one day.
Katusha's Sergei Ivanov along with George Hincapie is one of the most experienced riders in this breakaway. The 34 year old Russian has won a Tour de France stage before. This came back in 2001. This year, he managed to win the Amstel Gold race. Can he bag another win today?
Should this group stay away, Italian Daniele Bennati must be a favourite for the stage win. He has won two stages in le Tour, as well as three in his home Tour and four in the Vuelta. Aged 28, his victory on the Champs Elysees in 2007 ranks as his best victory to date. After a disappointing tour thus far, can he made amends today?
1425 CEST - 122km to go
The gap is now 5'45 with Astana at the head of the peloton.
Son on 1987 Tour winner Stephen Roche (I bet he's used to that by now), Nicolas Roche is the current Irish National Champion. This is his first Tour, although he finished 13th in the Vuelta last year.
1430 CEST - BREAKING NEWS: Specialized are shipping Unicycles over to the Tour de France in order to avoid any more rear wheel problems. A spokesman for the company said: 'Riding will be just as easy on this new machine, and despite it's size it complies with the UCI weight regulations. Team Saxo Bank riders can attach it to the team car for help on tricky descents." Clown masks and red noses are included with every bike.
1434 CEST - Christophe Moreau has pulled over to meet his family, including a rather camera shy daughter. He had a few supporters there too, which is nice to see.
Speaking of Christophe the popular French rider announced yesterday, he has signed to ride with Eusebio Unzúe’s Caisse d'Epargne team in 2010
The UCI has banned the Mark Cavendish fan-club from roads used on the Tour, following L'Equipe's story of Cav being anti-French.
1439 CEST - The lead group are just going through the food zone at Delle.
Which signals the start of the 3rd Category climb Cote de Lebetain.
This rise is just over 2km in length, and shouldn't pose any problems for our breakaway group.
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