Tour de france stage 5

Welcome back to our coverage of the 2009 Tour de France!: France celebrates a home victory, Mark Cavendish consolidates his grip on the green jersey, Lance Armstrong lashes out at former ASO chief and more news from Stage 5 of the Tour de France.

* France is celebrating today over the victory of Thomas Voeckler in today’s stage. Five years ago to the day, he first shot to fame in France by seizing the yellow jersey and kept the lead for 10 days.
* Fabian Cancellara broke the record for most days spent in yellow by a Swiss rider. Today will be he 14th day, besting countrymen Ferdi Kübler (12 yellow jerseys) and Hugo Koblet (11).
* The news came after the completion of today’s stage that Rabobank’s Robert Gesink broke his wrist when he fell today, and that he will be dropping out of the race.
* Skil-Shimano’s Piet Rooijakkers underwent seven hours of surgery to repair his broken forearm.
* Simon Geschke and Linus Gerdemann are just a couple of the riders heaping criticism on the course for Tuesday’s team trial. Gerdemann called it a “kamikaze route”.
* Lance Armstrong lashed out at former Tour de France boss Patrice Clerc on Tuesday, saying he should take responsibility for the doping scandals at the race during the American’s three-year absence. Armstrong was responding to comments made by Clerc, the former head of Tour organizer ASO, who told French newspaper Le Monde last week that the seven-time champion’s return meant “reopening a troubled chapter of the Tour history.” (Yahoo Sports)
* Astana team boss Johan Bruyneel said they would prefer to keep Lance Armstrong temporarily out of the yellow jersey if it helps keep the pressure on Saxo Bank’s Tour de France leader Fabian Cancellara.
* When asked who was the leader of the Astana team, Bruyneel responded, “I am becoming tired of the controversy about who is actually the leader of our team, Alberto Contador or Lance Armstrong. I am the leader of the team, and nobody else.”
* Bruyneel has imposed a boycott on the Belgian sports network Sporza after the outlet made negative comments about Astana. The network’s director said in a statement that they regret Bruyneel’s decision and hope to open a dialogue with the team.
* Just a day after publicly apologizing for comments he made about the 2008 Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong told Carlos Sastre face-to-face he was sorry. On Wednesday, as Sastre rolled through the peloton during the neutral start congratulating members of the Astana team on their team time trial victory, Armstrong saddled up alongside. According to Sastre, the seven-time Tour champ told him he was sorry that he said the 2008 Tour was “a joke.”
* Some are saying that Cadel Evans has already lost the race. The mountains have not even started and he already sits three minutes off of the lead. On the other hand, Silence-Lotto team manager Mark Sargeant says that we have not seen the last of Evans.
* Caisse d’Epargne leader Luis León Sánchez is another rider sitting three minutes back. He is looking to the mountain stages to make a mark.
* Bjarne Riis is not exactly eating his words, but he is still confident that Frank and Andy Schleck will be able to make a mark at the Tour de France.
* Mark Cavendish has been getting all of the attention for Columbia-HTC, his young teammate Tony Martin has been sneaking his way up the General Classification. He is currently in 8th place, 52 seconds off of the lead.
* Cavendish didn’t get his expected sprint win today, but he remains solidly ahold of the green jersey, leading Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) by 26 points and Tyler Farrar (Garmin) by 42 points.
* Tomorrow’s stage starts in Girona, Spain where Lance Armstrong had a home for many years.
* Armstrong underwent a doping control after the conclusion of today’s stage.
* The Youth Movement of Catalonia will be distributing 10,000 flags bearing the slogan “Catalonia is not Spain” during tomorrow’s stage. They are trying to raise awareness of Catalonia’s quest to become a sovereign nation.

Other Cycling News:

* Jan Ullrich has responded to the Swiss Disciplinary Board hearing with relative calm. He rejects all doping allegations and finds it an amazing coincidence that this has all surfaced during the Tour de France. Furthermore, his lawyer contends that Switzerland does not have the jurisdiction to pursue the case.
* Sven Nys has recovered from a viral infection and will return to competition Sunday in the European Mountain Bike championships in the Dutch town of Zoetermeer.
* The Italian Cycling Federation has asked the Katusha team to revise the jersey being worn by Italian National Champ Filippo Pozzato at the Tour de France. They feel that the graphic design of the jersey does not conform to the guidelines set by themselves and the UCI.
* Nineteen of the nation’s top 15- and 16-year-old BMX riders gathered at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. June 22-29 for the final USA Cycling BMX Junior Development Camp of the 2009-2010 season. Chula Vista is home to the only permanent Supercross BMX facility in north America, and for many of the kids, like 14-year-old Nicholas Koehler (Tustin, Calif.), this camp was a first introduction to Supercross-style BMX racing.

Other Results:

* Jan Barta won Wednesday’s 217km fourth stage in the Tour of Austria in a sprint.
* Italy’s Naomi Cantele won the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia over her compatriot Giorgia Bronzini and the winner of the previous day’s stage, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg.