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life is like the tide…it comes and goes on its own timeArchive for cadel evans
TDF – Stage 7: Another First Tour Win, The First Tour Arrest
Brioude – Aurillac 159k
Commentary to follow later, meanwhile:
Stage 7 results
1 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 3.52.53 (40.964 km/h)
2 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.06
3 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas
4 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia
5 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
6 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
7 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
8 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Saunier Duval – Scott
9 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
10 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank
GC standings
1 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia 28.23.40
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 0.06
3 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.16
4 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 0.44
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 1.03
6 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 1.12
7 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 1.14
8 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 1.21
9 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
10 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia
Withdrawn/DNS
192 BACKSTEDT Magnus (SWE) GARMIN CHIPOTLE outside time limit
166 JEGOU Lilian (FRA) FRANCAISE DES JEUX withdraw
121 MOREAU Christophe (FRA) AGRITUBEL withdraw
106 GADRET John (FRA) AG2R-LA MONDIALE withdraw
95 FACCI Mauro (ITA) QUICK STEP withdraw
Stage 6
178 PASSERON Aurélien (FRA) SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT non-starter
Stage 5
51 SOLER HERNANDEZ Juan Mauricio (COL) BARLOWORLD withdraw
Stage 3
176 GOMEZ Angel (ESP) SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT withdraw
Stage 1
184 DUCLOS-LASSALLE Hervé (FRA) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE withdraw
OK, I’m back!
Slipstream (Garmin Chipotle) made a big deal about signing on Magnus Backstedt to ride with the Tour team. Has he actually ever finished a Tour?
The mountain stages are always exciting, with the hard climbs to the summit, then the rocket fast descent. Paul Sherwin’s Freudian slip of the tongue, referring to Team Columbia as Team Discovery, made me wonder if anyone is an overall cyclist. We’ll probably never see another Lance Armstrong in our lifetime; but, to win the Tour means being as good in the mountains as on the flats as in the time trials. Can Kirchen take this Tour? There are two more weeks to go.
Sadly, Manuel Beltran (Liquigas), 26th place following today’s stage, was arrested after testing positive for EPO. If the “B” test also returns positive, he will certainly be fired from the team. This strikes another blow to the otherwise highly-ranked team, as Ivan Basso has been suspended from the Tour for two years.
Question: Do you think another “cheat” will be found in this year’s Tour? Can this be the first “clean” Tour, or do you think that’s an impossible quest?
TDF – Stage 6: Kirchen captures yellow
Did you miss me? I was really busy at work, today; even had lunch with a buddy from my Austin Plone User Group who, I learned, is an avid distance cyclist and takes to the hills around here with the best of them. This is, after all, Lance’s hometown.
Neither rain, nor wind, nor heat of sun was going to stop Kim Kirchen from taking the best of Super-Besse. He may not have taken the stage, but he did take back the green, and the best prize of all, the yellow jersey for the day. What a lucky break that he didn’t go down with Schumacher on that most unfortunate fall just inside the last kilometer up to the finish!
Bravo, Valverde, for pushing up right behind Ricco to a hard finish line, with Cadel Evans at his side. While new faces are capturing the stages, the veterans are still proving they have the right stuff to keep things fresh and interesting.
Tomorrow’s stage heads toward the Pyrenees, one of my favorite segments of any Tour. Why? The pure beauty and challenge.
Standings
1. Riccardo RICCO
2. Alejandro VALVERDE
3. Cadel EVANS
4. Frank SCHLECK
5. Kim KIRCHEN
GC standings
1. Kim KIRCHEN
2. Cadel EVANS
3. Stefan SCHUMACHER
4. Christian VANDEVELDE
5. David MILLAR
Question: Do you miss the in-car videos of Johan Bruyneel careening around the mountains while chatting up his riders?
TDF 2008 – Stage 4: Shumacher sets best time, takes GC lead
Time Trial: Cholet 29.5k
It’s a relatively quiet day at the office and I was anxiously watching my favorite live commentary, but got completely confused as to where Kim Kirchen finished up. So, here are the standings after Stage 4 Time Trials at Cholet:
General classification after stage 4
Pos. No. Name Nat. Team Time Gap (in secs)
1 111 SCHUMACHER, Stefan GER GST 14:04:41 :00
2 041 KIRCHEN, Kim LUX THR 14:04:53 :12
3 198 MILLAR, David GBR TSL 14:04:53 :12
4 001 EVANS, Cadel AUS SIL 14:05:02 :21
5 013 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI CSC 14:05:14 :33
6 191 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA TSL 14:05:18 :37
7 047 HINCAPIE, George USA THR 14:05:22 :41
8 048 LÖVKVIST, Thomas SWE THR 14:05:28 :47
9 067 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA LIQ 14:05:39 :58
10 035 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 14:05:42 :01:01
Great results for both our USA teams just over the midpoint of week 1 of the Tour!
