Tactics meeting
The traditional mountain passes Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet are waiting today. None of them will be too important, as there's a 50km descent/flat part after the Tourmalet. We have a plan for Egoi Martinez today. We're not going to let any break go away before the first mountain, so we can send Martinez on a hunt for KoM points. On the rest of the stage, we'll just control the peloton and keep our double GC lead.
Our plan worked well, and when there was 1km left until the top of Col d'Aspin, Martinez took off. Same did the KoM leader David Moncoutie.
Quite shockingly, Martinez hit the wall as soon as he accelrated. He was passed by a lot of riders looking for KoM points. No points for our climber today, and because Moncoutie got full points on the first mountain, the King of the Mountains-jersey looks a bit difficult at the moment.
Heading for the top of Col du Tourmalet, another Cofidis rider was on the move. Amael Moinard was in a solo breakaway, and was first over the top. But with 50km downhill until the finish, it would be impossible to hold on all the way.
Also after the Tourmalet, we continued as we had done for the entire stage, setting a high pace. Moinard was easily brought back, and a lot of others had fallen off the peloton with 15km left. All of the top 20 in the GC were still there, though.
At the 5km mark, a man who had lost time yesterday attacked: Bradley Wiggins. Lance Armstrong felt really good today, and went after the Garmin rider. Then we stopped pulling the peloton forward, of course.
The attack of Wiggins and Lance lasted until the finish, but the Englishman had a few meters' lead.
Lance would not have attacked if he didn't believe in this, though, and he was soon almost level with Wiggins! Could he pass him?
Yes, he did it! Lance was a few centimeters ahead of Wiggins over the line, and had won the 23rd Tour de France stage of his carreer!
He could deservedly raise his hands, and as if the stage win wasn't enough, he also takes over the yellow jersey from teammate Klöden. Armstrong and Wiggins got a gap of 27 seconds back to the rest.
Youth ranking
1 Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank 33h41'52
2 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 32
3 Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia - High Road + 1'43
Team classification 1 Discovery Channel 99h27'30
2 Caisse d'Epargne + 1'03
3 Team Columbia - High Road + 5'39
Congratulations to Lance Armstrong for his stage win and yellow jersey! Andreas Klöden probably won't mind losing the jersey, as he is paid to help Lance. It was pleasing to get a more comfortable distance to Alberto Contador, even though it's not much. We also increase our lead in the team classification.
Except the 27 seconds to Armstrong, no important riders lost time today, but it wasn't expected either, as the last mountain was far from the finish. Our team effort was once again brilliant, but it was a little disappointing that Martinez cracked as soon as he moved clear of the peloton. As for the KoM jersey, we must come up with something smart if we are to have a chance. Maybe a cheaky breakaway on the hilly 13th stage could be a nice beginning, but we'll look closer into that when we get there.
Tomorrow we're back to the flat terrain, before a well deserved rest day the day after. We're coming out of the Pyrenees with a smaller lead than we went into them with, but we're at least keeping the two top spots in the GC.
Tactics meeting
After three days in the Pyrenees, we're back in flat terrain for something which most likely is a mass sprint stage. The stage offers three small climbs early on, but there are so few KoM points on offer that it isn't worth sending Martinez after them. The most interesting points are given at the finish in Issoudun. The other sprinters have to hurry up if they want any chance of competing with Tom Boonen in the fight for the green jersey.
Several well known escapees from earlier stages were in today's break. Benoit Vaugrenard, Nick Nuyens and Mikhail Ignatiev went for glory once more, but the sprinter's teams, lead by Boonen's Quickstep, had the breakaway under control.
On the run-in to the finish, Mark Cavendish had a good position nearest the camera, even though he maybe went a bit early. To Cavendish's left, Pozzato hadn't released Napolitano yet, while Boonen was blocked by two Lampre riders on the other side of the road.
The rocket from the Isle of Man finaly made it! Cavendish won the sprint easily. Boonen got going towards the end, and finished 3rd, so Mark Cavendish didn't get a lot closer in the points ranking.
Youth ranking
1 Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank 38h08'31
2 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 32
3 Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia - High Road + 1'43
Team classification 1 Discovery Channel 112h47'27
2 Caisse d'Epargne + 1'03
3 Team Columbia - High Road + 5'39
Mark Cavendish won his first stage in the Tour, and you can say it was about time. If this means things are falling into place for Team Columbia, there is a possibility that Cavendish will eat up some of Boonen's advantage in the points competition. We also saw a great performance from the slightly unknown Mirko Lorenzetto today, who got a nice 2nd place ahead of Tom Boonen.
Tomorrow we're having a well deserved day's rest in Vatan before we continue with another flat stage the day after (in reality, the first rest day was before today's stage and was spent in the city hosting today's start, Limoges). We will use the day to recover some energy so we're ready for the Alps, which are coming in a few days.
Very nice win of Lance! He's still a pain in the ass... He will win the tour! In my DB he has even 82MO and 79TT and has 79STA 81REC 80RES... Didn't ride the Tour but only Contador can beat him probably! Hope you will win the TdF with Disco!
Tactics meeting
The Bastille day (the French national holiday) was a rest day. This would of course never have happened in reality, but the game has moved the rest day by one day, so we just have to accept that.
After a calm day spent i Vatan, we continue with another flat stage in central France. The big time gaps in the GC gives a breakaway a good chance today if there are no dangerous riders there. It will be interesting to see if the sprinters' teams chase the breakaway today as well. Especially Columbia should be interested in a bunch sprint, as Cavendish is probably inspired by his win in the previous stage.
Among the hopeful riders today, we found attacking riders like Nick Nuyens and Samuel Dumoulin. The breakaway got a healthy lead of ten minutes, but they were brought back by the pack. The sprinters' teams still had some energy left.
Youth ranking
1 Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank 42h29'55
2 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 32
3 Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia - High Road + 1'43
Team classification 1 Discovery Channel 125h51'39
2 Caisse d'Epargne + 1'03
3 Team Columbia - High Road + 5'39
The sprint today gave us a surprise, with Mirko Lorenzetto's win. He have to share much of the honour with his teammate Enrico Gasparotto, who brought him into a perfect position. Tom Boonen increased his lead in the points ranking, and that competition is almost decided already. No important riders experienced any accidents today, so the standings in the other rankings remain unchanged.
Tomorrow brings another flat stage, though not as flat as today. Our Discovery Channel riders are focused on the Alps which comes in four days, so the initiative on these flat stages are put in the hands of others. We're looking forward to another stage where we don't have to use much energy.
Tactics meeting
The journey towards the Alps continues with a 200km flat stage from Tonnerre to Vittel. It's looking to be a boring stage where we will do absolutely nothing. The temperatures are starting to rise in central France, and the riders have to endure over 30 celsius throughout the day.
The break of the day oozed class. Here were stars like world champion Alessandro Ballan, Johan Van Summeren, Juan Antonio Flecha, Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Benoit Vaugrenard.
The peloton took it easy in the strong heat, and the deficit to the breakaway eventually grew to over 18 minutes with 40km left. It was impossible to bring back, which meant the seven riders in front would fight for the win.
Flecha was the first to attack. That occured just before the 15km mark.
The other six didn't agree on who was going to close the gap, and Flecha soon got quite a few meters.
Juan Antonio Flecha never looked back, and approached the finishing line all alone. With his hands in the air, he rolled over the line 49 seconds ahead of the rest of the break.
Edvald Boasson Hagen took second place behind Flecha.
Tom Boonen lead the pack home ten minutes later. He further increased his points lead.
Youth ranking
1 Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank 47h19'13
2 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 32
3 Thomas Lövkvist Team Columbia - High Road + 1'43
Team classification
1 Team Columbia - High Road 140h15'44
2 Rabobank + 59 3 Discovery Channel + 3'49
The first breakaway win of the Tour is reality. Juan Antonio Flecha won the stage after having ridden 170km in a breakaway. His risky move of attacking first turned out to be successful. The Argentinian-born Spaniard won the second Tour stage of his carreer, his first came in 2003.
A strong Tom Boonen won the sprint in the peloton. With Discovery-tinted glasses, the day hasn't been a success. Because of Hagen's presence in the break, we loose our lead in the team classification to Team Columbia, and are also passed by Rabobank. This is not a worry, though, as it will soon change again.
Tomorrow we have a light mountain stage from today's finish host, Vittel, to Colmar. It could be an interesting taste of what's to come in the Alps.
