2009 Tour | 2011 Tour |Tour de France database | 2010 Tour Quick Facts | Details of 2010 Tour | Stages with running GC | Startlist with back-numbers | Final 2010 General Classification

Results with photos, stage maps and profiles:
Teams Presentation|Prologue|Stage 1|Stage 2|Stage 3|Stage 4|Stage 5|Stage 6|Stage 7|Stage 8|Rest Day 1|Stage 9|Stage 10|Stage 11|Stage 12|Stage 13|Stage 14|Stage 15|Stage 16|Rest Day 2|Stage 17|Stage 18|Stage 19|Stage 20|

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Les Woodland's book Cycling Heroes: The Golden Age is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

2010 Tour Quick Facts:

3,641.9 km raced at an average speed of 39.585 km/hr.

197 starters and 170 classified finishers.

Alberto Contador was not the dominating rider he had been in previous grand tours, especially in the final time trial.

But his main competition, Andy Schleck ,was surprisingly passive for much of the race and allowed Contador to control the racing. Yet, Schleck very nearly won the 2010 Tour.

This was Contador's third Tour de France victory.

On February 7, 2012 the Court for Arbitration of Sport stripped Contador of his 2010 Tour championship after a positive for Clenbuterol, a banned drug, during the rest day in Pau.

In 2014 Denis Menchov was stripped of his 2009, 2010 and 2012 Tour placings because of irregularities with his biological passport.

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Complete Final 2010 Tour de France General Classification:

The times for the top five riders reflect the post-Contador/Menchov ban. Those that come after 5th place Robert Gesink should have 43 seconds subtracted.

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 91hr 58min 48sec
1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 91hr 59min 27sec
2. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 1min 22sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 1sec
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 6min 15sec
5. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 8min 52sec
6. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 10min 15sec
7. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 11min 37sec
8. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 11min 54sec
9. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 12min 2sec
10. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 14min 21sec
11. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 14min 29sec
12. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 14min 40sec
13. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 16min 36sec
14. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 16min 59sec
15. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 17min 46sec
16. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 20min 46sec
17. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 21min 54sec
18. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 24min 4sec
19. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 26min 37sec
20. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 29min 38sec
21. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 34min 1sec
22. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 39min 20sec
23. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 39min 24sec
24. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 45min 52sec
25. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 50min 27sec
26. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 53min 22sec
27. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 55min 13sec
28. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 56min 53sec
29. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 58min 53sec
30. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 59min 17sec
31. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 59min 33sec
32. Mario Aerts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1hr 2min 36sec
33. Volodomyr Gustov (Cervelo) @ 1hr 9min 51sec
34. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) @ 1hr 10min 3sec
35. Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 1min 9sec
36. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 1hr 10min 11sec
37. Remi Pauriol (Cofidis) @ 1hr 10min 52sec
38. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 1hr 13min 19sec
39. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 19min 9sec
40. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) @ 1hr 20min 11sec
41. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 1hr 22min 38sec
42. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) @ 1hr 23min 38sec
43. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1hr 24min 12sec
44. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1hr 25min 12sec
45. Sergio Paulinho (Radio Shack) @ 1hr 25min 43sec
46. Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1hr 30min 2sec
47. José Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 1hr 38min 26sec
48. Daniel Navarro (Astana) @ 1hr 38min 30sec
49. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) @ 1hr 38min 32sec
50. Steve Morabito (BMC) @ 1hr 39min 11sec
51. Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) @ 1hr 40min 45sec
52. Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto) @ 1hr 42min 27sec
53. Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) @ 1hr 45min 1sec
54. Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
55. Grischa Niermann (Rabobank) @ 1hr 46min 32sec
56. Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1hr 46min 37sec
57. Pierre Rolland (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1hr 46min 42sec
58. George Hincapie (BMC) @ 1hr 36min 50sec
59. Vasili Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 1hr 47min 54sec
60. Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas) @ 1hr 48min 2sec
61. Iban Velasco Murillo (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 49min 57sec
62. Jurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step) @ 1hr 51min 33sec
63. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 1hr 53min 39sec
64. Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) @ 1hr 55min 13sec
65. Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step) @ 1hr 57min 58sec
66. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 2hr 0min 5sec
67. José Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2hr 1min 58sec
68. Chris Anker Sørensen (Saxo) @ 2hr 4min 46sec
69. Amaël Moinard (Cofidis) @ 2hr 5min 10sec
70. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 2hr 9min 33sec
71. Francis De Greef (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 2hr 12min 22sec
72. Rui Alberto Faria (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2hr 12min 28sec
73. Thomas Rohregger (Milram) @ 2hr 12min 57sec
74. Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) @ 2hr 15min 33sec
75. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) @ 2hr 16min 7sec
76. Imanol Erviti Ollo (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2hr 19min 15sec
77. Rémy Di Grégorio (FDJ) @ 2hr 21min 34sec
78. Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) @ 2hr 27min 19sec
79. Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 2hr 29min 38sec
80. Arkaitz Duran (Footon-Servetto) @ 2hr 29min 49sec
81. Aitor Perez (Footon-Servetto) @ 2hr 32min 17sec
82. Eros Capecchi (Footon-Servetto) @ 2hr 34min 38sec
83. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) @ 2hr 36min 15sec
84. Yaroslav Popovych (Radio Shack) @ 2hr 37min 56sec
85. Alexander Kuschynski (Liquigas) @ 2hr 39min 40sec
86. Alessandro Ballan (BMC) @ 2hr 42min 38sec
87. Nicolas Vogondy (Bouygues Telecom) @ 2hr 42min 42sec
88. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) @ 2hr 43min 40sec
89. Johannes Fröhlinger (Milram) @ 2hr 49min 23sec
90. Christian Knees (Milram) @ 2hr 53min 38sec
91. Sébastien Minard (Cofidis) @ 2hr 54min 30sec
92. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ) @ 2hr 55min 36sec
93. Kristijan Koren (Liquigas) @ 2hr 57min 11sec
94. Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel) @ 2hr 57min 17sec
95. Benoit Caugrenard (FDJ) @ 2hr 58min 5sec
96. Christophe Kern (Cofidis) @ 2hr 58min 34sec
97. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r) @ 3hr 1min 9sec
98. Michael Barry (Sky) @ 3hr 1min 34sec
99. Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom) @ 3hr 1min 40sec
100. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) @ 3hr 1min 48sec
101. Pavel Brutt (Katusha) @ 3hr 3min 12sec
102. Luke Roberts (Milram) 3hr 4min 7sec
103. Benjamin Noval (Astana) @ 3hr 5min 22sec
104. Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre) @ 3hr 6min 44sec
105. Maxime Bouet (Ag2r) @ 3hr 7min 40sec
106. Serge Pauwels (Sky) @ 3hr 8min 48sec
107. Alexandr Pliuschin (Katusha) @ 3hr 9min 5sec
108. Serguei Ivanov (Katusha) @ 3hr 9min 10sec
109. David De La Fuente (Astana) @ 3hr 11min 4sec
110. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) @ 3hr 12min 57sec
111. Yukiya Arashiro (Bouoygues Telecom) @ 3hr 13min 20sec
112. Sébastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) @ 3hr 14min 5sec
113. Grégory Rast (Radio Shack) @ 3hr 14min 11sec
114. Inaki Isasi (Euskaltel) @ 3hr 14min 30sec
115. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 3hr 14min 57sec
116. Maartem Wijnants (Quick Step) @ 3hr 15min 19sec
117. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) @ 3hr 16min 20sec
118. Fabian Wegmann (Milram) @ 3hr 17min 53sec
119. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3hr 18min 27sec
120. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) @ 3hr 19min 43sec
121. Francesco Bellotti (Liquigas) @ 3hr 20min 26sec
122. Mauro Da Dalto (Lampre) @ 3hr 21min 49sec
123. Daniel Oss (Liquigas) @ 3hr 22min 19sec
124. Grega Bole (Lampre) @ 3hr 23min 31sec
125. Jens Voigt (Saxo) @ 3hr 23min 31sec
126. Ignatas Konvalovas (Cervelo) @ 3hr 23min 36sec
127. Brian Vandborg (Liquigas) @ 3hr 24min 17sec
128. Alan Perez Lezuan (Euskaltel) @ 3hr 24min 50sec
129. Lars Boom (Rabobank) @ 3hr 26min 18sec
130. Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) @ 3hr 26min 28sec
131. Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) @ 3hr 27min 30sec
132. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) @ 3hr 27min 36sec
133. Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step) @ 3hr 39min 1sec
134. Danilo Hondo (Lampre) @ 3hr 29min 12sec
135. Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 3hr 30min 6sec
136. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 3hr 31min 10sec
137. Karsten Kroon (BMC) @ 3hr 31min 38sec
138. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) @ 3hr 31min 56sec
139. Jesus Hernandez (Astana) @ 3hr 32min 2sec
140. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) @ 3hr 33min 45sec
141. Matti Breschel (Saxo) @ 3hr 35min 31sec
142. Jérémy Roy (FDJ) @ 3hr 37min 57sec
143. Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) @ 3hr 38min 36sec
144. José Alberto Benitez (Footon-Servetto) @ 3hr 39min 12sec
145. Anthony Geslin (FDJ) @ 3hr 39min 37sec
146. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) @ 3hr 41min 37sec
147. Dmitriy Moravyev (Radio Shack) @ 3hr 41min 47sec
148. Stuart O'Grady (Saxo) @ 3hr 42min 39sec
149. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) @ 3hr 44min 38sec
150. Steven Cummings (Sky) @ 3hr 45min 47sec
151. Wesley Sulzberger (FDJ) @ 3hr 46min 59sec
152. Stéphane Auge (Cofidis) @ 3hr 49min 50sec
153. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) @ 3hr 51min 23sec
154. Nicki Sörensen (Saxo) @ 3hr 54min 12sec
155. Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Columbia) @ 3hr 54min 16sec
156. Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) @ 3hr 56min 13sec
157. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 3hr 56min 46sec
158. Brett Lancaster (Cervelo) @ 3hr 57min 0sec
159. Dimitri Champion (Ag2r) @ 3hr 59min 45sec
160. Marcus Burghardt (BMC) @ 4hr 0min 47sec
161. Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) @ 4hr 1min 2sec
162. Jeremy Hunt (Cervelo) @ 4hr 2min 21sec
163. Daniel Lloyd (Cervelo) @ 4hr 2min 59sec
164. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) @ 4hr 8min 28sec
165. Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre) @ 4hr 9min 12sec
166. Anthony Roux (FDJ) @ 4hr 13min 37sec
167. Andreas Klier (Cervelo) @ 4hr 17min 16sec
168. Bert Grabsch (HTC-Columbia) @ 4hr 23min 1sec
169. Adriano Malori (Lampre) @ 4hr 27min 3sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 143 points
2. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 128
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo): 116
4. Alberto Contador (Astana): 112
4. Damiano Cunego (Lampre): 99

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 243 points
2. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 232
3. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 222
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne): 179
5. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 179

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 91hr 59min 27sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 8min 52sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 11min 15sec
4. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 52min 43sec
5. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1hr 24min 33sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 276hr 2min 3sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 9min 15sec
3. Rabobank @ 27min 49sec
4. Ag2r @ 41min 10sec
5. Omega Pharma-Lotto @ 51min 1sec
6. Astana @ 56min 16sec

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The stages with results:

Thursday, July 1: Official team presentation.

2010 Tour de France startlist with back-numbers.

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Prologue, Saturday July 3: Rotterdam - Rotterdam 8.9 km individual time trial

Photos from the Rotterdam prologue

The Race: Several riders, most notably Bradley Wiggins, chose to ride earlier in the day, hoping to avoid the predicted rainstorm. The rain came earlier than forecast and Wiggins had to ride in a torrential downpour and was almost a full minute slower than winner Cancellara. The last riders got to ride on mostly dry streets. Most of the GC contenders chose to ride carefully, not wanting to crash. The result was that Lance Armstrong had the best ride of anyone hoping to wear yellow in Paris with Contador giving up only 5 seconds to Armstrong. Biggest disapointment was Andy Schleck, 122nd @ 1min 9sec.

No time bonuses this year so Cancellara, who won his fourth Tour prologue,will probably be in yellow for at least a few days.

Results: Prologue times and places are the same as the GC times and places.

General Classification

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) 10 min 0sec
2. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 10sec
3. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 20sec
4. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 22sec
5. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 23sec
6. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 27sec
7. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 28sec
8. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 32sec
10. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) @ 35sec
11. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) s.t.
12. Adriano Malori (Lampre) s.t.
13. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) s.t.
14. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
15. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 36sec
16. Niki Terpstra (Milram) s.t.
17. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
18. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 38sec
19. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
20. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
21. Robert Hunter (Garmin-Transitions) @ 39sec
22. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
23. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
24. Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 40sec
25. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
26. Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) s.t.
27. Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) @ 41sec
28. Steve Morabito (BMC) s.t.
29. Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
30. Kirstjan Koren (Liquigas)

72. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 55sec

74. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 56sec

77. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.

79. Frank Schleck (Saxo) @ 57sec

92. Christian Vende Velde (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min

122. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 9sec

140. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 1min 13sec

Did not Start: Xavier Florencio (Cervelo)

 

Points:

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo): 15 points
2. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia): 12
3. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions): 10

Young Rider:

1. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) 10min 10sec
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 13sec
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 22sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack: 31min 25sec
2. HTC-Columbia @ 1sec
3. Garmin-Transitions @ 2sec
4. Sky @ 16sec
5. Astana @ 20sec

Rotterdam prologue route map

Rotterdam prologue course profile

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Stage 1, Sunday July 4: Rotterdam - Brussels, 223.5 km

Photos from stage 1

The Race: As expected, the nervous peloton left riders and bike parts scattered across Holland and Belgium as crash after crash occured. An early break was caught late in the day. Garmin and Columbia closed the gap as they wanted to make sure that the day came down to a sprint. Cavendish crashed near the finish and Tyler Farrar also had an unfortunate run-in. In the final kilometer nearly all the GC men fell, but they were given the same time as the stage winner. It's thought that half the peloton was involved in the late-stage crashes. Several riders walked across the finish line.

Alessandro Petacchi took the stage and the Green Jersey.

Results:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) 5hr 9min 38sec
2. Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
3. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
4. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
5. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ) s.t.
6. Daniel Oss (Liquigas) s.t.
7. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
8. Christian Knees (Milram) s.t.
9. Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
10. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
11. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom)
12. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) s.t.
13. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) s.t.
14. Luke Roberts (Milram) s.t.
15. Geraint Thomas (Sky) s.t.
16. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
17. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) s.t.
18. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
19. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) s.t.
20. Michael Barry (Sky) s.t.
21. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) s.t.
22. Sebastien Minard (Cofidis) s.t.
23. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
24. Johannes Frohlinger (Milram) s.t.
25. Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) s.t.
26. Brett Lancaster (Cervelo) s.t.
27. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) s.t.
28. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
29. Stephane Auge (Cofidis) s.t.
30. Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) s.t.

48. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.

55. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.

Did not start: Manuel Cardoso (Footon-Servtto), Mathias Frank (BMC)

General Classification:

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) 5hr 19min 38sec
2. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 10sec
3. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 20sec
4. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 22sec
5. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 23sec
6. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 27sec
7. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 28sec
8. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 32sec
10. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) @ 35sec
11. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) s.t.
12. Adriano Malori (Lampre) s.t.
13. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) s.t.
14. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
15. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 36sec
16. Niki Terpstra (Milram) s.t.
17. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
18. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 38sec
19. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
20. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
21. Robert Hunter (Garmin-Transitions) @ 39sec
22. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
23. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
24. Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 40sec
25. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
26. Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) s.t.
27. Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) @ 41sec
28. Steve Morabito (BMC) s.t.
29. Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
30. Kristjan Koren (Liquigas) @ 42sec

68. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 54sec

70. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 55sec

75. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 56sec

77. Frank Schleck (Saxo) @ 57sec

119. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 9sec

Climber:

 

No climbing points have been awarded yet.

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 35 points
2. Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia): 30
3. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 26
4. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 24

Young Rider:

1. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia): 5hr 19min 48sec
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 13sec
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 22sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack: 16hr 19sec
2. HTC-Columbia @ 1sec
3. Garmin-Transitions @ 2sec
4. Sky @ 16sec

Stage 1 route map

Stage 1 profile

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Stage 2, Monday July 5: Brussels - Spa, 201 km

Photos from Stage 2

The day's rated climbs:

Km 98.0: Côte de France, 2.2 km @ 6.2% gradient, Category 4
Km 128.5: Côte de Filot, 3.9 km @ 4.5% gradient, Category 4
Km 136.0: Côte de Werbomont, 4.5 km @ 3.5% gradient, Category 4
Km 161.5: Côte d'Aisomont, 4.5 km @ 5.2% gradient. Category 3
Km 167.5: Col de Stockeu, 3.0 km @ 5.9% gradient, Category 3
Km 189.0: Col du Rosier, 6.4 km @ 4% gradient, Category 3

The Race: At about 10 kilometers into the stage Sylvain Chavanel escaped with 7 other riders, including Jurgen Roelandts, Jerome Pineau and Matthew Lloyd. The break at one point had a 7-minute gap that shrank back down to only 46 seconds. But, the riders persisted with their adventure. Over the final three climbs Chavanel managed to shed his companions (who were all caught by the peloton) and cruised into Spa with a 4-minute gap.

It was another day of crashes as riders fell on the descents of the final climbs (the Stockeu was especially slippery) that were made more dangerous from the rain. Among the delayed were Armstrong, Contador, the Schlecks and Christian Vande Velde. The GC contenders all made it back to the main group except for Vande Velde, who came in 9min 49sec after Chavanel. Cancellara, who would sure have preferred to chase Chavanel and protect his Yellow Jersey did what he could to slow down the pack so that the Schlecks (and he says the other GC contenders who had fallen) could rejoin. That cost him the lead.

The race jury decided to neutralize the field sprint so the only Green Jersey points awarded were Chavanel's for winning the stage. Garmin-Transitions' GC man Christian Vande Velde's injuries from crashing forced him to retire.

Results:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 4hr 40min 48sec
2. Maxime Bouet (Ag2r) @ 3min 56sec
3. Fabian Wegmann (Milram) s.t.
4. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
5. Christian Knees (Milram) s.t.
6. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
7. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
8. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) s.t.
9. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ) s.t.
10. Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
11. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
12. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) s.t.
13. Karsten Kroon (BMC) s.t.
14. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
15. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
16. Serge Pauwels (Sky) s.t.
17. Jeremy Hunt (Cervelo) s.t.
18. Styn Vandenbergh (Katusha) s.t.
19. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
20. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
21. Thomas Rohregger (Milram) s.t.
22. Danilo Hondo (Lampre) s.t.
23. Luke Roberts (Milram) s.t.
24. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) s.t.
25. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) s.t.
26. Kirstjan Koren (Liquigas) s.t.
27. Mauro Da Dalto (Lampre) s.t.
28. Pierre Rolland (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
29. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) s.t.
30. Alexsandr Kuchynski (Liquigas) s.t.

Withdrawals: Adam Hansen (HTC-Columbia), did not start; Mickael Delage (Omega Pharma-Lotto), abandon

General Classification:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 10hr 1min 25sec
2. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) @ 2min 57sec
3. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 3min 7sec
4. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 3min 17sec
5. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 3min 19sec
6. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 3min 20sec
7. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 3min 24sec
8. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 3min 25sec
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 3min 29sec
10. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) @ 3min 32sec
11. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) @ 3min 32sec
12. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) @ 3min 32sec
13. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 3min 32sec
14. Ruban Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 3min 33sec
15. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 3min 33sec
16. Alexandre Vinodourov (Astana) @ 3min 35sec
17. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 3min 35sec
18. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 3min 36sec
19. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 3min 36sec
20. Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 3min 37sec
21. Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) s.t.
22. Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia) @ 3min 38sec
23. Kristjan Koren (Liquigas) @ 3min 39sec
24. Daniel Oss (Liquigas) @ 3min 40sec
25. Carlos Baredo (Quick Step) @ 3min 43sec
26. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) s.t.
27. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
28. Damien monier (Cofidis) @ 3min 44sec
29. Thomas Lovkvist (sky) @ 3min 45sec
30. Rui Alberto Faria (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 3min 46sec

51. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 3min 51sec

53. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 52sec

57. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 3min 53sec

59. Frank Schleck (Saxo) @ 3min 54sec

85. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 4min 6sec

138. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 9min 5sec

Climber:

 

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step) 13 points
2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 8
3. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) 8
4. Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia) 5

Points:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 44 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) 35
3. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 34
4. Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) 30

Young Rider:

1. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia): 10hr 4min 32sec
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 13sec
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 22sec
4. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 28sec

Team GC:

1. Quick Step 30hr 11min 40sec
2. Radio Shack @ 2min 51sec
3. HTC-Columbia @ 2min 52sec
4. Garmin-Transitions @ 2min 53sec
5. Sky @ 3min 7sec

Stage 2 route map

Stage 2 profile

---

Stage 3, Tuesday July 6: Wanze - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 213 km

Photos from stage 3

Rated climb:

Km 48.0: Côte de Bothey,1.4 km climb @ 3.4% gradient, Category 4
Plus: 13.2 km of cobbles in 7 sectors over the last 30 km of the stage. See route map below.

The Race: Lance Armstrong predicted carnage in stage 3 and he was right. As usual, an early break of non-GC contenders containing Garmin's Ryder Hesjedal got away. In the long 4th sector of cobbles (see map below) Hesjedal dropped the other breakaways and continued on solo. Back in the peloton Saxo and Cervelo hammered away, shattering the field. Cancellara did a powerful acceleration and took Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Geraint Thomas and Thor Hushovd. That was the race. The Cancellara group caught Hesjedal and that 6-man group drove home to a nearly 1-minute advantage over the chase group containing Bradley Wiggins, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Denis Menchov and Alexandre Vinokourov and until the end, Alberto Contador.

Vino doens't quite have this gregario di lusso job down cold. Near the end he left his GC man Contador to ride in alone, another 20-seconds back.

But further back still, Oh my! Yellow jersey Chavanel was plagued with flats, Franck Schleck crashed out of the Tour, Armstrong got a flat at the wrong time, late in the stage and lost contact with the Contador/Vinokourov group.

Now Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck are the best-placed GC men with Contador roughly a minute behind Evans. Who would have thought young Schleck would emerge from the cobbles in a commanding postion? This was thought to be a stage where Armstrong would gain some real time, but now he's almost 2 minutes behind Evans. Interesting stuff.

Results:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) 4hr 49min 38sec
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) s.t.
3. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
4. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
5. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.
6. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) s.t.
7. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 53sec
8. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
10. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
11. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.
12. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
13. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 1min 13sec
14. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) @ 1min 46sec
15. Mario Aerts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
16. Arkaitz Duran (Footon-Servetto) s.t.
17. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
18. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
19. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
20. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) s.t.
21. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
22. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) @ 2min 8sec
23. Sebastien Minard (Cofidis) s.t.
24. Serge Pauwels (Sky) s.t.
25. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
26. Stuart O'Grady (Saxo) s.t.
27. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
28. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
29. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) s.t.
30. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) s.t.

32. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.

43. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 2min 25sec

46. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) s.t.

54. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.

DNF: Frank Schleck (Saxo), David Le Lay (Ag2r)
DNS: Niki Terpstra (Milram), Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Transitions)

General Classification: 189 classified finishers.

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) 14hr 54min
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 23sec
3. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 39sec
4. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 46sec
5. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 1min 1sec
6. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 9sec
7. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) @ 1min 19sec
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 1min 31sec
9. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 1min 40sec
10. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1min 42sec
11. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
12. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 47sec
13. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 1min 49sec
14. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
15. David Millar (Garmin-Transtions) @ 2min 6sec
16. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 24sec
17. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 25sec
18. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 2min 30sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 2min 34sec
20. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 35sec
21. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 2min 35sec
22. Arkaitz Duran (Footon-Servetto) @ 2min 49sec
23. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) @ 2min 52sec
24. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 2min 53sec
25. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) @ 2min 57sec
26. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) @ 2min 58sec
27. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) @ 3min
28. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
29. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 3min 1sec
30. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 3min 2sec

48. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 3min 19sec

49. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 20sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 13 points
2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 8
3. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis): 8

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 63 points
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky): 49
3. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 44
4. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 38

Young Rider:

1. Geraint Thomas (Sky) 14hr 54min 23sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 46sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 1sec

Team GC:

1. Saxo 44hr 45min 55sec
2. Garmin-Transitions @ 11sec
3. Sky @ 25sec
4. Astana @ 2min 21sec

Stage 3 route map. Cobbled sectors are in the detail inset.

Stage 3 profile

---

Stage 4, Wednesday July 7: Cambrai - Reims, 153.5 km

Rated Climb:

Km 40.5: Côte de Vadencourt, 1.6 km climb @ 3.9% gradient, Category 4

Photos from stage 4

The Race: It was a straightforward flat sprinter's stage with a fairly predictable script. Five riders (Dimitri Champion, Nicolas Vogondy, Inaki Isasi, Francis De Greef, Iban Mayoz) who presented no GC threat were allowed to scoot off the front almost as the stage started. Their gap was allowed to grow to about 3 minutes before HTC-Columbia pulled on the choke collar. They were caught with 3 km to go. Columbia's leadout train did their best to put Cavendish in place but he wasn't able to answer the call to duty. Today was another day for Alessandro Petacchi who nabbed his second stage this year.

Results:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) 3hr 34min 55sec
2. Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
4. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
5. Robert Hunter (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
6. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
7. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
8. Daniel Oss (Liquigas) s.t.
9. Thos Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
10. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) s.t.
11. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
12. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
13. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) s.t.
14. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
15. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
16. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
17. Sandy Casar (FDJ) s.t.
18. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) s.t.
19. Geraint Thomas (Sky) s.t.
20. Carlos Barredo (Quicki Step) s.t.
21. Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
22. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
23. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
24. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
25. Stuart O'Grady (Saxo) s.t.
26. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) s.t.
27. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) s.t.
28. Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) s.t.
29. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
30. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.

32. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.

36. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.

51. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.

58. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.

General Classification:

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) 18hr 28min 55sec
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 23sec
3. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 39sec
4. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 46sec
5. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 1min 1sec
6. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 9sec
7. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) @ 1min 19sec
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 1min 31sec
9. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 1min 40sec
10. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1min 42sec
11. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
12. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 47sec
13. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 1min 49sec
14. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
15. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 2min 6sec
16. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 24sec
17. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 25sec
18. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 2min 30sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 2min 34sec
20. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 35sec
21. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
22. Arkaitz Duran (Footon-Servetto) @ 2min 49sec
23. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) @ 2min 52sec
24. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 2min 53sec
25. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) @ 2min 57sec
26. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) @ 2min 58sec
27. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) @ 3min
28. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
29. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 3min 1sec
30. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 3min 2sec

47. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 3min 19sec

48. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 20sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 13 points
2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 8
3. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis): 8

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 80 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 70
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 62

Young Rider:

1. Thomas Geraint (Sky) 18hr 29min 18sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 46sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 1sec

Team GC:

1. Saxo 55hr 30min 40sec
2. Garmin-Transitions @ 11sec
3. Sky @ 25sec
4. Astana @ 2min 21sec

Stage 4 route map

Stage 4 profile

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Stage 5, Thursday July 8: Épernay - Montargis, 187.5 km

Rated Climbs:

Km 18.5: Côte d'Orbais-l'Abbaye, 1.6 km @ 4.8% gradient, Category 4
Km 36.5: Côte de Mécringes, 1.3 km @ 5.4% gradient, Category 4

Photos from Stage 5

The Race: Like yesterday, an early break was allowed to go, this time at kilometer 5. In that break was the very stubborn Spanish champion Jose Ivan Gutierrez, who stuck it out until about 4 kilometers to go. But first HTC-Columbia then Lampre and Cervelo started to work to bring in the break, and with all that horsepower in the chase the adventurers were doomed. No one expected Tyler Farrar to be back sprinting this soon after getting busted up in earlier crashes, but Garmin did a lead out train for him. But HTC-Columbia was in the mood to win and the final man in the Columbia train, Mark Renshaw bulldozed his way through with Cavendish on his wheel and no one could match Cavendish's speed today. He gets his first Tour stage of the year and firmly silenced those who doubted his 2010 form.

Results:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 4hr 30min 50sec
2. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
5. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
6. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
7. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
8. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
9. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
10. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) s.t
11. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) s.t.
12. Daniel Oss (Liquigas) s.t.
13. Danilo Hondo (Lampre) s.t.
14. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
15. Yukiya Arashiro (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
16. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) s.t.
17. Andriy Grivko (Astana) s.t.
18. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) s.t.
19. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
20. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) s.t.
21. Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
22. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
23. Geraint Thomas (Sky) s.t.
24. Christian Knees (Milram) s.t.
25. George Hincapie (BMC) s.t.
26. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) s.t.
27. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
28. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) s.t.
29. Inaki Isasi (Euskaltel) s.t.
30. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.

Did not start: Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel)

General Classification:

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) 22hr 59min 45sec
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 23sec
3. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 39sec
4. Ryder Hesjadel (Garmin-Transitions) @ 46sec
5. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 1min 1sec
6. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 9sec
7. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) @ 1min 19sec
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 1min 31sec
9. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 1min 40sec
10. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1min 42sec
11. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
12. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 47sec
13. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 1min 49sec
14. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
15. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 2min 6sec
16. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 24sec
17. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 25sec
18. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 2min 30sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 2min 34sec
20. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 35sec
21. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 2min 35sec
22. Arkaitz Duran (Footon-Servetto) @ 2min 49sec
23. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) @ 2min 52sec
24. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 2min 53sec
25. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) @ 2min 58sec
26. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) @ 3min
27. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
28. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 3min 1sec
29. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 3min 2sec
30. Bram Tankink (Rabobank) s.t.

46. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 3min 19sec

47. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 20sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 13 points
2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 8
3. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis): 8

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 102 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 88
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 81

9. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 50

Young Rider:

1. Thomas Geraint (Sky) 23hr 8sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 45sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 1sec

Team GC:

1. Saxo 69hr 3min 10sec
2. Garmin-Transitions @ 11sec
3. Sky @ 25sec
4. Astana @ 2min 21sec

Stage 5 route map

Stage 5 profile

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Stage 6, Friday July 9: Montargis - Gueugnon, 227.5 km

Rated climbs:

Km 69.5: Côte de Bouhy, 2.9 km @ 4% gradient, Category 4
Km 91.5: Côte de La Chapelle-Saint-André, 2.1 km @ 4.3% gradient, Category 4
Km 179.5: Côte des Montarons, 3.6 km @ 3.6% gradient, Category 4
Km 204.5: Côte de la Croix de l'Arbre, 2.3 km @ 4.5% gradient, Category 4

Stage 6 photos

The Race: Different day, different road, same story. Early break went and was caught after the sprinters' teams closed the gap at 10 km to go. Cavendish was again, by far the fastest rider as he nailed his second consecutive Tour stage. Tomorrow, heavy roads as the race heads into the Alps.

Results:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 5hr 37min 42sec
2. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
3. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
4. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
5. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
6. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom)
7. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
9. Robert Hunter (Garmin-Transtions) s.t.
10. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
11. Geraint Thomas (Sky) s.t.
12. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
13. Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
14. Brett Lancaster (Cervelo) s.t.
15. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3sec
16. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ) s.t.
17. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) s.t.
18. Roger Kluge (Milram) s.t.
19. Yukiya Arashiro (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
20. Luke Roberts (Milram) s.t.
21. George Hincapie (BMC) s.t.
22. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
23. Matti Breschel (Saxo) s.t.
24. Sebastien Minard (Cofidis) s.t.
25. Fabian Wegmann (Milram) s.t.
26. Christophe Kern (Cofidis) s.t.
27. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
28. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
29. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step) s.t.
30. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.

38. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.

55. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.

56. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.

61. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.

65. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.

112. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.

Withdrawals: None

General Classification:

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) 28hr 37min 30sec
2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 20sec
3. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 39sec
4. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 46sec
5. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 1min 1sec
6. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 9sec
7. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) @ 1min 16sec
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 1min 31sec
9. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 1min 40sec
10. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1min 42sec
11. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
12. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 47sec
13. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 1min 49sec
14. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
15. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) @ 2min 6sec
16. Roman Kreuziger (Lqiuigas) @ 2min 24sec
17. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 25sec
18. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 2min 30sec
19. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 32sec
20. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 2min 34sec
21. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 2min 35sec
22. Arkaitz Duran (Footon-Servetto) @ 2min 49sec
23. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
24. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 2min 53sec
25. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) @ 2min 58sec
26. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) @ 3min
27. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
28. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 3min 1sec
29. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 3min 2sec
30. Bram Tankink (Rabobank) s.t.

46. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 3min 19sec

47. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 20sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 13 points
2. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne): 12
3. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 8

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 118 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 114
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 105
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne): 92
5. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 85

Young Rider:

1. Geraint Thomas (Sky) 28hr 37min 50sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 49sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 4sec

Team GC:

1. Saxo 85hr 56min 25sec
2. Garmin-Transitions @ 5sec
3. Sky @ 19sec
4. Astana @ 2min 21sec

Stage 6 route map

Stage 6 profile

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Stage 7, Saturday July 10: Tournus - Station des Rousses, 165.5 km

Stage 7 photos

Rated climbs:

Km 51.5: Côte de l'Aubépin, 4.9 km @ 5% gradient, Category 3
Km 69.0: Côte des Granges (DESSIA), 5.9 km @ 3.5% gradient, Category 4
Km 84.5: Côte d'Arinthod, 8.5 km @ 4.7%, Category 3
Km 104.0: Côte du barrage de Vouglans, 6.6 km @ 5.6% gradient, Category 2
Km 134.5: Col de la Croix de la Serra. 15.7 km @ 4.3% gradient, Category 2
Km 161.5: Côte de Lamoura, 14 km@ 5% gradient, Category 2

The Race: As expected, polka-dot jersey holder Jerome Pineau made sure he was in the early break to snaffle up the climber's points offered in the day's 6 rated climbs. He did well, increasing his lead in the climbers' competition by being first over the first 5 ascents.

On the Col de la Croix de la Serra behind Pineau, a powerful group ripped itself free of the peloton and in it were Damiano Cunego, Thomas Voeckler, Rafael Valls, Sylvain Chavanel and Juan Manuel Garate. From this group Chavanel and then Valls got clear and Chavanel soloed across the finish line to win his second stage this year and reclaim the yellow jersey.

Back at the ranch, Fabian Cancellara melted on the hot climbs and conceded 14 minutes. None of the real contenders lost time and none of them mounted a serious attack, preferring to keep their powder dry for tomorrow's first day in the high mountains.

Results:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 4hr 22min 52sec
2. Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto) @ 57sec
3. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) @ 1min 27sec
4. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1min 40sec
5. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
6. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
7. Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1min 47sec
8. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
9. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
10. Eros Capecchi (Fotton-Servetto) s.t.
11. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
12. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) s.t.
13. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
14. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
15. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
16. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.
17. Damien Monier (Cofidis) s.t.
18. Jurgen Van Den Boreck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
19. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
20. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.
21. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
22. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
23. Chris Sorensen (Saxo) s.t.
24. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
25. Pierre Rolland (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
26. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
27. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.
28. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
29. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.
30. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t

Withdrawals: Juan Jose Oroz (Euskaltel), did not start and Stijn Vanderbergh (Katusha), outside time limit.

General Classification:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 33hr 1min 23sec
2. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 1min 25sec
3. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 32sec
4. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 55sec
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 2min 17sec
6. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 2min 26sec
7. Jurgen Van Den Boreck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 2min 28sec
8. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
9. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 2min 33sec
10. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 35sec
11. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
12. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 3min 10sec
13. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 3mn 11sec
14. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 3min 16sec
15. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 3min 20sec
16. Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto) @ 3min 39sec
17. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 3min 39sec
18. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) @ 3min 44sec
19. Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) @ 3min 46sec
20. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 3min 46sec
21. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 50sec
22. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 3min 58sec
23. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 2sec
24. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 4min 3sec
25. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 4min 4sec
26. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 4min 5sec
27. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 4min 6sec
28. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 4min 19sec
29. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) @ 4min 20sec
30. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) @ 4min 35sec
31. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 4min 37sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 44 points
2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 36
3. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne): 28

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 44 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 114
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 105

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 33hr 3min 18sec
2. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 1min 15sec
3. Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto) @ 1min 44sec

Team GC:

1. Astana 99hr 12min 43sec
2. Rabobank @ 56sec
3. Caisse d'Epargne @ 1min 24sec

Stage 7 route map

Stage 7 profile

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Stage 8, Sunday July 11: Station des Rousses - Morzine-Avoriaz, 189 km

Rated climbs:

Km 24.0: Côte de la Petite Joux, 2.3 km @ 4.3% gradient, Category 4
Km 73.0: Côte de Grésin, 4.3 km @ 3.9%, Category 4
Km 154.5: Col de la Ramaz, 14.3 km @ 6.8%, Category 1
Km 168.0: LES GETS, 3.9 km @ 4.8%, Category 3
Km 189.0: MORZINE-AVORIAZ, 13.6 km @ 6.1%, Category 1

Photos from stage 8

The Race: Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Today was filled with surprises. First of all Lance Armstrong's quest to win an eighth Tour de France ended today. A series of crashes and mishaps left him drained on the final ascent to Morzine-Avoriaz. After crashing the first time (he clipped a pedal on a traffic circle) he had to chase and just made contact before the hammer was dropped on the Col de la Ramaz. Another crash on the Les Gets ascent finished him off. On the final climb he had nothing left to contest the race with the other contenders, and finished almost 12 minutes down. That's who didn't win.

As to the winner. There was a selection on the Morzine climb (the finishing times below make it clear who had suds at the end of the day) and when Andy Schleck made an attack in the final kilometer Contador couldn't handle it and had to concede 10 seconds. Rather than have Leipheimer die with Armstrong, they had him stick with the leaders, which he did, finishing with Basso, Menchov, Contador, Evans, etc. So Radio Shack still has a dog in this fight. Schleck is starting to carve out a lead that can withstand the final time trial. Menchov and Van De Broeck are doing far better than I had expected. This is turning into an exciting race.

But what a day! The herd has been thinned.

Results:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 4hr 54min 11sec
2. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
3. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 10sec
4. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
5. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
6. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
7. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
8. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
9. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.
10. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.
11. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.
12. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 20sec
13. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 39sec
14. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 14sec
15. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
16. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
17. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 1min 37sec
18. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 1min 45sec
19. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
20. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom) @ 2min 5sec
21. Steve Morabito (BMC) @ 2min 15sec
22. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 2min 18sec
23. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
24. Daniel Navarro (Astana) @ 2min 20sec
25. Eros Capecchi (Footon-Servetto) @ 2min 23sec
26. Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto) s.t.
27. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
28. Damien Monier (Cofidis) s.t.
29. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 3min 27sec
30. Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) s.t.

60. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 11min 40sec

61. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 11min 45sec

General Classification:

1. Cadel Evans (BMC) 37hr 57min 9sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 20sec
3. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 1min 1sec
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1min 3sec
5. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 1min 10sec
6. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 11sec
7. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 1min 45sec
8. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 2min 14sec
9. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 15sec
10. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 2min 31sec
11. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 2min 37sec
12. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 2min 40sec
13. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 2min 41sec
14. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 2min 45sec
15. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 3min 5sec
16. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 3min 11sec
17. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 3min 23sec
18. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 3min 30sec
19. Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto) @ 4min 27sec
20. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 5min 3sec
21. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 5min 39sec
22. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 6min 19sec
23. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 6min 33sec
24. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 7min 12sec
25. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 7min 28sec
26. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 7min 52sec
27. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 7min 58sec
28. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 8min 15sec
29. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) @ 8min 39sec
30. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 8min 53sec

39. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 13min 26sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 44 points
2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 36
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 30

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 118 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 114
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 105

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 37hr 57min 29sec
2. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 1min 25sec
3. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 2min 17sec

Team GC:

1. Rabobank 113hr 59min 59sec
2. Astana @ 10sec
3. Radio Shack @ 2min 53sec

Stage 8 route map

Stage 8 profile

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Stage 9, Tuesday July 13: Morzine Avoriaz - Saint Jean de Maurienne, 204.5 km

Photos from stage 9

Rated climbs:

Km 18.5: Côte de Châtillon, 2.1 km @ 3.9% gradient, Category 4
Km 46.0: Col de la Colombière, 16.5 km @ 6.7%, Category 1
Km 71.0: Col des Aravis, 7.6 km @ 5.9%, Category 2
Km 97.0: Col des Saisies, 14.4 km @ 5.1%, Category 1
Km 172.5: Col de la Madeleine, 25.5 km @ 6.2%, Hors Category

The race: What a terrific Tour this is! The day's break was 14-men strong but by the top of the final climb, the Col de a Madeleine, only 4 had survived, Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom), Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne), Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Sandy Casar (FDJ). Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) was gapped, but chasing.

Back in the field, the damage the final climb did to the ambitions of several top riders was staggering. Yellow Jersey Cadel Evans cracked as badly as he did in the 2002 Giro. But this time it wasn't a matter of bonking. It turns out Evans fractured his elbow in a crash in Sunday's stage. He had hoped to cope with the injury but in the end he was unable to keep up with his challengers.

Look at the results below. Sastre and Wiggins have to be considered out of contention now. Astana set an incendiary pace on the Madeleine and after Daniel Navarro (Astana) swung off only Contador and Schleck were on his wheel. After some tentative probing attacks by both riders they went to work distancing the field. They caught Moreau who joined them in the chase. Up front the riders in the break were playing games and by slowing they let Schleck, Moreau and Contador, who were not doing anything at all that resembled playing, catch them. Casar led out and took the sprint and Andy Schleck is now the yellow jersey.

Results:

1. Sandy Casar (FDJ) 5hr 38min 10sec
2. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
3. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.
4. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2sec
5. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
6. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
7. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.
8. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 52sec
9. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 2min 7sec
10. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
11. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) s.t.
12. Jens Voigt (Saxo) s.t.
13. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 10sec
14. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 2min 50sec
15. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.
16. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
17. Jurgen Ven Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
18. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.
19. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 3min 48sec
20. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
21. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
22. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 3min 51sec
23. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 4min 53sec
24. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) @ 4min 55sec
25. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
26. Johan Gadret (Ag2r) s.t.
27. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.
28. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) s.t.
29. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
30. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.

42. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 8min 9sec

General Classification:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 43hr 35min 41sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 41sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 45sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 58sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 31sec
6. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 3min 59sec
7. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 22sec
8. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 4min 41sec
9. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 5min 8sec
10. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 5min 9sec
11. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 11sec
12. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 5min 42sec
13. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 6min 31sec
14. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 7min 4sec
15. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 7min 13sec
16. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 7min 18sec
17. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 7min 44sec
18. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 7min 47sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 8min 3sec
20. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 9min 5sec
21. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 9min 48sec
22. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 10min 20sec
23. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 10min 26sec
24. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 10min 46sec
25. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 11min 6sec
26. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 11min 45sec
27. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 12min 48sec
28. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 13min 26sec
29. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 14min 30sec
30. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 15min 15sec
31. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 15min 54sec

Did not Start: Fabio Felline (Footon-Servetto),Vladimir Karpets (Katusha), Simon Gerrans (Sky), Roger Kluge (Milram).

Abandon: Markus Eibegger (Footon-Servetto)

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 85 points
2. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 85
3. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 62

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 124 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 114
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 105

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 43hr 35min 41sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 22sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 11sec

Team GC:

1. Caisse d'Epargne 131hr 5min 36sec
2. Radio Shack @ 31sec
3. Astana @ 35sec

Stage 9 route map

Stage 9 profile

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Stage 10, Wednesday July 14: Chambéry - Gap 179 km

Rated climbs:

Km 77.0: Côte de Laffrey, 7.0 km @ 9% gradient, Category 1
Km 98.0: Côte des Terrasses, 3.3 km @ 7.1%, Category 3
Km 145.5: Col du Noyer, 7.4 km @ 5.3%, Category 2

Stage 10 photos

The race: The first 35 kilometers were insane with attacks flying everywhere. The French riders were particularly intent given that this is July 14, their national day. By the 40th km a group of 6 had managed to break clear. The pack, being policed by Schleck's Saxo team, was content to let them go, letting the gap grow to over 14 minutes at the end. The pack is hot, tired and battered and didn't have much fight in it today.

The riders in the break, however, were very motivated. With the major climbing done for the day Mario Aerts tried to leave the others with something like 14 km left in the stage. That started the attacking games that finally resulted in Sergio Paulinho (Radios Shack) and Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) getting free of the others with Paulinho taking a very close sprint.

Results:

1. Sergio Paulinho (Radio Shack) 5hr 10min 56sec
2. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
3. Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) @ 1min 29sec
4. Pierre Rolland (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
5. Mario Aerts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
6. Maxime Bouet (Ag2r) @ 3min 20sec
7. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 12min 57sec
8. Remi Pauriol (Cofidis) @ 13min 57sec
9. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) @ 14min 19sec
10. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
11. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
12. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
13. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
14. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
15. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
16. Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
17. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
18. Kristjan Koren (Liquigas) s.t.
19. Damien Monier (Cofidis) s.t.
20. Matti Breschel (Saxo) s.t.
21. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.
22. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
23. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
24. Luke Roberts (Milram) s.t.
25. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
26. Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) s.t.
27. Danilo Hondo (Lampre) s.t.
28. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) s.t.
29. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) s.t.
30. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.

34. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.

44. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.

46. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.

70. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.

130. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 15min 47sec

General Classification:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 49hr 56sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 41sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 45sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 58sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 31sec
6. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 3min 59sec
7. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 22sec
8. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 4min 41sec
9. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 5min 8sec
10. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 5min 9sec
11. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 11sec
12. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 5min 42sec
13. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 6min 23sec
14. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 6min 31sec
15. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 7min 4sec
16. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 7min 13sec
17. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 7min 18sec
18. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 7min 47sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 8min 3sec
20. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 9min 5sec
21. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 9min 48sec
22. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 10min 20sec
23. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 10min 26sec
24. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 10min 46sec
25. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 11min 6sec
26. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 11min 45sec
27. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 12min 48sec
28. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 13min 26sec
29. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 14min 30sec
30. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 15min 15sec
31. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 17min 22sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 91 points
2. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 90
3. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 62

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 138 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 131
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 116
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne): 98
5. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 97

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 49hr 56sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 22sec
3. Roman kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 11sec

Team GC:

1. Caisse d'Epargne 147 hr 7min 2sec
2. Radio Shack @ 31sec
3. Astana @ 14min 54sec

Stage 10 route map

Stage 10 profile

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Rest Day, Monday July 12: Morzine-Avoriaz.

Long ago Alberto Contador said that the 2010 Tour would be settled in the Pyrenees. After Sunday's stage this looks more true than ever. It seemed that the big guys were racing stage 8 so as not to lose the Tour rather than trying to win. There were no epic attacks, just an extremely hard day that allowed the better riders to ride to the top of the GC standings. Tomorrow's stage is unlikely to change the selection since the crest of the final rated climb, the Hors Category Col de la Madeleine is placed about 35 km before the finish. If a rider is feeling lucky, he could attack on the descent and try to hold the lead the remaining 13 km to the finish

After working too hard to control the leaders on the Morzine ascent yesterday, leaving him vulnerable to Schleck's devastating final attack, Contador has said he'll let the others (read: yellow jersey Evans and BMC) police the pointy part of the peloton tomorrow.

It's a shame the race is deprived of the angry ferocity Armstrong can bring to the race, but the 2010 Armstrong is certainly not the 2004 Lance who always rode near the front of the peloton and stayed completely out of trouble. I can't imagine Armstrong clipping a pedal, a banal way to crash, 10 years ago. Also he missed the Cancellara move in stage three that took Evans and Schleck clear, an unheard of lapse with the old Lance 1.0. Back then he was the most heads-up, alert, dialed-in rider on the road. Father Time is no friend of athletes.

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Stage 11, Thursday July 15: Sisteron - Bourg-lès-Valence, 184.5 km

Rated climb:

Km 56.5: Col de Cabre, 5.0 km @ 5.9% gradient, Category 3

Photos from stage 11

The Race: Almost as the flag was dropped Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Jose-Alberto Benitez (Footon-Servetto) and Anthony Geslin (FDJ) flew the coup. Given the day's rather flat profile, the sprinter's teams were not going to let the break succeed. They were caught well before the sprint. And what a sprint it was. As Lampre, Garmin and Columbia fought for position a head-butting argument at top speed broke out between Columbia final lead-out man Mark Renshaw and Garmin's Julian Dean. Cavendish easily took the stage. That makes 13 Tour stage wins for Cavendish, the most of any active rider.After launching Cavendish it sure looked like Renshaw then moved over to block Tyler Farrar. Petacchi's second place gave him enough points to make him the new green jersey.

The Tour judges made their displeasure with Renshaw's tactics very clear by ejecting him from the race.

Results:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC), 4hr 42min 29sec
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
3. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caise d'Epargne) s.t.
5. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
6. Yukiya Arashiro (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
7. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
8. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
9. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
10. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
11. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
12. Edvald Boason Hagen (Sky) s.t.
13. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) s.t.
14. Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
15. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
16. Luke Roberts (Milram) s.t.
17. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
18. Kevin de Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
19. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) s.t.
20. Danilo Hondo (Lampre) s.t.
21. Christian Knees (Milram) s.t.
22. Daniel Lloyd (Cervelo) s.t.
23. Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
24. Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) s.t.
25. George Hincapie (BMC) s.t.
26. Johannes Frohlinger (Milram) s.t.
27. Alexandr Pliuschin (Katusha) s.t.
28. Sebastien Minard (Cofidis) s.t.
29. Brett Daniel Lancaster (Cervelo) s.t.
30. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) s.t.

Withdrawals: Did not start-Charles Wegelius (Omega-Pharma-Lotto), Robert Hunter (Garmin-Transitions)

Ejected from the Tour de France: Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia)

General Classification:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo), 53hr 43min 25sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 41sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 45sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 58sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 31sec
6. Levi Lepiheimer (Radio Shack) @ 3min 59sec
7. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 22sec
8. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 4min 41sec
9. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 5min 8sec
10. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 5min 9sec
11. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 11sec
12. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 5min 42sec
13. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 6min 23sec
14. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 6min 31sec
15. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 7min 4sec
16. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 7min 13sec
17. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 7min 18sec
18. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 7min 47sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 8min 3sec
20. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 9min 5sec
21. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 9min 48sec
22. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 10min 20sec
23. Kevin de Weert (Quick Step) @ 10min 26sec
24. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 10min 46sec
25. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 11min 35sec
26. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 11min 45sec
27. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 12min 48sec
28. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 13min 26sec
29. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 14min 30sec
30. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 15min 15sec
31. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 17min 50sec
32. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 17min 51sec

Climber:

1. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 92 points
2. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 90
3. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 62

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 161 points
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 157
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 138
4. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 132
5. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne): 122

Young Rider:

1. Andy Shcleck (Saxo), 53hr 43min 25sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 22sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 11sec

Team GC:

1. Caisse d'Epargne, 161hr 14min 29sec
2. Radio Shack @ 31sec
3. Astana @ 14min 54sec
4. Rabobank @15min 38sec

Stage 11 route map

Stage 11 profile

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Stage 12, Friday July 16: Bourg-de-Péage - Mende, 210.5 km

Rated climbs:

Km 31.0: Côte de Saint-Barthélémy-le-Plain, 10.7 km @ 3.1% gradient, Category 3
Km 59.0: Col des Nonières (NONIERES), 5.7 km, 3.8%, Category 3
Km 96.0: Suc de Montivernoux, 13.7 @ 4.4%, Category 2
Km 133.0: Côte de la Mouline, 3.9 km @ 5%, Category 3
Km 208.5: Côte de la Croix-Neuve (Montée Laurent Jalabert), 3.1 km @ 10.1%, Category 2

Photos from stage 12

The race: The action really started on the third category Col des Nonières when 18 riders broke away. What was surprising was the number of GC threats that were allowed to get away including Ryder Hesjedal, Andreas Kloden, Alexandre Vinokourov as well as KOM competitor Anthony Charteau and green jersey hunter Thor Hushovd. But get away they did and with so many teams represented in the break Saxo had to do almost all of the chasing.

Kloden thought the group too big and his acceleration brought it down to just 4: Kloden, Vino, Hesjedal and Vasil Kiryienka.

On the final climb, the Côte de la Croix-Neuve (Montée Laurent Jalabert) which has patches of 14% gradient, the break came apart. Vinokourov went for the solo victory with the other breakaways getting sucked up by the relentless peloton.

In the peloton Joaquin Rodriguez shot away and Contador was on his wheel like stink on poo. Schleck didn't have the suds to join the move as the pair rode away from the pack and up towards Vinokourov. They went by the Kazakh with Rodriguez taking the stage. Vinokourov was third at 4 seconds. Schleck came in fifth, ten seconds after Rodriguez and Contador. It looks like the steeper the terrain, the more vulnerable Schleck is.

Hushovd grabbed enough intermediate sprint points to retake the green jersey. Charteau retook the polka dots and Tyler Farrar finally had to abandon.

Results:

1. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 4hr 58min 26sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
3. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 4sec
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 10sec
5. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.
6. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
7. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
8. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.
9. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 15sec
10. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) s.t.
11. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 17sec
12. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 31sec
13. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.
14. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
15. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
16. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.
17. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) s.t.
18. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.
19. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
20. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
21. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) s.t.
22. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 48sec
23. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 53sec
24. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
25. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) s.t.
26. John Gadret (Ag2r) s.t.
27. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
28. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 1min 11sec
29. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
30. Eros Capecchi (Footon-Servetto) s.t.

57. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 3min 35sec

Withdrawals: Did not start- Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Abandon- Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions)

General Classification:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 58hr 42min 1sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 31sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 45sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 58sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 31sec
6. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 4min 6sec
7. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 27sec
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 4min 58sec
9. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 5min 2sec
10. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas-Domo) @ 5min 16sec
11. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 5min 30sec
12. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 6min 25sec
13. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
14. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 6min 44sec
15. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 7min 34sec
16. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 7min 39sec
17. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 7min 47sec
18. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 8min 8sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 8min 24sec
20. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 9min 5sec
21. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 10min 41sec
22. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 11min 4sec
23. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 11min 27sec
24. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 11min 56sec
25. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 12min 28sec
26. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 14min 9sec
27. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 14mn 11sec
28. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 14min 33sec
29. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 16min 44sec
30. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 17min 55sec
31. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 19min 64sec
32. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 21min 16sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 107 points
2. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 92
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo): 64

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 167 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 161
3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 138
4. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 132

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 58hr 42min 1sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 27sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 16sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 176 hr 11min 16sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne) @ 21sec
3. Astana @ 15min 43sec

Stage 12 route map

Stage 12 profile

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Stage 13, Saturday July 17: Rodez - Revel, 196 km

Rated climbs:

Km 24.0: Côte de Mergals, 3.7 km @ 3.8% gradient, Category 4
Km 31.5: Côte de Bégon, 3.1 km @ 4.5%, Category 4
Km 72.0: Côte d'Ambialet, 5.2 km @ 4.6 %, Category 3
Km 125.0: Côte de Puylaurens, 4.3 km @ 3.9%, Category 4
Km 188.5: Côte de Saint-Ferréol, 1.9 km @ 6%, Category 3

Photos from stage 13

The Race: With 5 ascents rated cat 3 and cat 4, the day looked perfect for a break. Three of the best, Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) left the embrace of the peloton at just the fifth kilometer. They were allowed a gap of 6 minutes but Lampre and Columbia, wanting another shot at a sprint, reeled them back in. It was all together by the time the pack reached the final climb, the Côte de Saint-Ferréol. Alessandro Ballan (BMC) took of at the base of the hill with several riders unsuccessfully trying to get up to the former world champion. Astana's Alexandre Vinokourov lit the jets, blasted by Ballan's chasers and then Ballan himself. Vino extended his lead on the descent while Bouygues Telecom's Thomas Voeckler did all he could to get up to the fleeing Kazakh but couldn't close the gap and was caught by the pack. In the end the determined Vinokourov soloed into Revel with 13 seconds.

Alessandro Petacchi's second place was enough to allow him to take back the green jersey. I assume Thor Hushovd is looking at tomorrow's race profile to figure out a plan to get it back. There are a couple of intermediate sprints before the big stuff in stage 14.

Results:

1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) 4hr 26min 26sec
2. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) @ 13sec
3. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
5. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
6. Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
7. Anthony Geslin (FDJ) s.t.
8. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
9. Grega Bole (Lampre) s.t.
10. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
11. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
12. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
13. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
14. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
15. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
16. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) s.t.
17. Martin ELmiger (Ag2r) s.t.
18. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.
19. Yukiya Arashiro (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
20. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) s.t.
21. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) s.t.
22. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) s.t.
23. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
24. Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ) s.t.
25. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
26. George Hincapie (BMC) s.t.
27. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step) s.t.
28. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
29. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
30. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.

33. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.

34. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.

43. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.

51. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.

56. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.

100. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 4min 35sec

Withdrawal: Rein Taaramae (Cofidis), abandon

General Classification:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 63hr 8min 40sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 31sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 45sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 58sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 31sec
6. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 4min 6sec
7. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 27sec
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 4min 58sec
9. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 5min 2sec
10. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 16sec
11. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 5min 30sec
12. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 6min 12sec
13. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 6min 25sec
14. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 6min 44sec
15. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 7min 34sec
16. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 7min 39sec
17. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 7min 47sec
18. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 8min 8sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 8min 24sec
20. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 9min 5sec
21. Damien Monier (Cofidis) @ 10min 31sec
22. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 10min 41sec
23. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 11min 27sec
24. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 11min 56sec
25. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 12min 28sec
26. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 14min 9sec
27. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 14min 11sec
28. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 15min 54sec
29. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 16min 44sec
30. Remi Pauriol (Cofidis) @ 23min 21sec

36. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 25min 38sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 107 points
2. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 92
3. Mario Aerts (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 65

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 187 points
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 185
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 162

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 63hr 8min 40sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 27sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 5min 16sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 189 hr 31min 13sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 21sec
3. Rabobank @ 16min 13sec

Stage 13 route map

Stage 13 profile

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Stage 14, Sunday July 18: Revel - Ax-3 Domaines, 184 km

Rated climbs:

Km 155.5: Port de Pailhères, 15.5 km @ 7.9% gradient, Hors Category
Km 183.0: Ax-3-Domaines, 7.8 km @ 8.2%, Category 1

Stage 14 photos

The race: Advantage Contador. Early into today's stage an 11-man group made good its escape. A few dropped off while others bridged, keeping the group at 11 for a while. The gap grew to about 10 minutes but that came down rapidly once Astana hit the front and really raised the speed. Once the first climb, the Port de Pailhères, started the real carnage started. While Carlos Sastre and Rafael Valls attacked, Contador and Schleck were content to keep an eye on each other.

Up front, Ag2r's Christophe Riblon was the first of the breakaway riders over the top (the rest of them were caught by the chasing pack) and he forged on ahead, chased by Sastre. The final ascent to Ax-3-Domaines proved indecisive. Riblon managed to stay away until the end, allowing him to garner the greatest win of his career. Near the top Contador tried twice to shed Schleck, but couldn't. Then the two marked each other, slowing to a near standstill. Denis Menchov, seeing a golden opportunity took off with Samuel Sanchez hot on his wheel. Schleck and Contador sobered up a bit and went after the fleeing duo.

The gap between the two top contenders remains unchanged, which plays to Contador's advantage. If Schleck doesn't have a good two minutes in hand for the 51-kilometer individual time trial, I think his goose is cooked. Even though both riders put out statements that the day went their ways, the more days that get burned up with Contador staying within TT reach, the less likely Schleck can ultimately prevail. Ask Claudio Chiappucci how it worked out for him in 1990.

Here's what Riblon had to say after the stage:

"I was really disappointed with my start of the Tour, because I wanted to do something overall, and it did not work. Especially the last two days were very difficult, and I was almost depressed. Then [AG2R's directeurs sportif] Vincent Lavenu and Julien Jurdi talk to me at length, explaining that I'm usually in good shape by the third week of a Tour, so I had to take my chances and go in a breakaway. They gave me morale, but last night I would still not bet a euro on me.
"In the final I did not want to say, 'I won'. I constantly repeated to myself, 'I'm going to win', but I did not want to be sure, not until the last kilometer. I remembered last year when I wondered how Brice Feillu had done what he did to win the stage to Andorra Arcalis. We were behind, and I do not understand how we failed to reel him in – how could he have stayed ahead when there were riders chasing him down. Now I realize why he could do it. When you’re alone in front, with a few kilometers to the finish, the support of the public helps to carry you and it encourage you, it transforms you and gives you strength. I gave everything and I felt I could not lose."

Results:

1. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r)
2. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 54sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
4. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 1min 8sec
5. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) s.t.
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) s.t.
7. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
9. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 1min 49sec
10. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.
11. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 1min 53sec
12. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 2min
13. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
14. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 2sec
15. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
16. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2min 16sec
17. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 2min 26sec
18. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 2min 27sec
19. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 2min 30sec
20. John Gadret (Ag2r) s.t.
21. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.
22. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
23. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 2min 51sec
24. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
25. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) s.t.
26. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 3min 1sec
27. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) s.t.
28. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 3min 3sec
29. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) s.t.
30. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 3min 17sec

36. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 4min 59sec

37. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 5min 39sec

62. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 15min 14sec

70. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.

General Classification:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 68hr 2min 30sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 31sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 31sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 44sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 31sec
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 27sec
7. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 4min 51sec
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 4min 58sec
9. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 5min 56sec
10. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 6min 52sec
11. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 7min 4sec
12. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 7min 11sec
13. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 7min 17sec
14. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 8min 3sec
15. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 8min 15sec
16. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 9min 46sec
17. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 10min 17sec
18. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 11min 30sec
19. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 12min 39sec
20. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 12min 50sec
21. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 13min 14sec
22. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 13min 20sec
23. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 13min 50sec
24. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 16min 4sec
25. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 17min 37sec
26. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 21min 53sec
27. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 23min 29sec
28. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 27min 46sec
29. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 28min 17sec
30. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 28min 28sec

38. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 39min 44sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 115 points
2. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 92
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo): 76

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 187 points
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 185
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 162

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 68hr 2min 30sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 27sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 7min 11sec

Team GC:

1. Caisse d'Epargne 204hr 16min 0sec
2. Radio Shack @ 8sec
3. Rabobank @ 17min 13sec

Stage 14 route map

Stage 14 profile

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Stage 15, Monday July 19: Pamiers - Bagnères-de-Luchon, 187.5 km

Rated climbs:

Km 30.0: Côte de Carla-Bayle, 3.1 km @ 4.1% gradient, Category 4
Km 105.0: Col de Portet-d'Aspet, 5.8 km @ 6.8%, Category 2
Km 126.5: Col des Ares, 6.1 km @ 4.7%, Category 2
Km 166.0: Port de Balès, 19.3 km @ 6.1%, Hors Category

Photos from stage 15

The Race: Never a dull moment at this Tour. The attacks started with the starter's flag but nothing gained any traction for a while. At about the 26th kilometer the peloton split with, no surprise here, Schleck in the back half. Astana tried tried to make the split permanent but Saxo dragged the chasing half back into contact. At the 93rd kilometer 10 men broke loose. In that group were some top-notch riders including Thomas Voeckler, Johan Van Summeren, Alessandro Ballan and Lloyd Mondory.

At the start of the final climb, the Port de Balès, the break had about 9 minutes. 8 kilometers from the top Voeckler, the reigning French road champion, took off and held off all chasers until the end.

Back in the yellow jersey group Schleck launched the long-promised attack with 3 kilometers to go to the summit. It looked like a move that would stick, but a few seconds after that, his chain dropped and got stuck between the crank and the bottom bracket. Schleck had to dismount and repair his bike

Meanwhile, Contador did not stick around to watch. He took off with Denis Menchov and Samuel Sanchez. Over the top the Contador group had 30 seconds on a frantically chasing Schleck. On the descent and the run-in to the finish the lead stretched to 39 seconds, enough to give Contador the lead by 8 seconds.

I suspect a Saxo mechanic will find himself tied to an anthill this evening.

Here's what Schleck had to say after the race:

"Now I’m really angry. I will ride on the Tourmalet until I fall from my bike and give everything to this race. 
"I felt really good but what counted at the end of the day is the time that you have when you arrive at the finish and I was so far back even with what I did on the descent.
"I promised my brother this morning that I wouldn’t take any risk on the downhill but I think I went down pretty fast... for me, let me put it that way. I didn’t want to lose too much time. 
"Things happen, and everything happens for a reason. People can say what they want but they also have realize that Alberto was one of the guys who waited for me in Spa and that was really a great sign of fair play. Chapeau! Today was a different story, a different scenario but the Tour is not finished."

[Question: Andy, you seem so calm. You speak really relaxed but are you not mad with your bike or at anyone – maybe with Alberto?]
"What happened, happens. I cannot change the situation even if I’m mad. Of course I wouldn’t have minded to throw my bike into the fence and just hit someone but you’ve got to keep yourself under control in situations like this. If you just stay calm it’s worthwhile. If yell at people, it won’t change the situation. It is how it is. I’m not crying behind my jersey. In the end it comes down to the fact that this is a bike race and we will make the final count. I’m not done with."

Results:.

1. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) 4hr 44min 51sec
2. Alessandro Ballan (BMC) @ 1min 20sec
3. Aitor Perez (Footon-Servetto) s.t.
4. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) @ 2min 50sec
5. Luke Roberts (Milram) s.t.
6. Francesco Reda (Quick Step) s.t.
7. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
8. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
9. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.
10. Brian Vandborg (Liquigas) s.t.
11. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
12. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 3min 29sec
13. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
14. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
15. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 3min 55sec
16. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 3min 55sec
17. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
18. John Gadret (Ag2r) s.t.
19. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 4min 8sec
20. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
21. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) s.t.
22. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) s.t.
23. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.
24. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.
25. Serguei Ivanov (Katusha) @ 4min 14sec
26. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 5min 18sec
27. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 5min 44sec
28. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
29. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) s.t.
30. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.

32. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.

36. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 6min 58sec

48. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 9min 35sec

Withdrawal: Mauro Santambrogio (BMC), abandon

General Classification:

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 72hr 50min 42sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 8sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 13sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 39sec
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 5min 1sec
7. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 5min 25sec
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 5min 45sec
9. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 7min 12sec
10. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 7min 51sec
11. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 7min 58sec
12. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 8min 19sec
13. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 9min 2sec
14. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 9min 15sec
15. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 11min 14sec
16. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 12min 9sec
17. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 12min 34sec
18. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 14min 7sec
19. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 14min 24sec
20. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 14min 47sec
21. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 15min 37sec
22. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 16min 16sec
23. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 17min 44sec
24. Daniel Fernandez (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 20min
25. Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ) @ 21min 18sec
26. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 27min 7sec
27. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 28min 56sec
28. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 30min 9sec
29. Chirstophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 34min 39sec
30. Remi Pauriol (Cofidis) @ 35min 14sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 115 points
2. Jerome Pineau (Quick Step): 92
3. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom): 82

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 187 points
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 185
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 162

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 72hr 50min 50sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 53sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 7min 50sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 218hr 42min 52sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 4min 27sec
3. Rabobank @ 17min 23sec

Stage 15 route map

Stage 15 profile

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Stage 16, Tuesday July 20: Bagnères-de-Luchon - Pau, 199.5 km

Rated climbs:

Km 11.0: Col de Peyresourde, 11.0 km @ 7.4% gradient, Category 1
Km 42.5: Col d'Aspin, 12.3 km @ 6.3%, Category 1
Km 72.0: Col du Tourmalet (Souvenir Jacques Goddet), 17.1 km, 7.3%, Hors Category
Km 138.0: Col d'Aubisque, 29.2 km @ 4.2%, Hors Category

Photos from stage 16

The race: Andy Schleck decided to wait until Thursday's finish at the top of the Tourmalet to try to win the Tour. There was no change in the top ten GC placers today even though the day's route had four giant climbs.

At about the 5th kilometer a break of 18 had broken clear of the peloton. That group included Lance Armstrong, Chris Horner, Nicolas Roche and Bradley Wiggins. From there riders would drop out and others would bridge up but this original break would go the distance. As the ascent of the final climb, the Col d'Aubisque began, the break was 10 strong and included Armstrong, Horner, Sandy Casar, Ignatas Konovalovas, Carlos Barredo, Jurgen Van De Walle, Pierrick Fedrigo, Christophe Moreau, Ruben Plaza and Damiano Cunego. Halfway up the climb the break had gained a 7min 30sec lead on the Yellow Jersey group.

With about 45 kilometers to go Carlos Barredo attacked the break and established a lead of about 40 seconds. That was quickly cut to 25 seconds and it stayed there for a while as the chasers gave an uneven pursuit. Finally Moreau and Horner went deep and their efforts snagged Barredo with a kilometer to go. Fedrigo was by far the fastest man and he easily won the stage. Hushovd took the field sprint and again became the green jersey.

Results:

1. Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) 5hr 31min 43sec
2. Sandy Casar (FDJ) s.t.
3. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
4. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.
5. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) s.t.
6. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) s.t.
7. Jurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step) s.t.
8. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
9. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) @ 28sec
10. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) @ 6min 45sec
11. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
12. Eros Capecchi (Footon-Servetto) s.t.
13. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
14. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
15. Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) s.t.
16. Aleksandr Kuchynski (Liquigas) s.t.
17. Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ) s.t.
18. Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
19. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
20. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
21. Andy Schleck (Saxo) s.t.
22. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
23. Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
24. Alan Perez (Euskaktel) s.t.
25. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
26. Rui Albert Faria (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
27. Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
28. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
29. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
30. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) s.t.

39. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.

43. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.

55. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) s.t.

81. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 23min 42sec

Withdrawals: Did not start, Iban Mayoz (Footon-Servetto), Bram Tankink (Rabobank)

General Classification:

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 78hr 29min 10sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saco) @ 8sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 13sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 39sec
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 5min 1sec
7. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 5min 25sec
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 5min 45sec
9. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 7min 12sec
10. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 7min 51sec
11. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 7min 58sec
12. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 8min 2sec
13. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Eparnge) @ 8min 19sec
14. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 8min 52sec
15. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 9min 2sec
16. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 11min 14sec
17. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 12min 9sec
18. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 12min 34sec
19. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 14min 7sec
20. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 14min 24sec
21. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 17min 44sec
22. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 20min
23. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 27min 54sec
24. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 33min 13sec
25. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 33min 46sec
26. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 35min 20sec
27. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 37min 18sec
28. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 41min 1sec
29. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 44min 4sec
30. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 44min 29sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 143 points
2. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 128
3. Damiano Cunego (Lampre): 99

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 191 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 187
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia)

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 78hr 29min 18sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 53sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 7min 50sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 235hr 24min 46sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 4 min 27sec
3. Rabobank @ 30min 53sec

Stage 16 route map

Stage 16 profile

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Rest Day, Wednesday July 21: Pau

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Stage 17, Thursday July 22: Pau - Col du Tourmalet, 174 km

Rated climbs:

Km 13.5: Côte de Renoir, 2.2 km @ 6% gradient, Category 4
Km 56.5: Col de Marie-Blanque, 9.3 km @ 7.6%, Category 1
Km 117.5: Col du Soulor: 11.9 km @ 7.8%, Category 1
Km 174.0: COL DU TOURMALET (Souvenir Henri Desgrange), 18.6 km @ 7.5 %, Hors Category

Stage 17 photos

The Race: It was a wet, rainy and foggy day.The day's break was up the road before the first climb: Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha), Edvald Hagen (Sky), Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky), Remi Pauriol (Cofidis), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Kristjan Koren (Liquigas). Later Cervelo riders Ignatas Konovalovas and Carlos Sastre tried to bridge up to them, but despite Sastre's long solo push (Konovalovas soon gave up), neither were successful.

As the race began to ascend the Tourmalet, Saxo and Rabobank turned themselves inside out keeping the speed high. Up ahead Kolobnev attacked the break and only Burghardt could go with him. Then Kolobnev burned Burghardt off his wheel.

With about 10 kilometers to go Schleck exited the now very small yellow jersey group with Contador on his wheel. It looked to me to be a mild attack but looks can be deceiving. No one else could latch onto the move. Schleck powered away with Contador glued grimly to his wheel. Schleck tried several times to drop the Spaniard, but Contador looked to be having a very good day. Contador gave his own shot at riding to the top alone but Schleck was not going to be dropped either.

As they raced up the mountain they caught and passed all of the earlier breakaway riders. Contador did not contest the sprint, letting Schleck have the stage win. Samuel Sanchez, who had crashed badly early in the stage, finished in front of Denis Menchov, thereby defending his third place in the General Classification. It'll be interesting if his 21-second lead over the Russian will hold up over the 51-kilometer time trial on Saturday. The general consensus is that Schleck lacks the power to beat Contador in the final time trial. My question: Can Menchov take 3 minutes and 45 seconds out of Schleck and move up to second place? Probably not, but Schleck is going to have to do the ride of his life to keep second.

Here is what Andy Schleck had to say after the stage:

"I'm satisfied with the stage win but I also wanted to turn white into yellow but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. I really tried hard, you have to believe me about that. I changed rhythm and I tried everything but I think we're on the same level on the climbs. Alberto attacked and I could go with him – it was a quick response – but in the end he didn’t sprint to win the stage because I did the most work. I have a lot of respect for that, it shows that he’s a great champion. 
"I tried to find out how he was feeling. You need to look at someone to see how he was coping. I think you can find out a lot if you look someone in the eyes. He didn’t have the sunglasses on today so it was possible to see, that's why I looked so many times. But he always looked good and that’s kind of what killed me. 
"El Pistolero is strong, huh? I could not drop him. He was always there. I wanted to find out if he was getting weak but he didn't succumb. He even attacked me to show, 'Hey, listen young boy, I’m still here! You better stop playing these games with me.' 
"I'm super happy to win this stage today – it’s the Queen stage of this year’s Tour. To win on the Tourmalet is like a win on Alpe d'Huez. 
"When I turned to talk to him, I said: 'You pass?' And he didn't. I would have done the same. Why should he pass me? In the end, he let me win the stage and I’m super happy."

Results:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 5hr 3min 29sec
2. Alberto Contador (Astana) s.t.
3. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 1min 18sec
4. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 1min 27sec
5. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 1min 32sec
6. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 1min 40sec
7. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) s.t.
8. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 1min 45sec
9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1min 48sec
10. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 2min 14sec
11. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min
12. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 3min 26sec
13. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 3min 30sec
14. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 3min 35sec
15. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 3min 44sec
16. Steve Morabito (BMC) @ 3min 58sec
17. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 4min 12sec
18. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) @ 4min 16sec
19. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 4min 27sec
20. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Eparnge) s.t.
21. Pierre Rolland (Bouygues Telecom) @ 4min 30sec
22. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 4min 36sec
23. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 4min 59sec
24. Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 5min 15sec
25. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ @ 5min 23sec
26. Amael Moinard (Cofidis) @ 5min 30sec
27. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom) @ 5min 37sec
28. Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas) @ 5min 42sec
29. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) @ 5min 44sec
30. Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) @ 5min 52sec

43. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 8min 59sec

49. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 10min 45sec

59. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 12min

69. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 16min 28sec

72. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 16min 48sec

88. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 23min 19sec

Withdrawals: Simon Spilak (Lampre), abandon.

General Classification:

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 83hr 32min 39sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 8sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 32sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 3min 53sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 5min 27sec
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 6min 41sec
7. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 7min 3sec
8. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 9min 18sec
9. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 1min 12 sec
10. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 10min 37sec
11. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epagne) @ 12min 46sec
12. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 13min 1sec
13. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 14min 24sec
14. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 14min 44sec
15. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 16min
16. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 17min 57sec
17. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 17min 59sec
18. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 18min 30sec
19. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 20min 3sec
20. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 25min 23sec
21. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 25min 50sec
22. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 32min 30sec
23. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 37min 58sec
24. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 41min 3sec
25. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 42min 56sec
26. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 45min 13sec
27. Julien Al Fares (Cofidis) @ 48min 56sec
28. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 50min 27sec
29. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 51min 56sec
30. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 53min 46sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 143 points
2. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 128
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 116

Points:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 191 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 187
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 162

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 83hr 32min 47sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 6min 33sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 10min 4sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 250hr 44min 40sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 8min 30sec
3. Rabobank @ 33min 39sec

Stage 17 route map

Stage 17 profile

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Stage 18, Friday July 23: Salies-de-Béarn - Bordeaux, 198 km

Rated climbs: none this stage

Stage 18 photos

The Race: The top ranks of the General Classification remained unchanged. The day's flat stage saw a 4-man break go with Liquigas' Daniel Oss its the last survivor. He was nailed with about 4 kilometers to go by a peloton intent upon a sprint finish. In that sprint Thor Hushovd went too early while Cavendish easily took his fourth stage of the year. Petacchi's third place gave him the green jersey.

Results:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 4hr 37min 9sec
2. Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
3. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
4. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
5. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) s.t.
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
7. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
8. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
9. Grega Bole (Lampre) s.t.
10. Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
11. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
12. Anthony Roux (FDJ) s.t.
13. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
14. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
15. Alessandro Ballan (BMC) s.t.
16. Yukiya Arashiro (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
17. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
18. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
19. Aleksandr Kuchynski (Liquigas) s.t.
20. Alan Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
21. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
22. Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Columbia) s.t.
23. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) s.t.
24. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
25. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
26. Danilo Hondo (Lampre) s.t.
27. Serguei Ivanov (Katusha) s.t.
28. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
29. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
30. Jose-Alberto Benitez (Footon-Servetto) s.t.

Withdrawal: Francesco Reda (Quick Step), abandon

General Classification:

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 88hr 9min 48sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 8sec
3. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 32sec
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 3min 53sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 5min 27sec
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 6min 41sec
7. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 7min 3sec
8. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 9min 18sec
9. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 10min 12sec
10. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 10min 37sec
11. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 12min 46sec
12. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 13min 1sec
13. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 14min 24sec
14. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 14min 44sec
15. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 16min
16. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 17min 57sec
17. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 17min 59sec
18. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 18min 30sec
19. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 20min 3sec
20. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 25min 23sec
21. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 25min 50sec
22. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @32min 30sec
23. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 37min 58sec
24. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 41min 34sec
25. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 42min 36sec
26. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 45min 13sec
27. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 48min 56sec
28. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 51min 56sec
29. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 51min 56sec
30. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 55min 7sec
31. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 55min 25sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 143 points
2. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 128
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo): 116

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 213 points
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 203
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 197

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 88hr 9min 56sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 6min 33sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 10min 4sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 264 hr 36min 7sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 8min 30sec
3. Rbobank @ 33min 39sec

Stage 18 route map

Stage 18 profile

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Stage 19, Saturday July 24: Bordeaux - Pauillac 52 km individual time trial

Rated climbs: none this stage

Stage 19 photos

The Race: Just a couple of observations. The wind came up late in the day, giving an advantage to the early starters. That certainly helped Denis Menchov who time-trialed Samuel Sanchez off the podium. Andy Schleck went out hard and came very close to being the virtual yellow jersey before Alberto Contador clawed back the time needed to give him a comfortable lead. Clearly Contador was sub-par today. Look at the results below and you can see he was 35th, slower than lots of guys he normally waxes. Staying in yellow against a very determined Andy Schleck must have been very tiring work.

Results:

1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) 1hr 56sec
2. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) @ 17sec
3. Bert Grabsch (HTC-Columbia) @ 1min 48sec
4. Ignatas Konovalovas (Cervelo) @ 2min 34sec
5. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) @ 3min
6. Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) @ 3min 3sec
7. Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 3min 10sec
   
8. Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) @ 3min 21sec
   
9. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 3min 33 sec
   
10. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 3min 38sec
11. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 3min 51sec
12. Jeremy Roy (FDJ) @ 4min
13. Stuart O'Grady (Saxo) @ 4min 6sec
14. Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia) @ 4min 14sec
15. Nikki Sorenson (Saxo) @ 4min 15sec
16. Pavel Brutt (Katusha) @ 4min 15sec
17. David Millar (Garmin) @ 4min 20sec
18. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @
19. Dmitriy Muravyev (Radio Shack) @ 4min 38sec
20. Steve Morabito (BMC) @ 4min 39sec
21. Chris Sorensen (Saxo) @ 4min 46sec
22. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) @ 4min 48sec
23. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 4min 59sec
24. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) @ 5min 2sec
25. Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 5min 7sec
26. Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo) @ 5min 8sec
27. Anthony Roux (FDJ) @ 5min 9sec
28. Christophe Kern (Cofidis) @ 5min 14sec
29. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) @ 5min 15sec
30. Brett Lancaster (Cervelo) @ 5min 16sec

33. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 5min 32sec

35. Alberto Contador (Astana) @ 5min 43sec

40. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 5min 51sec

41. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 5min 59sec

44. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 6min 14sec

48. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 6min 30sec

52. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 6min 40sec

67. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 7min 5sec

69. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 7min 8sec

General Classification:

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 89hr 16min 27sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 39sec
3. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 1sec
4. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 40sec
5. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 6min 54sec
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 9min 31sec
7. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 10min 15sec
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 11min 37sec
9. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 11min 54sec
10. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 12min 2sec
11. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 14min 21sec
12. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 14min 29sec
13. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 14min 40sec
14. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 16min 36sec
15. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 16min 59sec
16. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana)) @ 17min 46sec
17. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 20min 46sec
18. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step @ 21min 54sec
19. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 24min 4sec
20. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 26min 37sec
21. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 29min 38sec
22. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 34min 1sec
23. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 39min 20sec
24. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 39min 24sec
25. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 45min 52sec
26. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 50min 27sec
27. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 53min 22sec
28. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 55min 13sec
29. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 56min 53sec
30. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-TRansitions) @ 58min 53sec

32. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 59min 33sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 143 points
2. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 128
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo): 116

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 213 points
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 203
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 197

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 89hr 16min 6sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 8min 52sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 11min 15sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 267 hr 44min
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 9min 15sec
3. Rabobank @ 27min 49sec

Stage 19 route map

Stage 19 profile

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Stage 20, Sunday July 25: Longjumeau - Paris/Champs-Élysées, 102.5 km

Rated climbs: none this stage

Stage 20 photos

The Race: The day's only drama occurred before the official stage start. Radio Shack showed up with black jerseys with the number "28", symbolizing the 28 million people who are thought to have cancer in the world today. The officials said those were not approved jerseys and they had to be changed, threatening disqualification. The team slipped their regular jerseys over the black ones. Hold on, said the judges, your numbers are covered up. So, the riders had to stop, change jerseys and re-pin their numbers.

Then the race had the normal outcome. A break went off, was caught with 6 kilometers to go and Cavendish won the stage. Alessandro Petacchi came in second, making him the 2010 green jersey. I believe that's the first time a rider has won consecutive final sprints on the Champs-Élysées. Contador gets his third Tour win, joining the great Philippe Thys, Louison Bobet and Greg LeMond in the 3-time winners club.

Results:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 2hr 42min 21sec
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
3. Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
4. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
5. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) s.t.
6. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) s.t.
7. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) s.t.
8. Matti Breschel (Saxo) s.t.
9. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) s.t.
10. Daniel Oss (Liquigas) s.t.
11. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
12. Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r) s.t.
13. Sebastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
14. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
15. Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
16. Yukiya Arashiro (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
17. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
18. Lars Boom (Rabobank) s.t.
19. Alessandro Ballan (BMC) s.t.
20. Danilo Hondo (Lampre) s.t.
21. Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
22. Kristjan Koren (Liquigas) s.t.
23. Luke Roberts (Milram) s.t.
24. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) s.t.
25. Daniel Moreno (Omega Phaarma-Lotto) s.t.
26. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) s.t.
27. Rui Alberto Faria (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.
28. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
29. Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ) s.t.
30. Brett Lancaster (Cervelo) s.t.

170 classified finishers

Final General Classification:

Complete 2010 Tour de France Final General Classification

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 91hr 58min 48sec
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo) @ 39sec
3. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 2min 1sec
4. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 40sec
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 6min 54sec
6. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 9min 31sec
7. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) @ 10min 15sec
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 11min 37sec
9. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 11min 54sec
10. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 12min 2sec
11. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 14min 21sec
12. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 14min 29sec
13. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 14min 40sec
14. Andreas Kloden (Radio Shack) @ 16min 36sec
15. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 16min 59sec
16. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 17min 46sec
17. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) @ 20min 46sec
18. Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 21min 54sec
19. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 24min 4sec
20. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) @ 26min 37sec
21. Daniel Moreno (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 29min 38sec
22. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 34min 1sec
23. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) @ 39min 20sec
24. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 39min 24sec
25. Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 45min 52sec
26. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 50min 27sec
27. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 53min 22sec
28. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 55min 13sec
29. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 56min 53sec
30. Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) @ 58min 53sec
31. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 59min 17sec
32. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 59min 33sec
33. Mario Aerts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 1hr 2min 36sec
34. Volodomyr Gustov (Cervelo) @ 1hr 9min 51sec
35. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) @ 1hr 10min 3sec
36. Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 1min 9sec
37. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) @ 1hr 10min 11sec
38. Remi Pauriol (Cofidis) @ 1hr 10min 52sec
39. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) @ 1hr 13min 19sec
40. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 19min 9sec

Climber:

1. Anthony Charteau (Bouygues Telecom): 143 points
2. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne): 128
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo): 116
4. Alberto Contador (Astana): 112
5. Damiano Cunego (Lampre): 99

Points:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 243 points
2. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia): 232
3. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo): 222
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne): 179
5. Robbie McEwen (Katusha): 179

Young Rider:

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo) 91hr 59min 27sec
2. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 8min 52sec
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) @ 11min 15sec
4. Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 52min 43sec
5. Cyril Gautier (Bouygues Telecom) @ 1hr 24min 33sec

Team GC:

1. Radio Shack 276hr 2min 3sec
2. Caisse d'Epargne @ 9min 15sec
3. Rabobank @ 27min 49sec
4. Ag2r @ 41min 10sec
5. Omega Pharma-Lotto @ 51min 1sec
6. Astana @ 56min 16sec

Stage 20 route map

Stage 20 profile

 

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Summary of 2010 Tour de France race course.

The 2010 edition will start with a prologue time trial at Rotterdam and will then head through Belgium and land in France at the end of the third stage. That third stage will have seven cobbled sectors totaling 13.2 kilometers.

The 2010 edition moves clockwise and will be Alps first. Then it will spend 4 days in the Pyrenees, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Tour's inclusion of high Pyrenean climbs. The Tourmalet will be climbed twice, including a hilltop finish with only 3 stages to go. The penultimate stage will be a 51-kilometer individual time trial at Bordeaux. It appears that the Tour will continue to de-emphasize time trialing, given that with the Prologue, there are only 59 kilometers of riding against the clock. Like last year, there won't be time bonuses for the intermediate sprints or for stage wins.

In summary the Tour will have:

1 prologue time trial plus 20 stages

9 flat stages, 6 stages in the high mountains, 3 of them hilltop finishes

4 stages of medium mountains

23 ascents rated second category, first category and HC

and be approximately 3,600 kilometers long

---

Startlist with back-numbers as of July 2:

The Tour organization's March 30 team invitation announcement is below the startlist.

198 riders are scheduled to start.

Astana

1 Alberto Contador (ESP)
2 David De La Fuente (ESP)
3 Andriy Grivko (UKR)
4 Jesus Hernandez (ESP)
5 Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ)
6 Daniel Navarro (ESP)
7 Benjamin Noval (ESP)
8 Paolo Tiralongo (ITA)
9 Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)

Team Saxo Bank

11 Andy Schleck (LUX)
12 Matti Breschel (DAN)
13 Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
14 Jakob Fuglsang (DAN)
15 Stuart O'Grady (AUS)
16 Fränk Schleck (LUX)
17 Chris Anker Sørensen (DAN)
18 Nicki Sörensen (DAN)
19 Jens Voigt (ALL)

Team Radioshack

21 Lance Armstrong (USA)
22 Janez Brajkovic (SLO)
23 Christopher Horner (USA)
24 Andreas Klöden (GER)
25 Levi Leipheimer (USA)
26 Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ)
27 Sergio Paulinho (POR)
28 Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
29 Grégory Rast (SUI)

Sky Professional Cycling Team

31 Bradley Wiggins (GBR)
32 Michael Barry (CAN)
33 Steven Cummings (GBR)
34 Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP)
35 Simon Gerrans (AUS)
36 Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR)
37 Thomas Lövkvist (SUE)
38 Serge Pauwels (BEL)
39 Geraint Thomas (GBR)

Liquigas-Doimo

41 Ivan Basso (ITA)
42 Francesco Bellotti (ITA)
43 Kristjan Koren (SLO)
44 Roman Kreuziger (TCH)
45 Alexander Kuschynski (BLR)
46 Daniel Oss (ITA)
47 Manuel Quinziato (ITA)
48 Sylvester Szmyd (POL)
49 Brian Vandborg (DAN)

Garmin - Transitions

51 Christian Vande Velde (USA)
52 Julian Dean (NZL)
53 Tyler Farrar (USA)
54 Ryder Hesjedal (CAN)
55 Robert Hunter (AFS)
56 Martijn Maaskant (HOL)
57 David Millar (GBR)
58 Johan Van Summeren (BEL)
59 David Zabriskie (USA)

Française des Jeux

61 Christophe Le Mevel (FRA)
62 Sandy Casar (FRA)
63 Rémy Di Grégorio (FRA)
64 Anthony Geslin (FRA)
65 Matthieu Ladagnous (FRA)
66 Anthony Roux (FRA)
67 Jérémy Roy (FRA)
68 Wesley Sulzberger (AUS)
69 Benoït Vaugrenard (FRA)

Team Katusha

71 Vladimir Karpets (RUS)
72 Pavel Brutt (RUS)
73 Serguei Ivanov (RUS)
74 Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS)
75 Robbie McEwen (AUS)
76 Alexandr Pliuschin (MOL)
77 Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP)
78 Stijn Vandenbergh (BEL)
79 Eduard Vorganov (RUS)

AG2R La Mondiale

81 Nicolas Roche (IRL)
82 Maxime Bouet (FRA)
83 Dimitri Champion (FRA)
84 Martin Elmiger (SUI)
85 John Gadret (FRA)
86 David Le Lay (FRA)
87 Lloyd Mondory (FRA)
88 Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA)
89 Christophe Riblon (FRA)

Cervelo Test Team

91 Carlos Sastre (ESP)
92 Xavier Florencio (ESP)
93 Volodymir Gustov (UKR)
94 Jeremy Hunt (GBR)
95 Thor Hushovd (NOR)
96 Andreas Klier (GER)
97 Ignatas Konovalovas (LIT)
98 Brett Lancaster (AUS)
99 Daniel Lloyd (GBR)

Omega Pharma-Lotto

101 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (BEL)
102 Mario Aerts (BEL)
103 Francis De Greef (BEL)
104 Mickael Delage (FRA)
105 Sebastian Lang (ALL)
106 Matthew Lloyd (AUS)
107 Daniel Moreno (ESP)
108 Jurgen Roelandts (BEL)
109 Charles Wegelius (GBR)

Team HTC - Columbia

111 Mark Cavendish (GBR)
112 Bernhard Eisel (AUT)
113 Bert Grabsch (ALL)
114 Adam Hansen (AUS)
115 Tony Martin (ALL)
116 Maxime Monfort (BEL)
117 Mark Renshaw (AUS)
118 Michael Rogers (AUS)
119 Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR)

BMC Racing Team

121 Cadel Evans (AUS)
122 Alessandro Ballan (ITA)
123 Brent Bookwalter (USA)
124 Marcus Burghardt (ALL)
125 Mathias Frank (SUI)
126 George Hincapie (USA)
127 Karsten Kroon (HOL)
128 Steve Morabito (SUI)
129 Mauro Santambrogio (ITA)

Quick Step

131 Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
132 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (ESP)
133 Kevin De Weert (BEL)
134 Dries Devenyns (BEL)
135 Jérôme Pineau (FRA)
136 Francesco Reda (ITA)
137 Kevin Seeldrayers (BEL)
138 Jurgen Van De Walle (BEL)
139 Maarten Wijnants (BEL)

Team Milram

141 Linus Gerdemann (GER)
142 Gerald Ciolek (GER)
143 Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
144 Roger Kluge (GER)
145 Christian Knees (GER)
146 Luke Roberts (AUS)
147 Thomas Rohregger (AUT)
148 Niki Terpstra (HOL)
149 Fabian Wegmann (GER)

Bbox Bouygues Telecom

151 Thomas Voeckler (FRA)
152 Yukiya Arashiro (JAP)
153 Anthony Charteau (FRA)
154 Pierrick Fedrigo (FRA)
155 Cyril Gautier (FRA)
156 Pierre Rolland (FRA)
157 Matthieu Sprick (FRA)
158 Sébastien Turgot (FRA)
159 Nicolas Vogondy (FRA)

Caisse d'Epargne

161 Luis León Sánchez Gil (ESP)
162 Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (POR)
163 Imanol Erviti Ollo (ESP)
164 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (ESP)
165 Vasili Kiryienka (BLR)
166 Christophe Moreau (FRA)
167 Mathieu Perget (FRA)
168 Ruben Plaza Molina (ESP)
169 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (ESP)

Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne

171 Rein Taaramae (EST)
172 Stéphane Auge (FRA)
173 Samuel Dumoulin (FRA)
174 Julien El Farès (FRA)
175 Christophe Kern (FRA)
176 Sébastien Minard (FRA)
177 Amaël Moinard (FRA)
178 Damien Monier (FRA)
179 Rémi Pauriol (FRA)

Euskaltel - Euskadi

181 Samuel Sánchez (ESP)
182 Inaki Isasi (ESP)
183 Egoi Martinez (ESP)
184 Juan Jose Oroz (ESP)
185 Alan Perez (ESP)
186 Ruben Perez (ESP)
187 Amets Txurruka (ESP)
188 Iban Velasco (ESP)
189 Gorka Verdugo (ESP)

Rabobank

191 Denis Menchov (RUS)
192 Lars Boom (HOL)
193 Oscar Freire (ESP)
194 Juan Manuel Gárate (ESP)
195 Robert Gesink (HOL)
196 Koos Moerenhout (HOL)
197 Grischa Niermann (ALL)
198 Bram Tankink (HOL)
199 Maarten Tjallingii (HOL)

Lampre-Farnese Vini

201 Damiano Cunego (ITA)
202 Grega Bole (SLO)
203 Mauro Da Dalto (ITA)
204 Francesco Gavazzi (ITA)
205 Danilo Hondo (ALL)
206 Mirco Lorenzetto (ITA)
207 Adriano Malori (ITA)
208 Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
209 Simon Spilak (SLO)

Footon-Servetto

211 Eros Capecchi (ITA)
212 Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (ESP)
213 Manuel Cardoso (ESP)
214 Arkaitz Duran Daroca (ESP)
215 Markus Eibegger (AUT)
216 Fabio Felline (ITA)
217 Iban Mayoz Echeverria (ESP)
218 Aitor Perez Arrieta (ESP)
219 Rafael Valls Ferri (ESP)

 

March 30, the Tour announced those teams receiving invitations:

The organisers of the Tour de France, that will take place from 3rd to 25th July 2010, have selected the 22 teams that will start the race in Rotterdam on Saturday 3rd July.

The 16 teams hereunder have been selected in compliance with the agreement passed with the International Cycling Union (UCI) in September 2008:

Germany
Team Milram
Belgium
Quick Step
Omega Pharma  – Lotto
Denmark
Team Saxo Bank
Spain
Caisse d’Epargne
Euskaltel – Euskadi
Footon – Servetto
USA
Team HTC-Columbia
France
AG2R La Mondiale
BBox  Bouygues Telecom
Cofidis, le Crédit en ligne
Française des Jeux
Italy
Lampre – Farnese
Liquigas - Doimo
Kazakhstan
Astana
The Netherlands
Rabobank

6 other teams have been invited by the organisers in order to compete on the 97th Tour de France:

USA
Garmin - Transitions
Team RadioShack
BMC Racing Team
Great Britain
Team Sky
Russia
Katusha Team
Switzerland
Cervélo Test Team

From 2011 on, in compliance with the agreement passed between the organisers of the main Tours and the International Cycling Union (UCI), the first 17 teams of the world ranking established at the end of 2010, according to the sporting results of the teams, will be automatically selected. The other teams will receive wild cards from the organisers.

.