Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 15: Samatan – Pau, 160 km.

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HomeDiariesLe Tour de France 2012 - Stage 15: Samatan - Pau, 160...

There’s a touch of the Twilight Zone to Formule 1 hotels – you check out of one, drive for hours, check into the next one and the room is identical – to the last detail. Even in Samatan. Scary!

We’ve taken to putting a pencil mark under the one plastic stacking chair in the room and checking to make sure it’s not there when we get to the next town.

One of the attractions we’re considering for the rest day, here in Pau, is the ‘Musée du Béret’ – the béret museum, file under; ‘only in France.’

Samatan
Shall we visit the Musée du Béret or go chat to Daryl Impey? No contest. Photo©Martin Williamson

Stating the obvious, but we have the best of this Tour, take yesterday – we did our thing in the village, drove the stage and picked up all that joy and happiness, watched the race pass as we enjoyed our picnic, drove to the hotel and watched the highlights on TV.

However, I’d hate to have watched it on TV; I’ll have to make the call today, but I’m rather dreading phoning Vik; ‘have you seen any of this?’ he’ll demand.

Samatan
The guys share a joke, 25l’s to go. Photo©Ed Hood

The last three days have been a bit processional, it has to be said – but that should not demean the winners’ efforts.

Pierrick Fédrigo is a quality rider; he’s been a pro since 1999 and has won stages in the Tour du Limousin, Paris-Correze, Tour de l’Avenir, stages and the GC in Dunkerque, Catalunya, Dauphine, stages and the GC in the Criterium International and this is his fourth Tour stage win.

In addition, he’s been French champion and won the GP Plouay.

So far, this Tour, he’s been very quiet, there’s little doubt he’ll have targeted this stage from the time the race route was announced.

A rider like Fédrigo doesn’t go in the break to keep the DS happy and get some TV time; he’s there to win.

If you ask World Tour riders about him, they’ll tell you that he has an instinct for the right moves and is well respected.

Samatan
Three Sky riders and not one Sky jersey. Photo©Martin Williamson

It should also be remembered that for all the talk of ‘easy days’ and processions, another six riders abandoned, yesterday – maybe not so easy?

One of the abandonees was the Belorussian champion, Yauheni Hutarovich, we saw him in the Tour village yesterday morning, larking around with the FDJ boys – maybe he was just putting a brave face on it?

Samatan
Yauheni Hutarovich is all smiles at the start, but he packed today, citing fatigue. Photo©Martin Williamson

The FDJ guys all look great – like film stars, tans emphasised by the Persil whiteness of their strips.

Samatan
Matthieu Ladagnous’ baby is glad to see his papa, but mum looks like she’s not enjoying the attention of the photographers. Photo©Martin Williamson

If Pinot can avoid the traditional pitfalls of being a promising French rider – press hype, a big bucks contract, fast cars, night life, etc. etc. then he could be their best prospect for years.

He’s fast, shrewd, can climb and most importantly, seems to have his feet on the ground.

Samatan
Young Thibaut Pinot messes around with his pals. 22 years old and running in tenth place in the Tour?! Photo©Martin Williamson

French cycling is undergoing a renaissance at the moment; whilst it’s good to see old foxes Voeckler and Fédrigo on top of the podium, Rolland and Pinot’s wins are very encouraging.

Samatan
Sandy Casar reads how he didn’t win the stage yesterday. Photo©Martin Williamson

Additionally, probably the biggest hope for French cycling isn’t actually riding the Tour – Pinot’s team mate and U23 world champion, Arnaud Demare is only 20 years-old but has five wins this year, already.

It’s very difficult to win one pro race in your first year, never mind five.

Samatan
Our favourite barista. Photo©Ed Hood
Samatan
Michael Schar messes around with the ‘mobile’ phone. Photo©Martin Williamson
Samatan
Didn’t see the guys have a coffee, just getting some chill-time. Photo©Martin Williamson
Samatan
Dude at rest. Photo©Martin Williamson
Samatan
One of the Tour hostesses. Photo©Martin Williamson
Samatan
The break has over 10 minutes. Photo©Martin Williamson

* * *

It’s the rest day today, we hope to do some rider interviews, later in the day – you don’t bug guys early on the rest day.

And of course, today is the main reason for us being on le Tour – the Vacansoleil ‘Fete du Moules.’

Fresh mussels driven down from Johnny Hoogerland’s uncle’s mussel farm in Holland, big plates of frites and best Dutch pils; all that plus the chance to chat to Johnny make it a ‘must do’ gig.

Samatan
Sky lead the bunch up one of the drags, with Froome not on worker duties at this point. Photo©Martin Williamson

And I guess we best weigh in on the Froome speculation.

The consensus among riders I’ve spoken to is that Nibali is a proud man and won’t ride to defend his third place – he’ll attack, tomorrow in the Pyrenees.

If Brad can’t match him, but Froome can, only a fool would imagine that the man from the Dark Continent would wait for the Londoner.

In that situation it is conceivable that Froome can win, and despite my stating the obvious, yesterday that Froome is paid to a job; and that job is to look after his leader – who would not be tempted if the opportunity to gain immortality as the first Briton to win le Tour in its 99 years of existence was presented to them?

All conjecture, of course.

It’s time to shower, organise our interviews – and what’s the address for the béret museum?

Samatan
The BiC driver. Photo©Martin Williamson

Result - Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 15, Samatan - to Pau

Stage Result

1 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 3:40:15
2 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Sharp
3 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:12
4 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
5 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:00:21
6 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:01:08
7 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 0:11:50
8 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Sharp
9 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
10 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
11 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
12 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
14 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
15 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
16 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
17 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
18 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
19 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
20 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
21 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
22 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
23 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
24 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
25 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
26 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
27 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
28 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
29 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
30 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
31 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
32 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
33 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
34 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
35 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
36 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
37 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
38 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
39 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale
40 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
41 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
42 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan
43 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
44 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
45 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
46 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
47 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
48 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
49 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
50 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
51 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
52 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
53 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
55 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
56 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
57 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
58 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
59 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD
60 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
61 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
62 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
63 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team
64 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
65 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar
66 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
67 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
68 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
69 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
70 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
71 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos-Shimano
72 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos-Shimano
73 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team
74 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
75 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
76 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
77 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
78 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
79 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team
80 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling
81 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
82 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
83 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
84 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre – ISD
85 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
86 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
87 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
88 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
89 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team
90 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team
91 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team
92 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team
93 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
94 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
95 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
96 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team
97 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
98 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
99 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
100 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team
101 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
102 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team
103 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan
104 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
105 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale
106 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
107 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
108 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
109 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
110 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
111 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
112 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
113 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
114 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
115 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
116 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
117 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
118 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team
119 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin – Sharp
120 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
121 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
122 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano
123 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
124 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
125 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD
126 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
127 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
128 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team
129 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
130 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
131 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
132 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
133 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team
134 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team
135 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
136 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Sharp
137 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
138 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
139 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
140 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
141 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
142 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
143 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
144 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
145 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
146 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
147 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos-Shimano 0:12:20
148 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:12:21
149 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Sharp
150 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Sharp
151 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team
152 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:12:33
153 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:12:35
154 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar
155 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:12:37
156 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:15:31
DNF Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
DNF Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
DNF Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat
DNF Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

Overall Classification

1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 68:33:21
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:02:05
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:23
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:03:19
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:04:48
6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 0:06:15
7 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:06:57
8 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:07:30
9 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:08:31
10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:08:51
11 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:09:29
12 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 0:09:45
13 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:49
14 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:11:27
15 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:12:41
16 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:17:21
17 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:17:41
18 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:18:04
19 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:19:02
20 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:20:12
21 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:20:32
22 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:20:35
23 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:27:03
24 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:27:37
25 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:32:59
26 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:33:13
27 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:44:28
28 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:44:45
29 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:45:13
30 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:45:35
31 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:47:17
32 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:47:32
33 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:48:34
34 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:54:40
35 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:56:19
36 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:57:28
37 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:58:59
38 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:59:50
39 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team 1:00:39
40 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:03:43
41 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 1:04:31
42 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:04:55
43 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 1:05:26
44 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:06:40
45 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Sharp 1:09:16
46 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:09:23
47 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:10:52
48 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 1:11:52
49 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 1:12:30
50 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:13:24
51 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 1:13:33
52 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:13:34
53 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 1:13:39
54 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 1:14:22
55 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 1:14:26
56 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 1:14:27
57 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 1:14:28
58 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:14:46
59 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team 1:14:49
60 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:15:01
61 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:16:18
62 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:18:57
63 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:19:19
64 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:20:15
65 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Sharp 1:20:39
66 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team 1:21:40
67 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team 1:22:23
68 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:24:19
69 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 1:24:24
70 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 1:26:05
71 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:26:07
72 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:28:05
73 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:28:16
74 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan 1:29:15
75 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:30:24
76 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:30:38
77 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:31:48
78 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team 1:33:10
79 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:34:00
80 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:36:28
81 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD 1:38:34
82 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 1:38:38
83 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD 1:41:23
84 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 1:41:54
85 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Sharp 1:43:10
86 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling 1:43:23
87 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 1:45:03
88 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre – ISD 1:45:39
89 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team 1:46:52
90 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 1:46:57
91 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:47:33
92 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar 1:47:36
93 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 1:48:24
94 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 1:49:41
95 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:50:21
96 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:51:08
97 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:52:00
98 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:52:06
99 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:52:07
100 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:53:12
101 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:53:38
102 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 1:53:41
103 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Sharp 1:53:43
104 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 1:54:32
105 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:54:52
106 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:54:55
107 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 1:55:39
108 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:55:44
109 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 1:55:52
110 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano 1:56:49
111 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:57:46
112 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team 1:59:42
113 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:01:51
114 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:02:43
115 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 2:03:38
116 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:03:53
117 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 2:04:42
118 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:05:04
119 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:06:24
120 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team 2:06:40
121 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:07:09
122 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 2:07:30
123 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team 2:07:40
124 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:09:07
125 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:10:46
126 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:11:57
127 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:12:04
128 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:13:32
129 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos-Shimano 2:14:28
130 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 2:15:03
131 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:15:41
132 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:15:47
133 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano 2:19:04
134 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 2:19:56
135 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:20:02
136 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team 2:20:04
137 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:20:15
138 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:21:50
139 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:22:06
140 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 2:22:39
141 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 2:23:24
142 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano 2:23:35
143 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling 2:24:38
144 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling 2:24:43
145 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 2:24:58
146 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 2:29:09
147 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos-Shimano 2:29:40
148 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:31:55
149 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:33:17
150 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD 2:33:33
151 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team 2:34:45
152 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos-Shimano 2:38:04
153 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:38:16
154 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin – Sharp 2:40:47
155 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:43:46
156 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Sharp 2:47:29

Ed Hood and Martin Williamson
Ed Hood and Martin Williamson
Ed and Martin, our top team! They try to do the local Time Trials, the Grand Tours and the Classics together to get the great stories written, the quality photos taken, the driving done and the wifi wrestled with.

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Daniel Holloway does the countdown in his Californian-Swedish, ten down to six; the crowd takes over from five down to one, the cannon report just about bursts everyone’s ear drums, then there’s the smoke. For a split second nothing happens, everyone is too stunned by the noise and reek of gunpowder. But there’s the bongos – and Paul Delicato’s velvet voice; 'Cara Mia mine, must we say goodbye...' It can only be the Copenhagen Six Day 2018 !

Junior & Womens’ Road Races World Championships 2013 – van Der Poel & Vos

I forgot to turn off the message alert on my BlackBerry and it started beeping away just before 04:00 am – it didn’t matter, I was awake anyway. The aphids had breached my defences and the irritation of the bites had wakened me. The French, Danish and Netherlands teams all showed themselves in the Junior Road Race World Championships 2013 - as Androni manager Gianni Savio always says; ‘you must honour the race!’ - with Franck Bonnamour away with Colombian Martinez in the closing stages.

Zürich Six Day 2012 – Part I

Germany, somewhere near the Taunus mountains at 09:22 Sunday. We left the Zürich Six Day at 03:00 and there are still 400 kilometres to go to the ferry at Amsterdam. It began to snow like Hell about an hour into Germany; there were roadworks, we were diverted off the motorway and there were either no diversion signs or they were snowbound. Whichever it was, we ended up hideously lost and dropped a chunk of time.

World Road Championships 2006 – Day 3: A Little Downtime

Not much exciting so far at the World Road Championships 2006 and its gone 2.00 pm. I awoke to the bells at about 7.30 and was first in the shower room. Breakfast was fine, but there's still no small-talk in there; it's not a bad thing I guess-you are out the door pronto. I was sat in the press centre immediately it opened at 9.00 and I've been writing ever since. I did my piece about Vino, Zabriskie and Cancellara plus their respective bikes and since then I've been getting the old VeloVeritas dairy up to date.

At Random

John Pierce – My Favourite Six Day Men; by one of the World’s Best Photographers

It’s not every day that you receive pictures from one of the world’s best cycling photographers – they’re way too good to keep to ourselves so with Mr. John Pierce’s permission allow us to share his memories of some of his favourite Six Day riders of the 70’s and 80’s. John attended the last London Six in 1980 and these first images are from that race.

Le Tour de France 2007 – Day 6: Stage 16, Orthez – Gourette, Col d’Aubisque

The alarm went at 06.00 this morning, we're driving the full stage today, all the way from Orthez to the top of the Col d'Aubisque, that's 218.5 kilometres with a 3rd, two 1st and two hors categorie climbs. It's 07.45, and we're trying to exit the autoroute at Orthez, but Tour traffic is clogging the toll plaza, in the midst of all this are Marge, Homer, Bart and Lisa Simpson, on their four-up bike. They are advertising their movie, on the Tour publicity caravan, I wonder where the wee one is? - transpires that Marge is carrying her, none of them have a helmet on, either.

Tom Arnstein – Just Learning the Ropes

The Scottish road racing season kicked off last Saturday at Gifford and any fears of 'same old, same old' were quickly dispelled by 'Master Tom Arnstein'.

Finn Crockett – “I’m an old boy now, I turn 23 this month!”

Following on from our interviews with Scotland’s 2022 Commonwealth Games selections we caught up with a man who’s enjoyed a great start to 2022 and who’ll be riding the road race in Birmingham, Ribble Weldtite’s Finn Crockett.