Thursday, March 28, 2024

Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 18: Blagnac – Brive-la-Gaillarde, 215 km.

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HomeDiariesLe Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18: Blagnac - Brive-la-Gaillarde, 215...

It’s a new hotel chain today on the Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 18; Premiere Classe – we had a bit of a battle to get in.

To keep the costs down, they only man these places in the morning and early evening – during the day you have to punch codes in to gain access.

We started with credit card information, then the reservation number – no dice. Eventually we stuck Martin’s name in – et voila!

The room is of usual prison cell proportions but there’s a shower pod in the corner and it’s clean.

The wi-fi is ok but not powerful enough to stream music consistently – you can’t have it all.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Sky rock up to the ‘Parking Equipes’.

We worked the start this morning, on a tight agenda – it has to be that way, sometimes.

The agenda was the bikes of Bradley Wiggins and Tommy Voeckler.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Like almost every other rider on the race, Brad runs an SRM on his rig. But he’s got a yellow one now.
Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
The ovalised rings on Bradley’s Dogma. He wouldn’t have them on if they didn’t make a difference.
Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Tommy’s bike has gone all spotty. Understandable as we’re now taking pictures of it, but classy?

We were in the bus park early and met our amigo Jean-Michel Monin; he’s a key man, the one who dishes out ‘le stickers’ for journos to follow riders in the time trial.

He’s a full time employee of ASO and helps plan the Tour route when he’s not organising where the buses should park; ‘chaos if I’m not here!’ or marshalling the shoals of motorbikes amongst the riders out on the road.

What we didn’t realise until today, is that Jean-Michel was a member of the winning French team pursuit squad at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; along with Christophe Capelle, Philippe Ermenault and Francis Moureau.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Jean-Michel is second right, with Christophe Capelle, Philippe Ermenault and Francis Moreau. Photo©Vandystadt.

He’s a ‘Weegens fan’ because he knows how hard it is to go from the track to the road – he rode pro for Aubervillies 93 and Big Mat-Auber, but was ‘just a little rider.’

He’s a cool guy, tall, powerfully built, tanned and full of good chat – he scores a 10/10 on the VV ratings.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
These TV guys setup for a piece to camera through the spinning wheels.

Snapping Brad’s bike wasn’t too much of a grief-fest, we know the Sky media guy, Dario Cioni from his days as a rider with Liquigas, Lotto and Sky.

We’d been pestering him at Luchon to get pics of Brad’s bike – but the crowd was pretty much out of control in the start straight where the busses lined up.

When he saw us today, we could see him thinking; ‘oh no! not this pair, again!

We were ushered inside the force field to snap away as Dario hovered, conscious that Mr. Brailsford may appear at any moment and enquire; ‘who the hell are they?

There was a look of genuine relief on Dario’s face as we shook hands and bid him ‘au revoir.’

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Brad’s bike is of the time, a tool, rather than a thing of beauty.

Stephen Roche said that bicycles ceased to be things of beauty with the advent of low profile bikes – ‘le velo plongeant’ as the French named the high at the back, low at the front look pioneered by the East Germans and latched on to by Hinault and his Renault Gitane squad in pursuit of an advantage in ‘les chronos.’

I know what he means, but times move on and steel bikes now look strange with their skinny tubes and expander bolt extensions.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
We’re chuffed that Dave has had a successful Tour, with a great Stage win.

But some bikes are still bonnie, the Liquigas Cannondales look great to my eye and I also like the Ag2R Kuotas – no-nonsense pro bikes.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Martin gets to play with Peter’s bike a little.

On the subject of the Liquigas Cannondales, Sagan’s ‘Tourminator’ paint job is cool – but only if your name is Peter Sagan.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Sagan’s block, one for the high mountains.

The bike hunting was in aid of a ‘bikes of the jerseys’ feature and as well as Bradley and Peter’s bikes we snapped Tejay’s BMC and Tommy’s Colnago – the latter in those hackneyed red spots.

It’s been done, so many times – it needs someone to come up with something fresh for next year.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Tejay is a big lad, but unusual to see an unbranded item on a bike at this race.

Tejay’s BMC is another bike which is a ‘tool’ rather than an ‘objet d’art’ to my eye but it’s – light, strong and stiff and has a Tour win to its credit.

They’re a popular bike on the Sportif scene – which is huge on the continent; and growing all the time in the UK.

Probably the most ‘avant garde’ bikes here are the Radio Shack Treks – they’ve dispensed with the rear brake bridge – which Trek claim increases comfort by dialling flex in and dropped the rear brake under the bottom bracket.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
The Trek has the caliper slung low. Looks neat, bet the mechanics hate it.

It’s kinda crowded under there, with the Di2 battery box being very close to the brake – but Trek bikes haven’t won all those Grand Tours because they don’t know what they’re about.

I’m not sure about the ‘square’ carbon stems on the Cofidis Looks, and whilst I like David Millar’s Saltires on the bike, those Rotor rings just aren’t the bonniest to my eye.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
The beefy Look stem, quite nice close up actually.

But they have their devotees; and riders who I’ve interviewed who ride them say that they make a big difference, smoothing the pedal stroke and making the hills easier to ride.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Andre’s calves are a sight to behold.

And in closing, we have to mention Cav – and Christopher.

Cav was stunning – at a different level from the rest, there’s little else to say.

Time trial tomorrow, Wiggins from Froome; or will the fair haired, soft spoken man from Africa surprise us all, again?

And as Tim Harris said to us, today; ‘if Froome hadn’t lost time with that puncture, tomorrow would be a cliff hanger.

A demain.

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Tim gave us a shout this morning, but alas, no offers of a VIP helicopter ride.

 

Result - Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18

Stage Result

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

Overall Classification

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

 

Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 18
Ed and his pal the Yeti.
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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Giro d’Italia 2013 – Stage 19: Ponte di Legno – Val Martello 139km. Impromptu Rest Day

Saturday morning, 07:30 and the sunshine streams into our room in Merano. Yesterday we looked out on teeming rain; and a little later, as we drove towards the start the email arrived to inform us that the stage was cancelled. It wasn’t a big surprise, up on the valley walls the trees were coated with snow and the spikey peaks were pure ‘winter wonderland.’ It was park up and think of ‘Plan B’ time.

Le Tour de France 2014 – Stage 7; Épernay – Nancy, 233 km. Matteo Trentin – Just!

QuickStep, you have to respect them.
 
They lost Cav but they've been contesting the sprints as if he was still here, with Renshaw grabbing places of honour.
 
And today again Kwiatkowski was there in the finale - yesterday he tried a 'long one' for himself, today he set it up beautifully for Matteo Trentin.
 
 Patrick Lefevre has seen it all; a good pro himself, he won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in his day, he manages to run a glossy, modern team which at the same time doesn’t forget that the sport belongs to the people.

Le Tour de France 2016 – Stage 14; Montélimar – Villars-les-Dombes Parc des Oiseaux. Cavendish’s Fourth Stage Win!

Another criminally boring stage saved by a beautiful finale with Cav making it 30 stage wins – there are few superlatives left for the Manxman. Good to see Kristoff in second spot; the remarkable Sagan was right there in third spot and very nice to see John Degenkolb up there in fourth spot. Kittel got it wrong today and Greipel was again off the pace. And, erm that’s about it...

Hamish Haynes – Letters from Belgium #1

Hi folks, Hamish Haynes here. Let's bring you up to speed with my season so far: In mid-February, just before returning from winter training in Spain I picked up a hamstring strain; at that moment it wasn't clear what had exactly happened. I assumed it was a minor niggle that would quickly recede, within a few days I realized a scan was necessary, fortunately it revealed only a minor muscle elongation.

At Random

Robbie Mitchell – 24 Hour TT National Champion

Robbie Mitchell (Auchencrow Thistle CC) does things the hard way; he’s never ridden a 12 hour time trial but jumps right in at the deep end – a 24 hour time trial. And not just any old 24 hour time trial, the CTT National Championship; oh yes, and then he goes and wins the thing… 

Norman Hill – Part One, Six Day Racing in the 60’s and 70’s

With just about everything on ‘hold’ awaiting le Tour kicking off in Yorkshire, we thought we’d slip back through the decades to a different era. One where the ‘big motors’ were still the thing; Six Days packed them in and pave didn’t just come in two kilometer packages. You may not have heard of Englishman, Norman Hill – but he has the T-shirt, video and DVD as a ‘stayer,’ Six Day man and kermis rider on the hard roads of Flanders and The Netherlands.

Michael Mørkøv talks Dwars Door Vlaanderen

One of the men of the Classics Season this year has been Saxo Bank’s Danish star Michael Mørkøv. He was away for 240 kilometres in the Primavera – it would have been longer but for the 'mad breenge' in the peloton to make sure Cav didn't get back after his crisis on La Manie.

Giro d’Italia 2013 – Stage 7: San Salvo – Pescara, 177km. Adam Hansen Solo!

Known as one of the strongmen of the peloton, today Adam Hansen shook off the company of his five breakaway companions one by one and battled hard in the pouring rain and on glacial road surfaces to take a fantastic solo win on the Giro d’Italia’s seventh stage, finishing over a minute clear of the small group led in by Italy’s Enrico Battaglin and Danilo Di Luca.