Cadel Evans captured the top prize at this years Tour de France, making the 34-year-old cyclist the first Australian to capture the events first place trophy after crossing the line at the Champs-Elysee during the ceremonial final stage, ceremonial largely because he had all but secured his win during the Grenoble time trials the day prior.

The final stage, number 21 in the event was captured by Britain’s Mark Cavendish, the third year in a row he has taken the top sprinter prize, even after having to change his bike on the Champs-Elysees.

The race was a close one this year with at least seven riders still in competition for the top prize while entering the final week of riding.

Evans nearly lost the race’s overall top rider prize when Andy Schleck took a large lead at Galibier pass, managing to rebound with a much stronger time-trial than Schleck during yesterdays leg of the race.

Andy Schleck of Luxembourg finished second overall, his third straight year in the second spot, while his bother Frank Schleck finished in third.

At 32-years-old Evans becomes the oldest winner at the Tour de France since 1922.

Cadel Evans Becomes First Australian To Win Tour de France is a post from: The Inquisitr

Alexandre Vinokourov will soon no longer participate in professional cycling events after announcing his retirement following a broken leg at the Tour de France.

The Kazakh star told French television on Sunday:

“I will stop there.” While adding that he will still look for a non-compete role on the Astana team. The cyclists retirement will occur at the official end to the season.

Vinokourov broke his leg when a massive pileup of 30 riders occurred during the ninth stage of the Tour de France, forcing him to be airlifted to Paris for immediate surgery.

In 2003 the star cyclist finished third at the Tour de France then served a two-year doping suspension after testing positive twice for banned blood transfusions during a 2007 race.

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Alexandre Vinokourov Retires From Circuit After Breaking Leg At Tour de France is a post from: The Inquisitr

This article was written by Tim Lewis in Spa, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 5th July 2010 23.06 UTC

So, after two quiet, uneventful days of the 2010 Tour de France, the riders head for the cobbles. With almost all the major contenders nursing bumps and scrapes, some more serious than others, the last thing any of them wants to do today is ride across nine miles of bone-jarring pavé. But somewill definitely be dreading the 133-mile stage three from Wanze in Belgium to Arenberg in northern France more than others. In fact, many are predicting thatit will have a decisive impact on the whole race.

There is certainly some precedent for great riders falling apart on the relentless terrain. In the 1980 Tour de France there were two consecutive stages with around 15 miles of cobbles. Bernard Hinault won the first but his knee popped on the second and the formidable Badger had to surrender the race. In abysmal weather Lucien van Impe and Bernard Thévenet, both previous winners of the Tour, surrendered more than 10 minutes.

More recently the mercurial Spanish climber Iban Mayo came into the 2004 Tour de France having just inflicted a devastating defeat of Lance Armstrong at the Dauphiné Libéré, beating the Texan by more than two minutes on a time trial to the top of Mont Ventoux. He was going to be a contender until 3.9km of pavé was enough to send hysteria through the peloton. Mayo was left with a nasty gash in his thigh and a four-minute deficit; Denis Menchov, the best French rider Christophe Moreau and Thor Hushovd also left their chances in the gutters.

This year is the first time since 2004 that the Tour has returned to the cobbled roads of the North and before that the previous occasion was 1989. For many riders this is all right and sensible. “I find it a bit of a shame,” says Maxime Monfort, a Belgian who rides for HTC-Columbia. “It’s very unpredictable. I’m sure one of the favourites will lose the race that day. Apart from Armstrong they will all be stressed, as they are all light guys.” Then there is the issue of safety. “It will be great fun to watch, fun for TV but it won’t be fun on the road,” says Bjarne Riis, the team manager of Saxo Bank, whose line-up includes the Schleck brothers.

For others, however, it is just another aspect of bike racing. “I don’t understand why people complain,” says Sylvain Chavanel, who will aim to defend the yellow jersey in today’s stage. “A rider who wants to win a three-week tour must be able to defend himself on the flat, in the mountains, on the cobblestones, everywhere. That’s what makes a big rider.”

So, who will have had a particularly restless night? Everyone agrees that Alberto Contador, the defending champion, could lose time. Upper body strength is vital for controlling the bike as it goes over the bumps and the Spaniard has a classic climber’s spindly arms. He had also never even ridden on cobbles before two recent reconnaissance trips. “I would have preferred if they hadn’t put cobbles on the Tour route,” he admits.

Those most likely profit from any weakness or indecision shown by Contador include Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins. What everyone agrees, however, is that it is going to be unmissable entertainment. “At Paris-Roubaix there is a natural selection of the rider who actually wants to ride on the pavé and who knows how to ride on it,” says Robbie McEwen, who is riding his 11th Tour and finished third on the stage in 2004 that did for Mayo. “Then in the race there’s the natural selection of the race too. At the Tour we’ll have the classics riders wanting to win the stage, the overall contenders trying to make sure they don’t lose time and then all their domestiques, some who won’t have a clue about the cobbles, doing everything they can to help them. It’s going to be carnage.”

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

Tour de France 2010: Riders prepare for the bump and grind of the pavé is a post from: The Inquisitr

I do think this year’s Tour de France will go into the history books. I found the Tour pretty boring with a few mountain etapes (routes) and poor competition from the other teams. Saxo Bank and Team Colombia managed to threaten Astana from time to time, but it never became really exciting.

About the lack of mountain routes how can Thor Hushovd win a mountain route? He is a sprinter.

One moment might go into the history books. As Alberto Contador is stood on the podium in Paris they played the Danish anthem instead of the Spanish.

Ironically enough two years ago Contador was “given” the Tour victory after Danish rider Michael Rasmussen was kicked out of Tour de France.

Still a shame for Contador to have his moment ruined by a simple error.

Contador wins Tour de France – Wrong Nat’l hymn is played is a post from: The Inquisitr

As expected, stage 21 did nothing to general classifications, leaving Contador 4:11 ahead of Andy Schleck of Team Rabo Bank, with Lance Armstrong getting a highly creditable third place and making it an Astana one-three. Despite the Briton Cavendish’s six stage wins, Norwegian Thor Hushovd of Cervelo Test Team claimed the green sprinter’s jersey due mostly to a disqualification of Cavendish on a previous stage for unfair riding.

In the traditionally flat final stage, a breakaway was almost guaranteed not to succeed given the ability of the peleoton to crank up the chase in concert, but there was a breakway anyway. The seven riders in it, none of whom were any danger for any of the competitions, were Jussi Veikkanen (FdJ), Arnaud Coyot (Caisse d’Epargne), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Alexandre Pichot (Bbox), Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), Fabain Wegmann (Milram) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Skil-Shimano). Beppu is one of two Japanese riders who will become the first of their countrymen to finish the Tour de France this year.

The breakaway succeeded only in nabbing the intermediate sprint points that otherwise might have made the green jersey competition more interesting. With Cavendish’s Team Columbia-HTC dragging the peloton ever forward, four of the leading seven were caught up with 7km to go, leaving Veikkanen, Wegmann and Beppu, but they were also caught at the 5km mark.

Now there was enough time left for the sprinters to wind themselves up to contest the highly-sought-after Paris stage win. With 3.5km left, four riders from Garmin-Slipstream moved to the front to set up American Tyler Farrer, with Christian Vande Velde leading out. At the 1km mark Team Columbia-HTC made their move, with Mark Renshaw leading out and Cavendish saluting with the greatest of ease.

Schleck also took out the white jersey for best young rider, while Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas secured his polka dot jersey for king of the mountains yesterday on Mont Ventoux. Finally, Team Astana took the teams competition.

Stage 21 results

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC
2 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia – HTC
3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
5 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux

General classification

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 85:48:35
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4:11 behind
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 5:24
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 6:01
5 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 6:04
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 6:42
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 7:35
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 12:04
9 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 14:16
10 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 14:25
11 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 14:44
12 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 17:19
13 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 18:34
14 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 20:45
15 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto 20:50
16 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 22:29
17 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 26:21
18 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 29:33
19 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC 33:27
20 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 34:09

Tour de France stage 21 results in win for Mark Cavendish is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lance Armstrong will secure a podium finish in the 2009 Tour de France today in a fractured and divided Team Astana behind winner and team mate Alberto Contador, but he’s already looking ahead to building a team around himself for next year’s Tour sponsored by Radio Shack.

The Texas-based electronics conglomerate follows in the footsteps of US Postal and Discovery Channel, who have sponsored previous teams during the Texan’s run of seven consecutive Tour de France wins. Armstrong has indicated on his Web site that he will build a team for next year’s Tour and plenty of other activities surrounding his anti-cancer vehicle Livestrong.

As to who else will be on the team, no one other than Armstrong has been confirmed. Johan Bruyneel, the director of Astana, has indicated that he will be leaving the team next year, and given his history with previous Armstrong teams he would be a strong candidate to steer Team Radio Shack.

Armstrong has already built a developmental team of young riders called Trek-Livestrong, which did not compete at this year’s Tour but could provide some domestiques to help the champion out in future races. Team captain Taylor Phinney is one of a number of young American riders who could well make the easy transition. Former US junior national road champion Ben King is another. The full Trek-Livestrong rider list also includes Ryan Bauman, Sam Bewley, Ben Bradshaw, Cody Campbell, Guy East, Ryohei Komori, Taylor Kuphaldt, Julian Kyer, Bjorn Selander and Jesse Sergent.

Phinney won the Under 23 Paris-Roubaix in June, riding with three of his Trek-Livestrong team mates in the final leading group of the road race.

Lance Armstrong has a mountain to climb to build Team Radio Shack is a post from: The Inquisitr

Juan Manuel Garate of Spain has won a gruelling stage 20 of the Tour de France on Mont Ventoux but his compatriot Alberto Contador was the big winner, underlining his overall victory with a masterful display on the hardest racing mountain in France.

The podium positions, which were the major source of speculation before the day, ended up staying the same, with Andy Schleck in second and Lance Armstrong in third unable to bridge the massive time gap that Contador had built up in previous stages.

After just three kilometres of the 167km from Montelimar to Mont Ventoux, a breakway of 10 riders and then two further groups of three got a significant lead over the peloton, but the leading group contained no riders of any note, and stage 20 was always going to be one decided on the last climb, historically the most fearsome in the Tour de France which was made even worse by gusting 25kph headwinds on the final climb.

All that Contador had to do to conserve his lead was to cover any attacks by the half-dozen riders between four and six minutes behind him. Each of those contenders – Andy and Fränk Schleck of Team Saxo Bank, Lance Armstrong and Andreas Klöden of Team Astana, Bradley Wiggins of Garmin-Slipstream and Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas – quickly grouped themselves to tackle Mont Ventoux together, along with Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Maxime Bouet and king of the mountain winner Franco Pellizotti.

Up the road, the original breakaway had dissolved into two groups, with Spaniard Juan Manuel Garate of Team Rabobank and German Tony Martin of Columbia HTC kicking half a minute clear of the main group of nine. Christophe Riblon and Jose Ivan Gutierrez were the only two out of that nine who were not then immediately dropped behind the pack.

As expected, the race among the GC leaders developed into a series of attacks, especially by the Schleck brothers, which Contador dealt with in succession with ease. However, with 10km left to go Contador and Andy Schleck attacked together, and the two leaders of the Tour maintained a lead over the other contenders until Nibali rode across the small gap to join them with around 8km to go.

Even these three riders were caught by the main leaders group, as Andy Schleck hoped to drag his brother Frank up to third spot on the podium in Paris in place of Armstrong. Pellizotti was then allowed to jump clear as he was no threat on GC, giving the two leaders 90 seconds start over about 7 kilometres to chase a fabled victory.

Wiggins and Nibali then almost cracked with three kilometres to ride, but managed to hold on to the leading group. Wiggins trailed off again with two kilometres to go and rode back up.

Garate made his move on Martin with just over 1000 metres to go, as Pellizotti gradually drew in their lead to 20 seconds, but Martin recovered. The yellow jersey group then ate up Pellizotti, but they couldn’t catch the leading two, and Garate had one more kick to win the stage.

The leaders came over together for the most part, apart from Wiggins who had finally cracked but hung onto his fourth place by a handful of seconds.

Stage 20 results

1 Juan Manuel Garate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank 4:39:21
2 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:03 behind
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:38
4 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:41
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:43
7 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0:46
8 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 0:56
9 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:58
10 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 1:03

General classification

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 81:46:17
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4:11 behind
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 5:24
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 6:01
5 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 6:04
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 6:42
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 7:35
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 12:04
9 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 14:16
10 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 14:25

Tour de France stage 20 results in win for Juan Manuel Garate is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mark Cavendish has underlined his status as the best bunch sprinter in the Tour de France with yet another victory in stage 19, yet he most likely won’t wear the green sprinter’s jersey in Paris with Thor Hushovd holding a substantial points lead.

Cavendish said after the race it was his best win of the nine stages he has won in the last two years, in only the third Tour de France he has ridden.

The 178km stage 19 from Bourgoin-Jaillieu to Aubenas was always going to be a stage for those who have got very little out of the race to grab their last chance at glory. Cadel Evans, the Australian from the Silence-Lotto team who has finished second in the last two Tours de France but has languished well off the lead, was one of those who jumped out in the first serious breakaway.

The breakaway eventually numbered twenty riders and their lead stretched out to around three minutes. However the peloton was gradually dragged back up to the leaders by Team Rabobank, who did not have a rider in the breakaway.

The breakaway itself broke up under the pressure, and the group was cut down to Popovych, Millar, Arrieta, Gutierrez and Duque.Yaroslav Popovych (Astana), David Millar (Garmin), Jose Luis Arrieta, (AG2R), Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne) and Leonard Duque (Cofidis). THis group lead by as much as 90 seconds, but the peloton wore down even this array of strong riders.

The next jump was by Frenchman Laurent Lefevre of BBOX Bouygues Telecom, and he was joined by Italian Alessandro Ballan of Lampre-NGC, and it was those two who held a lead of about 15 seconds until just before the finish.

Then it was the turn of the sprinters, and despite Cavendish getting the lead at a longer distance than is usually prudent in a bunch sprint, the Briton held on for his fifth stage win of the Tour. Hushovd had kicked even earlier and held on for second, maintaining his points lead in the sprinter competition meaning that he only has to finish somewhere in the top 20 in the final stage on the Champs-Élysées to wear green on the podium.

The race made no difference to the general classification, as expected, with Alberto Contador only having to defend his huge lead on Mont Ventoux tomorrow to seal his overall victory.

Top stage 19 results

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 3:50:35
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence – Lotto
5 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
6 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step
7 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Skil-Shimano
8 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux
10 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin – Slipstream
11 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel
12 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
13 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:04
14 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
15 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
16 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
17 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC
18 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha
19 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana

General classification

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 77:06:18
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4:11 behind
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 5:21
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 5:36
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 5:38
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 5:59
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 7:15
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 10:08
9 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 12:37
10 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 12:38
11 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 13:36
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 14:08
13 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 14:37
14 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 15:27
15 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 17:23
16 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 19:47
17 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto 19:49
18 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 24:26
19 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 27:51
20 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC 28:20

Tour de France stage 19 results in win for Mark Cavendish is a post from: The Inquisitr

Alberto Contador has not only won the second of two individual time trials in stage 18 of the 2009 Tour de France, but has all but confirmed his yellow jersey victory for the podium in Paris later this week.

The 40.5km stage 18 around Annecy was a mostly flat, easy individual time trial which emphasised speed. Rain which threatened to come late did not eventuate for the most part, allowing the main contenders to jockey for position in general classifications with no hindrances.

Russian Mikhail Ignatiev of Team Katusha was the best of the early starters, setting a mark of 48 minutes and 45 seconds. Bert Grabsch of Team Columbia-HTC, who had gone out just after Ignatiev and had looked like he might catch the Russian, finished behind him and it was those two times which lead all comers for a significant part of the day.

Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss rider of Team Saxo Bank who was the winner of the first individual time trial of this year’s Tour de France, trailed Ignatiev on the circuit at the various time checks, but took the lead by 12 seconds by posting a time of 48:33.

Then it was the turn of Wiggins, who had lost his podium position yesterday to the Schleck brothers of Team Astana, posted the best times halfway through the course but fell away to finish with a time of 49:13.

The Briton Wiggins of the Garmin-Slipstream team started the day nine seconds behind Andreas Klöden of Astana, but the German Klöden could only finish 13 seconds behind Wiggins to give up his spot in the general classification. Lance Armstrong of Astana then finished on 50 minutes flat, putting him 13 seconds ahead of Wiggins on GC.

Contador then proved his champion quality by coming over the line two and a half seconds ahead of Cancellara, and with only one realistic chance for his challengers to make up his lead of over four minutes in the second-last stage the day after tomorrow, the Spaniard can almost start celebrating now.

Top stage 18 results

1 Alberto Contador (Astana) 48.40
2 Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) 0:03 behind
3 Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) 0:15
4 Gustav Erik Larsson (Saxo Bank) 0:33
5 David Millar (Garmin) 0:40
6 Bradley Wiggins (Garmin) 0:42

General classification

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 73:15:39
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4:11 behind
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 5:25
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 5:36
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 5:38
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 5:59
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 7:15
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 10:08
9 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 12:38
10 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 12:41
11 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 13:36
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 14:08
13 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 14:37
14 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 15:26
15 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 15:27
16 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 19:47
17 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto 19:49
18 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 24:26
19 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 25:58
20 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 27:05

Tour de France stage 18 results in win for Alberto Contador is a post from: The Inquisitr

A titanic battle between Team Astana and the Schleck brothers of Team Saxo Bank in stage 17 of the Tour de France has resulted in a stage win for little brother Frank set up by big brother Andy, but Alberto Contador of Astana was the big winner by extending his lead in the general classification helped by sacrificial team work by Lance Armstrong.

The 169.5km stage 17 from Bourg Saint Maurice to Le Grand Bornand, characterised by a complete lack of flat road with six climbs, started as it has most days with an early attack, David Arroyo of Caisse d’Epargne and Linus Gerdemann of Team Milram getting the first break. They were caught within a matter of minutes.

A ten man group then jumped away 10km into the stage, and over the majority of the race they held their lead, with various lesser riders bridging the gap to boost the breakaway’s numbers to over twenty and a lead of over five minutes.

Thor Hushovd, the Norwegian cyclist from Cervelo Test Team who has gradually built a lead in the sprinter’s competition over multiple stage winner Mark Cavendish, then kicked clear of the breakaway to take the sprint points on offer, probably cementing his win in the green jersey race.

The break was finally caught with 35km to go, and then it was the turn of the Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, to start a classic Tour de France battle with Alberto Contador and the rest of the Astana team which has dominated the race so far.

The leading group eventually boiled down to Contador, the two Schlecks and Andreas Kloden, also of Astana. Lance Armstrong stayed in touch in a second group with Vincenzo Nibali of Team Liquigas, Bradley Wiggins and Christian Vande Velde of Garmin Slipstream. Wiggins, a Brit, was in third in the general classification behind Armstrong before the day started, and the eight riders in the two lead groups were all in the top ten in GC.

Contador tried an attack nearing the top of the last climb over the Col du Colombiere, which only succeeded in dropping Kloden off the main group. He and the Schleck brothers then raced to the line, where Andy Schleck lead out his brother Frank to allow him to take the stage win. Andy had the consolation of knowing he took third place in GC off Wiggins.

Top 20 results in stage 17

1 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4:53:54
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 2:18 behind
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2:27
7 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 3:07
8 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel 4:09
9 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
10 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 6:10
11 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux
12 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia – HTC 6:12
13 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas
14 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
15 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha
16 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto
17 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
18 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
19 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 6:15
20 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale 6:19

General classification

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 72:27:09
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 2:26
3 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3:25
4 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 3:55
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 4:44
6 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 4:53
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 5:09
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 8:08
9 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 9:19

Tour de France stage 17 results in win for Frank Schleck is a post from: The Inquisitr

German cyclist Jens Voigt suffered a serious crash today during a descent from the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard.

Although the extent of his injuries is not currently clear, witnesses say the crash was brutal and that Voigt lost consciousness for 3-4 minutes after the fall. Team boss Bjarne Riis was quoted by the Associated Press:

“I only saw him after the crash and he looked very, very bad. It’s not nice to lose a rider like this, but these are things which happen in a race and you have to accept them. It is too early to say how bad his injuries are, I didn’t see the crash, I only saw the aftermath and it wasn’t good. I am just concerned with Jens’ health right now.”

Voigt is the second rider on team Saxo Bank to crash out of the Tour de France in the past week. Kurt-Asle Arvesen crashed while trying to avoid a spectator last Tuesday.

German cyclist Jens Voigt critically injured in Tour de France is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mikel Astarloza was the winner of stage 16 of the Tour de France but the gut-busting ride by Lance Armstrong to stay in touch with yellow jersey wearer and Astana team mate Alberto Contador was the biggest of the day’s results.

The breakaway in the first ten kilometres of the 159km stage 16 from Martigny to Bourg-Saint-Maurice contained more than twenty riders, building a lead around two minutes. Italian Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas and Russian Vladimir Karpets of Team Katusha then jumped the breakaway, cresting the Great Saint Bernard Pass – the first of two huge climbs – 2:03 ahead of the rest of the leading pack and around five minutes ahead of the peloton.

Pellizotti and Karpets were caught by the breakaway group with 60km left to ride and the Little Saint Bernard Pass between them and the finish line. Pellizotti then kicked ahead again with Belgian Jurgen Van Den Broeck of Silence-Lotto, later joined by Frenchman Amael Moinard of Cofidis and Spaniard Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel-Euskadi, and it was this foursome which eventually contested the stage win, with Astarloza coming out in front.

Meanwhile, back in the peloton the Schleck brothers, Frank and Andy, lead an attack with yellow jersey wearer Alberto Contador joining them, with Lance Armstrong and Cadel Evans among the contenders who didn’t immediately respond.

However, in the biggest move of the day, Armstrong then took it upon himself to bridge the significant gap between the main peloton and the Contador group, bringing back memories of his seven straight Tour de France wins with an impressive riding performance.

Stage 16 results
1 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 159km in 4.14.20
2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 6 seconds behind
3 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
4 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto
6 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne

Top 20 of general classification after stage 16
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 67:33:15
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 1:37
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 1:46
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2:17
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 2:26
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 2:51
7 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 3:09
8 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3:25
9 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 3:52
10 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 3:59
11 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 4:38
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 4:40
13 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 5:05
14 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 5:26
15 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 5:40
16 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 5:56
17 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 7:23
18 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 8:23
19 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 9:14
20 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 10:00

Tour de France stage 16 results in win for Mikel Astarloza is a post from: The Inquisitr

Spaniard Alberto Contador has won stage 15 of the Tour de France and now wears the yellow jersey, one minute and 37 seconds ahead of Astana team mate Lance Armstrong in second.

The usual breakaway in the 207.5km stage 15 from Pontarlier to Verbier came in dribs and drabs, started by Frenchman David Moncoutié of the Cofidis team after 42km, joined by Italian Franco Pellizotti of Team Liquigas, then six others, then another four, then another three for a total of 15.

One of the three in that last mini-group was Spaniard Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel, who was the virtual leader on the course when the breakaway’s time gap rose almost a minute above his three-minute deficit to yellow jersey wearer Rinaldo Nocentini.

Team Astana gradually drew the gap back and the breakaway was caught with six kilometres to go, which was the signal for Frank Schleck and then Contador to attack.

Surprisingly, Lance Armstrong did not respond to Contador, and was content to sit behind Andreas Kloden and eventually lose 94 seconds on his Astana team mate, possibly consigning him to second fiddle in Astana for the rest of the tour.

Stage 15 results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 5:03:58
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:43 behind
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 1:03
4 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 1:06
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 1:26
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 1:29
9 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 1:35
10 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 1:55

General classification
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 63:17:56
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 1:37 behind
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 1:46
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2:17
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 2:26
6 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 2:30
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 2:51
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 3:07
9 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 3:09
10 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3:25
11 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam 3:52
12 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 3:59
13 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC 4:05
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 4:27
15 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia – HTC 4:38
16 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 4:40
17 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 5:05
18 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 5:27
19 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 5:37
20 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 5:56

Tour de France stage 15 results in Alberto Contador wearing yellow is a post from: The Inquisitr

Stage 14 of the Tour de France was won by Russian Serguei Ivanov with American George Hincapie moving up to second overall, but perhaps the biggest news was the death of a spectator hit by a motorbike during the stage and reports of two riders being shot at the day before.

Following a week where nothing much had changed in the general classifications, the 199km stage 14 from Colmar to Besançon looked like it finally might shake up the overall leaderboard, with Hincapie part of a 13-man breakaway after 14 kilometers.

Hincapie, of Team Columbia High Road, became the “virtual leader” during the stage when his deficit of five minutes and 25 seconds to yellow jersey wearer Rinaldo Nocentini was less than the lead established on the peloton by the breakaway.

The peloton gradually reeled back the leading group to a less threatening time gap, lead in parts by Team Astana, which is nominally headed by Lance Armstrong, a friend and former team mate of Hincapie during his glory years with US Postal. Team Ag2r La Mondiale also did a lot of work to defend their rider Nocentini’s yellow jersey for another day, though it may not last past tomorrow.

Ivanov of Team Katusha jumped the leading group with 10km to go and built a lead of as much as 30 seconds, but slowed down to savor the victory and won by 16 seconds.

The spectator who died was a 61-year-old woman who was struck by a Republican Guardsman on a motorcycle in the town of Wittelsheim, 38km into the stage. Two others were also injured, a 37-year-old woman and a 60 year-old man.

The shooting incident happened yesterday with Spaniard Oscar Freire of the Rabobank team pulling a pellet from an air pistol out of his leg, and New Zealander Julian Dean of Team Garmin copping a pellet to a finger.

Top 10 results from stage 14
1 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha 4:37:46
2 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:16
3 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cervelo TestTeam
4 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin – Slipstream
5 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
6 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre – NGC
7 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux
8 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC
9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas
10 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 0:00:22

General classification

1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 58:13:52
2 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC 0:00:05
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06
4 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08
5 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:00:43
6 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:00:46
7 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:00
9 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:24
10 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49

Tour de France stage 14 results in win to Serguei Ivanov is a post from: The Inquisitr

Levi Leipheimer not only announced he was out of the Tour de France today via Twitter, albeit through Lance Armstrong’s Twitter account, he has used Twitter to post information about his wrist surgery.

Leipheimer’s Twitter account played host today to a series of images of the cyclist’s fractured scaphoid, which knocked him out of the Tour before today’s stage 13, including a x-ray which showed the 22cm titanium screw inserted into his hand, as well as a live shot of the surgery in action (not for the squeamish)!

Leipheimer’s first message about the injury on his own Twitter account was “My wrist is broken. I can’t describe how disapointed I am” [sic], and he later said, “They ‘blocked’ the nerves in my arm 4 surgery. Strange experience to say the least.”

Leipheimer was considered an outside chance to win the Tour, and a better chance to take a podium spot, though as he was in the team containing Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador who have already been taking a lot of oxygen fighting amongst themselves, he was always going to be little better than an outside chance.

The surgery took place in the French city of Toul, which is about 75km by road from Vittel where the previous stage of the Tour de France had finished.

Levi Leipheimer tweets through wrist surgery is a post from: The Inquisitr

German (and honorary Australian) Heinrich Haussler of the Cervelo Test Team is the latest stage winner in the Tour de France, taking stage 13 in yet another day which meant nothing to the overall standings.

The inevitable breakaway only took three kilometres into the 200km stage 13 from Vittel to Colmar, with Haussler, who is better known as a sprinter, attacking in conjunction with Frenchman Christophe Moreau of the Agritubel team. Those two were joined by five others soon after.

The numbers started dropping off from the leading group to the peloton over the long stage including five separate climbs, and close to the last climb the only ones who could survive anywhere near Haussler’s pace to stay in front of the peloton were Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), Amets Txurruka (Euskatel-Euskadi) and Brice Feillu (Agritubel).

Haussler was 55 minutes behind the leaders at the start of the day and thus was no threat to Rinaldo Nocentini’s yellow jersey, as with the other members of the breakaway. He is a German national but was born and lived for many years in the Australian city of Inverell and speaks English with an Australian accent.

The most newsworthy aspect of the day was the withdrawal before a pedal was pushed of Levi Leipheimer, one of the main contenders in Team Astana, which will weaken the team of Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador going into the major climbing stages in the second and third weeks.

During the stage, Italian Franco Pellizotti of the Liquigas team took the king of the mountains polka dot jersey away from Spaniard Egoi Martinez of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, but his tiny three-point lead means that competition will rage on for a while yet.

Tour de France stage 13 results in win for Heinrich Haussler is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Belgian Johan Van Summeren of the Silence Lotto team and Polishman Marcin Sapa of Lampre-NGC were the two riders who tried to stretch a long breakaway started 165km into the 192km from Vatan to Saint-Fargeau, but as with most other such attempts in the 2009 race the peloton reeled them in before the finish to allow the sprinters to fight for the green jersey for the best sprinter.

Cavendish will be wearing that green jersey again tomorrow after consigning former wearer Thor Hushovd of Cervelo Test Team to fifth in stage 10.

As with all stages this week, the general classifications did not change, leaving Rinaldo Nocentini wearing yellow but with Team Astana rivals Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong in second and third, still vying for leadership of the dominant team in the race through both racing and the media.

Mark Cavendish wins Tour de France stage 11 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Cavendish, who has developed a reputation for arrogance and high confidence, took off his green-rimmed sunglasses and polished them as the Briton crossed the line in front of Thor Hushovd, who is his main rival for the green jersey for the best sprinter in the Tour.

“I’m getting closer to it, you know. I like it, I like the colour,” Cavendish said after the race.

American Tyler Farrar of the Garmin Slipstream team finished third, maintaining his slim hopes of pinching the green jersey

The usual breakaway in the 194.5 kilometre stage from Limoges to Issoudun this time totaled four riders including three Frenchmen hoping to deliver a patriotic victory on Bastille Day: Thierry Hupond  of the Skil-Shimano team, Benoit Vaugrenard of Française des Jeux and Samuel Dumoulin of team Cofidis, as well as Russian Mikhail Ignatiev of Team Katusha. The Russian did none of the pacemaking in the breakaway, leaving the Frenchmen to toil in building their lead over the peloton.

The stage was always going to be flat enough to allow a sprinter to win it, but the race was made slightly ridiculous by the peloton refusing to make a show of chasing the breakaway during much of the stage in protest at Tour organizers, who had experimented with removing the cyclists’ radio earpieces to communicate with their team managers to make the race less predictable.

The bunch finish meant no changes at all to the general classifications, with Rinaldo Nocentini retaining the yellow jersey, Alberto Contador second and Lance Armstrong third.

Tour de France stage 10 results in yet another win for Mark Cavendish is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pierrick Fédrigo has become the third French stage winner in the 2009 Tour de France, winning stage 9 over Italian Franco Pellizotti after the pair joined in a breakaway that last almost all of the stage.

Fédrigo, of the BBox Bouygues Telecom team, beat Pellizotti of the Liquigas team for his second win of the Tour de France in the stage from Saint-Gaudens to Tarbes, the pair finishing 34 second in front of the chasing peloton.

Rinaldo Nocentini goes into the first rest day of the Tour de France still wearing the yellow jersey after the second stage in a row where the general classifictions were not changed at all as the peloton stayed together over the line.

The stage was the third and last through the Pyrenees, including the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet climbs half way through the day.

General classification top 10

1      Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
2     Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana     0:00:06 behind
3     Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana     0:00:08
4     Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana     0:00:39
5     Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream     0:00:46
6     Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana     0:00:54
7     Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC     0:01:00
8     Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream     0:01:24
9     Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank     0:01:49
10     Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas     0:01:54

Pierrick Fedrigo wins Tour de France stage 9 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Luis León Sánchez of the Caisse d’Epargne team has won stage 8 of the Tour de France in a four-man breakaway which did not change the general classification rankings for the main bunch.

The four-man breakaway which dominated the 176km stage from Andorra to Saint-Girons in France contained two Spaniards in Sánchez and Mikel Astarloza of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, plus Russian Vladimir Efimkin of the AG2R La Mondiale team and perennial French hope Sandy Casar of Française des Jeux.

Efimkin looked to be the best placed of the four on the lead into the finish as he had done the least of the work among the four in building and developing the lead over the peloton. However, although he kicked with a couple of kilometers to go and lead by as many as three seconds, he was dragged in by the other three and eventually finished fourth behind Sánchez, Casar and Astarloza.

Luis Leon Sanchez wins Tour de France stage 8 is a post from: The Inquisitr