Cavendish now has 24 stage wins in the Tour. One more would see him equal to the third highest.....and that win could come in today's 6th stage (Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier, a rolling journey of 177km).
Stage 6 won by Andre Greipel from Peter Sagan, with Mark Cavendish 4th. Overall, Gerrans has slipped to 3rd; second is Boasson Hagen and in the Yellow is Daryl Impey. Chris Froome and Richie Porte are 7th and 8th, 8 secs down on the leader. Stage 6 Results GER 1 GREIPEL, André (LOTTO BELISOL) 3:59:02 SVK 2 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING) GER 3 KITTEL, Marcel (ARGOS-SHIMANO) GBR 4 CAVENDISH, Mark (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) ESP 5 LOBATO DEL VALLE, Juan Jose (EUSKALTEL EUSKADI) NOR 6 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) ESP 7 ROJAS GIL, Jose Joaquin (MOVISTAR TEAM) NED 8 VAN POPPEL, Danny (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) ITA 9 FERRARI, Roberto (LAMPRE-MERIDA) FRA 10 DUMOULIN, Samuel (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 11 LEMOINE, Cyril (SOJASUN) NOR 12 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY PROCYCLING) RSA 13 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GREENEDGE) ESP 14 FLECHA GIANNONI, Juan Antonio (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) AUS 15 GOSS, Matthew Harley (ORICA GREENEDGE) General Classification after Stage 6 RSA 1 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GREENEDGE) 22:18:17 NOR 2 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY PROCYCLING) + 3 AUS 3 GERRANS, Simon (ORICA GREENEDGE) + 5 SUI 4 ALBASINI, Michael (ORICA GREENEDGE) POL 5 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) + 6 FRA 6 CHAVANEL, Sylvain (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) GBR 7 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 8 AUS 8 PORTE, Richie (SKY PROCYCLING) IRL 9 ROCHE, Nicolas (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 14 CZE 10 KREUZIGER, Roman (SAXO-TINKOFF)
Good placings forSky: Boasson Hagen 2nd, Froome 7th, Porte 8th. Stage 7 Resultsc SVK 1 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING) 4:54:12 GER 2 DEGENKOLB, John (ARGOS-SHIMANO) ITA 3 BENNATI, Daniele (SAXO-TINKOFF) ITA 4 CIMOLAI, Davide (LAMPRE-MERIDA) NOR 5 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY PROCYCLING) ITA 6 GAVAZZI, Francesco (ASTANA PRO TEAM) FRA 7 GALLOPIN, Tony (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) FRA 8 VICHOT, Arthur (FDJ) ITA 9 MORI, Manuele (LAMPRE-MERIDA) FRA 10 CHAVANEL, Sylvain (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) LTU 11 NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas (GARMIN SHARP) RSA 12 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GREENEDGE) ESP 13 FLECHA GIANNONI, Juan Antonio (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) FRA 14 VUILLERMOZ, Alexis (SOJASUN) AUS 15 GERRANS, Simon (ORICA GREENEDGE) NED 16 TANKINK, Bram (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) BEL 17 GILBERT, Philippe (BMC RACING) NED 18 POELS, Wouter (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) ITA 19 MALACARNE, Davide (EUROPCAR) FRA 20 RIBLON, Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) General Classification after Stage 7 RSA 1 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GREENEDGE) 27:12:29 NOR 2 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY PROCYCLING) + 3 AUS 3 GERRANS, Simon (ORICA GREENEDGE) + 5 SUI 4 ALBASINI, Michael (ORICA GREENEDGE) POL 5 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) + 6 FRA 6 CHAVANEL, Sylvain (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) GBR 7 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 8 AUS 8 PORTE, Richie (SKY PROCYCLING) IRL 9 ROCHE, Nicolas (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 14 CZE 10 KREUZIGER, Roman (SAXO-TINKOFF)
Stage 8: Castres to Ax-3 Domaines (195km) The Pyrenees! 3 peaks - Cat.4, Cat 1, and HC. Sky well-placed, with Boasson Hagen, Froome and Porte all within 8 secs of Impey (Yellow Jersey). This'll test Froome's fitness and show whether Alberto Contador has the legs and lungs to climb up the ratings.
I see the wiggins effect has lead to more and longer ad breaks on ITV. Just missed Froomes move, the stupid ****s!
Stage 8 Results GBR 1 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) 5:03:18 AUS 2 PORTE, Richie (SKY PROCYCLING) + 51 ESP 3 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 1:08 NED 4 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) + 1:10 NED 5 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) + 1:16 ESP 6 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (EUSKALTEL EUSKADI) + 1:34 CZE 7 KREUZIGER, Roman (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 1:45 ESP 8 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO-TINKOFF) COL 9 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR TEAM) ESP 10 ANTON HERNANDEZ, Igor (EUSKALTEL EUSKADI) ESP 11 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 2:06 POR 12 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 2:28 FRA 13 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 14 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 2:34 IRL 15 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN SHARP) USA 16 TALANSKY, Andrew (GARMIN SHARP) DEN 17 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA PRO TEAM) AUS 18 ROGERS, Michael (SAXO-TINKOFF) ESP 19 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) + 3:04 POL 20 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) + 3:27 LUX 21 SCHLECK, Andy (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) + 3:34 General Classification after Stage 8 GBR 1 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) 32:15:55 AUS 2 PORTE, Richie (SKY PROCYCLING) + 51 ESP 3 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 1:25 NED 4 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) + 1:44 NED 5 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) + 1:50 CZE 6 KREUZIGER, Roman (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 1:51 ESP 7 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO-TINKOFF) COL 8 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 2:02 ESP 9 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 2:31 AUS 10 ROGERS, Michael (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 2:40
Done the Tourmalet and the Hourquette this week and will be there to see the boys home tomorrow. Brutally hot here and the last climb is very very steep at the base in the village then seven to ten percent most of the way. Very long open descent though to give the chasers a chance to catch and then one long straight valley drag race back. Watch out for a sharp and tight right over a bridge in Bagneres and then another tight left bend out to lead round to the finish run in.
Yes. It's a TDF thread and as a season ticket holder I have every right to. As I am in the area in thought I would add some detail to the finish for you. With the sharp bends before the run in road there may be some fun!
All I know is the base of the hourquette is about fifteen percent but only for the winding village streets. Bit cramped and worth watching. The ascent is narrow and steep and then it peaks into a short descent where it then goes up for a bit and hen down into an open run in to the valley. The two sides are very different as views on he downhill are open and wide. And you might spot me half way down use other side on the descent tomorrow. Either that or I may do the finish end where the bridge and sharp right is. I think he very open descent and run in will let any group reel in the climbers so expect a more bunched finish with the GC lot on it. You can freewheel twenty mph on it and do over thirty without trying after the descent on the run in through Campan. The pros will cream through at daft speed. The last couple of km when it hits Bagneres will be fun if it is crowded. Oh, and the Tourmalet is hard. And the hardest bit is the last three km. sadly the other side from here is shut due to the flooding damage the area has suffered recently. Doing he Aubisque on Monday from soluer side.
Stage 9: Saint-Girons - Bagneres-de-Bigorre (168.5km). Pyrenees again - 1 x Cat 2 col and 4 x Cat 1. Sky will try to control it; Contador's team (Saxo-Tinkoff) will need to make a mark if they can. Possible winners: Thomas Voeckler, Alejandro Valverde, Rojas Quintana.
Despite losing all his Sky team-mates, Froome managed to hold on and stay with his challengers, so he's still in Yellow. Richie Porte lost over 13 minutes and is no longer even in the top 10! Stage 9 Results IRL 1 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN SHARP) 4:43:03 DEN 2 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA PRO TEAM) POL 3 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) + 20 ESP 4 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) ESP 5 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) AUS 6 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) NED 7 POELS, Wouter (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) NED 8 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) ESP 9 NAVARRO GARCIA, Daniel (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) BEL 10 MONFORT, Maxime (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) ESP 11 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR TEAM) LUX 12 SCHLECK, Andy (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) ESP 13 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO-TINKOFF) GBR 14 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) CZE 15 KREUZIGER, Roman (SAXO-TINKOFF) ESP 16 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (EUSKALTEL EUSKADI) NED 17 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) FRA 18 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) COL 19 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR TEAM) POR 20 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (MOVISTAR TEAM) FRA 21 DUPONT, Hubert (AG2R LA MONDIALE) NED 22 GESINK, Robert (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) + 25 SUI 23 MORABITO, Steve (BMC RACING) General Classification after Stage 9 GBR 1 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) 36:59:18 ESP 2 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 1:25 NED 3 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) + 1:44 NED 4 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN PRO CYCLING) + 1:50 CZE 5 KREUZIGER, Roman (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 1:51 ESP 6 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO-TINKOFF) COL 7 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 2:02 IRL 8 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN SHARP) + 2:28 ESP 9 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 2:31 POR 10 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 2:45
Was on the Hourquette and it was simply amazing. Someone crashed yards from me. Was running next to all of them. Off to watch itv four soon !!
