Le Tour de Crash: Big names come tumbling down on another day of carnage

[Baclava]

Six riders retire after crash-marred sixth stage

A total of six riders, including Spain's veteran Oscar Freire, have quit the Tour de France after suffering injuries in the crash-hit 205km sixth stage from Epernay to Metz.

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/tour-de-france-2012/news/37502/six-riders-retire-after-crash-marred-sixth-stage



The biggest talking point of the stage from Epernay to Metz will be the crash that took out half the peloton with 26km to go. Not only did it force at least three men to abandon the Tour but it caused the likes of Fränk Schleck, Pierre Rolland, Alejandro Valverde, Mark Cavendish and large number of others to lose significant time.

The two big pre-race favorites for the general classification – Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins -survived the carnage near Gorze and so too did most of the sprint specialists with the notable exception of Mark Cavendish.

While riders like Ryder Hesjedal limped to the finish nursing horrible wounds and moral[sic] that was shot to pieces because they’ve essentially been put out of contention for the yellow jersey even before the first mountain stages, there was still the battle for the prestige of a stage victory taking place up ahead. …

… it will be the casualties that this stage will be remembered for. Tom Danielson abandoned, Schleck, Valverde, and a host of others lost 2’09”; Gesink lost 3’31” and Hesjedal and others lost a massive 13’31”.

http://whynow.dumka.us/2012/07/06/le-tour-stage-6/


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It's a wreckfest, tomorrow they hit the mountains....that should end that silliness.

[Paper Roses]

1. Thanks for the update. I cannot watch the Tour as often as I used to.

Amazing athletes, wish I could follow it completely. Keep us posted.

[Baclava]

2. Glad to help, 1st day in the mountains, La Planche des Belles Filles, was a nutcracker

The big boys came to play, Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans...and the peloton crumbled.

Wiggins takes Tour reins, Froome wins stage

Chris Froome burst ahead late to finish two seconds in front of BMC leader Cadel Evans and Sky leader Brad Wiggins




Saturday's Stage 7 finished atop a not overly long (six kilometers) but appallingly steep climb called La Planche des Belles Filles, which translates, roughly, to "The Plateau of Beautiful Girls" but is in fact an ugly ascent averaging an eight percent gradient (deeply painful), but kicking up, over the last few hundred meters, to 20 percent (beyond obscene). It was at the base of that steepest section that defending Tour champion Cadel Evans launched an attack, slingshotting himself from yellow-helmeted Team Sky riders Wiggins and Chris Froome.

Bradley Wiggins was the favourite to pull on the maillot jaune at the end of stage 7 from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles but even the Team Sky leader was surprised the damage he and his team did to their rivals.

After just the first mountain top finish in this year’s Tour de France, the battle for the overall looks to down three – four if you count Wiggins’s teammate Chris Froome – riders with Cadel Evans and Vincenzo Nibali still in the hunt and able of challenging Wiggins.


http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-and-sky-surprised-at-stage-7-damage




should be interesting when they hit the high mtns.

[HuckleB]

3. ABW!

Anyone but Wiggins!

What a douchebag that dufus is.

[Baclava]

7. Stage 9... Brits finish 1, 2. Wiggins wins time trial

Cadel Evans falls almost 2 minutes behind now.

A rest day next, then they take to the big mountains for a couple weeks. Lots can happen.

Overall standings after Stage 9.


1 Bradley Wiggins, Sky Procycling
2 Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team + 1:53
3 Christopher Froome, Sky Procycling + 2:07
4 Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale + 2:23
5 Denis Menchov, Katusha Team + 3:02
6 Haimar Zubeldia, Radioshack-Nissan + 3:19
7 Maxime Monfort, Radioshack-Nissan + 4:23
8 Tejay Van Garderen, BMC Racing Team + 5:14
9 Jurgen van den Broeck, Lotto-Belisol + 5:20
10 Nicholas Roche, AG2R La Mondiale + 5:29



11 Rui Alberto COSTA +5:46
12 Rein TAARAMAE +5:56
13 Tony GALLOPIN +5:59
14 Janez BRAJKOVIC +6:29
15 Andréas KLÖDEN +6:33
16 Sylvain CHAVANEL +8:18
17 Frank SCHLECK +8:19
18 Jérôme COPPEL +8:31
19 Levi LEIPHEIMER +8:34
20 Peter VELITS +8:44

[AngryAmish]

9. Leave Ralphy Alone!

[opihimoimoi]

4. add Sammy Sanchez to the list...out on day 8 with shoulder pain

[Baclava]

5. You never know what will happen, a lone breakaway made it home.

"Thibaut Pinot, 22, the youngest competitor, was the winner and gave France its first stage win"


The mountains blew apart the field - only a few riders are left within a minute of the lead

Stage 9 is a big time trial, Cadel Evans needs to stay close to Wiggins, if he can.

Currently, Wiggins leads Evans by ten seconds.
Vincenzo Nibali sits third at 16 seconds
Denis Menchov is 54 seconds behind

[Baclava]

6. Luckily he didn't break his collarbone, according to reports, just a few fingers

He'll be ready for the Olympics

[Baclava]

8. Stage 11 - Team Sky takes control - Cadel Evans cracked in the Alps

Albertville / La Toussuire - Les Sybelles

If there was any lingering doubt about the strength of the Sky team, then wonder no more: the British outfit is the dominant force in the 99th Tour de France. The stage to La Tourssuire might have been won by a Frenchman - with Pierre Rolland pulling off another tremendous climbing coup to go alongside his triumph at Alpe d'Huez from the 2011 Tour - but Great Britain is in complete command of the general classification.

Wiggins increased his advantage over last year's champion, Cadel Evans, after the Australian suffered a little crisis on the final climb and had to be nursed home by the leader of the youth classification Tejay van Garderen. While Evans battled his way up the last mountain, Rolland danced ahead to an emphatic victory and then came the battle for minor places on GC, which was won by Christopher Froome who now moves up to second overall, 18 seconds ahead of another of today's aggressors, Vincenzo Nibali. The result sheet tells much of the story but it was a race with many attacks, several winners and quite a few losers.

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/us/stage-11/news/flm/rolland-wins-while-wiggins-increases-his-lead.html


Overall standings:


1. WIGGINS B.
2. FROOME C, 2' 05''
3. NIBALI V, 2' 23''
4. EVANS C. 3' 19''
5. VAN DEN BROECK J, 4' 48''
6. ZUBELDIA H, 6' 15''
7. VAN GARDEREN T, 6' 57''

[alfredo]

17. Wednesday's stage 16, Pau / Bagnères-de-Luchon, will be where

Evans must attack. Then he will have to match Wiggins in the final time trial. If he falls behind in the stages before Wednesday (or on Wednesday), I think he should release Van Garderen to see if he can improve his position and seal the youth jersey.

[opihimoimoi]

10. The French now rule the tour

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. ? Highest Frenchman in overall classification is 9th

Rolland - 8 minutes 31 behind the leader. Who is ... gasp ... British! A British rider has never won the Tour before. And another Briton, in the same Sky team, is second.

[Baclava]

12. if by the French you mean the Brits, then yeah

getting some stage wins though

[Baclava]

13. Hooligans trash the tour - throw tacks on the road - 30 punctures to leaders

fucking scumbags - Cadel Evans had 4 flats right at mountaintop 20k from finish of Stage 14 - hats off to the Wiggins team for waiting for the BMC team to catch up

"An amazing sabotage of the Tour de France saw at least 30 riders get punctures after tacks were thrown onto the road during a controversial 14th stage"

Speaking on French TV, race director Jean-Francois Pecheux also credited the Sky Team - whose leader, Bradley Wiggins, is in the yellow jersey - for encouraging the pack to not speed ahead or take advantage of the mishaps of the affected riders, including defending champion Cadel Evans.

Pecheux said the search for the culprit would be "difficult" because thousands of fans were on the roadside on the Mur de Peguere climb as the riders came by.

He said about 30 riders picked up flats over about a one-kilometre stretch.

http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/articles/2012/07/16/tacks-on-the-road-cause-le-tour-chaos/


"It shows it is not necessarily what happens on the bike, the public affect the race - the race could be over for you for something as stupid as that," Wiggins said.

"No-one wants to benefit from someone else's misfortune.

"We sort this out in a physical sense on the bike.

"99 per cent are here to watch the race and love the sport ... you are always going to get a very small minority that are there to cause trouble.

"There is enough police on this route than can find these people. and send them to a football mach or something."

[alfredo]

14. I think one crash caused by the tacks ended the race for one rider.

The last time tacks were thrown, it was found that a priest threw them on the course.



The only good thing out of this, was that the tacks were on the uphill, not on the downhill. There would have been serious injuries, and maybe fatalities if they were hit at high speed. At the end of the race, something like 28 tacks were found.


There should be plenty photos and video of the crowd to look through to see if the culprit can be found. The incident did not affect the GC, and Wiggins showed a lot of class by not taking advantage of the sabotage.

[Baclava]

16. Wiggins: Waiting seemed the honourable thing to do

With rumours of over 30 punctures in the peloton - plus flat tyres for five motorcycles that were part of the race entourage, and a number of cars - it was obvious that the 14th stage of the Tour de France was affected by sabotage.

“There were so many punctures at once that it was obvious that something had happened. We went up the climb hard. Nothing happened. And obviously it seems logical to wait; we were 17 minutes behind the breakaway... when everyone punctured at once it made sense to ride easy for a couple of kilometres so everybody could get their wheels changed. The climb was so narrow that the team cars were a long way back and waiting seemed the honourable thing to do."

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/us/stage-14/news/int/wiggins-waiting-seemed-the-honourable-thing-to-do.html


Tour de France competitions director Jean-Francois Pescheux was at a loss to explain the sabotage that affected the 14th stage.

Around 30 riders punctured near the top of the Mur de Peguere, with Robert Kiserlovski forced to abandon the race after suffering a collarbone injury in a crash near the scene.

"We don't know who it was. No-one saw anything," Pescheux said. We've found some of the tacks. They're the kind of tacks you use in mattresses or carpets. They were obviously thrown by a spectator.

"There were around 50 riders together in the front peloton at the top and about 30 of them ended up with punctures. Some of them had three or four nails in their tires.

"There are always some idiots out there. What else can I say."

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/us/stage-14/news/int/wiggins-waiting-seemed-the-honourable-thing-to-do.html

[alfredo]

19. Armstrong and Ullrich showed the same respect when one fell or had a flat.

I remember Ullrich could have beaten Armstrong on a mountain stage when Lance was brought down by a spectator, but he slowed until Armstrong got back on the bike safely. There is still honor in the corporate world of sport.

[Baclava]

28. I'm amazed more crazy stuff doesn't happen - those mountaintops are wild

Tour de France leader Bradley Wiggins burned with flare

ANNONAY, France (AP) – Tour de France racers are used to dodging flags, people and the odd stray dog along the race route. But flares?

"It was some nutter running up the hill, and it shows you freak things like that can happen in the Tour. I'm fine though." - Wiggins

http://www.3news.co.nz/Wiggins-burnt-by-flare-waving-Tour-fan/tabid/415/articleID/261288/Default.aspx

[alfredo]

32. I guess I should be grateful that America isn't the only country with idiots.

[FourScore]

15. Why don't they disqualify that portion of the race? n/t

[alfredo]

18. It had no real consequences for the top riders. They would not have caught the escape, and

those in the escape were not a threat to the GC (general classification). If they had been a threat, there would have been no way they would have been allowed to get that far ahead.

There is a tradition to let the domestiques get their day in the sun if it has little effect on the outcome of the race. Sometimes they let a guy go so he will be in the lead as they pass through his home village. On Bastille day, they show deference to French riders.

One of my favorite traditions of the tour is that the winner gives all his winnings to his teammates. With all the bennies the winner gets, he doesn't need the money. Even more important than the money is the loyalty of teammates who sacrifice their own dreams to help the leader win.

[Baclava]

20. Stage 16 on Wednesday will be the big one, classic day in the Pyrénées

Col d'Aubisque (1 709 m)16.4 kilometre-long climb at 7.1% - category H

Col du Tourmalet (2 115 m)19 kilometre-long climb at 7.4% - category H

Col d'Aspin (1 489 m)12.4 kilometre-long climb at 4.8% - category 1

Col de Peyresourde (1 569 m)9.5 kilometre-long climb at 6.7% - category 1

[alfredo]

21. Tuesday is a rest day in Pau. Wednesday is when the soul breaking climbs take place.

[Baclava]

22. I know, I forgot for a sec - you sure are fast - this thread has been here for 2 weeks

with nobody with nothing to say - till I make a boo-boo

vultures

[alfredo]

24. Well somebody has to do it. ;)

[Baclava]

27. I bet nobody cares because no american is leading - am I right?

well, Tejay Van Garderen is doing good, in 7th place - he's still wearing the white jersey in the best young rider classification.

In fact, he could be higher up the standings if he didn't have to keep dropping back to help drag Cadel up the mountains.

[alfredo]

30. If Evans falters, I hope Tejay gets free rein.

Tejay will have more opportunities after this race. His stock is rising.

[edhopper]

23. Is that a pic of

Tourmalet?

[Baclava]

25. that it is

Stage 17 should be interesting too



Col du Portal, Port de Lers and Mur de Péguére

[edhopper]

26. Looks ideal

for a breakaway.
Too long a flat at the end for a GC challenge.
Evans will do something Weds or he's done.

[alfredo]

31. There were times when racers had to get off their bikes and carry them through the snow.

[madrchsod]

29. to bad they have`t figured out how to stage a race...

where crashes like those are rare. oh well never ever change tradition even if it means hurting people and creating a lousy race.

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. Frank Schleck fails drugs tests, out of Tour

Luxembourg rider Frank Schleck has failed a drugs test and will not continue in this year's Tour de France.

The 32-year-old, who finished third in last year's race, tested positive for the diuretic Xipamide on 14 July.

Schleck, the older brother of 2010 winner Andy, was 12th in the Tour's overall standings, nine minutes and 45 seconds behind leader Bradley Wiggins.
...
"Earlier today, the UCI advised Frank Schleck of an adverse analytical finding (presence of the diuretic Xipamide) in the urine sample collected from him at an in-competition test at the Tour de France on 14 July 2012," the International Cycling Union (UCI) said in a statement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18880417

[alfredo]

34. It's a masking agent, not a drug. Still it puts him under suspicion. Quitting

is damage control

[Baclava]

35. All hail the British Isles - Wiggins wins Stage 19... first-ever Brit overall winner in Le Tour

Champagne on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris tomorrow.



Pretty boring race after the crashes, Team Sky had it in the bag.

After two and half thousand miles:



1.WIGGINS B. SKY, 84h 26' 31''

2. FROOME C. SKY, 03' 21''

3.NIBALI V.LIQ, 06' 19''


4. VAN DEN BROECK J. 10' 15''

5. VAN GARDEREN T. 11' 04''



On to the Olympics, for the surviviors.


Way to go Tejay!

White Jersey, best young rider classification - 5th overall