95th Tour de France - Stage 13 Live
Again the parcours will suit a Sprinter but also a large breakaway. The action
is underway with Niki Terpstra and Florent Brard on the escape with ten minutes.
Its Friday the 13th stage
Stage 13 Narbonne - Nimes, 182km
Welcome to stage 13 in the Tour de France from Narbonne to Nimes over
182 km. Cadel Evans rides for his 3rd day in a row in yellow with a mere 1
second on Fränk Schleck and 38 seconds on Garmin rider Christian Vandevelde.
During the stage there are three category-four climbs: the cote de la
Resclauze (at 62km) the cote de Puechabon (105.5km) and the Pic Saint-Loup
(126km). The riders also get two intermediate sprints namely in Saint-Bauzille-de-Montmel
(at 139.5km) and Villeveillle (155.5km).
© Amaury Sport Organization
Already in the first kilometer of the stage Niki Terpstra (Milram) and
Florent Brard (Cofidis) attacked. The bunch let them ride and they two a maximum
advantage of 9.55 after 21 km of racing. Currently the lead dropped to 9.10 as
La Francaise des Jeux and Team Columbia took control in the bunch. At the 34.5km
mark, the peloton is 8’25" behind the Dutch and French rider.
The gap is further down to 8.00 after 40 km of racing with Columbia and
Francaise des Jeux still in the lead of the bunch. Columbia and La Francaise des
Jeux still in the lead of the bunch. Silence-Lotto is controlling the race
behind them.
Talking about Ricco/Saunier Duval. According to the French paper L'Equipe
another Saunier Duval rider next to Ricco has been tested positive; no further
details yet. They also suggest that there was a structural doping matter within
the Spanish team, again no official confirmation.
1446 CEST - The break is now o the Cote
de le Resclauze. Other news Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) has withdraw from the
Belgium National team for the Olympic Games. Devolder needs some rest after the
Tour after his illness in the first week of the Tour. No replacement has been
named yet.
120 km to go the gap down to 7.00.
Florent Brard is first over the Resclauze ahead of Niki Terpstra. Mountain king
Sebastian Lang leads the peloton over at 6.40 extending his lead for the polka
dot jersey. Florent Brard and Niki Terpstra are working well together. The gap
is up to a bit more than 7.00.
Due to the positive of Riccardo Ricco Saunier Duval is considering ending
it's sponsorship with the team at the end of the season. If the
already-mentioned rumblings about Piepoli and Cobo are true, it could snowball
for Saunier Duval. This is still all conjecture though, as these positive tests
are starting to foster a witch-hunt atmosphere. Rumour is not always true. We
don't want a repeat of Salem, people. On the other hand it's positive for the
sport that such a guys get caught. But the strange part is that only the French
Laboratory seems to be able to test on CERA or MICERA, new form of EPO.
On that note, it was just announced that Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli
were sacked by the team. So if we can make a conclusion the second positive of
Saunier Duval L'equipe was reporting about has to be Piepoli.
1515 CEST - 100km to go for the break,
6'20" down the road and the peloton are rifling through their musettes like
woodland creatures going through suburban trash cans (in the feed zone).
Michael Ball owner of Rock Racing has announced his candidacy for the USPRO
At-Large Trustee position today.
Michael Ball
Announces USA Cycling Trustee Bid
90km to go - On a sweltering day through
the département of Herault, Niki Terpstra and Florent Brard are just
pushing their lead out again a tad, it's now 6'41".
Let's not forget folks, it's Friday the 13th (stage) today. Certainly hasn't
been lucky for Signor Piepoli. More about the L'Herault. Hérault is one of the
original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790.
It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc. At the beginning
of the 20th century, the wine-growing region was devastated, and thousands of
workers revolted. This revolt was suppressed very harshly by the government of
Georges Clemenceau.
Cadel Evans comes back through the cavalcade, led by his Silence-Lotto
team-mates. Probably a toilet break. It's not like the bunch are cranking along
at 100%, to say the least.
1545 CEST - 80 km to go the gap down to
5.43 Our Dutch-French alliance pf Niki Terpstra and Florent Brard continue to
work well together - Terpstra rides on the front. The 24 year-old has shown some
glimpses of Classics talent this year, with fourth at the Three Days of De Panne
and a top-15 at the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Moreover, he is a handy member of the
Dutch team pursuit squad on the track. The peloton is a tightly packed unit
Our dynamic duo are 1.6 km to the summit of the next climb the Cat. 4
Cote de Puechabon at 105.5 kilometers the gap down to 4.50.
One man from the Herault's capital city of Montpellier is Stephane Goubert.
Every year I say he'll retire, and every year he returns to the Tour and puts in
a top-40 performance. Goubert is now 38, and lies 33rd overall. If he stays
there, it'll be a remarkable EIGHT Tours in a row where he's finished between
17th and 37th. Chapeau. That is pretty amazing consistency.
In China this week is the Tour of Qinghai Lake. The 8th stage is won by Tyler
Hamilton (Rock Racing). His first win since 2004. He is also the new leader.
Hamilton won the stage ahead of Marek Rutkiewicz. Check back here at Daily
Peloton for a round-up on the Qinghai Lake this weekend.
1555 CEST - The duo are now on the top of
the Puechabon. Florent Brard takes the points ahead of Terpstra.
75km to go - The bunch are going up the
Cote de Puechabon now, and the gap is further down to 4'15".
In a Dutch tour journal they called the UCI's McQuaid yesterday. He said that
if the b-sample is positive too of Ricco has to leave the sport. Beltran I think
will do so, as he is 38 years old. And Duenas had a whole pharmacy at his hotel
room so if the reports are true.
1501 CEST - The peloton summits the
Puechabon - Bernhard Kohl took the 3rd place, Lang 4th. Kohl, much better
climber than Lang, but his overall position could hamper any King of the
Mountains ambitions. Lang will be happy to keep the jersey until Sunday.
Gerolsteiner have the luxury of having both men up there.
70 km to go the gap down to 4.00.
Columbia and Francaise de Jeux continue to set the pace on the front. Maybe it
is Ciolek's time to shine. Chavanel also looked good yesterday. Certainly, in
the interview yesterday, Cavendish sounded tired and even said how fatigued he
felt. One last push for nombre 4?
The peloton are just keeping things ticking over. Alejandro Valverde smiles
at the camera for the umpteenth time this Tour. Caisse d'Epargne have some games
with the camera. You're not in Paris yet, lads... To be honest though, it must
be a bit boring on this flat, straight road through the Herault forests.
60 km to go - Gap down to 3.26. The
peloton are letting Brard and Terpstra hang in the wind until they choose to
gather them up... with any luck the two have left something in the tank to
resist the cruel fate they well know await them as they near Nimes.
We still have the two intermediate sprints to come which may cause the
sprinters teams to assert themselves a bit earlier in the game today. There is
still a battle between Freire, Hushvod and Kirchen for the points jersey.
55 km to go. The gap falls to 2:39 the
two leaders are on the Cat. 4 and final climb of the
Pic Saint-Loup. 600 mt to the summit. It looks like former French champ Brard
will lead over this one too. Terpstra looks slightly stretched holding his wheel
leaving a small gap as his legs are leaking energy
French TV has said that Piepoli tested positive for the Hautacam stage. So
busted. It confirms what we suspected...
Now its Lang who takes the 3rd spot again ahead of Kohl. We've had a few
bumps and rolling hills, but these final 50-odd kilometres will be the flattest
of the day.
Our live coverage continues:
Stage 13 Live
Part 2
Intermediate
Sprints
Saint-Bauzille-De-Montmel, 139.5km
Villeveille, 155.5km
Stage 13 Profile
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