2008 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21: Difference between revisions
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http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/etape_par_etape.html | title=Stage 17 route map and profile | publisher=www.letour.fr| date= | accessdate=2008-07-14}}</ref> |
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After [[Team CSC Saxo Bank]] paced the yellow jersey group all day and knocked off the domestiques of each other team containing overall contenders, [[Carlos Sastre]] on the way up to Alpe d'Huez itself and finished two minutse clear of it to claim yellow from his teammate. |
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Revision as of 17:43, 23 July 2008
 | This article documents a current road bicycle race. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports, scores, or statistics may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
These are the profiles for the individual stages in the 2008 Tour de France, with Stage 12 on 17 July, and Stage 21 on 27 July.
Stages
Stage 12
This stage featured one fourth category climb over the Col du Camperié east of Axat after 111 km, before a long rapid descent to Narbonne, which was expected to give the sprinters the chance to demonstrate their skills.[1]
The day began with news of the withdrawal from the Tour of the Saunier Duval-Scott team after their leader Riccardo Riccò, who was top of both the King of the Mountains and Young Riders' categories, had failed a blood test taken at the end of Stage 4.
At the 40 kilometer mark, Samuel Dumoulin and Arnaud Gerard broke away, and attained a maximum advantage of 4 minutes. Juan Jose Oroz joined them at the 113 kilometer mark. The peloton didn't let them get very much of a lead, keeping the time gap at around a minute and a half for most of the race, until the catch occurred with about 9 kilometers to go. A bunched sprint saw Mark Cavendish win his third stage this tour.[2]
Stage 12 Result
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General Classification after Stage 12
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Stage 13
A series of fourth category climbs took the riders through Languedoc, before the run into Nîmes on this transitional stage before the riders move into the Alps.[3]
This stage was remarkably similar to the one from the day before. An early breakaway, by Niki Terpstra and Florent Brard led almost the entire day until being caught in the final 10 kilometers. Another bunched sprint saw Mark Cavendish win yet again, but beyond that, eight of the top ten placed riders were the same both days, with three (including Cavendish) in the same exact position.[4] Cavendish became the first sprinter to win four stages at a single Tour de France since Alessandro Petacchi did so in 2003,[5] although Lance Armstrong won five of the last eight stages in the 2004 Tour de France including two individual time trials and three mountain stages.
Stage 13 Result
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General Classification after Stage 13
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Stage 14
- July 19, 2008 — Nîmes > Digne-les-Bains, 194.5 km
The race approached the Alps through the Vaucluse department crossing two fourth category climbs before dropping down to Digne-les-Bains.[6]
A break of 21 riders, with representatives from all but three of the teams, moved away after 5km. Only four riders remained clear by the 41st kilometer; Bram Tankink, Sandy Casar, William Bonnet and Jose Ivan Gutierrez. They were eventually caught on the last climb, and on the descent there were many splits in the field. Of many attempted breaks on the descent towards the finish, Sylvain Chavanel came closest to success, but the stage again finished in a sprint. Cavendish had been dropped from the peloton on the climb, and green jersey wearer Óscar Freire won the sprint.[7]
Stage 14 Result
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General Classification after Stage 14
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Stage 15
- July 20, 2008 — Embrun > Prato Nevoso (Italy), 183 km
The 15th stage was due to start at Digne-les-Bains but due to the risk of rock falls in the climb up the Col de Larche, the organisers decided to modify the itinerary. The stage started instead from Embrun and headed to Prato Nevoso, crossing into Italy via the climb over the Hors Categorie Col Agnel (2,744 m). The finish at Prato Nevoso is rated First Category with a 11.4 km climb at an average of 6.9%.[8]
The road conditions at the start in Embrun were terrible, with consistent rain soaking the road. After several attempts earlier, Egoi Martinez, José Luis Arrieta, Danny Pate, and Simon Gerrans broke away from the peloton at the 12 kilometer mark, just before the first intermediate sprint. The peloton was content to let them go up the Col Agnel well ahead, as their maximum advantage was almost fourteen minutes before the summit. When the peloton's relatively lax pace finally quickened, the autobus formed in back of it on the way up the Col Agnel. Martinez was the first over the top.
The peloton consolidated on the descent, but for an unusual reason - Robert Hunter and Óscar Pereiro clipped wheels and crashed, with Pereiro dramatically tumbling through a barricade from one section of the road down to a lower section. This happened at the front of the main group, and afterwards for several kilometers the peloton slowed nearly to the pace they'd had in the rain-soaked neutral zone. The time gap to the four leaders rose from eleven and a half to over seventeen minutes in this time. Pereiro broke his arm in the crash, and had to abandon. The field similarly slowed, affording more time to the breakaway, after a crash (which involved Christian Vandevelde, Damiano Cunego, Vincenzo Nibali, Sebastian Lang, and others) on both sides of a roundabout at the 60 kilometers to go mark. At that point, it was calculated that the peloton had no chance to catch the break, so the peloton stayed together, with the contenders poising to attack on the climb up to Prato Nevoso.
Team CSC Saxo Bank set a blistering pace on the way up the Colle del Morte and again up to Prato Nevoso, splitting the field and trying to isolate Cadel Evans. The yellow jersey group thinned to ten riders, including the top six in the GC, as the CSC domestiques dropped off. On the way up to Prato Nevoso, Martinez attacked the other leaders and Arrieta was dropped. The favorites traded attacks and split as well on the way up.
Gerrans won the sprint to the line. Bernhard Kohl, Carlos Sastre, Denis Menchov and Alejandro Valverde came clear of Evans' group on the way to the finish. Fränk Schleck came clear of Evans in the last 100m to claim the yellow jersey, with Kohl narrowly failing to have taken enough time out of them both.[9]
Stage 15 Result
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General Classification after Stage 15
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Rest Day 2
Stage 16
The race reurned to France on this short stage, via the Hors Categorie Col de la Lombarde and Col de la Bonette (the highest pass in Europe at over 2,800 m altitude), before a descent of more than 20km.[10]
Five riders, Samuel Dumoulin, Christophe Le Mével, Sebastien Rosseler, and former classification leaders Stefan Schumacher and Thomas Voeckler came clear of the peloton after 42 kilometers. Twenty-four riders also came clear as a chase shortly thereafter, splitting the field well before the climb up the Col de la Lombarde began. Riders were dropped and attacked from the various groups and the field split into numerous fragments, until Schumacher was the only leader left. He stayed well clear of the trailing groups and actually gained time to be the first over the Lombarde. The others from the breakaway, aside from Schumacher, were eventually absorbed by the chases.
The field split even more on the way up the Col de la Bonette, to the point where it was difficult to call any particular group the peloton. Christian Vandevelde was the first GC contender to be dropped from the yellow jersey group, cracked by the pacemaking being done by Andy Schleck. A chase group paced by Cyril Dessel and Yaroslav Popovych caught Schumacher some 3 kilometers before the summit of the Bonette. John-Lee Augustyn, attacked from this group shortly before the summit and was the first to reach the top. He later skidded off the road and tumbled down a steep decline on the dirt beside it, losing his bike. He had no choice but to wait for a service car with a spare machine, and thus lost the chance to rejoin the leading group.
The leading group was whittled to four on the descent - Popovych, Dessel, David Arroyo and Sandy Casar. Denis Menchov was dropped from the yellow jersey group early on in the descent, and lost time. This brought Cadel Evans forward to make the pace in the yellow jersey group, to put as much time as possible between them and Menchov, since Menchov was likely Evans' biggest threat in the individual time trial that was to come and thus in all likelihood, for the Tour title itself. Popovych tried to open the sprint at just over 1 kilometer to go, but the others got him back. Dessel eventually took down the run to the line.[11]
Stage 16 Result
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General Classification after Stage 16
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Stage 17
- July 23, 2008 — Embrun > Alpe d'Huez, 210 km
This is the last stage before the race leaves the Alps, with three Hors Categorie climbs of the Col du Galibier (2,645 m.), the Col de la Croix de Fer (2,067 m.) and the final climb up the Alpe d'Huez (1,850 m.).[12]
After Team CSC Saxo Bank paced the yellow jersey group all day and knocked off the domestiques of each other team containing overall contenders, Carlos Sastre on the way up to Alpe d'Huez itself and finished two minutse clear of it to claim yellow from his teammate.
Stage 17 Result
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General Classification after Stage 17
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Stage 18
- July 24, 2008 — Bourg-d'Oisans > Saint-Étienne, 197 km
The race now leaves the Alps and heads west to central France, with three rated climbs, including the second category Croix de Montvieux (811 m.) at 33 km from the finish.[13]
Stage 19
After two rated climbs in the first 42 km, this is an undulating route through the Allier department which should produce a sprint finish.[14]
Stage 20
- July 26, 2008 — Cérilly > Saint-Amand-Montrond, 53 km (ITT)
The second and final individual time trial along rolling roads in the Allier and Cher departments could result in a change at the top of the General Classification.[15]
Stage 21
- July 27, 2008 — Étampes > Paris Champs-Élysées, 143 km
This is a hilly course to Paris winding through the Chevreuse Valley before the traditional loop on the Champs-Élysées, Place de la Concorde and the Rue de Rivoli. Once again, the strong men among the remaining sprinters should fight it out for this prestigious stage win.[16]
References
- ^ "Stage 12 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "Cavendish: The King of the Sprint". www.letour.fr. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stage 13 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "Mark Cavendish – "I didn't die..."". www.letour.fr. 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Tour de France - Back-to-back Cavendish hits four". eurosport. 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stage 14 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "Freire Gets There In First!". www.letour.fr. 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stage 15 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "Gerrans & Schleck the Winners of Dramatic Day!". www.letour.fr. 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stage 16 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "Dessel's Day After Dramatic Descent!". www.letour.fr. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stage 17 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "Stage 18 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
- ^ "Stage 19 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
- ^ "Stage 20 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
- ^ "Stage 21 route map and profile". www.letour.fr. Retrieved 2008-07-22.