2010 Tour de France: Stage 18, Salies-de-Bearn - Bordeaux, 198 km

[steve]

2010 Tour de France: Stage 18, Salies-de-Bearn - Bordeaux, 198 km

The finish in Bordeaux should come down to a bunch sprint.

Stage Map
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Stage Profile
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The Last KM's
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General classification before stage 18

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 83:32:39
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:08
3 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:03:32
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0:03:53
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:05:27
6 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:06:41
7 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:07:03
8 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:09:18
9 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:10:12
10 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:10:37

 

[steve]

Stage 18 News

Before the Stage

Van den Broeck clashes with Sarkozy
After finishing a great stage 17 which left him in view of a top five Tour de France finish in Paris, Jurgen Van den Broeck of Omega Pharma-Lotto got a bit annoyed with the media bustle around French president Nicolas Sarkozy on top of the Col du Tourmalet.
Link: Van Den Broeck Clashes With Sarkozy | Cyclingnews.com

Nation & world Alberto Contador all but locks up 3rd Tour de France
Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain virtually secured a third Tour de France title Thursday after staying with yellow-jersey rival Andy Schleck all the way to the top of the legendary Col du Tourmalet in the pivotal 17th stage. Schleck won the prestigious stage but Contador crossed the line nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with the Luxembourg rider after the pair had broken clear in the final 6 miles. They completed the 108.1 miles from Pau to the top of the Col du Tourmalet in 5 hours, 3 minutes, 29 seconds.
Link: Alberto Contador all but locks up 3rd Tour de France | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

CONTADOR PEAKS AT RIGHT TIME
Andy Schleck crossed the line first at the end of yesterday's punishing Tour de France stage - but Alberto Contador was the real winner. The two rivals for the yellow jersey finished the tough climb up the mistshrouded Col du Tourmalet ahead of the peleton. But Contador managed to sit on the Luxembourg rider's wheel to the top of the 18.6-kilometre Pyrenean peak.
Link: CONTADOR PEAKS AT RIGHT TIME - mirror.co.uk

Tour de France riders set out on flat 18th stage
The riders of the Tour de France have set out on the 18th of the 20 stages of this year's Tour de France, a day that could be decisive for those fighting for the green jersey of best sprinter. The flat 123-mile trek from Salies-de-Bearn to Bordeaux in the country's southwest is expected to end in a sprint finish on Friday. No change is expected to the overall standings. Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain holds an eight-second lead over Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, a gap that is expected to widen during the time-trial stage on Saturday.
Link: The Associated Press: Tour de France riders set out on flat 18th stage

Theatre of the cycling gods
CYCLISTS Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck have demonstrated this week why the Tour de France is so high on the list of events capable of providing unforgettable sporting theatre. And why the bikes can be a weird sport as well as a tough and colourful one. Contador, the implacable Spaniard with the unbreakable will, and Schleck, the young Luxembourger whose boyish appearance disguises a massive motor, confirmed their status as the world's two best riders with a riveting duel to the top of the famous Pyrenean mountain pass, the Col du Tourmalet, in stage 17.
Link: Theatre of the cycling gods on Tourmalet | Herald Sun

Sprinters back on their terrain in Bordeaux
Starved of mass finishes for a week, sprinters are expected to take center stage again in the 198-km 18th stage from Salies de Bearn to Bordeaux on Friday. Apart from American Tyler Farrar, all the big sprinters in the peloton survived the mountains and are still in the race for a stage win and to score points in the green jersey competition. Briton Mark Cavendish will want his fourth win this Tour to equal his 2008 tally and bring his total number of stage victories to 14.
Link: Sprinters back on their terrain in Bordeaux | Reuters

 

[jhuskey]

I suspect this will be a boring stage except for the last 10 seconds.

 

[64Paramount]

Versus just showed non stop commercials and fluff bits till the last 20 miles or so....

 

[No_Positives]

[FONT=&quot]Can someone tell me why Saxo wouldn’t attack on this stage, and do a full out TTT with say 20k to go. It’s worth a shot to pick up 8 seconds. No? In the Tour of California, Radiocrack split the field on the flats with a four-man effort.[/FONT]

 

[swampy1970]

Cavendish says "this one was for Renshaw"

5 bike length lead over the second place finisher... Where are those "Cav can only win with his lead out train, especially Renshaw" now? Jumping from train to train at the end.

1Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia4:37:09 2Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions 3Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 4Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha 5Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 6Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team 7Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 8Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 9Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini 10Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 11Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 12Anthony Roux (Fra) Française des Jeux 13Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 14Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 15Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team

 

[swampy1970]

[FONT=&quot]Can someone tell me why Saxo wouldn’t attack on this stage, and do a full out TTT with say 20k to go. It’s worth a shot to pick up 8 seconds. No? In the Tour of California, Radiocrack split the field on the flats with a four-man effort.[/FONT]

Because it seems as thought no one has any balls do try something like that these days... but it's not like that if they should fail after trying that Schleck would lose time which makes their non-effort even more surprising.

Just another boring and lack lustre stage to another boring Tour. Another Tour with only about a hour of interesting stuff...

 

[genedan]

[FONT=&quot]Can someone tell me why Saxo wouldn’t attack on this stage, and do a full out TTT with say 20k to go. It’s worth a shot to pick up 8 seconds. No? In the Tour of California, Radiocrack split the field on the flats with a four-man effort.[/FONT]

The teams of Columbia, Sky, Lampre, and Cervelo were pretty much doing one massive TTT. They were going about 60 km/hr which is pretty much TTT speed. If anyone tried to get away they would get swallowed up by the bunch, especially in the headwind. Linus Gerdemann tried an attack and he got pulled back after five seconds...

Of course it does work sometimes...but rarely. Cancellara, Bettini, Vinokourov, and McGee are the kind of riders that have pulled stuff like that before. But Andy Schleck? He wouldn't be able to hold Cancellara's wheel at late-breakaway speed.

 

[Chavez]

Where are those "Cav can only win with his lead out train, especially Renshaw" now? Jumping from train to train at the end.

I don't know that I said he could ONLY win with his leadout train, just I wasn't sold on his ability to do so without it.

Which, if that qualifies as a statement doubting his ability, has been proven wrong..."wrong - the OPPOSITE of right!"

I was actually just coming in here to give him props on that again.

 

[Chavez]

The teams of Columbia, Sky, Lampre, and Cervelo were pretty much doing one massive TTT. They were going about 60 km/hr which is pretty much TTT speed. If anyone tried to get away they would get swallowed up by the bunch, especially in the headwind. Linus Gerdemann tried an attack and he got pulled back after five seconds...

Of course it does work sometimes...but rarely. Cancellara, Bettini, Vinokourov, and McGee are the kind of riders that have pulled stuff like that before. But Andy Schleck? He wouldn't be able to hold Cancellara's wheel at late-breakaway speed.

I was trying to think of who Saxo might try to get in alliance with for a TTT on Sunday...Cervelo, maybe? Sastre is out of it, and it would cause HTC and Lampre to possibly burn up their riders on the chase, helping Hushovd even if the break doesn't succeed.

But it probably wouldn't work anyway. Still would be interesting to see them try. Of course, if Schleck loses the expected 60-90 seconds to Contador tomorrow getting back 8 seconds would be moot.