Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – Mark Cavendish, from the Isle of Man, won his sixth sprint finish in the 2009 Tour de France. It was the most prestigious but in some ways also the easiest as his Columbia teammates, especially Australian Mark Renshaw, gave him a big lead into the final 100 metres.
The final day was a traditional affair, at a leisurely pace for much of the stage before a break by seven riders in search of glory.
Mont Ventoux, France (GenevaLunch) – Alberto Cantador is now almost certain to win the 2009 Tour de France: he need only stay with the pack for the lagely ceremonial ride into Paris. The penultimate stage includes a steep 20-kilometre climb to the finish at the summit of Mont Ventoux, where British cyclist Tom Simpson died of exhaustion in the 1967 Tour.
Aubenas, France (GenevaLunch) – Alberto Cantador maintained his advance in the Tour de France: he leads Andy Schleck by 4 minutes 11 seconds. Lance Armstrong is third another minute back with Bradley Wiggins only 15 seconds further back and fighting to be the first Briton to be on the podium in Paris. Another Brit made history as he sprinted to his fifth stage of the Tour: Mark Cavendish also won four stages last year and now has the record for the most stage wins by a British rider.
Details: Daily Telegraph
Annecy, France (GenevaLunch) - Alberto Cantador, who was already in the Yellow Jersey, underlined his dominance by winning the individual time trial around Lake Annecy, not far from Geneva. His Astana teammate Lance Armstrong could only manage 16th position, losing one minute 30 seconds. Cantador now heads the Tour by four minutes 11 seconds from Andy Schleck followed by Armstrong with Bradley Wiggins another 11 seconds back in fourth.
Bourg-St-Maurice, France (GenevaLunch) - The seven-time winner of the Tour de France admitted that he had little chance of overhauling teammate Alberto Cantador as the race enters the final five stages. Tuesday’s stage from Martigny in Switzerland to Bourg-St-Maurice via the Saint Bernard pass into Italy saw a number of attacks and a nasty accident to German rider Jens Voigt who suffered severe wounds when he slid on his face after going over the handlebars.
Verbier, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Alberto Cantador showed that he was not just the leader of his Astana team but also this year’s tour with a storming attack in the last eight kilometres of stage 15 of the Tour de France, leading up to the finish at Verbier.
Central France (GenevaLunch) – German rider Heinrich Haussler broke from the pack in only the third kilometre of Friday’s stage in the Tour de France, and he gradually left the other members of the breakaway group to take the stage by more than five minutes, with the pack another two minutes back.
