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.
Le Grand Bornand, France (GenevaLunch) – Younger men are getting ahead of 37-year-old Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, who slipped into fourth place overall Wednesday 22 July as riders took on the challenge of five mountain passes. The two Schleck brothers from Luxembourg, Andy and Frank, who ride for the Saxo bank team are now behind leader Alberto Contador in the overall rankings. Armstrong could not maintain the pace but came back strongly later as he stormed up the final mountain.
Bradley Wiggins, British three time Olympic champion, started the day in third place but slipped back to sixth, although this was not clear to television spectators who were forced to watch an interview with President Sarkozy on the Tour while the riders came in.
Armstrong’s fight to win can be viewed another way, reports Minnpost:
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.
Besancon, France (GenevaLunch) - The 14th stage of the Tour de France was overshadowed by the death of a 61-year-old woman who was struck by a police motorcyclist as she crossed the road during the passage of the race. It is the first death of a race spectator since 2000. The accident took place near Wittelsheim. Two other spectators, injured when the bike slid into them, were taken by helicopter to a hospital in Mulhouse.
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.
Central France (GenevaLunch) – Isle of Man sprinter Mark Cavendish took his fourth stage win for the Columbia team and regained the sprinters’ Green Jersey. The overall lead was unchanged with Italian Rinaldo Nocentini reaining the Yellow Jersey, six seconds ahead of Astana leader Alberto Contador with teammate and rival Lance Armstrong two seconds further back. The Yellow Jersey is likely to change owner in the next few days.
Details, Le Tour de France
Central France (GenevaLunch) – Mark Cavendish won his third sprint of the 2009 Tour, ably assisted by his Columbia teammates. A group of four riders, including three French, led a break-away group but they were overhauled in the last few kilometres, setting the stage for the final sprint. When it comes to sprinting there is not much doubt about who is fastest, at least according to Cavendish:
Southern France (GenevaLunch) – The end of the first week leaves the tour very open, with two main dramas being played, one between the Astana team and the other teams and a more personal conflict between seven-time winner Lance Armstrongand his teammate, the theoretical leader of the Astana team Alberto Contador.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Olympic Champion Fabian Cancellara won the Tour de Suisse, coming in first in the final day time trial in Bern. Cancellara won gold in the time trial and bronze in the road race in the Beijing Olympics. He is not considered likely to win the Tour de France, which starts 4 July but could well take the yellow jersey in the first stage time trial in Monte Carlo. Details, swissinfo
American cyclist Lance Armstrong returned to competition in the Tour of Gila in New Mexico Wednesday 29 April. Armstrong broke his collarbone last month in a race in Spain. The injury required intricate surgery but Armstrong is back on his feet ahead of schedule. CNN
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – The Tour de France is touring beyond French borders. The race will begin in Monte Carlo, Monaco and head to Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy before its traditional finish in Paris. Among the Swiss cities to receive the peloton are Verbier and Martigny. If you miss the pass of what is considered the best cycling race in the world, do not worry, Annecy in neighbouring France will also host a counter-clock race.
Austria (20 Minutes, Fre) – Bernhard Kohl, who placed third in the Tour de France and was the best climber, has admitted to doping after he took a hard fall in the Dauphiné.
Lance Armstrong announced Tuesday that he is coming out of retirement to ride in the 2009 Tour de France as a professional cyclist, in order to draw attention to cancer, which will take 8 million lives this year. Armstrong, age 37, recovered from cancer and went on to win the Tour a record seven times before he retired in 2005. BBC (Ed. note: thanks to an alert reader, Nancy, who was a little surprised that the man on the moon is taking to a bike! Editor’s apologies to those who saw Neil instead of Lance here.)
See the collection of photos from the Tour de France in Tenterden, in GL’s photo album.
Tenterden, Kent - Sunday was a confusing day in Tenterden, Kent, for those of us who had just crossed the Channel from France after leaving Switzerland.
You might have thought you were in France, given the French flags, cars zooming down the main street with loudspeakers bellowing televsion advertisements in French for soap powder and Haribo sweets.
You blinked and blue-clad men on Gendarmerie motorcycles were flying by. A
Look again and you saw police officers in what were clearly British tall hats, tatooed men and women in floral prints raising pints of beer and ale, white-skinned women and children in sleeveless tops and vinegar-flavoured crisps and sticky cakes and sweets in colours that make the French shudder.
Definitely Britain.
The event was the Tour de France, which kicked off this year in London and ended in Canterbury. Villages in Kent gave themselves up to the race, embracing the Tour and all things French with an enthusiasm that reminded everyone that the Channel
still divides the two nations, despite the tunnel, ferries and EasyJet.
The Tour got in everyone’s way, with roads blocked and police stopping people from crossing main streets for three hours in the middle of the day. The noise level was well above a normal Sunday buzz. The only solution
