All Content
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson – Hautacam is this Tour’s first major challenge
On a day when race leader Kim Kirchen of Team Columbia admitted he was suffering, and third-placed Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner was dropped on the final climb, Garmin-Chipotle’s Christian Vande Velde rode as strongly as he has ever since the start of this 95th Tour de France — and he moved up to third place on GC. It’s already been a remarkable performance by the Chicago native, whose best previous Tour rides were 25th last year and 24th in 2006 when he was riding as a team player for CSC.
Mr. Rogers’ Tour – Riccò rides right into questions
Not to minimize Stefan Schumacher’s surprising stage 4 time trial win, but the 2008 Tour de France saw its first truly amazing performance Sunday as Saunier Duval-Scott’s Ricardo Riccò rode away from the best riders in the world to take his second stage win in four days.
Clarke, Kovac sprint to wins in Louisville NRC crit
Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United Pro) sprinted to victory in the Louisville Metro Police Foundation Criterium on Saturday. The Aussie outkicked Adam Bergman (Texas Roadhouse) to win the 90-minute NRC event, run on an eight-corner course at Waterfront Park. The two had been part of a six-man break — three of them Texas Roadhouse riders — that eventually lapped the field.
Andrew Hood’s Tour de France Notebook, stage 9
Schleck moving up
Andy Schleck quietly slipped into the best young rider’s white jersey in Sunday’s preview in the Pyrénées. So far, the 22-year-old Luxembourger has been riding quietly under the radar. That could change in dramatic fashion in Monday’s summit finish to Hautacam. “I’ve never ridden up Hautacam but all these French climbs are new for me. I saw it on TV when Bjarne (Riis) won it in 1996,” Schleck said. “There’s been a lot of talk going on how strong the Schleck brothers are, but we’ll see in the next days how good we can be.”Stage 9 – By the numbers
Stage 9, Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre, 224km
WeatherMostly cloudy, moderate westerly, northwesterly winds up to 15kph, temperatures in the 60s
Toulouse pips Craig at Windham Mountain
A thrilling two-up sprint, contested by 2008 Olympian Adam Craig (Giant) and Mathieu Toulouse (Maxxis), ushered in what will likely be the first of many NMBS races at Windham Mountain. After racing four laps of the newly constructed course at this first-time venue in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Toulouse took the win by a wheel over Craig. Both finished within a second of each other, stopping the clock at 1:35:10.7 and 1:35:11, respectively. Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-VW) was third.
Doctor charged in one road-rage case, linked to another
A California physician alleged to have braked suddenly in front of two cyclists has been charged with four felony counts and could face more than seven years in prison if convicted, according to The Los Angeles Times. Christopher Thomas Thompson, 59, was charged Friday with two felony counts each of reckless driving causing injury and battery with serious bodily injury in connection with a July 4 incident that sent one cyclist flying through his car’s rear window and the other to the asphalt.
Will Frischkorn’s Tour de France diary, stage 9
After yesterday's stressful stage in the rain I woke up this morning feeling a bit groggy for the first time so far. Looking around at breakfast I wasn't the only one; I think there really is something about a day in the rain that wears on the body. As I walked upstairs from breakfast I got a call from a friend, quickly plural, still going strong on the town in Boulder. There was nothing better than some seriously entertaining drunken jibberish to lighten the mood and put a smile on my face — just in time to get kitted up and head down to the bus.
Aldape, Armstrong take Cascade road race
Moises Aldape (Team Type 1) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) proved victorious in their respective races in Saturday’s fifth stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, the Pacific Power-Cascade Lakes road race, which ended in the parking lot of the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort. After being in a break almost the entire day, Aldape outsprinted second placed Chad Beyer (unattached) and Bradley White (Successful Living) at the line.
Tom Boonen wins the last stage of the Tour of Austria
Quick Step's Tom Boonen won the seventh and last stage of the Tour of Austria on Sunday, while Thomas Rohregger (Elk Haus) won the overall title of his home country's national tour. Boonen won the stage, which finished in Vienna, ahead of Roberto Ferrari (LPR), René Weissinger (Team Volksbank) and Danilo Napolitano (Lampre). Peter Wrolich was placed at 10th place and was best austrian rider of the stage and it was his third top-ten ranking in this tour. "I wanted to win this stage in Vienna, because I already won in several capitals like Paris, London, Brussels and Madrid."
Live Coverage – Stage 9 Tour de France, 2008
- 01:01 PM: Good day and welcome
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the ninth stage of the 95th edition of the Tour de France, a 224-kilometer race from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre.
Phinney wins (another) world junior title
American Taylor Phinney won a world junior championship title Saturday in the 3,000m individual pursuit in Cape Town, South Africa. In addition to collecting another world junior title to go with the world junior time trial mantle he picked up last year, the 18-year-old also received confirmation that his preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games is on track. Another American, Colleen Hayduk from Kutztown, Pennsylvania, scored a bronze medal in the scratch race in the first day of competition.
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson – Cavendish on top of the world
Sprinters who are capable of winning stages of the Tour de France rarely keep winning for long. They either burn themselves out (either mentally or physically) or soon lose the leg-speed that’s so essential for winning a highly charged field sprint at 40 mph. In view of the astounding finishing speed and dominant margins of victory shown by Team Columbia’s Mark Cavendish in his stage wins at Toulouse on Saturday (and in Châteauroux on Wednesday), I thought it was worth seeing where the 22-year-old Brit stacks up again great sprinters in recent Tour history.
Will Frischkorn’s Tour de France diary, stage 8
Today was a stressful day out on the roads of France for one and all. We woke up to beautiful sunny skies and what looked like it would be a warm day. An hour later the rain socked in and didn’t let up all day long. When the entire field is jockeying for position on the start line, that’s still followed by 10 minutes of neutral before the official gun goes off, you know it’s going to be a rough one.