Stage 14, Mazamet to Plateau de Beille,
By Andrew Hood
Weather: Partly cloudy throughout most of the stage, with temperatures in the 70s in the flats and cooler on the summits, moderate winds on the summit.
Stage winner: Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) confirmed his status as Spain’s next big star with his first Tour stage win of his career. Contador and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) traded jabs on the HC Plateau de Beille and he darted ahead of the maillot jaune in the final 200m to take the victory. Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) came through third at 37 seconds back with Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) fourth at 40 seconds. Contador is the first Spanish stage-winner of the 94th Tour.
Race leader: Rasmussen retained the yellow jersey for sixth day after trailing Contador’s searing attacks and the pair worked together over the final 4km to gap such riders as Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) and Andreas Klöden (Astana). Rasmussen tightened his grip on the yellow jersey, with Evans falling to third and Contador slotting in at second at 2:23 back. After a week in yellow, Rasmussen is looking more likely to become the first pure climber to win the Tour since Marco Pantani in 1998.
Green jersey: Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) retained his 195-175 lead to Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) after the day’s breakaway and the mountain goats scooped up all the points in play.
King of the Mountains: Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) is giving two-time defending champion Rasmussen a run for his polka-dot jersey. The Colombian continues to surprise, taking second-place points at the Cat. 2 Cote de Saint-Sarraille at 9km. He then led the top chasers over the HC Port de Pailhères at 146.5km with sixth-place points and then bolted to third at the HC Plateau de Beille summit. Rasmussen kept his lead, but just, holding a slender 142-140 gap to Soler with Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel) hanging in third with 104 points.
Best Young Rider: Contador widened his grip on the white jersey to more than nine minutes as Soler climbed into second at 9:08 back. Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) slid from second to fifth in the U25 GC.
Best team: Discovery Channel swamped places with Astana to move into first, now 1:58 ahead of Astana. Rabobank is third at 7:58.
Lanterne Rouge: Wim Vansevenant (Predictor-Lotto) remained last in the GC at 2h038:38 back.
Most aggressive rider: Antonio Colom (Astana) took the day’s prize, with the eight-member panel of French journalists cheering him for his gumption to attack “as the Pyrénées represent a return to the source for the Spanish climbers at the Tour. … Spanish honor was saved by Contador.”
Top American: Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) finished fourth in the stage and climbed into fourth overall at 4:29 back.
The peloton: Francisco Ventoso, a Spanish sprinter on Saunier Duval-Prodir, didn’t start. The peloton numbers 165 riders.
Medical report:Arroyo (Caisse d’Epargne) stomach acheFischer (Liquigas) stomach ache.Sprick (Bouygues Telecom) digestive problems, insect bite.Gilbert (FDJeux) digestive problems, fever.Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) digestive problems.Chavanel (FDJeux) stomach pain.Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) crash at beginning of stage, minor cuts and scrapes.Martinez (Discovery Channel) crash at beginning of stage, minor cuts and scrapes.Vinokourov (Astana) crash on the Plateau de Beille climb, various scrapes.Ivanov (Astana) crash on the Plateau de Beille climb, cuts to hand, scrapes.Perez Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) crash on the Plateau de Beille climb, various cuts.
Jury decisions: No rulings
Blood screenings: Some 42 riders from Liquigas, Caisse d’Epargne, Gerolsteiner, Milram and Saunier Duval-Prodir underwent blood screenings Sunday morning. No riders were deemed “unfit.”
Forecast: Mostly cloudy in morning with clearing skies later in afternoon, westerly winds, highs in the upper 60s
Tomorrow’s stage: Stage 15- Foix to Loudenvielle (196km)