Live Coverage – Stage 6 Tour de France, 2008
- 12:57 PM: Good day and welcome
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the sixth stage of the 95th edition of the Tour de France, a 195.5-kilometer ride from Aigurande to Super-Besse.
Andrew Hood’s Tour de France Notebook, Stage 6
RICCO A LA PANTANI?
Will Riccardo Riccò pull a page from the playbook of his childhood hero, Marco Pantani, and surprise everyone at this Tour de France?
Riccò insists he’s here only for stage victories, but his impressive pop in Thursday’s stage could betray his public declarations.
Stage 6 – By the numbers
Stage 6, Aigurande to Super-Besse, 195.5km
Weather Partly sunny, warmer, highs in the 80s, light westerly windA conversation with Garmin executives at the Tour de France
Sponsoring a bike team makes good business sense, especially if you’re Garmin and one of the largest companies in the fast-growing, highly competitive GPS market. Garmin unveiled its high-profile deal with Slipstream sports at the start of the 2008 Tour de France as the first step of a title sponsorship contract that continues through the 2010 season. VeloNews spoke with Jon Cassat, vice president of communications with Garmin, about the details of how the sponsorship deal came about and why the company decided to bet on cycling. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Tour of Colorado series leaders
As the Tour of Colorado approaches the fourth race of the seven race series, several Tour of Colorado leaders are solidifying their hold on Overall Points. Joey Thompson of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory/Specializes leads Scott Tietsel, Jelly Belly and Dan Porter of the Rio Grande Racing Team in the Senior Men’s Pro, 1, 2 field. Defined Fitness Training rider Megan Hottman leads the Senior Women’s class and Nico Toutenhoofed of Excel Sports leads the Senior Men’s 35+ class.
Will Frischkorn’s Tour de France diary, stage 6
Today was the first stage in this year's race where we hit some hills. After traversing Brittany we're now down into the heart of France and the mountains of the Massif Centrale.
Legally Speaking with Bob Mionske – A question of liability
Bob,
We have a little ride in Iowa called RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). A few years ago a cyclist hit a centerline crack and died. The widow sued the county, and a settlement out of court resulted in $300k to the widow.
There were two accidents that morning at the same location. A deputy was dispatched to the scene to warn riders, and put up cones. After some time at the scene, the deputy left and took the cones. Very soon after he did that, the tragic accident occurred.
Scholarship bikes awarded
The US Women's Cycling Development Program announces the latest recipient of scholarship bikes to Alicia Pastore of Durango, Colorado. Besides all of Alicia's accomplishments on the road and mountain bike competing in the junior expert division as a 14 year old she was also the the top J2 girl in Nordic skiing in the Rocky Mountain Division and is a two time All - American at the Junior Olympics. Alicia is also a 3.8 Honor Roll student at Durango High School.
Canadian National Road Championships: Christian Meier trades his U23 jersey for an elite version.
Christian Meier (Symmetrics) made one of a professional cyclist's key transitions this week, swapping his U23 national title for the Elite men's road title. However, despite the support of the powerful Symmetrics squad, it was not an easy victory, with Bruno Langlois (VW-Specialized) surging back on the final climb to finish less than a bike length behind Meier. Meier's teammate Jacob Erker took the bronze medal, while David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast) finished seventh to win the U23 title on Sunday.
Cavendish outkicks bunch to win his first Tour stage
With 10km to go in stage 5 of the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish’s Team Columbia teammates drilled it at the front of the chaotic peloton, burying themselves to set up their British sprint star. With 150 meters to go — and early breakaway rider Nicolas Vogondy of Agritubel still barely clear of the chase — Cavendish lit it up and repaid his teammates with a dominant win ahead of Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Erik Zabel (Milram). Race leader Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) finished in the bunch to retain the yellow jersey.
Rohregger takes over in Austria as Pidgornyy wins stage
Thomas Rohregger (Elk) took the yellow jersey as Ruslan Pidgornyy (LPR Brakes) won the third stage of the 60th Tour of Austria on Wednesday. Rohregger took third in the 183.7km stage from Kitzbuehel to Prägraten behind Pidgornyy and Robert Gesink (Rabobank), but it was just enough to replace Anker Chris Sorensen (CSC) as the overall leader. The CSC man slipped to third overall behind Rohregger and Pidgornyy.
Tour de France tech: Cancellara’s tricked out bike
CSC is not a Shimano-sponsored team. Instead, it buys the Shimano components it uses. You might be surprised that a team like CSC pays for its drivetrain components, but there are multiple reasons why it pays. The primary reason is because of other sponsor obligations, namely to FSA. But it has always been the team’s practice to pick and choose the parts its director Bjarne Riis feels are the best. A byproduct of not being tied to a certain manufacturer’s parts is the ability to experiment.
Rock Racing’s Santiago Botero wins the first stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, Leipheimer is fifth
There’s no arguing that this year’s Cascade Cycling Classic is filled with world-class talent. Two world champion time trialists took the men’s and women’s wins in Wednesday’s stage 1 Prineville Road Race in Bend, Oregon: Colombian Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo Lifeforce). Both part of large breaks in their respective races – Botero in a group of 12 and Armstrong in a group of 7 – they each left their competition behind on the final climb to the finish on Pilot Butte.