Tour De France 2012 Stage 11 Preview

Stage 11

In my my opinion, this stage will decide the Tour. The stage begins with a shirt flat run in to the opening climb of the day- a 25.3km climb of the hors-categorie climb of the Col de Madeleine. This climb averages out at 6.2%. However, if you look at the profile of the climb specifically, you will notice that 3 of these km are either descending or are flat- reducing the average.  After passing over the Madeleine, the significantly smaller peloton will then pass over the 22.4km climb of the Col de la Croix de Fer. This climb averages out at 6.9% and may provide a spring board for attack for a rider such as Thomas Voeckler. The descent to the Col du Mollard is not overly technical and sets them up perfectly for this shorter, 2nd category climb. 16km of descending later and the riders will reach the final climb of the day (and the second of 3 summit finishes) la Toussuire. This 18km climb averages at 6.1% but with many areas exceeding that. The flat section with 7km to the end  may provoke an attack from a GC contender but one thing is for sure- if you are not in the front group today; you will not win the Tour De France.

This stage will be crucial for all GC contenders- especially Bradley Wiggins who will be able to see whether he can stay with the likes of Cadel Evans and Frank Schleck. Again, I can see Schleck ( who is in good form after a strong Tour De Suisse), challenge for stage honours with Wiggins, Menchov, Nibali, Van Den Broeck and Evans fighting it out behind.

My opinion on stage winner: Jurgen Van Den Broeck

Surprise of the stage: Wiggins holding onto Evans

Tour De France 2012 Stage 10 Preview

Stage 10

Stage 10

After the efforts expended on Mondays  time trial being recovered on the previous rest day, the Tour goes back to the Mountains- climbing possibly the hardest mountain in France- the Col du Grand Colombier.  This 17.4km climb averages only at 7.1% but has sections reaching 18%- with the middle 3 km averaging 10%. The average is severely reduced by a plateau near the top (0.6% for 1km) but is still a fearsome climb. Especially considering there is still one more climb- although only a 3rd category.

This stage is difficult to predict because the main climb of the Colombier is 40km away from the finish. However, expect a group of 5-10 of the strongest climbers to get away and fight for stage victory for themselves. If the break is missed by a main contender- expect fireworks.

This stage could suit Vincenzo Nibali and Samuel Sanchez perfectly due to their descending prowess. However, expect Cadel Evans to try and pressurise likely yellow Jersey holder Bradley Wiggins on the Richemond and the kick up to the finish.

Tour De France 2012 Stage 8+9 Review

Stage 8

Stage 8 of the Tour de France was tipped for being a stage for breakaway riders to succeed and get a stage win. This was undoubtedly seen by the big number of attacks early that morning; with many riders who were chasing the King of the mountains jersey knowing they have to attack today. The first break contained 19 riders but none from Astana so they quickly brought everyone back except Jens Voigt who attacked and took the opening points of the day on the 4th category climb. Voigt led the escape over the next climb but was then quickly brought back into the bunch. The breakaway finally got away after 20km and the break included 20 riders: Moinard, Gallopin, Kern, Marzano, Nerz, Peraud, Cherel, Kadri, Moncoutie, Jeandesboz, Hoogerland, Valls Ferri, Caruso, Pinot, Kruiswijk, Mollema, Ten Dam, Kiriyenka, Sorensen, Kisierlovski, De Weert and Weening. Jeremy Roy caught the group and rode straight through them. Back in the peloton, Valverde and Sanchez crashed, with the Olympic champion pulling out fo the race with a suspected broken collarbone.

Kessiakoff attacked the group on the third to last climb of the day catching and riding past Roy. This lead was sustained until the final category one climb of the day when Pinot rode up to and straight past Kessiakoff ( after leaving Gallopin behind). Tony Gallopin stayed in the group  : led by Vanendert and Van Den Broeck who were trying to get Van Den Broeck some time back after the bad luck on Le Planche des Belles Filles. A group of 9 riders:  Wiggins, Froome, Evans, Menchov, Nibali, Zubeldia, Schleck, van den Broeck and Horner could stick with this pace: with Gallopin and Kessiakoff being caught and finishing in the group. Evans and van Den Broeck tried to attack Wiggins on the run-in but could not get away. Up the road, Thibaut Pinot took the stage win: the youngest rider beating the established favourites in the run in.

Stage Results

1. Thibaut Pinot
2. Cadel Evans +26s
3. Tony Gallopin
4. Bradley Wiggins
5. Vincnenzo Nibali
6. Jurgen Van Den Broeck
7. Chris Froome
8. Denis Menchov
9. Haimar Zubeldia
10. Frank Schleck +30

General Classification 

1. Bradley Wiggins 38:17:56
2. Cadel Evans +10
3. Vincenzo Nibali +16
4. Denis Menchov +54
5. Haimar Zubeldia +59
6. Chris Froome +1:32
7. Maxime Monfort +2:08
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck +2:11
9. Nicholas Roche +2:21
10. Rein Taarame +2:27

I will not be reviewing the TT due to time constraints but will post the results and GC results here. 

Time Trial Results

1. Bradley Wiggins
2. Chris Froome +35
3. Fabian Cancellara +57
4. Tejay Van Garderen +1:06
5. Sylvain Chavanel +1:24
6. Cadel Evans +1:43
7. Peter Velits +1:59
8. Vincenzo Nibali +2:07
9. Denis Menchov +2:08
10. Andreas Kloden +2:09

General Classification

1. Bradley Wiggins 
2. Cadel Evans 1:53
3. Chris Froome 2:07
4. Vincenzo Nibali 2:23
5. Denis Menchov 3:02
6. Haimar Zubeldia 3:19
7. Maxime Monfort 4:23
8. Tejay Van Garderen 5:14
9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck 5:20
10. Nicholas Roche 5:29

Tour De France 2012 Stage 7 Review

Stage 7

Stage 7 is the first medium mountains stage with pundits split: some saying their will be big time gaps and others saying it will only be a few seconds. Le Planche des Belles Filles is a worthy inclusion in the Tour De France and could definetly be included in future Tours. This climb has some sections at over 20% which will challenge even the best climbers: the question was will Wiggins take yellow?

The stage began with 19 riders trying to get away but being brought back relatively quickly. However, a breakaway did get away and it consisted of Christophe Riblon, Luis Leon Sanchez, Chris Anker Sorensen, Martin Velits, Michael Albasini, Cyril Gautier and Dmitri Fofonov. The breakaway quickly established a gap of around 6 minutes and held this lead until the intermediate sprint point: which the breakaway just rode through. Behind, Peter Sagan out sprinted Goss (who had an error with his bike) to a relatively easy 8th in the sprint and realised it was pretty much day over for him. The top of the first categorised climb ( the col de Grosse Pierre) resulted in Chris Anker Sorensen picking up 2pts and L.L Sanchez picking up the one. Christian Knees of Team Sky limited the losses of the peloton- by monitoring the pace and staying on the front.

Chris Anker Sorensen took two more points on the Mont De Fourche again ahead of Luis Leon Sanchez. The race progressed and the peloton brought the gap down to 1min 25s with only 15km to go. Here Fofonov was grasping at straws and attacked on the steady gradient before the Le Planche des Belles Filles. Garmin, Lotto and Katusha all had stints leading the peloton when disaster struck for Valverde and van Den Broeck who both punctured just before the climb.

Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen led the peloton to the final climb of the day before peeling off and falling off the back. van Den Broeck had only just rejoined when the bottom of the climb was reached. Michael Rogers then took over at the foot of the treacherous climb. Rogers dished out the pain breaking the Yellow jersey of Cancellara and frank Schleck relatively early. He also managed to get rid of Cadel Evans’s right hand man Tejay  Van Garderen, Bauke Mollema, Robert Gesink, Ivan Basso and Levi Leipheimer before moving over for Richie Porte to take over. Porte upped the pace again with under 10 riders able to stick with the pace of Team Sky. With 3km to go, Nicholas Roche was dropped along with Pierre Rolland and shortly after Samuel Sanchez before Porte pulled over with only 2km remaining.

Froome takes over and injects another burst of speed into the group, dropping Zubeldia and Menchov leaving Taarame, Wiggins, Evans, Nibali and Froome fight for the stage: the fight for the yellow jersey had just been shaped. At the final corner of the stage Evans attempted to burst away from the peloton with Wiggins sticking on his wheel. Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali stuck with him on the 20%+ section before Froome came out of the wheels and burst past Evans: taking the stage in the process. Evans followed him home with Wiggins on his wheel. A few seconds back were Nibali and Taarame at around 20s.

Col De Grosse Pierre (3rd Category)

1. Chris Anker Sorensen 2pts
2. Luis Leon Sanchez 1pt

Mont de Fourche (3rd Category) 

1. Chris Anker Sorensen 2pts
2. Luis leon Sanchez 1pt 

Le Planche des Belles Filles (1st category)

1. Chris Froome 20pts
2. Cadel Evans 16pts
3. Bradley Wiggins 12pts
4. Vincenzo Nibali 8pts
5. Rein Taarame 4pts
6. Haimar Zubeldia 2pts

Intermediate Sprint

1. Cyril Gautier 20pts
2. Dimitri Fofonov 17pts
3. Luis Leon Sanchez 15pts
4. Michael Albasini 13pts
5. Christophe Riblon 11pts
6. Martin Velits 10pts
7. Chris Anker Sorensen 9pts
8. Peter Sagan 8pts
9. Matt Goss 7pts
10. Daryl Impey 6pts 
11. Andre Greipel 5pts
12. Yauheni Hutarovich 4pts
13. Brett Lancaster 3pts
14. Baden Cooke 2pts
15. Sandy Casar 1pt

King of the Mountains Jersey

1. Christopher Froome 20pts
2. Cadel Evans 16pts
3. Bradley Wiggins 12pts
4. Michael Morkov 9pts
5. Vincenzo Nibali 8pts

Points Classification 

1. Peter Sagan 217pts
2. Matt Goss 185pts
3. Andre Greipel 172pts 
4. Mark Cavendish 129pts
5. Alessandro Petacchi 109pts

General Classification 

1. Bradley Wiggins 34hrs 21mins 20s 
2. Cadel Evans +10s
3. Vincenzo Nibali +16s
4. Rein Taarame +32s
5. Denis Menchov +54s
6. Haimar Zubeldia +59s 
7. Maxime Monfort +1min 09s
8. Nicholas Roche +1min 22s
9. Chris Froome +1min 32s
10. Michael Rogers +1min 40s

Tour de France 2012 Stage 6 Review

Stage 6

Stage 6 turned out to be one of the most dramatic days of the Tour of recent years. This day shaped the General Classification and decided who will have the chance to fight for the Tour in the mountains. Stage 6 was not tipped as an important stage- with only one categorised climbs with many straight, wide roads. The morning breakaway consisted of Dave Zabriskie, Karsten Kroon, Romain Zingle and Davide Malacarne. Early in the stage Andre Greipel crashed with Lieuwe Westra but nothing serious: they easily rejoined the peloton. Peraud, Gesink and Valverde ( 3big GC threats) were caught on in this crash and where all involved also- with no real underlying injury. The intermediate sprint soon came after around 100km with Greipel not participating ( the injury from the crash more serious than first thought).

The top of the cote de Bruixieres resulted in Dave Zabriskie getting the only point of the day. However, at the bottom of this climb, a massive pile up occurred in the peloton with Gesink, Greipel, Mollema and Farrar being the big names caught up. Greipel was well and truly hurt but kept going.

More bad news for the peloton with the third and final crash of the day involving more than half of the peloton with riders including Frank Schleck, Ryder Hesjedal, Wouter Poels, Mark Cavendish and Edvald Boasson Hagen being only a few of the riders caught up in the horrific crash. The depleted peloton continued on to catch David Zabriskie but only in the final kilometre. Lotto-Belisol decided that Greipel was going to sprint despite his injuries (which turned out to be a dislocated shoulder!)- with an amazing leadout train for him. However, Sagan jumped out of Greipel’s wheel and took his 3rd stage of the Tour but the first in the bunch sprint.

Cote de Bruixieres (4th Category)

1. David Zabriskie 1pt

Intermediate Sprint Results

1. Karsten Kroon 20pts
2. Dave Zabriskie 17pts
3. Romain Zingle 15pts
4. Davide Malacarne 13pts 
5. Matt Goss 11pts
6. Mark Cavendish 10pts
7. Peter Sagan 9pts
8. Kris Boeckmans 8pts
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen 7pts
10. Yauheni Hutarovich 6pts
11. Stuart O’Grady 5pts
12. Daryl Impey 4pts
13. Yaroslav Popovych 3pts
14. Michael Albasini 2pts
15. Lars Bak 1pt 

Stage Result 

1. Peter Sagan 4hrs 37mins 0s
2. Andre Greipel +0s
3. Matt Goss +0s
4. Kenny Van Hummel +0s
5. Juan Jose Haedo +0s

Mountains Classifcation

1. Michael Morkov 9pts
2. Ivan Basso 2pts
3. Peter Sagan 2pts
4. David Moncoutie 2pts
5. Anthony Delaplace 2pts

Points Classification 

1. Peter Sagan 209pts
2. Matt Goss 178 pts
3. Andre Greipel 167pts
4. Mark Cavendish 129pts
5. Alessandro Petacchi 109 pts

Overall Classification 

1. Fabian Cancellara 29hrs 22mins 36s
2. Bradley Wiggins +7s
3. Sylvain Chavanel +7s
4. Tejay Van Garderen +10s 
5. Denis Menchov +13s 
6. Cadel Evans +17s 
7. Vincenzo Nibali +18s
8. Peter Sagan +19s
9. Andreas Kloden +19s
10. Maxime Monfort +22s

 

Tour De France 2012 Stage 8 Preview

Stage 8

The Tour De France takes a detour into Switzerland today and throws 3 second category climb and a first category climb into the second half of the stage. By the time the peloton reach the Col De La Croix, it will be a reasonably select group anyway but the first category climb that averages a whopping 9.2%,( with some areas reaching 17%) will leave only the riders in the best shape near the front. However, there may be time for dropped riders to rejoin the peloton on the descent and the flat run into the finish.

It is possible on a stage like today that the overall contenders that are weaker at time trialling will again attack. However, riders such as Albasini, Gerrans and even Peter Sagan (if he wants to) will get over these climbs and challenge for stage victory. Furthermore, the peloton would be unlikely to chase as they have minimal chance of taking the overall.

My prediction for stage winner: Peter Sagan

Surprise of the stage: Cadel Evans failing to pressurise Bradley Wiggins

Tour De France 2012 Stage 5 Review

Stage 5

Stage 5 was the first transition stage of the Tour and the first without a classified climb. The escape group struggled to get away at first but after 5km they got away: a group including Jan Ghyselinck, Julien Simon, Pablo Urtasun and Mathieu Ladagnous. The breakaway quickly established a lead of around 5 minutes (with Kittel becoming the fourth abandonment of the Tour with Rojas, Siutsou and Tjallingii). Lotto-Belisol set the pace and keep the peloton at a decent distance from the break. The intermediate sprint came but was not contended by the breakaway: with the sprinters after the points behind: Cavendish taking 5th. The breakaway did not seem to pose a big threat to the peloton with the break slowly brining it back at their own pace. With 7km left, the gap was only 40seconds. However, panic in the peloton as with under 3km left, a huge crash occurred in the peloton. Ghyselinck stayed on the front until the final 600m with a depleted sprint ready to take place ( Sagan not in the group). Griepel hit the front with Henderson leading him out to his second stage win in two days: Cavendish getting held up in the sprint resulted in him getting 5th in the stage.

Intermediate Sprint Results

1.  Mathieu Ladagnous 20pts
2. Pablo Urtasun 17pts
3. Julien Simon 15pts
4. Jan Ghyselinck 13pts
5. Mark Cavendish 11pts
6. Matt Goss 10pts
7. Mark Renshaw 9pts
8. Peter Sagan 8pts
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen 7pts
10. Kenny Van Hummel 6pts
11. Yauheni Hutarovich 5pts
12. Alessandro Petacchi 4pts
13. Patrick Gretsch 3pts
14. Daryl Impey 2pts
15. Brett Lancaster 1pt

Stage Result 

1. Andre Greipel 4hrs 41mins 28s
2. Matt Goss +0s
3. Juan Jose Haedo +0s
4. Mark Cavendish +0s
5. Samuel Dumoulin +0s

Climbing Classification

1. Michael Morkov 9pts
2. David Moncoutie 2pts
3. Ivan Basso 2pts
4. Anthony Delaplace 2pts
5. Peter Sagan 2pts

Points Classification 

1. Peter Sagan 155pts
2. Matt Goss 137pts
3. Andre Greipel 132pts 
4. Mark Cavendish 119pts
5. Alessandro Petacchi 91pts

General Classification 

1. Fabian Cancellara 5hrs 5mins 32secs
2. Bradley Wiggins +7secs
3. Sylvain Chavanel +7secs
4. Tejay Van Garderen +10secs
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen +11secs 
6. Denis Menchov +13secs
7. Cadel Evans +17secs
8. Vincenzo Nibali +18secs
9. Ryder Hesjedal +18secs 
10. Andreas Kloden 19secs 

Tour De France 2012 Stage 4 Review

Stage 4

Stage 4 was almost certainly going to be a sprinters stage with the run in to the finish being almost pan-flat on a day with relatively few categorised climbs as well. The morning breakaway consisted of Yukiya Arashiro, David Moncoutie and Anthony Delaplace- with Arashiro being the most eager: attacking as soon as the flag waved. The breakaway flew away from the cruising peloton gaining a time gap of over 8 minutes within the first 45 minutes of the stage. The first categorised climb of the day involved David Moncoutie bursting away to take the lone point and to start his pursuit in the polka-dot jersey competition. This quells rumours that he is only here to warm up for the Vuelta and the mountains competiton there.

Moncoutie easily took the second and third climbs of the day as well- on the Cote de Dieppe and the Cote de Pourville Sur Mer. This was how it looked before a correction by the organisers who say that Delaplace took it on the line- meaning he only took 2 points on the day. The intermediate sprint approached quickly with the 3 breakaway riders just cruising across the line: Arashiro coming first. The sprint for 4th behind went reasonably comfortably to Mark Cavendish beating Goss and Renshaw: his former lead-out train. With around 45km to go, there was a crash with Cantwell going down and Nibali  being held up. However, it did all come back together. Arashiro tried to attack his breakaway group but didn’t gain anything more than a few hundred meters. The breakaway were gradually brought back and then were quickly swallowed up with 10km to go. However, this must have been too early with riders jumping off the front of the peloton: Grivko, Gilbert, Pineau and Bouet. Again, they were brought back within a few kilometres which promoted another attack: this time from Poels, Chavanel and Dumoulin with Dumoulin going it alone and staying by himself.  In the peloton, a massive crash occurred with Cavendish and Hutarovich being the main sprinters going down: Wiggins getting held up (but no time gap as he fell within the final 3km). Argos-Shimano, Lotto and Vaconseleil see that Cavendish is down and begin their leadout at full speed: Lotto’s longer train staying out for longer with it eventually being the main train. Veelers, Goss and Sagan fought for Greipel’s wheel but he opened his trademark sprint beating the late charge from Petacchi.

Cote du Mont Huon (4th Category)

1. David Moncoutie 1pt

Cote de Dieppe (4th Category)

1. Anthony Delaplace 1pt

Cote de Pourville Sur Mer (4th category)

1. David Moncoutie 1pt 

Cote de Troussiant (4th category)

1. Anthony Delaplace 1pt

Intermediate Sprint Results 

1. Yukiya Arashiro 20pts
2. Anthony Delaplace 17pts
3. David Moncoutie 15pts
4. Mark Cavendish 13pts
5. Matt Goss 11pts
6. Mark Renshaw 10pts
7. Peter Sagan 9pts 
8. Alessandro Petacchi 8pts
9. Kenny Van Hummel 7pts
10. Yauheni Hutarovich 6pts
11. Marcus Burghardt 5pts
12. Aliaksander Kuchynski 4pts
13. Brett Lancaster 3pts
14. Daryl Impey 2pts
15. Mathieu Ladagnous 1pt

Stage Result 

1. Andre Greipel 5hrs 18min 32s
2. Alessandro Petacchi +0s
3. Tom Veelers +0s 
4. Matt Goss +0s 
5. Peter Sagan +0s

Climbing Classification

1. Michael Morkov 9pts
2. David Moncoutie 2pts
3. Ivan Basso 2pts
4. Anthony Delaplace 2pts
5. Peter Sagan 2pts

Points Classification 

1. Peter Sagan 147pts
2. Matt Goss 92pts
3. Andre Greipel 87pts
4. Mark Cavendish 86pts
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen 81pts

General Classification 

1. Fabian Cancellara 5hrs 5mins 32secs
2. Bradley Wiggins +7secs
3. Sylvain Chavanel +7secs
4. Tejay Van Garderen +10secs
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen +11secs 
6. Denis Menchov +13secs
7. Cadel Evans +17secs
8. Vincenzo Nibali +18secs
9. Ryder Hesjedal +18secs 
10. Andreas Kloden 19secs 

Tour De France 2012 Stage 7 Preview

Stage 7

Stage 7 is a 199km journey from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles. This stage includes two third category climbs: the Col de Grosse Pierre (3.1km at 6.4%) and the Col du Mont de Fourche (3.1km at 6.4%). However, stage 7 also includes the 5.9km of la Planche des Belles Filles- the Tour’s first summit finish. This climb averages at 8.5%. However, this average is lowered due to a flatter section (of only 6.7% in the middle of two 9.4% sections). The climb also has the final 500m at a whopping 14%,with the areas in the middle sometimes reaching 20%; meaning the final push to the line will feel like an eternity to the riders.

The winner of this stage will be a top climber but may not be one of the top contenders- due to the nervy feeling likely to be amongst them on the first summit finish. Look for Luis Leon Sanchez, Thomas Voeckler and David Moncoutie to attack on this climb and hope to stay away. However, of the main contenders, Frank Schleck and Samuel Sanchez will likely attack due to time gains being neccesary to beat more time trial savvy rivals overall.

My opinion for stage winner:  Cadel Evans

Surprise of the Stage: Attacks galore from struggling riders

Tour De France 2012 Stage 6 Preview

Stage 6

Stage 6

The final flat, sprinters stage for around a week, so the competition for stage honours in Metz will be as heated as ever. This stage is again nearly pan flat, with the Cote de Buixeres the only major difficulty on the stage.

Expect to see Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel pushing hard for a victory due to the stage being very close to the German border. However, still expect to see Mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan and perhaps Tyler Farrar take the fight to them for the win.

My opinion on stage winner: Andre Greipel

Surprise of the stage: No crashes!