Le Tour – Stage 18

Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde

Distance: 222.5 kilometers.

This is a stage with some hills, but no mountains. There is a Category 3 [Côte de Saint-Georges] and three Category 4s [Côte de Cahors, Côte de Souillac, and Côte de Lissac-sur-Couze] but no major climbs.

Supermanx, Mark Cavendish, took his 22^nd Tour de France stage win which moves him into a tie with Lance Armstrong and André Darrigade for fourth place in career wins. Mark has been supporting the teams goal of the Yellow jersey, which has hurt his personal chances for the Green.

Bradley Wiggins ( GB – SKY – 101 ) [Yellow]
Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) [Green] 386 points
Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) [Polka Dot] 134 points
Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) 5 [White]

Team: RadioShack-Nissan ( 011-019 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Mark Cavendish ( G B – SKY – 103 )
Combative: Alexandre Vinokourov ( Kaz – AST – 189 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Bradley Wiggins ( G B – SKY – 101 )
2 Christopher Froome ( G B – SKY – 105 ) + 02′ 05”
3 Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – LIQ – 051 ) + 02′ 41”
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 111 ) + 05′ 53”
5 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) + 08′ 30”
6 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 001 ) + 09′ 57”
7 Haimar Zubeldia ( Esp – RNT – 019 ) + 10′ 11”
8 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 029 ) + 10′ 17”
9 Janez Brajkovic ( Slo – AST – 181 ) + 11′ 00”
10 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 146 ) + 11′ 46”

The Rest of the Top 50:

11 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – ALM – 079 ) + 12′ 54”
12 Andréas Klöden ( Ger – RNT – 015 ) + 14′ 05”
13 Christopher Horner ( USA – RNT – 014 ) + 14′ 22”
14 Chris Anker Sorensen ( Den – STB – 178 ) + 18′ 46”
15 Denis Menchov ( Rus – KAT – 131 ) + 22′ 54”
16 Maxime Monfort ( Bel – RNT – 016 ) + 24′ 24”
17 Egoi Martinez ( Esp – EUS – 035 ) + 25′ 32”
18 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 163 ) + 29′ 51”
19 Eduard Vorganov ( Rus – KAT – 139 ) + 33′ 07”
20 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 161 ) + 33′ 50”
21 Jérôme Coppel ( Fra – SAU – 091 ) + 36′ 11”
22 Sandy Casar ( Fra – FDJ – 141 ) + 41′ 59”
23 Michael Rogers ( Aus – SKY – 108 ) + 48′ 57”
24 Michele Scarponi ( Ita – LAM – 041 ) + 52′ 48”
25 Ivan Basso ( Ita – LIQ – 052 ) + 54′ 29”
26 Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) + 55′ 08”
27 Jelle Vanendert ( Bel – LTB – 119 ) + 57′ 38”
28 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – RAB – 157 ) + 59′ 38”
29 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo ( Esp – MOV – 162 ) + 01h 02′ 17”
30 Peter Velits ( Svk – OPQ – 199 ) + 01h 03′ 08”
31 Levi Leipheimer ( USA – OPQ – 191 ) + 01h 06′ 48”
32 Alexandre Vinokourov ( Kaz – AST – 189 ) + 01h 08′ 24”
33 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – RAB – 152 ) + 01h 09′ 20”
34 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 107 ) + 01h 18′ 24”
35 Daniel Martin ( Irl – GRS – 065 ) + 01h 20′ 42”
36 Gianpaolo Caruso ( Ita – KAT – 132 ) + 01h 21′ 47”
37 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti ( Esp – EUS – 034 ) + 01h 22′ 58”
38 Rein Taaramae ( Est – COF – 081 ) + 01h 24′ 46”
39 George Hincapie ( USA – BMC – 005 ) + 01h 25′ 41”
40 Fredrik Kessiakoff ( Swe – AST – 187 ) + 01h 28′ 45”
41 Rafael Valls Ferri ( Esp – VCD – 128 ) + 01h 29′ 17”
42 Philippe Gilbert ( Bel – BMC – 004 ) + 01h 32′ 42”
43 Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) + 01h 33′ 12”
44 Andriy Grivko ( Ukr – AST – 184 ) + 01h 34′ 04”
45 Jean-Christophe Peraud ( Fra – ALM – 071 ) + 01h 34′ 06”
46 Amaël Moinard ( Fra – BMC – 006 ) + 01h 34′ 42”
47 Pierrick Fedrigo ( Fra – FDJ – 142 ) + 01h 34′ 48”
48 Michael Schär ( Sui – BMC – 008 ) + 01h 37′ 48”
49 Dominik Nerz ( Ger – LIQ – 055 ) + 01h 37′ 58”
50 Yury Trofimov ( Rus – KAT – 138 ) + 01h 39′ 56”

Out of the race: Everyone Finished

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

Go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Le Tour” for all of the posts related to the race on this site.