Le Tour – Stage 14
Limoux to Foix
Distance: 191 kilometers.
This is the entry to the Pyrenees and it isn’t very kind: Category 2 – Col du Portel (601 m), intermediate sprint, Category 1 – Port de Lers (1517 m), and Category 1 – Mur de Péguère (1375 m).
The Mur is a bear. Parts of it are an 18% grade [18 feet up for 100 feet traveled] and the finish is 10.8%. If your bike isn’t in great shape, something will break, and you will need great brakes to go down the other side.
Luis-Leon Sanchez won the stage and was all alone when he did it, having broken away from the break-away group coming down the Mur. The peloton was tied up changing tires as some clown had apparently spread tacks on the roadway over the Mur.
Bradley Wiggins ( GB – SKY – 101 ) [Yellow]
Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) [Green] 333 points
Fredrik Kessiakoff ( Swe – AST – 187 ) [Polka Dot] 69 points
Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) 7 [White]
Team: RadioShack-Nissan ( 011-019 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Luis-Leon Sanchez ( Esp – RAB – 155 )
Combative: Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) [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′ 23”
4 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 001 ) + 03′ 19”
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 111 ) + 04′ 48”
6 Haimar Zubeldia ( Esp – RNT – 019 ) + 06′ 15”
7 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) + 06′ 57”
8 Janez Brajkovic ( Slo – AST – 181 ) + 07′ 30”
9 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 029 ) + 08′ 31”
10 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 146 ) + 08′ 51”
The Rest of the Top 50:
11 Andréas Klöden ( Ger – RNT – 015 ) + 09′ 29”
12 Frank Schleck ( Lux – RNT – 011 ) + 09′ 45”
13 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – ALM – 079 ) + 10′ 49”
14 Jérôme Coppel ( Fra – SAU – 091 ) + 11′ 27”
15 Christopher Horner ( USA – RNT – 014 ) + 12′ 41”
16 Denis Menchov ( Rus – KAT – 131 ) + 17′ 21”
17 Maxime Monfort ( Bel – RNT – 016 ) + 17′ 41”
18 Egoi Martinez ( Esp – EUS – 035 ) + 18′ 04”
19 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 163 ) + 19′ 02”
20 Chris Anker Sorensen ( Den – STB – 178 ) + 20′ 12”
21 Michele Scarponi ( Ita – LAM – 041 ) + 20′ 32”
22 Eduard Vorganov ( Rus – KAT – 139 ) + 20′ 35”
23 Sandy Casar ( Fra – FDJ – 141 ) + 27′ 03”
24 Peter Velits ( Svk – OPQ – 199 ) + 27′ 37”
25 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 161 ) + 32′ 59”
26 Michael Rogers ( Aus – SKY – 108 ) + 33′ 13”
27 Jelle Vanendert ( Bel – LTB – 119 ) + 44′ 45”
28 Ivan Basso ( Ita – LIQ – 052 ) + 45′ 13”
29 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – RAB – 157 ) + 45′ 35”
30 Levi Leipheimer ( USA – OPQ – 191 ) + 47′ 17”
31 Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) + 47′ 32”
32 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – RAB – 152 ) + 48′ 34”
33 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo ( Esp – MOV – 162 ) + 54′ 40”
34 Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) + 56′ 06”
35 Philippe Gilbert ( Bel – BMC – 004 ) + 56′ 19”
36 Alexandre Vinokourov ( Kaz – AST – 189 ) + 56′ 43”
37 Rein Taaramae ( Est – COF – 081 ) + 58′ 59”
38 Jean-Christophe Peraud ( Fra – ALM – 071 ) + 59′ 50”
39 Gianpaolo Caruso ( Ita – KAT – 132 ) + 01h 00′ 39”
40 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti ( Esp – EUS – 034 ) + 01h 04′ 31”
41 George Hincapie ( USA – BMC – 005 ) + 01h 04′ 55”
42 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 107 ) + 01h 05′ 26”
43 Rafael Valls Ferri ( Esp – VCD – 128 ) + 01h 06′ 40”
44 Mikael Cherel ( Fra – ALM – 073 ) + 01h 09′ 23”
45 Marco Marcato ( Ita – VCD – 125 ) + 01h 10′ 52”
46 Cyril Gautier ( Fra – EUC – 024 ) + 01h 11′ 52”
47 Davide Malacarne ( Ita – EUC – 028 ) + 01h 12′ 30”
48 Michael Schär ( Sui – BMC – 008 ) + 01h 13′ 24”
49 Edvald Boasson Hagen ( Nor – SKY – 102 ) + 01h 13′ 33”
50 Maxime Bouet ( Fra – ALM – 072 ) + 01h 13′ 34”
Out of the race:
DNF Robert Kiserlovski ( Cro – AST – 188 )
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.
5 comments
I’m glad that Wiggins and the other leaders, Rolland apart, did the right thing and let Evans catch up.Very sporting of them. If the arsehole who threw the tacks is caught then he or she is going to be in big trouble if one of their tacks caused Kiserslowki’s broken collar bone.
I wondered about that withdrawal, because he was running 22nd and doing well climbing. The Kazakhs are no one to mess with, and Astana was making a very good showing on the Tour this year, and not just in the mountains.
There are obnoxious jerks in every sport, but tacks on the Mur could have easily been fatal.
Rolland didn’t do himself or his team any favors. Contador was the first to break with the tradition in2010 of waiting if someone in the top ten has mechanical trouble, and it didn’t go down well with other riders. There are traditions that you are supposed to follow, and those that don’t become decidedly unpopular.
Another thing – the official site is really not doing a good job this year. Not only are they not updating in a timely fashion, they mentioned Wiggins and Evans regarding the tacks, but didn’t mention Kiserlovski. I think injuries are important information. Initially I knew that someone failed to finish, but it was hours before they put up his name, and they didn’t say why in their coverage.
It wasn’t the Tour, but the bicycle path I rode daily to and from work along Brays Bayou. Several days running, I ended up with small bits of white glass in my tires and had to patch them. Finally, by the layout of the glass on the ground (when I was finally able to see it), I realized that someone was standing on the roof of an adjacent 12-story building and pitching fluorescent tubes over onto the cycle path, presumably to watch the sparkle when they crashed.
On another occasion, a sociopath living just off Morningside Dr. was daily spreading tacks to prevent people from parking cars (legally) along the edge of his property facing Morningside. One day I stopped and picked up a couple hundred of the tacks. The man came home while I was doing that; he pushed just to the edge of threatening me, but I was POed and finished picking up the tacks. He must have followed me home either that day or another day, because about a week later, I awoke to find my own house driveway covered with tacks. I never caught him in the act.
I don’t know if people think that they are being clever or that cycling is dumb and its proponents deserve no better. But it’s just too dangerous to be funny. If I had ever caught someone in the act of seeding a bike path with tacks or glass, someone would probably have had to come bail me out of jail on a charge of homicide. JUSTIFIABLE homicide!
You should have called a motorcycle cop, Steve, they take something of a dim view of people who put tacks in the road. Somewhere around here I have a roofer’s magnet, a very strong magnet on a pole that roofers use to clean up after the job, because roofing nails are usually all over along the drip line and you don’t want the people who are going to sign the check to pay you stepping on them or driving over them. I’ve had to use it a couple of times for skirmishes between neighbors.
A talented cyclist is out of racing for an extended period with a broken collarbone – it isn’t a prank. That’s a mile-high steep mountain road, so someone could have been killed by this ‘sabotage’. I can’t imagine what someone would be protesting that would be connected to this act. If the French police have a suspect they should just hand them over to the Kazakhs and the matter will be settled … permanently.
In Florida with ‘Stand Your Ground’, there would be no need for bail. or a trial.