Tour de France, stage 8 summary

[Bob Martin]

Stage 8 : Jul 11, Station des Rousses - Morzine-Avoriaz, 189 km

1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4.54.11
2 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0.10
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
7 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
9 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
10 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank


Changes in GC, stage 8 compared to stage 7 :

Biggest gainers by position :
+66 Koos Moerenhout
+66 Charles Wegelius
+65 Daniel Navarro Garcia
+52 Anthony Charteau
+50 Chris Anker Sorensen
+50 Brian Vandborg
+48 Sylvester Szmyd
+48 Eros Capecchi
+47 Matti Breschel
+44 Jeremy Roy

Biggest losers by position :
-44 David Millar
-40 Serge Pauwels
-38 Geraint Thomas
-35 Thor Hushovd
-33 Robbie McEwen
-32 Steven Cummings
-31 Fabian Cancellara
-31 Sylvain Chavanel
-27 Christian Knees
-27 Johannes Frohlinger
-27 Oscar Freire Gomez

Biggest gainers by time :
+1:35 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez
+1:35 Andy Schleck
+1:25 Roman Kreuziger
+1:25 Robert Gesink
+1:25 Levi Leipheimer
+1:25 Jurgen Van Den Broeck
+1:25 Ivan Basso
+1:25 Denis Menchov
+1:25 Carlos Sastre
+1:25 Cadel Evans

Biggest losers by time :
-31:17 Roger Kluge
-30:59 Adriano Malori
-30:59 Alessandro Petacchi
-30:59 Andreas Klier
-30:59 Bernhard Eisel
-30:59 Bert Grabsch
-30:59 Brett Lancaster
-30:59 Dimitri Champion
-30:59 Dmitriy Muravyev
-30:59 Dries Devenyns
-30:59 Fabio Felline

Favourites by position :
+14 Ivan Basso
+14 Carlos Sastre
+14 Andreas Kloden
+12 Robert Gesink
+11 Joaquin Rodriguez
+9 Levi Leipheimer
+5 Roman Kreuziger
+5 Denis Menchov
+3 Alberto Contador Velasco
+2 Andy Schleck
+1 Cadel Evans
-3 Bradley Wiggins
-7 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
-25 Lance Armstrong

Favourites by time :
+1:35 Andy Schleck
+1:25 Roman Kreuziger
+1:25 Robert Gesink
+1:25 Levi Leipheimer
+1:25 Ivan Basso
+1:25 Denis Menchov
+1:25 Carlos Sastre
+1:25 Cadel Evans
+1:25 Alberto Contador Velasco
+0:56 Joaquin Rodriguez
+0:21 Andreas Kloden
-0:10 Bradley Wiggins
-1:52 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
-10:10 Lance Armstrong

Top 3 and favourites GC standings (previous stage in parens) :
1 Cadel Evans 37:57:09 (was 2nd at 1:25)
2 Andy Schleck 0:20 (was 4th at 1:55)
3 Alberto Contador Velasco 1:01 (was 6th at 2:26)
.....
5 Denis Menchov 1:10 (was 10th at 2:35)
.....
7 Roman Kreuziger 1:45 (was 12th at 3:10)
8 Levi Leipheimer 2:14 (was 17th at 3:39)
.....
11 Robert Gesink 2:37 (was 23rd at 4:02)
12 Carlos Sastre 2:40 (was 26th at 4:05)
13 Ivan Basso 2:41 (was 27th at 4:06)
14 Bradley Wiggins 2:45 (was 11th at 2:35)
.....
17 Joaquin Rodriguez 3:23 (was 28th at 4:19)
.....
20 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil 5:03 (was 13th at 3:11)
21 Andreas Kloden 5:39 (was 35th at 6:00)
.....
39 Lance Armstrong 13:26 (was 14th at 3:16)

Top 10 on Points table with previous in parens:
1 Thor Hushovd 118 (unchanged)
2 Alessandro Petacchi 114 (unchanged)
3 Robbie McEwen 105 (unchanged)
4 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil 92 (unchanged)
5 Mark Cavendish 85 (unchanged)
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen 82 (unchanged)
7 Sebastien Turgot 79 (unchanged)
8 Geraint Thomas 74 (unchanged)
9 Gerald Ciolek 71 (unchanged)
10 Sylvain Chavanel 69 (unchanged)

Top 10 on Mountains table with previous in parens:
1 Jerome Pineau 44 (unchanged)
2 Sylvain Chavanel 36 (unchanged)
3 Andy Schleck 30 (was 0 points)
4 Mathieu Perget 28 (was 3rd with 28 points)
5 Rafael Valls Ferri 27 (was 6th with 18 points)
6 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez 26 (was 0 points)
7 Robert Gesink 22 (was 0 points)
8 Thomas Voeckler 21 (was 4th with 21 points)
9 Ruben Perez Moreno 20 (was 5th with 20 points)
10 Mario Aerts 19 (was 0 points)

Retirements to date : Stage
Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 7
Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Team Katusha 7
Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 5
Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Transitions 3
David Le Lay (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 3
Frank Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3
Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram 3
Adam Hansen (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia 2
Mickael Delage (Fra) Omega Pharma-Lotto 2
Manuel Cardoso (Spa) Footon-Servetto 1
Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1
Total retirements : 11


(This report can also be seen at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rvmartin2)

[Betty]

Bob Martin wrote:
> Stage 8 : Jul 11, Station des Rousses - Morzine-Avoriaz, 189 km
>
> 1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4.54.11
> 2 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
> 3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0.10
> 4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo
> 5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
> 6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team

Contador didn't seem to have his normal climbing acceleration today when
Sanchez and Schleck attacked. Tuesday might get interesting esp since
Schleck needs some (lots) time in hand when the ITT arrives.

[RicodJour]

Yep, there was definitely a chink in AC's armor today, and there's a
smell of blood in the water.

R

[Brad Anders]

I kept waiting for Contador to blast off - never happened. He said he
had "breathing problems". I'm pretty sure anyone trying to hang on
Navarro's wheel was having "breathing problems", judging by the number
he shelled.

Brad Anders

[Randall]

The big surprise today is that Contador was unable to keep up with
Andy Schleck. As for Lance it's not really big surprise because has
suffered from a lack of agility and luck since his comeback.