Le Tour de France 2008 (Page 1 of 2)

Well Cathy, this looks like our own little playground.

The field -

Silence-Lotto

1. Cadel Evans (Aus)

2. Mario Aerts (Bel)

3. Christophe Brandt (Bel)

4. Dario Cioni (Ita)

5. Leif Hoste (Bel)

6. Robbie McEwen (Aus)

7. Jaroslav Popovitsj (Oek)

8. Johan Vansummeren (Bel)

9. Wim Vansevenant (Bel).

Team CSC

11. Carlos Sastre (Spa)

12. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Noo)

13. Fabian Cancellara (Zwi)

14. Volodimir Goestov (Oek)

15. Stuart O'Grady (Aus)

16. Andy Schleck (Lux)

17. Frank Schleck (Lux)

18. Nicki Sörensen (Den)

19. Jens Voigt (Dui).

Euskaltel-Euskadi

21. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)

22. Mikel Astarloza (Spa)

23. Inaki Isasi (Spa)

24. Egoi Martinez (Spa)

25. Juan Jose Oroz (Spa)

26. Ruben Perez (Spa)

27. Samuel Sanchez (Spa)

28. Amets Txurruka (Spa)

29. Gorka Verdugo (Spa)

Caisse d'Epargne

31. Alejandro Valverde (Spa)

32. David Arroyo (Spa)

33. Arnaud Coyot (Fra)

34. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa)

35. Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa)

36. David Lopez Garcia (Spa)

37. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa)

38. Nicolas Portal (Fra)

39. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa).

Team Columbia

41. Kim Kirchen (Lux)

42. Marcus Burghardt (Dui)

43. Mark Cavendish (GBr)

44. Gerald Ciolek (Dui)

45. Bernhard Eisel (Oos)

46. Adam Hansen (Oos)

47. George Hincapie (VSt)

48. Thomas Lövkvist (Zwe)

49. Konstantsin Sioetsoe (WRu)

Barloworld

51. Juan Mauricio Soler (Col)

52. John-Lee Augustyn (ZAf)

53. Félix Cardenas (Col)

54. Gianpaolo Cheula (Ita)

55. Baden Cooke (Aus)

56. Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa)

57. Christopher Froome (Ken)

58. Robert Hunter (ZAf)

59. Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)

Liquigas

61. Filippo Pozzato (Ita)

62. Manuel Beltran (Spa)

63. Francesco Chicchi (Ita)

64. Murilo Fischer (Bra)

65. Roman Kreuziger (Tsj)

66. Aleksandr Koestsjinski (WRu)

67. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)

68. Manuel Quinziato (Ita)

69. Frederik Willems (Bel)

Lampre

71. Damiano Cunego (Ita)

72. Alessandro Ballan (Ita)

73. Matteo Bono (Ita)

74. Marzio Bruseghin (Ita)

75. Marco Marzano (Ita)

76. Massimiliano Mori (Ita)

77. Daniele Righi (Ita)

78. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol)

79. Paolo Tiralongo (Ita)

Crédit Agricole

81. Thor Hushovd (Noo)

82. William Bonnet (Fra)

83. Aleksandr Botsjarov (Rus)

84. Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra)

85. Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz)

86. Simon Gerrans (Aus)

87. Christophe Le Mevel (Fra)

88. Rémi Pauriol (Fra)

89. Mark Renshaw (Aus)

Quick-Step

91. Stijn Devolder (Bel)

92. Carlos Barredo (Spa)

93. Matteo Carrara (Ita)

94. Steven de Jongh (Ned)

95. Mauro Facci (Ita)

96. Sebastien Rosseler (Bel)

97. Gert Steegmans (Bel)

98. Matteo Tosatto (Ita)

99. Jurgen van de Walle (Bel)

Ag2r-La Mondiale

101. Cyril Dessel (Fra)

102. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa)

103. Hubert Dupont (Fra)

104. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus)

105. Martin Elmiger (Zwi)

106. John Gadret (Fra)

107. Stephane Goubert (Fra)

108. Christophe Riblon (Fra)

109. Tadej Valjavec (Slv)

Gerolsteiner

111. Stefan Schumacher (Dui)

112. Robert Förster (Dui)

113. Markus Fothen (Dui)

114. Heinrich Haussler (Dui)

115. Berhard Kohl (Oos)

116. Sven Krauss (Dui)

117. Sebastien Lang (Dui)

118. Ronny Scholz (Dui)

119. Fabian Wegmann (Dui)

Agritubel

121. Christophe Moreau (Fra)

122. Freddy Bichot (Fra)

123. Jimmy Casper (Fra)

124. Romain Feillu (Fra)

125. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa)

126. Nicolas Jalabert (Fra)

127. David Lelay (Fra)

128. Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)

129. Nicolas Vogondy (Fra)

Rabobank

131. Denis Mentsjov (Rus)

132. Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa)

133. Oscar Freire (Spa)

134. Sébastian Langeveld (Ned)

135. Koos Moerenhout (Ned)

136. Joost Posthuma (Ned)

137. Bram Tankink (Ned)

138. Laurens ten Dam (Ned)

139. Pieter Weening (Ned)

Bouygues Telecom

141. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra)

142. Stef Clement (Ned)

143. Xavier Florencio (Spa)

144. Laurent Lefevre (Fra)

145. Jerome Pineau (Fra)

146. Matthieu Sprick (Fra)

147. Joeri Trofimov (Rus)

148. Johann Tschopp (Zwi)

149. Thomas Voeckler (Fra)

Team Milram

151. Erik Zabel (Dui)

152. Ralf Grabsch (Dui)

153. Christian Knees (Dui)

154. Brett Daniel Lancaster (Aus)

155. Martin Müller (Dui)

156. Björn Schröder (Dui)

157. Niki Terpstra (Ned)

158. Peter Velits (Slw)

159. Marco Velo (Ita)

Francaise des Jeux

161. Sandy Casar (Fra)

162. Sebastien Chavanel (Fra)

163. Remy Di Gregorio (Fra)

164. Arnaud Gerard (Fra)

165. Philippe Gilbert (Bel)

166. Lilian Jegou (Fra)

167. Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra)

168. Jeremy Roy (Fra)

169. Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra)

Saunier Duval

171. Riccardo Ricco (Ita)

172. Rubens Bertogliati (Zwi)

173. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa)

174. David De La Fuente (Spa)

175. Jesus Del Nero (Spa)

176. Angel Gomez (Spa)

177. Josep Juffre Pou (Spa)

178. Aurélien Passeron (Fra)

179. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita)

Cofidis                             

181 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)         

182 Stéphane Augé (Fra)             

183 Florent Brard (Fra)             

184 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra)     

185 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra)           

186 Leonardo Duque (Col)           

187 Amaël Moinard (Fra)           

188 David Moncoutié (Fra)           

189 Maxime Monfort (Bel)

Garmin-Chipotle

191. Christian Vandevelde (VSt)

192. Magnus Backstedt (Zwe)

193. Julian Dean (NZl)

194. William Frischkorn (VSt)

195. Ryder Hesjedal (Can)

196. Trent Lowe (Aus)

197. Martijn Maaskant (Ned)

198. David Millar (GBr)

199. Danny Pate (VSt)

So many unknowns, so many young riders out to make a name. I can't remember such a wide open Tour. I don't think Evans will ever win, so I'll go for Valverde, who should be the strongest of the riders with a 'name'.

Edited to add Cofidis. Thanks for noticing, Cathy. *blushes deeply*

A Tour De France without Lance is like a PGA event without Tiger. IMHO.

                                                                                      I Love To Ride My Bicycle,

                                                                                      Le Dawg

Lance devotee here too. Man, he made me cry!!! I'm pleased there are 2 American teams Columbia (High Road) which has George Hincapie from the USA and Mark Cavendish, from THE ISLE OF MAN! and Garmin-Chipotle (Sorry TomTom employee) with some names I know..But they are saying that Valverde has been training in the style of Lance....and he's looking really strong. I'll need to see his reps when he's climbing to know if that's true. Only 3 weeks until we know.   O-O   O-O  O-O   O-O O-O    O-O   Cathy

Stage 2 - Sunday, July 6: Auray - Saint Brieuc, 164.5km
Mighty Thor strikes again

Thor Hushovd of Crédit Agricole brought his career number of Tour stage wins to six on a tough undulating finish to Saint Brieuc. The Norwegian credited his Australian team-mate Mark Renshaw with a perfect lead-out to allow him to take the victory ahead of Team Colombia's duo Kim Kirchen and Gerald Ciolek.

In the overall Spaniard Alejandro Valverde kept his lead. Kirchen is now in second but took the lead in the points classification, while Rabobank's Oscar Freire is in third. Former second-placed rider Philippe Gilbert crashed in the final kilometres. Although the Belgian was awarded the same time as the winner due to the incident, the stage rankings determine the overall placing for the ten riders who are tied on time behind Valverde.

Barloworld's climber Mauricio Soler, who injured his wrist in a crash on stage one survived the stage but was dropped in the fast run-in to the finish, hindered by his injury.

The day was dominated by the breakaway of Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) and Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), who took off after they crossed the first côte of the day together. They were later joined by the Agritubel duo of Christophe Moreau and David Le Lay. The four almost stayed away until the finish, but the final three kilometres were uphill. Chavanel was the last to be caught, and was countered by a strong move from CSC-Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara. The Swiss rider tried to pull of a repeat of his stage win of last year's Tour, but was caught by Liquigas' Filippo Pozzato. A quick descent ended the pair's time on the front before the sprint for the line.

Another very exciting early stage, which will have pleased the French no end when four French riders spent loads of time in front but then, as usual, got beaten at the end. Valverde finished very close to the front at the end, he's looking very impressive.

Five of the new top 10 ride for the two American teams! How about that?

Stage 4 - Tuesday, July 8: Cholet - Cholet (ITT), 29.5km

Schumacher's stage victory garners yellow

Evans' hits fellow classification contenders hard

By Gregor Brown, Brecht Decaluwé and Shane Stokes in Cholet

Germany's Stefan Schumacher bettered the cream of the time trialing crop to capture the 29.5-kilometre Tour de France stage around Cholet and move into the race leader's maillot jaune. The 26 year-old Gerolsteiner rider recorded a time of 35'44" that stood against the hammering of Luxemburger Kim Kirchen – second at 35'54" – and Briton's David Millar – third at 36'02".

"It's extraordinary to be on the podium in this jersey," noted the same rider who captured the pink leader's jersey of the Giro d'Italia in 2006 by winning stage three. "Because this is the Tour de France and everybody dreams of wearing this jersey. Also, the moment on the podium, you see it 1,000 times on television and then you're there yourself, it's impossible to imagine."

Team Silence-Lotto's Cadel Evans delivered a blow in the windy Loire countryside side to his fellow general classification rivals. He finished third place, 27 second back on Schumacher, but more important was the distance he put on competitors like Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Chipotle - H30), Stijn Devolder (Quick Step), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Andy Schleck (CSC-Saxo Bank) and Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne). He put seven seconds into Menchov, around a minute into Cunego and Schleck, and 1'07" on Valverde.

"It is a good start but it is a long, long way to Paris," said Evans in a media scrum. "In my mind this is the first appointment for the GC favourites. So far so good. Super Besse will be the next big showing for the GC riders."

Overall standings:

1. Stefan Schumacher (Germany/Gerolsteiner) 4 hours, 4 minutes, 41 seconds

2. Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg/Team Columbia) +12 secs

3. David Millar (Britain/Garmin Chipotle) +12 secs

4. Cadel Evans (Australia/Silence-Lotto) +21 secs

5. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland/Team CSC Saxo Bank) +33 secs

6. Christian Vandevelde (United States/Garmin Chipotle) +37 secs

7. George Hincapie (United States/Team Columbia) +41 secs.

8. Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden/Team Columbia) +47 secs

9. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy/Liquigas) +58

10. Ivan Gutierrez (Spain/Caisse d'Epargne) + 1:01 secs

GO CAVENDISH!!! YEAH Isle of Man!!! What an exciting stage. The sprint at the end was a nail biter!! Of course I'm happy! The American teams are in 1st and 2nd place. This tour is different for me. I had no pre-race favorite for the overall winner. Yet, I'm enjoying each stage as an individual race, as it should be. Tomorrow the mountains!!!  Cathy O-O

Go on the MANX MAN!!!! Love it!!!

He is a true talent, and will be competing in the indoor racing at the Olympics, and has a very good shot at Gold, and pretty sure he would be the first Manxman to do that at the Olympics.

Lets all rise for the Manx National Anthem in honour

ENGLISH VERSION.
1. O LAND of our birth,
O gem of God's earth,
O Island so strong and so fair ;
Built firm as Barrool,
Thy throne of Home Rule
Makes us free as thy sweet mountain air.

2. When Orry, the Dane,
In Mannin did reign,
'Twas said he had come from above;
For wisdom from heav'n
To him had been giv'n
To rule us with justice and love.

3. Our fathers have told
How Saints* came of old,
Proclaiming the Gospel of Peace ;
That sinful desires,
Like false Baal fires,
Must die ere our troubles can cease.

4. Ye sons of the soil,
In hardship and toil,
That plough both the land and the sea,
Take heart while you can,
And think of the Man
Who toiled by the Lake Galilee.

5. When fierce tempests smote
That frail little boat,
They ceased at His gentle command ;
Despite all our fear,
The Saviour is near
To safeguard our dear Fatherland.

6. Let storm-winds rejoice,
And lift up their voice,
No danger our homes can befall;
Our green hills and rocks
Encircle our flocks,
And keep out the sea like a wall.

7. Our Island, thus blest,
No foe can molest ;
Our grain and our fish shall increase
From battle and sword
Protecteth the Lord,
And crowneth our nation with peace.

8. Then let us rejoice
With heart, soul, and voice,
And in the Lord's promise confide;
That each single hour
We trust in His power
No evil our souls- can betide.

Awesome work Mark!!!

tewker

Another exciting stage with the first real climbs that resulted in the first yellow jersey for a Luxembourger in 50 years! And the yellow (and green) for a US team!

Overall standings (after six stages):

1. Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg/Team Columbia) 24 hours, 30 minutes, 41 seconds
2. Cadel Evans (Australia/Silence-Lotto) +6
3. Stefan Schumacher (Germany/Gerolsteiner) +16
4. Christian Vande Velde (USA/Garmin-Chipotle) +44
5. David Millar (Britain/Garmin-Chipotle) +47
6. Thomas Lovkvist (Swden/Team Columbia) +54
7. Denis Menchov (Russia/Rabobank) +1:03.
8. Alejandro Valverde (Spain/Caisse d'Epargne) +1:12.
9. Stijn Devolder (Belgium/Quickstep) +1:21.
10. Oscar Pereiro (Spain/Caisse d'Epargne) +1:21.