Tour De France - Final Results

Well it’s finally over; I mean it’s already over? And the Sky team showed their strength from the beginning to the end of the Tour De France. I am a little disappointed though. We did not get any special guest this year gapping the race while it’s happening.  Yes Dave Watson, I was waiting for your return for a bigger jump - the redemption gap.

Bradley Wiggins - 2012 Tour De France Winner

Stage 11 - 148km Albertville to La Toussuire

Race began at 1:17pm with a non starter (Fabian Cancellara). Attackers right out of the gate sent a big lead with 25 riders to set the course pace.  The big star was Pierre Rolland at the last climb who left everyone in the dust. With 10km to go he was on his own and not looking back. Of course Wiggins right behind him increased his lead.

Stage 12 – 226km Saint Jean de Maurienne to Annonay Davezieux

David Millar wins his 4^th stage match. With Wiggins still wearing the jersey it was the longest race of the stages.

Stage 13 – 217km Saint Paul Trois Chateaux to Le Cap d’Angle

194 riders still in the race, this stage was definitely a well talked about stage. With lots of areas of flat straight turbo pedaling and pedal crushing climbs. With a steep hill and a 23km flat race to finish it was a great race. The average speed for the fourth hour was 47.2km/h. Greipel will take his third 1^st place win.

Stage 14 – 191km Limoux to Foix

Easy to sum up this stage. The beast Luis Leon, who attacked, climbed and descended like he was fresh into the tour. Yes this is the guy who was tore up with injuries from the first stage.  Claims his 4^th stage win, but there was a huge mechanical problem with Wiggins' rear tire. The director is claiming sabotage because there was tack on the road and a series of punctures. With the teams calling it a truce all rolled in on the line together well behind the four head racers.

Overall Standings 2012 Tour De France

Stage 15 – 158.5km Samatan to Pau

With late forming escape group, 6 men managed to pull away making it obvious this was going to between them. In the end with everyone attacking to the finish the Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo takes his second stage victory.

Stage 16 – 197km Pau to Baneres de Luchon

Well another easy stage to sum up. Thomas Voeckler took this stage making it look easy on the hottest race day yet. Also picking up the polkadot jersey like he did in 2008.

Stage 17 – 143.5km

Valverde stole this stage and made it his. With Froome in second and Wiggins in third, Wiggins will be in the yellow jersey again.

Stage 18 – 222.5km Blagnac to Brive la Gaillarde

Wiggins finished 19th and will wear the yellow jersey in stage 19. The mad-man took this stage for his fourth win. Manxman stayed quiet the entire stage until he turned his rocket legs on at the last 300m for the win. Wiggins and the rest just watched in exhaustion as the mad-man took the stage.

Stage 19 – 53.5km Bonneval to Chartres.

The dominant team of the 2012 Tour de France finished the second long time trial with three men in the top five. Any doubts about the ability of Bradley Wiggins were put to rest today when he dominated the 53km time trial from Bonneval to Chartres to win his second stage of the Tour de France and increase his lead in the general classification. Being the only rider to finish the stage at over 50km/h. He was 12” ahead of Froome at 14km, 54” ahead at 30.5km, 1'15” ahead with 5km to go and then saluted his second stage victory as he crossed the line 1'16” ahead of Froome and 1'50” ahead of Sanchez.

Satge 20 – 120 km Rambouillet to Paris Champs-Elysees

Winners of the 2012 Tour De France

The pair from Sky finished first and second overall and created history for British cycling. Wiggins and Froome were first and second in stages 9 and 19. The pair from Sky finished first and second overall and created history for British cycling. Bradley Wiggins finished in 53rd place as part of a group that was nine seconds behind Cavendish. The 32-year-old is the first British champion of the Tour de France.

What is there to say Bradley Wiggins for the 99^th Tour De France. Ready to start riding like the pros? Check out the Sette Road Bike section at PricePoint. They will have you ready to compete in no time.

Tour De France – 10th Stage Breakdown

The Tour De France is already at its 10th stage, and at the end of the 6^th stage, it gave everyone something to start talking about.

Stage 6 – 205km Epernay to Metz

26km to go on the 6^th stage there was a horrendous crash. Taking out half a peloton and retiring 3 from the race it was a devastating crash. Somehow the favorites were not in the mess, Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins.

Stage 7 – 199km Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles

Team Sky brings there lead up to the top. With 182 riders still in the race, it was up to the hill climbing. With a handful of riders in the breakaway, Sky made it into the lead and proved they are a dominant team. Evans knowing he needs to gather time whenever possible against Wiggins was 2^nd in the 7^th stage.

Stage 8 – 157.5km Belfort to Porrentruy 

With this 7 climb stage there were attacking right from the start. With a huge lead from Jens Voigt in the early start of the stage slowly ran out of gas and an hour later gave up his unreachable lead. With the strength of Sky for this round it was an expected win for the team until young French cyclist passed everyone. Bravo Thibaut Pinot! 500m before the final climb he was in the lead, even with Jurgen van den Broeck and Cadel Evans closing in, he has his first stage win.

Stage 9 – 41.5km Arc-et-Senans to Besancon

Riders began the race in reverse order of their position in the general classification. There were two minutes between the first 118 riders and then there were three minutes separating the starters. The Yellow Jersey rider, Bradley Wiggins (SKY) began the TT at 4.39pm. Bradley Wiggins claimed his first stage victory in the Tour, beat his team-mate Chris Froome by 35”

  

A rest day before stage 10.

Stage 10 – 194.5km

As soon as the flag started the 10th stage, there was an attack by a Vacansoleil rider but it didn't last long. 2km in the start of the race, Sagan (LIQ) instigated the first successful escape. Thomas Voeckler is out of contention for another stint in the yellow jersey or a top four overall finish in the race like he achieved in 2011 but on the day to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine he did enough to earn three appearances on the podium. First, he led over the first 'hors categorie' climb of the 99th Tour - the Col du Grand Colombier to take the lead of the climbing classification, and then he was voted the most aggressive rider of the 10th stage. Beast! He won the stage from a break that took almost an hour to establish on a day when the average speed or the first hour was 49.8km/h. There were 25 men in that move and, by the end, only 10 of them would finish ahead of the yellow jersey's group. The best was Voeckler. He is a racer who puts on a show. The French adore him, and he responds to their cheers. It was his third stage win in the race. Give me a Sette Forza ISM Dura-Ace Carbon Road Bike and I think I could take em! Sky team, again did everything to get their leader one day closer to the ultimate objective: victory in the 2012 Tour.

Stage 10 Results
1. Thomas Voeckler – Team Europcar - 4:46:26
2. Michele Scarponi – Lampre – ISD - 0:00:03
3. Jens Voigt – RadioShack-Nissan - 0:00:07
4. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil – Rabobank Cycling Team - 0:00:23
5. Dries Devenyns – Omega Pharma-QuickStep - 0:00:30
6. Sandy Casar – FDJ-Big Mat - 0:02:44
7. Egoi Martinez De Esteban – Euskaltel – Euskadi
8. Pierre Rolland – Team Europcar
9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck – Lotto Belisol Team
10. Dmitriy Fofonov – Astana Pro Team - 0:02:52

General classification after Stage 10
1. Bradley Wiggins – Sky Procycling - 43:59:02
2. Cadel Evans – BMC Racing Team - 0:01:53
3. Christopher Froome – Sky Procycling - 0:02:07
4. Vincenzo Nibali – Liquigas-Cannondale - 0:02:23
5. Denis Menchov – Katusha Team - 0:03:02
6. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre – RadioShack-Nissan - 0:03:19
7. Maxime Monfort – RadioShack-Nissan - 0:04:23
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck – Lotto Belisol Team – 0:04:48
9. Nicolas Roche – AG2R La Mondiale - 0:05:29
10. Tejay van Garderen – BMC Racing Team - 0:05:31

Tour De France – 5 Stage Breakdown.

Here is short breakdown of the first 5 stages. It will not be in roadie etiquette.  There was a small change in the 5^th stage. Enjoy!

The Prologue – 6.4 km

The 99^th Tour De France began on a Tuesday, in warm and dry conditions. 198 riders faced a 6.4 km time trial in the streets of Belgian City of Liege, one intermediate time check at the half way point.  The man on the mission took the prologue, Fabian Cancellara, with Bradley Wiggins and Sylvain Chavanel right behind him at 07”.

Stage 1 – 198.0 km

Stage 1 is from Liege to Seraing, included five categorized hills, all ranked category-four. The white flag was dropped to signal the official start at 12:34pm. Nicolas Edet attacked right out of the get go, next to Morkov (STB), Bouet (ALM), Urtasun (EUS), Delaplace (SAU), Gene (EUC) and Edet (COF). By the 11km mark they had a lead of 3'00” on the peloton. The peloton travels as an integrated unit, like birds flying in formation, each rider making slight adjustments in response to the riders around him or her particularly the one in front of each. When developed riders at the front are exposed to higher loads and will tend to slip off the front in order to rejoin the pack farther back. The average speed for the third hour was 36.3km/h. Yohann Gene (EUC) won the intermediate sprint and his group of six was ahead by 3'10” when he crossed the line. Until about 45km to go, RadioShack accepted that it had to take charge of the chasing duties but with the escapees only 1'25” ahead, several other teams moved to the front of the bunch, including Lotto-Belisol, BCM, Orica-GreenEdge and Sky. The escape was caught with 8km to go and then we saw Lotto-Belisol take control of the peloton. Tucked in behind them were four riders from Orica-GreenEdge.

Stage 2 – 207.5 km

The 207.5km 2nd stage of the 2012 Tour de France, from Vise to Tournai, began at 12:38pm with 198 riders at the sign on. No one was too interested in attacking early and it was a slow start to the race. The only hill was at the Citadel in Namur at the 82.5km mark. After 45km of racing Lotto-Belisol, Orica-GreenEdge and Argos-Shimano sent one rider each to the front of the bunch to swap off and limit the gains of the escapees. The head of the peloton featured numerous team colors from 25km to 15km to go with RadioShack, Sky, Orica, Liquigas and Omega Pharma... but once Roux was reeled in, it was Orica-GreenEdge that had the most riders at the front. Again the man on a mission, Fabian Cancellara finishished 44th, in the same group as the winner: he will wear the yellow jersey in stage three.

Stage 3 –  197.0 km

197.0km from Orchies to Boulogne-sur-Mer was an animated race, featured six categorized climbs, including four in the closing 16km. The official start was at 12:38pm and all 198 riders were at the sign on. At the 5km mark that five men broke free of the peloton. Minard (ALM) took first place in the intermediate sprint... meanwhile, at the front of the peloton, Orica-GreenEdge tried to set things up for Goss at the intermediate sprint. At the 140km mark there was a fall that involved Farrar and Vande Velde (GRM), Urtasun (EUS) and Sivtsov (SKY). The worst affected was Sivtsov who stayed on the road for quite some time and then, ultimately, was forced to abandon because of his injures. With 38km to go and the peloton only 2'30” behind, Grivko accelerated at the front of the stage. Westra (VCD) got tangled up with a Katusha rider and crashed to the ground, holding up a number of riders... but by then Sagan had pounced ahead to cross the line first. The winner of stage one was so fast that there was daylight between him and the next-best rider, Edvald Boasson Hagen. Cancellara was strong at the finish and claimed fourth place and will continue to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour of 2012.

Stage 4 – 214.5 km

The 214.5km fourth stage of the 99th Tour de France – from Abbeville to Rouen – started at 12:22pm. There were 195 riders at the sign on with Tjallingii (RAB) the non-starter, sustained in a crash in stage three. As soon as racing began Yukiya Arashiro (EUC) attacked. He was joined by Moncoutie (COF) and Delaplace (SAU) and the peloton was happy to let them go: by the 8km mark, they had an advantage of 5'00”. The best on GC after three stages was the Japanese rider who began the day ranked 54th overall, 2'03” behind Cancellara. Most of the favorites – with the notable exception of Cavendish – were still in the hunt for the stage win and Lotto-Belisol had four riders at the front going into the final turn. Petacchi (LAM) and Veelers (ARG) where on the wheel of Greipel but, neither had the speed to get around the Crazy German who claimed his second victory.

Stage 5 – 196.5km

Only 196.5 From Rouen to Saint-Quientin on a flat course on a warm day the Tour started at 12:46pm. There were 195 riders at the sign on. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ) went on the attack in the opening kilometer and he was quickly joined by three others: Ghyselinck (COF), Simon (SAU) and Urtasun (EUS). The best on GC of the escapees was Ladagnous, 10th overall at the start of the day (8'04” behind Cancellara). Orica-GreenEdge, Lotto-Belisol and RadioShack riders all cooperated at the head of the peloton to limit the gains of Ladagnous' quartet. On the approach to the intermediate sprint, the advantage of the escapees was dropping relatively quickly. Ladagnous led the escape over the line in Breteuil and only in the final kilometer leading to the site of the sprint did the peloton really speed up. The leaders never stopped working together and they held off the peloton's chase having an advantage of 20” with 3km to go. Farrar (GRS) crashed just inside the final 3km and took out a few other rider and hindered the chances of others. The Crazy German won his second successive stage of the Tour de France.
Cancellara finished 32nd and will keep the yellow jersey for another day.

Check back soon for further updates.

Tour De France 2012

Well, Tour De France 2012 is here, and for all you roadies out there I am going to try to cover the race. One problem is it's covered by me, a mountain biker that knows nothing of Tour De France, Perfect right?

Well here we go. Tour De France 2012 will be starting from June 30th to July 22nd 2012 and will consist of 18 teams. This will be the 99th Tour De France and will consist of 1 prologue and 20 stages (stages? It’s not a long race?) with a total distance of 3,479 kilometers. The 20 stages consist of; 9 flat stages, 4 medium mountain - one with a summit finish, 5 mountain - two with a summit finish, 2 individual time-trial, 1 prologue, and 2 rest days. Two days of rest c'mon who needs 2 days? Just kidding Directeur Sportif. The 2012 Tour De France will have 20 mountain level two, level one or highest level mountain passes or summit finishes. It will be divided up geographically: 1 in the Vosges, 3 in the Jura, 4 in the Swiss Jura, 6 in the Alps, 11 in the Pyrenees.

For this years Tour, there will be less mountain stages than last, but the climbs the riders will be facing are extremely steep. For example on stage 11, it consists of 4 large climbs to a summit finish in Les Sybelles. Regardless of less mountain stages this year, the 2012 Tour De France will be an exciting race for sure. With last years winner Cadel Evans returning with confidence, you know he’s ready to claim this year once again. Maybe if we are lucky we will get a surprise visit from Dave Watson on his Kona this year! Yes I said it, the best thing to come to Tour De France! (check out the video below if you haven’t seen it.)

Dave Watson- Gaping tour de france on pinkbike.com

Evans and Wiggins, the two main guys that have the expectations to win this year, are a very close and competitive match for each other. You will have the two biggest companies supporting the two riders, Sky with Wiggins and BMC with Evans, and their similar riding styles and close age will sure give us a good race. With some of the other high class riders coming in with or recovering from injuries, it will give us some good spread on the track and finishes. It sure will be a tough race for all.

Good luck to all the riders and check back again updates throughout the race.