Tour de France 2009...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

That's 41 seconds better than Saxo Bank's time, meaning that if the team maintains that pace we'll see Armstrong in yellow tonight.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

By 1 second!!

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Final times at Time Check No. 3

 

1. ASTANA

2. GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM, at 0:17

3. TEAM SAXO BANK at 00:00:41

4. LIQUIGAS at 00:00:48

5. TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC at 00:00:57

6. TEAM KATUSHA at 00:01:09

7. CAISSE D

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Columbia comes in with a time good enough for fourth so far.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Astana is now the last team on the road. The remaining seven riders are four km from the finish.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The Astana team is about three minutes from the finish line and it looks like we'll see Lance Armstrong in yellow tonight.

 

Popo has popped.

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2km from the finish

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1km to go

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Astana finishes with six riders.... time to be confirmed...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

46: 29 I think.....

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

... it may be Cancellara who keeps yellow by a fraction of a second. Interesting.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

No question that Astana won the stage

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The gap at the start of the day was 40 seconds. Saxo Bank finished 40 seconds down... so it's a question of fractions.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Final stage result:

 

1. ASTANA, 46:29

2. GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM, at 0:18

3. TEAM SAXO BANK at 00:00:40

4. LIQUIGAS at 00:00:58

5. TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC at 00:00:59

6. TEAM KATUSHA at 00:01:23

7. CAISSE D

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And the leader of the Tour de France is....

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Fabian Cancellara. By a fag paper. More tomorrow folks.....

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

OK We are underway shoerly after a days break.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

As of this morning, the overall standings are as follows:

 

1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Saxo Bank in 15:07:49

2. Lance Armstrong (USA), Astana, same time

3. Alberto Contador (Sp), Astana, at 00:19

4. Andr

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

There are plenty of KOM points on the line today and we might see a change in the race for the polka dot jersey.

 

Currently, Finnish rider Jussi Veikkanen (Francaise des Jeux) leads that contest with nine points, three better than Tony Martin from Columbia-HTC.

 

1. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin), Francaise des Jeux, 9 points

2. Tony Martin (G), Columbia-HTC, 6 points

3. Anthony Geslin (F), Francaise des Jeux, 6 points

4. Koen De Kort (Nl), Skil-Shimano, 6 points

5. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r-La Mondiale, 5 points

 

Thus far, Veikkanen has been able to fend off challengers by having points gobbled up by teammates in breakaways, but with five climbs on the route today, that may be tough. No matter what, Veikkanen has already made Tour history by becoming the first Finnish rider to ever hold the polka-dot jersey in the history of the race.

 

As a reminder, points for climbs are awarded on today

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The official start of today's stage came at 12:55 p.m. as 177 riders hit the Zero-kilometer mark, after a trip through the neutral zone in Girona.

 

As you might already know, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) suffered a broken wrist in yesterday's stage. Despite finishing, he has withdrawn from the Tour, becoming the third rider to leave since the start in Monaco, each of whom has left due to injuries suffered in crashes along the way.