Tour de France 2009...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At 55km, our two leaders - Johan Vansummeren (Silence-Lotto) and Marcin Sapa (Lampre) - are holding on to a lead of 4:30. That appears to be about as much rope as the peloton is willing to give them today.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At 67km, the gap has been pulled back to 3:45.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The gap is coming down largely due to the efforts of the Columbia team, which seems intent upon delivering Cavendish to the line for another sprint win. It would be his eighth Tour de France stage win, which would tie him for the record of stage victories by a British rider.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Garmin, Columbia and Ag2r have riders at the front of the peloton. The gap at 78km is 3:08.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The race jury has ruled that the little 15-second gap from yesterday's stage has been negated. That means the GC picture has changed back to this:

 

 

1. Rinaldo Nocentini Ag2r-La Mondiale, 39:11:04

2. Alberto Contador Astana, at 0:06

3. Lance Armstrong Astana at 00:08

4. Levi Leipheimer Astana at 00:39

5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream at 00:46

6. Andr

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Sorry, missed the rest of the race due to an afternoon of meetings.....

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

12th stage of the 2009 Tour de France, a 211.5-kilometer race from Tonnerre to Vittel

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Today

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Riders are coursing through the town of Tonnerre in a long neutral zone. They are expected to reach kilometer zero at 12:40 or so.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

There are six climbs out there today, with any single rider capable of earning as many as 19 KOM points out there (3 for each of the Cat. 4 climbs and 4 for cresting the Cat. 3 at the finish). Still, Euskaltel's Egoi Martinez has a 20-point lead in that contest, so if he makes it to the finish today, he'll keep the polka-dot jersey:

 

 

1. Egoi Martinez Euskaltel - Euskadi 79 points

2. Christophe Kern Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne 59 points

3. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas 56 points

4. Brice Feillu Agritubel 49 points

5. Pierrick Fedrigo Bbox Bouygues Telecom 49 points

6. Christophe Riblon Ag2r-La Mondiale 46 points

7. Sandy Casar Francaise Des Jeux 43 points

8. Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi 38 points

9. Vladimir Efimkin Ag2r-La Mondiale 35 points

10. Rinaldo Nocentini Ag2r-La Mondiale 34 points

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

As you can see we still have a tight contest for the Green Points Jersey.

 

1. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia - Htc 176 points

2. Thor Hushovd Cervelo Test Team 169 points

3. Joaquin Rojas Jose Caisse D

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Today's route - despite its bumpy profile - is classified as a flat stage for purposes of points distribution at the finish line. That means the first 25 riders will receive points based on the following formula:

35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.

 

There are also three intermediate sprints, at which riders can earn 6, 4 and 2 points for being among the first three across the line at those points.

 

Those sprints are at:

 

Channes - 32km

Longchamp Sur Aujon - 90km

St. Thiebault - 169km

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Of course the big prize of the Tour is the yellow jersey contest. While that race is tight, it's unlikely that today's stage will have much impact on those standings. We'd have to predict that Nocentini will still be in yellow by day's end.

 

 

1. Rinaldo Nocentini (I), Ag2r-La Mondiale in 43:28:59

2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Astana, at 0:06

3. Lance Armstrong (USA), Astana, at 00:08

4. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana, at 00:39

5. Bradley Wiggins (GB), Garmin-Slipstream, at 00:46

6. Andr

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

There are 170 riders in the peloton today. The pace has been quite high since the peloton hit KM-0 at 12:42. They have already covered 12km, meaning that they've been cruising at about 51kph.

 

There have been no successful breaks - which ain't all that surprising. You try to hold a gap with 169 guys coming up behind you at 51kph.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At 13.5km, the peloton is still moving along at a high rate of speed. They are now approaching the day's first climb, the Category 4 C

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The race has reached the top of the C

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At 21km, we have three riders off the front.

The climb gave them a springboard. Let's see of they can hold it.

The KOM points were awarded as follows:

1. David Millar (GB), Garmin, 3pts

2. Daniel Bennati (I), Liquigas, 2pts

3. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 1pt.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Millar and his two Liquigas companions have been caught. The peloton is back together and approaching the 26km mark. Even with the climb, they've been averaging a brisk 48kph.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Keep in mind that there is an intermediate sprint in Channes at 32km. Let's see if Cav', Hushovd and others contest it, or if they send teammates up the road to snag the points - and, of course, deny them to the competition.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

And the peloton has come through the sprint at Channes