CADEL Evans admits he can't win the Tour de France this year. But he's not about to throw his Silence-Lotto towel in just yet.
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Tour de France stage nine
Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini has retained the Tour de France yellow jersey as Frenchman Pierrick...
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There's still the little matter of the 40.5km time trial on Stage 18 and scaling Mont Ventoux on the second last day of the race.
Speaking to the media on the first of two rest days at Limoges before the start of today's Stage 10, Evans said: “Facts are facts, I'm three minutes back, I would say my work is cut out for me.
“I would need a lot of luck and for the stars to align for me to be a real show.”
Evans has been a marked man from the opening prologue at the Tour and his attacks have raised the hackles of the likes of Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara and Thor Hushovd, the present green jersey wearer from the Cervolo Test Team.
Just for measure he's also had to contend with Astana and the powerhouse riding of Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer. The three have never been far away to counter any Evans attack.
“While the time gap is not small, I'm up against Astana who has probably brought the best team in many years to the Tour,” he said.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25781341-601,00.html
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tour de France Stage 10: Armstrong vs Contador Dramatic War Still Continues
Following a rest day, the 10th stage of the 2009 Tour de France got underway Tuesday in the French city of Limoges as speculation continued over the rivalry between Astana teammates Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador.
The 194.5km course includes three modest climbs and is expected to end in a mass sprint to the finish line in Issoudun, with Mark Cavendish of Britain favoured to lift his third stage win of this year's Tour.
Tuesday's race is complicated by a controversy over the decision by organizers to ban the use of radio communication between riders and their team managers for this stage and Friday's.
The move makes team tactics more unpredictable but has also led to safety concerns.
Fourteen of the 20 teams racing in the Tour have sent a letter to the sports governing body the UCI and to Tour director Christian Proudhomme protesting the radio ban.
"Suddenly we are going to go back to a situation where directors will have to ride up into the peloton to give orders to riders - that is not a good thing," Armstrong said.
But there was other controversy swirling around the Tour de France. With the decisive stages in the Alps still in the distance, speculation continued over what is turning into a sports soap opera involving the rivalry between seven-time Tour winner Armstrong and Contador, who won the title in 2007.
Only two seconds separate the two riders in the overall standings, with the 37-year-old Armstrong in third place, 8 seconds behind the leader, Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy, and Contador in second place 2 seconds ahead of Armstrong.
In a Monday press conference, Contador indirectly blamed Astana manager Johan Bruyneel for creating the tension, saying: "If my situation within the team were clear, there would not be any controversy over my relationship with Lance."
Bruyneel accorded the team leader's '1' jersey to the 26-year-old Spaniard but has repeatedly refused to declare him the undisputed leader of the team.
Tuesday's edition of the daily L'Equipe cited an anonymous Spanish rider from a rival team saying that Contador had told him that Armstrong was waging a "war of nerves" with him.
But Contador told journalists that he was relaxed. "On a sports level, this doesn't affect me at all," he said.
Armstrong admitted that "there is a little tension in the evening at dinner."
Source: http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/entertainment/2009/7/14/tour_de_france_stage_10_armstrong.htm
The 194.5km course includes three modest climbs and is expected to end in a mass sprint to the finish line in Issoudun, with Mark Cavendish of Britain favoured to lift his third stage win of this year's Tour.
Tuesday's race is complicated by a controversy over the decision by organizers to ban the use of radio communication between riders and their team managers for this stage and Friday's.
The move makes team tactics more unpredictable but has also led to safety concerns.
Fourteen of the 20 teams racing in the Tour have sent a letter to the sports governing body the UCI and to Tour director Christian Proudhomme protesting the radio ban.
"Suddenly we are going to go back to a situation where directors will have to ride up into the peloton to give orders to riders - that is not a good thing," Armstrong said.
But there was other controversy swirling around the Tour de France. With the decisive stages in the Alps still in the distance, speculation continued over what is turning into a sports soap opera involving the rivalry between seven-time Tour winner Armstrong and Contador, who won the title in 2007.
Only two seconds separate the two riders in the overall standings, with the 37-year-old Armstrong in third place, 8 seconds behind the leader, Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy, and Contador in second place 2 seconds ahead of Armstrong.
In a Monday press conference, Contador indirectly blamed Astana manager Johan Bruyneel for creating the tension, saying: "If my situation within the team were clear, there would not be any controversy over my relationship with Lance."
Bruyneel accorded the team leader's '1' jersey to the 26-year-old Spaniard but has repeatedly refused to declare him the undisputed leader of the team.
Tuesday's edition of the daily L'Equipe cited an anonymous Spanish rider from a rival team saying that Contador had told him that Armstrong was waging a "war of nerves" with him.
But Contador told journalists that he was relaxed. "On a sports level, this doesn't affect me at all," he said.
Armstrong admitted that "there is a little tension in the evening at dinner."
Source: http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/entertainment/2009/7/14/tour_de_france_stage_10_armstrong.htm
96th Tour de France - Stage 10 Live
96th Tour de France - Stage 10 LIVE TICKER (Part 1)
Happy Bastille Day. A french breakaway? Or a sprint finish?
Tour de France 2009
Stage 10 Limoges - Issoudun 194.5 km
Tuesday 14th July 2009
The Tour kicks off it's second week with what is classified as a flat stage. A glance at the profile however suggests that this may not be the whole story. The early part of the stage sees three fourth category climbs in fairly quick succession, as the route skirts the northern reaches of the Massif Central, culminating in the 465 metre high Côte de Bénévent-l'Abbaye. However, despite three days of riding in the high Pyrenees, these climbs will not pose much of a problem for the peloton, but they will act as the springboard for the obligatory Bastille Day French rider breakaway.
Source: http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=15190
tour de france stage 10: Lance Armstrong Keeps Leading
Lance Armsstong keeps the distance of the yellow jersey following the 10th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday, a 121-mile ride from Limoges to Issoudun won by British cyclist Mark Cavendish following a sprint finish over the final 200 yards.
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2009/07/14/2009-07-14_tour_10.html
Cavendish edged Thor Hushovd of Norway to collect his third stage victory, and American Tyler Farrar finished third, but the stage had little impact on the overall standings.
Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini retained the leader's yellow jersey on a flat route favoring sprinters, while Astana teammates Alberto Contador and Armstrong remain second and third in the overall standings.
Contador trails Nocentini by six seconds, while Armstrong is just eight off the lead.
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2009/07/14/2009-07-14_tour_10.html
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