THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Sanchez nabs stage 7 of the 2008 Tour de France
Caisse d'Epargne's punchy climber Luis Leon Sanchez won the seventh stage of the Tour de France on Friday, attacking the lead group several times on the run-in to Aurillac, before finally establishing a solo break in the final two kilometers.
Sanchez was followed in by Stefan Schumacher, who had hoped to score a stage win to soothe his wounds after losing the yellow jersey due to a crash in the final kilometer Thursday.
Team Columbia — including its strong men George Hincapie and Tour de Georgia winner Kanstantsin Sivtsov — dominated the stage, especially the first half when it reeled in several breaks potentially dangerous to Kim Kirchen's overall lead.
The team was assisted much of the day by Caisse d'Epargne, which had two cards to play in the finale: Sanchez and stage 1 winner Alejandro Valverde, who would like to score another stage win and remain among the GC favorites.
The ride from Brioude to Aurillac, while relatively short at 159 kilometers, featured two categorized climbs in the first half of the stage before a rugged final 70km that included the Cat. 2 climbs of Entremont and Puy Mary, followed by the Cat. 3 St. Jean de Donne hill that crested just 9km from the finish.
A fast downhill takes the course right through the historic center of Aurillac to a flat finish in the south part of town on the Avenue des Tronquieres.
The day began with a flurry of attacks that Columbia team and Caisse d'Epargne easily contained. The most dangerous and interesting early break contained Garmin's David Millar, CSC's strongman Jens Voigt and four others. Millar, who has conceded he is unlikely to grab the yellow jersey in this race, nevertheless still sat in fifth overall, 47 seconds behind Kirchen at the start of the day, and Columbia was unwilling to allow him and Voigt to get out of sight.
The group built up about a 30-second lead before Columbia drilled it to bring it back.
On the subsequent mid-race climbs, the peloton split into several groups, with a grupetto forming behind the lead bunch containing most of the favorites. Surprisingly the grupetto contained Sylvain Chavanel, wearing the polka dotted climbers jersey he took by gobbling up KOM points in a long breakaway Thursday. Fairing better were sprinters Eric Zabel and Thor Hushovd, who remained in the front group.
In front of the favorites, a pair of Saunier Duval riders, David De La Fuente, Josep Jufre (Saunier Duval), sped off on a climb about 60km from the finish, and were soon joined by Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargnge) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas).
That foursome was given a short leash by a peloton growing increasingly interested in the stage finish, and it was nearly reeled in on the final climb, which saw attacks from Thursday's stage winner Riccardo Ricco and Thursday's unfortunate yellow jersey bearer, Stefan Schumacher.
But once over the climb, the chaotic final kilometers were marked by several attacks from the elite group that was able to stay up front and over the summit and absorbed the remnants of the four-man break on the descent. Sanchez went clear with about 3k to go, was caught, then took off again a half kilometer later, ultimately crossing the line with time to raise one finger to the sky in victory.
Race Notes
The day featured several notable abandons: Christophe Moreau left the race at about KM85.
Further on another French hope, John Gadret, pulled out. It means Gadret, one of France's best climbers, failed to make it to the first real mountain stages.
Another French rider, Lilian Jegou, was forced out when he suffered a fractured wrist in a heavy crash. The Francaise des Jeux team veteran had been one of the most active riders of this Tour, figuring in several long, though ultimately unsuccessful, breakaways.
Stage Results
1. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne, 159km in 3:52:53 (40.965kph)
2. Stefan Schumacher (GER), Gerolsteiner at s.t.
3. Filippo Pozzato (ITA), Liquigas 0:06.
4. Kim Kirchen (LUX), Team Columbia 0:06.
5. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne 0:06.
6. Oscar Pereiro (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne 0:06.
7. Samuel Sanchez (ESP), Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:06.
8. Josep Jufre (ESP), Saunier Duval 0:06.
9. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle 0:06.
10. Andy Schleck (LUX), CSC 0:06.
Overall
1. Kim Kirchen (LUX), Team Columbia at 28:23:40.
2. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto at 0:06.
3. Stefan Schumacher (GER), Gerolsteiner at 0:16.
4. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle at 0:44.
5. Denis Menchov (RUS), Rabobank at 1:03.
6. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne at 1:12.
7. David Millar (GBR), Garmin-Chipotle at 1:14.
8. Stijn Devolder (BEL), Quick Step at 1:21.
9. Oscar Pereiro (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne 1:21.
10. Thomas Lovkvist (SWE), Team Columbia 1:21.
Overall Points
1. Kim Kirchen (LUX), COL at s.t.
2. Oscar Freire (ESP), RAB at 91
3. Thor Hushovd (NOR), C.A at 90
4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), GCE at 87
5. Erik Zabel (GER), MRM at 72
6. Robert Hunter (RSA), BAR at 66
7. Cadel Evans (AUS), SIL at 62
8. Riccardo Ricco (ITA), SDV at 55
9. Mark Cavendish (IDM), COL at 51
10. Romain Feillu (FRA), AGR at 49
Overall KOM
1. David De la Fuente (ESP), SDV at 28pts
2. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA), COF at 27
3. Thomas Voeckler (FRA), BTL 27
4. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP), GCE at 24
5. Riccardo Ricco (ITA), SDV at 20
6. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), GCE at 18
7. Josep Jufre (ESP), SDV 18
8. Cadel Evans (AUS), SIL at 16
9. Frank Schleck (LUX), CSC at 14
10. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), LIQ 14
Overall Team standings
1. CSC 85h13:26.
2. Columbia 2:52.
3. Caisse d'Epargne 3:29.
4. Liquigas 3:50.
5. Gerolsteiner 4:41.
6. Euskaltel 4:52.
7. Saunier Duval 6:04.
8. AG2R 6:25.
9. Barloworld 6:32.
10. Rabobank 7:32.
11. Crédit Agricole 8:56.
12. Lampre 9:28.
13. Bouygues Telecom 10:13.
14. Garmin 10:59.
15. Silence 11:27.
16. Quick Step 12:03.
17. Milram 17:09.
18. Francaise des Jeux 20:08.
19. Agritubel 29:42.
20. Cofidis 29:43.
