2009 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Encyclopedia
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...
, with Stage 12 on July 16 and Stage 21 on July 26.
Stages
- s.t. indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
Stage 12
16 July 2009 – TonnerreTonnerre
Tonnerre is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.-Twin town:* Nenagh, North Tipperary, Ireland-References:*...
to Vittel
Vittel
Vittel is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the Vittel brand.-History:...
, 200 km
This was considered a flat stage, but had six hills that contributed points towards the climbers' competition. After some unsuccessful attempts at breakaways early in the stage, after 64 km Laurent Lefèvre
Laurent Lefèvre
Laurent Lefèvre is a French former professional road bicycle racer, last for UCI Professional Continental team...
started a breakaway. He was followed by the leader in the polka dot jersey
Polka dot jersey
The Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...
category, Egoi Martínez
Egoi Martínez
Egoi Martínez de Esteban is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Euskaltel-Euskadi. In his first Tour de France, Martínez finished 41st overall at the 2004 Tour de France....
, and the third-placed rider in that category, Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....
, along with Sylvain Calzati
Sylvain Calzati
Sylvain Calzati is a French road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team Bretagne-Schuller. He turned professional during the year 2003 with Team Barloworld. His biggest success is winning the 8th Stage in the 2006 Tour de France. He also won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2004. He currently...
, Markus Fothen
Markus Fothen
Markus Fothen is a German road racing cyclist, currently riding for the German continental team NSP.In 2003 Fothen won the under-23 World Championship time trial in Hamilton, Canada. He completed the 30.8 km course in 38:35.29, beating his nearest rival by nearly 20 seconds...
, and Rémi Pauriol
Rémi Pauriol
Rémi Pauriol is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team . In 2007, he won the French race Route Adélie.-Palmares:2006 – Crédit Agricole...
. Ten km later, they were joined by Nicki Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen is a Danish professional road bicycle racer currently riding for . He has competed in five consecutive editions of the Tour de France from 2001 to 2005, riding as an all-round rider who rides well in hilly terrain, Sørensen is a valued support for the team captain without many wins...
.
The peloton was led by Nocentini's team, with no effort made by the teams of the sprinters to chase down the escape group. The lead held by the escape group increased over the last 40 km, from less than four minutes to over six. With 22 km remaining, Sørensen launched an attack with only Calzati joining him. At 5.5 km, he again attacked, dropping Calzati and remaining clear to win the stage by 48 seconds.
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
had said that he was interested in earning stage wins rather than pursuing the points jersey. However, he increased his lead in that competition by taking points at the first intermediate sprint of the day and leading the peloton home.
Potential GC contenders Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
and Cadel Evans
Cadel Evans
Cadel Lee Evans is an Australian professional racing cyclist and winner of the 2011 Tour de France. Early in his career, Evans was a champion mountain biker, winning the World Cup in 1998 and 1999 and placing seventh in the men's cross-country mountain bike race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in...
were involved in a fall in the closing stages of the race, but as the incident was within the last 3 km they were credited with the same time as the rest of the peloton. But before stage 13, Leipheimer would abandon the race due to a broken wrist.
b>Stage 12 Result
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b>General Classification after Stage 12
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Stage 13
17 July 2009 – VittelVittel
Vittel is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the Vittel brand.-History:...
to Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
, 200 km
This was a medium-mountain stage, with five categorized climbs, including one first category mountain, the Col du Platzerwasel. Christophe Moreau
Christophe Moreau
Christophe Moreau is a French former professional road racing cyclist. For many years Moreau was the primary French contender for the general classification in the Tour de France: he finished in the top 12 in the GC five times and finished the race as best Frenchman in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005...
launched an attack after just 3 km, and was joined by Juan Manuel Gárate
Juan Manuel Gárate
Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He currently rides for the Rabobank team. He is perceived to be a climbing specialist, and to date his greatest achievements have been in the Giro d'Italia, where he placed fourth overall in 2002, fifth overall in 2005 and won...
, Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Voigt is known for his propensity to attack, and for his positive racing attitude. He is capable of repeated attacking, holding a high tempo, and breaking away from the peloton...
, Rigoberto Urán
Rigoberto Urán
Rigoberto Urán Urán is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .-Early life:Urán's first cycling race was at the age of 14, three months before his father was accidentally killed in a gunfight related to the drug war in Colombia...
, Heinrich Haussler
Heinrich Haussler
Heinrich Haussler is an Australian road racing cyclist with German heritage. Haussler races for UCI ProTeam .-Early life:...
, Sylvain Chavanel
Sylvain Chavanel
Sylvain Chavanel Albira is a French professional road bicycle racer. His brother Sébastien Chavanel is also a cyclist.Chavanel started his professional career in 2000 with Jean-René Bernaudeau's team Bonjour, which became Brioches La Boulangère in 2003...
and Rubén Pérez
Rubén Pérez
Rubén Pérez Moreno is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team Euskaltel-Euskadi....
. These last three moved away from the rest of the escape on the descent from the first climb, and while the rest of the escapees returned to the peloton, the lead trio gained an advantage of 9'10" on the second climb. Pérez was dropped on the climb of the day's highest mountain, and Haussler dropped Chavanel on its descent, and rode the last 50 km alone to win the stage more than 6½ minutes ahead of the peloton. A late attack by Amets Txurruka
Amets Txurruka
Amets Txurruka Ansola is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team ....
and Brice Feillu
Brice Feillu
Brice Feillu is a French road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam . He is the younger brother of Romain Feillu, who is also a road racing cyclist...
allowed the former to gain several minutes on the peloton, but Feillu, only 4'26" behind the yellow jersey at the start of the day failed to keep pace with his fellow escaper, and once it was clear that he would not make a serious challenge to the overall leadership, the peloton eased its chase, and riders who had become detached from the elite group were able to rejoin the peloton, including Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding . He has signed for from 2012 onwards. He is known for sprinting and time trialing and is the 2010 Norwegian and world road champion. He is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road...
who took enough points in the final placings to regain the green jersey. Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....
took points on three of the five climbs, thus gaining enough points to assume leadership of the King of the Mountains
King of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...
classification. Simon Špilak
Simon Špilak
Simon Špilak is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .-Palmares:2004...
finished the stage alone more than ¾ hour behind Haussler, but the Tour officials acknowledged that he had been delayed by errors in re-opening the roads to the public earlier than should have been done, and that this contributed to his late finish, and so he was not eliminated. Oscar Freire
Óscar Freire
Óscar Freire Gómez is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, riding for the UCI ProTeam Rabobank. He is one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship a three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx...
and Julian Dean
Julian Dean
Julian Dean is a road racing cyclist who rides for . Dean rode in the 2008 Tour de France, 2007 Tour de France, 2006 Tour de France and the 2004 Tour de France, finishing all four times. In 2008, he finished 9th in the points classification...
were both hit by pellet
Pellet (air gun)
An air gun pellet is, for the most part, a non-spherical projectile designed to be fired from an air gun. But this is not always the case.Pellets differ from bullets used in firearms because of the pressures encountered; firearms operate at pressures of thousands of atmospheres, while airguns...
s fired from an air gun
Air gun
An air gun is a rifle , pistol , or shotgun that fires projectiles by means of compressed air or other gas, in contrast to a firearm, which burns a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition. Air guns that only use plastic projectiles are classified as airsoft...
during the stage, but were able to continue on the Tour.
b>Stage 13 Result
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b>General Classification after Stage 13
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Stage 14
18 July 2009 – ColmarColmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
to Besançon
Besançon
Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
, 199 km
This was a relatively flat stage, with a category 3 climb either side of the halfway point. A woman was killed and two other spectators injured when they were hit by a police motorcycle in Wittelsheim
Wittelsheim
Wittelsheim is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, the first fatality connected to the Tour since 2002.
A fourteen man break, initiated after 14 km, by Martijn Maaskant
Martijn Maaskant
Martijn Maaskant is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist currently riding for . Garmin's directeur sportif, Jonathan Vaughters was able to lure Maaskant to his team away from Dutch UCI ProTour team Rabobank...
dominated the day's racing. The group was reduced to 12 as Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
made a tactical decision to return to the peloton, and Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Voigt is known for his propensity to attack, and for his positive racing attitude. He is capable of repeated attacking, holding a high tempo, and breaking away from the peloton...
had a puncture inefficiently repaired by the neutral service vehicle, but otherwise remained clear, with a lead that reached nearly nine minutes. Among the escapees were George Hincapie
George Hincapie
George Hincapié Garcés is an American professional road bicycle racer currently riding for UCI ProTeam . Hincapie resides in Greenville, South Carolina...
, who started the day in 28th place, 5'25" behind the leader, and Christophe Le Mével
Christophe Le Mevel
Christophe Le Mével is a French road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam . He signed with them for the 2011 season, after they sought to add a leading French rider to their roster.-Palmares:...
, two places and 38 seconds further back. The team of the yellow jersey wearer Rinaldo Nocentini
Rinaldo Nocentini
Rinaldo Nocentini is an Italian racing cyclist with UCI ProTour team .In the 2009 Tour de France, his first participation in the race, he became leader in the General Classification after participating in a stage-long breakaway on stage 7 to take the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara with an...
seemed to be unwilling or unable to defend his overall lead, and the pace of the peloton was dictated for most of the stage by , and in the latter stages by . As it became clear that day's winner would come from among the group, there were several attacks, of which the effort by Sergei Ivanov with 11 km remaining was decisive. He won the stage by 16 seconds, with the peloton recovering enough time to preserve Nocentini's tenure of the yellow jersey by 5 seconds. It was suggested that Garmin's role in preventing Hincapie gaining the overall lead was influenced by their rivalry with his , but this was denied.
Green jersey rivals Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
and Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding . He has signed for from 2012 onwards. He is known for sprinting and time trialing and is the 2010 Norwegian and world road champion. He is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road...
were in a hotly contested sprint at the head of the peloton, and although Cavendish finished ahead, he was later relegated to the last position in the peloton for "irregular sprinting", specifically maneuvering Hushovd toward a barricade in the final 300 meters, with a net loss of 14 points to his Norwegian rival.
b>Stage 14 Result
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b>General Classification after Stage 14
|
Stage 15
Pontarlier
Pontarlier is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-History:...
to Verbier
Verbier
Verbier is a village located in southwestern Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is one of the largest holiday resort and ski areas in the Swiss Alps, is recognized as one of the premiere "off-piste" locations in the world...
(Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), 207 km
The Tour reached the Alps, with four third category climbs in the first half of the stage, and the second half featuring the second category climb on the Col des Mosses
Col des Mosses
Col des Mosses is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps at Les Mosses in the canton of Vaud, linking Aigle to Château-d'Œx.The Alpine Pass Route hiking trail passes through Col des Mosses on the way to Montreux.-See also:...
(1,445 m elevation) and the race's second mountaintop finish at Verbier in Switzerland, at about the same elevation. Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who won the 2005 World Road Race Championship. He is a member of the team, and is considered a single-day road race specialist with a strong finishing sprint...
did not start the stage, and Vladimir Efimkin
Vladimir Efimkin
Vladimir Alexandrovich Efimkin is a Russian professional road bicycle racer, who as of 2011 rides along his twin brother Alexander Efimkin on...
, who started in the top 20 overall, withdrew about halfway through the stage. Several early attacks failed to get any lasting gap ahead of the peloton, although they did allow Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....
to increase his lead in the climbers' competition. The longest lasting escape of the day took place after 40 km, and had a number of changes of personnel before it settled to a body of ten riders, including Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau is a Basque professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .In 2003 he won his first race, when he finished just in front of Lennie Kristensen in the overall rankings of the Tour Down Under...
who was 18th overall, 3'02" behind the leader, at the beginning of the day, and who was "virtual leader" until the last 40 km. Rinaldo Nocentini
Rinaldo Nocentini
Rinaldo Nocentini is an Italian racing cyclist with UCI ProTour team .In the 2009 Tour de France, his first participation in the race, he became leader in the General Classification after participating in a stage-long breakaway on stage 7 to take the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara with an...
's team made little effort to defend his position as overall leader, and the and teams dominated the chase to the bottom of the climb to Verbier. The breakaway was overhauled by most of the contenders for a high overall placing, with Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...
the most notable absentee from the selection, Simon Špilak
Simon Špilak
Simon Špilak is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .-Palmares:2004...
having survived for longest. As on the climb to Arcalis, Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
made a telling attack on the elite group, this time with 6 km remaining, and only Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
went in pursuit. Contador continued to increase his lead all the way to the line, winning both the stage and the yellow jersey. Andy Schleck came in second and took over the white jersey from Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
after 13 stages.
tage 15 Result
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eneral Classification after Stage 15
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Rest day
20 July 2009 – VerbierVerbier
Verbier is a village located in southwestern Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is one of the largest holiday resort and ski areas in the Swiss Alps, is recognized as one of the premiere "off-piste" locations in the world...
(Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
)
The second rest day takes place where the previous day's stage ended.
Stage 16
21 July 2009 – Martigny (SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) to Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Bourg-Saint-Maurice, popularly known as Bourg, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is the last large town along the Tarentaise valley in the heart of the French Alps.-History:...
, 160 km
The return to racing after the second rest day featured two long climbs and their descents: the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard , the highest point in this year's Tour at 2,473 meters, and the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard, at which stage the race returned to France. An early break initiated by Maxime Bouet
Maxime Bouet
Maxime Bouet is a French road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTour team . He caused some controversy on the second stage of the Tour de France 2010 by stealing a bike length on the Peloton's attempt to all finish at the same time...
grew to 26 members, and mountains classifications challengers Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....
and Egoi Martínez
Egoi Martínez
Egoi Martínez de Esteban is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Euskaltel-Euskadi. In his first Tour de France, Martínez finished 41st overall at the 2004 Tour de France....
, along with Vladimir Karpets
Vladimir Karpets
Vladimir Alexandrovich Karpets is a Russian road bicycle racer currently riding for UCI ProTeam , most notable for winning the white jersey for best young rider in the 2004 Tour de France. Karpets is a two-time Olympian. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Karpets competed in the men's team pursuit and...
moved clear of the group as they approached the first climb. Martínez could not stay with the other two escapees, and Pellizotti took maximum points over the pass. In the long flat passage between both passes, the two leaders were caught by the large group and together started the last climb. Just before the top of this second climb, Pellizotti and Jurgen Van Den Broeck
Jurgen Van Den Broeck
Jurgen Van Den Broeck is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He specializes in the time trial, having been Junior World Champion in time trialing...
who had been leading the climb, were joined by Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau is a Basque professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .In 2003 he won his first race, when he finished just in front of Lennie Kristensen in the overall rankings of the Tour Down Under...
and Amaël Moinard
Amaël Moinard
Amaël Moinard is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .- Palmares :2006...
. Four further escapees also remained ahead of the favourites, but among that group an attack by Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
caused an elite group in which he was joined by his brother Fränk Schleck
Fränk Schleck
Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...
, Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
, Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE is a British professional track and road bicycle racer, currently riding for Team Sky. Wiggins' career began on the track, where he specialised in the pursuit and madison disciplines....
, Vincenzo Nibali
Vincenzo Nibali
Vincenzo Nibali is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who rides UCI ProTeam . Born near the Strait of Messina, Nibali's nickname is the "shark of the strait" or simply "the shark." His first major win came at the 2006 GP Ouest-France, where he beat an impressive field on a tough course...
and Andreas Klöden
Andreas Klöden
Andreas Klöden is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and second place in the 2004 Tour de France and 2006 Tour de France...
. Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
led a response, and there was no lasting split among the GC contenders apart from Cadel Evans
Cadel Evans
Cadel Lee Evans is an Australian professional racing cyclist and winner of the 2011 Tour de France. Early in his career, Evans was a champion mountain biker, winning the World Cup in 1998 and 1999 and placing seventh in the men's cross-country mountain bike race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in...
, who failed to stay with the yellow jersey group. Pellizotti again led over the top of the climb, and in the approach to the finishing town, Astarloza broke clear with 2 km remaining to win the stage, as the four chasers caught the remnants of the lead group. Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Voigt is known for his propensity to attack, and for his positive racing attitude. He is capable of repeated attacking, holding a high tempo, and breaking away from the peloton...
fell hard while descending the col du Petit-Saint-Bernard with the group of the yellow jersey, he fractured his right cheekbone and suffered a concussion, and had to abandon the Tour. However, five days after the Tour finished the UCI announced that that initial stage winner Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza
Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau is a Basque professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .In 2003 he won his first race, when he finished just in front of Lennie Kristensen in the overall rankings of the Tour Down Under...
tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test on June 26, eight days before the race started. Astarloza was removed from the results, and the stage win transferred to Sandy Casar
Sandy Casar
Sandy Casar is a French professional racing cyclist.Casar turned professional in 2000 after riding for Jean Floch-Mantes as an amateur. As a professional he has always ridden for FDJ.Severo...
.
b>Stage 16 Result
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b>General Classification after Stage 16
|
Stage 17
22 July 2009 – Bourg-Saint-MauriceBourg-Saint-Maurice
Bourg-Saint-Maurice, popularly known as Bourg, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is the last large town along the Tarentaise valley in the heart of the French Alps.-History:...
to Le Grand-Bornand
Le Grand-Bornand
Le Grand-Bornand is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The commune is a ski resort and owes its name to the river which runs through it...
, 169 km
This stage had five categorized climbs on it, including four category 1 climbs, and was regarded the queen stage of this year's Tour. The first three quarters of the stage were dominated by the consolidation of the lead in both the climbers' and sprinters' competitions. A group of 20, led by Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....
, crossed the first hill, Cormet de Roselend
Cormet de Roselend
Cormet de Roselend is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Savoie in France.It connects Beaufort in the Beaufortain valley and Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the Tarentaise Valley...
, before being closed down and passed by green jersey
Green jersey
The green jersey is a term used in road bicycle racing and Grand Tour stage races in particular. The green jersey is a distinctive racing jersey worn by the leader in a subsidiary competition....
holder, Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding . He has signed for from 2012 onwards. He is known for sprinting and time trialing and is the 2010 Norwegian and world road champion. He is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road...
. He remained in a solo lead for more than 80 km (49.7 mi), climbing two categorised mountains alone (Col des Saisies
Col des Saisies
Col des Saisies is a mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Savoie in France.The pass is delimited by the peak of Bisanne to the west, and by the peaks of Légette and Chard du Beurre to the east....
and Côte d'Araches) in order to gain maximum points at the intermediate sprints. Pellizotti was the first of the following group over the hills, gaining maximum of the remaining climber's points. On the second last mountain, the Col de Romme, a series of attacks by Andy
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
and Fränk Schleck
Fränk Schleck
Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...
overhauled the breakaway group, and left the Luxembourgian brothers in a lead group with yellow jersey
Yellow jersey
The general classification in the Tour de France is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey .-History:...
holder Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
and his Astana team-mate Andreas Klöden
Andreas Klöden
Andreas Klöden is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and second place in the 2004 Tour de France and 2006 Tour de France...
. An attempted breakaway by Contador succeeded only in dropping Klöden, and the leading trio continued to extend their lead over Col de la Colombière
Col de la Colombière
Col de la Colombière is a mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Haute-Savoie in France.It connects Cluses in the Arve valley with Le Grand-Bornand in the Borne valley...
to the finish line, where the older Schleck brother, Fränk, was allowed to take the stage win. Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
and Vincenzo Nibali
Vincenzo Nibali
Vincenzo Nibali is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who rides UCI ProTeam . Born near the Strait of Messina, Nibali's nickname is the "shark of the strait" or simply "the shark." His first major win came at the 2006 GP Ouest-France, where he beat an impressive field on a tough course...
overtook Klöden in the closing kilometre, finishing more than two minutes behind the first three finishers, who took the top three places in the overall classification.
tage 17 Result
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eneral Classification after Stage 17
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Stage 18
23 July 2009 – AnnecyAnnecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
, 40 km (ITT
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
)
The final time trial was held earlier in the race than is usual, and was not, as it had been for many years previously, the last stage which is competitive in terms of the overall classification. It followed a 40.5 km route around Lake Annecy
Lake Annecy
Lake Annecy is a perialpine lake in Haute-Savoie in France .It is the second largest lake in France, after the Lac du Bourget, if the French part of Lake Geneva is excluded. It is known as "Europe's cleanest lake" because of strict environmental regulations introduced in the 1960s...
, on a course that was mainly flat, with a 270 m hill approximately ¾ around the course.
The riders set off in reverse order of their standing in the general classification, and the 19th rider to start, Mikhail Ignatiev set fastest times at all the intermediate checkpoints, and at the finish, that stood until Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
, starting 58 riders later, bettered his times at the last checkpoint and, more importantly, at the finish line. Cancellara's finishing time, and Ignatiev's intermediate times were unchallenged until the last few riders were on the course, by which time there had been a rain shower and the wind speed had increased. Both Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE is a British professional track and road bicycle racer, currently riding for Team Sky. Wiggins' career began on the track, where he specialised in the pursuit and madison disciplines....
and Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
beat Cancellara's times at the top of the climb, and the earlier checkpoints, but lost time relative to the Swiss rider over the last part of the course. Wiggins lost 55 seconds to Cancellara in the last 12 km, and ended sixth on the stage, while Contador lost 49 seconds to him over the same distance, but still retained a three second advantage to win the stage.
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
conceded 1'45" to Contador in coming 21st on the stage, but retained his second place overall, while Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
, 16th on the stage, moved up to third overall, with an 11 second advantage over Wiggins.
b>Stage 18 Result
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b>General Classification after Stage 18
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Stage 19
24 July 2009 – Bourgoin-JallieuBourgoin-Jallieu
Bourgoin-Jallieu is a commune in the Isère department of south-eastern France.It lies 35 kilometres to the east-southeast of the city of Lyon. Its inhabitants are called Berjalliens.-Geography:...
to Aubenas
Aubenas
Aubenas is a commune in the southern part of the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France.It is the seat of several government offices...
, 195 km
This was a largely flat stage, but featured a category 2 climb 16 km from the finish. A twenty-rider breakaway after 9 km never gained more than three minutes advantage over a peloton paced by and , and an attack by Leonardo Duque
Leonardo Duque
Leonardo Fabio Duque is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist. After stage 19 of the 2009 Tour de France, Duque was named the most combative rider of the stage after aggressively pacing a breakaway....
after 110 km reduced the group to five, his companions being José Luis Arrieta
José Luis Arrieta
José Luis Arrieta Lujambio is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He last rode for UCI ProTour team . He is now a sporting director for , the same franchise for which he rode earlier in his career when it was known as .Arrieta was a devoted domestique for Miguel Indurain...
, Iván Gutiérrez
Iván Gutiérrez
José Iván Gutiérrez Palacios is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He was Spanish Road national champion, three time Spanish time trial champion and won a silver medal in the 2005 Time Trial World Championships...
, David Millar
David Millar
David Millar is a British road racing cyclist riding for . He has won three stages of the Tour de France, two of the Vuelta a España and one Stage of the Giro d'Italia. He was the British national road champion and the national time trial champion, both in 2007...
and Yaroslav Popovych
Yaroslav Popovych
Yaroslav Popovych is a Ukrainian cyclist with the UCI ProTour team . He was born in Drohobych, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. Under-23 road race champion in 2001, Popovych turned professional in 2002 with , where he performed particularly strongly in the Giro d'Italia, finishing third in 2003...
. This smaller group stayed away from a chase group of about 40 riders that included all but one of the top 20 in the general classification, and some of the top sprinters in the race, for a further 35 km, but were caught before the final climb started in earnest. Near the top of that climb, Laurent Lefèvre
Laurent Lefèvre
Laurent Lefèvre is a French former professional road bicycle racer, last for UCI Professional Continental team...
and world champion Alessandro Ballan
Alessandro Ballan
Alessandro Ballan is an Italian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team , and is a former world champion. Although he possesses a frame that is usually more associated with climbing, Ballan has established himself as a leading spring classics contender in recent years...
attempted a breakaway, but they were chased down by , whose sprinter Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
again took the stage victory. A split in the group as it crossed the line meant that Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
gained four seconds over the rest of the contenders for a place on the final podium in Paris.
tage 19 Result
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eneral Classification after Stage 19
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Stage 20
25 July 2009 – MontélimarMontélimar
Montélimar is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It is the second-largest town in the department after Valence.-History:...
to Mont Ventoux
Mont Ventoux
Mont Ventoux is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20 km northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the Drôme département. It is the largest mountain in the region and has been nicknamed the "Giant of Provence", or "The Bald...
, 167 km
This was the first time the Tour had had a mountain stage on its second-to-last day. The early stages, which included four categorised climbs, saw a group of 16 riders build a lead in excess of 10'30" before started to limit their gains. Under pressure from , the chase group was reduced to 24 men, including the top 12 in the overall standings, when it reached the bottom of the final climb of the tour 4'05" behind the leaders. Juan Manuel Gárate
Juan Manuel Gárate
Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He currently rides for the Rabobank team. He is perceived to be a climbing specialist, and to date his greatest achievements have been in the Giro d'Italia, where he placed fourth overall in 2002, fifth overall in 2005 and won...
triggered the disintegration of the lead group by attacking on the lower slopes, with only Tony Martin
Tony Martin (cyclist)
Tony Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam . Martin is known as a time trial specialist: in 2011, he won a time trial stage in the Tour de France and in the Vuelta a España, and became world champion...
able to stay with him for long. The yellow jersey group passed many of the members of the earlier escape as it climbed, but the seven riders who had any ambition of comprising the top three in Paris remained together for most of the climb. Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
attempted a number of attacks, but as they neither allowed him to escape from Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
, nor assisted Fränk Schleck
Fränk Schleck
Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...
to move clear of Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
in his ambition to gain third place overall, he did not persist with them. Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....
, who already had an unassailable lead in the King of the Mountains
King of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...
category, caught and passed the yellow jersey group in pursuit of Martin and Gárate. Among the elite group, which had been joined by Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger
Roman Kreuziger is a Czech professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Kreuziger is an all-rounder, with climbing and time trial abilities, becoming a contender for the General Classification of stage races...
in a bid to get into the top ten in general classification, the first to lose contact was Andreas Klöden
Andreas Klöden
Andreas Klöden is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and second place in the 2004 Tour de France and 2006 Tour de France...
, and with 2 km remaining Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE is a British professional track and road bicycle racer, currently riding for Team Sky. Wiggins' career began on the track, where he specialised in the pursuit and madison disciplines....
became detached from the group. Gárate attacked Martin twice in the closing stages, and although the German was able to catch-up twice, the Spaniard moved clear in the last 200m to win the stage. Pellizotti was caught by the yellow jersey group in the last 200m, and although Armstrong increased his lead over Wiggins, Fränk Schleck's margin over the British rider at the line was not enough to overtake him for fourth place overall.
b>Stage 20 Result
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b>General Classification after Stage 20
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Stage 21
26 July 2009 – Montereau-Fault-YonneMontereau-Fault-Yonne
Montereau-Fault-Yonne, or simply Montereau, is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-Name:...
to Paris Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
, 160 km
The 2009 Tour ended, as it had for the previous 34 years, on the Champs-Élysées. The pace was casual in the early part of the stage, marked more by photo opportunities for the category leaders, but the pace increased once the race reached central Paris. On the first of seven circuits of the Champs-Élysées, a seven rider escape moved clear, consisting of Jussi Veikkanen
Jussi Veikkanen
Jussi Veikkanen is a Finnish road racing cyclist. He started his career with team Mälarenergi and he became a professional cyclist in 2005 with FDJ. After a long breakaway on stage 2 of the 2009 Tour de France he donned the Polka Dot Jersey for king of the mountains...
, Arnaud Coyot
Arnaud Coyot
Arnaud Coyot is a French road bicycle racer on the team, who has been a professional since 2003. He has 2 race victories, and finished in tenth place in the 2005 Paris–Roubaix race, and tenth place in the 14th stage of the 2006 Tour de France.- Palmares :* Classic Haribo * GP EOS Tallinn...
, Samuel Dumoulin
Samuel Dumoulin
Samuel Dumoulin is a French professional road bicycle racer who rides for Cofidis.-Amateur career:Dumoulin rode as an amateur for the TCCT . He won the national youth championship in 1996, then the éspoir Paris–Tours and Paris-Auxerre in 2001. He turned professional in 2002 for Jean Delatour...
, Alexandre Pichot
Alexandre Pichot
Alexandre Pichot is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team .- Palmares :200920072003- External links :*...
, Carlos Barredo
Carlos Barredo
Carlos Barredo Llamazales is a Spanish road racing cyclist with UCI ProTeam . He was issued a suspension for the first two months of the 2011 season in response to a fight with Rui Costa after a 2010 Tour de France stage, with Barredo claiming that Costa had ridden dangerously in the final stages...
, Fabian Wegmann
Fabian Wegmann
Fabian Wegmann is a German road racing cyclist, known as a climbing specialist. He is currently riding for UCI ProTeam ....
and Fumiyuki Beppu
Fumiyuki Beppu
Fumiyuki Beppu is a Japanese professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His older brother is the cyclist Takumi Beppu.-Team Discovery :Beppu turned professional with in 2005, and stayed with them until 2007....
. The breakaway nullified the intermediate sprints as part of the only unresolved contest, the green jersey
Green jersey
The green jersey is a term used in road bicycle racing and Grand Tour stage races in particular. The green jersey is a distinctive racing jersey worn by the leader in a subsidiary competition....
category. The last three escapees, Veikkanen, Wegmann and Beppu, were caught shortly after the start of the last circuit. Although the team attempted to get ahead of the lead out, Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
won the sprint, his sixth stage of the Tour, with several metres to spare, with his lead-out man Mark Renshaw second. Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding . He has signed for from 2012 onwards. He is known for sprinting and time trialing and is the 2010 Norwegian and world road champion. He is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road...
, by finishing sixth, took enough points to secure the points competition, and the other riders finished in the group to confirm their positions and awards.
tage 21 Result
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inal General Classification
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