2009 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11
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 1 on July 4 and Stage 11 on July 15.
Stage 1
4 July 2009 - MonacoMonaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, 15.5 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 2009 Tour began, as have many in the past, with an individual time trial, but instead of a very brief prologue, this 15 kilometer ride saw the race's overall favorites show themselves on day one. The favourite for the stage, 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...
, won with 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...
coming in second. Time-trial specialist 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....
came third.
Stage 1 Result
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General Classification after Stage 1
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Stage 2
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
to Brignoles
Brignoles
Brignoles is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.It was the summer residence of the counts of Provence...
, 182 km
This stage was largely flat, but had one third category, and three fourth category, climbs in its first 129km, and most of the last 15km was downhill. A four man breakaway (Stéphane Augé
Stéphane Augé
Stéphane Augé is a French former road racing cyclist. He is currently a sporting director for UCI Professional Continental team...
, Stef Clement
Stef Clement
Stef Clement is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Rabobank. He specializes in the time trial, in which discipline he is the reigning Dutch national champion. He also won the bronze medal at the Time Trial of the 2007 UCI Road World Championships.- Palmarès :20032005...
, Cyril Dessel
Cyril Dessel
Cyril Dessel is a French professional road racing cyclist for on the UCI ProTour. He made his professional debut in 2000.In 2006, he won the Tour Méditerranéen on the UCI Europe Tour...
and 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...
) held a maximum advantage of some 5 minutes, but they were caught with 10 km remaining, initially by Mikhail Ignatiev, and shortly after by the rest of the peloton. Ignatiev was caught with 5 km left, and some of the riders shaping to contest the sprint were disrupted by a crash and a missed turn in the last kilometre, allowing 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...
a clear win.
Stage 2 Result
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General Classification after Stage 2
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Stage 3
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
to La Grande-Motte
La Grande-Motte
La Grande-Motte is a commune in the Hérault département in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. It is a popular seaside resort and port, built in the 1960s and 1970s on a greenfield site, La Grande-Motte is characterized by a homogeneous architecture, the most visible are the buildings in the...
, 196 km
Stage 3 was another flat stage, with a finish on the waterfront at La Grande-Motte. Like in stage 2, a four-man breakaway formed, this time consisting of 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...
, Koen de Kort
Koen de Kort
Koen de Kort is a Dutch professional cyclist. He grew up in Liempde in Noord Brabant. From 2002 to 2004, he was in the development team of the Rabobank cycling team. De Kort had a promising amateur career with wins in the Under 23 version of Paris–Roubaix...
, 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...
and Rubén Pérez
Rubén Pérez
Rubén Pérez Moreno is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team Euskaltel-Euskadi....
. They held a maximum advantage of about 13 minutes and were caught with a little less than 30 kilometres to go by a first group who had separated themselves from the rest of the peloton as a result of accelerating in the presence of strong winds near the coastline. The group contained 28 riders, including leader 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...
, 7-time winner 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 the whole Team Columbia-HTC. After a sprint, 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...
finished first. Several of the favorites and riders classified in the top 10, such as 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...
, 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...
, Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...
, the Schleck brothers, 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 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....
, were not present in this group and were 41 seconds behind at the finish.
Stage 3 Result
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General Classification after Stage 3
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Stage 4
7 July 2009 - MontpellierMontpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, 38 km (TTT
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...
)
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...
in the Tour since 2005. Riders finishing with the first five members of their team all received the same time: riders who became isolated from their team recorded an individual time. The time trial was won by , beating , who rode about half the race with only 5 riders left, by 18 seconds. 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...
and took 40 seconds longer than Astana, Cancellara thus having the same overall time as 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...
but retaining the yellow jersey by virtue of the fractions of a second recorded in the opening time trial.
After the race, some riders complained that the course was too dangerous and that this course was unworthy of a major race like this. During the race several riders had indeed crashed, amongst them 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...
, 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...
, Bingen Fernández
Bingen Fernández
Bingen Fernández Bustinza is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for . He became a sporting director in 2010, for .- Palmares :* Tirreno–Adriatico - 13th...
, 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...
, 4 riders of and also Piet Rooijakkers
Piet Rooijakkers
Piet Rooijakkers is a road bicycle racer from the Netherlands. He retired after the 2010 season after his previous team did not offer him a contract extension.-Biography:...
. Rooijakkers fractured his arm and was rushed off to a hospital, ending his tour.
Stage 4 Result
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General Classification after Stage 4
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Stage 5
8 July 2009 - Le Cap d'AgdeCap d'Agde
Cap d'Agde is the seaside resort of the town of Agde, France, on the Mediterranean sea in the département of Hérault, within the région of Languedoc-Roussillon. Agde can be reached by TGV SNCF train direct from Paris or Lille whilst the closest airports are Béziers-Cap d'Agde en Languedoc, with...
to Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
, 197 km
The Tour visited Cap d'Agde for only the second time ever, as the early Tour flat stages continued. Perpignan, on the other hand, is a traditional city for the Tour to visit, thought to symbolically indicate the Tour's entrance to (or exit from, in "counter-clockwise" years) the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
. A six rider breakaway, consisting of Anthony Geslin
Anthony Geslin
Anthony Geslin is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team .He was born in Alençon and became a professional in 2002, when he signed with the Bonjour team...
, Yauheni Hutarovich
Yauheni Hutarovich
Yauheni Hutarovich is a Belarusian road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team .In the 2009 Tour de France, Hutarovich was the lanterne rouge, or the last placed overall rider in the general classification ....
, Mikhail Ignatiev, Marcin Sapa
Marcin Sapa
Marcin Sapa is a Polish road bicycle racer, who is currently not under contract to any team. He turned professional in 2000 and raced with smaller teams including DHL-Author before joining .-Palmares:20072008**...
, Albert Timmer and Thomas Voeckler
Thomas Voeckler
Thomas Voeckler is a French professional road racing cyclist who rides for the cycling team.- Biography :Voeckler has been a professional cyclist since 2001. He rides for , formerly known as Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Bouygues Télécom, Brioches la Boulangère, and Bonjour...
, formed within the first kilometre, and achieved a maximum lead of more than nine and a half minutes. Attacks by Ignatiev in the last 10km had reduced the escape group to four, until with 5 km Voeckler made what proved to be the decisive break. Ignatiev finished second just in front of Cavendish and the rest of the pack.
During the race, the peloton had split into several groups as a result of the wind, as had happened two days before. Among the absentees in the first group of the peloton were 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...
and 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...
, but they and their group managed to return to the main group after several kilometres of chasing. Robert Gesink
Robert Gesink
Robert Gesink is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Rabobank.-Early years:At the Junior World Championships of 2004 UCI Road World Championships in Verona, Gesink finished eighth in the individual time trial and sixth in the road race, while riding for team De Peddelaars in...
, who had crashed just before the windy passage along the coastline started, eventually had to let the peloton go and finished more than nine minutes behind with what in the end proved to be a broken wrist.
Stage 5 Result
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General Classification after Stage 5
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Stage 6
9 July 2009 - GironaGirona
Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...
(Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
), 175 km
This last flat stage before the 2009 Tour entered the Pyrenees took place entirely within Spain, on a course that is frequently used in the Tour of Catalonia
Tour of Catalonia
The Volta a Catalunya is a popular road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is a part of the UCI World Tour programme, ranking only second behind the Vuelta a España in popularity for Spain. Due to its place in the riding calendar , it was long viewed as an important Tour de France...
. The main break of the day was instigated by 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...
after 46km, and he was joined by Stéphane Augé
Stéphane Augé
Stéphane Augé is a French former road racing cyclist. He is currently a sporting director for UCI Professional Continental team...
, who took the King of the Mountains leadership, and 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 eventually by Amets Txurruka
Amets Txurruka
Amets Txurruka Ansola is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team ....
. Millar, 10th at the beginning of the stage, was virtual leader of the tour for much of the day, as the lead extended to 3'45", and he attacked and left behind his fellow escapees with 29km remaining. The uphill approach to the finish on Montjuïc
Montjuïc
Montjuïc is a hill located in Barcelona, Catalonia.-Etymology:Montjuïc is translated as 'Jew Hill' in medieval Catalan, or is perhaps related to the Latin phrase Mons Jovicus . The name is found in several locations in the Catalan Countries: the Catalan cities of Girona and Barcelona both have a...
did not suit some of the sprinters, but there was a group of about 60 at the head of the field when Millar was caught near the 1km red flag, and with some GC contenders and climbers contesting the finish, 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...
emerged as stage winner.
The day was marked by numerous rain showers, and a number of falls, with Michael Rogers the main overall contender to lose considerable time.
Stage 6 Result
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General Classification after Stage 6
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Stage 7
10 July 2009 - BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) to Andorra-Arcalis
Vallnord
Vallnord is a ski/snowboard resort in the Pyrenees mountains in the country of Andorra, close to the border with Spain at Tor, Pallars.It encompasses the linked sectors of Pal and Arinsal and the Ordino-Arcalis sector some kilometres away.All the separate sectors within Vallnord contain...
(Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
)- 224 km
This second stage in a row that did not visit French soil was both the longest stage, and the highest finish of this year's tour. The first key break of the day comprised three riders, and escaped after 8 km of cycling, but it was joined by a six man chase group shortly after the first of the day's minor climbs, but this was the day on which the race reached the high mountains. The escapees stretched their advantage to more than 14 minutes before reaching the major climbs, but as they included 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...
, who was 32nd in the general classification and only 3'13" behind the yellow jersey, the peloton, driven by the Astana squad, made a chase. Although the lead was greatly reduced, all but one of the escapees finished before the elite riders, and Nocentini retained a big enough advantage to take over the race leadership. 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...
attacked the other four escapees who were at the head of the field with 5.5 km remaining, and stayed away to claim his first professional win in his first Tour de France. After an attempted attack on the other contenders for the Tour victory by 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...
, 2007 winner 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 successful attack on the elite group with 3 km to go, beating them to the line by 21 seconds, and taking second place overall, while after five days in the yellow jersey, Cancellara finished more than nine minutes behind the stage winner, having been dropped on the final climb.
Stage 7 Result
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General Classification after Stage 7
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Stage 8
11 July 2009 - Andorra la VellaAndorra la Vella
Andorra la Vella is the capital of the Co-principality of Andorra, and is located high in the east Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital....
(Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
) to Saint-Girons
Saint-Girons, Ariège
- Climate :-Sport:Stage 8 of the 2009 Tour de France finishes in Saint-Girons, after travelling 176 km from Andorra-la-Vella.-Gallery:...
, 176 km
The Tour returned to France in the second of three Pyrenean stages, which featured three categorized climbs, including the imposing Port d'Envalira
Port d'Envalira
Port d'Envalira is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees in Andorra, that connects El Pas de la Casa with the rest of the country. It is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees...
at just over 2,400 meters, before a steep descent. A number of early breakaways, including one featuring 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...
, and one that enabled 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...
to take sufficient points in intermediate sprints to claim 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....
, came to nothing, and by the top of the final climb three riders, 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...
(later suspended for EPO use), 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...
and Luis León Sánchez
Luis León Sánchez
Luis León Sánchez Gil is a Spanish road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He is also known as Lulu Sanchez. He rode for team Liberty Seguros-Würth from 2004 until 2006, when he moved to the Caisse d'Epargne team following the collapse of the Liberty Seguros-Würth team in the wake of the Operación...
, were at the front of the race, with an array of chasers and struggling former members of breakaways between them and a group that included all the GC contenders and the yellow jersey wearer, Nocentini, who was part of a group, also including Denis Menchov, that had recovered a 30 second deficit on the elite group shortly before the top of the climb. Meanwhile, leader and 2006 Tour winner, Óscar Pereiro, became the highest profile rider to abandon the race. On the 42 km descent, 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...
caught the three leaders, and this group of four maintained a comfortable lead over the peloton, and the race among these riders was triggered when Efimkin broke clear with 4km remaining, a move that at one stage looked as though it might succeed, but he was caught by the other three escapees just before the red kite, and Sánchez won the sprint from Casar. There was no change to the position of the race favorites.
Stage 8 Result
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General Classification after Stage 8
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Stage 9
12 July 2009 - Saint-Gaudens to TarbesTarbes
Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....
, 160 km
The Pyrenees portion of the 2009 Tour ended with this stage which had two categorized climbs, the Col d'Aspin
Col d'Aspin
Col d'Aspin is a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France.It connects Sainte-Marie-de-Campan and Arreau.-Tour de France:...
and the Col de Tourmalet and, as the previous day, a lengthy flat stretch before the finish, essentially neutralising the stage in terms of challenges relevant to the overall classification. An early break of twelve riders became thirteen after extensive effort by the squad to get Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....
across the divide. After not much more than half an hour, the escape group was reduced to four: Pellizotti, 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...
, Pierrick Fédrigo
Pierrick Fédrigo
Pierrick Fédrigo is a French racing cyclist who rides for . He was the French national road champion in 2005 and won Stage 14 of the 2006 Tour de France in Gap, Stage 9 of the 2009 Tour de France in Tarbes, and Stage 16 of the 2010 Tour de France in Pau...
and 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....
, who was dropped on the climb of the Col d’Apsin, while a chase group of 9 riders formed behind, including 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....
, who was to gain enough points over the cols to take the polkadot jersey
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...
at the end of the day. By the top of that mountain, the leading trio held an advantage of 2'45 over the counter-attack and 3'30 over the peloton; at the top of the Tourmalet only Pellizotti and Fédrigo remained at the front, with seven surviving chasers at 2'40 and the peloton at 5'05. The descent and flat run in saw all the escapees except the two leaders reeled in, as and sought to engineer an opportunity for their sprinters, but Pellizotti and Fédrigo held on to contest the stage win between themselves, the Frenchman emerging as victor.
Stage 9 Result
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General Classification after Stage 9
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Rest day
13 July 2009 - LimogesLimoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
After a lengthy transfer, the rest day was spent at the site of the beginning of the next day's stage.
Stage 10
14 July 2009 - LimogesLimoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
to Issoudun
Issoudun
Issoudun is a commune in the Indre department in central France. It is also referred to as Issoundun, which is the ancient name.-History:...
, 193 km
The Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
stage, one of two stages on which it was intended riders will not be in radio contact with their team cars, was flat, heading to Issoudun for the first time on the Tour de France. The day's break was initiated by Thierry Hupond
Thierry Hupond
Thierry Hupond is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team Skil-Shimano. Hupond became professional with Skil-Shimano in 2008, having been a stagiare with the team in late 2007...
in the second kilometre, and he was joined by Mikhail Ignatiev and Benoit Vaugrenard
Benoît Vaugrenard
Benoît Vaugrenard is a French road racing cyclist who rides for UCI Professional Continental team .- Palmares:2005...
, and after a hold-up at a level crossing, by 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...
. The group's lead never reached four minutes, but over the latter stages the peloton found the gap slow to close. The catch was finally made with a little over 1½ km left, Hupond being the last member of the breakaway to yield to the chasers, and 's train again delivered 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...
for a win in the sprint, ahead of 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 retained the green jersey. It was initially announced that a split in the field meant that most of the peloton, including 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 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....
, two of the top five in the overall classification at the beginning of the day, lost 15 seconds to the first 52 finishers, but this was rescinded the following day.
Stage 10 Result
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General Classification after Stage 10
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Stage 11
15 July 2009 - VatanVatan, Indre
Vatan is a commune in the Indre department in central France.The town holds a weekly market on Wednesdays.-References:* -Gallery:...
to Saint-Fargeau
Saint-Fargeau
Saint-Fargeau is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.-Personalities:*In the early years of the reign of Louis XIV, the château was the home to his exiled cousin, the wealthy Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans. She lived in the château of the town, giving the building its...
, 192 km
This was another flat stage, with a two man breakaway, consisting of Johan Van Summeren
Johan Van Summeren
Johan Vansummeren is a Belgian road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam .During the 2007 Tour de France, commentator Paul Sherwen repeatedly praised Vansummeren's work in support of his team leader, eventual second place finisher Cadel Evans, even going so far as to say "I would like to...
and Marcin Sapa
Marcin Sapa
Marcin Sapa is a Polish road bicycle racer, who is currently not under contract to any team. He turned professional in 2000 and raced with smaller teams including DHL-Author before joining .-Palmares:20072008**...
, which reached its largest advantage of 4'45" after 45 km and was caught with 5 km remaining. Mark Cavendish again dominated the sprint, taking his fourth stage of the tour and regaining the green jersey.
Stage 11 Result
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General Classification after Stage 11
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