Key moments

Vinokourov Not Finished With Yet...!

Alexandre Vinokourov demonstrated how crashes couldn’t quell his desire to win. The Kazakh warrior needed to be stitched up after a bad crash in stage five but he returned to winning form at the crucial time of the Tour. He beat Cadel Evans in the 54km time trial by 1’14” but the Australian also savored success in this first long individual test by moving up to within one minute of the yellow jersey – he also broke up what would otherwise have been an Astana hat trick. Both Andreas Kloden and Andrey Kashechkin crashed on a day when the weather played a big role in the outcome. Pouring rain in the middle of the stage hindered the hopes of many but the sun shone for the finale. Bradley Wiggins appeared in control of the stage but then came the charge of the GC men… and the Brit had to settle for fifth place.

The Progress Report
The 54km time trial of stage 13 began at 10.24am when the ‘Lanterne Rouge’, Wim Vansevenant began the race that started and finished in Albi. The first 142 riders departed at two minute intervals while the final 24 were separated by three minutes. The conditions at the start of the stage were mild yet overcast and before the first rider reached the finish, the roads were wet and rain was getting heavier.

Wiggins Sets The Early Standard: Cancellara Crashes Out Of Contention
The 19th rider to start was Wiggins (COF) and he posted the fastest times at every check for the early phase. When he rode, it was drizzling and the roads were wet but the conditions were nothing like what it was later in the day. Cancellara (CSC) started his race well but not even the time trial world could match Wiggins. At the first check the Swiss was 29” behind the Brit… by the 35.6km mark he was 2’06” behind. Any hope of Cancellara minimizing his losses came tumbling down when he crashed near the end of the stage, finishing in 1h15’19”. “His front wheel just slipped out from under him,” said CSC directeur sportif, Kim Anderson.

Millar: “It’s so dangerous…”
The only rider able to interrupt the top five was Millar (SDV). He finished 1’13” shy of Wiggins’ time. “It’s so dangerous,” said Millar at the finish. “I almost stopped on the descents. It’s absolutely treacherous! When you’re on time trial equipment everything is a lot stiffer, your tire pressure is a lot higher and we’re not used to riding on these wheels or these bikes so you just don’t know how far you can push it.” The Scot was the best-placed of the riders who raced in the rain, finishing 20th at 3’27”.

Rain Eases While Vinokourov Storms Home!
At 2.40pm, it stopped raining but the roads were still wet although it would be dry by the end of racing. Vinokourov blasted over the course posting the fastest time at every check before finishing in 1h06’34”.610 (48.673km/h). He proved that he’s not only back in form after his crash in stage five but he’s also got the bike handling skills and team support to be able to improve his position in the general classification, ninth (at 5’10”).
Evans was another benefactor of the stage, passing the first check in third and, with the wet and technical course behind him, he upped his pace and was in second place at 38.5km, 49km and at the finish. He upset an Astana hat trick and moved up to second on GC.
Other title contenders crashed Popovych, Kashechkin and Kloden all fell the first 30km but all finished in the top six of the stage. And while conditions improved for the final riders, there were some who failed to maintain their positions on GC. The ones who suffered the most were Spaniards Mayo and Valverde who started in second and third overall but ended it in 12th and 11th place, respectively.

Rasmussen Retains Yellow
The overall lead was under threat but Rasmussen finished 11th in the stage, losing 2’55” to Vinokourov and 1’41” to Evans. The Australian moved from fourth to second overall and now trails the Dane by 1’00”. Rasmussen will wear the yellow jersey in stage 14.

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Michael Rasmussen - "The yellow jersey provides huge motivation..."

The rider affectionately known as ’Chicken’ didn’t shy away from the battle to keep his overall lead in the Tour de France. Michael Rasmussen admits that having the yellow jersey on his back helped provide motivation for him during a testing time. His manager, Erik Dekker, explained that the only information the rider asked for was time checks on the rider in second overall at the start of the time trial, Alejandro Valverde and, with less than three kilometers to go the Chicken flew past the Spaniard and back to the podium to collect another yellow jersey.

“I guess I surprised everybody including myself today. The yellow jersey was definitely a huge motivation and obviously when I saw [Alejandro] Valverde in front of me, that encouraged me even more. I think today we saw a situation where Valverde put himself behind the rest; he’s the only one of the GC contenders who is not performing up to his normal standards.
“Having the yellow jersey offers a lot of benefits. Starting last provides huge motivation but also the ability to keep an eye on your key rivals. I did have a bit of luck with the weather as well. A lot of my competitors had less than favorable conditions to ride in, particularly on a technical descent.
“I’m looking forward to the Pyrenees and returning to my terrain and enjoy riding my bike. A minute advantage over guys like Cadel is enough to keep the jersey through the Pyrenees but not for the last time trial so I will have to attack my nearest opponents if I want to keep the jersey all the way to Paris… which I certainly do.”

Alexandre Vinokourov – “For me, the Tour began today…”

He led at every time check and proved that he’s back in dominant form. Alexandre Vinokourov won the 54km time trial in Alby by over a minute and although he’s still over five minutes behind the overall leader he’s confident that he and his Astana team-mates can still challenge for victory in Paris.

“It’s been very difficult for me in this year’s Tour especially in the Alps but today I had a lot of confidence and I realize how important it is for my team for me to do well. I want to say thank you for all the support I’ve been given and winning a stage is a good way to show my appreciation.
“With the crash I lost a lot of time and it put me under pressure in the Alps but today I feel like I’ve got the power back in my legs and I won the stage today so I’m very happy.
“For me the Tour really began today. There am confident in my team and I’m looking forward to the next mountain range. I think we can still win the Tour… it’ll be very difficult but we’ll try our best.”

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