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Annecy
40.5 km
Thursday 23 July
Lance Armstrong finished the 18th stage in 16th place but he’s back in the top three overall. The new top five in the general classification - which is dominated by dual stage winner, Alberto Contador - is as follows:
1. Alberto Contador (ESP) AST
2. Andy Schleck (LUX) SAX - at 4’11"
3. Lance Armstrong (USA) AST - at 5’25"
4. Bradley Wiggins (GBR) GRM - at 5’36"
5. Andreas Kloden (GER) AST - at 5’38"
Only two riders completed the 40.5km course at over 50km/h. Alberto Contador is now 4’11" ahead of Andy Schleck in the general classification.
The rider in the yellow jersey has increased his lead in the general classification. Alberto Contador is the winner of the 18th stage, beating the Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara by three seconds!
At the fourth check Contador is 15" faster than any other rider. At the current rate, the rider in the yellow jersey is going to win the stage - it will be his third stage victory at the Tour de France.
Frank Schleck has arrived at the finish 2’31" behind his team-mate Fabian Cancellara.
There are just three riders yet to finish the stage. The Schleck brothers have lost considerable time today but we wait to see if they slip out of the top three of GC. Contador has set the fastest times at the first and third checks. He is now less than 5km from the line and still looking in complete control.
He may not have won the stage but Armstrong has been able to stay ahead of Bradley Wiggins in the general classification.
Armstrong is 1’26" behind the time set by Cancellara at the end of the 18th stage.
At the fourth intermediate check, Armstrong is ranked 14th - 1’11" behind the time set by Cancellara.
At the 28.5km mark, Contador has recorded a time of 36’50" (46.4km/h). He is 30" faster than Wiggins at the top of the climb.
He set the fastest time at the third check but Wiggins has faded in the finale. He finished the time trial with the fifth fastest time so far (49’13").
At the final intermediate check, Wiggins (GRM) has dropped to fourth place - 27" behind the time set by Cancellara.
With all riders past the 25km mark, the fastest time was set by Russian Mikhail Ignatiev. He was three seconds faster than Contador who is now on the cote de Bluffy...
Vande Velde has just finished the stage in 19th place, 1’57" behind Cancellara. The Swiss rider is still the only man to finish the 40.5km course at an average of over 50km/h.
At the top of the climb, Armstrong’s time is 42" slower than that set by Wiggins...
At the second time check, Andy Schleck is 1’02" behind Ignatiev.
At the top of the climb, Wiggins is five seconds faster than the previous best. The Garmin rider covered the first 28.5km in 37’20" (45.08km/h).
At the second check, Armstrong has lost 29" to Ignatiev.
The fastest time in the first 18km of the 18th stage has been set by Contador who is 18" better than Wiggins. The average speed of the Spaniard is 53.91km/h!
At the first check, Contador has smashed the best time. He is 18" faster than Wiggins!
Andy Schleck has posted the eighth best time at the 18km mark. He has surrendered 26" to Wiggins at the first check.
Frank Schleck knew that he would lose time today. He admitted that after winning the stage yesterday and in 18km he is 44" behind the best ride of the day so far... this is the 18th best time at the first check.
At the 25km mark, Wiggins is 10" behind Ignatiev.
At the 18km mark, Wiggins’ time is best by one second. Ignatiev was the 19th rider to start the stage and he still has the best time at the second and third checks... the fastest time at the fourth and final check, however, is owned by Cancellara who is 19" slower than Wiggins at the moment...
At the first time check, Armstrong has not been able to surpass Wiggins. The American is nine seconds slower than the British Garmin rider.
The next rider to reach the 18km mark will be Armstrong. The time to beat is 20’20" - set by the sixth-last rider to start (Bradley Wiggins).
At the 18km mark, Kloden has the third best time of the day, 19" behind Wiggins.
The fastest rider at the 18km mark is Wiggins. He rode the opening part of the course at an average speed of 53.114km/h.
At the 18km mark, Wiggins has eclipsed the time of Ignatiev. The Brit is now the fastest at the first time check.
As he races alongside the lake, Armstrong has been rising from the saddle and extracting every ounce of energy from his body. He is spinning a high cadence...
Nibali has just reached the 18km mark in 16th place, 50" behind Ignatiev. The rider who started after him was Wiggins.
Alberto Contador started the 2009 Tour de France dressed in the colors of the Spanish champion but he’s doing his second time trial in the yellow jersey. He has into the time trial position faster than any other rider in the top 10.
Sastre is ranked 38th at the second time check, 1’55" behind Ignatiev.
While Lance swaps from standing and dancing on the pedals, to aero tuck, on the approach to the first check and Wiggins sits on the nose of his saddle six minutes further up the road, there are just two riders yet to leave the start house. Andy Schleck - in the white jersey - and Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey... the rain has stopped and the roads are dry.
The last time that Armstrong raced a long individual time trial in the Tour de France was on the final Saturday of the 2005 edition. He had John Kerry following him in the Discovery Channel team car on the course around St-Etienne. That was the last time he won an individual stage of the Tour de France...
Armstrong is in the start house. The count-down has begun... a few deep breaths and the rider who won the last time trial of the 2005 Tour is ready to race.
While both Armstrong and Contador are riding new prototype time trial bikes from Trek, the riders ranked fifth overall, Andreas Kloden, is still on the old TT frame - the TTX Equinox - from the US manufacturer.
Sastre has just reached the 18km mark with the 38th fastest time of the day. He lost 1’28" to Ignatiev by the first check.
Wiggins has started the time trial. He had a clean start and was quickly down into the aerodynamic tuck. He is currently ranked sixth, 4’53" behind Contador.
Matt White is the driver of the Garmin car that’s going to follow Bradley Wiggins. "He’s going well, but I don’t know if anyone will be able to beat Cancellara," the directeur sportif told LeTour.fr last night. Wiggins is currently ranked sixth overall and White believes a podium finish in Paris is possible. "He’s improving every day and although he lost a little bit of time but he’s going to be good in the time trial. I’m confident about his chances but still believe that Cancellara will be the man to beat."
LeTour.fr contacted him again just before the start and White wanted to know about the conditions: "Where is the road wet?" There are patches where it’s damp, came the reply, but the rain is holding off for the time being although there have been some brief showers.
Astarloza has just begun the time trial. That means that only nine men are yet to leave...
Moreau has posted the sixth best time of the day. He has won a time trial of the Tour de France in the past but the prologue of the 2001 edition was a long time ago. He was 42" behind Cancellara and the Caisse d’Epargne team - which has signed him up for the 2010 season - must be impressed by the efforts of the French veteran.
The former leader of the 2009 Tour de France, Rinaldo Nocentini (ALM) is the latest rider to start the time trial. The sun is shining at the start but there have been some showers and there are patches where the road is wet. For the moment, however, it looks like the predicted storms are abating...
At the end of his race, Evans (SIL) is 1’11" behind Cancellara.
The improvement of Evans on the climb was helpful but the Australian has dropped from fifth to eighth between the 3rd and 4th checks. Last year’s runner-up is 1’00" behind the time set by Cancellara.
Moreau is now ranked second at the third check. He was seven seconds slower than Ignatiev but four seconds faster than the rider who currently has the best time at the finish, Fabian Cancellara.
After a slow start, Evans (SIL) has improved his ranking. He has reached the top of the climb with the fifth best time of the day. He is 27" behind Ignatiev at the 28.5km mark.
It was not the best start for the rider ranked 18th overall. Botcharov (KAT) has pulled his foot as he rolled down the start ramp.
The weather bureau has reported that a storm is expected to hit Annecy in about one hour’s time. The latest rider to start the time trial is Brice Feillu (at 3.53pm). The rider in 10th overall, Astarloza (EUS) is due to start at 4.20pm and then it’s three minutes between each starter. Contador’s start time is 4.47pm.
It’s now raining in Annecy. The conditions are going to be completely different for the GC favorites than it was for Ignatiev and Cancellara...!
The clouds over the time trial course are getting much darker. There is still no rain falling but don’t be surprised if the last riders have to deal with wet roads...
At the first check, Evans is well down. He has lost 1’07" which makes the Australian 16th best at the 18km mark. This is not the rider who a year ago was trying to win the Tour in the final time trial of the race. He is the only Australian to have won a Tour TT, back in the year he first finished second overall (when he actually finished second to Vinokourov in Albi but was later advised that he was, in fact, the fastest clean rider in the 13th stage of 2007).
Sanchez (GCE) has just set the eighth best time at the first check. The next man to arrive at the first check will be Cadel Evans (SIL).
The directeur sportif of the Française des Jeux, Frank Pineau, was recently contacted by LeTour.fr to get his thoughts on how the team’s two best riders will fare today. Christophe Le Mevel is ranked ninth overall and Sandy Casar is 14th. “Today we will try to limit the losses compared to those who are higher up the classification. After all, if we lost two minutes, it’s not too serious. The Tour is far from over and we can always take back time in the stage to Mont Ventoux. I’m still sure we can end the race with two riders in the top 20.”
Larsson has finished the time trial with the third best time today. He is 30" behind team-mate Cancellara and ahead of one of Garmin’s Brits, David Millar.
He was faster than Cancellara at the 25km mark but at 37km, Gustav Larsson has dropped behind by 26". The Swede is currently ranked third at the fourth check...
Denis Menchov, the winner of the Giro d’Italia this year, has just reached the 25km mark 2’20" behind Ignatiev.
At the first check, the former leader of the youth classification, Tony Martin (THR), was fourth; at the second check, he was fifth... and the German has just passed the check at the top of the climb in sixth place. He is 32" slower than Ignatiev at the same point.
It’s common for competitors to ride the course of the time trial on the morning of the race. That has been the case for Cadel Evans in recent years but the Australian opted not to do so this morning. "He was happy with the reconnaissance rides we did in June - after the Dauphine - and didn’t feel the need to see the course again this morning," said Hendrik Redant, the Silence-Lotto directeur sportif.
Cadel Evans has a lot less pressure on him for the final time trial of the 2009 Tour than he did in 2007 and 2008... when he still had a chance of winning the title. The Australian is now ranked 32nd overall, 37’06" down on Contador who beat him by 23" in the Tour two years ago.
At the second time check, Larsson (SAX) is one second faster than his team-mate Fabian Cancellara. The two stood on the podium at the Olympics last year; ’Fabu’ in first place and Gustav in second.
Greg LeMond has just been seen wandering around the ’zone technique’ at the site of the finish today. The American still has the fastest average speed for a time trial (over 20km) at the Tour. He set the 54.545km/h average in the final stage of the race 20 years ago when he beat Laurent Fignon to win the title by eight seconds.
Pellizotti has just started the time trial. There are another 37 men yet to begin the 40.5km TT around Lake Annecy.
Zabriskie is 48" behind Cancellara’s time at the 37km mark. It is enough to put the American into fourth position at the fourth check.
The Swedish Saxo Bank recruit Gustav Larsson has the fourth best time at the first check. He is 25" behind the time set by Ignatiev.
At the top of the climb, Zabriskie is 28" behind the standard set by Ignatiev. The conditions have been getting hotter as the day progresses but clouds are now beginning to form above Annecy. At this moment, it doesn’t look like rain is threatening but that could change by the end of the day...
Zabriskie has 15km to go in the stage. The American TT champion has just gone past his four-minute man, Thomas Voeckler. At the first check, Zabriskie was third fastest and at the second check he was fourth, 20" behind Ignatiev...
"It’s amazing how well Bradley is going," said David Millar about his team-mate Wiggins. "He’s going to be the man to beat today. I’m really proud to be on the same team as him and he offers me a lot of inspiration."
Millar has the third best time so far today and he said the course is great for the time trial specialists even though the climb does break the rhythm a little. His compatriot and Garmin team-mate is ranked sixth overall after 17 stages. Wiggins’ start time today is 4.32pm.
David Millar has finished the time trial with the third best time. He is 37" behind Cancellara’s time on the 40.5km course.
Zabriskie is the 97th rider to start the stage. He has caught his two-minute man, Igor Anton (EUS) before the 18km mark...
The average speed for the fastest rider today - Fabian Cancellara (SAX) - is 50.051km/h.
Cancellara has beaten Ignatiev’s time by nine seconds at the 37km mark and by 11 seconds at the finish. The Swiss is now in prime position in the 18th stage.
Fedrigo is the next man to start the time trial. He is the 100th rider to begin the 18th stage. The winner of the stage to Tarbes is ranked third in the climbing classification and is 59th overall, over an hour and 13 minutes behind Contador.
Millar has just passed the 25km mark, 25" behind the time of Ignatiev. The British TT specialist has his right fist tucked under his left hand on the aerobars and is tapping out a steady cadence with the chain well down the cluster. He was one of four rider from the Garmin team to take a helicopter from Verbier to Annecy on the rest day to do a reconnaissance of the TT course.
Cancellara has reached the top of the climb but he’s still ranked second. He pulled back some time on Ignatiev but the Russian was seven seconds better than the Swiss at the 28.5km mark.
“These time trials are never easy,” said Stuart O’Grady after his race today. “You’ve just got to get up there and get the job done. I wanted to keep some momentum. It’s been a pretty hard Tour and I could definitely feel it in the legs today.”
The Australian Saxo Bank rider currently has the 13th best time of the day. But his job is to look after the riders ranked second and third overall, not to try and set a good time in the 18th stage. “We’ve still got a couple of tough days to come. We had a strategy mapped out yesterday and it worked out 100 per cent… I think those guys have got a lot of power and now they’ve got more confidence after the 17th stage so we’re going to do everything we can to destroy the bunch.”
Is the Tour still win still possible for one of the Schlecks? “We’ve seen that Contador is absolutely flying and he’s going to be hard to beat but we haven’t given in. Anything can happen on the Ventoux…”
At the 18km mark, Garmin’s David Millar has matched the time of Bert Grabsch - putting him in third place at the first check.
Cancellara hasn’t been able to gain any time on Ignatiev between the first and second time check. The Swiss Saxo Bank rider is still 18" behind the Russian...
Lang has put himself into fifth place at the 28.5km mark. He is the first rider for some time to get into the top five. He is 1’23" behind Ignatiev’s standard at the top of the cote de Bluffy.
“It wasn’t too bad,” said the triple world time trial champion, Mick Rogers, at the finish. “I went out at 85 per cent and saw I wasn’t too bad at the first time check. I didn’t go full gas but it wasn’t a bad ride. I caught my two-minute man (Trussov) on the climb. It’s a nice course. It’s very fast and I’m sure the last guys are going to go super quick.
“My job now is to just look after Cavendish. We’re going to save all the energy we’ve got for the stage to Paris and we’re going to hit that one hard. We’ve got to work with what we’ve got and try and win the last stage for the team.
“Obviously, I didn’t get off to the best start to this Tour because I had three crashes early. Through the mountains I never really pushed it too hard. I just stayed with the sprinters and made sure they got through okay. It hasn’t been the best Tour for me, but that’s life… I’ll be back next year."
At the first check, the winner of the opening time trial Fabian Cancellara has posted a time of 20’39". He is 18" behind Ignatiev.
So far 73 riders have passed the 18km mark. The 77th rider to start the time trial is the reigning Olympic TT champion, Fabian Cancellara. We can expect to see Ignatiev’s time beaten soon if the ’Swiss Bear’ shows anything like his usual form in the race against the clock.
The former TT champion of Italy, Marzio Bruseghin (who was third overall at last year’s Giro d’Italia) is the 82nd rider to start the stage. Another TT specialist is the next to start; David Millar (GRM) did a reconnaissance of the course on the rest day this Monday and is expected to set a good time...
Mikhail Ignatiev continues to set the early standard in the time trial today. He finished the course in almost 50km/h. The last rider to pass the 18km mark is Sebastian Lang (SIL) who has the sixth best time so far: 1’06" behind the Russian.
Of the 20 teams that began the Tour, only seven have the complete roster of nine riders still in the race. They are: Silence-Lotto, Liquigas, Cofidis, Columbia-HTC, Garmin-Slipstream, Lampre and Bbox Bouygues Telecom.
The green jersey has just arrived at the finish. The Norwegian has lost 5’08" to Ignatiev and is currently ranked 31st in the stage. Thor Hushovd is the 52nd rider to finish the time trial.
The rider who finished second behind Bradley Wiggins in the individual pursuit at the Beijing Olympics, Hayden Roulston (CTT) has just reached the first check in 20th position. The New Zealander was also part of the team pursuit squad that claimed silver last year.
He is making his Tour debut and must be inspired by the efforts of Wiggins - one of the favorites for today’s time trial - who has lost over six kilograms since winning gold (in both the individual and team pursuit in China) and is now ranked sixth overall...
Simon Spilak, a last-minute replacement for the Lampre team at the start of the Tour, has the 11th fastest time at the 28.5km mark. He was awarded the prize for Fighting Spirit on the stage to Verbier after leading the peloton to the climb but then finishing over seven minutes behind...
At the end of the time trial, Rogers has the fourth best time of the day. He is 1’23" slower than another former track rider, Mikhail Ignatiev...
Mick Rogers (THR) was the 47th rider to start the stage. He has the third best times at the first three checks and is about to arrive at the 37km mark... at the top of the climb, he was 1’15" behind Ignatiev and seven seconds faster than the reigning world TT champion, Grabsch.
With Ignatiev finishing the course at almost 50km/h, we can report that the slowest average speed so far today is 42.87km/h. Marco Bandiera (LAM) holds that ’honor’... but we cannot confirm if he’s time (7’56" behind Ignatiev) is because of a mechanical or an accident.
Hutarovich can be satisfied in knowing that he won’t be the last in stage 18. With 35 at the finish of the time trial, the slowest time of the stage has been posted by Marco Bandiera of the Lampre team. He is 7’56" behind Ignatiev.
LeTour.fr spoke to Hendrik Redant this morning about the Silence-Lotto team’s captain, Cadel Evans. The directeur sportif cannot explain the slump suffered by the rider who finished second in the 2007 and 2008 Tours. "I wish I knew what happened, but I can’t explain it," said Redant about Evans who finished stage 17 in 81st place, 29’43" behind Frank Schleck. "He was content at the start of the Tour and had great condition but yesterday he was in all sorts of trouble. It was upsetting to see... but these things can happen to a rider in the Tour de France.
"I hope that we can see him come back for today’s stage or maybe even on the Ventoux... or at least help Jurgen van den Broeck on the last Saturday.
"The season is not over yet and I think that Cadel can come back and do a good Vuelta [a Espana, in September] and the world championship course really suits his strengths. We’ll talk tonight to discuss the rest of the season..."
The triple time trial world champion, Mick Rogers (THR) is passed the 18km mark in 21’10", the third best of the stage so far. He is 49" behind Ignatiev.
Ignatiev has the fastest time for the cote de Bluffy. It took the Russian 9’03" to cover the 3.7km ascent that peaks at the 28.5km mark of the 40.5km TT.
One of the Danish riders in the Tour, Brian Vandborg of the Liquigas team, has the third best time at the 18km mark. He is 1’08" behind Ignatiev.
The world champion won’t be winning today. Bert Grabsch’s time was 1’23" slower than Ignatiev.
There was a timing error earlier when it was reported that Pate (GRM) was faster than Ignatiev (KAT). Apologies for this mistake.
LeTour.fr spoke to the American who has the 13th fastest time. "It’s a really fast course today," said Pate. "I didn’t feel that great. It’s not the course for me."
What gear was he riding? "Oh man, I was in a little girl’s gear today. Just spinning my way to the finish..."
He is 5’01" behind the best time of the day so far.
At the 37km mark, Danny Pate (GRM) has posted a time that’s 41" better than Ignatiev.
Judging by the impressive average speed of Mikhail Ignatiev, it’s fair to say that the winner of the stage will finish the course at over 50km/h. So it’s time to review the fastest time trials in the history of the Tour.
1st - Greg LeMond (USA) - 24.5km Versaille to Paris in 1989: 54.545km/h
2nd - David Millar (GBR) - 49.0km Pornic to Nantes in 2003: 54.361km/h
3rd - Lance Armstrong (USA) - 58.5km Fribourg to Mulhouse in 2000: 53.986km/h
4th - Levi Leipheimer (USA) - 55.5km Cognac to Angouleme in 2007: 53.082km/h
5th - Miguel Indurain (ESP) - 64.0km Tours to Blois in 1992: 52.349km/h
The Olympic points race champion from 2004, Mikhail Ignatiev was one of the more aggressive riders in the opening week of the Tour. He has not been in the news a lot in the second week but it appears that he has been saving himself for today. He is fastest at every check and has arrived at the finish with the best time: 48’46", 1’59" ahead of Terpstra.
Ignatiev’s average speed for the 40.5km course is 49.83km/h!
During the live coverage of each stage, the official site of the Tour de France (LeTour.fr) conducts a poll for readers to respond to. Today’s question is: Which of the top five in the opening time trial (in Monaco) will be best in the Annecy TT?
- Fabian Cancellara
- Alberto Contador
- Bradley Wiggins
- Andreas Kloden
- Cadel Evans
At the second check, Grabsch is 20" behind Ignatiev. The world champion is pulling back some time but he’s still behind the Russian Katusha rider who was one of the Fighting Spirit winners in the opening week.
Bert Grabsch has just reached the first check, 25" behind the time of Ignatiev. The German is the reigning TT world champion but he’s not likely to claim a victory in stage 18...
With only five riders at the finish, Hutarovich has already lost 4’28". The Belorussian champion from FDJ runs the risk of finishing outside the time limit today. His average speed is 44.02km/h. The best time so far today is held by Terpstra (MRM) who covered the 40.5km course at an average of 47.89km/h.
There have been instances in the past when riders have been eliminated by finishing outside the time limit in the race against the clock. For time trials, the limit is 25 per cent of the winner’s time.
Cavendish has passed the 18km mark with the ninth best time (2’10" behind Ignatiev). He still has a chance of winning the green jersey so the British sprinter knows that today he must save as much energy as possible for the two stages remaining that suit his strengths: tomorrow and the final day to Paris.
The 2002 junior time trial world champion Mikhail Ignatiev (KAT) has passed the 18km mark with the best time, 1’11" better than Terpstra (MRM).
Terpstra has set the early standard at each check. He has just passed the fourth intermediate check in 47’21".
The winner of four stages this year (and last) Mark Cavendish began his time trial at 11.44am. He was the 18th to begin the time trial but is yet to arrive at the first check.
Hutarovich has posted a time of 42’47" at the top of the climb at the 28.5km mark.
The fourth rider to start the time trial, Nicki Terpstra of the Milram team, has posted the fastest time at the first two intermediate checks. He is 2’14" faster than the rider who finished the opening time trial in last place, Hutarovich (FDJ).
The men who have been voted winners of the Fighting Spirit award so far this year are:
Stage 02 – Stef Clement (NED) RAB
Stage 03 – Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) COF
Stage 05 – Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS) KAT
Stage 06 – David Millar (GBR) GRM
Stage 07 – Christophe Riblon (FRA) ALM
Stage 08 – Sandy Casar (FRA) FDJ
Stage 09 – Franco Pellizotti (ITA) LIQ
Stage 10 – Thierry Hupond (FRA) SKS
Stage 11 – Johan van Summeren (BEL) SIL
Stage 12 – Nicki Sorensen (DEN) SAX
Stage 13 – Heinrich Haussler (GER) CTT
Stage 14 – Martijn Maaskant (NED) GRM
Stage 15 – Simon Spilak (SLO) LAM
Stage 16 – Franco Pellizotti (ITA) LIQ
Stage 17 – Thor Hushovd (NOR) CTT
Each day a panel of eight judges votes on which rider they believe showed the most courage in the stage. Known by a variety of titles – including ‘Prix de la Combativité’ and ‘Most Aggressive Rider’ – the sponsor of this category, Brandt, prefers to call it the ‘Fighting Spirit’ award. The rider who wins the most votes each day wears a special red race number in the following stage.
The idea of this category is to commend the riders who animate the stage and, although they may not win, they help to make the race more compelling.
(The time trials are the on days during the Tour that this prize is not awarded but we’ll take this opportunity to review those who have received the most votes until the 19th stage in subsequent newsflashes.)
So far 10 men have begun the time trial. The first specialist in this sort of race is Mikhail Ignatiev (KAT) who was the junior TT world champion in 2002. He is the 19th man to start and his schedule departure time is 11.46am.
There are four points along the 40.5km course where time checks will be taken on the riders. They are at: 18km, 25km, 28.5km and 37km. The reason for the short distance between the second and third intermediate check is that this is where the climb is on the course. The fastest rider between Talloires (25km) and Cote de Bluffy (28.5km) will earn the four points for the King of the Mountains competition.
Astana is now in total control of the team rankings. With the performance of its best three riders in stage 17 – Contador (2nd), Armstrong (5th) and Kloden (6th) – the Kazakh-backed squad was 10’18” better than the next best team (Garmin) yesterday. Contador’s team is now 16’12” ahead of Garmin in the team classification.
The rider who finished third in stage 17 and is currently ranked second overall, Andy Schleck (SAX) is wearing the white jersey again today. He is the second-last rider to start the time trial around Lake Annecy; his departure time is 4.44pm. The younger of the Schleck brothers on the Saxo Bank team is 2’43” ahead of Vincenzo Nibali (LIQ) in the youth classification.
Thor Hushovd (CTT) said that the 17th stage was “one of my best days on the bike”. He attacked over the first climb and led the stage for over 100 kilometers in an impressive effort that saw him collect first place points at the two intermediate sprints of what was really a stage for the climbers. “Maybe I was making a statement but at least I’ve got more points in case something happens in the coming days and I win the jersey just 10 points, at least I can say that I built a sufficient buffer on this stage to Le Grand Bornand.”
The Norwegian has 230 points in the race for the green jersey, 30 more than former leader Mark Cavendish (THR). And although he was happy to earn more points, he insists there were other incentives for his escape over the Cormet de Roseland. “I wanted to have fun up there, get some points along the way and be prepared for the Champs-Elysées.”
The two-time winner of Brandt’s ‘Fighting Spirit’ award in the 2009, Franco Pellizotti (LIQ) is in complete control of the mountains classification. He was voted the most aggressive rider in the race for stages nine and 16 and, through his attacking antics, he’s also amassed a tally of 196 points in the race for the polka-dot jersey. In second place is the former leader of this category Egoi Martinez (EUS) with 118pts and the rider who beat Pellizotti in a close finish of the stage to Tarbes, Pierrick Fedrigo (BBO) is third but with just 97 points, no enough to challenge the Italian in the King of the Mountains prize.
There is a climb in today’s time trial but it’s only ranked category-three. From now until Paris, if one rider leads over every climb, he can only collect 75 points. This means that all Pellizotti needs to do to be the King of the Mountains in 2009 is finish the race…
Andreas Klier, the rider who many in his Cervelo team credit as a being a directeur sportif in the peloton, is the third man to start the time trial in Annecy. After him comes Nicki Terpstra (MRM), Bernhard Eisel (THR), Tyler Farrar (GRM) and a former team pursuit world champion, Mark Renshaw (THR).
The 17th stage caused a significant shake up of the general classification but the leader of the Tour de France remains the same. Alberto Contador’s second in the stage (behind Fränk Schleck) allowed him to retain the yellow jersey and actually increase his advantage over the rider in second place… but that is a different rider today. Lance Armstrong slipped down the rankings from second to fourth. He’s now 3’55” behind his team-mate. Second place is now held by the leader of the youth classification, Andy Schleck (SAX) who is 2’26” behind Contador; the champion of Luxembourg’s brother, Fränk is third overall at 3’25”.
The difference between the first and last rider in the general classification after 2,910km of racing is three hours 26 minutes and one second. Yauheni Hutarovich finished third in the stage to St-Fargeau but he inherited the title of ’Lanterne Rouge’ after Kenny van Hummel was forced out of the race due to a crash yesterday.
The FDJ rider has started the stage and is now racing around the lake...
The temperature in Annecy is around 24 degrees Celsius. High clouds hover above the lake early today and although it’s dry just before the first rider’s departure in the time trial (two minutes away) there is the chance of rain later in the stage.
There will be two minutes between each starter for the first 135 in the time trial. And the final 23 will be separated by three minutes. The start time for Alberto Contador is 4.47pm.
The 40.5km time trial around Lake Annecy is expected to create another shake up to the order at the top of the general classification. But the overall favorites will not start until late this afternoon. The order of departure for the 18th stage that starts and finishes in Annecy is in the reverse order of the general classification. The stalwart of the ’Lanterne Rouge’ - the last rider overall - Kenny van Hummel (SKS) crashed out of the Tour yesterday and two others abandoned during the stage. There are now 158 riders in the race.
The rider in last place is the Belorussian champion Yauheni Hutarovic (FDJ). He begins his time trial at 11.10am.
Live coverage of the stage will commence shortly.
