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Alpe-d’Huez
151.5 km
Saturday 12 June
1. Alberto Contador (Astana)
2. Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack)
3. Szmyd (Liquigas)
4. Coppel (Saur)
5. Van den Broeck (Omega)
Contador precedes Brajkovic on the line.
Brajkovic and Contador lead at the 1km mark. Szmyd is at ten seconds.
Runner up Van Garderen is at 1.20 with 2km to go.
Brajkovic responds to all the accelerations of Contador. With less than 2km to go, he even takes the lead and sets the pace.
With 2.4km to go, Contador accelerates but doesn’t manage to distance his companions.
Jérôme Coppel comes across to the leading trio. The Frenchman wants to win the stage but Szmyd doesn’t want to let him go.
With 3km to go, Szmyd is back with Contador and Brajkovic in the lead.
In Huez-en-Oisans, Contador goes again but Brajkovic is great in defence of his lead. The duo has 4 more kilometres to cover.
Szmyd attacks strongly with 4.9km to go. Contador responds and continues. Brajkovic sticks to his wheel.
The leading trio is now in the steepest part of the climb with gradients of 11.5% with 5km remaining. They also face some head wind. It allows Van den Broeck and Coppel to come across.
Szmyd accelerates but Contador and Brajkovic respond. The trio has 22 seconds lead over Van den Broeck and Coppel.
Sylvester Szmyd who won the stage to the Mont Ventoux at the Dauphiné last year comes across to Contador and Brajkovic.
Brajkovic resists to Contador’s accelerations. Van den Broeck, Szmyd and Coppel are at 28 seconds. Van Garderen is at 30 seconds.
Contador attacks with 8.8km to go. Brajkovic joins him.
7 riders remain in the lead: Hernandez, Contador, Brajkovic, Van den Broeck, Szmyd, Van Garderen and Coppel.
With 10km to go, Pujol is caught by the Brajkovic/Contador group.
Only eight riders form the Contador/Brajkovic group: Navarro, Tiralongo, Van Garderen, Van den Broeck, Szmyd and Coppel are the six other riders.
The peloton is 45 seconds behind sole leader Oscar Pujol with 12 km to go. The Astana team keeps forcing the pace.
The winner at Risoul and 5th on GC Nicolas Vogondy is in difficulty at the back of the yellow/blue jersey group.
In the front, Pujol goes clear, Szmyd (Liquigas) attacks from the bunch.
At the bottom, the peloton is one minute behind Di Gregorio.
As soon as the climb to l’Alpe d’Huez starts, Rémy Di Gregorio accelerates. Pujol and Denifl follow him.
The six riders have 20 seconds lead over their former breakaway companions.
In the valley of the Oisans prior to climbing towards l’Alpe d’Huez, six riders form the new front group: Di Gregorio, El Farès, Pujol, Denifl, Champion and Levarlet.
Result of the intermediate sprint at La Paute (km 133):
1. Stephan Denifl (Cervélo), 3 points
2. El Farès (Cofidis), 2 points
3. Pujol (Cervélo), 1 point
Peloton at 1.08.
Levarlet accelerates with 20km to go. Champion goes with him.
Cataldo and Plaza get caught by the bunch in Allemond with 26km to go for the peloton.
Cataldo and Plaza aren’t in the front group anymore. The 13 leaders are: Denifl and Pujol (Cervélo), Van Summeren (Garmin), Champion, Bouet and Le Lay (Ag2r), Di Gregorio (FDJ), Samoilau (Quick Step), El Fares and Moinard (Cofidis), Rohregger (Milram), Martinez (Euskaltel) and Levarlet (Saur). The Contador/Brajkovic group is at 1.40.
The 15 men breakaway group is re-formed and the bunch is at 1.50. with 28km to go.
Denifl goes faster downhill than Di Gregorio and Bouet. He also rides faster than the bunch who is at 1.50 with 32km to go.
The peloton is 1.45 behind the three breakaway riders who are 15 seconds away from their former companions.
Denifl, Bouet and Di Gregorio have taken some lead over their breakaway companions as the road goes uphill again.
The 15 breakaway riders in the downhill of the col du Glandon are: Plaza (Caisse d’Epargne), Denifl and Pujol (Cervélo), Van Summeren (Garmin), Champion, Bouet and Le Lay (Ag2r), Di Gregorio (FDJ), Cataldo and Samoilau (Quick Step), El Fares and Moinard (Cofidis), Rohregger (Milram), Martinez (Euskaltel) and Levarlet (Saur). The Contador/Brajkovic group is at 1.34.
Martinez and Pujol have continued their progression in the downhill.
The breakaway riders have covered 17.2 kilometres in the third hour. The average speed is 32.660km/h so far.
Result of the KOM at col du Glandon (km 99):
1. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), 20 points
2. Pujol (Cervélo), 18 points
3. Denifl (Cervélo), 16 points
4. Rohregger (Milram), 14 points
5. Bouet (Ag2r), 12 points
6. Di Gregorio (FDJ), 10 points
7. Levarlet (Saur), 8 points
8. Le Lay (Ag2r), 7 points
9. Samoilau (Quick Step), 6 points
10. Cataldo (Quick Step), 5 points
Peloton at 1.35.
Oscar Pujol goes solo in the last kilometre of the col du Glandon. Martinez overtakes him at the KOM line.
Plaza and Van Summeren gets dropped from the front group. Also Gautier.
Green jersey Geraint Thomas is still in the group of the yellow/blue jersey Janez Brajkovic led by Alberto Contador’s team-mates.
David Millar who is 4th on GC can’t follow the bunch in the col du Glandon.
The peloton led by Astana reabsorbed Pate. The gap is under 2 minutes: 1.51 with 2 more kilometres to climb in the col du Glandon.
Pate, Fofonov, Lefèvre and Roelandts are dropped off from the front group.
Six Astana riders take over from RadioShack at the head of the peloton. The gap remains around 2.20 in the col du Glandon.
Danny Pate is suffering badly at the back of the front group.
The 20 breakaway riders are: Plaza (Caisse d’Epargne), Fofonov (Astana), Roelandts (Omega), Denifl and Pujol (Cervélo), Pate and Van Summeren (Garmin), Champion, Bouet and Le Lay (Ag2r), Di Gregorio (FDJ), Cataldo and Samoilau (Quick Step), El Fares and Moinard (Cofidis), Rohregger (Milram), Martinez (Euskaltel), Gautier and Lefèvre (Bbox) and Levarlet (Saur). Latest time gap: 2.15. They are 7 km away from the top of the Glandon.
Lefèvre is back in the front group of 20 riders.
Cataldo does most of the work at the head of the front group and Laurent Lefèvre can’t follow his rhythm.
RadioShack’s Ben Hermans and Markel Irizar set the pace in front of the bunch. The gap is 2.23 with 64km to go. The breakaway group is 12km away from the top of the Glandon.
Eros Capecchi who has the polka dot jersey on his shoulders is in difficulty in the col du Glandon. He might not have fully recovered from yesterday’s breakaway.
With 16km to go to the top of the Glandon, the time gap is 2.50.
At Saint-Alban (km 82), the time gap between the 20 men away and the bunch is 3.10.
The breakaway riders have covered 40.2 kilometres in the first hour. The average speed so far is 40.4km/h.
Result of the first intermediate sprint at Saint-Etienne-de-Cuines (km 79):
1. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), 3 points
2. Levarlet (Saur), 2 points
3. Van Summeren (Garmin), 1 point
The Astana and RadioShack teams combined their efforts at the head of the peloton and maintain the difference to the riders at 2.40. The breakaway group is at the bottom of the the col du Glandon.
Jurgen Van Goolen (Omega Pharma-Lotto) has pulled out of the race.
The bunch led by the RadioShack and Astana teams is 2.50 down at Saint-Léger (km 64.5).
At the feed zone (km 73.5), the gap between the 20 riders away and the bunch is 2.30.
In the downhill of the col du Grand Cucheron, Champion rejoins the breakaway group that has now 20 members.
Result of the KOM at the col du Grand Cucheron:
1. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), 10 points
2. Gautier (Bbox), 9 points
3. Denifl (Cervélo), 8 points
4. Bouet (Ag2r), 7 points
5. Cataldo (Quick Step), 6 points
6. Lefèvre (Bbox), 5 points
Champion crossed the line 25 seconds later, Silin was at 2.10, the peloton at 3.05.
With 1km to go to the top of the Grand Cucheron, the 19 leaders have a 45 seconds advantage over Champion, 55 seconds over Silin and 2.25 over the bunch.
Tomas Vaitkus (RadioShack) pulls out of the race.
In the col du Grand Cucheron, French champion Dimitri Champion (Ag2r) and Russian hope Igor Silin (Katusha) are in between the 19 men breakaway and the peloton.
The 14 riders in the lead are rejoined by the 5 chasers. It makes a front group of 19 escapees. They have 1.55 at km 44.
Two riders pull out at the foot of the col du Grand Cucheron: Fedrigo and Jerome, both from Bbox Bouygues Telecom.
At km 38, 14 riders are in the lead: Plaza (CE), Fofonov (Astana), Roelandts (Omega), Denifl (Cervélo), Van Summeren (Garmin), Le Lay (Ag2r), Di Gregorio (FDJ), Cataldo and Samoilau (Quick Step), El Farès (Cofidis), Rohregger (Milram), Martinez (Euskaltel), Gautier (Bbox) and Levarlet (Saur.) 5 riders in the chase at 20 seconds: Pujol (Cervélo), Pate (Garmin), Bouet (Ag2r), Moinard (Cofidis) and Lefèvre (Bbox). Peloton at 50 seconds.
From the chasing group, Rohregger, Di Gregorio and Cataldo rejoin the ten leaders. The peloton is at 30 seconds.
The chasing group is at 17 seconds, the peloton is at 35 seconds.
Bellotti (Liquigas), Calzati (Sky) and Di Gregorio (FDJ) rejoin the chasing group, from which De Weert disappears.
Seven riders are trying to bridge the gap to the ten men away: Moreau (CE), Lund (Saxo Bank), Dessel (Ag2r), De Weert and Cataldo (Quick Step), Rohregger (Milram) and Duran (Footon).
At km 27, the gap increases to 40 seconds despite the chase by Footon-Servetto.
At km 23, the ten leaders have 25 seconds lead over the bunch led by Footon-Servetto who wants to bring it back to defend the polka dot jersey of Eros Capecchi now threatened by Egoi Martinez who has accumulated 25 points.
Passed the 18th kilometre, ten riders are in the lead: Plaza (CE), Fofonov (Astana), Roelandts (Omega), Denifl (Cervélo), Van Summeren (Garmin), Le Lay (Ag2r), El Farès (Cofidis), Martinez (Euskaltel), Gautier (Bbox) and Levarlet (Saur).
From the group of 21 riders, David Le Lay (Ag2r) persists alone in the front while the bunch looks like coming across to the leaders.
A breakaway of 21 riders has been formed after the Côte des Fontaines.
Result at the top of the Côtes des Fontaines (cat. 3):
1. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), 4 points
2. Perget (CE), 3 points
3. Plaza (CE), 2 points
4. El Farès (Cofidis), 1 point
Egoi Martinez attacks in the climb, followed by Plaza and Perget, both from Caisse d’Epargne.
The polka dot jersey of Eros Capecchi is seen in the first positions of the peloton in the 2.5 long côte des Fontaines (cat. 3).
For the third day in a row, the yellow/blue jersey is on the shoulders of Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack). Geraint Thomas (Sky) is again in green while Eros Capecchi (Footon-Servetto) is the new wearer of the polka dot jersey.
Yesterday’s stage hasn’t modified the first six positions on GC. Brajkovic has a margin of 1.15 over Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia), 1.41 over Alberto Contador (Astana), 1.56 over David Millar (Garmin-Transitions), 2.43 over Nicolas Vogondy (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) and 2.55 over Denis Menchov (Rabobank).
Thomas has only two points more than Brajkovic (67 vs 65). Grega Bole (Lampre) is third with 63 points, Contador fourth with 58 and Van Garderen fifth with 46.
Capecchi who also has the reputation of being the most elegant rider in the pro peloton leads the king of the mountain price since yesterday’s stage with 31 points ahead of young Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (Française des Jeux). The recent winner of the climbers’ competition at the Tour of Romandie is second with 26 points while Bram Tankink (Rabobank) who wore the polka dot jersey until yesterday has 23 points.
Astana leads the teams’ classification. Garmin-Transitions is at 2.06 and Katusha at 2.10.
It’s all together after 5 km.
The start has been given to the 159 riders at 13:57.
159 riders are ready to start stage 6. One non-starter: Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step).
Welcome to the live coverage of stage 6 of the 62nd Criterium du Dauphiné, from Crolles to L’Alpe d’Huez (151.5km) with the col du Grand Cucheron (cat. 2) and the col du Glandon (H.C.) to climb prior to the final ascent to the mythical 21 curves leading to the famous ski resort.
