Stage 10 Summary

The 10th stage of the 2005 Tour de France began at 12.30pm. The original itinerary was reduced from 192.5 to 181km because there were protests in Grenoble before the start. The neutral zone was extended to Brignoud which was meant to be at the 14km mark to ensure that there were no interruptions to the racing. There were 174 riders at the sign on. Petrov (LAM) was declared unfit to contest the stage after a doping control in the morning. The temperature was 22 degrees Celsius in the air and 30 degrees at road level. _ The 10th stage featured two category-one climbs, the Cormet-de-Roseland (at the 104km mark) and the final ascent to the ski station at Courchevel. There were two intermediate sprints in the stage. They were in Detrier (at 26km) and Bourg-Saint-Maurice (at 124.5km). _ _ Brochard Becomes The Virtual Leader _ The first attack came from Posthuma (RAB). He was joined by Brochard (BTL) and then by Krivtsov (A2R) at the 2km mark. They were chased by Bortolami (LAM), Isasi (EUS), Facci (FAS) and Sanchez (LSW). The four chasers caught the three leaders at the 16km mark. The peloton was behind by 5’50”. At the 21km mark, the peloton was at 8’20”. Brochard became the virtual leader because he began the stage in 49th place, 7’58” behind Voigt. The points for the first sprint were won by: 1. Bortolami; 2. Facci; 3. Krivtsov. The peloton was 7’50” behind. The average speed for the first hour was 46.1km/h. After an hour of racing, the advantage of the escapees was 10’40”. This was the biggest lead of any escape so far this year. The Credit Agricole team came to the front of the peloton. After 49km the peloton was behind by 9’40”. At the start of the Cormet-de-Rosaland, the seven escapees led by 8’05”. The average speed for the 2nd hour was 38.4km/h. _ _ Cormet-de-Roseland _ With 10km to climb on the Cormet-de-Roseland there was an attack from Posthuma in the lead group. He was matched by Brochard, Krivtsov and Sanchez. Garzelli (LIQ) accelerated at the head of the peloton. It was the only real attack of the first section of the climb. He was joined by the likes of Horner (SDV), Jaksche (LSW), Valverde and Mancebo (IBA). The Discovery Channel team then came to the front of the peloton and chased down Garzelli’s move. Voigt went to the back of the group which had 45 riders in it. With 5km to climb Posthuma, Brochard, Krivtsov, Facci and Sanchez led Bortolami and Isasi by 40” and the peloton by 4’45”. At the top of the first climb the points were won by: 1. Brochard (BTL) 15pts; 2. Posthuma (RAB) 13pts; 3. Krivtsov (A2R) 11pts; 4. Sanchez (LSW) 9pts - at 7"; 5. Facci (FAS) 8pts; 6. Bortolami (LAM) 7pts - at 45"; _ 7. Isasi (EUS) 6pts; 8. Jaksche (LSW) 5pts - at 3’40". Four Discovery Channel riders led the peloton over the top just behind a late surge from Jaksche and Pereiro (PHO). _ _ Between The Climbs _ Popovych crashed on the descent but quickly remounted his bike and caught the peloton. Brochard led for most of the descent. He was caught by Sanchez before the bottom. This pair led Bortolami, Facci, Krivtsov and Posthuma. Isasi was caught by Jaksche and Pereiro. Sanchez didn’t do any work at the front as he waited for his team-mate, Jaksche. With 41km to go, the two stage leaders were caught by the seven chasers. The peloton was led by the Discovery Channel team and was 4’30” behind. With 30km to go, the nine escapees led by 3’30”. Discovery set the pace of the peloton on the approach to the final climb with 25km to go, the bunch was 2’55” behind Jaksche’s group. _ _ Four Riders Take Control En-Route to Courchevel _ Jaksche attacked the lead group with 17km to go. Popoyvch was the last Discovery rider before Armstrong to do a strong turn of pace. The Ukranian peeled off with 11km to go. Armstrong then hit the accelerator and only five riders could match him – Basso, Valverde, Mancebo, Rasmussen and Evans. They caught Jaksche with 10km to go. This was the moment that Evans and Basso lost contact Armstrong’s group. For the final 8km the four stage leaders Armstrong, Mancebo, Valverde and Rasmussen shared the work up front. In the final kilometre Rasmussen attacked but he was quickly caught by Armstrong and Valverde. With 500m to go Armstrong started to sprint for the stage win. He was matched by Valverde who raced ahead in the final meters to claim his first Tour stage win. Valverde elevated himself from 24th to 5th overall during the 10th stage. He now leads the best young rider classification. _ _ Lance Armstrong's second place elevated him from third overall to first. He will wear the yellow jersey in stage 11.