Stage 18 Summary

The 189km stage from Albi to Mende began at 12.17pm. There were 155 riders at the sign-on. _ The 18th stage of the 92nd Tour featured five categorized climbs: the cat-4 Cote de la Bessede (at 53km), the cat-3 Cote de Raujolles (at 99km), the cat-2 Cote de Boyne (at 131.5km), the cat-3 Cote de Chabrits (at 180.5km) and the tough cat-2 ascent of the Cote de la Croix-Neuve – affectionately known as the ‘Montee Laurent Jalabert’ – at the 187.5km mark. There were also two intermediate sprints, the first in Villefranche-d’Albigeois (at 13km) and the second in Le Massegros (at 138km). _ _ 10 Riders Establish An Escape Group _ Bessy (COF) attacked in the first kilometer. He was joined by Nardello (TMO), Botero (PHO), Bernucci (FAS), Garzelli (LIQ), Commesso (LAM) and Martinez (EUS) at 4km. Garzelli was aggressive in the move but the peloton reeled in the escape at the 6.5km mark. Moreau (C.A) attacked at 8km. He was chased by Van Summeren (DVL), Albasini (LIQ) and, at 11km, Vinokourov (TMO). At the first sprint the points were won by Van Summeren, Vinokourov and Moreau. The peloton was at 10”. The escape was over after 15km. Heras (LSW) and Flecha (FAS) were the next to attack (at the 21km mark). They inspired a 23 other riders to chase them down. At 25km a group of 25 had a lead of 25” on the peloton. The escape was chased down by the Discovery Channel team (which had just one representative in the escape, Azevedo) at the 32km mark. _ At 39km Da Cruz attacked. At 43km he was 15” ahead of the peloton. He was joined by nine others - Kessler (TMO), Roberts (CSC), Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW), Pellizotti (LIQ), Vasseur (COF), Voeckler (BTL) and Martinez (EUS) – at the 45km mark. Moreau set off in pursuit of these 10 escapees. The average speed for the 1st hour was 46.4km/h. At the 1st climb the points were won by Zandio Kessler & Merckx. At the 54km the 10 leaders were 50” ahead of the peloton. Moreau was caught at 56km. _ _ Lacklustre Chase _ The 10-man escape group had a lead of 4’15” at the 70km mark. The average speed for the 2nd hour was 46.0km/h. At 73km – 5’15”; at 78km – 6’00”; at 88km – 8’15”; at 91.5km – 9’10”. The points at the 2nd climb were won by: Da Cruz, Merckx, Roberts & Vasseur. The peloton was 10’55” behind the 10-man escapees at the 99km mark. At 119km, 10 led by 12’15”. At the start of the Cote de Boyne (122) the peloton’s deficit was 12’30”. The average speed for the third hour was 35.6km/h. The points for the 3rd climb were won by: Da Cruz, Kessler, Zandio, Serrano, Vasseur and Roberts. At the top, the peloton was behind by 13 minutes. _ The 2nd sprint points were claimed by: Da Cruz, Zandio and Voeckler. After 146km of “racing”, the peloton was 14’45” behind the 10 escapees. The Discovery Channel team led the peloton and all the other riders were content to follow. _ _ Setting Up Serrano’s Stage Win _ With 25km to go, the peloton was 15’20” behind the 10 escapees (this was the maximum gain of the escapees). Da Cruz attacked the lead group with 13km to go in the stage. At the base of the Cote de Chabrits he was 23” ahead of his former escape companions. He was caught on the climb by Merckx who split the rest of the escapees. Voeckler was the first to repond, then came Zandio, Vasseur and Serrrano. On the final climb Voeckler was the first to attack the leading quintet. Merckx responded and Serrano chased and then went into the lead of the stage with 1.5km to go on the Cote de la Croix-Neuve. The Spaniard led by 20” over the final summit. He raced ahead to claim his first stage win in the Tour de France (and also Liberty-Wurth’s first victory), beating Vasseur and Merckx by 27 seconds. _ _ Armstrong Responds To Every Attack… _ When the peloton was on the Cote de Chabrits, Kashechkin (C.A) was the first to attack. He was caught by riders from the Discovery Channel team who, together with CSC, lead the bunch through the streets of Mende (7.5km from the finish). Popovych and Hincapie (DSC) led the peloton onto the final ascent. The yellow jersey’s group included: Armstrong, Hincapie, Popovych, Ullrich, Basso, Mancebo, Evans, Rasmussen, Landis, Leipheimer and Mazzoleni with 5km to go. Basso then attacked and only Armstrong, Ullrich and Evans could follow. Ullrich was dropped on the final climb but rejoined Armstrong, Evans and Basso near the summit. Vinokourov rode together with Leipheimer and Rasmussen up the final ascent. The yellow jersey’s quartet was led over the finish line by Evans (11’55” behind Serrano). This group finished 37 seconds ahead of Rasmussen’s trio. _ _ Lance Armstrong finished the stage in 12th place. He will wear the yellow jersey in stage 19.