Stage Eight Summary

The 231.5km stage from Pforzheim to Gerardmer began at 11.45am. There were 183 riders at the sign on. Spezialetti (LAM) and Mengin (FDJ) did not start the stage because of injuries sustained in the first week. The other non-starter was Honchar (DOM). The temperature was 19 degrees Celsius in the air and 22 degrees at road level. _ There were five climbs in stage eight, four cat-3 ascents in the first 48km – the Cote de Dobel (at 14.5km), the Cote de Bad-Herrenalb (27km), Cote de Nactigal (38.5km) and the Cote de Zimmerplatz (48km). The final hurdle was the first cat-2 climb of the 2005 Tour, the Col de la Schlucht (at 216km). _ The three intermediate sprints were in Sasbach (at 64.5km) Kenzingen (125.5km) and Illhaeusern (162km). _ _ Immediate Attack _ As soon as the flag dropped for the official start Ludewig (DOM) went on the attack. He was joined by Bertogliati (SDV). Their escape was over at after 11km. The points for the 1st climb were won by: 1. Rasmussen (RAB) 4pts; 2. Kashechkin (C.A) 3pts – at 15”; 3. Voigt (CSC) 2pts; 4. Hincapie (DSC) 1pt. Calzati (A2R) abandoned on the first climb. At the 2nd climb Rasmussen claimed first. He was 23” ahead of Kashechkin, Hincapie, Voigt and Casar and 1’40” ahead of the peloton. The four chasers caught Rasmussen at the 31km mark. The peloton was at 1’38”. At the top of the 3rd climb Rasmussen led Voigt, Hincapie and Kashechkin over the line. Casar was at 5” and the peloton at 1’40”. At the first sprint the points were won by: 1. Hincapie 6pts; 2. Voigt 4pts; 3. Kashechkin 2pts. Rasmussen stopped his effort in the lead group only moments before the sprint at the 64.5km mark. Hincapie, Kashechkin and Voigt then waited for the peloton while Casar continued with the attack. The bunch caught Hincapie’s group at the 69km mark. Casar was 22” ahead. _ At the 75km mark, a number of riders attacked. Cancellara (FAS) and Sorensen (CSC) caught Casar at the 77km mark. In Appenweier this trio led the peloton by 20”. There was a group of 40 riders – including the green and polka-dot jerseys – 3’40” behind. At the 80km mark, Hushovd began to chase the leading trio. He caught Casar’s group at the 83km mark. The peloton was at 30”. At the feedzone (103km) the peloton was 2’25” behind Hushovd’s group. Then Davitamon-Lotto riders came to the front of the peloton. At the 112km mark, the peloton was 1’20” behind Hushovd’s group. _ _ Sorensen Becomes The Virtual Leader _ At the Kenzingem sprint the points were won by: 1. Hushovd 6pts; 2. Sorensen 4pts; 3. Casar 2pts. Fourth over the line was Cancellara. The peloton was at 30”. Hushovd, Cancellara and Casar then waited for the peloton. They were caught at the 126km mark. Sorensen continued with his attack. At the 141km mark he was caught by six riders – Flecha (FAS), Jalabert (PHO), Vasseur (COF), Scholz (GST), Weening (RAB) and Commesso. They were chased by Turpin (A2R). As the crossed the border and returned to France, the advantage of the seven escapees on the peloton was 2’25”. Sorensen became the virtual leader. He began the 8th stage in 20th place 2’01” behind Armstrong. _ The green jersey’s group of 40 riders caught the yellow jersey’s peloton at the 157km mark. At this stage, the seven escapees had an advantage of 5’10”. At 160km, the seven led by 6’30”, this was the maximum gain of the escape. At the 3rd sprint, the points were won by: 1. Commesso 6pts; 2. Flecha 4pts; 3. Vasseur 2pts. The peloton was led by three Liquigas riders and was 6’10” behind at the 162km mark. _ Illes Balears and Bouyges Telecom riders also assisted in the chase. With 41km to go, the peloton was 3’45” behind Sorensen’s group. In Munster (at the 196.5km mark) the peloton was 3’00” behind the escapees. At the start of the final climb the peloton was 2’47” behind. _ _ Weening Makes A Winning Move _ Weening was the first rider to attack on the final climb. The first rider to return to the peloton from the escape was Vasseur, then Jalabert… Vinokourov started the attacks at the head of the yellow jersey’s peloton. This signaled the start of the serious moves. Armstrong responded to Vinokourov’s move. The next to try was Valverde. He opened up a good gap but was then chased down by Vinokourov. Armstrong then just followed Ullrich. It was with about 10km to climb that Kloden attacked and broke free of the yellow jersey’s group. The T-Mobile rider caught Weening right at the summit and claimed the double-points for the cat-2 climb. Rasmussen was 3rd at the summit. He will wear the polka-dot jersey in stage nine. The yellow jersey’s group was 10” behind. Weening and Kloden worked well together on the descent but the peloton was closing in fast and got to within 8” with 5km to go. Then there was a moment of hesitation in the bunch but Kloden and Weening continued to cooperate and entered the final kilometer with an advantage of 30”. Kloden led for all of the last 500m but Weening timed his sprint to perfection and took the win by a fraction of a matter of millimeters. It was the Dutch rider’s first stage win in the Tour de France. _ Vladimir Karpets finished in 29th place and inherited the white jersey from Popovych who was 41st in the state. _ _ Lance Armstrong finished in 20th place with the same time as the rider in third place (Valverde). The defending Tour champion will wear the yellow jersey in stage nine.