Stage Seven - Honchar Victorious & In Yellow!

Stage Details _ No climbs. _ Three intermediate time checks: at Geveze (16.5km), L’Hermitage (36.5km) and Rennes (46.3km). _ Weather conditions: The temperature at the start was 22 degrees Celsius. There was virtually no wind blowing for the early starters but it picked up to about a 10km/h breeze from the south in the early afternoon. _ Number of starters: 171. Official start time: 10.48am. _ _ The Progress Report _ _ Larsson Sets Early Standard _ Sebastian Joly (FDJ) was the first rider to start the seventh stage. The rider who was the ‘Lanterne Rouge’ after six stages began his race at 10.48am. The Olympic pursuit champion Wiggins (COF) was the 15th rider to start the time trial. He set the best time at every time check but he was relegated by Pena (PHO) and Larsson (FDJ) at each point. The Swedish time trial champion posted 1h13’17”. It wasn’t until the 84th rider of the day came along that Larsson’s time was challenged; Lang (GST) eclipsed Larsson’s efforts at the 1st and 3rd intermediate checks and finished 29” faster. _ Voigt, a rider who has fared well in time trials in recent years was a surprise today: he finished well done the rankings opting to conserve energy for today’s test. _ The CSC team lost one of its leaders when Bobby Julich crashed before the first time check and stepped into an ambulance nursing his right wrist. _ Menchov was the first of the big favorites to shine. The Russian Rabobank rider finished ahead of Lang at the first and second checks but faded at the end. The wind in the final section of the course picked up at the end of the day and it’s fair to say that it was something that influenced the result. _ _ Honchar Totally Dominant…! _ The world time trial champion from 2000, Serhiy Honchar (TMO) was one rider who wasn’t affected by the wind. The Ukranian led Landis (PHO) at every intermediate check – 17” at 16.5km, 42” at 36.5km and 57” at the 46.3km mark… he arrived at the finish after riding the 52km at an average speed of 50.6km/h. His nearest rival was Landis was 1’01” behind. _ Honchar was the only rider to ride at over 50km/h. Lang held on to third place and the world time trial champion Michael Rogers (TMO) finished fourth, 1’24” behind his team-mate. _ Tom Boonen (QSI) finished 41st in the stage, 3’41” behind the T-Mobile Ukrainian. _ Honchar moved up from 10th overall after six stages to first. He became the first rider from the Ukraine to claim the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.