Discovery's Dominant Day...!

The 19th stage of the 2007 Tour de France began at 11.20am. Wim Vansevenant (PRL) was the first rider to start the time trial. The contestants departed at two-minute intervals until the final 21, who were separated by three minutes. The conditions for the 55.5km race from Cognac to Angouleme were overcast and mild with temperatures of in the mid-20s. There were three intermediate checks: the first at 17.5km, then at 35.0km and 50.1km. _ _ Hoste’s Rapid Reconnaissance _ The fastest of the early wave of riders in the time trial was Leif Hoste. He was instructed by his Predictor-Lotto team to attack the course so he could report on the course for his Australian colleague Cadel Evans. Hoste was fastest at the first check until the arrival of Cancellara who beat his time by 11” but at the 35km mark the Swiss prologue winner was 15” behind the Belgian. At the finish the world champion failed to make up the deficit and finished in 1h05’39”. Schumacher then eclipsed the times of Hoste but faded at the end and finished 29” shy of the Belgian TT champion who averaged 50.8km/h. Mechanical issues halted David Millar’s progress moments after he started the time trial: his rear tire exploded and came off his disc wheel. At the first check he was 1’38” behind Schumacher. _ _ Overtaking Hoste…. _ Other riders started fast – beating Hoste’s time at the first two checks – but the Belgian held on to his lead at the finish until Hincapie raced into the provisional lead at the 51km mark by 12” and 15” at the end but a lot more was yet to come from the Discovery Channel team. The speed was much higher when the general classification contenders started to race. _ _ Leipheimer Wins; Contador Keeps Yellow & 31 Seconds Separate Top Three _ The Australian’s objective was to gain 1’50” on Contador to take the yellow jersey but by the end he got to within 23” of the lead. Leipheimer led at every check to set the fourth-fastest average speed for a long time trial in the Tour de France (53.081km/h). The American won the stage and got to within eight seconds of second place in the general classification in a triumphant day for Discovery Channel. Contador was fifth in the stage, finishing ahead of specialists like his compatriot Jose Ivan Gutierrez, the Spanish time trial champion. Only 31 seconds separate the three men who will stand on the podium in Paris on the final Sunday of the 2007 Tour.