Hushovd Wins His 10th Tour Stage While The Overall Battle Heats Up

The Progress Report
It was fine at the start of the 16th stage from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap. There was 162.5km of racing with the intermediate sprint at Veynes (117.5km) and the only categorized limb of the day coming 11.5km from the finish, the col de Manse (category-two). There were 170 riders at the sign on. Despite storm in the morning, the race started in fine, warm conditions with a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius at the start of the stage which was at 1.13pm.

Everyone Wants To Lead...!
The first hour was raced at 51.4km/h with numerous riders trying to be part of the escape group on a day of undulating terrain. In the opening hour some of the aggressors were Devenyns (QST), Chavanel (QST), Flecha (SKY) and Millar (GRM). They all launched bids to break free but nothing could succeed until 73km into the stage. Westra (VCD) was the first rider to gain a significant advantage but he was caught at 75km. Then Hesjedal (GRM) was the driving force of an escape. The average speed for the second hour was 46.4km/h. Finally, at 100km the peloton allowed the escapees to gain an advantage. By then it was a selection of 10 – with the move instigated by the Canadian Garmin rider. The escape was comprised of: Perez Lezaun (EUS), Hushovd (GRM), Hesjedal (GRM), Grivko (AST), Boasson Hagen (SKY), Devenyns (QST), Roy (FDJ), Martin (THR), Ignatiev (KAT) and Marcato (VCD). It started to rain at the start of the third hour and the roads were very wet. At the same time the 10 joined forces in the lead three others were caught between the lead and the peloton: Dumoulin (COF), Mollema (RAB) and Jeandesboz (SAU) couldn’t bridge the gap to the leaders but they insisted with their move. By the intermediate sprint, the 10 led the three by 2’10” and the peloton by 6’00”. AG2R and Europcar riders led the peloton.

Ignatiev The Early Aggressor
The three counter-attackers were caught at the 125km mark. Meanwhile, up ahead, Ignatiev started to attack the escape group. He made his first surge 25km from the finish but Hushovd chased him down. At the base of the 9.5km long climb, he Russian attacked again and led under the 20km to go sign by 15” while the peloton was at 5’55”. Devenyns was the one to respond to the Katusha rider’s acceleration, while Grivko was the first to be dropped from the lead group on the only climb of the stage. BMC led the peloton from 25km to go until the final climb, with Leopard-Trek just behind Evans’ team-mates.

Two Norwegians & A Canadian
While a battle between overall title contenders was going on behind, the race for stage honors became a three-man race with Hesjedal aggressive on the climb and also the final descent. It was wet and treacherous but there was just one fall (involving Arnold Jeannesson, who quickly got back up after sliding on a sweeping left turn). The leading trio included two compatriots but, more importantly, two team-mates. And it was the helping hand that Ryder could give Thor that gave the world champion a winning advantage. Hushovd followed his two escape companions under the ‘Flamme Rouge’ and then timed his sprint to perfection to claim his 10th stage victory in the Tour de France and his second for the 2011 edition. This trio was 4’45” ahead of Evans and Contador at the top of the climb, the yellow jersey’s group was at 5’10” when it began the descent.

Contador An Uphill Attack; Evans Ahead Going Down...
With 7km to climb there was an attack from Alberto Contador. He opened up a decent lead but Cancellara paced an elite group across to the Spaniard and there were six in the lead of the peloton. Voeckler (EUC), Evans (BMC), Frank and Andy Schleck (LEO) were all able to respond. But then the defending champion attacked again several times. Only Evans and Sanchez (EUS) could respond. Voeckler lost time in the stage because he couldn’t follow every move although he did try. Meanwhile the Schleck brothers both suffered time losses to their main rivals in the race for GC honours. Fränk was 22nd in the stage, in the same time as the points classification combantants Gilbert (OLO) and Rojas (MOV) and Voeckler was also in this group, finishing 18th. Voeckler’s advantage is dwindling but he retains the yellow jersey with an advantage of 1’45” to Evans who finished an impressive 11th place after attacking Contador on the descent and gaining three seconds but, more importantly, a win in the psychological battle of the title favorites.
Voeckler will wear the yellow jersey in stage 17.