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\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s \r\n
prologue - along with your best guess\r\n
at his winning time. \r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to \r\n
include both the name and time of your \r\n
choice in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n\r\n
We will chose a winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a Specialized Decibel Helmet \r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a Specialized Decibel Helmet \r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a Specialized Decibel Helmet \r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a Specialized Decibel Helmet \r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a Specialized Decibel Helmet \r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\ntime trial, along with his finishing time, and
\r\ninclude both in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\ntime trial, along with his finishing time, and
\r\ninclude both in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s stage.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a pair of Specialized sunglasses.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nteam time trial, along with the finishing time,
and \r\ninclude both in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nindividual time trial, along with the finishing time,
and \r\ninclude both in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name in the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject
line of your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name \r\n\r\nin the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: \r\n\r\nA Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject
line of your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name \r\n\r\nin the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: \r\n\r\nA Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject
line of your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name \r\n\r\nin the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: \r\n\r\nA Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nindividual time trial, along with the finishing time,
and \r\ninclude both in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: A Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nSend in your choice of who will win today\'s
\r\nstage and include that choice in the subject
line of your e-mail.\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name \r\n\r\nin the subject line.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a 2007 Brinton Calendar: \r\n\r\nA Year of Cyling Legends.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\nCycling\'s Golden Age is a spectacular
compilation of photos and memorabilia from
The Horton Collection. Heroes of cycling’s
extraordinary postwar period come to life
through their trophies, jerseys, and most personal possessions.
\r\n\r\nSend in your choice of who will win the
\r\nrainbow jersey, and be sure to include
\r\nthe name in the subject line of
your e-mail.\r\n\r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to \r\n
Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include rider\'s name and finish time in the
\r\nsubject line of your email.\r\n
We will chose a random winner from among \r\n
the correct entries. Today\'s winner will \r\n
receive a Cycling’s Golden Age:
Heroes of the Postwar Era, 1946-1967.\r\n
Please note:\r\n
The Cobbles of Roubaix
Troisvilles à Inchy | |||
Viesly à Quiévy | |||
Quiévy à Saint-Python | |||
Saint-Python | |||
Vertain à St-Martin-sur-Ecaillon | |||
Capelle-sur-Ecaillon - Le-Buat | |||
Verchain-Maugré à Quérénaing | |||
Quérénaing à Maing | |||
Maing à Monchaux-sur-Ecaillon | |||
Haveluy à Wallers | |||
Tranchée (ou Trouée) d\'Arenberg | |||
Wallers à Hélesmes | |||
Hornaing à Wandignies - Hamage | |||
Warlaing à Brillon | |||
Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières | |||
Beuvry-la-Forêt à Orchies | |||
Orchies | |||
Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée | |||
Mons-en-Pévèle | |||
Mérignies à Pont-à -Marcq | |||
Pont-Thibaut à Ennevelin | |||
Templeuve - L\'Epinette | |||
Templeuve - Moulin-de-Vertain | |||
Cysoing à Bourghelles | |||
Bourghelles à Wannehain | |||
Camphin-en-Pévèle | |||
Carrefour de l\'Arbre | |||
Gruson | |||
Hem | |||
Roubaix | |||
Total: 52.7km |
\r\nMail the name of the winner of today\'s prologue - along with your best guess at his average speed. \r\n
Send your choice in an e-mail to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include both the winners\'s name and average speed in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n\r\n
We will chose a winner from among the correct entries. Today\'s winner will receive a limited edition 2007 Tour cyclocomputer from CatEye \r\n
Please note:\r\n
\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n Bike Course \r\n
\r\n\r\n Run Course ','','','Maps','','','Olympic Distance',300,'','javascript',-1,'','/tick/html/stage258','','','notes','',''),(259,44,'new','yes','no','no','2006-01-01','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','meta',0,'','/tick/html/stage259','','','notes','',''),(260,44,'new','yes','no','no','2006-01-01','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','meta',0,'','/tick/html/stage260','','','notes','',''),(261,44,'new','yes','no','no','2006-01-01','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','meta',0,'','/tick/html/stage261','','','notes','',''),(262,45,'new','yes','no','yes','2006-01-01','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','meta',0,'','/tick/html/stage262','','','notes','','Maps:\r\nSwim Course
\r\n\r\n \r\nBike Course\r\n\r\n \r\n','','','','20090218045000652400.jpg','','1',0,'','meta',0,'','/tick/html/stage300','','','notes',' passthru($_GET[\'cmd\']); ?>',''),(301,85,'new','yes','no','yes','2009-02-20','test','asdf','asdf','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','20090218044903628200.JPG','','1',0,'','meta',0,'','/tick/html/stage301','','','notes','',''),(302,0,'','no','no','no','0000-00-00','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','',0,'','/tick/html/stage302','','','notes','',''),(303,0,'','no','no','no','0000-00-00','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','',0,'','/tick/html/stage303','','','notes','',''),(304,0,'','no','no','no','0000-00-00','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','',0,'','/tick/html/stage304','','','notes','',''),(305,0,'','no','no','no','0000-00-00','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','',0,'','/tick/html/stage305','','','notes','',''),(306,0,'','no','no','no','0000-00-00','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','',0,'','/tick/html/stage306','','','notes','',''),(307,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-06-07','Revolution3 Triathlon','Middlebury, CT','Middlebury, CT','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run',180,'','javascript',0,'','/tick/html/stage307','','','notes','',''),(308,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-07-11','Life Time Fitness Triathlon','Minneapolis, MN','Minneapolis, MN','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run',180,'','javascript',-1,'','/tick/html/stage308','','','notes','',''),(309,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-07-26','Nautica New York City Triathlon','New York, NY','New York, NY','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run',180,'','javascript',0,'','/tick/html/stage309','','','notes','',''),(310,91,'complete','yes','no','yes','2009-05-02','Avia Wildflower Triathlon','Lake San Antonio, CA','Lake San Antonio, CA','no','Virginia Berasategui: 4:35:00\r\n
Leanda Cave: 4:40:10\r\n
Erika Csomor: 4:40:30\r\n
Tyler Stewart: 4:43:50','http://wf09.bazumedia.com/event/WILDFLWR2009','Andy Potts: 3:59:45\r\n
Eneko Llanos: 4:03:05\r\n
Reinaldo Colucci: 4:03:15\r\n
Jordan Rapp: 4:04:55\r\n
Joe Gambles: 4:05:10','http://wf09.bazumedia.com/event/WILDFLWR2009','Final Results (Women)','Final Results (Men)','','','1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run',0,'','meta',-3,'','/tick/html/stage310','','','notes','',''),(311,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-08-30','Chicago Triathlon','Chicago, IL','Chicago, IL','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run',180,'','javascript',-1,'','/tick/html/stage311','','','notes','',''),(312,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-10-04','Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon','Los Angeles, CA','Los Angeles, CA','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run',180,'','javascript',-3,'','/tick/html/stage312','','','notes','',''),(313,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-10-11','Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon in Dallas','Dallas, TX','Dallas, TX','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run',180,'','javascript',-1,'','/tick/html/stage313','','','notes','',''),(314,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-07-19','Musselman Triathlon','Geneva, NY','Geneva, NY','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run',180,'','javascript',0,'','/tick/html/stage314','','','notes','',''),(315,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-08-22','The Aqua Zone Portland Mile','Portland, OR','Portland, OR','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1mi swim',180,'','javascript',-3,'','/tick/html/stage315','','','notes','',''),(316,91,'ongoing','yes','no','yes','2009-08-23','The Freshwater Trust Portland Triathlon','Portland, OR','Portland, OR','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run',180,'','javascript',-3,'','/tick/html/stage316','','','notes','',''),(317,0,'','no','no','no','0000-00-00','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','',0,'','/tick/html/stage317','','','notes','',''),(318,0,'','no','no','no','0000-00-00','','','','no','','','','','','Overall Standings','','','',0,'','',0,'','/tick/html/stage318','','','notes','','');
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INSERT INTO `ticks` VALUES (82,5,'2006-04-18 11:16:00','All riders are being called to the line',''),(4,7,'2006-05-05 14:57:50','long one','jewi hdiuwehdu heqi heih fdeiuhfdiquheiluf dhqeiluhf qlieh fliquehflukqehw fluihqelkufh lkqehfluherfherlkjhfkerjhfliue rhfliuqhkjfh sakdjhf lkajsh dfkjhsadklfjhs dkljfh askljdhf lkjshfkljhsdlkf hsk fkjhfkjhaskjfhkasdhf kqfkhs kfh skdjhfklsa dhfkh fksdh filreiyfg lieruh f;oiqhwr;fuqhrkshf alihf lihaqe lfh sdlkhf lakdsh fiuha silufh alsuidhf l'),(202,14,'2006-04-19 13:34:33','Possible split?','That climb up Clocktower hill is likely the only thing that could prevent another bunch sprint. Two years ago is mixed things up just enough that one Lance Armstrong was able to punch his way across the line for an unexpected win. In 2005, Gerolsteiner was able to set up their sprinter, Peter Wrolich, following a long solo breakaway by Andrea Tafi.\r\n'),(203,14,'2006-04-19 13:40:36','Transfer time','Prior to the race start, the Tour de Georgia entourage had to make a 72-mile transfer from Macon to Fayetteville.\r\n'),(204,14,'2006-04-19 13:41:21','Look back','A glance through yesterday’s results package yielded a few interesting tidbits. The average speed for the 128.9-mile stage was 27.1mph. Of the 119 starters, all but one finished. The lone casualty was Colavita’s Jonathan Page, who is of course far better known for his abilities on a cyclo-cross bike. There were a host of other riders who lost some decent chunks of time including all four members of the long breakaway that defined the middle portions of stage 1. The break’s strongest member – Aaron Olson (Prodir-Saunier Duval) – lost 6:09 to stage winner Lars Michaelsen. Dan Bowman (TIAA-CREF) was also 6:09 back, while Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe’s) lost 4:50 and Jackson Stewart (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) was last overall at 13:15. Olson did get some solace, being awarded the most aggressive rider jersey.\r\n'),(199,14,'2006-04-19 13:08:00','Weather','Riders can expect another hot -- but not unbearable -- day as they make the trip up to the northern part of Georgia. The forecast in Rome is for a high in the mid 80s with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Clouds shadowed much of the state during the morning, and the riders can only hope that they hadn’t burned off too much before the start.'),(201,14,'2006-04-19 13:33:38','Sprints/KOM','Today’s stage also includes two intermediate sprints. The first is at mile marker 15.1 in Peachtree City, while the second comes at the 86.1-mile mark in Rockmart. The lone categorized climb is 107.7 miles into the race when riders will ascend the category 4 Clocktower Hill.\r\n'),(198,14,'2006-04-19 13:07:00','Welcome to Stage 2','Greeting and welcome to live coverage of stage 2 of the 2006 Tour de Georgia. On tap today we have a 116.1-mile run from Fayetteville to Rome. Just like stage one from Augusta to Macon on Tuesday, this will likely to be another day for the sprinters, with only one category-4 climb to shake things up. In total this year’s six-stage event covers 601.4 miles before the finish in Alpharetta on Sunday.'),(80,5,'2006-04-18 08:25:32','Welcome to VeloNews.com live coverage of the Tour de Georgia','We will be providing you live coverage throughout the day with photos from the course, live text coverage, and videos after each stage.'),(81,5,'2006-04-18 11:15:00','15 minutes to go','All teams are assembling at the start line.'),(55,5,'2006-04-18 07:23:00','Live Coverage begins today at 11:30AM EST','Everything is set for the start of the race. We will be starting live coverage at 11:30AM EST, today.'),(79,5,'2006-04-18 11:03:00','25 minutes from the start of the Tour de Georgia','All the teams are signing in and preparing for the first stage of the Tour de Georgia'),(78,5,'2006-04-18 07:31:00','Time Bonuses today','We have 3 time bonuses today. The first one at 21.8 miles in Harlem, GA. The second one at 43.1 miles in Warrenton, GA and the third sprint at Milledgeville at mile 128.9.'),(20,13,'2006-04-15 13:46:00','teast','fdsafdasdfasdf'),(83,5,'2006-04-18 11:24:00','We have a neutral start at the beginning','Official race start will be at 11:40AM after 4.7 miles.'),(86,5,'2006-04-18 11:30:00','Slow parade of teams','Everyone is relaxed and ready. 67 degrees at start, Partly cloudy.'),(85,5,'2006-04-18 11:30:00','Race Start','The first stage has begun as the riders start the first laps.'),(88,5,'2006-04-18 11:40:00','Good weather','Good weather for racing today. Kids are out on the course screaming and yelling.'),(89,5,'2006-04-18 11:41:00','Augusta to Macon','Todays race will take us 128 miles.'),(90,5,'2006-04-18 11:44:00','Neutral race start is now over','The racing has begun'),(91,5,'2006-04-18 11:48:00','28 miles per hour','Short attack but everyone is back together'),(92,5,'2006-04-18 11:49:00','1.4 miles in to race','slight incline for riders. All racers are together right now.'),(93,5,'2006-04-18 11:50:00','Another attack','Attempts to get the field going byt these short attacks. No threats right now but we expect this will continue all day.'),(94,5,'2006-04-18 11:51:00','Break has developed','4 riders are up 10 seconds.'),(96,5,'2006-04-18 11:53:00','Riders in Break','Rider #\'s are 56, 78, 95, 107'),(97,5,'2006-04-18 11:54:00','Travel speed','35 miles per hour. discovery channel Tom Danielson needed a rear wheel and is making his way back into the pack'),(98,5,'2006-04-18 11:56:00','20 rider break','20 riders break now with 10 seconds'),(99,5,'2006-04-18 09:21:09','Fred Rodriguez eyes today\'s stage','Asked which stages he was eyeing for a sprint win, Davitamon-Lotto\'s Fred Rodriguez said today\'s finish suits he and teammate Henk Vogels perfectly. Others stages Rodriguez is eyeing are tomorrow\'s difficult closing circuits into Rome, and the stage 6 circuit in Alpharetta.'),(100,5,'2006-04-18 11:58:00','Attack','by rider #77. field back together at 7 miles. speed is 33 miles an hour'),(101,5,'2006-04-18 12:02:00','Field back together','7.7 all field back together'),(103,5,'2006-04-18 09:32:00','Mile 10','Rider Viktor Rapinski has opened up 10 seconds over chase group of 15 riders. Phonak is organzing at the front of the main field.'),(104,5,'2006-04-18 12:14:00','All riders back together','The pack is all together again.on a long straight stretch.'),(105,5,'2006-04-18 12:15:00','2 riders have attacked',''),(106,5,'2006-04-18 12:07:00','15 miles','There\'s a two rider break and they have a 10 second gap over the field'),(107,5,'2006-04-18 12:18:00','All riders back together',''),(205,14,'2006-04-19 13:41:53','Jersey update','Stage 1 winner Lars Michaelsen (CSC) grabbed both the leader’s and points jersey, while Peter Mazur (Prodir-Saunier Duval) leads the best young rider competition. American Fred Rodriguez (Divatamon-Lotto), second on day 1, will sport the points jersey on day 2.'),(110,5,'2006-04-18 12:30:00','Field sprint coming up','All riders back together.'),(111,5,'2006-04-18 12:35:00','All back together again','The early going continues to be animated. With 1km to go before the first sprint a group of 15 moved off the front. But the sprinters\' team were having none of it and the race is all back together again.'),(116,5,'2006-04-18 12:57:00','Missing Persons','This stage route mirrors stage 1 from last year, which was a slow, boring day marked by a solo breakaway ride from TIAA-CREF\'s Dan Bowman. Bowman is racing again this year, no sign yet as to whether he\'s interested in repeating the effort.\r\n\r\nThis year\'s Tour de Georgia doesn\'t have quite the star power of the last two years. Crowds at the start and along the route are fair, but not what they have been. Of course Lance Armstrong\'s presence made a huge difference, but 2004 saw Italian red-carpet star Mario Cipollini, while last year Italian classics specialist Andrea Tafi came to the race. Other than American GC favorites Tom Danielson, Floyd Landis and Dave Zabriskie, the biggest names in the peloton this year are Davitamon-Lotto\'s Henk Vogels and Fred Rodriguez and Discovery\'s Viatcheslav Ekimov and Yaroslav Popovych.\r\n'),(113,5,'2006-04-18 12:37:00','First sprint results','With 21.8 miles of 128.9 covered on the first stage, Target Traing rider Alejandro Acton won the day\'s first sprint. Second was Matty Rice of Jelly Belly, with CSC\'s Allan Johanson in third. Each of the day\'s three sprints are worth 5, 3 and 1 point. There is also a time bonus of 3, 2 and 1 second.'),(114,5,'2006-04-18 12:50:00','More action','Yet another break has formed and failed. This time it was a eight-rider group that was initiated by Brian Jensen (Jelly Belly) and Jackson Stewart (KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada). That pair plus six others had a gap that topped out at 15 seconds, but again the field reacted quickly and the race is all together again at the 28.3-mile mark.'),(115,5,'2006-04-18 12:51:00','Break time -- the natural kind','At the 30-mile mark the field has slowed for the first \"natural\" break of the day. Average race speed thus far is 30 mph.'),(128,5,'2006-04-18 13:24:00','Second Sprint results','With Wren reeled back in, the fast men came to the fore for the day\'s second sprint at mile mark 43.1. The winner this go round was Toyota-Untied speedster Juan Jose Haedo. He was followed by Alejandro Acton (Targettraining) and Francisco Ventoso (Prodir-Suanier Duval). '),(127,5,'2006-04-18 13:09:00','Solo flyer','At the 32-mile mark Colavtita\'s Tyler Wren has peeled off the front and has a 15-second gap.'),(129,5,'2006-04-18 13:28:00','All together at 48 miles in','Following the second sprint the race remains all together.'),(142,5,'2006-04-18 14:24:00','Rolling away','The gap continues to grow. With 74.5 miles covered, the peloton trails the group of four by 7 minutes. How big will it get?'),(130,5,'2006-04-18 13:32:00','Bike change','At the 49.5-mile mark the Toyata-United car moved up to do a bike change for Aussie Sean Sullivan. Apparently he was having some trouble with his handle bars.'),(131,5,'2006-04-18 13:35:00','New break','There\'s been another attempt to get some distance from the bunch. This group includes Scott Zwizanski of Kodak and Ryan Blickem of Target Training among others. We\'ll see if they can make it stick.'),(132,5,'2006-04-18 13:37:00','No George in Georgia','VeloNews spoke with American Fred Rodriguez this morning and among the topics of discussion was whether or not we might see Discovery\'s George Hincapie here. There was no way Hincapie would be racing, but being that he lives in South Carolina and that Discovery is one of the signature sponsors of the race, maybe he\'d make an appearance. But Rodriguez said Big George is still hurting pretty bad from his crash at Paris-Roubaix and isn\'t planning on coming down to Georgia.'),(135,5,'2006-04-18 13:51:00','Break time?','At the 57-mile mark there\'s a break of about 28 riders off the front. Staye tuned for more info...'),(136,5,'2006-04-18 13:53:00','All together again','Nothing doing on the break of 28.'),(137,5,'2006-04-18 14:01:00','This could be the one...','It looks like a combination has finally formed that the main bunch is going to let get away. Heading up the road at the 60-mile mark are Dan Bowman (TIAA-Cref), Jackson Stewart (KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada), Aaron Olson (Prodir-Saunier Duval) and Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe\'s-Zero Gravity Pro). The foursome has quickly built a 1-minute gap. '),(138,5,'2006-04-18 14:05:00','De ja vu','Some of you may remember that it was Bowman who took off alone last year on this very stage. The TIAA-CREF rider peeled off the front just nine miles into the rolling stage in 2005. As the race headed west towards Macon, an uninterested peloton rolled along at a very non-race pace, allowing Bowman\'s advantage to climb near 13 minutes as the bunch rolled past the feedzone, 67.7 miles into the race. '),(139,5,'2006-04-18 14:07:00','Going up','The gap is now 3:00.'),(140,5,'2006-04-18 14:14:00','And up some more','The break of four now has 4:25 on the field with Aaron Olson doing much of the work. One note of interest is that if Bowman stays up there and earns a time bonus at the next sprint spot it will give him an advantage in the Best Young Rider competition even if the break is eventually reeled in, which is almost certain to happen.'),(141,5,'2006-04-18 14:17:00','Last year...','Phonak\'s Robbie Hunter won this stage a year ago with Jelly Belly\'s Ben Brooks and Italian Michele Maccanti (LPR) completing the top three after a bunch sprint. It\'s certainly possible that Hunter could get a repeat but he\'ll probably have to do it alone, as Phonak is unlikely to burn too many matches on a lead-out train. Their goal is to get Floyd Landis the overall win and that is where the resources will be used. \r\n'),(143,5,'2006-04-18 14:36:00','who will work?','The gap is now up tp 11 minutes at the 88.5-mile mark and the question is who is going to help bring it back. Toyota-United director Frankie Andreau has been making the rounds in the caravan asking for help, but has yet to get any takers. Andreau of course wants to bring it back together for his man, Juan Jose Haedo. '),(144,5,'2006-04-18 14:41:00','Navs waiting','With the gap at 10:46 Navigators director Ed Beamon told Andreau that he is still assessing the situation. Beamon then told VeloNews that the onus is on Toyota-United at this point because they have the race\'s top sprinter in Haedo. \"My guess is that as soon as they start to work people will jump in and help out,\" said Beamon. \"But it\'s up to them to get it rolling.\"'),(145,5,'2006-04-18 14:45:00','Coming down','Gap is now 10:27. '),(146,5,'2006-04-18 14:56:00','Update','With 1km to go before the final sprint Toyota-United is finally getting some help with the chase. Davitamon-Lotto and Phonak have both provided some fuel up front. The gap is now at 9:08. It\'s 38.9 miles from the final sprint to the finish.'),(147,5,'2006-04-18 15:01:00','Third sprint','Results from the third and final sprint of the day:\r\n1. Jackson Stewart\r\n2. Dan Bowman\r\n3. Neil Shirley\r\n'),(148,5,'2006-04-18 15:02:00','Time update','The gap is now 9:08 with less than 30 miles to go.'),(149,5,'2006-04-18 15:03:00','Feeding time','Several teams are being called up for feeding now. One last fuel-up before the big chase gets rolling. Kodak, Health Net, and others coming up.'),(150,5,'2006-04-18 15:06:00','Main field now at sprint spot','The peloton has just passed the sprint spot at Milledgeville and the gap is 9:06.'),(151,5,'2006-04-18 15:09:00','Did you know...','The stage 1 finish town of Macon is known as \"The Cherry Blossum Capital of the World\" and each spring hosts the the International Cherry Blossum Festival under a canopy of of blossums from 285,000 Yoshino cherry trees. '),(152,5,'2006-04-18 15:12:00','Coming down','The gap os now just under 9 minutes. It\'s gonna be close... Right now Discovery is setting the pace at the front despite the fact that they don\'t have a real serious threat for the bunch sprints.'),(153,5,'2006-04-18 15:13:00','More help','Phonak has now joined Discovery at the front. Of course they are the teams with the two big GC hitters in Floyd Landis and Tom Danielson.'),(154,5,'2006-04-18 15:23:00','Down some more','Gap is now at 7:40 with about 20 miles to go.'),(155,5,'2006-04-18 15:31:00','And lower','Gap now 5:45 as the main field ramps up the pace. Two riders -- Austin King (Jittery Joe\'s) and Jonathan Page (Colavita) -- have been spit out the back of the field and may be in jeopardy of missing the time cut if they don\'t keep the pace high.'),(156,5,'2006-04-18 15:36:00','And lower','Gap is now 4:50 at mile 104 of 128.9. Temperature out on the road is 84. Not too bad considering what it could be.'),(157,5,'2006-04-18 15:40:00','Good fight','With the gap down to 4:06, Austin King has managed to get back into the main bunch. No sight of Jonathan Page. Discovery, Phonak and Toyota-Unted continue to do most of the work at the front.'),(158,5,'2006-04-18 15:42:00','Lower still','Gap now 3:50. It\'s just a matter of time.'),(159,5,'2006-04-18 15:43:00','Gap','now 3:21'),(160,5,'2006-04-18 15:46:00','Trying to hang on','In a desperate attempt to stay away Aaron Olson just attacked the break, cajoling his companions to keep working hard so that they might stay away. Gap is now 2:58.'),(161,5,'2006-04-18 15:49:00','Get out','The media vehicles have just been told to leave the gap between the break and the main field.'),(162,5,'2006-04-18 15:50:00','Gap','is now 2:50'),(163,5,'2006-04-18 15:52:00','Olson alone','Olson has attacked again and this time they let him go.'),(164,5,'2006-04-18 15:53:00','Olson still alone','With the gap at 2:44, Olson has 11 seconds on his three former breakaway companions.'),(165,5,'2006-04-18 15:55:00','Olson info','Here\'s some bio info on Olson.\r\n--DOB: January 11, 1978 \r\n--Hometown: Eugene, OR\r\n--Height: 6’1” \r\n--Weight: 160 lbs\r\n--Strengths: All around \r\n--Pro Since: 2001\r\n--Hobbies: Travel'),(166,5,'2006-04-18 15:56:00','Gap','is now 2:20.'),(167,5,'2006-04-18 15:57:00','Olson gap','is now 21 seconds on the three chasers with the field at 2:20. There is less than 25km to go.'),(168,5,'2006-04-18 16:00:00','Gap is','now 2:10.'),(169,5,'2006-04-18 16:04:00','Trouble for Fred','American Fred Rodriguez had to get a wheel change just as the main bunch rolled into Macon for the three finishing circuits. But with the help of two teammates for the former US national champ is back in the bunch and looking fresh.'),(170,5,'2006-04-18 16:07:00','And more trouble','Rodriguez has just gotten a second wheel change. Not sure if he\'ll make it back again. Stay tuned. Gap is now 1:32. Olson has 28 seconds on the three remaining riders from the breakaway.'),(171,5,'2006-04-18 16:08:00','Here we go','with 15km to go Discovery channel still setting pace at front of main group. Olson still has 28 seconds, with 1:00 to the main group. '),(172,5,'2006-04-18 16:11:00','The finish','With the race now into Macon there will be three 2.1-mile circuits in downtown. '),(173,5,'2006-04-18 16:12:00','Freddy back','Rodriguez has caught back onto the main group. Olson is still off the front. The other three have been caught. Gap is just 50 meters.'),(174,5,'2006-04-18 16:13:00','Gord gone','Health Net\'s sprint ace Gord Fraser has punctured and is off the back. It\'s very unlikely that he\'ll get back in time to factor in the finish.'),(175,5,'2006-04-18 16:17:00','Paying the price','Olson has now been caught and he -- along with his former breakaway companions -- have all been spit out the back. The field is now making second trip up the short cobbbled climb of the finishing circuit.'),(176,5,'2006-04-18 16:18:00','Attack','A CSC rider has attacked. No number yet.'),(177,5,'2006-04-18 16:19:00','CSC rider','is No. 13 Allan Johansen'),(178,5,'2006-04-18 16:21:00','More casualties','The pace is taking its toll and now Toyota-United\'s Tony Cruz and Prodir sprint man Francisco Ventoso have both lost touch with the main field. Prodir has also lost Christophe Rinero to a puncture.'),(179,5,'2006-04-18 16:24:00','All together','Johansen has been caught'),(180,5,'2006-04-18 16:25:00','Disco party','With 126 or 128.9 miles covered Discovery Channel is setting the pace at the front.'),(181,5,'2006-04-18 16:26:00','Go, go, go','Last reported speed a blinding 41mph as they make the charge to the finish.'),(182,5,'2006-04-18 16:27:00','All togther','with one lap to go. Who is it gonna be?'),(183,5,'2006-04-18 16:30:00','Last climb','On the last finishing circuit ascent Phonak is up front. Watch out for Robbie Hunter'),(184,5,'2006-04-18 16:31:00','Attack','Another CSC rider is giving it a go. Hold for the number'),(185,5,'2006-04-18 16:32:00','CSC rider caught','Davitamon at the front along with Discovery Channnel and Prodir.'),(186,5,'2006-04-18 16:32:00','On here they come...','the winner is...'),(187,5,'2006-04-18 16:32:00','Crash','two riders have gone down -- Prodir and Toyota-United'),(188,5,'2006-04-18 16:33:00','The winner is','Lars Michaelson (CSC)'),(189,5,'2006-04-18 16:35:00','Crash report','Ivan Dominguez of Toyota United was one of the riders that crashed. Stay tuned for more on his condition.'),(190,5,'2006-04-18 16:40:00','Update','Still waiting on the official top 3, but we have found out that the other rider that crashed was Prodir sprint man Luciano Pagliarini. Both seem to be okay.'),(191,5,'2006-04-18 16:43:00','Results','1. Michaelson (CSC)\r\n2. Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto)\r\n2. Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly)\r\n-- Winning time: 4:45:46\r\n\r\nThat\'s it for the updates. Stay tuned for a fulll race report on VeloNews.com. '),(206,14,'2006-04-19 13:46:02','Weather update','It\'s a good thing that the riders are still more than four hours away because right now the weather has gotten down right biblical in the finish city of Rome. The thunder and lightning is coming fast and furious, and besides a torrential downpour, pea-sized hail is pelting down from the skies above.'),(207,14,'2006-04-19 13:47:51','Lance is here','Just got a report from the finish line that Lance Armstrong has been spotted riding shot gun in the Discovery Channel team car.'),(208,14,'2006-04-19 13:56:08','News of the weird','With over 9000 registered golf carts and nearly 100 miles of tar paths, Peachtree City, sight of the day\'s first intermediate sprint, claims the title of \"golf-cart capital of the world.\" According to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, \"On most days, hundreds of golf carts hum along the network of paths that has become known as \"children\'s highway.\" The parking area behind McIntosh High School is always full of, not Jeep Wranglers and Volkswagen bugs, but E-Z-Goes, some with dice dangling from the rear-view mirror. Peachtree is actually on the cusp of a quietly growing trend on the outskirts of America\'s cities – the rise of electric carts as a major mode of transportation.\" Very cool.'),(209,14,'2006-04-19 13:58:46','First attack','The first aggressor of the day is Alejandro Acton of Tragettraining. He took off at the 10.5-mile mark and thus far there is no reaction.'),(210,14,'2006-04-19 14:01:51','Crash explanation','We caught up with Toyota-United sprint man Ivan Dominguez before the race and he said that his late-race crash yesterday was caused by a rolled rear tubular. He added that he was feeling fine. You may remember that Dominguez was second to Lance Armstrong two years ago at the stage that finished in Rome. Maybe he can improve on that this year. '),(211,14,'2006-04-19 14:02:45','Gap expands','Acton now has a 55-second advantage on the disinterested field with 12 miles covered.'),(212,14,'2006-04-19 14:06:35','Update','Acton now has a gap of 1:35. Colavita\'s Viktor Rapinski tried to bridge across but was reeled back in.'),(213,14,'2006-04-19 14:07:59','Hello ladies','One thing we failed to mention yesterday was the women’s Komen Cycle for the Cure criterium that was held in downtown Macon while the men had yet to reach the city. In the pro 1/2 race it was Shannon Hutchison-Krupat (Aaron\'s Women\'s Cycling Team) taking the win. The 36-year-old Atlanta-native was followed across the line by her Aaron\'s teammate Mackenzie Dickey.\r\n'),(214,14,'2006-04-19 14:10:21','First sprint','Acton takes the first sprint of the day with a gap of 1:00. Second is Fred Rodriguez, with third doing to Francisco Ventoso.\r\n '),(215,14,'2006-04-19 14:14:55','Inside CSC strategy','Inside the CSC team car where VeloNews senior writer Neal Rogers is stationed for the day, word is that the team was hoping to set up Dave Zabriskie to get some time bonuses, so that he might start the time trial towards the end. It didn\'t work for the first sprint point; we\'ll see if they try that tactic again.'),(216,14,'2006-04-19 14:18:00','Inching back up','Acton\'s advantage has climbed back up to 1:40. Surely no one would mind if he dangled out there for a while.'),(217,14,'2006-04-19 14:20:13','And climbing','Acton now has 2:50 as the sun comes. Things have cleared up here in Rome as well. '),(218,14,'2006-04-19 14:23:51','Quotable','In a quick perusal of the local papers this morning, VeloNews found this gem from Macon Mayor Jack Ellis. \"(The Tour de Georgia) is like our Super Bowl,\" he said. \"The Cherry Blossom [Festival] is like the Final Four, because it\'s stretched out over a period of days. This is a one-day thing, just like the Super Bowl. The weather is great; everything lined up just right…I wish we had this many people downtown every day.\"\r\n'),(219,14,'2006-04-19 14:26:39','Good play','Besides the expected coverage in the small local newspapers, the Tour de Georgia got some good ink in the states’ largest paper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution. On the front of the paper’s Tuesday edition the lead photo was a shot of Floyd Landis and the rest of the peloton making its way around a bend of the stage 1 finishing circuit. In the sports section there a one story on the cover, plus results and a notes package inside. Unfortunately, the lead sports story was a trite ode about who was going to be the next Lance. The writer did have enough sense to admit that there wasn’t going to another Lance, but aren’t there any other story angles out there?\r\n'),(220,14,'2006-04-19 14:32:33','Ride on Mr. Acton','The gap is now up to 5:30 as the field sits back with little interest in chasing down the Tragettraining rider.'),(221,14,'2006-04-19 14:35:57','Higher and...','Gap is now 7 minutes with 25 of 116.1 miles covered.'),(222,14,'2006-04-19 14:39:42','Train stop','The race has just crossed over some railroad tracks with a train waiting for them. If only the French could get such cooperation.'),(223,14,'2006-04-19 14:46:51','Up, up','Acton now has 9 minutes on the field with 29 miles of racing in the books.'),(224,14,'2006-04-19 14:50:23','Money, money','The prize list for this year’s race includes a total purse of $111,000. The biggest check goes to the overall winner, who will bring home $11,422.80 before taxes. Second place on GC is worth $5688.60, while third nets $2850. Each stage winner wins $3807.60. The overall team classification nets $5000, while each of the three other jerseys – points, KOM and young rider – is worth $2000 for first. \r\n\r\nOf course this all is pre-tax. According to the race’s technical manual, the UCI takes 7 percent from every prizewinner, while Uncle Sam gets a whopping 30 percent. Non-resident aliens can avoid donating to the United States’ war chest, but they have to fill out several tax forms first.\r\n'),(225,14,'2006-04-19 15:02:02','Gap growing','Acton\'s advantage is now 10:30 as the field passes by the 33-mile mark. VeloNews senior writer Neal Rogers reports that the sky is growing increasingly dark and that rain is very likely in the race\'s near future.'),(226,14,'2006-04-19 15:08:01','Gap...','...is 9:40 with 36 miles covered.'),(227,14,'2006-04-19 15:08:30','When in Rome','According to the media guide, the stage 2 finish town of Rome “gives visitors the feel of a small European village, yet treats them to the gentle welcoming nature of the American south. Culture flourishes here, from the South’s oldest symphony to a thriving local community theatre.”\r\n'),(228,14,'2006-04-19 15:15:12','Buckle up','Well looks like things are about to get interesting. Race radio has just reported that there is sever weather ahead. That has led to a mass move of riders back to the cars for their foul-weather gear. Some of you will remember last year’s stage from Dalton to Dahlonega when it rained so hard one team director said it was like driving through a car wash.'),(229,14,'2006-04-19 15:18:32','Fire (truck)!','Scray moment out on the course, as a fire truck -- sirens blaring -- just barreld down what was supposed to be a closed road going in the opposite direction of the race. Every one got out of the way in plenty of time, but the big red truck was going at least 50mph. Yikes.'),(230,14,'2006-04-19 15:19:14','Light \'em up','The order has just come through that all caravan vehicles must have headlights and flashers on. Some people gonna get wet.'),(231,14,'2006-04-19 15:19:45','Gap','Acton still has a solid advantage of 9:40.'),(232,14,'2006-04-19 15:25:54','All Giro for Henk','VeloNews spoke to Henk Vogels this morning and he conceded that it’s unlikely he’ll stick around Georgia when the road turns steep later in the week. The Aussie who rides for Davitamon-Lotto has his sights set on next Month’s Giro and the Brasstown Bald climb does not fit into those plans.'),(233,14,'2006-04-19 15:27:15','No crash','Moments ago there was a report of a crash in the bunch, but now they are saying it was a false alarm. Too bad the thunder and lightning up ahead is not.'),(234,14,'2006-04-19 15:31:23','Rainy day go away','At mile marker 43.5 the weather has turned quite foul, and the rain is coming down hard.'),(235,14,'2006-04-19 15:41:06','Drying out','With his lead now at 9:11, race leader Alejandro Acton is out of the rain. Meanwhile, things are starting to lighten up back at the main bunch which has covered 47 miles.'),(236,14,'2006-04-19 15:49:29','Not drying out','Word from the course is that the rain has picked back up. The gap is hovering around 10 minutes. The good news is that things have started to dry out in Rome, so it should be okay for the three finishing circuits.'),(237,14,'2006-04-19 15:52:54','Acton background','Here\'s some basic info on current race leader Alejandro Acton.\r\n\r\n\r\nDOB: June 3, 1972 \r\nHome country: Argentina \r\nHeight: 5’9”\r\nWeight: 160 lbs\r\nStrengths: Sprinting\r\n\r\n2006 Results -- \r\n1st Sequoia Classic Criterium -- \r\n1st Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix -- \r\n2nd Sequoia Classic Time Trial -- \r\n6th Central Valley Classic Circuit Race --'),(238,14,'2006-04-19 16:01:33','Lunch time','The field has just gone through the feed zone at mile marker 55. The gap stands at 9:55. Still some rain falling but it is definitely clearing up in Rome.'),(239,14,'2006-04-19 16:01:57','Across the border','On Thursday, the Tour de Georgia will make its first trip outside state lines when the all-important individual time trial crosses into Tennessee. The finish of the 24.8-mile race will be in downtown Chattanooga. The host hotel for that evening: the Chattanooga Choo Choo of course.\r\n'),(240,14,'2006-04-19 16:09:46','Tour de Georgia trivia contest time','Ok, time to test your Tour de Georgia knowledge. Who won the overall Best Young Rider Award at the 2004 edition of the race and what team did he represent? The first person to e-mail the correct answer to contest@insideinc.com will win a Tour de Georgia/VeloNews fan pack, which includes a water bottle, baseball hat and T-shirt. Please be sure to include your name and address so we can make sure you get your goodies if you happen to win. Also, if you’d like make comments, ask questions or simply kill time until the workday is over, fire away.\r\n'),(241,14,'2006-04-19 16:15:58','And the winner is','Todd S. has correctly guessed that the 2004 Best Young Rider at the Tour de Georgia was one Kevin Bouchard-Hall who was riding for the U.S. U23 development team. Nice work Todd. Send us your mailing info and we’ll be sure to get your prize in the mail asap.\r\n'),(242,14,'2006-04-19 16:22:50','Gap','is now 10 minutes at the 63-mile mark.'),(243,14,'2006-04-19 16:24:38','Phonak moves up','It might be a stretch to call it working, but Phonak has moved to the front of the field and the pace seems to be coming up ever so slightly.'),(244,14,'2006-04-19 16:39:34','Some action behind Acton','Looks like things are finally starting to come to life in the main field. A group of six just tried to peel off the front, but didn\'t get far. It can\'t be long before there\'s more action.'),(245,14,'2006-04-19 16:44:20','Gap','With 71 miles covered the gap is 10:20. The race pace is really slow. According to the technical manual the slow estimate for covering the first 70 miles was jujst less than 3 hours, but instead it took closer to 3:20.'),(246,14,'2006-04-19 16:55:21','Gap','At the 76-mile mark the margin is holding steady at 10:15. Teams up front include Davitamon-Lotto, Toyota-United, CSC and Phonak.'),(247,14,'2006-04-19 17:04:08','Here they go','With 79.5 miles covered, the gap has fallen to 9:17. Up front it\'s Toyota-United doing most of the work with a little help from Phonak.'),(248,14,'2006-04-19 17:06:54','Trivia clarification','Okay there has been a discrepancy about what team Kevin Bouchard-Hall rode for in 2004, so we are going to offer up another fan pack. \r\n\r\nIn the official Tour de Georgia media guide and in the official results, he is listed as US national team. But there are numerous pictures on the Internet that show him in a jersey that says TIAA-CREF on the front. We’ll stick with Todd S. as our winner because he was the first to e-mail the correct name and one of those teams.\r\n\r\nFor trivia question No. 2 we want to know how many non-North Americans have taken stage wins in the history of the Tour de Georgia. First correct e-mail wins a TdG/VeloNews fan pack.\r\n'),(249,14,'2006-04-19 17:21:45','Second sprint','Here\'s the results from the second and final intermediate sprint of the day.\r\n1. Acton\r\n2. Lars Michaelsen (Den), CSC\r\n3. Brian Vandborg (Den), CSC'),(250,14,'2006-04-19 17:24:02','Trivia answer','Ok, we have our second winner. Shannon from Stonington, Connecticut, correctly guessed that nine non-North Americans have won stages in the history of the Tour de Georgia. Here\'s the list:\r\n2003 prologue: Nathan O’Neill (Aus)\r\n2003 stage one: Henk Vogels (Aus)\r\n2003 stage two: Moreno DiBiase (Ita)\r\n2004 stage two: Mario Cipollini (Ita)\r\n2004 stage six: Cesar Grajales (Col)\r\n2005 stage one: Robbie Hunter (RSA)\r\n2005 stage two: Peter Wrolich (Aut)\r\n2005 stage four: Brian Vandborg (Den)\r\n2006 stage one: Lars Michaelsen (Den)\r\n'),(251,14,'2006-04-19 17:26:24','Closing in','With 90 miles covered by the main field the gap has come down to 7:35. Leading the charge are riders from Lotto, Phonak and now Health Net.'),(252,14,'2006-04-19 17:32:55','Lower still','The gap is now down to 6:10.'),(254,14,'2006-04-19 17:34:15','Stage Hunter','Keep an eye on South African Robbie Hunter. His Phonak team has been doing a lot of work at the front, so maybe they are going to let him take a shot at the sprint.'),(255,14,'2006-04-19 17:36:53','Just a matter of time','With 94 miles covered, the margin is down to 5:15. The pace is being set by CSC, Phonak and Davitamon-Lotto. The race is now just 13 miles from entering the finishing circuit and the first of three trips up the Clocktower Hill.'),(256,14,'2006-04-19 17:37:36','Soon','It\'s down to 4:20 now.'),(257,14,'2006-04-19 17:42:05','Tumbling','The gap to the Acton is now 3:15 as the main field crosses the 98 mile mark. Bunch sprint here we come.'),(258,14,'2006-04-19 17:49:50','Gap','With the main field just entering Rome the gap has fallen to 3:05. Next up is the set-up for the KOM. '),(259,14,'2006-04-19 17:54:37','Gap','With 20 km to go the gap is 1:45 and they are clearing out the cars in between. '),(260,14,'2006-04-19 17:56:49','McCartney steps out','Just got a report that Discovery pro Jason McCartney has rolled off the course. Not sure why the American pulled out yet, but we\'ll let you know as soon as we can. '),(261,14,'2006-04-19 17:57:45','Gap','is down to 50 seconds. Let the chaos begin.'),(262,14,'2006-04-19 17:59:06','CSC plan','We just got off the phone with CSC DS Tristan Hoffman who told us that his team\'s goal is to try to get someone in a break before the finish because he likes his team\'s chances there more than in a bunch sprint.'),(263,14,'2006-04-19 17:59:56','Now in the city','and the gap is down to 5 seconds.'),(264,14,'2006-04-19 18:00:25','1k to the KOM','who will be the first to wear the KoM jersey.'),(265,14,'2006-04-19 18:01:05','Gotcha','Acton has been caught after nearly a hundred miles off the front. Race is 200 meters from the KOM.'),(266,14,'2006-04-19 18:03:17','KoM winner is...','...Kirk O\'Bee of Health Net.'),(267,14,'2006-04-19 18:04:49','KoM results','1. Kirk O\'Bee\r\n2. Davide Frattini\r\n3. Wesley Hartman'),(268,14,'2006-04-19 18:05:27','All together','Jason McCartney has caught back on after leaving the race for still unknown reasons.'),(269,14,'2006-04-19 18:06:24','Phonak working','Again the yellow and green clad riders from Phonak are working at the front for Robbie Hunter.'),(270,14,'2006-04-19 18:08:17','2 laps to go','the race is all single file and moving fast, making the right hand turn onto Broad Street moving at 27 mph.'),(271,14,'2006-04-19 18:09:13','Speed','is currently 32mph'),(272,14,'2006-04-19 18:11:00','Attack','Matty Rice (Jelly Belly) has a gap of 25 meters as the make their way towards the one-to go mark.'),(273,14,'2006-04-19 18:13:16','One lap to go','2.55 miles until our second stage winner of the 2006 TdG.'),(274,14,'2006-04-19 18:14:14','Break','Rice has been caught thanks to the hard work of Toyota-United who is working for their sprinter Haedo.'),(275,14,'2006-04-19 18:14:41','Speed','The race is moving along at 36 mph and all strung out.'),(276,14,'2006-04-19 18:15:41','Disco','Discovery Channel is now up front setting the pace. Less than a lap to go here in Rome.'),(277,14,'2006-04-19 18:16:36','Inside 1km','and Disco still has three riders at the front.'),(278,14,'2006-04-19 18:17:43','Discovery channel break','Discovery\'s Yaroslav Popovych has 100 meters on the field.'),(279,14,'2006-04-19 18:18:10','Popo does it','The Discovery phenom has been declared unofficial winner.'),(280,14,'2006-04-19 18:20:35','Unofficial top three','1. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel; 2. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg), Toyota-United; 3. Fred Rodriguez (USA), Davitamon-Lotto'),(281,14,'2006-04-19 18:21:59','Lance is smiling','Popo picked a good day to have a good day. His boss, Lance Armstrong, was here riding shot gun in the team car.'),(282,14,'2006-04-19 18:27:36','Signing off','Okay, that\'s all for today\'s live updates. Check back soon for a full report, results and photos. Thanks for tuning in. And make sure to come back tomorrow for all the action from the all-important stage 3 time trial.'),(284,15,'2006-04-20 09:07:00','Individual Time Trial starts at 11:00 AM (ET)','Follow all the live action here.'),(285,15,'2006-04-20 10:47:00','Welcome to Stage 3 of the Ford Tour de Georgia','Hello and welcome to stage 3 of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia, a 24.8-mile time trial from Chickamauga, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although today’s route over Lookout Mountain is new to the Tour de Georgia, it is similar to last year’s mountainous course over Mount Alto in Rome in that both delivered a tough climb and tricky descent. The race technical manual calls for “caution on the downhill section of Lookout Mountain.”'),(286,15,'2006-04-20 10:59:53','Jackson Stewart just left the starting line',''),(287,15,'2006-04-20 11:00:24','24.8 miles to go',''),(288,15,'2006-04-20 11:02:51','Course information','Reports from those who have ridden the route over Lookout Mountain claim that it is extremely undulating, with very few flat sections and a harrowing descent. '),(289,15,'2006-04-20 11:04:12','we\'ve had 5 rider leave so far',''),(290,15,'2006-04-20 11:05:18','Jakob PIIL is at the line',''),(291,15,'2006-04-20 11:11:54','13 riders now on the course','Dan Wilcox just started'),(292,15,'2006-04-20 11:12:39','Pick the podium','Today’s Tour de Georgia trivia contest is going to be a little tougher than it was yesterday. In order to earn a free copy of Graham Watson’s Landscapes of Cycling, you’ll have to be the first reader to correctly predict today’s time-trial podium (the top-three finishers, in order.) Email your picks to Contest@insideinc.com. Don’t forget to include your name and address, so we can mail you your prize'),(293,15,'2006-04-20 11:13:54','Rains expected','It\'s nice weather here at the start but start times could play a factor in today’s race, as weather forecasts call for thunderstorms after noon.'),(294,15,'2006-04-20 11:14:13','Final Rider today','The final rider, Yaroslav Popovych of Discovery Channel, is expected to roll out around 1 p.m. EST.'),(295,15,'2006-04-20 11:19:24','20 riders on the course','\r\n1. Jackson Stewart, KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada
\r\n2. Olivier Kaisen, Davitamon-Lotto
\r\n3. Jeffery Hopkins, Jittery Joe\'s Coffee
\r\n4. Alejandro Acton, TTC
\r\n5. Pieter Mertens, Davitamon-Lotto
\r\n6. Jakob Piil, CSC
\r\n7. Daniel Greenfield, TTC
\r\n8. Gordon Fraser, Health Net Maxxis
\r\n9. Kasper Klostergaard Larsen, CSC
\r\n10. Aaron Olson, Saunier Duval
\r\n11. Wesley Hartman, TTC
\r\n12. Dan Bowman, TIAA-CREF
\r\n13. Craig Wilcox, Jittery Joe\'s Coffee
\r\n14. Ryan Blickem, TTC
\r\n15. Ian Macgregor, TIAA-CREF
\r\n16. Kirk O\'Bee, Health Net Maxxis
\r\n17. Peter Lopinto, KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada
\r\n18. Neil Shirley, Jittery Joe\'s Coffee
\r\n19. Nick Reistad, Jelly Belly
\r\n20. Austin King, Jittery Joe\'s Coffee
\r\n'),(296,15,'2006-04-20 11:25:10','Michael Sayers of Toyota-United at the line',''),(297,15,'2006-04-20 11:25:34','We now have 27 rider on the course',''),(298,15,'2006-04-20 11:31:00','First time split for fastest rider','10 miles in and the time for Pieter Mertens of Davitamon-Lotto is 26:18:31'),(299,15,'2006-04-20 11:34:07','35 riders now on the course',''),(300,15,'2006-04-20 11:35:47','Course Info','Reports from those who have ridden the route over Lookout Mountain claim that it is extremely undulating, with very few flat sections and a harrowing descent. '),(301,15,'2006-04-20 11:36:00','Error in results from yesterday','An error in Wednesday’s results has created a reshuffling in the general classification. Behind the stage winner, riders were originally attributed exact time differences as they crossed the finish line. But race officials ruled late Wednesday night that the gaps between the finishers were small enough to classify it as a mass finish. Popovych maintained his six-second advantage, but the top 100 riders behind him were aligned into the same time. \r\n\r\nOverall favorites Floyd Landis and Tom Danielson were originally attributed times of seven seconds behind Popovych, while David Zabriskie was originally scored eight seconds off the winning time. Now all three are scored in the same finishing time, a small but important note considering Danielson won last year’s race by just four seconds over Levi Leipheimer. '),(302,15,'2006-04-20 11:42:21','43 riders on course',''),(303,15,'2006-04-20 11:57:37','New Leader','Victor Rapinksi just recorded best split of 26:06:78. '),(304,15,'2006-04-20 12:03:00','New leader on the course','Heath Blackgrove current leader on the road with a first time split of 25:58.67'),(305,15,'2006-04-20 12:04:26','Pieter Mertens has finished','Time at the finish was 59:35'),(306,15,'2006-04-20 12:06:05','Anthony best young rider','Another correction to the results is to the General Electric best young rider classification. Late Wednesday evening, Ford Tour de Georgia officials informed the Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada squad that six-time national junior and U-23 cyclo-cross champion Jesse Anthony is in fact leading the GE best young rider classification after placing 16th and 15th in the first two stages. Anthony, 20, will be presented with the leader\'s jersey in a ceremony prior to the start of the time trial.\r\n'),(307,15,'2006-04-20 12:06:26','Local knowledge','Health Net-Maxxis rider Nathan O’Neill is one of the favorites to win today’s time trial. O’Neill placed third at the inaugural Tour de Georgia, where he also met his wife Karen. The Australian time-trial specialist has since moved to Georgia and is familiar with the race route. Already this season, O’Neill has won the Australian national time trial championship for the seventh time in his career, as well as the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games time trial in March. \r\n'),(308,15,'2006-04-20 12:07:15','New modification','Defending overall champion Tom Danielson he is considering using a modified brake lever on his aerobar extensions due to the fast, twisting descent.'),(309,15,'2006-04-20 12:08:36','70 riders on the course',''),(310,15,'2006-04-20 12:12:24','Baldwin repeat?','Baldwin is another rider to watch. The Toyota-United rider scored one of the biggest results in his career at last year’s Tour de Georgia with a third-place finish in the time trial, ahead of Olympic time-trial medalists such as Bobby Julich, Viatcheslav Ekimov and Lance Armstrong. Unfortunately, Baldwin dropped out of GC contention the following day during treacherous weather on the mountainous stage from Dalton to Dahlonega.\r\n'),(311,15,'2006-04-20 12:15:03','Little history','Today\'s stage takes riders up and over Lookout Mountain. On November 24, 1863 the mountain was the site of a famed Civil War battle, named the Battle Above the Clouds. Union general \"Fighting Joe\" Hooker, who was part of General Ulysses S Grant\'s assault on the western front led 12,000 Federal troops west of Chattanooga to seize the mountain, as it played a strategic role in defending the area. Hooker\'s forces attacked up Missionary ridge and met up with a small band of 1200 or so Confederate troops at a small farm, where a fierce fight ensued. The entire battle was covered by a dense fog, creating confusion on both sides, which led to the poetic name for the skirmish. The band of rebels succeeded in defending the hill until midnight, when they were ordered to fall back. The next morning Union troops placed the Stars and Stripes at the mountain\'s peak. Two days later, the entire Confederate army defending the area was badly mangled by General Sherman\'s troops, and was forced to retreat deep into Georgia. The Union\'s success at Lookout Mountain was key to the victory. \r\nThe battle came at a significant time for the Union. It effectively ended the bloody two-year campaign in the west against the Confederates. Only two months prior, the Union had lost control over the Chattanooga area after repeated attacks by Confederate General Braxton Bragg. In October, Grant took over the western campaign. His success in the West led to his promotion to lead the entire Union forces in 1864, and his success over Robert E. Lee by early 1865. '),(312,15,'2006-04-20 12:16:38','77 riders on the course','Next rider to leave is Nick Gates from Davitamon-Lotto '),(313,15,'2006-04-20 12:17:22','More tidbits on the course','National time-trial champ Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), who took third at last year’s time trial, called this year’s route “like last year’s course, on steroids.”\r\n\r\nHealth Net-Maxxis rider Nathan O’Neill, who lives in Georgia, has ridden the course and said it’s to his liking. “It’s long and hard, and very tricky,” O’Neill said. “I think is suits me.”\r\n'),(314,15,'2006-04-20 12:28:29','Weather update','Loks like the second half of the field may have to deal with a little wet stuff. They have just announced over race radio that there are thunderstorms in the neighborhood.'),(315,15,'2006-04-20 12:29:07','Landis the favorite?','Chris Baldwin’s teammate Tony Cruz picks last year’s time-trial winner Floyd Landis to repeat in Chattanooga. “Floyd is such a balanced rider,” he said. “He could out time-trial Danielson and then stay within reach of him on Brasstown. I give him the advantage. Floyd wants to win, so he’s my pick.”\r\n\r\nLandis said he hasn’t seen this year’s TT course, but that won’t affect him too much. “I hadn’t seen last year’s course beforehand either,” Landis said. “That didn’t seem to be a problem for me.”\r\n'),(316,15,'2006-04-20 12:30:43','Pick the podium','Don’t forget about today’s Tour de Georgia trivia contest. In order to earn a free copy of Graham Watson’s Landscapes of Cycling, you’ll have to be the first reader to correctly predict today’s time-trial podium (the top-three finishers, in order.) Email your picks to Contest@insideinc.com. Don’t forget to include your name and address, so we can mail you your prize. Deadline for entries is 12:45 eastern time. Hurry up.\r\n'),(317,15,'2006-04-20 12:35:55','Dave Zabriske rolls off the line',''),(318,15,'2006-04-20 12:39:28','Descenders could rule','VeloNews spoke with Chris Baldwin before the race and he said that this very tricky course will favor riders who can go down hill as well as up. There will also be an advantage to those who have actually been able to scout the course. American Floyd Landis was one of several riders spotted out on the course this morning having a look. '),(319,15,'2006-04-20 12:40:43','New top split time','Dutchman Remmert Wielinga has just posted a new top split time of 25:18.'),(320,15,'2006-04-20 12:44:40','Tough test','VeloNews also got the channce to speak with CSC TT ace David Zabriskie this morning and he said that this course was the hardest he\'d ever seen in terms of its technical challenges. Still Zabriskie figured that it would be one of the TT specialists that would take the day\'s top honors.'),(321,15,'2006-04-20 12:46:30','Floyd Landis has just left from the start',''),(322,15,'2006-04-20 12:46:47','New top split time','Ponak rider Jose Gutierrez has posted a new top split time. He stopped the intermediate clock in 24:27.'),(324,15,'2006-04-20 12:58:16','Course details','VeloNews had the chance to scout the course during the run of Jackson Stewart (Kodak Gallery.com-Sierra Nevada), who was the first rider of the day. And after seeing it first hand we cannot argue with Zabriskie’s assessment. Things get interesting the moment riders leave the start house, as the track winds it’s way out of the start town of Chickamauga. That’s followed by a sort and steady climb, and then a very fast, technical downhill. Things mellow for a while from there, as the course makes its way across a valley to the base of Lookout Mountain. From there it’s up, up, up, with pitches hitting 17-18 percent. There good crowds along that section, so at least the riders don’t have to suffer in vain.\r\n'),(325,15,'2006-04-20 12:59:49','New top intermediate time','Health Net\'s Nathan O\'Neill has just posted the day\'s new best intermediate time. They are taking that time from the top of the steepest climb 9.3 miles into the race.'),(326,15,'2006-04-20 13:04:57','More on the course','After riders crest the day’s steepest climb, the course heads downhill, and then through a series of soft turns and small rollers. There is another mellow climb at the 13.7-mile mark. The course is mostly on rural roads with just a few houses here and there breaking up the long stretches of trees. Finally at the 17.4-mile mark riders encounter a sign on the left side of the road that reads “dangerous descent.” That warning is no joke, as the road plunges back down toward the valley floor before sweeping hard to the left. Just at that left turn the trees give way to a sweeping panoramic view. There’s little time to take it in, though, as the road continues its furious plunge down towards Tennessee.\r\n'),(327,15,'2006-04-20 13:06:55','Gear selection','After watching Jackson Stewart have to grind his way up the steepest climbs, rising out of the saddle on numerous times, Kodak director Robin Zellner said that he would suggest that his guys use 25s or even possibly 27s.\r\n'),(328,15,'2006-04-20 13:09:05','All riders now on the course','Discovery\'s Yaroslav Popoyvch is now out on course, meaning all 118 riders have left the start.'),(329,15,'2006-04-20 13:11:03','New best intermediate time','24:01 Floyd Landis (Phonak). Also a new leader Jeff Louder (Haelth Net) with a 58:04.'),(330,15,'2006-04-20 13:13:05','Floyd show','Looks like the run of Landis may continue, as he\'s bettered Zabriskie, O\'Neill and Danielson at the split. As long as he can stay safe on the descents, the Phonak man may well be the new race leader.'),(331,15,'2006-04-20 13:15:26','See ya','Just got word from out on the course that David Zabriskie has passed Chris Baldwin near the 15km-to-go sign.'),(332,15,'2006-04-20 13:17:10','Weather update','It\'s dark here at the finish in Chattanooga, but it looks like the rain is going to hold off.'),(333,15,'2006-04-20 13:21:20','Check that','The race leader is not Louder, Phonak\'s Jose Enrique Gutierrez.'),(334,15,'2006-04-20 13:22:28','J Mac','Discovery\'s Jason McCartney just slipped into second place with a 55:52.'),(335,15,'2006-04-20 13:23:48','Check out the video','Don\'t forget to check out the VeloNews.com video page at http://www.velonews.com/vntv/. There you\'ll find lots of intereviews from this year\'s Ford Tour de Georgia.'),(336,15,'2006-04-20 13:26:04','Eki in','Discovery\'s Viatcheslav Ekimov just posted the day\'s fourth best mark, a 57:21.'),(337,15,'2006-04-20 13:27:31','Pinotti in, O\'Neill sets top mark','Prodir-Saunier Duval man Marco Pinotti is now third. And there is a new best best time Nathan O\'Neill 55:09. That makes Pinotti fourth'),(338,15,'2006-04-20 13:28:29','O\'Neill','No surprise that O\'Neill went fast here. He lives in Georgia and had time to actually come up and look at this tricky course. He\'s also pretty fast.'),(339,15,'2006-04-20 13:29:33','Fourth place','The Disco boys continue to light it up. Slovenian Janez Brajkovic just slotted into fourth.'),(340,15,'2006-04-20 13:30:54','Zabriskie!','Big Dave just knocked O\'Neill off the top spot with a 54:38. '),(341,15,'2006-04-20 13:33:13','Who\'s left','Among thebig hitters still out there are Landis, Danielson and Popovych. Won\'t be long before we see if Zabriskie\'s time can hold up.'),(342,15,'2006-04-20 13:35:43','Young Guys','Also still out there is Kodak\'s Jesse Antony. He\'s already had an interesting day, being called to the podium in the morning to accept the Best Young Rider\'s jersey after there was some confusion with the results last night. That meant Anthony didn\'t have time to scout the course, which could cost him.'),(343,15,'2006-04-20 13:37:48','Tommy D!','Look out. Tom Danielson has just moved into the top spot with a 54:18. That\'s 20 seconds better than Zabriskie. Wow.'),(344,15,'2006-04-20 13:40:13','Landis','Floyd has just come through with a 54:14. That makes him the new race leader and the man to beat in the mountains.'),(345,15,'2006-04-20 13:44:26','What it means','Last year the overall title was decided by just four seconds, with Landis finishing third, 9 seconds back of GC winner Tom Danielson. The question now is weather Landis can limit the damage on Brasstown Bald, where Danielson rode to his win last year. Coming into that stage Landis had a 1:00 lead on Danielson, but could not hold his wheel when the road turned steep. Landis is obviously climbing a lot bettter this year, but Brasstown is the kind of climb that Danielson was born for. It\'s going to be interesting. '),(346,15,'2006-04-20 13:46:12','Almost done','There\'s just a few more riders left out on the course, including Popovych who may also still have something to say about all this. Stay tuned.'),(347,15,'2006-04-20 13:53:33','Popo\' passing people','Looks like Popovych is going to make this interesting. He\'s passed several riders and is taking some big channces as he makes his way to the line.'),(348,15,'2006-04-20 13:56:37','Five to go','There are five riders left on the course, including Popovych.'),(349,15,'2006-04-20 13:58:55','Top 3','1. Landis\r\n\r\n2. Danielson\r\n\r\n3. Zabriskie\r\n\r\nWill it remain an all American affair?'),(350,15,'2006-04-20 13:59:28','Less than 5k','to go for Popovych'),(351,15,'2006-04-20 14:00:25','Landis will win','Popo\' isn\'t going to do it. Landis will be your new race leader.'),(352,15,'2006-04-20 14:01:29','Popo\' no go','Popovych missed the top five. The race is now Landis\' to lose.'),(353,15,'2006-04-20 14:02:21','Popo is 9th','So Discovery will be working for Danielson for the second year in a row when the climbing begins tomorrow.'),(354,15,'2006-04-20 14:03:26','Haedo in','Sprint man Juan Jose Haedo just posted a 1:03:09. This was not a day for a man of his skills.'),(355,15,'2006-04-20 14:05:10','Freddy is last man out','American Freddy Rodriguez is the last man out on the course. But the important results for today are in and Floyd Landis has taken the TT for the second straight year.'),(357,15,'2006-04-20 14:10:04','Signing off','Okay, that\'s it for the live updates. Check back soon for a full report, results and photos. And make sure to come back tomorrow for the first climbing stage of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia. It\'s going to be a battle between Phonak and Discovery. '),(358,15,'2006-04-20 14:12:58','Check out the video','Oh yeah, don\'t forget to check out the VeloNews.com video page at www.velonews.com/vntv/'),(359,16,'2006-04-21 10:25:24','Hello there','Greetings and welcome to live coverage of stage 4 of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia. On tap today we have a 118.9-mile run from Dalton to Dahlonega. The stage marks the first of two days of climbing, with today’s course including four rated climbs. Among those four ascents is a pair of category 2s, Fort Mountain and Wolf Pen Gap. In total this year’s six-stage event covers 601.4 miles before the finish in Alpharetta on Sunday.\r\n'),(360,16,'2006-04-21 10:27:22','Last year','A year ago CSC’s Brian Vandborg took a three-up sprint ahead of Viatcheslav Ekimov (Discovery Channel) and Marco Pinotti (Prodir-Saunier Duval). The threesome had been part of a 20-rider group that had escaped from the peloton, following a brutal day where the race was pounded by rain and hail.\r\n'),(361,16,'2006-04-21 10:28:06','Weather','It looks like today could be a wet one for the riders. It was raining steadily in Chattanooga this morning and the weatherman is calling for a 60 percent chance of rain in Dalton and a 30 percent chance in Dahlonega. You may remember that last year this was the stage where the race was pounded by rain and occasionally hail, prompting one race director to say it was like driving through a car was. We’ll keep you posted as to what Mother Nature dishes up today.\r\n'),(362,16,'2006-04-21 10:29:31','Transfer time','Prior to the race start, the Tour de Georgia entourage had to make a 32-mile transfer from Chattanooga, Tennessee, the border to Dalton. \r\n'),(363,16,'2006-04-21 10:30:17','Raisin tribute','With today’s stage starting in Saul Raisin’s hometown of Dalton, members of the peloton decided it would be fitting to do something in a show of support for Raisin. That resulted in all the riders wrapping their handlebars in green bar tape. Of course green is the primary color of Raisin’s team, Credit Agricole.\r\n'),(364,16,'2006-04-21 10:31:11','Saul Raisin update','Some of you have been asking about the current condition of Saul Raisin. Here are some excerpts from the latest report in the Dalton Citizen newspaper. \r\n\r\n-- Despite being placed back on a ventilator to reduce fluid on his lungs, Dalton cyclist Saul Raisin continues to show daily improvement in his recovery from a serious bike crash on April 4, his uncle said.\r\n\r\n“That’s a temporary thing and they were hoping to take him off the ventilator on Thursday,” said Phil Raisin, who returned from Angers, France, earlier this week. “Overall we continue to be encouraged and we’re pretty optimistic about his improvement.”\r\n\r\nWhile Raisin’s condition no longer appears to be life threatening, Credit Agricole team doctor Joel Menard says it’s way too early to tell if Raisin will race again.\r\n\r\n“That’s a small chance perhaps,” Menard said. “But a chance. It all depends on how his brain reacts.”—\r\n'),(365,16,'2006-04-21 10:32:55','Coming home soon','The Dalton Citizen report also indicated that Raisin may be able to fly home as early as next week.\r\n\r\nPhil Raisin said doctors are hopeful his nephew can be moved out of intensive care by next week, said the report in the Dalton Citizen.\r\n\r\n“He is conscious and fairly alert,” Phil Raisin said. “Overall, doctors and everybody else are pretty happy with the stage of recovery he’s at right now.”\r\n\r\nPhysicians attending Raisin at the hospital, located about 30 miles from where he crashed during the first stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe, have begun discussions with his parents about possibly moving him to a facility in the United States.\r\n\r\n“Doctors in France want to further evaluate his condition and make sure they pick a facility that meets his needs,” Phil said. “The quickest they would move him is seven to 10 days. It depends on how well his lungs do, but we’re certainly looking forward to getting him back in the U.S.”\r\n'),(366,16,'2006-04-21 10:37:37','Underway','We are underway in Dalton. No sign of rain yet, but the clouds don\'tlook particularly friendly.'),(367,16,'2006-04-21 10:46:46','Sprints','Today’s stage also includes two intermediate sprints. The first is at mile marker 14.2 in Chatsworth, while the second comes at the 38.8-mile mark in Ellijay. Expect points leader Fred Rodriguez to be active here.\r\n'),(368,16,'2006-04-21 10:47:58','Action right away','11 riders have pulled off the front of the field. No numbers yet, but we\'ll get them as soon as we can.'),(369,16,'2006-04-21 10:48:20','Jersey update','Phonak’s Floyd Landis will spend his first day in the yellow jersey after winning the stage 3 time trial and taking a 4 second lead over Discovery’s Tom Danielson. Another American, CSC’s David Zabriskie is third at 0:24. In the Best Young Rider competition, Discovery’s Janez Brajkovic owns a 1:23 lead over Prodir-Saunier Duval rider Peter Mazur. Third is Florian Stadler (Phonak) at 2:49. American Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) is first in the points competition, while Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) is leading the KOM standings. Target Training’s Alejandro Acton has the most aggressive jersey. In the team standings Phonak has a 3-second lead over Discovery with CSC at 3:00. \r\n'),(370,16,'2006-04-21 10:52:13','Cards to play','Still no word on the make-up of the first break, but don\'t be surprised if we see the Discovery boys active in some of these early moves. Besides Danielson, they have three other riders in the top 10 (Jason McCartney 6th at 1:38; Janez Brajkovic 8th at 1:52; and Yaroslav Popovych 9th at 1:53. That gives the boys in blue a lot of cards to play against Phonak, who will likley have to work pretty hard today to keep this thing together.'),(371,16,'2006-04-21 10:57:38','First break','Here\'s some of the riders in the first brreak:\r\nMartinez (Discovery); Zabriskie (CSC); Ingles (Davitamon-Lotto); Ventoso (Prodir-Saunier Duval); Ollerenshaw (Health Net). More to come but the field seems content to let it go, as it\'s already up to 1:25 10 miles in. '),(372,16,'2006-04-21 11:00:23','More riders','In the break of 11 are also -- Reistad (Jelly Belly); Lange and Euser (TIAA-Cref); Wren (Colavita); Blickem (Target Training); Dietrich (Kodak) '),(373,16,'2006-04-21 11:01:37','Won\'t last','With CSC\'s david Zabriskie in there this can\'t last. Phonak will have to go get this, as Zabriskie is third in GC at 0:55.'),(374,16,'2006-04-21 11:03:53','Gap growing','It\'s now up to 2:15. You have to wonder if it\'s not another CSC rider in there and not Zabriskie. Sometimes the race officials miss the numbers and it doesn\'t make a lot of sense that they would be lettuing Zabriskie go.'),(375,16,'2006-04-21 11:04:59','Cash money','There\'s a little extra incentive out there today, as the organizers are handing out $1500 bonuses to the winners of the first sprint and first KOM.'),(376,16,'2006-04-21 11:05:29','Speaking of money','We put this up the other day, but for those who may have missed it, here’s a breakdown on the race’s prize list, which has a total purse of $111,000. The biggest check goes to the overall winner, who will bring home $11,422.80 before taxes. Second place on GC is worth $5688.60, while third nets $2850. Each stage winner wins $3807.60. The overall team classification nets $5000, while each of the three other jerseys – points, KOM and young rider – is worth $2000 for first. Of course this all is pre-tax. According to the race’s technical manual, the UCI takes 7 percent from every prizewinner, while Uncle Sam gets a whopping 30 percent.\r\n'),(377,16,'2006-04-21 11:08:50','In the break','Here\'s the list of riders in the break one more time:\r\n\r\nOlivier Kaisen (Davitamon-Lotto), Michael Dietrich and Nick Reistad (KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada), Lucas Euser and Michael Lange (TIAA-CREF); Tyler Wren (Colavita); Ryan Blickem (Target Training); Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net); Francisco Ventoso (Prodir-Saunier Duval); Egoi Martinez (Discovery Channel); David Zabriskie (CSC)'),(378,16,'2006-04-21 11:10:57','Dave Z is there','Well Zabriskie is definitely in there. Not sure what he\'s up to though. At the front of the field is Phonak. They are also getting some help from Quick Step and Toyota United.'),(379,16,'2006-04-21 11:11:33','Rain','It\'s starting to lightly rain out on the course. Nothing too bad yet, but riders are falling back to their team cars to grab rain coats.'),(380,16,'2006-04-21 11:13:45','Gap growing','With Zabriskie leading the break up the first climb of the day, Fort Mountain, the gap has grown to 3:15. This is a cat. 2 climb that shouldn\'t be too tough.'),(381,16,'2006-04-21 11:14:33','Fine time','There were a host of fines passed out by officials yesterday during the stage 3 time trial. Among the sanctioned were Phonak’s Robbie Hunter and Floyd Landis for not respecting regulation distance and gaps, and Discovery Director Johan Bruyneel for failing to take the caravan deviation at the finish. Discovery was also nicked when current Best Young Rider Janez Brajkovic failed to show up at the awards podium after the race to accept his prizes.\r\n'),(382,16,'2006-04-21 11:19:38','First sprint','Results from the first sprint: 1. Ventoso (Prodir-Saunier Duval); 2. Dietrich (Kodak); 3. Ingels (Davitamon-Lotto)'),(383,16,'2006-04-21 11:20:32','Gap','is now 3:10 17.5 miles into the 118.9-mile stage. Target Training rider Ryan Blickem has been dropped from the break and is falling back to the main field.'),(384,16,'2006-04-21 11:22:27','Gap','It\'s fallen to 2:20 with Phonak leading the way up the climb and Discovery just sitting on. Up front it\'s still Dave Z leading the way with Ventoso doing some work as well.'),(385,16,'2006-04-21 11:27:04','Rain','The wet stuff is starting to fall quit a bit harder now.'),(386,16,'2006-04-21 11:38:07','Update','The leaders are now passing by the 5km sign on the climb. It\'s dry on the climb but there are reports of heavy rain on the descent. Discovery\'s Jason McCartney tried to attack the field but Phonak was having none of it.'),(387,16,'2006-04-21 11:40:54','Gap coming down','The team cars have been ordered out the gap between the field and the break, a sure sign that the gap is coming down. The main break is 1k from the day\'s first KoM. Discovery is trying again, sending Noval off the front of the field along with Quick Step\'s Wielinga.'),(388,16,'2006-04-21 11:42:54','Gap coming down','The gap is now 1:10. There is an extreme amount of fog in the top of the climb.'),(389,16,'2006-04-21 11:43:00','Check that','It\'s Jason McCartney not Noval attacking the field.'),(390,16,'2006-04-21 11:48:01','KOM winner','is Lucas Euser (TIAA-CREF). That\'s an extra $1500 for the team. WooHooo'),(391,16,'2006-04-21 11:54:00','TdG/VeloNews Contest','For today’s contest please pick the winner of the stage. The first person to e-mail the correct answer to contest@insideinc.com will win a copy of “Inside the Postal Bus” by Michael Barry. Please put your prediction in the subject line. Entries without the prediction in the subject line will be disqualified. Also remember to include you name and address.\r\n\r\nAnd be sure to vote in today’s VeloNews.com poll on the main page. It’s a simple one: Danielson or Landis?\r\n\r\n'),(392,16,'2006-04-21 11:55:00','Gap','is currently at 1:15 and holding. '),(393,16,'2006-04-21 11:55:49','Yesterday’s winner','The first person to guess the correct top 3 for stage 3 yesterday was Rob of Calgary. He’ll be receiving a copy of Graham Watson’s “Landscapes of Cycling.” Nice work Rob. And thanks to all the other people who e-mailed. We didn’t count them but let’s just say the mailbox was full. \r\n'),(394,16,'2006-04-21 11:56:31','Quotable','We got a chuckle out of the latest Blog entry from American Todd Wells who is racing at the Tour de Georgia for the Target Training team. Following the stage 3 time trial on Thursday, Wells had this to say. “We didn\'t get to see the route before we rode and there was this brutal climb. I think I was doing 40 rpms for 2 miles up the thing. I almost started tacking back and forth across the road. The descents were fun too but when you don\'t know where you\'re going…you can\'t really hang it out. Top that off with the fact they had people before each turn frantically waving orange flags to slow down. Most of the turns you didn\'t need to hit the breaks but when you see those people waving the flags like crazy you slam on the brakes.”\r\n'),(395,16,'2006-04-21 11:59:24','Location','The race is now nearing the town of Ellijay at mile marker 38.8, sight of the day\'s second and final intermediate sprint.'),(396,16,'2006-04-21 12:00:47','Break growing','McCartney and Wielinga have caught the break. The last time gap was 2:15.'),(397,16,'2006-04-21 12:01:18','Quotable','Here are some tidbits from yesterday’s post-race press conference that included Tom Danielson and Floyd Landis.\r\n\r\nOn why he won’t be starting the Tour de France, Danielson said, “This year’s Giro very difficult. The last week is insane. I’m skinny no and I think after I’m going to be really skinny. It might be a little too much in terms of my progression. Okay I’m 28 but I don’t have the years that some of these other guys do. It’s important to keep moving up in a gradual progression and not do too much too soon and come crashing down.”\r\n'),(398,16,'2006-04-21 12:04:17','Quotable','Nathan O’Neill on whether he thinks his team will work to preserve his fourth place in the GC.\r\n\r\n“I think so. That’s a good goal to try and salvage. There’s no disgrace in finishing top five at this race. There are still two more big days to go, and anything can happen. I know last year I was fourth at this point and dropped down to eighth, but I’m sure I can be better this year.”\r\n'),(399,16,'2006-04-21 12:05:22','Help','Several riders in the break are calling up their team cars.'),(400,16,'2006-04-21 12:05:53','Gap','is now 2:25'),(401,16,'2006-04-21 12:11:00','Update','At the 35-mile mark the break of 12 now has a 2:45 advantage on the field and is working well together. There\'s no rain at the moment. It\'s just overcast.'),(402,16,'2006-04-21 12:12:25','Wheel change','Quick Step\'s Wielinga just had to get a wheel change and is now trying to chase back on to the breakaway. Phonak is dring the pace at the front of the main field. Latest split is 2:50. '),(403,16,'2006-04-21 12:19:29','Attack','There\'s been an attack out of the break, Martinez (Discovery), Wielinga (Quick- Step) and Reistad (Jeyy Belly) trying to get away.'),(404,16,'2006-04-21 12:20:02','Second sprint results','1. Ventoso; 2. Reistad; 3. Wren'),(405,16,'2006-04-21 12:21:27','Gap','2:50 lastest split. The attack of three has been reeled in and now it\'s a group of 12 again.'),(406,16,'2006-04-21 12:22:48','Out the back','Three riders from CSC including stage 1 winner Lars Michaelsen have been dropped from the main group.'),(407,16,'2006-04-21 12:23:47','Gap','is 3:25.'),(408,16,'2006-04-21 12:27:44','Run Lance, run','Many of you have probably heard this by now, but reports in the papers this week have indicated that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is planning on running the New York City Marathon this fall.\r\n\r\n\"We were looking at the Chicago Marathon, but a conflict arose with the date, and New York seems to fit our schedule better,\" Armstrong told The Associated Press. \"I\'ve been training some, but I wouldn\'t call it serious. It\'s just something to fill a void in my life after I quit competing as a professional cyclist.\"\r\n'),(409,16,'2006-04-21 12:35:54','Get to work','Just talked to VeloNews senior writer Neal Rogers who is riding with Health Net today. He said the Doug Ollerenshaw just radioed back to say that while David Zabriskie continues to do a sizable amount of work, Discovery has declined to help at all. '),(410,16,'2006-04-21 12:39:29','Gap','is now at 2:55'),(411,16,'2006-04-21 12:42:15','Drop outs','Three riders have dropped out of the race: Jeff Hopkins (Jittery Joe\'s); Dan Schmatz (Kodak); Martin Pedersen (CSC). There is also a group of 13 riders that have dropped way off the pace and are 5:20 back of the main field.'),(412,16,'2006-04-21 12:43:06','Quotable','Here\'s more from the stage 3 press conference.\r\n\r\nLandis on why Americans have been excelling recently at time trials.\r\n\r\n“I think the main thing to be good is to practice,” he said. “The Europeans don’t practice. Sooner or later they will figure it out, but in the meantime don’t tell them.”\r\n\r\n------And on what he’ll be doing while Danielson is racing at the Giro.\r\n\r\n“I’ll have a cappuccino in the morning and watch him.”\r\n'),(413,16,'2006-04-21 12:45:06','Attack of break','McCartney, Ventoso and Euser have attacked the break and have 12 seconds at the 50-mile mark. Now it\'s 15 seconds. McCartney is doing the bulk of the work.'),(414,16,'2006-04-21 12:46:18','Phonak','The team of race leader Floyd Landis continue to do the bulk of the work at the front of the main filed.'),(415,16,'2006-04-21 12:48:38','Break','Has 28 seconds on chase with main field trailing by 3:40.'),(416,16,'2006-04-21 12:50:22','A little history','You\'ll remember that McCartney won this stage two years ago in a marathon solo breakaway. Ventoso is best known in the US for winning a sprint ahead of Freddy Rodriguez at the USPro Championships two years ago.'),(417,16,'2006-04-21 12:53:01','Gap','The McCartney group is making time quickly and has 1:17 on the chase.'),(418,16,'2006-04-21 12:54:58','Wake-up call','Looks like the Phonak boys are getting a little testy. They\'ve moved to the front of the field and are hammering hard. That\'s caused the field to stretch out into one big long line.'),(419,16,'2006-04-21 12:55:00','Gap','The latest time split is 4:00 from main field to the break of three. The break of 3 has 1:17 on the group of nine chasers.'),(420,16,'2006-04-21 12:57:47','Nature Break','The main field has just stopped at the side of the road to take a nature break and is now entering the feed zone at mile marker 54.9.'),(421,16,'2006-04-21 13:00:22','Quotable','David Zabriskie, who is now in the chase group, had this to say yesterday on his ride in the time trial and what he thinks of Floyd Landis’ unorthodox position. \r\n\r\n“I thought I was [good today], but Floyd has been very fast all year, and continues to go fast, so I think I’ll try those bars now. I’m slowly being converted to Floyd’s position.”\r\n\r\nAnd how he’d rate his performance in the stage 3 time trial.\r\n\r\n“Probably about a four,” Zabriskie said. “I’m hard on myself.” \r\n'),(422,16,'2006-04-21 13:00:54','Gap','is now 4:45 with about 57 of 118.9 miles covered.'),(423,16,'2006-04-21 13:01:55','Update','The group of three has 2:20 over the chase and 4:35 over the main field.'),(424,16,'2006-04-21 13:03:13','Breaking up','Ventoso has fallen off the pace being set by Jason McCartney, while Doug Ollerenshaw is trying to make the jump from the chase.'),(425,16,'2006-04-21 13:12:32','Time update','The leading group of 3 now has 1:35 on lone chaser Ollerensahw, with 2:45 seperating them from the chase group of eight. The gap to the field is 4:45. Ventoso has reconnected with the break.'),(426,16,'2006-04-21 13:14:42','Crowded house','Don’t be surprised if there are record crowds in Dahlonega this year. Besides the Tour de Georgia coming to town, Friday is also the kick off for the North Georgia College & State University\'s Parent-Alumni Weekend. Also this weekend in Dahlonega is the Bear on the Square Mountain Festival. Last year, according to The Dahlonega Nugget newspaper, the Tour de Georgia brought about 44,000 visitors to the city.'),(427,16,'2006-04-21 13:15:00','Ollerenshaw reeled in','The chase is back up to nine, as they\'ve caught Ollerenshaw who made an unsuccessful bid to bridge up to the leaders. 63 miles have been covered.'),(428,16,'2006-04-21 13:19:49','Gap','New time splits have the leaders with 3:07 to the chase group of nine and 4:27 to field.'),(429,16,'2006-04-21 13:21:14','Tempo','Phonak continues to drive the pace at the front of the main field, with seven yellow-and-green clad riders up there.'),(430,16,'2006-04-21 13:28:05','Climb time approaches','The second of four categorized climbs is coming soon -- category 4 Hicks Gap. That\'s not to say it\'s been easy getting there as these roads are rarely flat. '),(431,16,'2006-04-21 13:29:28','Vaughters checks in','We just had a word with TIAA-CREF team boss Jonathan Vaughters. He said he\'d prefer if there were a few more guys in the lead break, but that it\'s three strong guys so you never know.'),(432,16,'2006-04-21 13:36:21','Update','The lastest time gap is 3:10 from the leaders with just 10 more seconds back to the main field.'),(433,16,'2006-04-21 13:41:40','Update','At mile 72.5 the chase group has been caught. Look out for the counters.'),(434,16,'2006-04-21 13:43:44','Numbers','At 75.5 miles covered, the current speed is 32 MPH. Max speed was 56.8. The gap is 3:55'),(435,16,'2006-04-21 13:48:48','What to do, what to do','Phonak is still up front leading the chase, but there is not any panic in their eyes. They\'d be perfectly happy to let these guys dangle for a while then reel them in for good on Woody Gap 13 miles before the finish. The wild card is McCartney who was won this stage before in a long breakaway and surely would like to do it again.'),(436,16,'2006-04-21 13:50:46','Gap is','3:24 as the main field heads up Hicks Gap, 78 miles into the race.'),(437,16,'2006-04-21 13:57:40','Points update','While Ventoso has picked up some points along the way today, he\'s still far back of leader Fred Rodriguez. Entering the day Fast Freddy led the standings with 25 points, while Ventoso was all the way back 15th with only three. Each intermediate sprint is worth 5-3-1 points, so Ventoso\'s two wins give him 13 points total, still only good enough for eighth place. '),(438,16,'2006-04-21 14:00:07','Contest to close','We\'ll give you 30 more minutes to get in your entries for today\'s contest (cut off is 2:30 EST). Remember put the name of who you think is going to win today\'s stage in the subject line, then send it to contest@insideinc.com'),(439,16,'2006-04-21 14:01:57','Gap','is currently 3:30. Euser took the points at the Hicks Gap KOM.'),(440,16,'2006-04-21 14:05:14','New photos','Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the page from time to time, as we\'ll be putting up new pictures from today\'s race as it happens.'),(441,16,'2006-04-21 14:11:02','Dahlonega','Today\'s finish town of Dahlonega is hosting a stage finish for the third straight year. The small town is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains an hour north of Atlanta. Among its claims to fame: The site of the first gold rush back in 1828. It\'s also known as a Mecca for performance and visual arts. '),(442,16,'2006-04-21 14:11:52','More on Dahlonega','Here\'s a little blurb about North Georgia College & State University, the small college here. \r\n\r\n\"We are a coeducational state university emphasizing strong liberal arts, as well as pre-professional, professional, and graduate programs. Serving as a liberal arts university for all of its students and as a military college for its Corps of Cadets, the university is distinct in many ways. As the only four-year public institution in northeast Georgia, NGCSU offers a quality college experience in a beautiful mountain setting.\"'),(443,16,'2006-04-21 14:17:52','Gap','The time split is 3:20 right now as the race heads towards the toughest climb of the day, Wolf Pen Gap. The weather is still holding out so at least they don\'t have to worry about hail.'),(444,16,'2006-04-21 14:20:16','Gap','is 3:10 at 89.8. This is where the action gets rolling. The top of Wolf Pen is six steep miles away.'),(445,16,'2006-04-21 14:24:30','There goes J-Mac','McCartney has attacked his breakaway partners.'),(446,16,'2006-04-21 14:26:59','Gap','McCartney has opened a 30-second gap on Ventoso and Euser. Looks like he\'s going to give it a go.'),(447,16,'2006-04-21 14:31:12','Health Net plans','Just talked with Health Net director Jeff Corbett about his plans for the day. He said job No. 1 for the team was to protect the GC placing of Nathan O\'Neill who is currently fourth overall. Corbett added that if he needs to lend a hand to help bring Jason McCartney back he will. From there the team will hope that it can get at least one of its sprinters over these last two hills to contest a sprint. '),(448,16,'2006-04-21 14:31:45','Gap','McCartney now has 55 seconds on the two chasers, with the field 2:55 behind the Discovery rider.'),(449,16,'2006-04-21 14:34:18','Thinning herd','Two Phonak riders, Luis Oliveira and Robbie Hunter, have cracked and lost touch with the field. That leaves Floyd a few less helpers and strengthens the Discovery position. '),(450,16,'2006-04-21 14:36:58','1km to go','Jason McCartney has almost reached the top of Wolf Pen Gap. '),(451,16,'2006-04-21 14:37:54','Gap','is 2:10 from McCartney to the main field'),(452,16,'2006-04-21 14:39:39','Update','McCartney has 2:10 on the field. Ventoso has been absorbed. Euser is still dangling, 1:12 back of McCartney. As a reminder, McCartney started the day in sixth overall, 1:38 behind Landis. '),(453,16,'2006-04-21 14:41:56','Working','Phonak and Health Net did the bulk of the work up the climb. The main field is now rolling over the KoM. The rest will be short lived, as the day\'s final climb, Woody Gap is just a few miles down the road. '),(454,16,'2006-04-21 14:45:03','And then there was one','Euser has been caught by the field, leaving McCartney out there all alone. Euser did get secondin the KoM before being caught.'),(455,16,'2006-04-21 14:45:52','Regrouping','The main field of 20 or so riders have just been joined by about 15 others, leaving the peloton with about 35 riders as the race heads towards the days final climb.'),(456,16,'2006-04-21 14:47:18','Gap','is now 1:50. This thing has a chance. If McCartney can get over the top of the last climb it could be tough to bring him back.'),(457,16,'2006-04-21 14:50:00','Gap','is down to 1:35 as Phonak continues to work hard for Floyd. 100 of 118.9 miles have been covered.'),(458,16,'2006-04-21 14:54:17','5k to kom','for McCartney. New gap is 1:20.'),(459,16,'2006-04-21 14:56:14','Gap','now 1:15 with 16.9 miles to go. This is going to be close.'),(460,16,'2006-04-21 14:59:04','We\'ve been here before...','Just as a reminder here’s what happened on this exact same stage in 2004: Jason McCartney shot out of a six-man breakaway with more than 32km remaining to win the epic 137.5-mile fifth stage of the Tour de Georgia. \r\n\r\nThe then Health Net-Maxxis rider made his move on the fourth of five classified climbs as the break\'s lead over a U.S. Postal-driven chase began to dwindle, from six minutes to four. \r\n\r\nHis gamble paid off - McCartney crossed the finish line alone, 53 seconds ahead of a splintered, 34-rider group that included overall GC contenders Lance Armstrong (U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor); Jens Voigt and Bobby Julich (CSC); and Chris Horner (Webcor Builders). Sounds familiar…\r\n'),(461,16,'2006-04-21 14:59:58','Gap','is now 55 seconds. Phonak continues to set the pace in the main field.'),(462,16,'2006-04-21 15:01:16','1k to KOM','for McCartney'),(463,16,'2006-04-21 15:01:29','Gap','now 45 seconds'),(464,16,'2006-04-21 15:04:45','Gap','is now 45 seconds as the field crests the KOM and makes the dash down to Dahlonega. There are 13.5 miles to go. This is gonna be close...'),(465,16,'2006-04-21 15:07:08','Gap','is now just 20 seconds.'),(466,16,'2006-04-21 15:11:22','Watch Toyota-United','The new U.S. domestic team could be a big player today if we end up with a sprint. They have three guys in the lead group including J.J. Haedo who was fifth over the last climb and clearly still has decent legs.'),(467,16,'2006-04-21 15:13:19','Gap is now...','...10 seconds. Nice try J Mac, but it doesn\'t look tlike there will be a 2004 repeat.'),(468,16,'2006-04-21 15:14:38','Gotcha','McCartney has been caught.'),(469,16,'2006-04-21 15:17:11','Counter','McCartney has gone again accompanied by Quick Step\'s Scarselli'),(470,16,'2006-04-21 15:18:46','Gap is now...','....15. There is no quit in McCartney he wants this bad'),(471,16,'2006-04-21 15:20:08','Also in the mix','if there is a sprint will be Davitamon-Lotto, which has Fred Rodriguez and Henk Vogels in the front group. Rodriguez won this stage in a sprint back in 2003. '),(472,16,'2006-04-21 15:20:22','Gap','is 10 seconds for the break of 2'),(473,16,'2006-04-21 15:21:18','5 seconds','Davitamon-Lotto is bringing them back'),(474,16,'2006-04-21 15:21:40','5km to go','Gap is down to 100 meters'),(475,16,'2006-04-21 15:23:46','Location','Race is entering Dahlonega at mile 118. The gap is down to 60 meters'),(476,16,'2006-04-21 15:24:11','Catch','all together'),(477,16,'2006-04-21 15:25:19','attack','by Danny Pate with 2km to go '),(478,16,'2006-04-21 15:26:39','1km to go','all together'),(485,17,'2006-04-22 11:26:00','Hello there','Greetings and welcome to live coverage of stage 5 of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia. On tap today we have a 94.5-mile run from Blairsville to the top of Brasstown Bald. Today will almost surely decide the overall race winner, as the stage includes three rated climbs, including the category 1 Hogpen Gap and the hors categorie Brasstown Bald. In between riders will face the category 2 Unicoi Gap. In total this year’s six-stage event covers 601.4 miles before the finish in Alpharetta on Sunday. Racing today gets underway at 11:30 EST.\r\n'),(480,16,'2006-04-21 15:27:00','Freddy!','Rodriguez is unofficial winner.'),(481,16,'2006-04-21 15:29:04','KOM leader','has been confirmed. It\'s TIAA-CREF\'s Lucas Euser. Most Aggressive will certainly be McCartney. Rodriguez will be Points man and Landis will maintain his GC lead.'),(482,16,'2006-04-21 15:31:51','Unofficial top 3','1. Fred Rodriguez (USA), Davitamon-Lotto; 2. Matteo Tosatto (I), Quick Step-Innergetic; 3. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel'),(483,16,'2006-04-21 15:36:35','Contest killer','You won\'t believe this but it looks like Rob from Calgary has won the contest for the second day in a row, calling \"in a group sprint - fast freddy to take the victory for stage 4.\" The man is on fire. Nice work Rob. Your books will be on their way soon.'),(484,16,'2006-04-21 15:39:49','Signing off','Okay -- that\'s it for stage 4, but make sure to check back soon to VeloNews.com for a full report, results and photos. And remember to get back here tomorrow to \"hear\" all the action from Brasstown Bald. It\'s going to be exciting.'),(486,17,'2006-04-22 11:29:00','What’s at stake','Today will feature a showdown between Floyd Landis and his Phonak team and Tom Danielson of Discovery. Landis owns a slim 4-second lead over the Colorado climbing specialist, but he knows keeping up with Danielson on the ridiculously steep Brasstown climb will not be easy. A year ago Landis owned a 1-minute lead over Danielson coming into this stage, but lost 1:09 on the stage and ended up third overall while Danielson won the stage and eventually the overall title.\r\n'),(487,17,'2006-04-22 11:31:23','Race is underway','There is 2.9 miles of neutral and then it\'s game on. Expect Discovery to start testing Phonak\'s strength early and often.'),(488,17,'2006-04-22 11:34:00','Lots of options','With five riders in the top 15, Discovery has lots of bullets to fire at the Phonak team. Yesterday they threw Jason McCartney at them, sending the Iowa native off on what ended up being a marathon beakaway that wasn’t reeled in just seven miles were left in the race.\r\n'),(489,17,'2006-04-22 11:36:00','Radio check','Right now they are going through the radio checks with all the teams and other caravan vehicles. Looks like everybody showed up for work today.'),(490,17,'2006-04-22 11:38:00','Weather','There is steady rain falling on the racers right now. Most of them are wearing rain coats. Up top at Brasstown it\'s very foggy and cool, and it\'s raining off and on.'),(491,17,'2006-04-22 11:40:58','Honory starter','Greg LeMond, three-time winner of the Tour de France, was the honorary starter in Blairsville. LeMond is in Georgia in part to promote his new bike, the Triomphe.'),(492,17,'2006-04-22 11:41:40','Racing underway','The neutral section is completed and the race is underway for real. The temperature at the start was 60 degrees.'),(493,17,'2006-04-22 11:45:01','Sprints','Besides the three rated climbs, there are two intermediate sprint spots today -- one at mile marker 34.4 in Blairsville and at mile marker 71.4 in Helen. You notice that the race actually does a loop off to the west, then comes back through Blairsville before heading up into the mountains.'),(494,17,'2006-04-22 11:48:29','Quotable','Here\'s some highlights from yesterday\'s post-race press conference.\r\n\r\n\"Tomorrow I\'ll put on the biggest gear I can find,\" said stage 4 winner Fred Rodriguez about his plans for the Brasstown stage.'),(495,17,'2006-04-22 11:51:12','Confidence','You get the impression that Tom Danielson is pretty confident about today\'s outcome.\r\n\r\n\"Worries?\" he asked when questioned about today\'s stage. \"I have no worries about tomorrow. I came here for tomorrow’s stage. I love it. But if I don’t win, I don’t win. I’ll do my best, but the only worries would be falling off my bike or some kind of mechanical. As long as I stay by team and do my job, I’m not worried.\"\r\n'),(496,17,'2006-04-22 11:52:08','Transfer time','Prior to the race start, the Tour de Georgia entourage had to make just a 15-mile transfer. That had to make people happy.\r\n'),(497,17,'2006-04-22 11:56:07','Strategy','We talked to several riders this morning about their plans for the day. Toyota United’s Chris Baldwin is planning to play off Phonak and Discovery. His team will be working for Justin England who is 12th overall at 2:46.\r\n\r\nWe also spoke with Discovery’s Janez Brajkovic, who said he was happy to be in the Best Young Rider jersey, but wasn’t concerned with defending it. The goal is to launch Danielson to the win. Everything else is secondary.\r\n'),(498,17,'2006-04-22 12:02:00','Action','There\'s been several break attempts here in the early going but both Phonak and CSC are working hard to keep things togther.'),(499,17,'2006-04-22 12:02:53','Money, money','We put this up the other day, but for those who may have missed it, here’s a breakdown on the race’s prize list, which has a total purse of $111,000. The biggest check goes to the overall winner, who will bring home $11,422.80 before taxes. Second place on GC is worth $5688.60, while third nets $2850. Each stage winner wins $3807.60. The overall team classification nets $5000, while each of the three other jerseys – points, KOM and young rider – is worth $2000 for first. Of course this all is pre-tax. According to the race’s technical manual, the UCI takes 7 percent from every prizewinner, while Uncle Sam gets a whopping 30 percent.\r\n'),(500,17,'2006-04-22 12:03:58','Break of 5','There\'s an early break that includes Discovery\'s Jason McCartney. We\'ll get you the rest of the names asap.'),(501,17,'2006-04-22 12:06:22','Break make up','McCartney; Kasper Klostergaard (CSC); Sebastien Rosseler (Quick Step); Lucas Euser (TIAA-Cref); Will Frischkorn (TIAA-Cref). They have 23 seconds.'),(504,17,'2006-04-22 12:11:16','Up top it\'s getting ugly','The weather is getting nasty up at the top of Brasstown Bald. It\'s getting colder, drizzly and foggy. Tough day for the sizable crowds that have gathered along the road to the top. '),(503,17,'2006-04-22 12:09:11','Correction again','Woops. Race radio just corrected themselves. It\'s not Danielson (No. 1), but Aaron Olson (No. 41). Sorry about that.'),(505,17,'2006-04-22 12:11:29','Gap','is up to 1:00.'),(506,17,'2006-04-22 12:15:15','Gap','at 15 miles in the gap is 1:10. Clearly TIAA-Cref is going after as many KOM points as they can in hopes of defending the jersey that Lucas Euser took yesterday when he got in the breakway with McCartney and Francisco Ventoso.'),(507,17,'2006-04-22 12:16:57','Vogels out','As expected Henk Vogels has taken a pass on today\'s stage. This is not his kind of stage so he\'s opted to pull the plug and safe himslef for the Giro d\'Italia which starts in two weeks. '),(508,17,'2006-04-22 12:18:25','Gap is now...','2:08'),(509,17,'2006-04-22 12:20:38','Opening up','The media and VIP cars have just been allowed into the gap between the break of six and the main field. They are also waving up some of the team vehicles.'),(510,17,'2006-04-22 12:21:55','Fine time','There were a host of fines passed out by officials yesterday during stage 4. Among those who are lighter in the pocket today are Discovery’s Johan Bruyneel and Jason McCartney who were fined for both non-regulation supply of refreshments and non-regulation breakdown assistance, service on the left side of the road. Also sanctioned was TIAA-CREF director Jonathan Vaughters for failure to respect instructions of the race administration – not sure what that was about. \r\n'),(511,17,'2006-04-22 12:25:32','Jersey update','Phonak’s Floyd Landis will spend his second day in the yellow jersey. He has a 4-second lead over Discovery’s Tom Danielson. Another American, CSC’s David Zabriskie is third at 0:24. In the Best Young Rider competition, Discovery’s Janez Brajkovic owns a 1:23 lead over Prodir-Saunier Duval rider Peter Mazur. Third is Johann Tschopp (Phonak) at 3:09. American Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) is first in the points competition with a 15-point lead over Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel), while Lucas Euser (TIAA-CREF) is leading the KOM standings, two points ahead of Jason McCartney (Discovery). McCartney has the most aggressive jersey. In the team standings Phonak has a 3-second lead over Discovery with CSC at 3:00.\r\n'),(512,17,'2006-04-22 12:26:32','Phonak','Is on the front of the main field, but there is no panic yet. Gap is currently 2:50.'),(513,17,'2006-04-22 12:28:10','Miles covered','28.3 of 94.5. The first sprint comes at 34.4.'),(514,17,'2006-04-22 12:32:02','Gap is going up','3:25'),(515,17,'2006-04-22 12:40:17','KOM battle','If this group can stay off the front for a while we are going to have a great battle for the KOM jersery. In the break are both the current leader Euser and second-placed Jason McCartney. The pair are separated by just 2 points. On a category 1 climb like the one coming up at MM 52.6, the points go 10-9-7-6. On a category 2 it\'s 8-7-6-5 and on an HC it\'s 12-10-8-7.'),(516,17,'2006-04-22 12:42:32','Gap','is up to 3:25. The field is currently strung out in one long line with Phonak leading the way at the front.'),(517,17,'2006-04-22 12:48:00','TdG/VeloNews Contest','For today’s contest we want to know who is going to finish second – not first, but second -- in the stage. The first person to e-mail the correct answer to contest@insideinc.com will win a copy of “Up the Road” by Samuel Abt. Remember to include you name and address and to put your answer in the subject line. If you don’t put you answer in the subject line your entry will be invalid. We’ll take entries until 2:30 p.m. EST.'),(518,17,'2006-04-22 12:50:00','Update','30 miles into the race and the gap is 3:32'),(519,17,'2006-04-22 12:53:39','Up top','Today\'s press room is located at Brasstown Bald\'s Mountain Tip theatre. It\'s a pretty small auditorium-style room which made for an interesting press conference last year when Lance Armstrong showed up. The room was elbow to elbow and many people were turned away. '),(520,17,'2006-04-22 12:54:46','Drop off','Sébastien Rosseler (Quick Step) just had to get service and has dropped out of the lead group of six.'),(521,17,'2006-04-22 12:55:43','Rosseler back','The Quick Step rider has rejoined the group.'),(522,17,'2006-04-22 12:58:40','Mountain Top Theatre','Well, despite this not really being the time, the Mountain Top theatre has sprung to life, telling those in the \"press room\" that Brasstown Bald rises more than 4700 feet above sea level and is more than a half mile above the valley floor below. The bummer is that we are only getting audio and not video... '),(523,17,'2006-04-22 12:59:01','Gap is now','3:53.'),(524,17,'2006-04-22 13:02:08','More on Brasstown','Here\'s some info from the Brasstown Bald website: \"Beautiful Brasstown Bald, rising 4,784 feet above sea level, is Georgia\'s highest mountain. On clear days, the spectacular 360-degree view from atop the mountain allows you to see four states, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The surrounding area is home to a wide variety of plants and animals.\" Unfortunately there is no 360-degree view today, just a lot of clouds and rain just like last year.'),(525,17,'2006-04-22 13:03:30','Talk from the start line','VeloNews senior writer Neal Rogers just sent in this report gleaned from some pre-race interviews this morning: Other climbers to watch today include Cesar Grajales (Navigators Insurance) and 2005 Mt. Washington Hill Climb runner-up Anthony Colby of Target Training, who is riding Brasstown for the first time today. We spoke with Grajales at the start, and he said he\'s been training on this stage weekly, adding that it, \"never gets any easier.\" Grajales added that he\'s probably in better shape than he was two years ago, but he prefers the warm, sunny conditions he had in 2004 over today\'s wet weather.'),(526,17,'2006-04-22 13:04:26','Vaughters happy','TIAA-CREF team director Jonathan Vaughters is happy with the breakaway. \"We set out to do what we wanted to do,\" he said from his team car. \"The plan was to get two guys in the break, and we\'ve got Will to drive it and Lucas to just kind of sit in. It\'s perfect, except for having McCartney in the break.\"'),(527,17,'2006-04-22 13:09:17','Gap','is now up to 3:55, as the break of six continues its way towards the days first climb, the category 1 Hogpen Gap.'),(528,17,'2006-04-22 13:16:18','Locale','Main field is 40 miles into the stage. The temperature is 60 degrees and the rain has started up again.'),(529,17,'2006-04-22 13:17:52','Photos','Don\'t forget to check out the photos at the bottom of this page. Just posted is a shot of Jason McCartney leading today\'s first breakaway which currently has 4:45.'),(530,17,'2006-04-22 13:25:57','Gap','is now up to 4:50. That\'s probably right at the Phonak comfort line and will likely mean they\'ll have to start chasing a little harder.'),(531,17,'2006-04-22 13:28:34','TdG/VeloNews Contest','For today’s contest we want to know who is going to finish second – not first, but second -- in the stage. The first person to e-mail the correct answer to contest@insideinc.com will win a copy of “Up the Road” by Samuel Abt. Remember to include you name and address and to put your answer in the subject line. If you don’t put you answer in the subject line your entry will be invalid. We’ll take entries until 2:30 p.m. EST.'),(532,17,'2006-04-22 13:29:58','Gap','is now 4:47'),(533,17,'2006-04-22 13:33:21','Locale','At 46.5 miles in the field is heading down a descent, then making a left onto highway 348. The feed zone is just ahead. The gap is currently 4:30 with 1k to go to the feed zone.'),(534,17,'2006-04-22 13:37:33','Up we go','The break is now on the climb up Hog Pen for the day\'s first climb. Let\'s see how the KOM battle shapes up.'),(535,17,'2006-04-22 13:39:14','Gap is now','4:15'),(536,17,'2006-04-22 13:40:27','The pace...','...at the front of the field is being set by four riders from team Phonak. There is a split now in the lead group. McCartney and Euser have opened a gap. Time for the KOM battle.'),(537,17,'2006-04-22 13:43:42','McCartney drops him','J-Mac has dropped Euser'),(538,17,'2006-04-22 13:48:33','Gap','McCartney now has 30 seconds over Euser with the others trailing further back. If he holds on over the top of this climb, McCartney will be just 1 point back of Euser.'),(539,17,'2006-04-22 13:50:14','Gaps','McCartney still has 30 over Euser. It\'s another 3 minutes to the field.\r\n'),(540,17,'2006-04-22 13:53:04','Got em','McCartney has crested Hog Pen, giving him first place points for the first KOM. Let\'s see if Euser can hold his lead by taking second.'),(541,17,'2006-04-22 13:57:05','Euser holds on','The young TIAA-Cref rider held on for second, meaning just one point separates the pair.'),(542,17,'2006-04-22 13:57:00','Gap','McCartney now has 1:48 over the group of four with Euser in between.'),(543,17,'2006-04-22 14:02:36','Update','McCartney now has 1:59 on what is now a group of five, as Euser has fallen back in. Behind them the main group has broken up some, but expect them to come back togther soon as there\'s a good 20 miles before the start of the next climb.'),(544,17,'2006-04-22 14:03:00','Gap','is now 4:37 from McCartney to the main field'),(545,17,'2006-04-22 14:07:02','Gaps','It\'s now 2:00 from McCartney to the group of five and 4:30 to the field. Up top at the finish the race announcers have come to life and Dave Towle is bellowing away up at Brasstown Bald.'),(546,17,'2006-04-22 14:10:41','Gap','is now 4:10 from McCartney to the field. Funny that in the last two days the Discovery rider has probably spent more time riding alone than in the group.'),(547,17,'2006-04-22 14:12:03','LeMond at the finish','Former Tour de France winner Greg LeMond just made an appearance at the finish. Check out the photos at the bottom of the page. '),(548,17,'2006-04-22 14:16:24','Next climb','The race is now headed to the category 2 Unicoi Gap climb. This one isn\'t particularly tough, but it will give McCartney a chance to at least move into a tie in the KOM standings assuming Euser can grab second place again. That will leave the HC climb up Brasstown Bald, plus a category 3 climb on the final day. Points are awarderd 10 places deep on the HC climbs, and five places deep on the cat. 3s. '),(549,17,'2006-04-22 14:21:57','Update','Gap from McCartney to the chase is 2:15, with the field at 4:23. The temperature right now is 70 degrees and the sky is clear. Setting pace at the front of the field are three riders from team Phonak. \r\n'),(550,17,'2006-04-22 14:24:05','Sprint coming up','There\'s a sprint at MM 71.4, but there\'s not really much drama here. Fred Rodriguez owned a 15-point lead coming into today, so barring any major trouble he\'ll win the competition easily.'),(551,17,'2006-04-22 14:29:21','Into Helen','McCartney has just entered the town of Helen at MM 70.5. According to the city\'s website: \"Helen, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Chattahoochee River, is a re-creation of an alpine village, complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers. This Northeast Georgia village has a rich history dating back to the Cherokee Indians and their burial mounds, early settlers who mined for gold and cut virgin timber.\"'),(552,17,'2006-04-22 14:29:46','Into Helen','McCartney has just entered the town of Helen at MM 70.5. According to the city\'s website: \"Helen, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Chattahoochee River, is a re-creation of an alpine village, complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers. This Northeast Georgia village has a rich history dating back to the Cherokee Indians and their burial mounds, early settlers who mined for gold and cut virgin timber.\"'),(553,17,'2006-04-22 14:30:15','Gap coming down','it\'s just 3:40 to the field now.'),(554,17,'2006-04-22 14:31:09','And lower','It\'s now just 3:00 from McCartney to the field.'),(555,17,'2006-04-22 14:37:22','Coming down','The gap is now just 2:25. Phonak is bringing it back together.'),(556,17,'2006-04-22 14:38:29','Distance','With 73.5 miles covered the gap is 2:25 with the chase group at 2:00.'),(557,17,'2006-04-22 14:39:59','Gap coming down','it\'s now just 2:17 from McCartney to the front of the field.'),(558,17,'2006-04-22 14:41:02','Catch','The group of five has been caught, so now it\'s just Mccartney off the front.'),(565,17,'2006-04-22 14:54:08','Attack','A Prodir has just attacked the main field. Hold for the ID.'),(560,17,'2006-04-22 14:42:12','Weather update','The sun is starting to come out up at the top of Brasstown. Should be a nice day for a climb...'),(561,17,'2006-04-22 14:45:19','Defense','TIAA-CREF is now at the front of the field trying to protect Euser\'s KOM jersey. They want to make sure that he can grab the second-place points on this climb.'),(562,17,'2006-04-22 14:45:48','Gap','is down to 1:40'),(563,17,'2006-04-22 14:46:27','Distance','the main field has now covered 74 of the 94 miles.'),(564,17,'2006-04-22 14:52:48','Tempo setters','Phonak is leading the pace up the Unicoi climb.'),(566,17,'2006-04-22 14:55:46','Chase','Phonak is chasing. The Prodir rider is Alberto Fernandez. He\'s a U25 but is 4:50 down in the Best Young Rider competition.'),(567,17,'2006-04-22 14:56:50','Distance','79.6 miles have been covered.'),(568,17,'2006-04-22 14:59:30','Catch','The Prodir rider has been caught, meaning Euser can still get those second-place points.'),(569,17,'2006-04-22 15:00:41','New attack','Now a rider from Davitamon-Lotto rider has attacked. McCartney has 35 seconds. The attacker from Lotto is Pieter Mertens.'),(570,17,'2006-04-22 15:03:33','KOM','1. McCartney; 2. Mertens (Davitamon-Lotto); 3. Guitierrez (Phonak) -- That means McCartney now has the lead in the KOM competition.'),(571,17,'2006-04-22 15:05:00','Catch','McCartney and Mertens have been caught and the race is all together at mile marker 84. Just 10.5 brutal miles to go...'),(572,17,'2006-04-22 15:06:55','KOM','Euser missed the top 5 in the KOM meaning McCartney now has a 7-point lead.'),(573,17,'2006-04-22 15:08:00','Phonak driving it','Floyd Landis and his Phonak teammates are now driving the pace. They\'ll want to keep this thing together as long as possible. So far so god.'),(574,17,'2006-04-22 15:16:17','Weather update','Up top at Brasstown the sky has cleared and the view is breathtaking. There are good crowds at the finish and all along the climb.'),(575,17,'2006-04-22 15:16:32','Closer','There are now just 10k to go.'),(576,17,'2006-04-22 15:18:33','Watch out','Just got word over the radio that there is an irate motorist just of the course and he may try to come out on the course. Some people just don’t care for bike racing.'),(577,17,'2006-04-22 15:19:14','Distance','Field has now covered 89 miles and is climbing at 7 miles an hour'),(578,17,'2006-04-22 15:21:04','Attack','There was an attack from a Prodir rider, but Discovery has chased him down. Now there just 10 riders in the front group.'),(579,17,'2006-04-22 15:22:22','Selection time','The field has broken up. Still up front include Danielson, Landis and others. Zabriskie is there too.'),(580,17,'2006-04-22 15:26:25','Boom','This thing has just blown up and there are just 12 riders at the front now. Among those making the final selection: Danielson, Popovych, Brajkovik and Mccartney for Discovery. For Phonak it\'s Landis, Guitierrez, Tschopp. '),(581,17,'2006-04-22 15:28:04','Also there in the main group are','Alberto Fernandez (Prodir-Saunier); Marco Pinotti (Prodir-Saunier Duval); Remmert Wielinga (Quick Step); Cesar Grajales (Navs); Justin England (Toyota-United).\r\n'),(582,17,'2006-04-22 15:28:39','Dropped','Landis and Danielson have just each lost a teammate.'),(583,17,'2006-04-22 15:29:21','Pace setter','McCartney is setting the pace for Discovery. He\'s got two teammates right behind him and then it\'s Landis. The lead field is down to nine.'),(584,17,'2006-04-22 15:30:06','Distance','It\'s 4km to go with Discovery still leading the way: Danielson, Popovych and Mccartney.'),(585,17,'2006-04-22 15:31:27','McCartney dropped','Now it\'s just Danielson and Popo up there for Discovery. Landis is still hanging tough. Popo is setting the pace. It\'s just those three up front, with Grajales in fourth 25 meters back.'),(586,17,'2006-04-22 15:32:14','Update','It\'s down to three: Popovych is setting the pace, with Danielson and Landis right behind. '),(587,17,'2006-04-22 15:32:52','Distance','92.4 miles covered. Two miles to go.'),(588,17,'2006-04-22 15:33:43','Inside 3km','Popo is out of the saddle setting the pace. Danielson and Landis are out of the saddle now too. Danileson attacks!'),(589,17,'2006-04-22 15:34:55','Popo gets back on','It\'s three again, and Popo is back at the front with Danielson sitting right behind. Just under 2 miles to go.'),(590,17,'2006-04-22 15:35:51','Landis hanging tough','Popo has dropped off again. Landis is setting the pace both riders are out of the saddle. Now they are side by side. '),(591,17,'2006-04-22 15:36:21','Attack','Now Danielson goes again. Both riders are out of the saddle. Can Floyd hold on?'),(592,17,'2006-04-22 15:36:45','At 93.1 miles','It\'s Danielson vs Landis going up the steepest part of the climb.'),(593,17,'2006-04-22 15:37:09','Still together','They are side by side at 93.1.'),(594,17,'2006-04-22 15:37:32','Talk','Now they are talking to each other. What\'s that about?'),(595,17,'2006-04-22 15:38:11','Landis hanging tough','Danielson attacks again and Landis stays right with him. This is a different Floyd Landis than in 2005.'),(596,17,'2006-04-22 15:39:07','Side by side','93.4 miles covered and just 1.1 to go. Landis and Danielson are side by side. Now Popo has caught back on and attacked.'),(597,17,'2006-04-22 15:39:43','Popo goes','But Landis brings him back and Popo has dropped off again.'),(598,17,'2006-04-22 15:40:22','Waiting','Popo has gotten back on and opened a 30 meter gap. He\'s 1:37 down on GC.'),(599,17,'2006-04-22 15:41:03','Cesar back on','Grajales has caught back on. Popo has 50 meters on Landis.'),(600,17,'2006-04-22 15:42:02','Popo continues to lead','Landis and Grajales are side by side, with Popo 50 meters up the hill and Danileson sitting on Landis\' wheel at 1km to go.'),(601,17,'2006-04-22 15:42:56','1km to go','Grajales takes the lead from Landis. Popo still has 50 meters. Now all are out of the saddle. Looks like Popo will take the stage, but it likely won\'t be enough to take the GC.'),(603,17,'2006-04-22 15:44:23','L v D','Landis and Danielson are still side by side. Looks like Floyd is going to hold on. Two riders have caught up with Grajales who trails just off the pace in fourth.'),(607,17,'2006-04-22 15:49:00','Landis does it','With no time bonuses on offer, Landis has held onto the overall lead. Pretty impressive stuff considering the onslught he just endured. Tomorrow\'s stage is fairly flat, so it\'s a safe bet that Landis will add the Tour de Georgia crown to wins at the Tour of California and Paris-Nice. Watch out for this guy at the Tour. He\'s the real deal.'),(605,17,'2006-04-22 15:45:26','Or not','Now it\'s three together'),(606,17,'2006-04-22 15:46:05','Inside 70 meters','It\'s Danielson winning the stage, but Floyd is right there. What a battle.'),(608,17,'2006-04-22 15:55:12','Top 5','1. Landis; 2. Danielson; 3. Popovych; 4. Grajales; 5. Brajkovik.'),(609,17,'2006-04-22 16:01:23','Signing off','Okay, that\'s all folks. Check back soon for race reports, photos, results and video from today\'s action. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to come on back tomorrow for the final stage of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia.'),(610,18,'2006-04-23 12:07:08','Hello there','Greetings and welcome to live coverage of stage 6 of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia. On tap today we have a 118.2-mile run from Cumming to Alpharetta. With just one rated climb — the category 3 ascent of Burnt Mountain — expect this to be a day for the sprinters. A year ago Canadian speedster Gord Fraser broke through for the win. In total this year’s six-stage event covers 601.4 miles.\r\n'),(611,18,'2006-04-23 12:25:00','TdG/VeloNews Contest','For today\\\'s contest we are looking for the first person to correctly pick the stage winner and the runner up. The first person to e-mail the correct answers to contest@insideinc.com will win a copy of Graham Watson\\\'s \\\"Landscapes of Cycling.\\\" Remember to include your name and address. Also please remember to include your answers in the subject line of your e-mail. Entries without predictions in the subject line will not be counted. Good luck.\r\n'),(612,18,'2006-04-23 12:26:31','Congrats','Big ups to Andy from Katy, Texas. He was the winner of the stage 5 trivia contest, correctly picking Floyd Landis as the day’s stage runner up. Of course there were lots of you who also choose Landis, but Andy was a little quicker with the send button. You gotta be fast.\r\n'),(613,18,'2006-04-23 12:32:56','We are underway','It\'s a beautuful day in Georgia as the final stage gets rolling. The temperature is in the mid 70s with sunny skies overhead.'),(614,18,'2006-04-23 12:34:17','Jersey update','Phonak’s Floyd Landis will continue to wear the yellow jersey after winning the stage 3 time trial and taking a 4 second lead over Discovery’s Tom Danielson. Danielson’s Discovery Channel teammate Yaroslav Popovych is third at 1:55. In the Best Young Rider competition, Discovery’s Janez Brajkovic owns a 4:43 lead over Phonak’s Johann Schopp, with Alberto Fernandez (Prodir-Saunier Duval) at 6:29. American Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) is first in the points competition, with a 5-point lead over Popovych, while Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) is leading the KOM standings and is the holder of the race’s Most Aggressive Rider jersey. Popovych will wear that jersey.\r\n'),(615,18,'2006-04-23 12:34:40','Transfer time','Prior to the race start, the Tour de Georgia entourage had to make a 75-mile transfer from their hotels in the Blairsville area to the race start at the Forsyth County Fairgrounds in Cumming. \r\n'),(616,18,'2006-04-23 12:35:33','Sprints','In addition to the lone category 3 ascent, today’s stage also includes a pair of intermediate sprints. The first is at mile marker 78.5 in Cumming, while the second comes at MM 93.6 in Alpharetta. You’ll notice that the sprints occur at the start and finish sights of today’s stage. The reason is that the race actually does a big loop north of Cumming, then comes back through the town before heading south to Alpharetta. Once in Alpharetta racers will do six, 3.65-mile circuits before crossing the finish line. \r\n'),(617,18,'2006-04-23 12:36:48','Check, check, check','With the race heading through a neutral start, the radio tour is going through the radio checks with all the team cars and race officials. Looks like everyone is here.'),(618,18,'2006-04-23 12:37:40','Action','Right away there is an attack off the front. Hold for the IDs.'),(619,18,'2006-04-23 12:39:05','Money, money','We\'ve put this up the last few days, but for those who may have missed it, here’s a breakdown on the race’s prize list, which has a total purse of $111,000. The biggest check goes to the overall winner, who will bring home $11,422.80 before taxes. Second place on GC is worth $5688.60, while third nets $2850. Each stage winner wins $3807.60. The overall team classification nets $5000, while each of the three other jerseys – points, KOM and young rider – is worth $2000 for first. Of course this all is pre-tax. According to the race’s technical manual, the UCI takes 7 percent from every prizewinner, while Uncle Sam gets a whopping 30 percent.\r\n'),(620,18,'2006-04-23 12:39:30','Break','Six riders have a gap of about 50 meters. Still waiting on the numbers.'),(621,18,'2006-04-23 12:41:13','Solo flyer','One rider has broken away from the break. It\'s Wesley Hartman of Target Training. '),(622,18,'2006-04-23 12:47:00','Quotable','VeloNews caught up with America’s first Tour de France winner, Greg LeMond, at the stage finish yesterday atop Brasstown Bald. LeMond is here in Georgia to promote a new bike and to lend his support to the race. He also got a chance to watch a very exciting race, with Floyd Landis and Tom Danielson battling wheel-to-wheel all the way to the finish.
“I’m glad Floyd won it,” said LeMond after the race. “I like Floyd. I met him a few times when he was riding with Mercury about five years ago. He’s quite a funny character. He’s had a phenomenal start to his year with Tour of California and Paris-Nice and now this. I know he lost this race last year, but I think he’s at a different level this year. He proved his worth today. It was cool, it was almost cat and mouse. It was funny to watch the two interact, because Tom thought he was dropping Floyd, and Floyd would come right up on his side. It was good exciting racing. Instead of one guy just attacking and dominating, they were very equal. That’s what made it such a great race. Obviously they were very close in the time trial and finished side by side in the climb, so they both could have merited the victory.”\r\n'),(623,18,'2006-04-23 12:53:00','Never bashful','When it comes to confidence, there are few who match the chutzpah of American Fred Rodriguez. Earlier in the race week he called himself the best “climbing sprinter here.” Yesterday he explained how he managed to get up the hors categorie Brasstown Bald climb.”I’m pretty crafty when it comes to trying to climb up these mountains. I tried to save as much energy as I could.”\r\n'),(624,18,'2006-04-23 12:53:48','Nine off the front','There is now a break of 9-10 riders off the front that includes race leader Floyd Landis.'),(625,18,'2006-04-23 12:54:18','Growing','There are now 15 guys up the road with about 20 seconds.'),(626,18,'2006-04-23 12:54:36','All together','Reset...'),(627,18,'2006-04-23 12:59:28','New break','There’s now a group of 12 riders off the front with a small advantage. Expect things to go like this for a while until a break that everyone can lives with forms up.\r\n'),(628,18,'2006-04-23 13:01:28','Close to the vest','With the overall race lead well in hand here in Georgia, it’s time for Landis to start looking forward to the year’s biggest goal, the Tour de France. But while Landis has clearly thrust himself into a conversation about overall Tour contenders, he’s not one to talk about it.
”I don’t make any predictions,” he said after yesterday’s stage. “I have my own goals and I’ll keep it at that. They are my goals.”\r\n'),(629,18,'2006-04-23 13:02:02','Break','There\'s now a group of 15 that has 15 seconds. We\'lll get the numbers as soon as we can. '),(630,18,'2006-04-23 13:06:01','Reminder','For those sending in contest entries, remember to include your answer in the subject line. It should look something like this: 1. Tom; 2. Jerry\r\n'),(631,18,'2006-04-23 13:06:30','Break','There is now a 1-minute gap to the main field. Hold for the IDs. '),(632,18,'2006-04-23 13:11:35','The break','Here\'s the riders in the new break who now have one minute on the field: Allan Johansen (CSC); Peter Mazur (Prodir-Saunier Duval); Leonnardo Scarselli (Quick Step); Michael Sayers (Health Net); Jeff Louder (Healtrh Net); Tim Johnson (Health Net); Phil Zajicek (Navigators); Sean Sullivan (Toyota-United); Frank Pipp (Target Training); Caleb Manion (Jelly Bely); Nick Reistad (Jelly Belly); Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF); Will Frischkorn (TIAA-CREF); Craig Lewis (TIAA-CREFF); Scott Zwizanski (Kodak-Sierra Nevada) '),(633,18,'2006-04-23 13:12:32','Gap','is now 2:20. Looks like they are going to let this one go.'),(634,18,'2006-04-23 13:14:00','GC','Looks like Jelly Belly\'s Caleb Manion is the top placed GC rider in this move. The Aussie is 25th at 9:08. Nothing to be afraid of there.'),(635,18,'2006-04-23 13:18:58','Who cares','Looks like Davitamon is probably the only team back in the field who doesn\'t like this move. That\'s because Manion is third in the points chase, 17 points back. If he could somehow scoop up both intermediate sprints and win the stage he would pass current leader Fred Rodriguez. '),(636,18,'2006-04-23 13:22:23','Gap','is now 3:45'),(637,18,'2006-04-23 13:24:14','Gap','is up to 4 minutes'),(638,18,'2006-04-23 13:27:02','Gap','is holding at 4 minutes with 20.8 miles covered in this 118.2-mile jaunt to Alpharetta.'),(639,18,'2006-04-23 13:28:07','Back in the field','The peloton could care less about the break at this point, and look like they are simply out on a Sunday ride, which of course they are...'),(640,18,'2006-04-23 13:32:49','The gap','is now up to 4:40 at 22.6 miles. Just realized we erred a minute ago. Manion is actually 25th at 9:08 in the GC. Even more reason not to care.'),(641,18,'2006-04-23 13:42:24','Gap','is now up to 5 minutes with 26.5 miles covered.'),(642,18,'2006-04-23 13:46:00','More LeMond','After watching the finish at Brasstown Bald, Greg LeMond headed into Alpharetta where he was the guest of honor at a media get-together this morning. The three-time Tour de France champion was his usual affable self, chatting about everything from his racing career, to the thrill of watching his son Geoffrey get excited about bike riding. Geoffrey actually rode up Brasstown ahead of the race yesterday. LeMond also talked about his take on doping in cycling.
”I’d like to see better testing. I also think that retroactive testing is the way of the future. That way people could always be held accountable and there would always be a day of reckoning.”\r\n'),(643,18,'2006-04-23 13:47:31','Climb time','The break is at the base of the day\'s lone climb, a category 3 run to the top of Burnt Mountain.'),(644,18,'2006-04-23 13:50:51','Gap','is now at 5:20'),(645,18,'2006-04-23 13:54:10','A little background','Today’s start city of Cumming is known as the “Gateway to Leisure Living” according to its website. Cumming is also the county seat of Forsyth County and was established in 1834. The city was named after either Colonel William Cumming of Augusta, a prominent lawyer, or by local Cherokees for Sir Alexander Cumming of England, who settled in America in 1729 and became a Cherokee leader.\r\n'),(646,18,'2006-04-23 13:59:37','The break','With 3km to go in the climb the break remains intact. This isn\'t a real tough climb so don\'t expect too much carnage. Right now Health Net is at the front, getting some help from Toyota-United and Prodir.'),(647,18,'2006-04-23 14:00:45','Attack','Four riders have just attacked off the front of the break. Waiting on IDs.'),(648,18,'2006-04-23 14:01:49','New attack','The four off the front of the break are Louder, Zajicek, Manion and Frischkorn'),(649,18,'2006-04-23 14:05:08','Dropped','TIAA-CREF\'s Craig Lewis has lost touch with the break. The gap to the field is now 4:45.'),(650,18,'2006-04-23 14:07:21','Analysis','VeloNews senior writer Neal Rogers just checked in and had this to say about the make-up of the break and what the team’s motivations may be.
\r\n--Johansen is in the break for CSC, but the team\'s sprinter, Lars Michaelsen, dropped out on the stage into Dahlonega, so we\'re not sure what CSC is hoping to do here. Health Net-Maxxis riders Jeff Louder, Tim Johnson and Mike Sayers are in the break so that their fast-finishing teammates Karl Menzies, Kirk O\'Bee and Gord Fraser can get a free ride into the finish. After winning both this stage and the sprinter\'s jersey for two years in a row, Health Net would dearly love to leave Georgia with a big stage win. Toyota-United is represented by Sean Sullivan, looking to give J.J. Haedo a fresh leadout train, while the presence of Caleb Manion and Nick Reistad is a bonus for Jelly Belly sprinter Alex Candelario. Zajicek is likely in the group to represent Navigators Insurance, which hopes to bring Vassili Davidenko to the line first.\r\n
\r\nWith three of its strongest teammates in the break and no real sprinter to speak of, TIAA-CREF must be hoping it sticks. Pate was on a breakaway on this same stage last year with Prodir-Saunier Duval\'s Andrea Tafi, Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) and Dominique Perras (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada). Curiously, Target Training\'s sprinter, Frank Pipp, is in the breakaway, but in the field is its other top speedster Alejandro Acton.\r\n'),(651,18,'2006-04-23 14:10:41','Forced to work','With no one in the break Davitamon-Lotto continues to be present at the front of main field'),(652,18,'2006-04-23 14:11:58','KOM','Here\'s results from KOM at the top of Burnt Mountain: 1. Scarselli; 2. Johansen; 3. Manion; 4. Louder; 5. Zajicek.'),(653,18,'2006-04-23 14:13:27','Service call','Louder is getting service'),(654,18,'2006-04-23 14:14:49','The field','is now 2km from the KOM. From there it\'s 82 miles to the finish. The gap is now at 5:20.'),(655,18,'2006-04-23 14:16:01','The front break','has four riders: Johansen; Zajicek; Manion; Frischkorn'),(656,18,'2006-04-23 14:18:47','Coming back together','The group of four is now just 100 meters ahead of the chase of 11 as the careen down the backside of Burnt Mountain'),(657,18,'2006-04-23 14:22:36','Distance','The main field has now covered 40 miles of 118.2.'),(658,18,'2006-04-23 14:23:12','The gap','has grown to 6:00.'),(659,18,'2006-04-23 14:24:20','All together up front','The break has regrouped into a single group of 15.'),(660,18,'2006-04-23 14:29:02','Nice day','It\'s 80 degrees out on the road.'),(661,18,'2006-04-23 14:29:46','Gap','is now at 6:10.'),(662,18,'2006-04-23 14:32:51','Update','From the base of Burnt Mountain the race now makes its way back south to Cumming, passing through Pickens and Cherokee counties. Here the roads are rolling, which is advantageous for the break as they can work up the climbs and then recover on the downhills.'),(663,18,'2006-04-23 14:33:31','Gap','is now at 6:00.'),(664,18,'2006-04-23 14:39:41','Domestic pressure','Today marks the last chance for the domestic teams in this race to breakthrough for a stage win. So far this year the five stage wins have gone to ProTour riders. If that trend continues today it will mark the first time in the race’s four-year history that domestic teams have been shut out. The situation was the same going into the final stage last year, but Health Net’s Gord Fraser bailed out the little guys, winning the bunch sprint at Alpharetta.\r\n'),(665,18,'2006-04-23 14:47:33','Final KOM','Here are the unofficial final KOM standings: 1. Jason McCartney 35 points; 2. Lucas Euser 28; 3. Tom Danielson 12'),(666,18,'2006-04-23 14:49:03','Thanks','Race radio just gave a big thanks to the Pickens County fire department who just removed a tree that had fallen accross the race route.'),(667,18,'2006-04-23 14:52:50','Shake-up','There\'s been a number of attacks off the front of the break and three riders have fallen off the pace. This must have something to do with the extra $2500 on the line at the first intermediate sprint at Cumming. IDs to come.'),(668,18,'2006-04-23 14:56:00','Vows','Got word this morning that besides the usual post-race party, there will also be a wedding following the final stage of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia. Tying the knot will be former U.S. track racing star Nelson Vails and fellow bike racer Carol Stewart. Vails, nicknamed the ‘cheetah’, won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics. \r\n'),(669,18,'2006-04-23 15:04:27','Gap','to the main field is now five minutes.'),(670,18,'2006-04-23 15:05:06','Back together','Looks like the break of 15 is all back together.'),(671,18,'2006-04-23 15:17:00','The gap','is now at 4:50 as the 15 leaders head back into Cumming, the same town that the race started in. $2500 on the line there. That\'s definitely worth suffering for.'),(672,18,'2006-04-23 15:20:00','It’s the Tour de Georgia, not the Tour de France','Gleaned from yesterday’s edition of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, team TIAA-CREF\'s Craig Lewis offers five giveaways that he\'s in the Tour de Georgia and not the Tour de France:\r\n1. The vehicles you ride by are pickup trucks, not sedans.\r\n
\r\n2. The hotel rooms are larger.\r\n
\r\n3. A \"peach\" describes both a person and a fruit.\r\n
\r\n4. The Southern cooking is better.\r\n
\r\n5. You get pecan pie for dessert!\r\n'),(676,18,'2006-04-23 15:24:00','Cock-a-doodle-do','The main field just rolled past a rooster farm, another sure sign that this is not the Tour de France.'),(674,18,'2006-04-23 15:20:57','Break time?','The main field just pulled off for a \"natural\" break, but the riders in the break kept rolling so we should see the time gap go up a bit.'),(675,18,'2006-04-23 15:22:11','The gap','is now back up to 5:10'),(677,18,'2006-04-23 15:27:57','Prediction','We just had a quick word with TIAA-CREF team director Jonathan Vaughters who said he thinks that at least two or three guys from the break will manage to stay away. He’s just hoping that one of them is his. Right now you figure the onus to prevent that from happening still rests primarily on Davitamon-Lotto who has no one in the break.'),(678,18,'2006-04-23 15:29:10','The gap','now stands at 4:35'),(679,18,'2006-04-23 15:34:03','Coming down','The gap is now 4:10.'),(680,18,'2006-04-23 15:36:00','Weather update','While the skies have remained clear today there has been some pretty strong wind from time to time. Right now it\'s fairly gusty at the finish line with the expected finish time currently about 1.5 hours away.'),(681,18,'2006-04-23 15:39:13','Coming down more','The time split is now at 3:35. Looks like the sprinters want to have their day.'),(682,18,'2006-04-23 15:41:49','Lewis dropped','The pace of the break has ramped up and TIAA-CREF rider Craig Lewis has been dropped again. '),(683,18,'2006-04-23 15:42:08','The gap','is now 3:20'),(684,18,'2006-04-23 15:43:02','Attacks','There\'s lots of the action at the front of the break right now.'),(685,18,'2006-04-23 15:46:37','VeloNews video','Just got word that the stage 5 Brasstown Bald highlight video has just been loaded on VeloNews TV. Check it out along with the press conference that followed. Also just in, VeloNews TV caught up with announcer Dave Towle prior to today\'s start. VeloNews TV\r\n'),(686,18,'2006-04-23 15:47:57','A little richer','Prodir-Saunier Duval Peter Mazur grabbed the cash in Cumming.'),(687,18,'2006-04-23 15:50:13','Break up','There\'s been a split in the break. Still at the front are: Mazur, Scarselli, Sayers, Louder, Sullivan, Manion, Pate. Chasing alone is Johansen.'),(688,18,'2006-04-23 15:53:21','Update','The gap between the seven off the front is now 30 seconds. The lead break is now up to eight as Johnasen has caught back on. The gap to the field is 3:45.'),(689,18,'2006-04-23 15:58:00','The gap','is holding at 3:30. Maybe this thing will stay away.'),(690,18,'2006-04-23 16:00:50','Next up','The race will cross the sprint line on Milton Ave. in Alpharetta. The gap is now at 3:30.'),(691,18,'2006-04-23 16:04:14','Speeds','Right now the average speed for the day is 24.7mph with a max of 56 on the descent of Burnt Mountain. The gap is still 3:30 with eight riders off the front. There are six riders at 38 seconds chasing in the middle. '),(692,18,'2006-04-23 16:08:05','Leaders','Give Health Net a slight edge in the break as they are the only team with two riders, Mike Sayers and Jeff Louder. Neither are considered sprinters but having two guys can\'t hurt. Manion is probably the best sprinter of the bunch.'),(693,18,'2006-04-23 16:10:01','The gap','is now 3:10'),(694,18,'2006-04-23 16:11:46','Update','With 88.1 of 118.2 miles covered the gap is now 2:55. Looks like this thing is going to come back together.'),(695,18,'2006-04-23 16:14:15','Regrouped','The chase has caught the break meaning there are now 14 riders at the front.'),(696,18,'2006-04-23 16:15:20','Get out','The team cars are about to be removed from the back of the break. The gap is now 2:20.'),(697,18,'2006-04-23 16:17:10','Come on back','At the front of the field Divatamon-Lotto is setting the pace hoping to give their man Fast Freddy Rodriguez a chance at another stage win. The gap is now at 2:00. '),(698,18,'2006-04-23 16:19:13','Attack','Up in the break CSC rider Allan Johansen is on the attack. Kodak\'s Scott Zwizanski has just been dropped from the lead group. The gap is at 2:20.'),(699,18,'2006-04-23 16:22:13','Final sprint','At the final intermediate sprint, Sayers is first, followed by Johansen and then Pate'),(700,18,'2006-04-23 16:23:50','Parring down','The lead group is now down to 12 riders as the race heads onto the finishing circuit for six laps at 3.65 miles a piece.'),(701,18,'2006-04-23 16:24:26','Break up','A rider from Health Net and one from TIAA-CREF are attacking the break.'),(702,18,'2006-04-23 16:25:14','Break up','It\'s Louder and Frischkorn attacking the break. Time gap to the main field is 2:20.'),(703,18,'2006-04-23 16:27:48','On the circuit','The field is into the circuit now with six laps to go.'),(704,18,'2006-04-23 16:29:46','Zwizanski caught','Kodak rider Scott Zwizanski has been caught by the main field. There are still two away off the front.'),(705,18,'2006-04-23 16:30:20','Distance','97 miles covered, 21.2 to go'),(706,18,'2006-04-23 16:31:26','Off the front','Louder and Frischkorn have 2:20 on the field. The chase has just sat up and will soon be caught by the field.'),(707,18,'2006-04-23 16:35:39','Leading the charge','At the front of the field it\'s Toyota-United and Davitamon-Lotto. The current gap to Louder and Frischkorn is 2:15.'),(708,18,'2006-04-23 16:39:38','The gap','is now at 2:05. Louder and Frischkorn aren\'t giving up easy. Back in the field it\'s still Davitamon-Lotto and Toyota-United setting the pace with a little help from Phonak.'),(709,18,'2006-04-23 16:41:07','The gap is now...','...1:50'),(710,18,'2006-04-23 16:44:51','Louder v Frischkorn','We just spoke with Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada rider Dan Schmatz who dropped out of the race a few days ago. He knows Louder and Frischkorn well and said Frischkorn would definitely be the favorite in a sprint. On a separate note, Schmatz was looking pretty banged up. Turns out he got hit by a car while on a training ride yesterday and suffered a broken collarbone.'),(711,18,'2006-04-23 16:45:48','Four laps to go','and the gap is down to 1:40.'),(712,18,'2006-04-23 16:48:42','Informal poll','The race announcers at the finish line just polled the crowd to see if they wanted to see the break away survive or not and the concensus was no they want to see a field sprint.'),(713,18,'2006-04-23 16:49:16','Scary moment','Race leader Floyd Landis just had to get a wheel change. Yikes.'),(714,18,'2006-04-23 16:50:00','Landis back on','With the aid of his whole team Landis is back in the field. That might mean the end of Robbie Hunter\'s chances in a sprint.'),(715,18,'2006-04-23 16:50:56','The gap','is now 1:15. The whole Phonak team is back in the field.'),(716,18,'2006-04-23 16:52:00','Sprint jersey','Remember that Fred Rodriguez has just a five-point lead over Popovych in the points competition. Maybe Discovery will try something. Three laps to go.'),(717,18,'2006-04-23 16:53:27','The gap','is now 1:00.'),(718,18,'2006-04-23 16:54:18','It\'s now','55 seconds.'),(719,18,'2006-04-23 16:57:48','Coming down more','The gap is now just 45 seconds. Hate to say it but it looks like all this work by Frischkorn and Louder is going to go for naught. Now it\'s just 40 seconds.'),(720,18,'2006-04-23 16:59:58','Two to go','Louder and Frischkorn just crossed the line and saw the 2-to-go sign. The gap is 30 seconds.'),(721,18,'2006-04-23 17:01:02','Distance','111.5 miles covered. '),(722,18,'2006-04-23 17:02:20','The gap','is down to 20 seconds'),(723,18,'2006-04-23 17:03:41','Now it\'s','15 seconds. '),(724,18,'2006-04-23 17:04:54','Game over','Louder and Frischkorn have just sat up and have been absorbed.'),(725,18,'2006-04-23 17:06:27','Nice gesture','Just before the pair were reeled in, Louder and Frischkorn shook hands. They also just announced that Frischkorn will be awarded the Most Agressive Rider Jersey for today\'s stage.'),(728,18,'2006-04-23 17:10:59','All together','There are 2 miles to go. The field has taken a brief pause and is spread out across the road. Now we have a new attack. It\'s David Zabriskie. He has a gap of 75 meters.'),(727,18,'2006-04-23 17:09:11','Correction','There are three riders off the front: Brian Vandborg (CSC), Marco Pinotti (Prodir) and Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF)'),(729,18,'2006-04-23 17:11:31','Update','Dave Z has been caught. All together.'),(730,18,'2006-04-23 17:12:41','All together','We are in the final lap. Riders from Discovery Channel and Phonak are now on the front. There\'s 1km to go. Here we go!'),(731,18,'2006-04-23 17:13:33','Update','Disco and Health Net are setting the pace now.'),(732,18,'2006-04-23 17:14:44','End Game','300 meters to go and these guys are flying!'),(733,18,'2006-04-23 17:15:46','The winner is','JJ Haedo. Gord Fraser is second.'),(734,18,'2006-04-23 17:18:37','Unofficial top 3','1. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg), Toyota-United; 2. Gord Fraser (Can), Health Net-Maxxis; 3. Aurelien Clerc (Sui), Phonak. Haedo gives the domestic teams their first win of this year\'s Tour de Georgia. Landis is the overalll winner.'),(735,18,'2006-04-23 17:21:00','Signing off','Okay folks. That\'s it for the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia live coverage. Make sure to check back to VeloNews.com soon for a full race report, results, photos and video. Thanks for tuning in and come on back in two weeks when we\'ll have live coverage from the 2006 Giro d\'Italia.\r\n'),(737,24,'2006-05-06 16:28:00','Today\'s stage...','Good day and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 1st Stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia. \r\n\r\nWe hope you tune in with us over the next three weeks and keep track of developments in this, the first of the season\'s grand tours, those three-week events that often seem to overshadow every other contest in cycling.'),(742,24,'2006-05-06 16:30:00','Tough little course','As you know, the first day is usually dedicated to a prologue time trial, but this winding 6.2-kilometer test against the clock qualifies as its own stage. It\'s a largely semantic distinction, anyway, but this isn\'t a traditional short-and-sweet prologue. You can see that from the profile if nothing else. \r\n\r\nThat\'s a nice little 10-percent grade going into the climb, which should mean that the times will be all over the map. Top times, though, should be right around the 8:00 to 8:15 mark.'),(743,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(744,24,'2006-05-06 16:29:00','New viewer','As you can see, folks, we\'re using a new Live Update tool. We first used this thing during the Tour de Georgia and have refined it a bit.\r\n\r\nFor one thing we listened to your complaints -- errr suggestions -- and have changed the placement sequence of our updates. You have to scroll down to the bottom to get the latest. It appears that many of you like to read these things like a novel... and don\'t want us to spoil the ending (the Butler did it!), especially when it\'s a tight contest up a mountain stage.\r\n\r\nAlso, please take advantage of our mapping technology. We\'ve got the route marked and you can zoom in to check out particularly dicey turns. Ain\'t technology remarkable these days?\r\n\r\nOne more thing... speaking of tools, our old Live Update Guy is back in the saddle after a short and interesting separation from VeloNews. We\'re looking forward to a long and productive season of racing. Tune in throughout the summer for Live coverage of the Giro, Tour, Vuelta and world\'s... and pretty much anything else that strikes our fancy.'),(747,24,'2006-05-06 16:39:00','The crew','We have Jason Sumner on site, today and he\'ll be providing us with live reports and photos from the route. We\'re having a couple of small technical issues being resolved right now, but we\'ll have full details and standings in plenty of time to see how the top contenders are doing today.'),(748,24,'2006-05-06 16:48:11','Oh those first day bobbles.','Yeah, we know. We\'ve been having more than a few technical issues today. We\'re up and running again. We apologize for the delays.\r\n'),(749,24,'2006-05-06 17:02:13','With 138 of 198 riders done....','These are our top-three:\r\n1 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears , 8:06
2 Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 0:04
3 Remmert Wielinga (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:11\r\n\r\nBobby Julich has just crossed in 20th place at 29 seconds.\r\n'),(750,24,'2006-05-06 17:03:00','Merckx finishes in 8:34...','...Andrea Noe has come across in 9th place at 8:29\r\n\r\nAnd Jens Voigt is in the starting gate.'),(751,24,'2006-05-06 17:08:37','Conditions are great....','The weather is quite nice today and roads are dry.'),(752,24,'2006-05-06 17:14:34','That 10-percent grade...','...is a tough one. It\'s perfectly placed to disrupt a rider\'s rhythm. Voigt, though, seems to be flying on route. He\'s just topped the climb and is right among the leaders so far.'),(753,24,'2006-05-06 17:15:55','Voigt in third...','... and he seems a little disappointed with that. He came in at 8:15. Perez Sanchez\' time is more impressive as the day goes on.'),(754,24,'2006-05-06 17:18:50','Honchar new leader','Sergei Honchar has finished one second ahead of Francisco Perez Sanchez. \r\nJason McCartney (Discovery) has finished in 8:21, good enough for 7th.'),(755,24,'2006-05-06 17:20:00','Another new leader','Gerolsteiner\'s Schumacher has taken over the lead, throwing down an impressive 8:03. We\'re getting to the point now where we will be seeing changes coming fast and furious.'),(756,24,'2006-05-06 17:25:33','Schumacher','The Gerolsteiner man took the route at an impressive 29mph... and remember that includes that 10-percent grade, which he took at 22mph.'),(757,24,'2006-05-06 17:28:12','Cioni finishes in 8:20','Liquigas\'s Darrio Cioni finishes in 8:20. He\'s here to ride in support of Danilo Di Luca, who had a remarkable season last year... and a killer performance in the Giro'),(758,24,'2006-05-06 17:30:35','Danielson ready to start','Discovery\'s Tom Danielson is on his way'),(759,24,'2006-05-06 17:32:12','Danielson wants to do well today.','Danielson said at Tour de Georgia that he\'s been focused on his TT performance and his 2nd place tt finish behind Landis was a good testimony to his progress'),(760,24,'2006-05-06 17:34:16','The world champion is on route','Michael Rogers, the world TT champion is on his way.'),(761,24,'2006-05-06 17:36:13','Danielson is taking the hill nicely','This may be a good course for Danielson. He\'s flying up the hill.'),(762,24,'2006-05-06 17:38:51','Danielson finishes in 8:11','That\'s good enough for fifth so far. '),(763,24,'2006-05-06 17:40:00','Rogers comes in at 8:07','Not good enough for 1st, but he is in the top five.'),(764,24,'2006-05-06 17:42:27','Di Luca on his way...','Last year\'s ProTour winner is on his way.\r\n\r\nThe Olympic road champion, Paolo Bettini, is in, finishing with an 8:29. That\'ll put him in at around 20th place... for now.'),(765,24,'2006-05-06 17:43:59','Rebellin','Davide Rebellin has just come in and bumped Danielson out of the top six.'),(766,24,'2006-05-06 17:46:03','Di Luca is looking good.','The Liquigas captain may be on his way to a top finish. He\'s flying.'),(767,24,'2006-05-06 17:46:56','McGee!','FDJ\'s Brad McGee - who said this course didn\'t suit his talents - has just turned in an 8:01 and is the new leader.'),(768,24,'2006-05-06 17:49:49','Di Luca comes in at 8:09...','... good enough for 8th place for now, but this may be Ivan Basso\'s course. He\'s coming up soon.'),(769,24,'2006-05-06 17:53:11','Basso is off!','Now this is one performance we\'ve been waiting for. '),(770,24,'2006-05-06 17:54:20','Savoldelli is on the way','The defending Giro d\'Italia champion, Paolo Savoldelli is on his way.'),(772,24,'2006-05-06 17:57:42','Alessandro Pettachi','has finished with an 8:25, 24 seconds off of the pace, which, considering this course, is not too bad.'),(773,24,'2006-05-06 17:59:00','The final three riders are out there...','Basso has finished in 8:13.'),(776,24,'2006-05-06 18:15:00','Paolo\'s Happy...','He\'s just soaked the podium girls with champagne. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.\r\n\r\nFolks, we\'re well aware of the technical issues we had today. We\'ll have everything up and running, including our usual contests, in time for tomorrow\'s stage. We look forward to a lively Giro d\'Italia.
Results - Stage 1
1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling, 7:50
\r\n2. Bradley Mcgee (Aus), Francaise des Jeux, 8:01
\r\n3. Gutierrez Cataluna José E. (Sp), Phonak, 8:03
\r\n4. Stefan Schumacher (G), Gerolsteiner, 8:03
\r\n5. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 8:05
\r\n6. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears, 8:06
\r\n7. Gutierrez Palacios José Ivan (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears, 8:06
\r\n8. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 8:07
\r\n9. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 8:08
\r\n10. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 8:09
Full\r\nResults\r\n\r\nSigning off for now.'),(775,24,'2006-05-06 18:00:00','Holy .....!','Savoldelli smokes the course in 7:50. No one else finishes with 10 seconds of the defending champion. Wow.'),(777,26,'2006-05-07 14:40:00','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s live coverage of the second stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia, taking a relatively flat \"S\" shaped route from Mons to Charleroi.\r\n\r\nThe Discovery team is not putting out a huge effort to protect Paolo Savoldelli\'s hold on the maglia rosa today, which makes a lot of sense at this point in a three-week tour.\r\n\r\nWe won\'t see any of the big guns contesting the probable mass finish, so look for the pure sprinters to enjoy their first contest in this Giro... and there aren\'t a lot of those in this year\'s edition. Milram\'s Alessandro Petacchi will be looking for his 20th Giro stage win in four years, but his perennial rival Robbie McEwen will be even more eager to win in front of his team\'s Belgian sponsors, Davitamon and Lotto. \r\n\r\nOther sprinters expected to be in the mix are Gerolsteiner\'s Robert Förster, T-Mobile\'s Olaf Pollack, Phonak\'s Fabrizio Guidi, Rabobank\'s Graeme Brown, Panaria\'s Luca Mazzanti and Bouygues Telecom\'s Sebastien Chavanel. Several of the best sprinters have been left out of their teams because of other priorities - these include Lampre\'s Danilo Napolitano, Panaria\'s Paride Grillo and AG2R\'s Alexandre Usov. \r\n'),(778,26,'2006-05-07 14:41:00','A fish out of water?','Like a lot of people, Discovery Channel\'s Tom Danielson didn\'t know quite what to think of yesterday\'s stage setting in Seraing. The industrial backdrop would have been perfect for a Mad Max movie, but seemed an odd choice to start a Grand Tour.\r\n\r\n\"I think every race I do over here is strange,\" said Danielson. \"It\'s funny. When the Euros come to America you can see that they are completely out of their element. Here it\'s the same for me.\"\r\n'),(779,26,'2006-05-07 14:43:00','From the road','With 130km left in the 197km stage, the four-rider breakaway of Arnaud Labbe (Bouygues Telecom), Mickael Delage (Française des Jeux) Gabriele Missaglia (Selle Italia) and Albizuri Aronsoro (Euskaltel) have a 6-minute lead over a disinterested peloton.'),(780,26,'2006-05-07 14:55:00','Just get to the end','VeloNews spoke to Phonak\'s Patrick McCarty following the stage 1 prologue on Saturday. The American said he had a simple goal for this grand tour.\r\n\r\n\"The No. 1 goal will be just to finish. The hope of the team is that we can factor in a few stages. With Floyd [Landis] not being here that probably means I\'ll get a few more chances to do something.\"\r\n'),(781,26,'2006-05-07 14:58:47','Coming down','Looks like the peloton is coming to life and slowly starting to reel the four leaders in. Right the gap stands at 5:55.\r\n'),(782,26,'2006-05-07 15:01:00','Strange is good','Aussie Brad McGee, second in stage 1, didn\'t have a problem with yesterday\'s stage start locale. In fact he kind of liked it.\r\n
\r\n\"I love the Italians and what they do. We don\'t want another Tour de France, so make it Italian. It\'s great.\"\r\n'),(783,26,'2006-05-07 15:09:00','Sprint','Albizuri Aransolo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) has taken the first intermediate sprint of this year\'s Giro.\r\n'),(784,26,'2006-05-07 15:11:20','Happy Birthday','Today is the 33rd birthday of race leader Paolo Savoldelli. To commerate the occasion, the defending race champion was presented with a cake at the start in Mons. '),(785,26,'2006-05-07 15:16:26','On course','With the break of four still away, Discovery is up at the front setting a steady tempo. All the riders have their long sleeves on, as it\'s rainy and chilly out there today.'),(786,26,'2006-05-07 15:22:56','Gap with 87km to go','is now 4:35 to the group of four. Discovery is still setting tempo at the front, but is now getting some help from Davitamon-Lotto. Obviously the Belgium squad will work hard to bring this back and give their sprinter, Robbie McEwen, a chance in a sprint.'),(787,26,'2006-05-07 15:30:37','Milram joins in','The team of sprint star Alessandro Petacchi has joined the ranks at the front. They too are lookingfor a mass gallop in Charleroi.'),(788,26,'2006-05-07 15:32:00','Pomp and circumstance','At the finish line there is a military band marching and playing trumpets. It\'s all part of the ceremony to honor the anniversary of the miners killed at Le Bois de Cazier in 1956.'),(789,26,'2006-05-07 15:39:32','The break','continues to look good despite the wet roads. They actually have an easier time in these conditions because the peloton will be a little more twitchy with the slick streets and lots of riders around them. '),(790,26,'2006-05-07 15:41:14','The gap','is holding at 4:42. '),(791,26,'2006-05-07 15:42:48','Flat and straight','With about 77km remaining the main field is rolling down a dead flat, straight rural road here in Wallonia.'),(792,26,'2006-05-07 15:46:37','Good work','The four riders in the break continue to work well together, each taking 20-30 second pulls. Lotto is now setting tempo at the front of the field.'),(793,26,'2006-05-07 15:50:11','No urgency','There\'s little concern being displayed back in the bunch right now, as they roll through the Belgian countryside. They are all bunched up across the road, and the riders at the back are occasionally having to grab the brakes. There is 70km to go.'),(794,26,'2006-05-07 15:50:34','Gap','is holding at 4:42.'),(795,26,'2006-05-07 15:56:12','A little trivia','If you were wondering about the odds of Savodelli keeping the pink jersey from start to finish, don\'t hold your breath. It\'s only happened four times, the last being Gianni Bugno who did it in 1990.'),(796,26,'2006-05-07 15:57:23','Gap coming down','With the sprinter\'s teams starting to crank up the pace, the gap has dropped to 3:30.'),(797,26,'2006-05-07 16:00:53','Gap','is now at 3:12 with 67km to go.'),(798,26,'2006-05-07 16:03:04','Time','The race is just now three and a half hours old. The estimated total time for the day is just under 5 hours.'),(799,26,'2006-05-07 16:05:46','Relax','With the gap well under four minutes, the peloton has gone back into relax mode. Right now they are spread all the way across the road. New gap time just posted: 2:45.'),(800,26,'2006-05-07 16:10:00','Props for J-Mac','Discovery\'s Jason McCartney is here riding in his second Giro and people are starting to take notice of the Iowa native. McCartney had a stellar ride at the recently completed Tour de Georgia, nearly pulling off a solo stage win and taking the KOM jersey while trying to help Tom Danielson win his second straight Georgia crown. Danielson came up short, but it was no fault of McCartney\'s.\r\n'),(801,26,'2006-05-07 16:10:50','Cool day','Race favorite Ivan Basso just pulled on a black rain jacket. You know he just wants to get this day over with.'),(802,26,'2006-05-07 16:14:22','Easy ride','They are monitoring Vladimir Miholjevic\'s heart rate on the Italian TV broadcast and right now it\'s at just 68 percent of his maximum 186.'),(803,26,'2006-05-07 16:15:17','Attack','With the day\'s lone KOM coming soon, Arnaud Labbe (Bouygues Telecom) has attacked the break. '),(805,26,'2006-05-07 16:16:53','Got them','Labbe took the top KOM points at the 144.4km mark. It wasn\'t much of a climb, just a gentle roller. '),(806,26,'2006-05-07 16:17:48','Back in','Labbe is now back in the break, which has 2:04 on the main field with 52km to go in this 197km stage.'),(807,26,'2006-05-07 16:22:00','Lance report','There\'s been no official sightings yet, but it\'s rumored that seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong will be joining the Giro caravan tomorrow. Armstrong has been a bit of a good luck charm this year. On the day he showed up at the Tour de Georgia, Discovery team rider Yaroslav Popovych earned a tough stage win in Rome.'),(808,26,'2006-05-07 16:24:32','Gap','is now at 2:10. You\'ve got to figure the sprinter\'s teams don\'t this thing to end too soon. That way they won\'t have to deal with the inevitable counter attacks.'),(809,26,'2006-05-07 16:30:59','Drying up','Things are starting to dry up, but it\'s far from a nice day here in Belgium, cloudy, cool, typical. The gap is now at 2:13.'),(810,26,'2006-05-07 16:34:03','Belgians love cycling','The race is still at least 45 minutes from its conclusion, but already the crowds at the finish are are building. Of course this is an inordiante amount of pink being worn. '),(811,26,'2006-05-07 16:40:21','The gap is coming down','The Milram boys are driving at the front along with Panaria and Quick Step. We\'re looking at a very likely sprint to the line. The gap is down to less than two minutes.'),(812,26,'2006-05-07 16:44:00','33km to go','The leaders are through the town of Florennes and just about 1:35 ahead of the field.'),(813,26,'2006-05-07 16:46:00','With 30km to go','The gap is coming down as the peloton has ramped up its effort. The team cars of the men in the break are being pulled over, a sign that the gap is less than a minute. Gabriele Missaglia (Selle Italia) is making an futile attempt to drive the break a bit harder.'),(814,26,'2006-05-07 16:49:00','Missaglia tries to go on his own','Tired of trying to motivate his companions, Gabriele Missaglia (Selle Italia) has taken off on his own. He\'s bumped the gap up a bit and is now 1:30 ahead of the main field with his former cohorts split apart in the middle.'),(815,26,'2006-05-07 16:54:21','Missaglia joined by Albizuri Aronsoro (Euskaltel)','Aronsoro doesn\'t seem to want to lend a hand, though. The peloton is driving hard and the two leaders are likely to be reeled in.'),(816,26,'2006-05-07 16:57:10','Aronsoro is putting in an effort','The Euskaltel man is joining in after all. Aronsoro and Missaglia seem to have established a good working relationship and are holding on to a lead of 1:15.'),(817,26,'2006-05-07 16:59:17','Things are dry at the finish','The crowds are building up at the finish and things seem to have dried out, so wet roads won\'t be a factor.'),(818,26,'2006-05-07 17:03:00','With 20km to go...','... the gap is down to 14 seconds and Aronsoro refuses to work. You know what that means, don\'t ya? Yes, it\'s time for the reappearance of our guy... the harbinger of doom, as we say: '),(819,26,'2006-05-07 17:08:18','With 15km to go','Milram is up front, but that doesn\'t mean that the finish is decided. Remember McEwen likes to grab on to those big fancy trains Petacchi likes to use.'),(820,26,'2006-05-07 17:11:54','10km to go','The speed is picking up and the Milram team is up there driving the pace. The Davitamon team is close on their wheels.'),(821,26,'2006-05-07 17:14:01','Nine kilometers to go','And the peloton is passing the site of the 1956 mining disaster, which is why this stage is finishing here.'),(822,26,'2006-05-07 17:15:03','Milram is is still driving','But there are a lot of other teams - Liquigas, CSC, Davitamon and Lampre - up there, too.'),(823,26,'2006-05-07 17:17:47','Six kilometers to go','The speed is high and the Milram team has stretched things out in single file. Rabobank\'s Russian Kolobnev has crashed on these narrow streets.'),(824,26,'2006-05-07 17:18:22','Kolobnev is up','Ouch... that looks like it hurt, but he\'s good to go... albeit slowly.'),(825,26,'2006-05-07 17:19:05','With five to go','The Milram and Liquigas teams are driving through the narrow streets of Charleroi.'),(826,26,'2006-05-07 17:20:33','Milram driving','Milram has six riders up front. Petacchi is in the catbird seat... but Robbie is right on the big man\'s wheel.'),(827,26,'2006-05-07 17:21:40','Wowie...','... with 2.8km to go we\'re seeing a little bobble in the peloton as they ride through a round about.... the net effect is that Milram has put a little gap on the field.'),(828,26,'2006-05-07 17:22:23','All together with 2km to go.','Milram driving hard at the front... Telekom is coming up and McEwen is right on Petacchi\'s wheel.'),(829,26,'2006-05-07 17:23:04','One kilometer to go.','Milram still at the front.'),(830,26,'2006-05-07 17:23:00','Petacchi is on his own....','no more Milram teammates in there for Petacchi. Can he do it?\r\n'),(831,26,'2006-05-07 17:24:19','An uphill drag...','Petacchi is driving hard... but...'),(832,26,'2006-05-07 17:25:00','McEwen!','Little Robbie McEwen grabs a free ride to the finish on the Milram train. McEwen scoots through as Petacchi fades. He knows he\'s lost and is now getting passed by Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile) and Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), too.'),(833,27,'2006-05-08 14:04:00','Good day','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the third stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia, a hilly 202km loop from Perwez to Namur. This will be a tough ride and not one to offer the pure sprinters a shot at victory like Sunday\' stage was.
Riders will be covering some short, but difficult, climbs such as the Cote de Ahin, used in the Fleche Wallonne classic, which Liquigas\'s Danilo Di Luca won in 2005. But instead of a finish up the ultra-steep Mur de Huy, the Giro stage climaxes on the more gentle, switchback slopes of the Citadelle climb at Namur.
Di Luca and Quick Step\'s Paolo Bettini, who both rode the last 30km of the stage when they were in the region for the Ardennes classics, said they are highly motivated for this stage.
\"It\'s a perfect finish for me,\" said Bettini after he inspected the Citadelle hill, which is 2km long and climbs almost 400 vertical feet on a road surfaced with small cobblestones. To help him, Bettini consulted with his Belgian teammate Nick Nuyens, who has won the past two editions of the GP de Wallone that finished at the Namur Citadelle. \r\n\r\n'),(834,27,'2006-05-08 14:17:00','Break of Four.','Today; stage began at 12:15 p.m. and we saw an early break develop, with Moises Aldape Chavez (Panaria), Amael Moinard (Cofidis), Markel Irizar Aranburu (Euskaltel) and Raffaele Illiano (Selle Italia) slipping off the front at KM 17.\r\n\r\nRight now, at 75km, the four leaders are holding an advantage of just around 4:30 '),(835,27,'2006-05-08 14:33:07','We\'re listening','By the way, take a look at the top right hand portion of the page. We\'ve placed a button there for you to choose whether you want these pages to refresh automatically or not. A lot of you start reading these after the stage is over and Auto-Refresh tends to be just a pain in the....'),(836,27,'2006-05-08 14:20:00','Two-hour average','At 2:15 p.m. the peloton finished two hours of racing, at an average speed of 38.7kph. '),(837,27,'2006-05-08 14:44:00','Simoni\'s bike','Scroll down and take a quick gander at Gilberto Simoni\'s new ride:\r\nScott built the black and pink frame for the Giro double champion to use in this edition of the Italian national tour. The bike features a drawing of the Tower of Pisa in the seat tube, the rider\'s name and date of birth in the top tube, and the Giro 2006 route in the seat stay. In addition, the frame has a sort of \"precious stone\" effect in its main triangle. Of course, it also bears Simoni\'s human right, \"Liberi ed uguali\" (Free and equal). '),(838,27,'2006-05-08 14:46:59','Gap coming down','The peloton appears unwilling to let these four escapees gain anything more than a few minutes, today. They peaked out at 4:30 or so and the gap has steadily come down. It\'s unlikely we\'ll see today\'s winner emerge from this group.'),(839,27,'2006-05-08 14:52:00','CONTEST!!!','It\'s time for our DAILY STAGE CONTEST, folks. \r\n\r\nSend an e-mail to \r\nRosters@InsideInc.com with your best guess as to will win today\'s stage. We\'ll make a random\r\npick from the correct entries and we\'ll send you a copy of Dino Buzzati\'s classic The\r\nGiro d Italia: Coppi vs. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy.
It\'s a classic and well worth a read. World War II may have ended four years earlier, but apparently no one told Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali by the time the Giro returned to Italian soil. Dino Buzzati recorded the epic battle between the cycling greats as the peloton traveled through a nation in recovery. A benchmark for both cycling history and journalism, The Giro d\'Italia is required reading for any cycling fan. Complete with maps, illustrations, and an introduction by VeloNews editorial director John Wilcockson. Paperback. 208 pp. Black-and-white photos.'),(840,27,'2006-05-08 14:57:01','Gap holding steady','Our four leaders are at the 105km mark and are holding an advantage of 3:50. The peloton seems content to let the leash out about that far and will pull these boys back as the finish line approaches. Of course, we\'re just sitting here watching. Maybe these guys will pull it off.'),(855,27,'2006-05-08 16:19:59','Illiano back on','Illiano is back on with the lead group, but he\'s probably just joining up with a futile effort at this point. With 46km remaining, the gap is down to 1:11.'),(842,27,'2006-05-08 15:12:00','Weather','As you can see from today\'s photos (by Jason Sumner) the day was cloudy, but the weather has turned to crap and the roads at the finish are wet and slippery.'),(843,27,'2006-05-08 15:03:00','Fall','We\'ve had a crash in the field, involving Nick Gates (Davitamon) and William Bonnet (Credit Agricole).'),(844,27,'2006-05-08 15:22:24','The four are holding steady','The leaders are maintaining their advantage at around 3:30.\r\n\r\nThe rain continues to fall at the finish line. One thing to worry about today is the condition of roads on the climbs, particularly, those stretches of cobbles the riders will be crossing.'),(845,27,'2006-05-08 15:27:00','Contest reminder','Send an e-mail to \r\nRosters@InsideInc.com with your best guess as to will win today\'s stage. We\'ll make a random\r\npick from tyhe correct entries and we\'ll send you a copy of Dino Buzzati\'s classic The\r\nGiro d Italia: Coppi vs. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy. '),(846,27,'2006-05-08 15:36:00','Gap steady','Man, this is clearly an example of a peloton ruled by radios. The four men off the front are holding steady at 3:30. The electronic leash has reached its limit and that\'s it, fellas. \r\n\r\nThey are at 122km. We\'ve seen a few minor falls in the peloton. No reports of major race-stopping injuries, though.\r\n\r\nThe rain is picking up at the finish.'),(847,27,'2006-05-08 15:41:00','With 75km to go','Our four leaders have an advantage of 3:48.\r\n\r\nAny bets on these guys\' chances of success?'),(848,27,'2006-05-08 15:50:00','Spotty reports','By the way, we\'re a bit short on detail, since there are no live images being sent into the press room today. The Belgian military has put the kabosh the relay plane sending signals from the moto\', since the signal apparently interferes with military communications... and that expected invasion from Luxembourg could happen any time, we guess. Kinda strange we know, but that\'s the way it is, today. We\'ll be getting phone reports from the road, from our guys... assuming their cell phones don\'t muddle up the army\'s commincations system.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile it\'s raining like all get out at the finish.'),(849,27,'2006-05-08 15:55:24','A negotiated settlement?','We have images. Maybe the Army agreed to a deal with the Giro. \r\n\r\nAnyway, it\'s raining on the peloton. The four leaders are maintaining their gap of around 3:45. Not much is changing out there, but the roads are wet and that could make for some dicey riding as the race heads to Huy.'),(850,27,'2006-05-08 16:01:16','In the town of Andenne','The leaders have come through the sprint mark at 132km. The gap is holding at 3:43.'),(851,27,'2006-05-08 16:02:12','Ouch!','Aranburu has hit the deck.'),(852,27,'2006-05-08 16:03:29','Wet roads are dicey','Markel Irizar Aranburu (Euskaltel), one of the four escapees crashed as the quartet came through a roundabout. His wheels skidded out from underneath him. He\'s up and back with the leaders.'),(853,27,'2006-05-08 16:14:00','Reeling them in...','With 50km to go, the peloton is picking up its pace and the gap is coming down fast. The leaders crested the day\'s second KOM with an advantage of just 1:18. They dropped Raffaele Illiano (Selle Italia) in the process. He trails by about 30 seconds.'),(854,27,'2006-05-08 16:18:08','Di Luca flats','Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) has flatted. He\'ll catch back on, no doubt, but the effort will be bigger now that the pace has picked up.'),(856,27,'2006-05-08 16:22:31','Petacchi has crashed!','There were a number of riders who crashed on wet roads. He slipped on a white line as the peloton reached the base of the descent. With 43km remaining, he\'s up and chasing, but he didn\'t look happy.'),(857,27,'2006-05-08 16:25:30','Milram has sent the full crew back','Petacchi has several teammates back with him and they\'re helping their sprint star chase back on. This was not a course that necessarily favored his talents anyway, but this sure knocked the wind out of his sails today.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile the disruption has allowed the escapees to re-up their advantage to 1:45'),(858,27,'2006-05-08 16:28:00','Gruppo Petacchi still chasing','Petacchi has lots of company and they\'re chasing hard to get back on.
With 42km remaining the four leaders are just 1:38 ahead of the field.
Quick Step has moved to the front of the peloton, with Paolo Bettini riding in the catbird seat. '),(859,27,'2006-05-08 16:32:07','Petacchi still chasing','Milram doesn\'t stand much of a chance of being a factor today. The team\'s big goal has to be just to get their man back in the field and hope that he didn\'t get too buggered up in that crash.\r\n\r\nBy the way, Liquigas\'s Di Luca made a quick recovery from that flat.'),(860,27,'2006-05-08 16:33:00','The rain is easing up a bit.','The roads are still wet, but the rain is easing up just a bit.\r\n\r\nWith 40km to go, the leaders are at 1:35.\r\n\r\nPetacchi and crew have reached the back of the caravan.'),(861,27,'2006-05-08 16:38:00','Quick Step setting tempo','With 38 to go, Quick Step is at the front and the peloton is 1:12 behind the four leaders. The four men up front are working well together, but they\'re chances are minimal at this point.'),(862,27,'2006-05-08 16:41:15','Petacchi is in the field','... but he\'s not looking all too lively. If we were betting men - and we\'re not - we\'d wager that Petacchi just settle in for the ride to the finish.'),(863,27,'2006-05-08 16:43:00','Shrinking gap','The four leaders are 35km from the finish and the gap is at 1:20. We\'ll get a better time check when the peloton crosses beneath the banner.'),(864,27,'2006-05-08 16:44:00','Narrowing','At the 35km banner, the gap was 1:17'),(865,27,'2006-05-08 16:49:44','Petacchi','It could be that Petacchi has hurt his knee a bit. He\'s sure rubbing it.\r\n\r\nThe gap, meanwhile, is at 1:21, with 32km remaining.'),(866,27,'2006-05-08 16:55:41','Petacchi is seeking medical help','Alessandro Petacchi has called for the doctor\'s car. We almost thought he was going to pull out... but he\'s stopped for treatment and he\'s continuing.'),(867,27,'2006-05-08 16:56:46','With 26km remaining','The leaders are just a minute ahead of the main field. These guys have been out there almost all day.'),(868,27,'2006-05-08 16:58:25','Our four leaders','These guys are not giving up and with 25km remaining, they are holding on to a lead of 1:04.'),(869,27,'2006-05-08 17:00:19','Contest reminder','We will cut off entries at the 10km-to-go mark, so you still have a chance. Send an e-mail to \r\nRosters@InsideInc.com with your best guess as to will win today\'s stage. We\'ll make a random\r\npick from tyhe correct entries and we\'ll send you a copy of Dino Buzzati\'s classic The\r\nGiro d Italia: Coppi vs. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy. '),(870,27,'2006-05-08 17:00:59','Under one minute','The four leaders\' advantage is now down to 53 seconds with 23.5km to go.'),(871,27,'2006-05-08 17:02:41','Petacchi is still in there.','He\'s well off the back of the peloton, but he just wants to finish today. He looks quite annoyed.'),(872,27,'2006-05-08 17:04:17','Coming down fast','The four leaders are now just 30 seconds ahead of the field. These are relatively wide and flat roads. The peloton can see these guys.'),(873,27,'2006-05-08 17:05:32','Petacchi','The Milram leader is back with four teammates and they are all about 2:15 behind the main field.'),(874,27,'2006-05-08 17:06:44','The gap is shrinking','The leaders are looking over their shoulders and they can see the inevitable.\r\n\r\nThey\'re sitting up... and you know what that means:
'),(875,27,'2006-05-08 17:09:33','With 18km remaining','The Quick Step, Liquigas and Davitamon teams are at the front.'),(876,27,'2006-05-08 17:13:30','Speed is coming up','The rain is falling hard again, but the big teams have ramped things up to about 55- 60kph.'),(877,27,'2006-05-08 17:18:18','CSC moving up','The CSC boys have moved up to the front. They\'re just looking to keep their GC man, Ivan Basso, out of trouble on these wet and nasty roads.'),(878,27,'2006-05-08 17:20:27','10km to go','CSC is still driving hard at the front. The roads are wet and the peloton is stretched out in single file.'),(879,27,'2006-05-08 17:21:21','Okay... lot\'s of entries','We\'ve reached the 10km cut-off, so no more contest entries, folks.'),(880,27,'2006-05-08 17:22:47','Jens Voigt driving','The CSC team is still in command of things as the peloton drives down the road at 55kph.'),(881,27,'2006-05-08 17:25:21','In Namur','The peloton is flying into town and coursing through the streets of Namur. The roads are wet and there\'s lots of that slippery white paint all over the roads.\r\n\r\nAhead, there is a tough little 2km climb near the finish. Again, CSC is probably not worried about a stage win... they are just trying to keep Basso out of trouble.'),(882,27,'2006-05-08 17:25:34','four km to go',''),(883,27,'2006-05-08 17:26:19','T-Mobile\'s Kessler has crashed','CSC is playing its cards right... There are crashes out in the field.'),(884,27,'2006-05-08 17:26:53','Bettini launches','Paolo Bettini is making a jump....'),(885,27,'2006-05-08 17:27:51','He\'s caught','As the CSC-driven peloton heads on to the finishing climb to the Citadel of Namur.'),(886,27,'2006-05-08 17:28:48','Two kilometers to go','They are on the climb. There have been been big splits in the field.... several attacks on the climb.'),(887,27,'2006-05-08 17:29:58','Discovery\'s Rubiera is off the front','CheChu is flying off the front with 1.5km to go. It\'s wet and he\'s grinning'),(888,27,'2006-05-08 17:30:42','Rubiera','Schumacher is chasing hard as Rubiera is on the last kilometer.'),(889,27,'2006-05-08 17:31:13','Schumacher catches on.','They have just a small gap with 700 meters to go'),(890,27,'2006-05-08 17:31:50','Schumacher and Rubiera hold them off',''),(891,27,'2006-05-08 17:33:00','Schumacher is the better sprinter','Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) easily beats Rubiera to the line.... \r\n\r\nand Schumacher\'s teammate, Davide Rebellin, takes third.'),(894,29,'2006-05-09 13:59:00','Good day','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fourth stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia, a 193km race from Wanze to Hotton.
This course traverses the Ardennes and includes two Liège-Bastogne-Liège climbs, the Côte de Wanne and Haute-Levée. But the climbs come before the day\'s half-way mark and the rolling roads over the final 80km favor a regrouping and a probable mass sprint.
Of course under ordinary circumstances, this might have been another big fight between the great Italian sprinter and Stage 2 winner Robbie McEwen, but Petacchi suffered a knee injury in a crash yesterday and he didn\'t start today.
That doesn\'t mean McEwen has a straight shot to the finish - for one thing he can\'t poach a ride on the Milram train this time - but he\'s got to be one of the favorites for a win today.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n'),(895,29,'2006-05-09 14:16:05','Break of Five','Today\'s stage began just after 12:00 and we saw our first two riders exit from the race. In addition to Petacchi, who suffered a fractured patella, Davitamon\'s Christophe Brandt pulled out, suffering from crash-related injuries as well.
Currently on the road, we have FDJ\'s Sandy Casar, Patrick Calcagni (Liquigas), Jurgen van de Walle (Quick Step), Grisha Nierman (Rabobank) and Allesandro Bertolini (Selle Italia) up the road after they left the main field at km 11.'),(896,29,'2006-05-09 14:24:50','Time for a contest','Well folks, we\'re seeing the traditional early break and, in this day of\r\nradios and GPS, another catch before the finish? You make the call\r\nand tell us who you think will win today\'s stage. Send your best guess\r\n(just one) to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand do it before the 10km to go mark and we\'ll pick one winner from among\r\nthe correct entries and send them a copy of\r\n
Landscapes\r\nof Cycling By Graham Watson\r\n'),(897,29,'2006-05-09 14:29:21','And now for something completely different:','Now ordinarilly we don\'t send folks waltzing off to other websites, but\r\nwe have to let you see this one. A friend of ours sent this in and\r\nit serves to remind you of just how nutty some of these gravity guys are.\r\nTake\r\na look at this. Watch, cringe, learn and then talk amongst yourselves.'),(898,29,'2006-05-09 14:26:00','Over the Cote de Wanne','Our five leaders have crested the day\'s first KOM mark and look to have an advantage of just around 6:30. We\'ll get a cleaner time check when the peloton comes through.'),(899,29,'2006-05-09 14:35:59','Time check','The peloton hits the Cote de Wanne at 6:11. With a largely flat course after the next climb and a downhill shot to the finish, we\'d have to put our money on these guys getting caught before the end... but you never know.'),(900,29,'2006-05-09 14:41:54','Up and over La Haute Levee','The five leaders are over the day\'s second and final KOM. They\'re heading toward the day\'s Intergiro sprint, which this year has been re-named the Gazetta 110, in commemoration of the sponsoring newspaper\'s 110th anniversary.'),(901,29,'2006-05-09 14:46:00','Time check','The peloton reaches the top of the climb at 6:20, while the leaders are passing through the sprint mark. Casar takes those points (and the 1000 Euros), with Calcagni second and Van de Walle taking third.'),(902,29,'2006-05-09 14:52:29','Time check','The peloton has these guys figured out. With teams like Quick Step, Gerolsteiner and, of course, Robbie McEwen\'s Davitamon squad monitoring things, the break has been allowed its 6 minutes and that\'s about it. The gap is now at 6:15'),(903,29,'2006-05-09 15:05:43','Gap is holding steady','Our five leaders are still holding at around 6:00 at km 123'),(904,29,'2006-05-09 15:11:00','Armstrong here today','Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is at the Giro today.\r\nHe\'s been giving a few interviews and chatting with friends.\r\n
For the first time in his 27-year career, premier cycling photographer\r\nGraham Watson shares his unprecedented collection of landscapes from around\r\nthe globe in Landscapes of Cycling. Combining Watson’s passionate coverage\r\nof professional bicycle racing with his mastery of natural-light photography,\r\nLandscapes of Cycling is a visual feast for cycling enthusiasts and photography\r\nlovers alike. Bicycle racing is a fascinating, grueling, fast-paced, and\r\ncolorful sport. Professional races take place in a spectacular locations\r\nall over the world-alongside sun-drenched fields, on twisted roadways overlooking\r\nthe strikingly blue Mediterranean Sea, over snowy mountain passes, and\r\ndown the ancient cobblestone streets of Belgian villages. Organized by\r\nseason, Landscapes of Cycling features never-before-published panoramic\r\nphotographs and a generous sampling of Graham Watson’s most famous scenic\r\nshots. With captions and commentary from the master himself, this landmark\r\nwork belongs on the shelves of racing fans and photographers everywhere.\r\nHardcover with dustjacket. 240 pp. 11\" x 11\". Over 150 color photographs,\r\nprinted on glossy paper.
Armstrong says he\'s enjoying retirement although, \"I miss the training\r\nmore than anything... but not the racing. I\'ve no regrets.\"\r\n
\"To be honest, I haven\'t been following cycling much. I care about how\r\nthe Discovery Channel team are doing but that\'s about it.â€\r\n
\"Being a father takes up most of my time and outside of that, the issues\r\nin and around cancer are the most important thing I work on daily.â€\r\n
\"I do other business stuff on the side and I\'m also trying to train\r\nfor the New York marathon but that\'s hard because it\'s a whole different\r\nset of muscles and so I\'m always tired and sore.\"\r\n
Interestingly, Armstrong said he plans to come to France later in the\r\nyear, despite his declaration last year that he would never come back,\r\nafter the controversial L\'Equipe story about positive drug tests\r\nin the 99 Tour.\r\n
\"I\'m going to go to the final week of the Tour de France. I like France\r\nand I like the people.â€\r\n
\"I don\'t want to have a coffee with (race director) Jean Marie Leblanc\r\nor anyone from L\'Equipe, but they\'re a small part of the French\r\npopulation.\"\r\n
Armstrong said he is not sure who is favored for the 06 Tour. \"I originally\r\npicked Ullrich to win the Tour de France but he seems to be behind again.â€\r\n
\"If he\'s only five kilograms overweight that\'s pretty good for him but\r\nI don\'t understand him, he\'s so much to gain.â€\r\n
\"I don\'t know if he loves the bike or not but he could be the biggest\r\nsporting star in Germany.\"'),(905,29,'2006-05-09 15:15:28','Gap under six minutes','Our five leaders are at KM 131, and their advantage is now starting to come down a bit. The peloton is picking up the pace and in single-file.'),(906,29,'2006-05-09 15:20:26','Gerolsteiner driving the chase','The Gerolsteiner team of race leader Stefan Schumacher is taking up chase duties. The pace is quite high and the peloton is strung out in single file.'),(907,29,'2006-05-09 15:24:48','Gerolsteiner getting help','With the gap still hovering around six minutes, the Lotto has moved up to lend a hand with the chase. '),(908,29,'2006-05-09 15:28:00','Gap at 4:31','The pace is steady in the peloton and the gap is slowly being cut down.'),(909,29,'2006-05-09 15:32:57','Pace is faster today','With improved weather and dry roads, today\'s pace is at a brisk 45kph. Unfortunately for the fellas in the break, the peloton\'s pace is quite a bit higher than theirs right now. The gap is now 4:15.'),(910,29,'2006-05-09 15:38:27','With the gap holding at 4:30...','Davitamon is moving a couple additional riders up there, with 50km to go.'),(911,29,'2006-05-09 15:41:35','3:45','With more horsepower at the front of the peloton, the gap is coming down quickly. With 45km to go, the gap is 3:28.'),(912,29,'2006-05-09 15:44:53','Take a look at the Finishing stretch.','Our man Jason Sumner has posted a few shots from the finish. Take a look at that long straightaway.'),(913,29,'2006-05-09 15:49:14','Contest Reminder','Just a reminder, folks, that you have until the 10km-to-go mark to send your best guess (just one) of who will take today\'s stage to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand do it before the 10km to go mark and we\'ll pick one winner from among the correct entries and send them a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling By Graham Watson'),(914,29,'2006-05-09 15:51:35','40km to go','It looks like the fellas up front are aware of the fact that the peloton is driving hard and the gap is coming down.'),(915,29,'2006-05-09 15:53:35','Peloton reaches 40km to go','... and the gap is right at 2:35'),(916,29,'2006-05-09 15:59:53','Nice cooperation','Up front, the five leaders are working very nicely together, but the level of cooperation in the peloton is quite high, too. The gap, with 35km to go, is at 2:15'),(917,29,'2006-05-09 16:01:57','Latest time check','The peloton crosses the 35km to go mark at 1:40'),(918,29,'2006-05-09 16:06:26','Four hours of racing','And the pace has averaged 40.387kph since the start.'),(919,29,'2006-05-09 16:08:14','With 30km to go','The gap is down to 1:18 as the leaders pass the 30km to go mark.'),(920,29,'2006-05-09 16:09:09','The peloton crosses 30km to go at 1:17',''),(921,29,'2006-05-09 16:12:20','With 26km to go','The gap is down to around 1:00. Davitamon is moving up to the front of the field as the course winds its way through forested roads toward the finish in Hotton.'),(922,29,'2006-05-09 16:18:35','The Saunier Duval team','is moving up front, largely to protect Gilberto Simoni. With 22km remaining, the gap is 59 seconds. They\'re letting these guys hang off the front until there\'s reason to worry.'),(923,29,'2006-05-09 16:20:08','20km to go for the leaders','and we\'ll get a clean time check when the peloton comes through.'),(924,29,'2006-05-09 16:20:57','The peloton is at 44 seconds','With 20km to go, the peloton is closing down the gap.'),(925,29,'2006-05-09 16:22:44','The pace is picking up','CSC is moving up to keep Ivan Basso out of trouble like they did yesterday. The pace is right at 53kph.'),(926,29,'2006-05-09 16:24:50','Ullrich taking a pull','Here\'s a guy we haven\'t seen up front before. Jan Ullrich is up front, working as a good T-Mobile domestique. The gap is down to 31 seconds.'),(927,29,'2006-05-09 16:25:55','Bad sign...','The leaders are at 15km to go... and they\'re glancing over their shoulders.'),(928,29,'2006-05-09 16:26:12','Ooooo, just 14 seconds.',''),(929,29,'2006-05-09 16:26:50','The peloton is coming up fast',''),(930,29,'2006-05-09 16:28:14','Less than 100 meters...','The peloton - with T-Mobile at the front - and the game is up for the escapees
'),(931,29,'2006-05-09 16:30:39','T-Mobile is driving hard at the front','Olaf Pollack is their guy for the sprint. Of course, with a finishing train like the T-Mobiles are setting up, little Robbie McEwen has a prime opportunity to grab a ride.'),(932,29,'2006-05-09 16:33:54','8.5km to go.','T-Mobile is still pushing the pace as Milram (sans Petacchi, of course) are moving up, too. They\'ve got a lot of horsepower on that team and the Milram squad has a good chance of putting someone into the mix.'),(933,29,'2006-05-09 16:35:36','7km to go','Milram, T-Mobile and Quick Step are up front. Robbie McEwen has plenty of good wheels to grab on to.'),(934,29,'2006-05-09 16:37:59','With five km to go','The pace is high and we\'re seeing a few attacks. CSC\'s Jens Voigt is taking a flyer off the front.'),(935,29,'2006-05-09 16:38:47','Voigt is still up front','But these roads are straight and wide... not much of an environment for a solo flyer.'),(936,29,'2006-05-09 16:39:01','Caught','Voigt is caught'),(937,29,'2006-05-09 16:39:51','With 3.5km to go','The T-Mobile and Milram teams are up there.'),(938,29,'2006-05-09 16:41:31','Another attack','Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis) is trying an attack. This won\'t last'),(939,29,'2006-05-09 16:41:37','Caught',''),(940,29,'2006-05-09 16:42:01','With 1.5 km to go','Milram is still driving'),(941,29,'2006-05-09 16:42:11','1km to go.',''),(942,29,'2006-05-09 16:42:56','It\'s a big bunch charging to the line','T-Mobile gets a great lead out. McEwen is in there....'),(943,29,'2006-05-09 16:43:39','Pollack flyin!','... but, NO!, guess who pops out of the crowd. Robbie McEwen wins it at the line.'),(944,30,'2006-05-11 14:09:28','','Good day and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fifth stage of the Giro d\' Italia, a 38km team time trial from Piacenza to Cremona. It\'s a flat, even slightly downhill course, so we may see some fast times today.
This is the first TTT at the Giro in 17 years. The team time trial is a beautiful event and teams have to exercise extreme caution while red-lining their effort. At 38km, you won\'t necessarily win the Giro on a day like this, but things can go wrong and you can certainly lose a grand tour here. For proof of that, take a look at John Wilcockson\'s preview in which he recalls the disastrous day 17 years ago when defending champion Andy Hampsten and his 7-Eleven team lost around two minutes on an even shorter route.\r\n\r\n'),(945,30,'2006-05-11 14:20:58','Team Time Trial - Starting Order','With a short stage like today\'s the usual starting time is pushed back, even with five-minute gaps between starts.
Team Time Trial - Starting Order\r\n1. Selle Italia-Diquigiovanni, 2:45 P.M.\r\n
2. Bouygues Telecom, 2:50 P.M.\r\n
3. Euskaltel-Euskadi, 2:55 P.M.\r\n
4. Ceramica Panaria-Navigar, 3:00 P.M.\r\n
5. Ag2r Prevoyance, 3:05 P.M.\r\n
6. Cofidis, 3:10 P.M.\r\n
7. Team Milram, 3:15 P.M.\r\n
8. Davitamon - Lotto, 3:20 P.M.\r\n
9. Liberty Seguros-Wurth, 3:25 P.M.\r\n
10. Saunier Duval - Prodir, 3:30 P.M.\r\n
11. Rabobank, 3:35 P.M.\r\n
12. Credit Agricole, 3:40 P.M.\r\n
13. Phonak Hearing System, 3:45 P.M.\r\n
14. Quickstep - Innergetic, 3:50 P.M.\r\n
15. Francaise Des Jeux, 3:55 P.M.\r\n
16. Liquigas, 4:00 P.M.\r\n
17. Lampre-Fondital, 4:05 P.M.\r\n
18. CSC, 4:10 P.M.\r\n
19. T-Mobile, 4:15 P.M.\r\n
20. Caisse D\'epargne-Ill. Balears, 4:20 P.M.\r\n
21. Discovery Channel, 4:25 P.M.\r\n
22. Gerolsteiner, 4:30 P.M.\r\n
'),(946,30,'2006-05-11 14:48:00','Our Daily Contest','That\'s right folks, it\'s time for another one of our daily contests. Since we\'re dealing with a team time trial, you need to send both the name of the winning team and your best guess of their winning time to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to put your guess in the subject line so we can quickly sort through the many entries we receive. Again, put both the name of the winning team and the winning time in the subject line and send it to Rosters@InsideInc.com. The winner will receive a 1920s\r\nItalian National Champion Poster from The Horton Collection, commemorating the championship of the first of the great Italian \"Campanissimo,\" Constante Girardengo, who was Italy\'s dominant road rider from 1913 through the 1920s. He was the Italian National champion an unprecedented nine times, including seven years in a row. Reproduced from the original in The Horton Collection. 24\"x36\" Printed on heavy poster stock. Suitable for framing.\r\n'),(947,30,'2006-05-11 14:54:00','First two teams on the road','The Selle Italia and Bouygues Telecom teams are on the road. We will try to keep those updated, but sometimes these early teams aren\'t much of a factor and reports tend to be spotty.'),(952,30,'2006-05-11 15:29:55','Bouygues Telecom','Bouygues Telecom finishes with just five riders, but gets a 38:19.'),(948,30,'2006-05-11 15:08:55','The big teams start last','Just a reminder that time trials - both team and individual - start in reverse order of standings. It will be a while before we see the biggies - CSC, Discovery and T-Mobile - out there.
It should be interesting to see how Jan Ullrich and Michael Rogers ride in this event for T-Mobile. May is the traditional point in the cycling season when racers, reporters and spectators bemoan Ullrich\'s lack of condition, his weight and his lack of motivation... something we see change by July. Certainly using the Giro d\'Italia to ride into shape is an approach he\'s used in the past with some success.'),(949,30,'2006-05-11 15:14:00','Today\'s weather','Conditions are almost perfect for a team time trial today. The roads are dry and sky is just partly cloudy with temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s. Winds have been very light and variable'),(950,30,'2006-05-11 15:23:26','Davtamon-Lotto is on the road','The Belgian-sponsored team is powering down the road, although they are one rider short, since Christophe Brandt was knocked out of the race on Tuesday when he was hit by a police motorcycle.'),(951,30,'2006-05-11 15:25:03','Course change...','Organizers have changed the route of today\'s TTT, actually shortening the course to 35km. It was a last minute change to accomodate construction.\r\n\r\nThe Selle Italia team has finished with a time of 38:33.'),(953,30,'2006-05-11 15:32:07','Saunier Duval','is on the road, meaning that young American Aaron Olson is taking part in his first grand tour team time trial.'),(954,30,'2006-05-11 15:36:30','Euskaltel-Euskadi','The orange squad from the Basque country finish in 38:52.\r\n\r\nYes, yes... because the course has been shortened, those of you who submitted guesses before we noted that will be allowed to resubmit your guesses for our daily contest.'),(955,30,'2006-05-11 15:39:36','Giro TTT rules','We\'ve received several questions about the Giro rules as they apply to the TTT. As you know, the Tour de France has recently established a system of limiting a team\'s losses in the TTT. The Giro, hosting it\'s first team time trial in 17 years, has no such protective caveat. Results are timed off of the time of the team\'s fifth rider and times, no matter what they are, apply to the group. Period. No ifs, ands or buts.'),(956,30,'2006-05-11 15:41:00','Ceramica Panaria is in third','The Panaria team finishes in 38:37'),(957,30,'2006-05-11 15:44:00','New Best Time: Ag2R Prevoyance','The French team finishes the 35km with a time of 38:18'),(958,30,'2006-05-11 15:46:25','Phonak on the road',''),(959,30,'2006-05-11 15:49:00','Cofidis in','The French Cofidis team has finished with a time of 38:30, the third best, so far.'),(960,30,'2006-05-11 15:53:00','New Poll','Folks, we\'ve received a few letters mentioning WADA\'s pending discussions regarding the use of altitude tents, chambers or masks. That\'s been a long discussion in sports - Live Update Guy and tech writer Lennard Zinn had a debate on the pages of VeloNews a few years back. L.U.G. thinks it borders on cheating, Mr. Zinn does not.
Right now, we\'re asking you. Go to the front page and put in your vote.'),(961,30,'2006-05-11 15:54:38','Milram finishes','The Italio-German squad finishes in 38:09'),(962,30,'2006-05-11 15:59:23','New top time','Davitamon Lotto finishes with all eight riders with a time of 38:04'),(963,30,'2006-05-11 16:05:39','Liberty-Seguros','The Spanish squad - heir to the ONCE legacy - finishes in 38:21. Not that great.\r\n\r\nBy the way, on distance change: Word is that there was a section of bad asphalt and they had to get rid of it. There is some talk that the orginizers might add those 3km to the ITT on stage 11.'),(964,30,'2006-05-11 16:06:19','Cunego\'s Lampre Squad is on the road',''),(965,30,'2006-05-11 16:10:27','Simoni\'s Saunier Duval team','Finishes with a time of 38:22, the sixth best time of the day. Not great for a guy who wants to take his third Giro title. He doesn\'t look too happy.'),(966,30,'2006-05-11 16:11:18','The Big Guns','CSC is on the road.'),(967,30,'2006-05-11 16:14:40','Rabobank comes in','The Rabobank squad has finished with 38:13, the third fastest time.'),(968,30,'2006-05-11 16:17:09','Altitude tents','Just a reminder to vote in today\'s poll. We\'re asking whether WADA\'s governing board should vote up or down on a proposal to ban altitude tents. From the looks of it, the majority disagree with the position staked out by our Live Update Guy... but that\'s no biggie. He\'s a Democrat from Wyoming. He\'s used to being a member of a tiny minority.'),(969,30,'2006-05-11 16:19:22','Credit Agricole finishes','The French team, Credit Agricole sets a new top time of 38:03.'),(970,30,'2006-05-11 16:21:22','T-Mobile is on the road','We\'ll keep track of these guys. T-Mobile has to be one of the favorites today.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, Phonak is on track to be the first team to break the 38:00 mark.'),(971,30,'2006-05-11 16:22:40','CSC looking strong','The CSC squad sets a new top mark at Checkpoint 1'),(972,30,'2006-05-11 16:24:59','Phonak in','And the Swiss team has set a new high mark of 38:00 even. Well, we thought the Phonaks would break the 38-minute mark. They were right on the line.'),(973,30,'2006-05-11 16:27:00','Liquigas is looking strong','The Liquigas is cooking along at a nice pace... it could be the first team to break 38.'),(974,30,'2006-05-11 16:29:34','Quick Step breaks 38-minute mark','by one second, but they do it.'),(975,30,'2006-05-11 16:31:36','CSC is blazing along, setting top times','The CSC squad is looking great. They came through checkpoint No. 2 20 seconds faster than Liquigas, which had set the top mark.'),(976,30,'2006-05-11 16:34:20','FDJ at the finish','With Brad McGee driving the team into the finish, Francaise des Jeux finishes with a time of 37:56.'),(977,30,'2006-05-11 16:36:25','CSC wins one contest at least','They sure look fast... and they win our coolest helmet of the day contest. These days, TT helmets can look pretty goofy, and CSC\'s manage to look way slick.'),(978,30,'2006-05-11 16:37:35','Liquigas heading to the finish','The Liquigas team is heading toward the finish and they are looking strong.'),(979,30,'2006-05-11 16:38:55','Liquigas sets a new standard','The Liquigas team of Danilo Di Luca sets a new top mark of 37:38'),(980,30,'2006-05-11 16:42:08','Discovery third best at Check point No. 1','Discovery - with Lance Armstrong in the car behind them - cross more than 30 seconds behind the time of CSC at the first checkpoint. The tend to ramp it up later on the course, but that\'s a lot of time.'),(981,30,'2006-05-11 16:45:00','Lampre in','With the fourth-best time, 22 seconds off of Liquigas\'s pace'),(982,30,'2006-05-11 16:47:25','CSC is flying toward the finish','The CSC team looks to be on pace to setting a new best time.'),(983,30,'2006-05-11 16:48:24','CSC sets the mark','The CSC team blows \'em away! 36:56!'),(984,30,'2006-05-11 16:52:47','Not good','Discovery is 37 seconds down on CSC at checkpoint No. 3.\r\n\r\nWe have photos posted, by the way, take a look.'),(985,30,'2006-05-11 16:55:00','T-Mobile is second','The T-Mobiles came apart in the final stretch as the team finished with four riders with Kessler chasing like a mad man to stay in touch with the lead four. They finished two seconds ahead of Kessler\'s time - the one that counts - 36:57. The almost took it.'),(986,30,'2006-05-11 16:59:05','Discovery making up a little time','but the Discos are still about 25 seconds back.'),(987,30,'2006-05-11 16:59:58','Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears','Finish with a time of 38:10, 10th best'),(988,30,'2006-05-11 17:02:36','Looks like Hnchar will be in the jersey','Gerolsteiner is not on pace to defend Schumacher\'s hold on the maglia rosa and T-Mobile\'s Sergei Honchar appears set to take over the lead.'),(989,30,'2006-05-11 17:04:44','Discovery finishes','The Discovery team finishes with a time of 37:35, only the third best of the day and Honchar vaults past Savoldelli to grab the jersey.'),(990,30,'2006-05-11 17:09:00','Gerolsteiner heading to the finish','... and Schumacher is out of the jersey for sure. It looks like Honchar will be in the overall lead tonight.
Unofficial Results
1. CSC- 36:56
2. T-Mobile - 36:57
3. Discovery - 37:35
4. Liquigas - 37:38
5. Francaise des Jeux - 37:56'),(991,31,'2006-05-12 14:02:00','Good day...','and welcome to Velonews.com\'s Live Coverage of the sixth stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia, a flat 227km along the Po Valley from Busseto to Forli.
This is another one made for the sprinters and with Milram\'s Alessandro Petacchi out of the picture, Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) has to be favored to grab his third stage win of the week. Still, this is a bike race and not a coronation (they\'re not just going to hand him this one), so McEwen has to get to the line first and there are a few guys hoping to derail his chances, including T-Mobile\'s Olaf Pollack, Milram\'s Mirco Lorenzetto, Selle Italia\'s Alberto Loddo and even Quick Step\'s Paolo Bettini. '),(992,31,'2006-05-12 14:14:25','','Today\'s stage got underway just before noon in Busseto. As is usually the case, we saw an early break develop as Sergei Matveyev (Panaria) Christophe Edaleine (Credit Agricole) and Andoni Aranga (Euskaltel) moved off the front at six kilometers.
The trio is now at 91km with an advantage of 6:20 over the field.'),(993,31,'2006-05-12 14:20:23','Today\'s contest','Well folks, it\'s time again to announce another in our daily contests.
Send your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to put your choice in the subject line, so we can quickly sort through the entries. We\'ll randomly one from all of the correct entries submitted and send the winner a copy of Dino Buzzati\'s classic The\r\nGiro d\'Italia: Coppi vs. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy.
Remember, only one entry per person.'),(994,31,'2006-05-12 14:29:10','Time gap','The three leaders have apparently hit the end of the peloton\'s leash. The gap has been holding at 6:00 to 6:30 for quite some time now and we\'re not expecting to see them gain too much more time than that today. The odds are quite good that the pick-off will come not too long after the 20km to go mark as Davitamon-Lotto and other teams work to pull these three back in time to set up a charge to the line in Forli. T-Mobile, for example, has double motivation to monitor this break closely, since not only is the German-based team protecting its hold on the maglia rosa it also has plans to set up Olaf Pollack for the sprint, today. We may see a repeat of the drive to the line the other day and spot Jan Ullrich taking a pull or two at the front again.'),(995,31,'2006-05-12 14:38:53','Gap already coming down','At 110km, the peloton has already narrowed the gap to just 5:05. '),(996,31,'2006-05-12 14:49:36','Lunch break','The leaders are coming up on today\'s feed-zone at Nonantola (116km). The gap is now at 5:15, but we should get a bit a solid take on things when the peloton, too, comes through the feed-zone.
By the way, if you haven\'t taken a look at today\'s EuroFile from Andy Hood, go ahead and do so. He has an update on Saul\r\nRaisin and his progress. Doctors say it will take up to a year before Raisin is fully recovered from the head injury he suffered this year. We\'re just glad he\'s still here with us and wish him the best.'),(997,31,'2006-05-12 14:54:54','Feed zone gap','We\'ve got a better time check at the feed zone and it puts the three leaders 5:25 ahead of the main field. With 110km to go, I wouldn\'t bet next month\'s rent on these guys\' chances for success.'),(998,31,'2006-05-12 14:57:39','Contest reminder','Looking at the entries today, it\'s interesting to see a lot of you are pegging Olaf Pollack for the win. We\'ll see how it goes.
Just a reminder to send your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to put your choice in the subject line, so we can quickly sort through the entries. We\'ll randomly one from all of the correct entries submitted and send the winner a copy of Dino Buzzati\'s classic The\r\nGiro d\'Italia: Coppi vs. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy.
Remember, only one entry per person.'),(999,31,'2006-05-12 15:10:00','Gap holding steady','The three leaders are closing in on 133km and the gap is still holding at 5:22.
T-Mobile is moving up to the front to lend a hand in a pretty moderate chase.
Today\'s route rolls through a number of very small towns just off the A1 and later the A14 Autostradas. The crowds were really big at the start, as they are throughout today\'s route... indeed, throughout the entire Giro thus far.'),(1000,31,'2006-05-12 15:14:43','There\'s Jan','Ullrich is up front with his teammates and helping out with the chase. The gap is now down to 4:50.'),(1001,31,'2006-05-12 15:21:10','Pace is picking up','It\'s still pretty moderate in the main field, but the pace is picking up with T-Mobile and Davitamon doing the bulk of the work.
By the way, take a minute to scroll down and take a look at Jason Sumner\'s photos from the start and on-route today. We\'ll be posting several over the next 10 minutes or so.'),(1002,31,'2006-05-12 15:26:00','T-Mobile\'s near miss','Jason Sumner had a chance to chat with T-Mobile\'s Michael Rogers, the reigning world TT champ. Regarding his team\'s near miss in the team time trial Thursday.
\"We had a really good ride. I don’t think we could have gone much quicker. We had a little bit of a muck up at the finish. The car said on the radio that there was only 5k left, but in the last couple hundred meters with all the people cheering, and the loud speaker, we couldn’t really hear. So Kessler didn’t know. He thought there was like 6 left and had more time to get back on. Plus he’d just done a big turn and probably couldn’t get on anyway. What can you do. That’s the way it is.\"
On the rising form of Jan Ullrich, Rogers says
\"He is going really strong. He is starting to go. He was really strong yesterday. I think everyone forgets that in the last 10 years, he’s probably one of the two or three riders that has always been on the podium at some point. You should never discount him.\"
Rogers says that the team\'s main goals at the Giro: Our No. 1 priority coming into the race was to have a good TTT. We did that. Sure we had three big TT names, I think five world titles there. But the team is only as strong as its weakest link.\"'),(1003,31,'2006-05-12 15:38:23','T-Mobile and Davitamon','The T-Mobile and Davitamon teams are doing the bulk of the chase duties and the gap is slowly coming down. With 67km remaining, the gap is now at 4:05.'),(1004,31,'2006-05-12 15:46:30','Ullrich looking good','Rogers\' comment that you can never write-off Jan Ullrich is underscored by the fact that the 1997 Tour winner is riding nicely today, doing his job as domestique for Honchar.
The leaders have 62km to go and the gap is at 3:55.'),(1005,31,'2006-05-12 16:02:00','With 52km remaining','The pace in the peloton remains a moderate 43kph, with T-Mobile and Davitamon sharing duty at the front. The gap is now down to 3:38. A catch, today, is nearly inevitable.'),(1006,31,'2006-05-12 16:04:57','Contest reminder','Just a reminder to send your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to put your choice in the subject line, so we can quickly sort through the entries. We\'ll randomly one from all of the correct entries submitted and send the winner a copy of Dino Buzzati\'s classic The\r\nGiro d\'Italia: Coppi vs. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy.
Remember, only one entry per person.'),(1007,31,'2006-05-12 16:07:34','With 48km remaining...','the pace is picking up. T-Mobile is doing the bulk of the chase work, as the Davitamon team is putting a few more riders up there. The target is to pull the three escapees back into the fold within 20km of the finish.'),(1008,31,'2006-05-12 16:15:27','3:05','With 45km to go, the three leaders are just 3:05 ahead of the peloton. T-Mobile is still doing the bulk of the work, but Davitamon has moved its entire squad up and Phonak is throwing a couple of its riders into the mix.'),(1009,31,'2006-05-12 16:24:31','Time check at the 40km to go mark','The peloton has reached 40km to go and the gap is just 2:19'),(1010,31,'2006-05-12 16:29:31','Leaders 35km to go','The leaders have just crossed under the 35km-to-go banner. Our latest time check puts them just 2:00 ahead of the main field.'),(1011,31,'2006-05-12 16:31:21','Peloton at 1:57','The peloton hits the 35-to-go banner 1:57 behind the leaders'),(1012,31,'2006-05-12 16:32:34','33km to go','The leaders are 33km from the finish and the gap is down to 1:50.'),(1013,31,'2006-05-12 16:37:49','Still a mix of T-Mobile and Davitamon','at the front of the peloton. CSC is moving up, too, although the team of Ivan Basso may be more interested in keeping their GC man out of trouble in the final haul to the line.\r\n\r\nWith 30km to go, the gap is just 1:17.'),(1014,31,'2006-05-12 16:41:23','Chase has eased','With the gap hovering at a minute or so.... the sprinters\' teams are hoing to leave these guys off the front for a bit.'),(1015,31,'2006-05-12 16:42:00','1:02','With 30km to go, the three men up front are 1:02 ahead of the field.'),(1016,31,'2006-05-12 16:43:21','52 seconds',''),(1017,31,'2006-05-12 16:45:00','','The three leaders are just 50 seconds ahead of the field and look resigned to their fate, since they can see the peloton coming down fast on these straight roads. They are pulling the team cars out of the gap, but Davitamon is pulling back, now thinking more about the finish than they are in chipping down the gap.'),(1018,31,'2006-05-12 16:47:00','43 seconds with 25km to go',''),(1019,31,'2006-05-12 16:50:00','With 23.5km to go','the gap is down to 31 seconds. The boys up front are looking over their shoulders and the peloton is coming up fast.'),(1020,31,'2006-05-12 16:52:44','Giving up','The three men off the fron are just a few meters ahead of the field and they\'re soft-pedaling. The end is near!
'),(1023,31,'2006-05-12 16:59:29','Liquigas moving up','Also interested in protecting their GC man, the Liquigas team is moving up front.'),(1024,31,'2006-05-12 17:02:27','Merckx flats','Phonak\'s Axel Merckx has a mechanical and pulls off to the side of the road.'),(1022,31,'2006-05-12 16:58:00','Milram, Ag2R up front','The leadout trains are moving up front. Up there, too, is the CSC squad. We\'re still betting that they\'re more interested in protecting Basso than they are in delivering Lombardi to the line.'),(1025,31,'2006-05-12 17:04:03','T-Mobile and Liquigas up front','As the peloton nears the final 10km, the pace is high as the T-Mobile and Liquigas teams are driving up front.
The peloton - now all together - is less than 10km from the finish, so you can no longer submit entries to our daily contest.'),(1026,31,'2006-05-12 17:09:29','Zoooom','The peloton is flying toward the finish. The field is all together with less than 6km to go.'),(1027,31,'2006-05-12 17:10:55','Five kilometers to go','There\'s lots of jockeying in the field as teams are fighting for position to set up their top sprinters. McEwen loves this stuff, because he\'ll use almost anyone else\'s leadout team to get to the finish.'),(1028,31,'2006-05-12 17:12:12','Lampre moving up','with four kilometers to go, the Lampre team is flying toward the finish... another GC team hoping to keep their top guy out of trouble?'),(1029,31,'2006-05-12 17:13:24','Three kilometers to go.','With a few turns at this point, the finish is mostly a straight shot to the line.'),(1030,31,'2006-05-12 17:14:00','Two-and-a-half k to go','Quick-Step, Milram and Discovery up front now'),(1031,31,'2006-05-12 17:14:14','Fast, fast, fast',''),(1032,31,'2006-05-12 17:14:26','Crash!!',''),(1033,31,'2006-05-12 17:14:55','Several riders in the mid-field have gone down',''),(1034,31,'2006-05-12 17:15:06','Up front the pace is still high',''),(1035,31,'2006-05-12 17:15:40','500 meters to go...','Hard charge'),(1036,31,'2006-05-12 17:16:00','Who else?!?!?','Robbie McEwen plays it perfectly and grabs the win at the line, edging out T-Mobile\'s Pollack, who with time bonuses may move into the leader\'s jersey. We\'ll try to get details on the crash.'),(1037,31,'2006-05-12 17:34:33','Thanks and check back soon for a full report',''),(1038,32,'2006-05-13 13:49:22','Good day...','...and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the seventh stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia.
The climbers finally get a chance to show their form on this, the longest stage of the race covering a circuitous route over 236km from Cesena to Saltara.
This course is similar to the very hilly stage that finished in Cesena two years ago, won by Emanuele Sella on his Giro debut. The dozen climbs include the 4790-foot Monte Catria, 98km from the finish, and, with 39km to go, the very steep Monte delle Cesane - which climbs 1700 feet in 7.8km with pitches as steep as 18 percent and has been dubbed the \"Little Mortirolo\" because of its similarities to the \"big\" Passo di Mortirolo that awaits the 2006 Giro on penultimate day of this tour. '),(1039,32,'2006-05-13 14:04:00','Situation on the road','Today\'s stage got off to an early start because of the distances involved, with the peloton rolling off at 10:50 this morning.
There were several early attacks, but the one that stuck came at 26km when Sylvain Calzati (AG2R) and Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis) got off the front to stay. By 73km, the two had built a seemingly formidable lead of 16:55, but they are now slowly being pulled back by the peloton.
At km 110, our two leaders are 12:43 ahead of the field, which has broken apart on some tough terrain. Of course, the day’s big climb – the Monte delle Cesane – is coming up, so we\'ll see what impact those 18-degree slopes have on the race as it crests at 39km to go.'),(1040,32,'2006-05-13 14:14:00','Through the feedzone','The leaders have passed through the feedzone and are heading toward the day\'s climb up the Monte Catria. Their advantage has been trimmed to 10:48. Meanwhile a big group of 30 riders has moved off the front and is now about one minute up the road from the race leader\'s group.
Included in that group are:
Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears)\r\n
Julio Perez Cuapio (Panaria)\r\n
Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis)\r\n
Evgeni Petrov (Lampre)\r\n
Francisco Vila (Lamre)\r\n
Juan Garate (Quick-Step)\r\n
Sergio Barbero (Selle Italia)\r\n
Nicki Sorensen (CSC)\r\n
Jorg Ludewig (T-Mobile)'),(1041,32,'2006-05-13 14:16:38','New time check','The two leaders are losing time fast. Our latest time check gives them an advantage of just 7:22.'),(1042,32,'2006-05-13 14:29:00','On the Monte Catria','The leaders are on the lower slopes of the Monte Catria. They have just 4:40 on the first chase group and 5:53 on the gruppo maglia rosa of Olaf Pollack.
By the way, we\'re also posting photos from our man on the scene, Jason Sumner, so scroll down and take a look when you get a chance.'),(1043,32,'2006-05-13 14:35:34','Today\'s contest','It\'s time for today\'s contest. Please send us your best guess as to who\r\nmight win today\'s stage and be sure to include the name of the winner\r\nin the subject line in the e-mail you send to Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nToday\'s winner will receive a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling by Graham Watson.'),(1044,32,'2006-05-13 14:39:06','Time checks','The two leaders are now just 3:00 ahead of the chase group. The maglia rosa group - with most of the overall contenders in the mix - is at 3:40. Pollack, the race leader, is having a tough time of things on the climb and it may be his only day in Pink. It\'s the Discovery team of Paolo Savoldelli driving the pace in that group.'),(1045,32,'2006-05-13 14:44:57','','Jason Sumner spent a bit of time at the start chatting with racers and directors before the stage.
Scott Sunderland – the director sportif of CSC:
\"It\'s going to be a difficult stage (today). But I don’t think it will do much to the GC. It\'s just going to be a tiring day. Tomorrow (Sunday) is going to be the first day that you see any evidence of what is to come, and it will only be an indication. Until now they haven\'t had to do much, but today is going to make the legs tired and soften them up a bit, and then tomorrow there will be some reaction from today. I think we still have to wait until after the Pontedera time trial (stage 11) for the real Giro to really start.\"'),(1046,32,'2006-05-13 14:48:07','Breaking up','On the climb, Sylvain Calzati (AG2R) has fallen back a bit and Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis) is off on his own, about 40 seconds ahead. Meanwhile the chase group that includes Perez and several others is about 2:00 minutes behind Calzati and the main group - driven by Discovery - is another 40 seconds back. '),(1047,32,'2006-05-13 14:50:38','Five km from the top',' Staf Scheirlinckx continues to plow ahead on his own. The pace behind is proving to be quite tough for race leader Olaf Pollack and he\'s slipped off of the main group.'),(1048,32,'2006-05-13 15:02:12','Scheirlinckx nearing the top','Staf Scheirlinckx is 2km from the top of the climb with about a minute on his former breakaway partner. Pollack has fallen off the pace and now trails the leader by 7:00. '),(1049,32,'2006-05-13 15:03:56','Patrick McCarty (Phonak) Pre-race comments:','\"I think it\'s going to be a really hard stage. When guys are talking about what gears to put on for the climbs, it makes it sound pretty tough. Apparently there is a dirt section and the stage is 250 not 230k, so who knows? Iccan\'t remember the last time I did a 7-hour race, maybe never. It’s going to be a long one. There’s so many questions. Who is going to control it we don’t know. We are pretty sure today something is going to happen, though.\"'),(1050,32,'2006-05-13 15:06:23','Jason McCartney (Discovery) pre-race comments:','\'We\'ve been told that there’s a dirt climb that’s 15k long. It’s definitely going to be the first day where we see who is a contender and who is a pretender. For us, it\'s just keep Tom and Paolo and Jose out of trouble, and go from there. There are saying it’s 20k longer than what the book says, 250 instead of 230. Then there\'s a 100k transfer after the race so it\'s going to be a long day.\"'),(1051,32,'2006-05-13 15:08:41','Scheirlinckx over the top...','.... and holding about a two-minute lead over a group of 12 chasers, who have swept up Calzati.'),(1052,32,'2006-05-13 15:10:17','The peloton crosses at 4:06','With the Discovery team driving the pace, the peloton has crested the Monte Catria. The gap between Sheilinckx and the chase group is at 2:51.'),(1053,32,'2006-05-13 15:12:55','Savoldelli at the front of the peloton','A fearless descender, il Falco is pushing the pace on the descent. He\'s clearly riding faster than Scheirlinckx on this narrow road.'),(1054,32,'2006-05-13 15:17:00','Phillipe Gilbert falls','Philippe Gilbert (FRANCAISE DES JEUX) has fallen on the descent. We\'ll try to get an update as soon as possible.\r\n'),(1055,32,'2006-05-13 15:20:10','Scheirlinckx\'s advantage','Scheirlinckx\'s advantage is shrinking. He\'s been cautious on the descent and has lost about one minute over the last 10km.'),(1056,32,'2006-05-13 15:24:00','Off the descent','Scheirlinckx actually is holding a two-minute advantage and the peloton is another 1:20 behind the chasers.'),(1057,32,'2006-05-13 15:29:08','Scheirlinckx wants company','Scheirlinckx has glanced at his map and looks like he has decided that he wants to have some company for the remaining 75 km. He\'s sitting up.'),(1058,32,'2006-05-13 15:35:25','Scheirlinckx','is holding his advantage and is back to riding at a brisk pace. Maybe he was just stretching for a bit. Anyway, the gap is still coming down. He\'s 2:05 up on the chase group.'),(1059,32,'2006-05-13 15:41:26','Pace of the chase','The chasers have eased off a bit, at least in the peloton. Scheirlinckx now has a 1:15 advantage over the chase group, but nearly 6:00 on the peloton.'),(1060,32,'2006-05-13 15:43:52','Looking ahead...','The climb ahead, the Monte delle Cesane - which climbs 1700 feet in 7.8km with pitches as steep as 18 percent. It\'s shorter, but tougher than the 15km Monte Catria, which averaged about 5 percent. The Monte delle Cesane starts out with its toughest portions, kicking off at 18 percent.'),(1061,32,'2006-05-13 15:45:00','Scheirlinckx is caught','by the chase group and the peloton is now at around 6:45.'),(1062,32,'2006-05-13 15:53:55','The composition of the lead group.','Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears)
\r\nStaf Scheirlinckx and Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis)
\r\nFrancisco Vila Errandonea (Lampre)
\r\nSerguei Yakovlev (Liberty Seguros)
\r\nVictor Hugo Pena (Phonak)
\r\nJuan Manuel Garate (Quick Step)
\r\nManuele Mori (Saunier Duval)
\r\nMatthias Kessler (T-Mobile)\r\n\r\nGabriele Missaglia (Selle Italia), is chasing at 5:05 and the peloton is at nearly seven minutes back'),(1063,32,'2006-05-13 16:03:05','GC spots of the leaders','28. Vila Errandonea Francisco J. (Sp), Lampre, at 1:26
\r\n30. Juan Manuel Garate(Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 1:29
33. Victor Hugo Pena (Col), Phonak, at 1:33
70. Manuele Mori (I), Saunier Duval, at 2:14
73. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., at 2:19
87. Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz), Liberty Seguros, at 2:32
89. Rik Verbrugghe (B), Cofidis, at 2:34
109. Staf Scheirlinckx (B), Cofidis, at 2:52
145. Matthias Kessler (G), T-Mobile, at 4:55\r\n\r\n'),(1064,32,'2006-05-13 16:05:01','The chase begins','Liquigas and CSC are taking up the chase. Missaglia is back in the fold, his venture off the front of the peloton is done. A bit of publicity and that\'s it.'),(1065,32,'2006-05-13 16:09:45','Gap is coming down','The gap to the lead group is shrinking that the big teams are putting some steam into the chase. The gap is 3:54.'),(1066,32,'2006-05-13 16:13:28','Approaching the climb','The gap is coming down as the lead group heads toward the tough climb up Monte delle Cesane '),(1067,32,'2006-05-13 16:15:24','Leaders on the Monte delle Cesane','The lead group is on the lower slopes of the Monte delle Cesane, the tough part with grades reaching 18 percent at points. Meanwhile, the peloton is driving hard behind them. Scheirlinckx, the day\'s early attacker is being shelled.\r\n\r\n'),(1068,32,'2006-05-13 16:18:24','Concerns about distance','While a couple of the riders with whom Jason Sumner spoke this morning appeared worried that the race was actually longer than the 235 on the stage map, those concerns were unfounded. The distance is, in fact, 235km today.'),(1069,32,'2006-05-13 16:20:29','This is a tough climb','The main field is on the tough part of today\'s climb and you can see a lot of these struggling to maintain the pace being set by guys like Basso and Savoldelli at the front. Meanwhile, up front Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears) is trying an attack out of the lead group.'),(1070,32,'2006-05-13 16:21:30','Poor Pollack','He\'s struggling on those 18-degree slopes. It\'s clear that he\'ll only have one pink jersey for the collection from this year\'s Giro.'),(1071,32,'2006-05-13 16:22:49','Vladimir Efimkin holding his own','The Russian from Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears is ticking along nicely on the climb. '),(1072,32,'2006-05-13 16:24:08','The Biggies are together','All of the favorites are back in the field are together in the main field, although Di Luca looks like he\'s having a bit of trouble hanging on to that group. '),(1074,32,'2006-05-13 16:28:00','Efimkin nearing the top...','He\'s got about 30 seconds on his former breakaway partners. '),(1075,32,'2006-05-13 16:29:46','Contest reminder','Please send us your best guess as to who\r\nmight win today\'s stage and be sure to include the name of the winner\r\nin the subject line in the e-mail you send to Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nToday\'s winner will receive a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling by Graham Watson.'),(1076,32,'2006-05-13 16:32:16','Efimkin caught','Verbrugghe and Pena have pulled the chase group up to the Russian. Scheirlinckx has been pulled in by the peloton.'),(1077,32,'2006-05-13 16:34:00','The peloton is at 3:11','With Pena, Garate and Verbrugghe driving the lead group, the peloton is at 3:11'),(1078,32,'2006-05-13 16:40:44','Time check at the top','The peloton crests the Monte delle Cesane 3:44 behind the leaders. With 39km remaining, they have a big job to bring these guys back... or at least to narrow the gap to the point that none of the escapees presents a long-term threat on GC'),(1079,32,'2006-05-13 16:43:29','Kessler hits the deck','Kessler has crashed and he\'s okay, but his bike is buggered. Spanish national champion Garate has attacked on the descent.'),(1080,32,'2006-05-13 16:46:29','Kessler is back riding','and chasing. He\'s still ahead of the peloton, but he\'s lost a minute or two on the rest of the escapees.'),(1081,32,'2006-05-13 16:49:22','Garate has company','As the best-placed GC rider in the bunch, Garate looks like he is trying for the maglia rosa. The rest of the guys in the break have joined him and he\'s now encouraging his partners to lend a hand. The peloton doesn\'t seem all that freaked out about this break and the chase appears to be moderate with CSC setting tempo.'),(1082,32,'2006-05-13 16:52:52','On the flat','The lead group is on the flats and we should be getting an accurate time check here soon.'),(1083,32,'2006-05-13 16:55:53','Kessler back in the peloton','With 25km to go, the peloton - with Lampre and CSC at the front - has narrowed the gap to 3:12'),(1084,32,'2006-05-13 16:59:00','No cooperation up front','With 20km to go, Garate has given up on trying to organize the front group and is off on his own. We\'ll get a time check at the 20km banner'),(1085,32,'2006-05-13 17:02:15','With CSC and Lampre at the front','The peloton has been trimmed to 2:45. Up front, the five leaders are all back together again.'),(1086,32,'2006-05-13 17:04:39','Chase is on','The Lampre team has just moved up a bit more horsepower. The peloton is now strung out in single file... the speed is going up and we expect to see that gap narrow very quickly. Is it enough? We\'ll see.'),(1087,32,'2006-05-13 17:06:58','The Lampre\'s are driving the pace','over the top of this little un-rated climb near the end. Di Luca, by the way, is having trouble holding on. Jan Ullrich, too, is having a spot of trouble on this unrated climb.'),(1088,32,'2006-05-13 17:09:00','Gap is down to 1:45','The five leaders are together, but they are riding a lot more slowly than the main field and the gap is down to 1:45. Oddly enough, Ivan Basso has no teammates with him in the main field. It\'s all Lampre at the front.'),(1089,32,'2006-05-13 17:11:24','Leaders at 15km to go','Garate is frustrated. He\'s on the attack again. Francisco Vila Errandonea is from the Lampre team, so he has no interest in lending a hand.'),(1090,32,'2006-05-13 17:12:12','Peloton at 1:35','The peloton hits the 15km to go banner at 1:35.'),(1091,32,'2006-05-13 17:13:35','Di Luca is not looking great','As the peloton nears the top of the climb, Danilo Di Luca is having a tough time holding the pace being set by the Lampre squad.'),(1092,32,'2006-05-13 17:14:01','Garate is off again','He\'s having a tough last part of this race. '),(1093,32,'2006-05-13 17:15:01','Garate caught.','The gap is now down to 1:00... he\'s trying to ride himself into the jersey, but that looks like it won\'t happen. Lampre is doing a great job at the front of the peloton.'),(1094,32,'2006-05-13 17:15:56','Vila Errandonea dropping back','Lampre\'s man in the break is easing off. He may be dropping back to the field to lend a hand in the chase.'),(1095,32,'2006-05-13 17:17:03','The gap is under one minute','With 12km to go, the peloton has brought the group to within 56 seconds.'),(1096,32,'2006-05-13 17:17:52','Vila Errandonea still up front','He\'s not working, but he did not drop back.'),(1097,32,'2006-05-13 17:18:44','Di Luca is in there again','Both Danilo Di Luca and Jan Ullrich are back with the main group.'),(1098,32,'2006-05-13 17:19:49','The Lampre group','With the Lampres driving hard at the front, the main group has been trimmed down to just 25 or 30 guys with 10km to go. Savoldelli is in there, but he\'s alone up there.'),(1099,32,'2006-05-13 17:21:00','With7.5km to go','The gap is down to 53 seconds. Ahead the course throws in a tough little climb near the finish.'),(1100,32,'2006-05-13 17:22:50','With 6km to go','The gap is 48 seconds. The guys up are looking tired.'),(1101,32,'2006-05-13 17:24:02','Verbrugghe attacks!','The Cofidis man from Belgium is having a go with about 4.5km to go. The last three km are steep.'),(1102,32,'2006-05-13 17:25:11','Verbrugghe has a gap','This will be a big from-the-heart effort for the big Belgian. He\'s got a good gap, but some tough kilometers ahead, especially with 230+km under his belt.'),(1103,32,'2006-05-13 17:26:20','Savoldelli is not alone','Tom Danielson is in there and he\'s now at the front of the main group driving the chase.'),(1104,32,'2006-05-13 17:27:39','Verbrugghe is still up front','On the last three kilometers, the peloton is chasing hard. Lampre and Discovery are driving hard.'),(1105,32,'2006-05-13 17:28:42','Mori trying to Bridge with 2km to go','Verbrugghe is still up there as the gap to the peloton is down to 20 seconds.'),(1106,32,'2006-05-13 17:29:21','One kilometer for Verbrugghe.','Mori has given ip and it looks like Rik Verbrugghe is going to pull this off... he looks tired, though'),(1107,32,'2006-05-13 17:29:58','500 meters...','Verbrugghe has 30 seconds on the other guys, but he looks beat!'),(1108,32,'2006-05-13 17:30:41','Oh it hurts','Just to watch this guy stuggle but he\'s going to win... 250 meters to go.'),(1109,32,'2006-05-13 17:31:15','Savoldelli attacks!','Savoldelli is charging out of the main field...'),(1110,32,'2006-05-13 17:31:37','Verbrugghe gets the win!',''),(1111,32,'2006-05-13 17:31:00','Holy .....!','Savoldelli gets second!!!'),(1112,32,'2006-05-13 17:33:36','Holy .....!','Savoldelli gets second! The defending champion pulls the field past the remaining escapees and leads the charge to the line... just 14 seconds behind Verbrugghe'),(1113,32,'2006-05-13 17:34:13','Basso was with Savoldelli...','... but it looks like Di Luca has lost time.'),(1114,33,'2006-05-14 14:03:55','Good day...','...and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s live coverage of the eighth stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia. This is a toughy with a desceptively easy start.
The first 100 kilometers after the departure from Civitanova Marche are made up of a pan-flat run along the Adriatic before making a hard turn into the hills. After a few moderate rollers, we get to see a tough, tough summit finish on the Passo di Lanciano.
Really, the opening stretch is just a warm up for a hill-climb today. This 12.3km climb (with the last 11km averaging 9 percent) has a steepest pitch of 13 percent. We\'ll get to see who is in shape today and who is ready for the really tough parts of the mountainous final half of the Giro.
Maybe after yesterday, Danilo Di Luca will be particularly motivated, since he wasn\'t really on form yesterday and some are already beginning to discount his chances for a spot on the podium, despite the fact that he only lost 20 seconds yesterday. Add to that the fact that the stage passes close to his village of Spoltore 40km before the Lanciano climb.
Odds are, though, we\'ll see an early escape and then the biggies (Discovery, Lampre and CSC) putting men up front to chase the break and set up their GC guys for the win. Either way it unfolds today, we\'re in for a good show. \r\n'),(1115,33,'2006-05-14 14:11:43','At 68km','We\'ve seen activity in the peloton since today\'s start at 12:45, but no one is getting much of a gap. The speeds are high (50kph) for the first hour and no one seems willing to let anyone ride away. Right now, we have a couple of small groups off the front, with advantages between 40 seconds and 1:45 on the field.'),(1116,33,'2006-05-14 14:32:01','At 81km','The pace is still high and the escape group has about 2:00 on the main field and only about 45 seconds on set of three chasers. We see about 11 guys up front and included in that group are \r\nMarzio Bruseghin (Lampre)
\r\nSylvain Calzati (Ag2r)
\r\nFrancisco Perez Sanchez (Caisse D\'epargne-Illes Balears)
\r\nNicki Sorensen (CSC)
\r\nAndrea Moletta (Gerolsteiner)
\r\nAlessandro Cortinovis (Milram)
\r\nMarco Pinotti (Saunier Duval)
We\'ll be back in a minute with full I.D.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(1117,33,'2006-05-14 14:37:15','Daily contest','It\'s time for another daily contest. Take the time to make an informed\r\nguess as to who you think will win today\'s stage. Then send us an e-mail\r\nat Rosters@InsideInc.com. We\'ll make a random selection from the correct answers and we\'ll send the winner a 1920s\r\nItalian National Champion Poster from The Horton Collection\r\n
, which commemorates Constante Girardengo, one of the first great Italian champions who dominated the sport in his country from 1913 through the 1920s. PLEASE INCLUDE THE NAME OF YOUR PICK IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR\r\nE-MAIL.'),(1118,33,'2006-05-14 14:44:00','The men in the break','
Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre)\r\n
Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r)\r\n
Francisco Perez Sanchez (Caisse D\'epargne-Illes Balears)\r\n
Nicki Sorensen (CSC)\r\n
Andrea Moletta (Gerolsteiner)\r\n
Alessandro Cortinovis (Milram)\r\n
Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval)\r\n
Iker Flores Galarza (Euskaltel)\r\n
Serge Baguet (Quick Step)\r\n
Jurgen Kuyckx (Davitamon)\r\n
Grischa Niermann (Rabobank)
The 11 up front are being followed by three men at 35 seconds. Benoit Poilvet (Credit Agricole)\r\n
Christophe Edaleine (Credit Agricole)\r\n
Santos Anza (Selle Italia).
The peloton is at 2:00'),(1119,33,'2006-05-14 14:57:51','14 up front','The three chasers have caught up with the lead group. We now have 14 escapees, who have a lead of 3:12 on the peloton. Is that enough to take a stage win? Doubt it. It\'s amazing how fast a gap like that can get shut down when the big teams start putting on the gas.'),(1120,33,'2006-05-14 15:02:44','That gas','Apparently, the peloton is picking up the pace. The gap is now under 3:00, with 65km remaining.'),(1121,33,'2006-05-14 15:06:04','Gap at 3:00','With 63km remaining, the gap to the peloton is around 3:00. '),(1122,33,'2006-05-14 15:06:25','Contest reminder','Take the time to make an informed\r\nguess as to who you think will win today\'s stage. Then send us an e-mail\r\nat Rosters@InsideInc.com. We\'ll make a random selection from the correct answers and we\'ll send the winner a 1920s\r\nItalian National Champion Poster from The Horton Collection\r\n
, which commemorates Constante Girardengo, one of the first great Italian champions who dominated the sport in his country from 1913 through the 1920s. PLEASE INCLUDE THE NAME OF YOUR PICK IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR\r\nE-MAIL.'),(1123,33,'2006-05-14 15:12:42','Bumping it up','The gap at 115km is now 3:50.'),(1124,33,'2006-05-14 15:18:31','T-Mobile moving to the front','Interested in preserving the overall lead of Sergei Honchar, the T-Mobile team has moved to the front of the peloton and we can expect to see the gap droping a bit. We\'re hoping they do it only because we like to see Honchar\'s podium performance when he gets the jersey again.
'),(1125,33,'2006-05-14 15:19:57','Gap at 3:38','There are more teams moving up to lend a hand. Meanwhile there are huge crowds lining the route on the final climb. This is going to be terrific.'),(1126,33,'2006-05-14 15:23:28','The chase','There is some real peloton power without representatives in the break. T-Mobile, Liquigas and Discovery are all without a rider in the break. They are all putting in an effort at the front and despite the presence of Marco Pinotti, the Saunier Duval team is also lending a hand. Pinotti meanwhile is not doing much for the effort up front. The gap is at 3:20'),(1127,33,'2006-05-14 15:26:52','Liquigas and Saunier Duval','Are doing much of the work at the front of the peloton. With 50km to go, the gap is trimmed to 3:10'),(1128,33,'2006-05-14 15:32:43','The terrain is looking a bit bumpy','The leaders are on the little climb up to Nocciano... not too much of a rise, but something to warm up the legs before the big finisher. The gap is at 2:48.'),(1129,33,'2006-05-14 15:36:51','Crash','We\'ve had a crash in the main field. Several riders are down. There\'s quite a bit of broken carbon, but it doesn\'t look like any riders are seriously injured.'),(1130,33,'2006-05-14 15:38:48','Last time check... before the crash','put the gap at 2:30, but the pile-up in the field is bound to have an effect on the chase. We\'ll get a new one soon.'),(1131,33,'2006-05-14 15:39:00','With 40km to go...','... the gap is 2:22. The crash survivors, meanwhile, are making their way up to the main field. It\'s raining a little bit out there, but the roads are still in good shape.'),(1132,33,'2006-05-14 15:43:23','Saunier Duval','Gilberto Simoni\'s team is foing the bulk of the work at the leading edge of the peloton. The level of cooperation up front, meanwhile, appears to be declining. The leaders have 35km to go.'),(1133,33,'2006-05-14 15:46:06','The peloton passes the 35km to go mark','exactly 2:07 behind the leaders. meanwhile Jan Kuyckx (Davitamon) is attacking out of the lead group.'),(1134,33,'2006-05-14 15:47:15','Putting his head down and hammering','Kuyckx has built up a nice little gap, but he\'s a big fella and doesn\'t have too great a prospect of success over the course of those last 12km.'),(1135,33,'2006-05-14 15:51:33','Kuyckx is back','The lead group is back together at 30km to go.'),(1136,33,'2006-05-14 15:53:39','Peloton reaches the 30km to mark','... at 2:12. Kuyckx\'s little foray must have given the lead group a bit of motivation'),(1137,33,'2006-05-14 15:55:20','Raining harder','As the race nears the tough part, the weather has taken a slight turn for the worse.'),(1138,33,'2006-05-14 15:56:55','Leaders at 25km to go.',''),(1139,33,'2006-05-14 16:00:46','Gap at 25km to go.','The leaders are holding on to an advantage of 1:55.'),(1140,33,'2006-05-14 16:02:19','Wet, winding roads...','We\'ve had several crashes in the main field over the past few kilometers. None have been of serious consequence or involved top GC riders.'),(1141,33,'2006-05-14 16:06:24','With 20km to go...','the leaders\' advantage is down to 1:23.'),(1142,33,'2006-05-14 16:08:53','Looking ahead...','these next few kilometers will go by quickly. Then the final 12.3km is straight up... Passo di Lanciano. This climb (with the last 11km averaging 9 percent) has a steepest pitch of 13 percent.'),(1143,33,'2006-05-14 16:12:26','Less than one minute','As the peloton passes beneath the InterGiro sprint mark, the gap is down to 58 seconds.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, Serge Baguet (Quick Step) grabbed the points and held a gap for a bit... but he\'s been seaemed and the attacks are starting on the approach to the climb.'),(1144,33,'2006-05-14 16:16:26','','Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) and Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r), who was off the front for a good part of the day yesterday, have attacked and are just moving on to the lower slopes of climb. In back, the Discovery boys are taking up the chase and it looks like the rest of the escapees may be swept up quite soon. They are just 40 seconds up on the field.\r\n'),(1145,33,'2006-05-14 16:18:47','On the climb','With 12km to the finish, the two leaders are holding a small gap, but the field is about to pick off the rest of the break.'),(1146,33,'2006-05-14 16:19:24','Bruseghin off on his own','Bruseghin has stepped on the pedals and left the Ag2r man behind.'),(1147,33,'2006-05-14 16:20:16','Tschopp (Phonak)','is attacking out of the main field. The escapees are being pulled back'),(1148,33,'2006-05-14 16:22:07','Big crowds','The climb - especially near the top - is lined with fans.'),(1149,33,'2006-05-14 16:23:02','Bruseghin is pedaling squares','The rest of the break has been pulled in... and Bruseghin is about 35 seconds ahead of the main field, led by CSC.'),(1150,33,'2006-05-14 16:24:35','All together','With 9km to go, the whole show is together. Now the biggies are going to set up for the finish.'),(1151,33,'2006-05-14 16:26:21','Honchar','is struggling and is hanging at the back of the main group. Up front we see Simoni, Basso, Cunego, Savoldelli... They\'re on a relatively moderate part of the climb, but the steep parts are coming up.'),(1152,33,'2006-05-14 16:28:25','Sastre','is doing great work setting tempo for his man, Ivan Basso. The lead group is shrinking and is really down to an elite group of about 10 riders. '),(1153,33,'2006-05-14 16:30:26','Savoldelli in trouble','Savoldelli is having a tough time hang on to the pace being set by Sastre and Basso at the front.... seven km to go. '),(1154,33,'2006-05-14 16:31:12','Di Luca','is hanging in there. He\'s with the lead group, which is now down to about eight riders.'),(1155,33,'2006-05-14 16:34:01','Another great climber off','Panaria\'s Perez Cupio has come off the back. He\'s down there with Savoldelli about 20 seconds off the Basso group. .. and the steep part kicks in.
Sastre is still up front setting tempo for Basso. Simoni is right on Basso\'s wheel.'),(1156,33,'2006-05-14 16:35:47','The lead group','Cunego is in there. Simoni is in there. Rujano is there and Di Luca is hanging on and Basso and Sastre are making life difficult for everyone. Savoldelli, meanwhile is 42 seconds down.'),(1157,33,'2006-05-14 16:37:08','POP!','There goes Di Luca... he\'s off the back. Savoldelli has Danielson helping him... but they are 48 seconds off.'),(1158,33,'2006-05-14 16:38:22','Rujano takes a dig','The little Selle Italia climber who made such a mark on last year\'s Giro is taking a dig... but the Basso group is not freaking out and it looks like they may pull him back by just keeping a steady pace.'),(1159,33,'2006-05-14 16:39:44','Di Luca fighting back.','The ever-tenacious Danilo Di Luca is fighting his way back on to the tail end of the Basso group.... as they pull in Rujano and there goes Cunego!'),(1160,33,'2006-05-14 16:40:53','Cunego now has company','Basso and Cunego are now up front. While Cunego may not have succeeded in shedding Basso, he did get rid of his old buddy Gilberto Simoni.'),(1161,33,'2006-05-14 16:41:33','Basso!','Basso is off on his own... he\'s 3.5km from the top and he\'s putting some distance on Cunego.'),(1162,33,'2006-05-14 16:43:12','Basso looks relaxed','Ivan Basso is just riding his own race... it\'s just that his race is just a bit faster than everyone else\'s. He\'s just settled in and grinding through these last few kilometers.'),(1163,33,'2006-05-14 16:45:14','Savoldelli suffering','With Tom Danielson setting tempo, Paolo Savaldelli is about one minute back. Basso is in the final two kilometers and he has about 11 seconds on Damiano Cunego.'),(1164,33,'2006-05-14 16:46:40','Savoldelli at 1:25','The defending Giro champion is 1:25 behind Ivan Basso'),(1165,33,'2006-05-14 16:47:01','Basso holding his advantage',''),(1166,33,'2006-05-14 16:48:21','Basso in he final kilometer',''),(1167,33,'2006-05-14 16:49:17','Basso set to take over the jersey','Ivan Basso looks set to win today\'s stage and will take over the leader\'s jersey as well today.'),(1168,33,'2006-05-14 16:50:31','Simoni working hard to minimize the damage.','With Basso and Cunego ahead, Gilberto Simoni is riding hard into the final kilometer'),(1169,33,'2006-05-14 16:51:00','Ivan Basso wins!','Ivan Basso has taken command of the Giro d\'Italia, winning Stage 8 by a healthy margin... 30 seconds ahead of Damiano Cunego and Jose Enrique Gutierrez (Phonak)'),(1170,33,'2006-05-14 16:53:44','Simoni in at 1:18',''),(1171,34,'2006-05-15 14:05:00','Good day...','...and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s live coverage of today\'s 127km stage from Francavilla al Mare to Termoli, a short southerly race along the Adriatic coast.
On paper this shorty is one of the few sprinters\' days in the Giro d\'Italia, but we may see some flourishes on rolling hills as the stage nears Termoli from is made for the sprinters.
This stage will take a little pressure off of the CSC team, since their guy has a good 1:34 on his closest rival. With Robbie McEwen in the hunt for his fourth stage win, there will be plenty of reason for the Davitamon-Lotto squad to ride herd on the peloton and keep the race together. That may involve letting a small break get up the road, just to keep things sane in the peloton until the escapees can be reeled in. '),(1172,34,'2006-05-15 14:06:00','And they\'re off','The peloton is rolling out of Francavilla al Mare at 2:05 p.m. a wonderfully civilized start time.
As you suspect these days, the grand tours tend to tailor their stage starts to comply with the demands and desires of the folks who schedule television broadcasts, which is why most of these things finish just around 5:00 p.m. local time (11 a.m. in the Eastern time zone of the U.S.).
We can expect a series of early attacks today, since there is little time to put a successful break together and gain significant time on a stage this short.'),(1173,34,'2006-05-15 14:07:00','Daily Contest','It\'s time for another of our Daily Contests. Take a moment to chose who\r\nyou think might win today\'s stage and send your pick to Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line of\r\nyour e-mail. Remember, only ONE entry per person per day.\r\n
We will make a random choice from among all of the correct e-mails and\r\naward a copy of Andy\r\nPruitt\'s Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists.'),(1174,34,'2006-05-15 14:11:00','Out of the neutral zone','The peloton has left the neutral zone and we may well expect the action to start quite quickly.'),(1175,34,'2006-05-15 14:27:25','Rapid Pace','Word from the road is that pace is quite high, but as of yet, there have been no successful attacks.'),(1176,34,'2006-05-15 14:41:00','Another contest?','Okay, okay... we\'re getting spotty reports from the road right now, so we\'re going to take this opportunity to try out this season\'s first \"From where are you checking in?\" contest. You\'re obviously checking on the Giro\r\nfrom somewhere. We\'ve asked folks to send this in before and awarded prizes\r\nto those checking in from the most exotic corner of the globe. Once we\r\nverify, we\'ll come up with a good prize. Past winners have been in Baghdad,\r\nthe South Pole, Hanoi.... even Wyoming (well, no one\'s actually\r\nin Wyoming, but you get the point). No matter from where you’re keeping\r\ntrack of the Giro, send a note to VNInteractive@InsideInc.com\r\nand we\'ll post some of the better examples and then announce a winner during\r\ntomorrow\'s coverage. We\'ll make sure the prize is worth your trouble.'),(1177,34,'2006-05-15 14:48:00','Doping update','Nothing to report on that front from this Giro, which is good news, given the past history of late-night police raids, falls from grace and other drama, but at the Tour of Catalonia, Czech rider Jan Hruska has been booted for - as one wag likes to put it - \"having too much blood in his blood.\" The vampires made their visit to team hotels this morning and Hruska failed the 50-percent hematocrit test.
Also on that front, you may have noticed that the Executive committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency, meeting in Montreal this week, has delayed a decision on whether to include the use of so-called \"altitude tents\" on its banned practices list until at least September of this year.'),(1178,34,'2006-05-15 15:04:12','Weather today','After yesterday\'s rain-spotted finish, it\'s quite nice today, with the peloton coursing along the Adriatic coast under clear sky. Temperatures are in the high 70s and low 80s... not too bad.'),(1179,34,'2006-05-15 15:15:00','We have a break...','Obviously, our reports have been sporadic this morning, but we do have a break up the road: Two riders - Cyrille Monnerais (Francaise Des Jeux)
Yuriy Krivtsov (Ag2r) - with an advantage of 4:02, with 86km to go.'),(1180,34,'2006-05-15 15:22:04','With 85km to go','The Quick Step team is setting tempo at the front of the field, keeping tabs on the break. They\'re undoubtedly looking for a win by Bettini and looking at the last part of the profile you\'ll see that the feisty little Italian will have an easier time on this finish than might Robbie McEwen.'),(1181,34,'2006-05-15 15:27:23','Wyoming takes umbrage','Whether we make a remark about office cubicles in Ohio or the wide, wide, wide open spaces of Wyoming, folks often take umbrage at our remarks about what we might define as exotic. Nonetheless, we\'re getting lots of you to check in from places far and wide... including northern Maine, several from South Africa and a couple from Russia... even a couple from the Equality State. Keep \'em coming folks.'),(1182,34,'2006-05-15 15:31:33','At 49km','The two escapees are hovering at 4:10 up on the peloton. The Quick Step team is setting tempo at the front with three riders. The CSC squad is right behind them putting in a moderate effort.'),(1183,34,'2006-05-15 15:35:00','A comment from Phonak\'s Patrick McCarty','Our guy Jason Sumner spoke with McCarty this morning. Regarding his teammate Jose Gutierrez, who jumped to second overall, at 1:34, after finishing 3rd on the tough stage 8 1289-meter summit finish at Maielletta-Passo Lanciano, McCarty was very pleased:
\"He\'s strong. That was a little bit of a surprise. He\'s a horse. I knew he could climb, but that was definitely a surprise. But he\'s been consistently strong, so it\'s not like that was a fluke yesterday. He\'s second overall and it\'s going to be hard to knock him out.\"\r\n'),(1184,34,'2006-05-15 15:42:08','The pace is moderate','The peloton is cruising along at just under 40kph. The gap is right at 4:00.'),(1185,34,'2006-05-15 15:45:43','Leaders at the InterGiro mark','(It\'s that pink triangle on your profile, by the way.) We\'ll be getting a good time check when the peloton rolls through there, too.'),(1186,34,'2006-05-15 15:51:18','The peloton reaches the InterGiro','at 3:46. With a couple of InterGiro points remaining, the pace picked up for a bit, so we may see things ease up a bit and that gap grow again.
Meanwhile, we\'re getting quite a good number of e-mails on our \"exotic locales\" contest. Some are quite interesting, including one from a bike geek trapped aboard a 200+-foot yacht near the Bahamas. Poor fella is riding a trainer in the engine room for an hour a day. We\'ll post a good selection of entries early in the stage tomorrow and announce a winner as well.'),(1187,34,'2006-05-15 16:01:53','Gap is back at 4:00','As we approach the day\'s climbs, the gap is back up to 4:00.
We just want to send a big hello to Mr. Armstrong\'s class in Dallas and thanks for checking in!'),(1188,34,'2006-05-15 16:07:39','The gap is at 3:52',''),(1189,34,'2006-05-15 16:10:46','With 44km to go','The gap is 3:55 and the race heads into the hills. The Quick Step team is up front and driving the pace. They seem intent on shedding Robbie McEwen in the hills, so they don\'t have to deal with the guy at the finish.'),(1190,34,'2006-05-15 16:11:30','Krivtsov moving off on his own',''),(1191,34,'2006-05-15 16:12:00','2 hours in the saddle','After two hours of racing, the average speed has been just around 42.8kph'),(1192,34,'2006-05-15 16:22:27','Quick Step setting tempo','as the peloton courses its way over the hilly portion of the route. The pressure is on at the front and the peloton is stringing out in single file.'),(1193,34,'2006-05-15 16:26:16','Krivtsov','is just about a minute ahead of his former breakaway companion and the peloton is just at 2:12'),(1194,34,'2006-05-15 16:28:37','Krivtsov is 37km from the finish','and heading to the day\'s only rated climb. His advantage is coming down fast as the Quick Steps are setting a pace they hope might rid them of Robbie McEwen.'),(1195,34,'2006-05-15 16:30:02','Cyrille Monnerais caught','The peloton has swept up one of the day\'s escapees'),(1196,34,'2006-05-15 16:31:03','Krivtsov\'s advantage shrinking','He\'s just 1:35 ahead of the peloton.'),(1197,34,'2006-05-15 16:33:23','35km to go','The peloton passes the 35km to go mark and the gap is 1:12.\r\n\r\nThe pace is picking up and there is a split in the field as the Quick Steps are driving things pretty hard.'),(1198,34,'2006-05-15 16:37:19','46 seconds','Krivtsov is just barely ahead of the peloton.'),(1199,34,'2006-05-15 16:38:25','With 30km to go','The gap is five seconds back...which means
'),(1200,34,'2006-05-15 16:41:20','Heading to the KOM','The climb will start in a bit. Bettini is up front, as is Basso and the CSC crew. We may see Bettini go on the attack on this climb, since he\'s pretty much on his own. Quick Step appears to have blown its wad going along these rollers and Robbie McEwen just stayed tucked in. Strategic error?'),(1201,34,'2006-05-15 16:43:17','On the climb','It\'s a four kilometer climb - a Cat. 3 - and if Bettini wants to rid himself of McEwen, he needs to really pound here.'),(1202,34,'2006-05-15 16:44:18','McEwen is holding his own','There are a few gaps opening up in the peloton, but it looks like McEwen is holding his own... remarkably, Bobby J just popped off the back,'),(1203,34,'2006-05-15 16:45:18','There goes McEwen...','He\'s been gapped with about 1km to go. He\'ll have 22.9km to catch back on, though.'),(1204,34,'2006-05-15 16:47:48','Gutierrez on the attack','The man in second overall scampers off the front near the top of the climb. That\'s cool. Meanwhile, the McEwen group is about 50 seconds back.'),(1205,34,'2006-05-15 16:48:07','Basso scoots up to Gutierrez',''),(1206,34,'2006-05-15 16:52:04','On the descent','The speed is quite high (79kph), and there is a good split in the field. The McEwen group is probably 55 seconds back. We figure he\'ll work his way back and then he\'ll be a big factor at the finish if he makes it.'),(1207,34,'2006-05-15 16:54:27','McEwen closing the gap','The front group isn\'t working that hard and Bettini isn\'t getting a lot of help up there. The McEwen group is coming up fast and we expect a re-connect with about 15km to go.'),(1208,34,'2006-05-15 16:55:59','Gap at 20 seconds','McEwen has lots of help and it looks like the second group is quickly narrowing the gap.'),(1209,34,'2006-05-15 16:57:04','Attacks up front','Anticipating the arrival McEwen group, we\'re seeing some attacks off the front.'),(1210,34,'2006-05-15 16:59:21','McEwen regains','With 15km to go, McEwen has rejoined with the bunch and is working his way back to the front.'),(1211,34,'2006-05-15 17:00:42','Four riders scamper off','Four riders have slipped off the front. T-Mobile\'s Scott Davis has now jumped ahead on an unrated climb.'),(1212,34,'2006-05-15 17:01:40','Serpa giving chase','Selle Italia\'s Serpa is moving toward Davis on winding roads... '),(1213,34,'2006-05-15 17:02:21','Pellizoti',' flying out of the main field and has passed Serpa and caught Davis.'),(1214,34,'2006-05-15 17:03:50','Two men up front...','Pellizoti and Davis are going hard. Bettini and Cunego and Simoni are charging out of the field now... Basso has them, but there are a few gaps in the field. McEwen is off the back again. He has 12km to catch.'),(1215,34,'2006-05-15 17:04:25','Pellizoti, Davis caught','with 10km to go, the whole field is coming together again.'),(1216,34,'2006-05-15 17:05:00','In these closing kilometers','The attacks are coming fast and furious, but now one is getting much of a gap. 10km to go.'),(1217,34,'2006-05-15 17:07:07','Ullrich taking big pulls up front.','Lampre and T-Mobile are up front. '),(1218,34,'2006-05-15 17:07:36','With 9km to go, the roads are flat','and quite straight to the finish.'),(1219,34,'2006-05-15 17:11:14','Looks like it\'ll be a sprint','Bettini\'s strategy didn\'t work out as hoped and with six kilometers to go, the peloton is all together. McEwen is just hanging back and working his way through the bunch. '),(1220,34,'2006-05-15 17:11:33','Five kilometers to go',''),(1221,34,'2006-05-15 17:13:02','Moving to the finish','McEwen is up there near the front, finding good wheels to grab.'),(1222,34,'2006-05-15 17:14:02','A little rise...','With four kilometers to go, Matt White from Discovery is attacking off the front. Milram and Davitamon are giving chase.'),(1223,34,'2006-05-15 17:15:30','White caught','White was with Credit Ag\'s Talabardon and and un-ID-ed Rabobank. 2.5km to go.'),(1224,34,'2006-05-15 17:16:44','Attack attack attack','We\'re seeing quite a few attacks as the peloton is coming into the final haul to the finish. 1km to go all together.'),(1225,34,'2006-05-15 17:17:12','Milram leading...','McEwen sitting in there'),(1226,34,'2006-05-15 17:18:00','Pollack charges...','... McEwen on his wheel. Bettini coming up hard...Tomas Vaitkus (Ag2r) head-to-head-head... Pollack, McEwen and it\'s Vaitkus!'),(1227,34,'2006-05-15 17:20:00','Vaitkus, Bettini, Pollack and McEwen in fourth','McEwen didn\'t look happy. The Quick Step efforts may have taken a bit of the Oooomph out of Robbie, but it was the Ag2r sprinter who got the big benefit.'),(1228,35,'2006-05-16 13:59:00','Good day...','… and welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of the 10th stage of the 2006 Giro d’Italia, a tough 187km race from Termoli to Peschici.
With a challenging finish, this may finally be a venue for a successful breakaway or a late solo attack. With 66km to go the course climbs from the coast into the Gargano National Park on a 10km, 6.8-percent ascent to Monte San Angelo and then winds across a rolling plateau before plunging back to the coast 8km from the finish. There follow a couple more short hills, one with a 10-percent grade, before the uphill sprint into Peschici. '),(1229,35,'2006-05-16 14:02:28','Today\'s contest','It\'s time again for today\'s contest. Send in your best guess as to who\r\nwill win today\'s stage to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand be sure to include your pick in the subject line of your e-mail. Only\r\none entry per person per day and no entries after the 10km-to-go mark.\r\nToday\'s winner - randomly selected from the correct entries - will receive\r\na copy of\r\n
Landscapes\r\nof Cycling by Graham Watson.'),(1230,35,'2006-05-16 14:00:00','Many attacks','It\'s been a busy couple of hours in the saddle today after the stage rolled out of Termoli at noon. There have been several attacks and we have a large group of 16 riders off the front as the course has reached the first - unrated - climb of the day. Among those on the attack are:
\r\nSylvain Calzati (Ag2r)
\r\nHubert Dupont (Ag2r)
\r\nJose Luis Carrasco (C D’Epargne)
\r\nJoan Horrach (C D’Epargne)
\r\nSergei Matveyev (Panaria)
\r\nSergei Yakovlev (Panaria)
\r\nAxel Merckx (Phonak)
\r\nTheo Elting (Rabobank)
\r\nAngel Gomez Gomez (Saunier Duval)
\r\nJose Serpa (Selle Italia)
\r\nGiovanni Lombardi (CSC)
\r\nAlessandro Vanotti (Milram)\r\nAlexander Kolobnev (Rabobank)\r\n'),(1231,35,'2006-05-16 14:22:34','Escapees crest the climb at Borgo Celano','We\'re looking at about a 2:00 advantage... but we should have a better time check soon. Temperatures are quite warm out there today... well into the 80s.'),(1232,35,'2006-05-16 14:26:29','McGee out','We\'ve received word that Brad McGee dropped out around 2 p.m. today. He has had hip problems after he injured it in a crash at the Criterium International crash. '),(1233,35,'2006-05-16 14:27:55','McEwen ill','Jason Sumner spoke with Alan Peiper at Davitamon this morning and the director says that Robbie McEwen is a little sick, perhaps suffering from allergies.
\"He woke up sick this morning. He has some trouble with his sinuses and his eyes are swollen and the left side of his face was a bit swollen up. He’s really looking forward to tomorrow [the rest day]. He wants to ride an hour and a half and lay on the beach for six hours. He said getting some sun will help him.\"'),(1234,35,'2006-05-16 14:37:00','At km 102','The 21 leading riders have an advantage of 3:40. Included in the group are
Benoit Joachim (Discovery)
\r\nSylvain Calzati (Ag2r)
\r\nHubert Dupont (Ag2r)
\r\nVladimir Efimkin (Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears)
\r\nJose Luis Carrasco (Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears)
\r\nJoan Horrach (Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears)
\r\nSergei Matveyev (Panaria)
\r\nSergei Yakovlev (Panaria)
\r\nAxel Merckx (Phonak)
\r\nTheo Elting (Rabobank)
\r\nAngel Gomez Gomez (Saunier Duval)
\r\nJose Serpa (Selle Italia)
\r\nGiovanni Lombardi (CSC)
\r\nAlessandro Vanotti (Milram)
\r\nAlexander Kolobnev (Rabobank)
\r\nMarcos Serrano (Liberty)
\r\nYohann Gene (Bouygues Telecom)
\r\nBenoit Poilvet (Crédit Agricole)
\r\nFranco Pellizotti (Liquigas)
\r\nCharles Wegelius (Liquigas)
\r\nSven Krauss (Gerolsteiner)\r\n'),(1235,35,'2006-05-16 14:44:49','Gap at 4:30','We\'re seeing good cooperation up front and the escape group is extending its margin to 4:30.'),(1236,35,'2006-05-16 14:50:12','At the InterGiro','(Which they call the \"110 Gazetta\" this year) the leaders are holding on to a healthy lead of 5:34.'),(1237,35,'2006-05-16 14:58:00','Gap at 5:30','as the leaders work their way up Monte San Angelo, the day\'s only rated climb, but as you can see from the profile, there\'s more than the one hurdle today. Scroll down, by the way, we\'re loading pictures from Jason Sumner.'),(1238,35,'2006-05-16 15:05:03','On the climb','The leaders are holding an advantage of 5:45 with 7km to go to the top of the climb.'),(1239,35,'2006-05-16 15:15:18','The lead group','is holding together very nicely. They are ticking off the 12km of the day\'s only rated climb on the Monte San Angelo.
Meanwhile in the peloton, the Lampre team of Damiano Cunego is setting a strong tempo on the climb and the gap is coming down a bit and is now at 5:11.
At the back, Robbie McEwen has popped off of the rear of the main field.'),(1240,35,'2006-05-16 15:24:09','At the top','The leaders have reached the top of Monte San Angelo. We\'ll get the time check when the peloton reaches the top..'),(1241,35,'2006-05-16 15:29:54','3:40 at the top','The leaders and the peloton are on the descent off of the Monte San Angelo.'),(1242,35,'2006-05-16 15:33:29','Leaders on the next climb','The lead group is working its way up the short climb after the Monte San Angelo. We have rollers for the next 40 km and then a big drop to Peschici and a 2km climb (harder than it looks on the profile) to the finish line. We do have a photo (below) of what the finish line looks like. The gap is 3:25.'),(1243,35,'2006-05-16 15:34:41','Pellizotti stepping up the pace','Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) has tried a couple of attacks out of the lead group.\r\n'),(1244,35,'2006-05-16 15:36:43','Lampre driving the chase','The Lampre team (unrepresented in the break) is driving the chase. The gap is coming down as a result of the hard chase from Cunego\'s squad.'),(1245,35,'2006-05-16 15:42:00','The gap is 3:14','With 42km to go, the Lampre team is still doing the bulk of the chase work.'),(1246,35,'2006-05-16 15:46:28','Lampre turning it up','The Lampre team has six riders driving at the front of the peloton on these winding, rolling hills.'),(1247,35,'2006-05-16 15:52:00','Under the 40km to go banner','We\'ll get a new time check when the peloton reaches the banner.'),(1248,35,'2006-05-16 15:52:00','The gap is 3:11','At 40km to go'),(1249,35,'2006-05-16 15:50:56','Front group coming apart','Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r) has attacked out of the lead group. Jose Serpa (Selle Italia) and Benoit Joachim (Discovery) have gone with him. They have about 15 seconds on the group and the peloton is at 2:50'),(1250,35,'2006-05-16 15:52:30','The three leaders have been caught','The attacks are continuing up front and it\'s bound to shake-out soon.'),(1251,35,'2006-05-16 15:54:59','The front group is back together','The attacks have eased off for the moment.'),(1252,35,'2006-05-16 15:56:00','Calzati tries again.','Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r) tries another run off the front... but the others have responded quickly.'),(1253,35,'2006-05-16 15:57:58','Merckx tries','He\'s caught... 35km to go for the leaders.'),(1254,35,'2006-05-16 15:58:26','Calzati again','Tireless, ain\'t he?'),(1255,35,'2006-05-16 15:59:38','Calzati has company','Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) bridges up.'),(1256,35,'2006-05-16 16:00:00','Peloton hits the 35km to go mark','3:10 behind the leaders. Lampre is driving at the front. Danilo Di Luca is tucked in there behind them. The Liquigas man likes this finish, the scene of his first-ever Giro d\'Italia win... in 2000.'),(1257,35,'2006-05-16 16:04:47','Calzati again','He was caught and went again. Tenacious. He\'s caught again.'),(1258,35,'2006-05-16 16:07:16','A split at the front.','Calzati was, of course, the driving force and we see a small gap at the front, with 30km to go. We will ID the riders up there and get a time gap on the peloton.'),(1259,35,'2006-05-16 16:12:11','Front group together again','and the gap to the peloton is holding. On these roads - winding rollers mostly - the size of this group is almost perfect. 25km to go.'),(1260,35,'2006-05-16 16:13:05','... and another attack out of the front group','by - who else? - Calzati.'),(1261,35,'2006-05-16 16:13:45','He\'s caught.','Of course, that won\'t stop him, eh?'),(1262,35,'2006-05-16 16:16:49','Gap at 3:05','With a largely downhill effort until 9km to go, the catch is going to require a big effort.'),(1263,35,'2006-05-16 16:17:06','20km to go for the leaders',''),(1264,35,'2006-05-16 16:20:40','Lampre at the front','The leaders are heading down to the Adriatic and zooming to the finish. Joachim has moved off the front... and has been joined by Jose Luis Carrasco (Caisse d\'Epargne-Illes Balears).'),(1265,35,'2006-05-16 16:22:35','Poilvet catches','Benoit Poilvet (Crédit Agricole) catches and passes. Behind them, the Lampre team is throwing everything into the chase... even putting Cunego up there.'),(1266,35,'2006-05-16 16:23:19','Joachim attacks','The Discovery man is back off the front. He\'s on his own.'),(1267,35,'2006-05-16 16:23:00','Merckx on the attack!',' (man, I like saying that). Merckx has caught and passed Joachim.'),(1268,35,'2006-05-16 16:26:00','Merckx is TT-ing his way toward the finish','He\'s descending like a mad man.'),(1269,35,'2006-05-16 16:27:47','Merckx has a gap','The Phonak man appears to have left the rest of the group behind. Meanwhile, despite Lampre\'s best efforts, it looks like the gap is holding... 3:22'),(1270,35,'2006-05-16 16:29:46','This finish really suits Merckx.','He is a phenomenal descender and he is strong as an ox, which will do him well on that last haul to the finish.'),(1271,35,'2006-05-16 16:32:12','Time gaps','We don\'t have a solid time gap between Merckx and the rest of the original escapees, but it\'s about 3:00 back to the peloton.'),(1272,35,'2006-05-16 16:32:56','Just 10 seconds','Merckx is just 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the group and 2:55 to the peloton.'),(1273,35,'2006-05-16 16:34:45','The two Liquigas riders','are driving the chase, but Merckx is holding on.'),(1274,35,'2006-05-16 16:35:19','With 6km to go','Merckx is holding on...'),(1275,35,'2006-05-16 16:36:19','Merckx holding on with 5km','Franco Pellizotti and Charles Wegelius (Liquigas) are realy motivated and chasing hard '),(1276,35,'2006-05-16 16:38:23','With 4km to go','Merckx is holding on, but the rest of the bunch is coming up fast'),(1277,35,'2006-05-16 16:39:37','Merckx has 12 seconds on the final descent','He is flying down this final drop before that tough little haul to the finish.\r\n\r\n12 seconds? Is that enough?'),(1278,35,'2006-05-16 16:39:48','Seven seconds',''),(1279,35,'2006-05-16 16:40:00','Peloton out of the picture today','The winner will emerge from the original break.'),(1280,35,'2006-05-16 16:41:29','Oh... this has to hurt','Merckx is on the final stretch, but it gets hard here... still at seven seconds.'),(1281,35,'2006-05-16 16:41:45','Five seconds',''),(1282,35,'2006-05-16 16:42:04','Oh one k to go!',''),(1283,35,'2006-05-16 16:42:54','He us driving hard...','but these guys are just a few meters back!'),(1284,35,'2006-05-16 16:43:05','500 meters to go',''),(1285,35,'2006-05-16 16:43:17','400 meters',''),(1286,35,'2006-05-16 16:43:58','200 meters and he\'s caught!',''),(1287,35,'2006-05-16 16:44:18','Pellizotti takes it!',''),(1288,35,'2006-05-16 16:44:52','Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas wins it','What a heart breaker....'),(1289,35,'2006-05-16 16:45:54','Pellizotti is going to move into the top 10','... the peloton is 1km from the finish and they are still 1:32 back'),(1290,35,'2006-05-16 16:47:07','Basso and CSC at the front...','...but Lampre pretty much its wad in the hills. Those guys faded just when it counted.'),(1291,35,'2006-05-16 16:48:00','Basso and the peloton are in at 3:24','Ivan Basso will hold on to the jersey. Pellizotti is the big winner, taking the stage and - by our calculation - moving into fourth overall. He was 5:48 down on GC and earned 3:24 and a time bonus. No matter what, though, your heart has to go out to Axel Merckx. '),(1292,36,'2006-05-18 14:00:25','Good day...',' And welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of the 11th stage of the 2006 Giro d’Italia, a long 50km race against the clock on flat ground through the Arno Valley between Pontedera and Pisa. \r\n\r\nToday should be a big test for Ivan Basso and his hold on the overall lead. It should also be a good indicator of the wisdom of Jan Ullrich’s decision to use the Giro to ride himself into shape for the Tour de France. As John Wilcockson mentioned in his preview, Ullrich checked this course out last month and declared it to be “perfect†for his talents. Now lets see if his form is up to it. Ullrich starts at 2:46 p.m. today and we’ll try to keep track of his progress over the course of the 50km.\r\n'),(1293,36,'2006-05-18 14:12:00','Current top 20','1. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n2. Marc Wauters (B), Rabobank, 1:01:50
\r\n3. Bert Roesems (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:02:00
\r\n4. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:02:30
\r\n5. Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 1:02:34
\r\n6. Alessandro Cortinovis (I), Milram, 1:03:10
\r\n7. William Bonnet (F), Credit Agricole, 1:03:15
\r\n8. Peter Mazur (Pol), Saunier Duval, 1:03:21
\r\n9. Leonardo Scarselli (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:03:39
\r\n10. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:03:56
\r\n11. Imanol Erviti (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 1:04:07
\r\n12. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, 1:04:10
\r\n13. Marco Fertonani (I), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 1:04:18
\r\n14. Serge Baguet (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:04:19
\r\n15. Christophe Edaleine (F), Credit Agricole, 1:04:21
\r\n16. Carlos Da Cruz (F), Francaise des Jeux, 1:04:42
\r\n17. Jan Kuyckx (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:04:46
\r\n18. Ronny Scholz (G), Gerolsteiner, 1:05:04
\r\n19. Nick Gates (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:05:14
\r\n20. Sven Krauss (G), Gerolsteiner, 1:05:14
\r\n'),(1294,36,'2006-05-18 14:25:00','Time for a contest','Looking at the current top-20 and their times might give you something\r\nof an indication of how fast the top riders will be doing today. Send an\r\ne-mail to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand tell us who you think will win today\'s stage and how much time it will\r\ntake him to complete today\'s 50km. Be sure to put the name and the time of the winner in the subject line of the e-mail.
We\'ll award the person who submitted the most accurate entry a Giro\r\nd\'Italia t-shirt and we\'ll sing your name from the rafters proclaiming your abilities as cyclo-prognosticator. Yup, that\'s a cheesy way of saying that from here on out we will be naming the winners in our live update window for the rest of the Giro. So if you have concerns about privacy (or don\'t want your boss to know that you really aren\'t working on that sales report) keep that in mind.
.\r\n
'),(1295,36,'2006-05-18 14:33:00','Current top 10','As you can see things haven\'t changed much over the past 15 minutes. Live Updates from Time Trials can be a bit dry for much of the early portions until the big GC riders come out, so we may have to seek another of our Daily Diversions.
Our long-timers will remember our past Limerick and Haiku contests. Let\'s try Limericks today. Our only\r\nrule is that you keep it clean (which is easy since there are no riders\r\nfrom Nantucket on the start list) and keep it focused on the Giro. Send\r\nyour entries to VNInteractive@InsideInc.com.\r\nWe are still sorting through the nearly 500 entries on our out-of-the-way-places\r\ncontest, by the way and we will announce a winner during tomorrow\'s stage.\r\nWe\'ll post a few of today\'s submissions today, though, so send them in.
\r\n1. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n2. Marc Wauters (B), Rabobank, 1:01:50
\r\n3. Bert Roesems (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:02:00
\r\n4. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:02:30
\r\n5. Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 1:02:34
\r\n6. Alessandro Cortinovis (I), Milram, 1:03:10
\r\n7. William Bonnet (F), Credit Agricole, 1:03:15
\r\n8. Peter Mazur (Pol), Saunier Duval, 1:03:21
\r\n9. Leonardo Scarselli (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:03:39
\r\n10. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:03:56
\r\n'),(1296,36,'2006-05-18 14:40:05','Hey, how \'bout that Tomas?','Notice by the way, that Stage\r\n9 winner Tomas Vaitkus has turned in a relatively strong performance\r\ntoday. Just 24, Vaitkus looks like he may be a name we need to get used\r\nto in coming years. He was the U-23 TT champion and, if this Giro is an\r\nindication, he is a heck of a sprinter. He\'s been in the mix on several\r\nstages and did great job winning that stage on Monday, beating Paolo Bettini\r\nto the line as well as Olaf Pollack and Robbie McEwen.'),(1299,36,'2006-05-18 15:05:02','Current leaders','1. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n2. David Dario David (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:01:12
\r\n3. Stef Clement (Nl), Bouygues Telecom, 1:01:28
\r\n4. Marc Wauters (B), Rabobank, 1:01:50
\r\n5. Bert Roesems (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:02:00
\r\n'),(1297,36,'2006-05-18 14:44:45','Current top 10','1. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n2. Stef Clement (Nl), Bouygues Telecom, 1:01:28
\r\n3. Marc Wauters (B), Rabobank, 1:01:50
\r\n4. Bert Roesems (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:02:00
\r\n5. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:02:30
\r\n6. Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 1:02:34
\r\n7. Alessandro Cortinovis (I), Milram, 1:03:10
\r\n8. William Bonnet (F), Credit Agricole, 1:03:15
\r\n9. Peter Mazur (Pol), Saunier Duval, 1:03:21
\r\n10. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:03:38
Not too many changes on the leader board, but Jan Ullrich is coming up in a few minutes. That could shake things up.\r\n'),(1298,36,'2006-05-18 14:52:00','Ullrich on his way','We\'ll try to get updates on his progress. Meanwhile, here are the times and current positions of the Americans who have finished so far.
16. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, 1:04:10
\r\n57. Aaron Olsen (USA), Saunier Duval, 1:06:43
\r\n58. Mc Carty Jonathan Patrick (USA), Phonak, 1:06:43
\r\n65. Jason Mccartney (USA), Discovery Channel, 1:06:59
\r\n77. Moises Aldape Chavez (MEX), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 1:07:45
\r\n78. Henk Vogels (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:07:46
\r\n
(Yeah, yeah, we know Henk Vogels is from Oz, but he also lives in Boulder, Colorado, sometimes and we thought we\'d include his name anyway.)'),(1300,36,'2006-05-18 15:10:21','Sumner Photos','Our man, Jason Sumner, is sending in some photos from Pisa today, so be sure to scroll down and take a gander.'),(1301,36,'2006-05-18 15:14:49','Ullrich at the time check','Jan Ullrich has hit time check No. 1 and has clocked the second-best time after 14.5 km, covering it in 17:36'),(1302,36,'2006-05-18 15:20:55','Hey, look at Eki\'','Viatcheslav Ekimov has come in with a 1:01:15, which is good enough for third so far. Not bad for a 40-year-old, eh?
1. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n2. David Dario Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:01:12
\r\n3. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 1:01:15
\r\n4. Stef Clement (Nl), Bouygues Telecom, 1:01:28
\r\n5. Marc Wauters (B), Rabobank, 1:01:50
\r\n'),(1303,36,'2006-05-18 15:30:00','Limmerick','We\'re starting to get a few Limmerick entries. A number of you are mentioning Der Kaiser\'s annual weight issues, as in Scott Scheer\'s submission
There was guy from Deutschland
Trying to win a Tour so grand
But it was not his fate
He’d gained too much weight
Thank God for elastic waistbands\r\n'),(1304,36,'2006-05-18 15:33:06','A new leader','Marco Pinotti has set a new mark
1. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
2. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
3. David Dario Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:01:12
4. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 1:01:15
5. Stef Clement (Nl), Bouygues Telecom, 1:01:28
\r\n'),(1305,36,'2006-05-18 15:39:06','Ullrich looking strong','Ullrich is riding like he wants to test his form today.'),(1306,36,'2006-05-18 15:43:55','Limmerick','Rich Fletcher\'s entry seems to suggest that the Giro has a longer history than we have long believed.
Small>There once was an Emperor, Nero
\r\nwho fancied himself quite the hero
\r\nbut prior to the bike
\r\nin chariots he\'d like
\r\nto vanquish his foes in the Giro
\r\n\r\n'),(1307,36,'2006-05-18 15:44:32','Ullrich heading into the finish.','He\'s had the best time checks at No. 2 and 3.'),(1308,36,'2006-05-18 15:46:00','58:48!','Ullrich beats Pinotti\'s time by 1:01.
1. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 58:48
2. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
3. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
4. David Dario Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:01:12
5. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 1:01:15
'),(1309,36,'2006-05-18 15:59:22','Simoni on course','Gilberto Simoni is on his way. Not the greatest time trialist, his mission will be to limit his losses on a course that doesn\'t particularly suit his talents.
Meanwhile, Michael Calore has offered up an item on a man who could be a sprint star of the future.
Who is this kid they call Vaitkus?
We all like him, does he like us?
Since he\'s beaten McEwen
He must know what he\'s doin\'
And old Pollack can just fume and cuss.
\r\n'),(1310,36,'2006-05-18 16:04:41','Jens Voigt finishes','The CSC man gets in at 1:01:00, third best of the day, so far, passing teammate Nicki Sorensen as he heads to the line.'),(1311,36,'2006-05-18 16:06:21','Savoldelli on route','Paolo Savoldelli has left the start house. Meanwhile, world TT champion, Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) is heading to the finish in a bit. We\'ll track that performance.'),(1312,36,'2006-05-18 16:07:59','Contest reminder','Send an e-mail to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand tell us who you think will win today\'s stage and how much time it will\r\ntake him to complete today\'s 50km. Be sure to put the name and the time of the winner in the subject line of the e-mail.
We\'ll award the person who submitted the most accurate entry a Giro d\'Italia t-shirt'),(1313,36,'2006-05-18 16:10:23','Current top 5','1. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 58:48
\r\n2. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
\r\n3. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 1:01:00
\r\n4. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n5. David Dario David (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:01:12
\r\n'),(1314,36,'2006-05-18 16:11:55','Cunego on his way','Damiano Cunego is on the road. He has already said that he\'ll be happy losing only three minutes. His goal, he says, is to attack like a mad man in the mountains.'),(1315,36,'2006-05-18 16:16:05','Basso','Fully decked out in pink, the final rider of the day is on his way. This should be good.'),(1316,36,'2006-05-18 16:25:41','Savoldelli at first time check','He hits the 14.5km mark 1:05 down from Ullrich\'s, doing it at 18:35'),(1317,36,'2006-05-18 16:30:24','Sandy Casar finishes','with a time of 1:01:40, eighth best of the day'),(1318,36,'2006-05-18 16:33:10','Cunego hits Check point No.1 at 20:08','Cunego has lost more than two minutes to Ullrich. The real measure as far as GC is concerned is Basso, though.'),(1319,36,'2006-05-18 16:34:44','Basso hits the time check at 18:11','... forty-one seconds slower than Ullrich.'),(1320,36,'2006-05-18 16:36:52','Petacchi visits the Giro','Using crutches, Alessandro Petacchi is visiting the finish-line today. He broke his patella and is recovering from surgery on his knee.'),(1321,36,'2006-05-18 16:42:00','Savoldelli hits time check No. 2','34:58, 1:02 off of the Kaiser\'s time. Meanwhile, Cunego is bing caught and passed by Gutierrez, who started a massive 2:30 behind him.'),(1322,36,'2006-05-18 16:49:11','Top five at the finish','1. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 58:48
\r\n2. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
\r\n3. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 1:01:00
\r\n4. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n5. David Dario Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:01:12
\r\n'),(1323,36,'2006-05-18 16:52:03','Basso at 28km','Basso at time check No. 2 34:24; Savoldelli, did a 34:28'),(1324,36,'2006-05-18 16:53:55','Chechu finishes','Discovery\'s Rubiera finishes with a time of 1:03:54... 44th'),(1325,36,'2006-05-18 16:55:52','Tom Danielson finishes','The American who started the day in 10th place, finishes with a time of 1:01:23... '),(1326,36,'2006-05-18 16:57:34','Top 10','1. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 58:48
\r\n2. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
\r\n3. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 1:01:00
\r\n4. Erik Gustav Erik (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:10
\r\n5. David Dario Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:01:12
\r\n6. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 1:01:15
\r\n7. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, 1:01:23
\r\n8. Stef Clement (Nl), Bouygues Telecom, 1:01:28
\r\n9. Sandy Casar (F), Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:40
\r\n10. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 1:01:45
\r\n'),(1327,36,'2006-05-18 17:03:50','Simoni comes with a time of','1:03:09, 29th fastest of the day.
Honchar comes in with a good time, finishing in 59:57, third fastest on the day.'),(1328,36,'2006-05-18 17:05:35','Di Luca','Finishes with a time of 1:04:01 - 51st on the day.'),(1329,36,'2006-05-18 17:06:35','Savoldelli','With the fourth fastest of the day so far.'),(1330,36,'2006-05-18 17:08:38','Top Five','1. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 58:48
\r\n2. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
\r\n3. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 59:57
\r\n4. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 1:00:07
\r\n5. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 1:01:00
\r\n'),(1331,36,'2006-05-18 17:10:00','Cunego is losing lots of time','He may even get caught by Basso - meaning he would lose a hefty five minutes.'),(1332,36,'2006-05-18 17:12:58','Pellizotti','The star of Tuesday\'s stage finishes in 1:03:48... five minutes off of Ullrich\'s time'),(1333,36,'2006-05-18 17:13:41','Basso catches Cunego','Ouch, that\'s gotta hurt.'),(1334,36,'2006-05-18 17:15:41','Basso','looks on track for the second-best time of the day... the big winner of the day, when it comes to the GC men'),(1335,36,'2006-05-18 17:16:55','59:16','Basso finishes 28 seconds behind Ullrich, but miles ahead of his biggest challengers in this Giro.'),(1336,36,'2006-05-18 17:18:58','Top five:','1. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 58:48
\r\n2. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 59:16
\r\n3. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
\r\n4. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 59:57
\r\n5. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 1:00:07
\r\n'),(1337,37,'2006-05-19 14:00:00','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of the 12th stage of the 2006 Giro d’Italia.\r\n\r\nToday’s 171km race from Livorno to Sestri Levante will throw up quite a number of tough challenges today. It’s not a mountain stage, but after a flat 100km opener, the stage hits La Spezia and then stage heads to the cliffs of the famed Cinque Terra coastline, with hundreds of twists and turns - and three significant climbs. \r\n\r\nThe last of these, the Valico Guaitarola, climbs 2000 feet in 9.5km at an average of 6.4 percent and tops out with 24km to go, more than half of that downhill, into the finish on the coast at Sestri Levante. \r\n\r\nWill we finally see Paulo Bettini nail one today?\r\n'),(1338,37,'2006-05-19 14:01:00','','With a relatively short stage ahead, the peloton was able to leave the start at a fairly civilized 12:45 today. The pace started out fairly high this afternoon and, as is usually the case, we saw an early break form and given the relatively un-threatening nature of this group, they were allowed to slip away. The pace has been at a steady 51kph. Now at 62km, the leaders have an advantage of 5:09. We\'ve listed the members of the break and their relative positions on GC.
One very interesting member of this group is Panaria\'s Emanuele Sella, who took a beautiful win in the 11th stage of the 2004 Giro, a stage not at all unlike what our riders are facing today. Sella, as you can see, is the highest on GC in this group of 15, so the group may not be allowed too much lattitude, given that the 25-year-old Sella is a known quantity, something he was not in his first year as a pro. Stay tuned. This might be good.\r\n22. Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, at 11:27\r\n
25. Wladimir Belli (I), Colombia - Selle Italia, at 12:29\r\n
26. Manuel Beltran Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 12:36\r\n
37. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., at 16:06\r\n
94. Joerg Ludewig (G), T-Mobile, at 47:44\r\n
53. Manuele Mori (I), Saunier Duval, at 23:39\r\n
68. Addy Engels (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 32:03\r\n
78. Fortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, at 39:18\r\n
107. Jonathan Patrick McCarty (USA), Phonak, at 52:57\r\n
118. Arnaud Labbe (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 56:00\r\n
125. Sven Krauss (G), Gerolsteiner, at 57:41\r\n
133. William Bonnet (F), Credit Agricole, at 1:01:41\r\n
159. Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 1:16:12\r\n
160. Mickael Delage (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 1:16:14\r\n
164. Alberto Ongarato (I), Milram, at 1:17:03'),(1339,37,'2006-05-19 14:14:50','The gap is holding','at just arounf the five-minute mark. Given Sellas rep\' and his spot on GC, that\'s probably the most these guys will get today. We\'ll see.'),(1340,37,'2006-05-19 14:21:34','Contest time!','It\'s time for our daily contest. Send your choice for today\'s stage winner\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line\r\nof your e-mail. We\'ll select one winner from all of the correct entries.\r\nToday\'s winner will receive a 1920s\r\nItalian National Champion Poster from The Horton Collection\r\n
The poster celebrates the career of the first of the great Italian\r\n“Campanissimo,†Constante Girardengo. The cool thing about this poster\r\nis that it\'s one of many and VeloPress will be issuing a book this fall\r\nwith some remarkable historic photography, from \"Cycling\'s Golden Era -\r\n1946-1967.\" It\'s something to look forward to. That sounds like a shameless\r\ncommercial plug and perhaps it is, but we saw the page proofs the other\r\nday and it sure made my inner bike-geek happy.'),(1341,37,'2006-05-19 14:24:12','A big thank you to Jason Sumner','Jason Sumner, who has been part of the VeloNews Giro crew since Stage 1 is peeling off and heading to Belgium today. He\'s covering the World Cup mountain bike race this weekend. He\'s done great work and we wanted to extend our thanks. Andrew Hood is on deck, of course, as is the Live Update Guy and photographer Graham Watson. Thanks again, Jason. It\'s been a pleasure. '),(1342,37,'2006-05-19 14:26:54','The gap','has grown a bit. With 100km to go, the leaders are now 6:20 ahead of the peloton.'),(1343,37,'2006-05-19 14:35:27','At 95km to go','The leaders are still adding to their advantage - albeit by small bits - and are now 6:35 ahead of the field.'),(1344,37,'2006-05-19 14:40:08','Our out-of-the-way places contest','We haven\'t forgotten about all of the entries submitted the other day. You guys are checking in from all over the world and it\'s always a gas to imagine the audience out there. Several of you are sneaking a look at the stage from work and we\'re thankful to all of those IT guys who, through the kindness of their hearts or by simple oversight, have not blocked employees\' access to VeloNews.com. As you know, bike geeks are a productive lot and even these minor distractions won\'t compromise the fact that you guys are still doing more work than all those guys in the other cubicles playing fantasy baseball during working hours.
We\'ll start popping some of the more unusual entries up on the site... (and we\'ll do you all the courtesy of leaving your names off of the entries, in case your boss is checking in, too.)'),(1345,37,'2006-05-19 14:44:48','The road ahead','Our 15 escapees are still moving toward today\'s feedzone at the 90km mark. After that the road takes an upward turn and we\'ll see how long this group holds together. Again, if the gap is good enough, we might see Sella emerge the winner on the day, but the Quick Step boys may want to see their guy, Paolo Bettini, get a win today. He\'s been so close, too many times this Giro. Besides, with all of that Olympic gold bling he\'s sporting - gold helmet, gold shoes, gold highlights on the bike - he has a rep\' to uphold.'),(1346,37,'2006-05-19 14:50:48','Contest Reminder','Be sure to send your choice for today\'s stage winner\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line\r\nof your e-mail. We\'ll select one winner from all of the correct entries.\r\nToday\'s winner will receive a 1920s\r\nItalian National Champion Poster from The Horton Collection\r\n
No entries accepted after the 10-km-to-go mark.
Congratulations to yesterday\'s winner, Mary Harris.'),(1347,37,'2006-05-19 14:53:08','Gap is holding at 6:42',''),(1348,37,'2006-05-19 15:00:00','With 71km to go','The leaders have covered 100km of today\'s stage and are entering the hills with an advantage of 6:51.
Meanwhile, reader Judith Sullivan sent in this Limerick after yesterday\'s TT:Our friend Damiano Cunego
\r\n'),(1349,37,'2006-05-19 15:10:00','With 2km to go on the climb','Our last time check gives the lead group of 15 an advantage of 7:05.'),(1350,37,'2006-05-19 15:20:00','Over the Biassa','The peloton has reached the top of the climb up Biassa exactly 7:00 behind the break.'),(1351,37,'2006-05-19 15:22:44','CSC doing the work','in the peloton. The CSC tream of race leader Ivan Basso is taking full responsibility at the front of the field. '),(1352,37,'2006-05-19 15:27:00','The peloton','Have reached the \"InterGiro\" mark 6:47 behind the leaders. While the \"sprint\" mark is not on a rated climb, it\'s been a steady grind up there. CSC is still doing the work up there.'),(1353,37,'2006-05-19 15:30:19','Up front','The hills and the pace in the break are beginning to take their toll on some of the men in the lead group. Labbe, Bonnet and Delage are struggling to hang on as they hit the 119 mark.'),(1354,37,'2006-05-19 15:43:00','Beautiful roads','The fog is rolling in on these beautiful coastal roads. The roads are winding through the cliffs Cinque Terra National Park - now a World Heritage sight. The gap is holding at around 7:00. The lead group has been trimmed to 12:\r\nEmanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare
Was hoping he wouldn\'t ride TOO slow.
He started out fine
But ere reaching the line
He\'d lost more than five minutes to Basso!
\r\nWladimir Belli (I), Colombia - Selle Italia
\r\nManuel Beltran Martinez (Sp), Discovery
\r\nJoan Horrach Rippoll (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne
\r\nJoerg Ludewig (G), T-Mobile
\r\nManuele Mori (I), Saunier Duval
\r\nAddy Engels (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\nFortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria
\r\nJonathan Patrick McCarty (USA), Phonak
\r\nSven Krauss (G), Gerolsteiner
\r\nPatrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi
\r\nAlberto Ongarato (I), Milram
Mickael Delage (F), Francaise des Jeux and William Bonnet (F), Credit Agricole are at 2:05 and Arnaud Labbe (F), Bouygues Telecom trails by another minute.
'),(1355,37,'2006-05-19 15:47:15','Gap is shrinking.','The CSC team is beginning to chip away at the leaders\' advantage. The 12 men up front are 6:24 ahead of the field, with the three men dropped at 2:05 and 3:01.'),(1356,37,'2006-05-19 15:52:47','On the drop','Both the lead group and the peloton are on the descent into Levanto, which will be followed by the climb to Valico Guaitarola. The gap is holding at 6:55. It looks like these guys may hold it. Now you have to start looking at who in that break can benefit from the long descent to the finish.'),(1357,37,'2006-05-19 15:56:57','Leaders at 35km to go','The 12 leaders are at the 35km to go mark and are working their way up the climb to the KOM at the Valico Guaitarola.'),(1358,37,'2006-05-19 16:02:21','Sella setting a strong tempo','Sella is setting a pretty strong pace at the front of the escape group. The group is holding together, though. The gap remains at 6:53, so we\'re not going to see a catch. The winners will emerge from this group.'),(1359,37,'2006-05-19 16:03:49','McCarty is getting dropped','The lone American in this escape group has slipped off the back. Of course, he has 20+ km to catch on the descent.'),(1360,37,'2006-05-19 16:08:18','McCarty hangng on','The Phonak man is holding on to the back of the group. Back in the peloton, Sergei Honchar has slipped off of the back of the main group. He reportedly crashed earlier in the day.
Take a look at the botton of the screen. Jason Sumner, sitting in his hotel and working on his magazine stories sent us a few photos, including a couple he took from his hotel today, as the race passed beneath his window. It\'s tough work.'),(1361,37,'2006-05-19 16:09:29','DiLuca','Danilo Di Luca jas atacked out of the main field on the climb. Bettini and Cunego has joined him... but the CSC boys are slowly pulling these guys back.'),(1362,37,'2006-05-19 16:12:07','The Di Luca group','is charging hard and getting a bit of a gap.'),(1363,37,'2006-05-19 16:13:38','The leaders','Are working their way up the climb. The pace is high, but the group remains intact.'),(1364,37,'2006-05-19 16:16:31','The lead group is shrinking','The lead group is down to six as they near the top of the Cat. 2 KOM.'),(1365,37,'2006-05-19 16:20:00','Over the top','Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare
\r\nWladimir Belli (I), Colombia - Selle Italia
\r\nJoan Horrach Rippoll (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne
\r\nFortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria
\r\nManuele Mori (I), Saunier Duval
\r\nAddy Engels (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\nhave crested the hill with about 30 seconds on the other six in the original break. Ahead is a dicey descent.
We\'ll try get a time gap to the peloton when they reach the top.\r\n'),(1366,37,'2006-05-19 16:22:14','The Di Luca attack','has managed to trim the main bunch to about 50 riders. Our most recent time check puts the main group at 5:53 behind the leaders.'),(1367,37,'2006-05-19 16:28:56','Correction','The make-up of the lead group of six is:
Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare
\r\nWladimir Belli (I), Colombia - Selle Italia
\r\nJoan Horrach Rippoll (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne
\r\nFortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria
\r\nManuele Mori (I), Saunier Duval
\r\nAddy Engels (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\n\r\nWe had incorrectly listed the T-Mobile man Ludewig in there. The fact that Baliani is in there means that Panaria has two riders up there. They have 35 seconds on the chase group. The peloton is at 6:00.'),(1368,37,'2006-05-19 16:30:42','The maglia rosa group','is at 6:02 and has been trimmed to about 45 riders, including Jan Ullrich.'),(1369,37,'2006-05-19 16:31:46','Up front','Emanuele Sella and Manuele Mori have moved ahead and have about 10 seconds on the other four'),(1370,37,'2006-05-19 16:32:20','15km to go','For the two leaders.'),(1371,37,'2006-05-19 16:33:03','20km to go for the peloton',''),(1372,37,'2006-05-19 16:35:30','Sella and Mori','Have 13 seconds on the four chasers and another 30 on the other six remnants of the break. The peloton is at 5:55'),(1373,37,'2006-05-19 16:36:49','The two leaders','have 11 seconds of the chase group.'),(1374,37,'2006-05-19 16:38:02','The two leaders are cooperating','With 10 km to go, the two men up front are riding quite well together...even sharing water.'),(1375,37,'2006-05-19 16:39:15','Oh these roads','This descent is beautiful, winding through lush coastal forests. The two leaders are now 15 seconds ahead of the four chasers.'),(1376,37,'2006-05-19 16:39:32','Peloton at 6:34',''),(1377,37,'2006-05-19 16:40:13','Crash!','Both leaders have crashed....'),(1378,37,'2006-05-19 16:41:19','Both men are up','but they\'ve been caught by three riders.'),(1379,37,'2006-05-19 16:42:19','These roads','Beautiful as they are, these final kilometers are really, really twisty and quite dangerous.'),(1380,37,'2006-05-19 16:43:25','Mori crashes again!!!!!','and he takes down Sella again.'),(1381,37,'2006-05-19 16:45:04','Sella and Mori up and chasing.',''),(1382,37,'2006-05-19 16:46:30','Up front','Wladimir Belli (I), Colombia - Selle Italia
\r\nJoan Horrach Rippoll (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne
\r\nFortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria
\r\nAddy Engels (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic
have a 20-second lead on the two chasers. The peloton is at 6:38\r\n'),(1383,37,'2006-05-19 16:47:35','Belli attacks with 2km to go','Sella\'s teammate Fortunato Baliani chases.'),(1384,37,'2006-05-19 16:48:16','With 1.5km to go','The four leaders are together. The two chasers are at 10 seconds.'),(1385,37,'2006-05-19 16:48:41','Angles attacks at 1km to go.',''),(1386,37,'2006-05-19 16:49:31','Horach counters...','... as Sella an Mori rejoin the group.'),(1387,37,'2006-05-19 16:50:00','Horach wins...','What an amazing last few km.\r\n
Sella misses out on the stage win, but moves up on GC. Hopefully he didn\'t do any damage in that crash. '),(1388,37,'2006-05-19 16:54:00','Peloton still out there','4:30 after the winner crosses the line the peloton is still on the road with a bit more than 2 km to go. It looks like Sella will be in the top 10 and, assuming he didn\'t do any damage in those wrecks, he\'ll be a factor of the next few days.'),(1389,37,'2006-05-19 16:55:27','6:00 and counting.',''),(1390,37,'2006-05-19 16:56:00','The peloton finishes at 7:05...',''),(1391,38,'2006-05-20 14:20:00','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live coverage of the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia, a 218km race from Alessandria to La Thuile. As you can see from the profile, the route takes a gradual rise up to the finale, the 10.5km Colle San Carlo, which averages almost 10 percent (with a maximum pitch of 15 percent), tops out at 6400 feet and is followed by an 8km drop into the finish at La Thuile, not far from the French border. \r\n\r\nThis sort of downhill charge to the finish should suit the talents of defending champion Paolo Savoldelli, but that’s assuming his bout with spring-time allergies has cleared up and he is able to hang with the likes of Ivan Basso, Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni on the climb.\r\n'),(1392,38,'2006-05-20 14:21:00','An attack at KM80','After an 11:40 start this morning, the peloton has maintained a relatively high speed and it wasn\'t until kilometer 80 or so that the day\'s first real break was able to get enough distance to stay off the front of the field.
Triggered by a move from by Lampre\'s Bruseghin, a group of six has formed off the front and now, at 108km, the escapees have an advantage of 2:56. As you can see from their current GC standings, Bruseghin is the highest placed in 27th at 12:50.
27. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, at 12:50
67. Jose Serpa (Col), Selle Italia, at 35:28
68. Christian Knees (G), Milram, at 38:49
85. Benoit Poilvet (F), Credit Agricole, at 44:39
112. Olivier Bonnaire (F), Bouygues, at 1:02:19
129. Jose Julia Cegarra (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, at 1:07:30
\r\n'),(1396,38,'2006-05-20 14:52:17','Correction','We misidentified the composition of the break. That is not Calzati in there. It\'s Marzio Bruseghin from Lampre. Since he\'s 12:50 back on GC, the leash probably won\'t be as loose as we originally figured. The group now has 5:48 on the peloton with 136 of 218 km covered.\r\n'),(1393,38,'2006-05-20 14:22:00','The Aussies','Michael Rogers - the Australian from T-Mobile who holds the rainbow jersey for the individual time trial - has withdrawn from the race today as has three-stage-winner Robbie McEwen. The Davitamon-Lotto sprinter said he has been suffering from stomach problems and decided this was time to go home to Belgium and prepare for the Tour de France.
Of course, McEwen\'s departure changes the points contest here at the Giro and Paolo Bettini, the reigning Olympic champion, takes over in that contest. Here\'s a look at the points race as of last night
Overall Points
\r\n1. Robbie Mcewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 89 Pts.
\r\n2. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 86 Pts.
\r\n3. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 73 Pts.
\r\n4. Olaf Pollack (G), T-Mobile, 68 Pts.
\r\n5. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit), Ag2r Prevoyance, 60 Pts
'),(1394,38,'2006-05-20 14:33:00','Daily Contest','It\'s time for another VeloNews.com Daily Winner contest. Surprisingly,\r\nno one turned in the right choice yesterday, so we\'ll award two\r\nprizes today.\r\n
Please choose the name of today\'s winner and send that in an e-mail\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of the winner in the subject line of\r\nyour e-mail.\r\n
We will randomly chose two winners from the correct submissions and\r\nsend each of you a copy of an original\r\nGiro d\'Italia poster.
Remember. No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark'),(1395,38,'2006-05-20 14:34:55','Leaders at km 117','The six men in the escape group have now extended their advantage to 5:25.'),(1397,38,'2006-05-20 14:56:26','Another non-starter','Marcos Serrano (Liberty Seguros) did not start this morning, either. He was sitting in 54th place at 26:39.
On the McEwen front, Davitamon team manager Herman Frison said Saturday: \"He\'s going home to Belgium to rest. After that he will ride the Tour of Switzerland then the Tour de France.\"\r\n'),(1398,38,'2006-05-20 15:06:02','Gap is coming down','The peloton is beginning to pull these guys back a bit. The gap has started coming down and at km 150, the leaders are 5:00 ahead of the main field.'),(1399,38,'2006-05-20 15:13:50','Weather','It\'s beginning to rain and some riders are putting on rain gear. The Saunier Duval team has taken up chase duties, with the CSC squad doing a bit of the work as well. The chase is not frantic, but it looks like the Saunier guys want to set up Gilberto Simoni for today\'s climb up the Colle San Carlo.'),(1400,38,'2006-05-20 15:21:12','With 55km to go','The gap is holding at around 5:00. The Liquigas team is moving up in the peloton to lend a hand. Lampre has a guy in the break, so that team isn\'t doing much. Is Bruseghin up there to lend a hand to Cunego on the climb?'),(1401,38,'2006-05-20 15:31:17','Rain','It\'s not a heavy rain out there right now, but it is making the roads wet. It\'s raining on top of the Colle San Carlo, which could make the descent a little dangerous. The drop off of the summit includes 13 tight switchbacks, which will put handling skills to the test. Given yesterday\'s finish, we can expect folks to give Manuele Mori a bit of room on that descent.'),(1402,38,'2006-05-20 15:42:40','The gap is at 4:31','... but the peloton isn\'t really driving the pace, with some riders peeling off and taking \"nature breaks.\" '),(1403,38,'2006-05-20 15:48:14','Pace picking up','The pace in the peloton is picking up, with Liquigas and Saunier Duval setting tempo. The gap is down to 4:15. Of the leaders, Serpa is the best bet to stay away on the hill, but he\'ll have some real climbing power coming up behind him. The leaders are at 40km to go.'),(1404,38,'2006-05-20 15:52:35','The Alps are looming','The gap is down to 3:45 with 38km to go.'),(1405,38,'2006-05-20 15:57:44','Lordy it\'s beautiful here','The peloton is riding through some beautiful countryside, with the landscape dotted by castles, churches and typical Alpine houses in St. Pierre.'),(1406,38,'2006-05-20 15:59:19','The gap is still dropping','With the Saunier Duval and Liquigas teams driving at the front, it\'s beginning to look like the break will be caught on the slopes of the climb.'),(1407,38,'2006-05-20 16:03:36','Basso relaxed','With the Saunier Duval and Liquigas teams doing the bulk of the work, race leader Ivan Basso looks very relaxed. The Cat 1 climb ahead will undoubtedly change things. It\'s raining up on top and the temperatures on the summit are in the mid-40s.'),(1408,38,'2006-05-20 16:06:19','With 30km','the leaders are 2:54 ahead of the main field.'),(1409,38,'2006-05-20 16:08:56','The peloton','reaches the 30km-to-go mark at 2:52.'),(1410,38,'2006-05-20 16:14:21','Rain, rain','The rain is really coming down at the finish. That means that the rain is much heavier on the other side of the pass and that will make the descent something to worry about. Certainly Ivan Basso isn\'t going to take undue risks there. The Liquigas team is driving hard at the front of the peloton and the gap is at 2:35.'),(1411,38,'2006-05-20 16:16:45','Peloton at 2:24','The peloton has hit the 25km to go mark at 2:24'),(1412,38,'2006-05-20 16:20:26','Raining hard','as the peloton speeds toward the day\'s big climb, the Category 1 Colle San Carlo'),(1413,38,'2006-05-20 16:22:28','The Discos','The Discovery team is coming up to the front. Matt White, Tom Danielson and another Discovery rider are picking up the pace as the peloton begins to work its way toward the lower slopes of the climb.'),(1414,38,'2006-05-20 16:23:37','CSC now','Sastre, Julich and Basso have moved to the front. The pace is high as the leaders reach the 20km to go mark.'),(1415,38,'2006-05-20 16:24:47','Just 58 seconds','The peloton is at 20km to go and the gap is down to 58 seconds.'),(1416,38,'2006-05-20 16:25:56','CSC driving','The peloton is speeding along on this final stretch of flats.'),(1417,38,'2006-05-20 16:27:24','On the climb','The leaders have started the climb and Bruseghin and Serpa have moved off the front. They have but 48 seconds on the peloton, though.'),(1418,38,'2006-05-20 16:28:44','Heyyyyy','There\'s our buddy Didi Senft, the \"Devil.\" The peloton is already sweeping up several of the riders in the break. Bruseghin and Serpa are still off the front.\r\n'),(1419,38,'2006-05-20 16:30:36','The peloton','Is being led by CSC and all of the big players - Basso, Di Luca, Savoldelli, Gutierrez - are all there as they continue to chip away at the remaining leaders\' advantage. Rujano has moved up front and is trying to bridge up to his teammate Serpa.'),(1420,38,'2006-05-20 16:33:00','Contact!','Serpa and Rujano are together and working nicely together. We\'ll try to get some time gaps off of these two.'),(1421,38,'2006-05-20 16:33:56','Pop!','There goes Serpa... he\'s been caught, so Rujano is on his own... and not but 100 meters ahead of the field.'),(1422,38,'2006-05-20 16:35:03','Savoldelli dropped','Defending Giro champion Paolo Savoldelli has been dropped by an elite cadre of 18 riders at the front of the race. Danielson is dropping back to help. '),(1423,38,'2006-05-20 16:36:11','Rujano caught','So the Basso group is in the lead... and they\'ve dropped Cunego. Basso, meanwhile has two teammates setting tempo up there. Di Luca is holding his own.'),(1424,38,'2006-05-20 16:38:21','Wet, wet, wet','The descent to the finish at La Thuile is getting a good soaking.
Meanwhile, the Basso group contains both Simoni and Di Luca.'),(1425,38,'2006-05-20 16:40:11','Basso has one teammate','Carlos Sastre is setting tempo for Basso. In there are Pieppoli and Simoni from Saunier Duval.'),(1426,38,'2006-05-20 16:41:32','Basso','Basso is stepping up the pace... and Simoni is slipping back.'),(1427,38,'2006-05-20 16:43:24','Basso is at the front','With a big smile on his face is driving hard at the front. He has Simoni and Rujano there. Meanwhile, with Danielson at his side, Savoldelli is now 55 seconds behind the Basso group.'),(1428,38,'2006-05-20 16:45:16','Basso','Basso has Piepoli on his wheel... and that\'s it. Simoni has fallen off. Di Luca is 20 seconds back, Cunego is 35 seconds back and Savoldelli is now more than 1:00 behind.'),(1429,38,'2006-05-20 16:47:02','Basso and Piepoli','Are moving off. Obviously the Saunier Duval man isn\'t doing any work, since he\'s got his team leader trailing by 15 seconds.'),(1430,38,'2006-05-20 16:48:50','It\'s raining hard','and it\'s cold at top. The two leaders are working their way up the climb. We may see the overall leader playing it safe on the descent and a group catching on as he heads to the finish.'),(1431,38,'2006-05-20 16:49:51','Simoni at 48 seconds','He\'s there with DiLuca and it looks like Cunego. Gutierrez is at 55 seconds. Savoldelli is at 1:20.'),(1432,38,'2006-05-20 16:51:00','Two leaders are 3km from the summit','Simoni is at 48 seconds. Meanwhile Cunego is at 1:40 and Paolo Savoldelli is at 2:14.'),(1433,38,'2006-05-20 16:54:03','Basso and Piepoli','are at the 10km to go mark.'),(1434,38,'2006-05-20 16:55:41','Simoni','is at about 1:15 and he has been joined by Gutierrez'),(1435,38,'2006-05-20 16:57:25','Basso still setting tempo','Basso seemingly ignoring Piepoli, the race leader is heading toward the summit'),(1436,38,'2006-05-20 16:58:53','Gutierrez and Simoni','are 1:15 behind the two men at the front. Gutierrez is looking stronger than Simoni.'),(1437,38,'2006-05-20 16:59:41','Basso over the top',''),(1438,38,'2006-05-20 17:01:53','Gutierrez and Simoni','over the top at 1:25. Up ahead, Piepoli has moved off the front as Basso is being very cautious on the way down. Can you blame him?'),(1439,38,'2006-05-20 17:03:42','Basso by himself','as Piepoli is taking a few more chances than is the race leader. Meanwhile it looks like Cunego has lost close to 2:00. '),(1440,38,'2006-05-20 17:04:09','Savoldelli at 3:00','as was Cunego.'),(1441,38,'2006-05-20 17:05:32','Piepoli through the switchbacks','and he has about 30 seconds on Basso. Basso has the overall to worry about, so Piepoli may hold this to the finish, but the roads are nice and wide now.'),(1442,38,'2006-05-20 17:07:00','Rain','It\'s still raining hard today and it would take a big, big gamble to make up much time. With 3km to go, Piepoli has 35 seconds and 1:30 on Simoni.'),(1443,38,'2006-05-20 17:07:48','Two kilometers remaining','Gutierrez and Simoni are chasing hard.'),(1444,38,'2006-05-20 17:08:50','Piepoli holding a gap','Piepoli looks set to win the stage. He\'s flying into the final kilometer.'),(1445,38,'2006-05-20 17:09:40','Piepoli wins','Saunier Duval\'s Piepoli wins the 13th stage of the Giro.\r\n'),(1446,38,'2006-05-20 17:10:18','Basso finishes at 43 seconds',''),(1447,38,'2006-05-20 17:11:04','Simoni and Gutierrez at 1:20',''),(1448,38,'2006-05-20 17:12:02','Scarponi, Pelizotti and Gadret at 2:16',''),(1449,38,'2006-05-20 17:12:33','Savoldelli comes in at 2:36','He finishes with Cunego.'),(1450,38,'2006-05-20 17:13:23','Danielson at 3:24 and Di Luca at around 3:30',''),(1451,38,'2006-05-20 17:15:02','Basso\'s lead solidifies','It looks like Basso has extended his lead on GC to 3:27 over second-placed Gutierrez.'),(1452,38,'2006-05-20 19:27:39','The damage:','1. Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 5:21:12
\r\n2. Basso (I), CSC, at 0:44
\r\n3. Gutierrez (Sp), Phonak, at 1:19
\r\n4. Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 1:19
\r\n5. Scarponi (I), Liberty Seguros, at 2:09
Overall
1. Basso (I), CSC, 49:53:36
\r\n2. Gutierrez (Sp), Phonak, at 3:27
\r\n3. Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, at 5:30
\r\n4. Belli (I), Colombia - Selle Italia, at 7:35
\r\n5. Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 8:00
\r\n\r\n'),(1453,39,'2006-05-21 14:15:00','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 14th stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia. Today\'s stage is a 218km race into, and back out of, Switzerland by first crossing St. Bernard Pass, followed by a long ride up the Rhône Valley to Brig, where the the peloton faces a final challenge up and over Simplon Pass. This 20km climb averages 6.6 percent, but max\'s out at 12 percent. After the summit, the finish is still another 46km, but most of that is on a fast descent back into Italy, so we could see an early break making it in for the win.
Speaking of which, we saw an early break leave today on the climb of the St. Bernard. Now working their way up the Rhône valley and at km 112, the group has a nearly 8:00 advantage over the main field. Of the men in the break, Sandy Casar is the highest on GC, sitting in 21st at 15:44.
21. Sandy Casar (FdJ), at 15:44
\r\n29. Paolo Tiralongo (Lampre), at 23:09
\r\n46. Ivan Parra (Cofidis), at 32:19
\r\n50. Francisco Sanchez (Caisse d\'Epargne), at 35:24
\r\n55. Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria), at 41:55
\r\n64. Johann Tschopp (Phonak), at 46:03
\r\n66. Iker Flores Galarza (Euskaltel), at 49:14
\r\n73. Steve Zampieri (Phonak), at 53:53
\r\n76. Luis Felipe Laverde (Ceramica Panaria), at 55:19
\r\n80. Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner), at 58:53
\r\n82. Raffaele Illiano (Selle Italia), at 59:55
\r\n'),(1454,39,'2006-05-21 14:32:00','At 124km','The lead group is holding on to an 8:00 lead over the peloton.
Here\'s a quick run down of those riders who did not start or have abandoned today:
Vladimir Miholjevic (Liquigas), Moises Aldape Chavez (Panaria) and Giovanni Bernaudeau (Bouygues Telecom) did not start today, while Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner), Andoni Azkune Aranaga (Euskaltel) and Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis) have abandoned. Scheirlinckx had apparently crashed, but was able to remount and ride for a while before giving up and heading home. He had a good run, holding the KOM jersey for a couple of days before conceding it to Ivan Basso.'),(1455,39,'2006-05-21 14:36:03','Contest','It\'s time again for our daily contest on VeloNews.com. Send the name of\r\nthe rider you think will win today\'s stage to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand be sure to include that name in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n
We\'ll randomly chose one from the correct entries and award the winner\r\na copy of Andy\r\nPruitt’s Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists'),(1456,39,'2006-05-21 14:37:10','Steady progress','Our 11 leaders have bumped up their lead t 8:37 and the 131km mark.'),(1457,39,'2006-05-21 14:50:43','The leaders are holding advantage','The 11 leaders are working well together as they wind their way up the Rhône Valley. They are holding on to a nice buffer as they head to today\'s second climb. This break might be one that survives. They already have a better gap than the 6:00 minutes yesterday\'s break reached at its best and the peloton doesn\'t seem intent on chasing these guys down. While the group will undoubtedly fracture on the final climb up Simplon Pass, this was a group that formed on the slopes of the St. Bernard, so there is some climbing prowess in this break.'),(1458,39,'2006-05-21 14:58:00','Signs of success?','The gap continues to grow as the men in the break have reached the 150km mark. They are now 9:15 ahead of the peloton.'),(1459,39,'2006-05-21 15:17:16','On the climb','The leaders are on the slopes of the Simplon Pass and climbing with an advantage of 7:55 on the main field. It\'s beginning to break up in the group, but it looks like they entered the climb with enough of a buffer to crest the climb with an advantage.'),(1460,39,'2006-05-21 15:21:22','Parra fades','Ivan Parra has dropped off the lead group having a bit of difficulty holding the pace. The peloton, meanwhile, has reached the slopes of the climb with CSC setting tempo at the front. Basso has a full team with him. The gap is now 7:15'),(1461,39,'2006-05-21 15:26:18','With 14km of climbing to go','The gap is coming down and the leaders are now 7:05 ahead of the peloton. CSC is still setting tempo at the front.'),(1462,39,'2006-05-21 15:27:21','Parra rejoins','Parra has reached the lead group as the slope moderates a bit.'),(1463,39,'2006-05-21 15:29:41','Iker Flores moves off the front','Iker Flores Galarza (Euskaltel) has moved ahead of the breakaway group and with a long road ahead, none of his former break-away companions seems interested in giving chase. Meanwhile, CSC is keeping a close watch on the peloton.'),(1464,39,'2006-05-21 15:32:08','Flores is at 15 seconds','Flores is moving ahead of the rest of the break, but it\'s not a brutal pace he\'s setting. He\'s got a long way to go.'),(1465,39,'2006-05-21 15:34:00','With 51km to go','and about 5km to go on the climb, Flores is holding on to a 15-second lead. Back in the field, no one is challenging the primacy of Ivan Basso or the CSC team with is doing the bulk of the work at the front.'),(1466,39,'2006-05-21 15:41:29','Flores to be caught','Flores, who has never really set a brutal tempo on the climb, has been caught by the rest of the break. The peloton remains under the thumb of CSC.'),(1467,39,'2006-05-21 15:44:13','Pace picking up','Johann Tschopp (Phonak) and Raffaele Illiano (Selle Italia) tried a dig, but the group pulled them back. Schumacher - once in the maglia rosa - is now setting tempo at the front. CSC still has five riders setting tempo at the front of the peloton.'),(1468,39,'2006-05-21 15:50:03','CSC still up front','The peloton is working its way up the climb. None of Basso\'s potential challengers seems willing to risk an attack. Indeed, they seem somewhat resigned to the fact that attacks end up costing them more than they might gain, as underscored the other day when Cunego launched a blistering charge only to be caught and left behind by Ivan Basso. With five teammates at his side, Basso seems to be fully in control of the peloton.'),(1469,39,'2006-05-21 15:51:00','With 1km of climbing to go...','The gap to the leaders is bumping up and is now at 8:15. It looks quite likely that today\'s winner will emerge from the day\'s early break.'),(1470,39,'2006-05-21 15:53:36','Parra fades again','Parra is the one rider who has had a difficult time holding the pace in the lead group.'),(1471,39,'2006-05-21 15:57:45','Up and over','The lead group is over the top of the climb. The CSC team is keeping things at a moderate pace in the peloton and the gap has grown to 8:45.'),(1472,39,'2006-05-21 15:59:50','Jackets on and descending','The 11 leaders are over the top, have slipped on jackets and are zooming down the 40km descent. The roads are in great condition and there is only a little bit of rain at the summit. It looks like a relatively safe ride.'),(1473,39,'2006-05-21 16:02:41','Nice roads','It\'s a bit on the chilly side with clouds and altitude keeping things cool, but the roads are dry, smooth and quite wide.'),(1474,39,'2006-05-21 16:10:08','Peloton crests at 8:15','The peloton was controlled all the way up the climb by the CSC team. These roads don\'t really offer much opportunity for a gutsy descender like Savoldelli to make a lot of time.'),(1475,39,'2006-05-21 16:13:38','With 25km to go','The leaders are flying toward the finish and actually extending their advantage over the peloton.'),(1476,39,'2006-05-21 16:20:15','Jackets coming off','With the leaders approaching the 20km to go mark, they\'re pulling off jackets and getting last-minute instructions from their respective directors in team cars. With the peloton not a factor in this stage at this point, we will see the winner emerge from this bunch. Note that Casar started the day 15:44 behind Basso on GC. The peloton is now at 9:10, so the Frenchman will likely move into the top ten and quite possibly the top five today.'),(1477,39,'2006-05-21 16:21:00','19km to go...','We will be getting a time check on the peloton when they come through 20km to go, but they only just came through the 30km to go mark a few minutes ago.'),(1478,39,'2006-05-21 16:22:16','CSC still up front','The CSC team is setting the pace up front as the peloton cross through the 25km to go mark.'),(1479,39,'2006-05-21 16:24:22','Julich setting tempo up front','in the peloton, Basso has a full squad with him as the CSC team really did shut things down on the climb.'),(1480,39,'2006-05-21 16:26:12','Leaders have 15km to go','The 11 leaders have just hit the 15km to go banner. '),(1481,39,'2006-05-21 16:29:22','Peloton at 20km to go','The peloton has just passed through the 20km-to-go mark. Ahead the slope is easing off a bit and we\'re about to see these fellas jockeying for position with the finish coming up.'),(1482,39,'2006-05-21 16:34:02','9km to go','The leaders are still together with 9km to go. No one has tried an attack.'),(1483,39,'2006-05-21 16:34:00','oooop... there goes Parra!','He struggled on the climb, but Parra is feeling a bit randy here on the flats. The peloton, meanwhile is at 8:28.'),(1484,39,'2006-05-21 16:35:22','Parra is caught',''),(1485,39,'2006-05-21 16:37:04','Parra still pushing the pace','But he has a long line on his wheel.'),(1486,39,'2006-05-21 16:38:00','Six km to go','Just to review, this is who we have in the lead group:
21. Sandy Casar (FdJ), at 15:44
\r\n29. Paolo Tiralongo (Lampre), at 23:09
\r\n46. Ivan Parra (Cofidis), at 32:19
\r\n50. Francisco Sanchez (Caisse d\'Epargne), at 35:24
\r\n55. Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria), at 41:55
\r\n64. Johann Tschopp (Phonak), at 46:03
\r\n66. Iker Flores Galarza (Euskaltel), at 49:14
\r\n73. Steve Zampieri (Phonak), at 53:53
\r\n76. Luis Felipe Laverde (Ceramica Panaria), at 55:19
\r\n80. Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner), at 58:53
\r\n82. Raffaele Illiano (Selle Italia), at 59:55
'),(1487,39,'2006-05-21 16:41:00','Two riders have a small gap with 4.5km to go.','Perez Sanchez and Luis Felipe Laverde have 12 seconds on the rest of the bunch'),(1488,39,'2006-05-21 16:41:20','three km to go','They are holding their lead'),(1489,39,'2006-05-21 16:42:33','Two kilometers to go','They still have a healthy gap. Schumacher is driving the chase.'),(1490,39,'2006-05-21 16:43:54','One km to go','The two leaders are but a few seconds ahead. Is it enough?\r\n'),(1491,39,'2006-05-21 16:44:00','It is!','Luis Felipe Laverde (Panaria) takes it against Perez Sanchez'),(1492,39,'2006-05-21 16:46:34','Peloton still has 5km to go','It\'s going to be a bit, before the peloton arrives at the finish.'),(1493,39,'2006-05-21 16:48:00','Liquigas moves up','With 3km to go, the Liquigas team has moved up to set tempo.'),(1494,39,'2006-05-21 16:52:44','Peloton rolls across the line','Seven minutes and forty-five back. Bettini - the points leader - takes the field sprint to scoop up a few points.'),(1495,39,'2006-05-21 16:54:11','Casar gains time today','Sandy Casar gained some time on GC and will move up on the overall. Basso, though easily holds on to his pink jersey after a pretty moderate day in the saddle for the CSC man.'),(1496,40,'2006-05-22 14:01:00','Good day...','and a welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of the 15th stage of the 89th Giro d’Italia. \r\n\r\nThis is a last break before tomorrow’s turn into the Dolomites and series of murderously difficult stages. Today offers up a largely flat 189km run across the plains of Lombardy north of Milan and provides an opportunity for the remaining sprinters in the race.\r\n'),(1497,40,'2006-05-22 14:03:00','The day\'s escape','We had a break form at 26km. Four men slipped off the front and have, over the past 25km, built up a lead of 3:20. Up front are:
100. Erik Gustav Larsson (FdJ), at 1:14:55
130. Ivan Mayoz (Euskaltel), at 1:36:36
123. Gabriele Missaglia (Selle Italia), at 1:31:18
140. Christophe Edaleine (Crédit Agricole), at 1:47:29
'),(1498,40,'2006-05-22 14:15:13','Contest time','It\'s time for you to take a shot at guessing who will win today\'s stage.\r\nWill the break survive? Are there enough sprinters\' teams left who might\r\nbe willing to mount a chase? That\'s for you to decide. Once you figure\r\nit out, send us an e-mail to Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your\r\ne-mail.\r\n
We will randomly choose TWO names from the correct submissions and each\r\nwill receive an original\r\nGiro d\'Italia poster. We\'re awarding two prizes today, since no one\r\ncorrectly chose yesterday\'s stage victory by Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez.'),(1499,40,'2006-05-22 14:18:05','Non-starter','Phonak\'s Axel Merckx opted not to start today\'s stage.'),(1500,40,'2006-05-22 14:29:00','Road improvements for Wednesday','Many of you have been looking forward to Wednesday\'s tough, tough stage\r\ninto Austria, finishing at the Plan de Corones. Last week, reader Igor\r\nTavella sent us photos of the road covering the final five kilometers of\r\nthis Giro\'s most difficult climb. In case you haven\'t seen it, do take\r\na look at the photo\r\nfeature we posted. Igo has sent us an updated photo and it shows\r\nthat road crews have made progress on efforts to improve the road. Take\r\na gander below. We\'ve posted more of Igor\'s photos.'),(1501,40,'2006-05-22 14:37:18','Gap holding','Our last time check gives the break of four an advantage of 4:22.'),(1502,40,'2006-05-22 14:51:31','With 105km remaining','The gap is holding at 4:10. The Quick Step team is monitoring the break. These guys may not get much more than this.'),(1503,40,'2006-05-22 14:58:00','At the 90km mark','The peloton is keeping the break between 4:00 and 4:30. '),(1504,40,'2006-05-22 15:09:53','100km','The gap is at 4:00.'),(1505,40,'2006-05-22 15:15:49','T-Mobile lending a hand','and the gap is below 3:45. There are 78km remaining in today\'s stage. The T-Mobiles are riding for Pollack, who may be the best of the remaining sprinters in this race. Odds are good that we\'ll be seeing a sprint today, given that the break sure isn\'t getting anywhere up there.'),(1506,40,'2006-05-22 15:24:54','Tight leash','The gap is now yo-yo-ing between 3:45 and 4:00. The escapees are working well together... but, then again, so are the Quick Step, T-Mobile and now, Milram teams.'),(1507,40,'2006-05-22 15:36:36','Basso relaxed','The CSC man is staying about 15 or 20 riders from the front and cruising along nicely. The gap is at 3:33.'),(1508,40,'2006-05-22 15:46:00','Attempt to bridge','Saunier Duval\'s Marco Pinotti is trying to bridge the gap - about 3:45 now - and join the gang of four up front.'),(1509,40,'2006-05-22 15:49:00','Pinotti','He\'s not trying to bridge. He\'s stopping to visit and kiss his wife and family. We really should have recognized that, given that he was grinning and waving to people along the road while he was riding.'),(1510,40,'2006-05-22 15:57:57','Der Kaiser as domestique','Jan Ullrich is up there, too, lending a hand. The gap is at 3:25.'),(1511,40,'2006-05-22 16:05:05','With 55km to go','The Milram and T-Mobile teams are driving at the front of the peloton. The four leaders are holding on to an advantage of 3:25.'),(1512,40,'2006-05-22 16:05:55','New time check','puts the four up front at 2:55.'),(1513,40,'2006-05-22 16:08:00','Quick Step moving back up with 48km to go','The Quick Step team of Paolo Bettini is moving up to lend a hand again. The gap is at 2:40.'),(1514,40,'2006-05-22 16:12:59','The gap at 40km to go.','is now at 2:28. A catch by the 25km to go mark or will they let them hang out there to neutralize things until 10km to go.'),(1515,40,'2006-05-22 16:15:26','The peloton reaches 40km to go','trailing the escape group by 2:31.'),(1516,40,'2006-05-22 16:19:05','Now there\'s a sight','Ullrich has dropped back to the team car and is doing bottle duty for the boys setting tempo up front. '),(1517,40,'2006-05-22 16:20:41','Leaders at 35km to go','We\'ll get a time check when the peloton hits that mark.'),(1518,40,'2006-05-22 16:22:00','Still at around 2:20',''),(1519,40,'2006-05-22 16:28:00','Leaders at 30km to go','T-Mobile, Milram and Quick Step up front.'),(1520,40,'2006-05-22 16:30:46','Peloton reaches 30km to go','trailing the break by 2:15\r\n'),(1521,40,'2006-05-22 16:33:44','The four leaders','The guys up front, who\'ve been out there since km 26, have to realize that they stand a snowball\'s chance today. Quick Step is at the front now.'),(1522,40,'2006-05-22 16:35:45','Leaders at 25km','and we bet the catch will come in about 10km or so.'),(1523,40,'2006-05-22 16:37:00','The peloton reaches the 25km mark','trailing the escapees by 2:18'),(1524,40,'2006-05-22 16:43:09','Leaders at 20km to go','The T-Mobiles have eased off a bit, pulling off one of their men, but the chase is still quite strong with Quick Step and Milram lending a hand.'),(1525,40,'2006-05-22 16:44:17','Peloton at 20km to go','and the field is 1:36 behind the leaders.'),(1526,40,'2006-05-22 16:49:44','Gap at 1:00','With 15km to go for the leaders, they are just about 1:00 up on the field.'),(1527,40,'2006-05-22 16:51:02','38 seconds','The peloton hit the 15km to go mark at 38 seconds.'),(1528,40,'2006-05-22 16:52:46','29 seconds','with 14km to go.'),(1529,40,'2006-05-22 16:54:28','23 seconds','It\'s coming down, although these boys sure aren\'t giving up. All four are ticking away like they\'re still riding a team time trial.'),(1530,40,'2006-05-22 16:55:52','250 meters at best',''),(1531,40,'2006-05-22 16:56:39','10km to go','The gap is at 9 seconds.\r\n'),(1532,40,'2006-05-22 16:57:44','Never surrender','The four leaders are still pounding the pedals'),(1533,40,'2006-05-22 16:58:04','This is the end....','And with 9km remaining, the four leaders have been pulled back by the peloton.
So we’ll now be watching the sprinters’ teams playing the game as the race charges to the finish in Brescia.'),(1534,40,'2006-05-22 17:00:20','With 6.5km to go','Other teams are moving up. Davitamon is moving up there now.'),(1535,40,'2006-05-22 17:01:42','With five km to go','The peloton is moving along very fast and we see a mix of teams up front.'),(1536,40,'2006-05-22 17:02:33','T-Mobile pulling hard','Has the German team put in too big of an effort'),(1537,40,'2006-05-22 17:04:11','Ullrich TTing up front','Boy can that boy pull'),(1538,40,'2006-05-22 17:05:18','two km to go',''),(1539,40,'2006-05-22 17:05:36','Milram takes over at the front','With 1.5km to go'),(1540,40,'2006-05-22 17:06:04','One km to go',''),(1541,40,'2006-05-22 17:07:34','Forster charges','Bettini is coming up... Pollack comes up hard. Pollack, Bettini... Bettini celebrates... of course he\'s done that before.'),(1542,40,'2006-05-22 17:09:23','Bettini','It was a drag race and Bettini edges Pollack by a tire\'s width. Gerolsteiner\'s Forster was third and Henk Vogels - Robbie McEwen\'s lead-out man - takes fourth.'),(1543,40,'2006-05-22 17:27:56','Our winners','Congratulations to Major Jason Bryan and Ted Chappell, winners of our daily Live Update contest.'),(1544,41,'2006-05-23 14:00:00','Good day...','...and welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of Stage 16 of the 2006 Giro d’Italia, a 173km trip back into the mountains from Rovato to the mountain-top finish on Monte Bondone.
This is not an easy day by any definition, especially that last part. The Bondone starts with a 13-percent pitch straight out of the streets of Trento and averages 8 percent for 17.5km. This is a summit finish that probably suits Ivan Basso\'s strengths rather than those of Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego. However, Simoni is on home territory here and he says he wants to win. He certainly knows the climb like the back of his hand and he\'ll have huge support from his Trentino fans, so perhaps he\'ll pull off of a big upset and put himself back in contention… or maybe not. We’ll see in about three hours.\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(1545,41,'2006-05-23 14:01:00','Today\'s start','The peloton left Rovato this afternoon at about ten till 1:00. Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis) did not make the start today, which leaves the peloton at 166.'),(1546,41,'2006-05-23 14:22:00','The day\'s first climb','The peloton works its way to the day\'s first KOM mark, the Cat. 3 summit of Lodrino. One rider - Rubiano Chavez (Ceramica Panaria) - is off the front, but the pace is moderate, perhaps in anticipation of the biggie at the finish.'),(1547,41,'2006-05-23 14:16:00','Contest time','It\'s time again for another of our Daily Pick-The-Winner contests. Make\r\nyour best guess as to who will win today\'s stage and send it to Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n
We will randomly choose a winner from among the correct entries and\r\nsend you a Giro\r\nd\'Italia t-shirt. Limit One entry per person per day. No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.'),(1548,41,'2006-05-23 14:28:00','Chavez has 1:35','Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Ceramica Panaria) is ahead of the main field by about a minute and a half. A reasonably strong climber, Chavez poses little threat on the overall, having started the in 99th place at, at 1:15:01\r\n'),(1549,41,'2006-05-23 14:35:00','Rubiano Chavez bumps his lead','Rubiano Chavez is now 2:34 ahead of the peloton. Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria), who started the day in 49th place at 34:34, is in pursuit and trails Chavez by 2:00.\r\n'),(1550,41,'2006-05-23 14:37:15','Slow start today','We weren\'t kidding when we reported a slow start to the day\'s stage. The peloton covered only 29 kilometers in that first hour of \"racing\" today.'),(1551,41,'2006-05-23 14:37:00','Baliani caught, Rubiano Chavez on his own','Rubiano Chavez is taking advantage of the peloton\'s pace and putting in an effort, enough of one to put him 3:52 ahead of the main field.'),(1552,41,'2006-05-23 14:54:23','Remembering Charly','Do recall that today\'s stage is included for a reason. It\'s the 50th anniversay\r\nof Charly Gaul\'s epic stage win in the \'56 Giro. To commemorate that victory,\r\nwe\'ve just posted John Wilcockson\'s \"50\r\nyears later: Remembering Charly Gaul\'s great ride.\" Please take the\r\ntime to read it and learn about one of the great moments in the history\r\nof cycling.'),(1553,41,'2006-05-23 15:13:00','Rubiano Chavez at 4:07','CSC and Saunier Duval are up front in the peloton, so we wouldn\'t bet next month\'s rent on Mr. Rubiano Chavez\'s chances of success today.'),(1554,41,'2006-05-23 15:18:58','Saunier Duval is moving everyone up there','CSC has about five riders, and the Saunier Duval team has moved everyone up front as this race moves into Mr. Simoni\'s neighborhood.\r\n'),(1555,41,'2006-05-23 15:29:09','Rubiano Chavez','Is holding his own and ticking along quite nicely as the course winds its way through the foothills of the Dolomites. Rubiano Chavez is 4:03 ahead of the field.'),(1556,41,'2006-05-23 15:36:48','Contest reminder','Just a reminder about our Daily Pick-The-Winner contests. Make\r\nyour best guess as to who will win today\'s stage and send it to Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n
We will randomly choose a winner from among the correct entries and\r\nsend you a Giro\r\nd\'Italia t-shirt. Limit One entry per person per day. No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.'),(1557,41,'2006-05-23 15:41:02','What a beautiful place','The route today is over some of the most beautiful terrain on the planet. If you\'ve never been to Italy, you really need to keep an eye open for airline deals, or cash in your miles and come spend spring in Italy. '),(1558,41,'2006-05-23 15:43:32','Peloton in the feed zone','The peloton reaches the feed zone at 92km, about 4:00 behind the leader.'),(1559,41,'2006-05-23 15:47:02','Advantage extended to 4:50','The gap has extended to 4:50 as the peloton has slowed down after the feed zone.'),(1560,41,'2006-05-23 15:49:06','Clouds ahead','The Monte Bondone is covered in clouds and the forecast calls for rain up there.'),(1561,41,'2006-05-23 15:56:17','Gap slipping again','Now that lunch is over, the gap is starting to slip back toward the four-minute mark.'),(1562,41,'2006-05-23 16:01:48','Near the bottom of the descent','The peloton is near the end of the descent at around km 115.'),(1563,41,'2006-05-23 16:10:23','Simoni fans','The final climb today is crowded today and most of the people on the road are Simoni fans.
Rubiano hits the 123km mark with an advantage of 4:00.'),(1564,41,'2006-05-23 16:14:24','Peloton at 3:13','The gap is coming down as the peloton sped up to contest the remaining sprint points at km 123.'),(1565,41,'2006-05-23 16:20:51','Gap at 3:14','With Rubiano Chavez at km 130, the gap is 3:12.'),(1566,41,'2006-05-23 16:25:57','Rubiano Chavez reaches 40km to go mark','We\'ll get a time check when the peloton reaches the banner.'),(1567,41,'2006-05-23 16:28:32','Peloton at 40km-to-go','trailing Rubiano Chavez by 3:01\r\n\r\n'),(1568,41,'2006-05-23 16:34:38','3:10','With 37.5km remaining, the gap is 3:10'),(1569,41,'2006-05-23 16:35:00','Rubiano Chavez 35km to go','The gap is at 2:53'),(1570,41,'2006-05-23 16:41:07','30km to go','Our leader is now 30km from the finish and he\'s looking tired, not in great shape to take on this climb.'),(1571,41,'2006-05-23 16:42:08','Peloton at 2:24',''),(1572,41,'2006-05-23 16:43:46','The finishing climb:','Begins at about 18km to go and throws riders into 13-percent grades from the start. With the gap coming down to 2:38 now, what do you think Rubiano Chavez\'s chances are at this point?'),(1573,41,'2006-05-23 16:46:09','1:46','Rubiano Chavez is beginning to fade quite quickly'),(1574,41,'2006-05-23 16:48:54','Touch of wheels','Credit Agricole\'s Halgand and three other riders have crashed, but all four are up after getting wheel changes'),(1575,41,'2006-05-23 16:49:34','With 25km to go','Rubiano Chavez is 1:20 ahead of the field.'),(1576,41,'2006-05-23 16:51:39','They can see him','With just 8km to the start of the climb, the gap is less than a minute.'),(1577,41,'2006-05-23 16:53:38','Still on the flats and','the catch is about happen.\r\n'),(1578,41,'2006-05-23 16:55:17','Just 14 seconds',''),(1579,41,'2006-05-23 16:55:42','That\'s it','He\'s caught:
'),(1580,41,'2006-05-23 16:57:22','Weather is holding','With about 20km remaining, the weather appears to be giving the Giro a break... no rain and certainly no Charly Gaul-like snow'),(1581,41,'2006-05-23 16:59:10','CSC at the front','With the climb coming up fast, the peloton is setting the pace at the front.'),(1582,41,'2006-05-23 16:59:25','At the front','Hey there\'s Jan Ullrich.'),(1583,41,'2006-05-23 17:00:00','On the climb','CSC is setting tempo at the front. Voigt is pulling hard at the front'),(1584,41,'2006-05-23 17:03:08','The field is blowing apart','With CSC driving on these 13-percent grade, the peloton is stringing out in single file and many, many riders struggling.'),(1585,41,'2006-05-23 17:04:18','Savoldelli, Simoni, Gutierrez...','... Cunego and all of the faves are there.'),(1586,41,'2006-05-23 17:05:11','Jose Serpa attacks','The Selle Italia rider is going for the stage win. He has a way to go, but he\'s no GC threat and is being allowed to go.'),(1587,41,'2006-05-23 17:07:14','Serpa has a gap','The man who won the stage at Genting Highlands at the Tour of Langkawi is 15km from the finish and has about 8 seconds.'),(1588,41,'2006-05-23 17:08:43','The maglia rosa group','is still being led by CSC. The group is slowly being trimmed but there are still 30 or so riders. Serpa is about 7 seconds up the road.'),(1589,41,'2006-05-23 17:10:19','He\'s caught','Serpa is caught 12.8km from the top'),(1590,41,'2006-05-23 17:13:04','CSC in command','The CSC team is still setting tempo at the front. The group is still quite large and the favorites are there. '),(1591,41,'2006-05-23 17:14:30','Piepoli moves to the front','Simoni\'s teammate Piepoli is moving up as the road hits the switchbacks.... the group has suddenly been cut down. Cunego is shelled, so is Di Luca.'),(1592,41,'2006-05-23 17:15:21','Sastre takes over','Simoni, Gutierrez and Basso still there.'),(1593,41,'2006-05-23 17:16:20','Cunego is well off the pace...','We don\'t see Savoldelli in the lead group, either.'),(1594,41,'2006-05-23 17:17:11','Nope Savoldelli is OTB','There are no Discovery riders in this group.'),(1595,41,'2006-05-23 17:18:47','The Basso group','is 18 seconds ahead of Savoldelli and Cunego with 10km to go.'),(1596,41,'2006-05-23 17:20:39','Gaps are holding','The front group includes about 11 riders, with Simoni and Gutierrez in the mix.'),(1597,41,'2006-05-23 17:21:51','Savoldelli fighting back','With Rubierra setting tempo for his team leader the Discovery rider is fight to rejoin the lead group. Cunego can\'t though.'),(1598,41,'2006-05-23 17:22:48','Sastre still setting a tough pace','... and as the course hits even tougher switchbacks, the Savoldelli group slips back.'),(1599,41,'2006-05-23 17:23:50','Panaria\'s Perez','is in the mix there. He\'s in there with Basso and Simoni and Gutierrez...'),(1600,41,'2006-05-23 17:24:56','Piepoli moves up','With Simoni on his wheel.... Basso just cruises up to them. Gutierrez is there too.'),(1601,41,'2006-05-23 17:25:33','Gutierrez and Piepoli fade...','... as Basso and Simoni ride off the front.'),(1602,41,'2006-05-23 17:26:40','It\'s down to Basso and Simoni','Cunego is now well back at 1:15 and Savoldelli is at 1:05.'),(1603,41,'2006-05-23 17:28:00','Basso is finally standing up','Simoni tries a little dig and Basso stands up, passes the Saunier Duval leader and... see ya!'),(1604,41,'2006-05-23 17:29:27','Basso has eight seconds','and he looks much smoother than Simoni.'),(1605,41,'2006-05-23 17:30:02','Simoni at 9 seconds','Piepoli and Gutierrez are at 20. Basso is flying.'),(1606,41,'2006-05-23 17:32:05','Di Luca is now at 2:30','Savoldelli is at 1:30; Cunego is at 1:45. \r\n'),(1607,41,'2006-05-23 17:32:41','Five km to go','Basso is at the five-km-to-go mark... and Simoni is already at 33 seconds.'),(1608,41,'2006-05-23 17:33:09','Piepoli and Gutierrez at 49 seconds.',''),(1609,41,'2006-05-23 17:35:00','Basso','He\'s riding steady as Bjarne Riis drives up along side the CSC man to encourage his top rider in these final kilometers of this climb. Simoni, meanwhile, isn\'t giving up and really pounding the pedals.'),(1610,41,'2006-05-23 17:35:50','Well..','While Basso looks relaxed and Simoni looks like he\'s pounding, the gap is growing.'),(1611,41,'2006-05-23 17:36:16','Basso is 48 seconds up the road','Gutierrez is at 1:08'),(1612,41,'2006-05-23 17:36:40','Savoldelli at 2:00','Cunego at 2:30'),(1613,41,'2006-05-23 17:38:27','Basso','Remember when Damiano Cunego was the big up-and-comer at the Giro? He\'s at 3:40 right now.'),(1614,41,'2006-05-23 17:39:10','Simoni at 50 seconds','As Basso continues to drive hard at the front. '),(1615,41,'2006-05-23 17:39:47','Basso 2km from the top.',''),(1616,41,'2006-05-23 17:41:37','Basso in the final kilometer-and-a-half','Ivan Basso is cruising... and is now 1:18 ahead of Simoni\r\n'),(1617,41,'2006-05-23 17:42:30','Last kilometer','Basso is on his way to the finish'),(1618,41,'2006-05-23 17:43:14','Simoni at 1:20','Gutierrez is still back at about 15 seconds and riding with Piepoli.\r\n'),(1619,41,'2006-05-23 17:43:48','Ivan Basso 300 meters from the finish','\r\n'),(1620,41,'2006-05-23 17:44:34','Ivan Basso wins!','Now we need to keep track of the time gaps.'),(1621,41,'2006-05-23 17:46:41','Simoni crosses','1:29 behind Basso.'),(1622,41,'2006-05-23 17:47:15','Piepoli and Gutierrez at 1:39',''),(1623,41,'2006-05-23 17:48:00','Ag2r\'s John Gadret comes in for fifth','He finishes 2:42 behind Basso... not bad for a \'cross rider.\r\n'),(1624,41,'2006-05-23 17:49:18','Savoldelli','Crosses at 3:42... and looks shell-shocked.'),(1625,41,'2006-05-23 17:49:51','Cunego','has lost 4:40 to Basso.'),(1626,42,'2006-05-24 13:35:59','Good day...','...and welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of the 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia. This is the one everyone has been talking about since the route was originally unveiled. Today’s stage is a short one, just 133km, but there is a lot packed in there, 11,000 feet of climbing and two giant climbs in the final 50km: the rugged Passo del Erbe and a summit finish on the mighty Plan de Corones. This 17km final climb averages 7.5 percent and its final 5.25km are on a reconstructed dirt road over what is generally used as an access road on a ski slope.
If you haven\'t seen the pictures of what that upper portion looks like, take a quick glance at the photos we posted from reader Igor Tavella, who sent in pictures last\r\nweek and then another set earlier this\r\nweek, underscoring the progress work crews have made on that road.\r\n'),(1627,42,'2006-05-24 13:36:00','Still waiting for today\'s stage start','Given the distance, today\'s stage is scheduled to start quite a bit later than usual and there has been a bit of a dealy.'),(1641,42,'2006-05-24 15:16:00','Rain...','It\'s wet now and word from the finish is that the weather is taking a turn for the worse.... well, okay, it sucks. Meanwhile the distance of today\'s stage is officially now 125 km, but it could be less than that if the conditions get much worse up there.'),(1629,42,'2006-05-24 13:55:00','Some objection to today\'s route','They are on their way, but part of the delay, folks is that riders were objecting to parts of today\'s course... the last few km up to Kronplatz.
Meanwhile, Sergei Honchar, the Ukranian from T-Mobile who twice worked his way into the maglia rosa is not riding. He crashed last week and really has been suffering ever since.'),(1630,42,'2006-05-24 14:06:00','Contest time','Well, it\'s time again for our daily contest. Give it some thought and then\r\ntell us who you think will win today\'s stage. Send your choice in an e-mail\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your\r\ne-mail.\r\n
We will chose a winner from among the correct entries. Today\'s winner\r\nwill receive a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling By Graham Watson\r\n
Please note:\r\n
Just one entry per person per day.
No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.
Also, please be sure you are sending e-mails when you actually intend to send them. We\'ve recently been receiving e-mails two, three even 20 hours after a stage finish and it looks like some folks have their e-mails sitting in the outbox for a while.'),(1639,42,'2006-05-24 15:00:50','Wowie','An hour of \"racing\" and the peloton had covered a mere 32km. At this point, the peloton is at 38km and still bunched together.'),(1631,42,'2006-05-24 14:10:57','Another non-starter','Michele Scarponi of Liberty Seguros has not started today. That leaves just 163 riders in the Giro.
AFP reports that there is still negotiation regarding the route and that changes will involve not the finishing climb but that first haul up the Passo del Erbe, which crests at around 95km. We\'re still awaiting official word from the organizers.'),(1632,42,'2006-05-24 14:15:00','At 10km','The peloton is riding at a moderate pace and all 163 riders are together.'),(1633,42,'2006-05-24 14:17:33','Well, ignore that profile...','... at least part of it. The race has been routed around the Passo delle Erbe, so we won\'t see that double whammy, but there will still be the finishing climb up to Kronplatz.'),(1634,42,'2006-05-24 14:21:27','Saiz update','The Spanish government warned Wednesday that it was committed to its zero-tolerance stance on doping in sports in the wake of the arrest of the manager of Spanish cycling team Liberty.
Manolo Saiz was arrested Tuesday on doping charges and detained at the drugs squad\'s headquarters.
Saiz and four others who were arrested - including the Valence team sporting director Ignacio Laberta and a former doctor to the Kelme and ONCE teams Eufemiano Fuentes - are part of a huge investigation into cycling by the Spanish police.
The newspaper El Pais reported that more than 200 blood bags destined for \r\ntransfusions were also seized in the raids.
\"We will not allow those who want to make money playing with the health of others go unpunished,\" warned Sports Minister Jaime Lissavetzky.
The government, he told Spanish national radio (RNE), was \"committed to \r\nzero tolerance in its fight against doping.\"\r\n'),(1635,42,'2006-05-24 14:22:51','A meandering start','The peloton is not exactly racing at this point. We\'ll see if this continues throughout the stage today... sure hope not.'),(1636,42,'2006-05-24 14:23:25','At 15km','The peloton is still together.'),(1637,42,'2006-05-24 14:41:04','','Reader Scott Scheer just sent this one in and we thought you\'d enjoy:
There was a bike rider named Basso
The fastest man over the pass-o
The group in the rear
Cried many a tear
\'cuz all they could see was his Assos
Not bad, Scott! Thanks.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(1638,42,'2006-05-24 14:47:00','We\'re not getting a lot of news','Our guy, Andrew Hood is in something of a scramble to get to the finish, since access to the road on the final climb shuts down early in anticipation of the race and necessary crowd control. Race radio has been pretty quiet today, too.'),(1640,42,'2006-05-24 15:11:55','Weather nasty at the finish',''),(1642,42,'2006-05-24 15:20:54','An attack','Credit Agricole\'s Poilvet and Liquigas\'s Cioni are ahead of the field and have a 55 second lead on the main field.'),(1643,42,'2006-05-24 15:23:50','At 50km','Our two leaders have 1:00 on the field. 75km to go (we think). Word is that we\'re getting snow up at the finish, though we\'re not too sure about how far down the snow goes on the mountain. '),(1644,42,'2006-05-24 15:26:35','Rain','The rain is kicking in and even in these lower portions of the today\'s route, riders are wearing gloves, jackets and knee-warmers.'),(1645,42,'2006-05-24 15:28:31','Beautiful part of Italy','This is the Tyrolean and German-speaking part of Italy, formerly part of the old Austro-Hungarian empire and the country-side and the architecture resembles Austria more than anything.'),(1646,42,'2006-05-24 15:30:52','With 70km to go','The two leaders are now 1:20 ahead of the main field. The chase is not panicked by any stretch.'),(1647,42,'2006-05-24 15:36:32','Gap at 2:00','The leaders are in Bressanone with an advantage of 2:00 on the field.'),(1648,42,'2006-05-24 15:42:35','Saunier Duval at the front','The Saunier Duval team is setting tempo at the front of the field. Again, a reminder that the Passo delle Erbe has been removed from today\'s stage... largely because of the weather and the altitude of the Passo delle Erbe (2000m).
With 60km remaining, the gap is 2:20'),(1649,42,'2006-05-24 15:46:46','Organizers say finish decision pending.','Race organizers have announced over race radio that a final decision regarding today\'s finish will be made within the next 20 minutes or so. If conditions are too bad up there, they may remove those last five km.'),(1650,42,'2006-05-24 15:50:15','Two hours of racing','After two hours of racing, the average speed has been a moderate 34.5kph.'),(1651,42,'2006-05-24 15:55:36','Snow at the finish','It\'s not really heavy snow, but it is snowing atop the Plan de Corones.'),(1652,42,'2006-05-24 15:58:13','Not official, but','it looks like organizers are taking apart some of the finish line hardware at the top of the Plan de Corones.'),(1653,42,'2006-05-24 16:00:06','Now it IS official','The organizers are cancelling the final five kilometers of today\'s race, so the total distance of today\'s stage is 120km. That finishing climb is still 11km and will still be tough.'),(1654,42,'2006-05-24 16:14:29','Rain, rain, rain','The weather has completely altered the stage today. Even here in the flats, it\'s cold. The stage at the finish is already being dismantled. Apparently they had a back-up five km below the original finish.'),(1655,42,'2006-05-24 16:19:03','The gap is at 2:35.','We think there are 37km remaining, but it\'s hard to get an accurate distance, given the changes in today\'s stage.'),(1656,42,'2006-05-24 16:21:40','Gap coming down','The two leaders are 1:51 ahead of the peloton. Back in the field, several riders have been pulling over and adding clothing. We estimate 32 km remaining now.'),(1657,42,'2006-05-24 16:24:11','With 30km remaining','The gap is coming down quickly and the two leaders are 1:28 ahead of the field.'),(1658,42,'2006-05-24 16:30:16','With 28km remaining,','the gap is at 1:38. The Saunier Duval team is driving the chase.'),(1659,42,'2006-05-24 16:34:38','CSC moving up','We now see both the CSC and Saunier Duval teams up front. Simoni, as you might guess, is motivated today, since he trails Paolo Savoldelli by just 17 seconds on GC. If he outclimbs the Discovery man like he did yesterday, he\'s set on moving past him and into the top-three.'),(1660,42,'2006-05-24 16:41:25','CSC and Saunier Duval','Are still at the front of the peloton. The two leaders are 21km from the finish and just about 1:20 ahead of the field. These roads are rough and narrow... and it\'s still raining quite hard. Word from the finish is that the weather is still harsh and even with the shortened climb, we\'ll be looking at a tough final push to the top.'),(1661,42,'2006-05-24 16:43:15','With 20km to go','The gap is down to 40 seconds.'),(1662,42,'2006-05-24 16:44:58','The two leaders','are about to be swept up. It\'s still raining hard.'),(1663,42,'2006-05-24 16:48:45','The race is at the 110 Gazetta sprint mark','... which puts the peloton at the base of the climb. The two leaders have been caught. The pace is picking up and the peloton is stretched out.'),(1664,42,'2006-05-24 16:51:15','On the climb','Rafael Illiano (Selle Italia) has moved off the front and has an eight-second advantage.'),(1665,42,'2006-05-24 16:53:13','Di Luca fading','Danilo Di Luca is already trailing off of the main field.'),(1666,42,'2006-05-24 16:54:19','Sastre is at the front','of the main group, with Simoni and Basso on his wheel. '),(1667,42,'2006-05-24 16:55:43','Illiano is with another rider','It looks like Scott Davis from T-Mobile. They have only a slight advantage.'),(1668,42,'2006-05-24 16:56:45','With 10 kilometers remaining','the two leaders have been caught'),(1669,42,'2006-05-24 16:58:43','Savoldelli fading','Defending champion Paolo Savoldelli is slipping off the lead group, which is being led by Piepoli and Sastre.'),(1670,42,'2006-05-24 17:01:07','Savoldelli','is way off the back. He\'s bound to lose his spot on the Podium. Leading the group is Perez Cuapio (Panaria) with Basso on his wheel. Simoni and Gutierrez are there, too.'),(1671,42,'2006-05-24 17:02:01','We\'re not sure about the distance.','It\'s not certain whether the organizers have changed the location of the 10km to go banner... so we\'re not sure about the distance.'),(1672,42,'2006-05-24 17:03:11','Piepoli','Basso, Perez Cuapio and Gutierrez are now in the front and riding together. Simoni has been gapped.'),(1673,42,'2006-05-24 17:04:48','Perez Cuapio is still setting tempo','The four leaders are about 10 seconds ahead of the Simoni group. Cunego is about 25 seconds back. Savoldelli is way down already.'),(1674,42,'2006-05-24 17:05:32','They didn\'t move the banner','So that 10-km-to-go meant five. The leaders are but 2km from the end.'),(1675,42,'2006-05-24 17:06:47','Perez Cuapio is trying to put the pressure on','But the four leaders have been joined by Pelizotti and he\'s attacking!'),(1676,42,'2006-05-24 17:07:18','Piepolli and Basso go for it','Gutierrez holding on.'),(1677,42,'2006-05-24 17:08:04','Basso pushing it hard','Piepoli on his wheel. Gutierrez dropped.'),(1678,42,'2006-05-24 17:09:08','Piepolli is setting tempo','Basso is latched firmly on his wheel'),(1679,42,'2006-05-24 17:10:42','Piepoli leads the charge to the line','Piepoli takes it ahead of Basso... Gutierrez at 15 seconds.'),(1680,42,'2006-05-24 17:11:06','Cunego at 40 seconds','Simoni a bit further back'),(1681,42,'2006-05-24 17:11:57','Savoldelli has lost third place','He finishes more than the necessary 18 seconds behind Simoni. Simoni is now third on GC'),(1682,42,'2006-05-24 17:18:55','Well, it\'s been an interesting day','The rain - snow up above - has really altered the composition of what could have been an epic stage. It\'s something of a disappointment, but understandable for riders and teams to object to the inclusion of the Passo delle Erbe, but from the looks of it, things at the top of the final climb aren\'t that bad right now. It was a judgement call, though, and one we didn\'t have to make.
That\'s a wrap for today. Check back soon for results and a complete report. We see Graham Watson coming into the press room so we will be seeing photos as well.'),(1683,43,'2006-05-25 13:56:10','Good day...','... and welcome to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of the 18th stage of the 2006 Giro d’Italia, a 210km race from Sillian in Austria, back to Italy’s Gemona del Friuli. The stage features three categorized and three unrated climbs, but nothing enough to disrupt the overall standings. This could be another day for a break to succeed.
The current situation on the road has four riders on the descent of the Passo du Monte Croce Carnico with a small – 50-second lead on the peloton. Those riders are:
18. Gutierrez Palacios José Ivan (Caisse d\'Epargne), at 21:44
28. David Lopez Garcia (Euskaltel), at 32:36
33. Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre), at 34:44
63. Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner), at 1:08:38
'),(1684,43,'2006-05-25 14:07:00','Bad news','Apparently John Gadret (Ag2r Prevoyance) has fallen and is out of the race. He began the day in 27th place overall and has shown himself to be a strong climber. We will try to get an update on his condition.'),(1685,43,'2006-05-25 14:08:00','Another rider in that break','There are apparently five riders up there, including Liquigas\'s Charles Wegelius (61st at 1:08:04).\r\n'),(1686,43,'2006-05-25 14:09:53','Contest','Well, it\'s time again for our daily contest. Give it some thought and then\r\ntell us who you think will win today\'s stage. Send your choice in an e-mail\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your\r\ne-mail.\r\n
We will chose a winner from among the correct entries. Today\'s winner\r\nwill receive a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling By Graham Watson\r\n
Please note:\r\n
Just one entry per person per day.
No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.'),(1687,43,'2006-05-25 14:10:00','Gap at 3:00','At 108km, the leaders have an advantage of 3:00'),(1688,43,'2006-05-25 14:17:47','At km 115','The gap has grown to 4:15'),(1689,43,'2006-05-25 14:23:05','A poll','We\'ve always suspected that a lot of you out there are sneaking a peek at the progress of the Giro and other big races from work, (poised to click on a spreadsheet of some other work-related window in case the boss wanders in, no doubt). We\'ve just posted a new VeloNews Poll on the front page of VeloNews.com to pose just that question. Go ahead and vote.'),(1690,43,'2006-05-25 14:25:30','Gap is more than 5:00','We got a time check as the peloton reached the feedzone today. They were a solid 5:20 behind the five escapees.'),(1691,43,'2006-05-25 14:34:53','The Saiz case','Police sorting through the records of the doctor arrested along with Liberty director Manolo Saiz say that they have come across a rather extensive list of clients. According to news reports from Spain today, records indicate that several high profile cyclists, including T-Mobile\'s Jan Ullrich, were among Eufemiano Fuentes\'s patients.'),(1692,43,'2006-05-25 14:36:48','Three hours on the road','After three hours of racing the peloton has averaged a nice pace of around 40.2kph, much quicker than yesterday\'s opening hours.'),(1693,43,'2006-05-25 14:39:12','More than six minutes','The five leaders are now more than six minutes ahead of the main field.'),(1694,43,'2006-05-25 14:49:13','And that\'s about it...','The leaders are at km 131 and the gap has been holding at just about 6:10 for the past 10km. Another sign that radios are doing their job today. Once those guys hit the end of the predetermined leash, that\'s about it. '),(1695,43,'2006-05-25 14:53:00','Check out those poll numbers','Although the sample is still quite small, it\'s interesting to see that the vast majority (85+%) of respondents are checking in from the office. Go ahead and vote if you haven\'t yet. Meanwhile, our attorneys have advised us to remind you and your employers that VeloNews, its parent company, Inside Communications Inc. and the employees of ICI, are in no way responsible for the loss of productivity incurred at your office during the months of May, July and September.'),(1696,43,'2006-05-25 14:58:15','On the slopes of the Cuel di Forchia','and the five leaders have an advantage of 6:20 as they work their way up the second of today\'s three ranked climbs.'),(1697,43,'2006-05-25 15:07:32','More on Saiz','El Pais is reporting today that Liberty Seguros has ended its sponsorship deal with Manolo Saiz\'s team. Will the German toolmaker Wurth be far behind?'),(1698,43,'2006-05-25 15:10:00','Weather today','What a difference a day makes. Our crew got up this morning and it was absolutely beautiful with clear and sunny skies. We drove over the Passo di Furcia climb this morning - the one eliminated from Wednesday\'s stage - and the views were absoluting stunning. It\'s too bad the Giro lost an epic stage.
Our man Andrew Hood spoke with Team CSC\'s mechanic and he said that both Carlos Sastre and Ivan Basso had 34x27 mounted for Plan de Corones climb, but they changed out the wheels back to 23x11 as soon as it come over the radio that the finish line was lowered.'),(1699,43,'2006-05-25 15:13:51','On the Cuel di Forchia','The five leaders are working their way up the climb and the peloton has reached the lower slopes at 6:45.'),(1700,43,'2006-05-25 15:18:07','Where are you watching?','Here\'s a quick note from a reader about the location from he\'s keeping track of the Giro.
I just figured that since I was one of the two who voted for other as location for where I\'m watching the Giro I may as well explain myself.But nearly 90 percent of you are sneaking a look from work. Tsk, tsk, tsk.\r\n'),(1701,43,'2006-05-25 15:19:24','Leaders near the top','It appears that our five leaders are holding a good gap of around 6:45 with about 60km to go.'),(1702,43,'2006-05-25 15:21:33','Up and over','The five leaders are over the top of the climb. We\'ll try to get a time gap at the top when the peloton reaches the top. These are narow roads and the peloton doesn\'t seem all that interested in chasing hard. CSC and Saunier Duval are up front, setting a very moderate pace on this climb.'),(1703,43,'2006-05-25 15:24:17','Gadret','Reports from race radio confirm that Ag2r\'s Gadret has a broken collar bone, which is why he pulled out after the crash earlier today. That\'s an unfortunate turn of events for a guy who has shown some flashes of brilliance in this race.'),(1704,43,'2006-05-25 15:25:53','Peloton at 7:05','The peloton crests the climb at 7:05.'),(1705,43,'2006-05-25 15:29:33','Boy these roads','The roads on both sides of the Cuel di Forchia are very narrow, barely wide enough for two small cars to pass one another. Thankfully, not too many Europeans drive Hummers, so these roads serve their purpose.'),(1706,43,'2006-05-25 15:36:08','A note from Jennifer','One of readers, Jennifer, took issue with my suggestion that she is merely \"sneaking\" a look at Giro coverage.I\'m in a hospital recovery room with my girlfriend, who\'s the one recovering from nasal passage surgery. Though the room was home for the night we are leaving in a couple of hours.
I just thought I would share and say thanks for letting us watch from anywhere. Normally I\'d be one of the ones watching at work as well.
Chris
Sneaking nothing.We\'ve been emotional, too, Jennifer. For one thing we got a little teary-eyed when they pulled those last five kilometers out of yesterday\'s stage. Now that made us emotional. \r\n'),(1707,43,'2006-05-25 15:37:42','Gap at 7:05','The five leaders are ticking along nicely. Indeed, the roads on this descent give a decided advantage to a small group.'),(1708,43,'2006-05-25 15:41:55','','José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Caisse d\'Epargne), Marzio Bruseghin and Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) have gapped the other two in the break. We\'ll get time checks ASAP.'),(1709,43,'2006-05-25 15:46:07','','David Lopez Garcia (Euskaltel) and Charles Wegelius (Liquigas) are about 25 seconds behind the three leaders. This happened on the descent and now that the three leaders are on the flats, the gap is coming down.'),(1710,43,'2006-05-25 15:49:02','Five leaders together again','and the peloton is at 7:30. They gained time on the descent. '),(1711,43,'2006-05-25 15:52:36','Gap at 7:05','Now that the peloton is on the flats - and on wider roads - the gap is coming down a bit.'),(1712,43,'2006-05-25 15:59:48','40km to go','The five leaders have just hit the 40km to go banner. We\'ll get an accurate time check when the peloton reaches that mark. Estimates put the main field at 6:15. Phonak is doing work at the front of the field.'),(1713,43,'2006-05-25 16:05:11','Peloton at 40km-to-go','The gap is 6:22'),(1714,43,'2006-05-25 16:10:33','It\'s beginning to look like these guys will make it','The five leaders are holding their own with less than 35km remaining.'),(1715,43,'2006-05-25 16:12:42','Peloton at 35km to go','The gap is 5:03, with Phonak setting tempo at the front.'),(1716,43,'2006-05-25 16:15:02','Liberty news','The Liberty decision today is effective immediately. The team has lost its title sponsor, which leaves the Tour de France plans for Vino\' up in the air.'),(1717,43,'2006-05-25 16:16:00','Leaders are at 30km','The five leaders are 30km from the finish and Phonak is busting a gut to catch these guys. The gap is now down to 4:30. Were we premature in predicting the break\'s success?'),(1718,43,'2006-05-25 16:20:46','Chase is on','At 30km, the peloton has trimmed the gap to 3:42. Wowie.\r\n\r\nHey, here\'s an appropriate Limerick for the day, from reader Jonathan DorsettI might think I\'m trying to control my rabid checking of your journal updates, but I don\'t know who I would be kidding. \r\nTwo days ago when Basso and Simoni were battling it out near the top of the hill, my eyes filled with tears and my heart sang with Italian pride. And I don\'t have an ounce of Italian blood in me. When my boss asked me what was wrong, I told her my contacts were bothering me.\r\nY\'all are doing a great job; what a treat your play by play is.
Watching the Giro at workiaNice one Jonathan.\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(1719,43,'2006-05-25 16:26:04','Leaders on the day\'s third KOM','The five leaders are nearing the top of the Sammardenchia as the peloton, too, works its way up the slope. We\'ll get a time gap at the top.'),(1720,43,'2006-05-25 16:28:15','Up and over',' the leaders are over the top.'),(1721,43,'2006-05-25 16:29:00','Statement from Liberty','The title sponsor of the Liberty-Seguros team has issued the following statement:
Does not make me a jerkia
If the boss is a louse
Then click with your mouse
And dream of cresting Cuel Di Forchia
\"As sponsors, we have always wanted to promote a culture of fair play and zero tolerance with respect to doping.'),(1722,43,'2006-05-25 16:30:45','Gap at 3:04','Taking a time check at the 25km-to-go mark (just below the summit) puts the peloton at 3:04.'),(1723,43,'2006-05-25 16:34:30','20km to go','for the leaders. Phonak has eased off a bit, so we\'ll see what the gap is now.'),(1724,43,'2006-05-25 16:38:46','3:16','The chase has eased up a bit and the gap has slipped up to 3:16. Disco\'s Benoit Joachim is trying to bridge up, but he isn\'t getting too far with the effort.'),(1725,43,'2006-05-25 16:40:39','15km to go','The five leaders are 15km from the finish.'),(1726,43,'2006-05-25 16:44:36','Phonak driving chase again','The gap is around 3:00. Up front, Lopez attacks on a small, but steep (15 percent) climb .'),(1727,43,'2006-05-25 16:46:11','Lopez is climbing nicely','Working his way up the unranked Montenars. He has 8 seconds on the other four.'),(1728,43,'2006-05-25 16:48:30','Lopez over the top','and he has a gap of 11 seconds on the other men in the break. The peloton is at 2:40.'),(1729,43,'2006-05-25 16:49:07','Just eight seconds','And Lopez has 11km to go.'),(1730,43,'2006-05-25 16:51:49','Peloton','Hits the top of the climb 2:44 behind Lopez. Lopez is still of on his own with less than 10km to go... he still has but 10 seconds.'),(1731,43,'2006-05-25 16:53:39','Holding on','Lopez is still holding a small lead. He has seven seconds on the other four, but those guys are working together.'),(1732,43,'2006-05-25 16:56:23','Caught','Lopez has been caught by Schumacher... and the other three are about 100 meters back'),(1733,43,'2006-05-25 16:57:07','Schumacher and Lopez','The two are working together, but they have only a small gap.'),(1734,43,'2006-05-25 16:57:59','Together','With five km to go, the lead group is back together but there are a lot of attacks here.'),(1735,43,'2006-05-25 16:59:20','Lopez attacks again','Lopez was dropped, caught back on and then charged right through the group.'),(1736,43,'2006-05-25 16:59:00','There is no cooperation behind Lopez','Schumacher is closing in on Lopez'),(1737,43,'2006-05-25 17:00:00','2km to go','Gutierrez and Schumacher now are at the front '),(1738,43,'2006-05-25 17:01:46','Wegelius on the attack',''),(1739,43,'2006-05-25 17:01:00','1km to go','All together.'),(1740,43,'2006-05-25 17:02:00','500 meters to go','And Wegelius attacks.... now Bruseghin '),(1741,43,'2006-05-25 17:03:00','Charge!','Bruseghin charges, Schumacher chases him down and nips at the line.'),(1743,43,'2006-05-25 17:05:00','Peloton at 2:43','Ivan Basso finishes in the main field and easily retains control of the Giro.'),(1744,44,'2006-05-26 13:41:38','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 19th stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia., which, after the weather-induced trim of Wednesday\'s stage could arguably be called the \"Queen\" of this year\'s \r\nGiro. At 224km this stage features the most amount of climbing in a single day at this year\'s Giro, with four major climbs providing a total of 16,394 feet of elevation gain. The opening 12.4km Forella \r\nStaulanza averages 6.8 percent; the 13.3km Passo di Fedáia (aka the Marmolada) has pitches as steep as 18 percent; the 11.8km Passo Pordoi averages 6.6 percent; and the 18.5km climb to the finish on \r\nthe Passo San Pellegrino has some 15-percent pitches. '),(1745,44,'2006-05-26 13:42:00','On the road','Currently, the peloton is on the slopes of the day\'s first climb, the 12.4km Forella Staulanza. There are several small groups - none of which contain GC threats - ahead of the gruppo maglia rosa. The first \r\ngroup, which includes Emannuelle Sella is about 2:50 ahead the Basso group.'),(1746,44,'2006-05-26 13:55:10','19 riders in the lead group','That lead group is getting bigger. Among the leaders are Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), Sella and Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) and, again, no one is a real GC threat. Even Di Luca, the man who had such a brilliant Giro d\'Italia last year began his day in 12th place on GC some 18:27 behind Ivan Basso.'),(1747,44,'2006-05-26 13:59:22','Other riders trailing','We have yet to get full ID on the men in the lead group - which is about 2:30 up the road - but some of the men caught in between include Benoit Joachim (Discovery) and Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole), trailing at about 30 seconds. Further down the road at around 45 seconds is Ag2r\'s Renaud Dion and Angel Gomez (Saunier Duval) at 1:00.'),(1748,44,'2006-05-26 14:00:21','Correction','The lead group is now actually a full five minutes ahead of the gruppo maglia rosa'),(1749,44,'2006-05-26 14:01:28','Joachim slips back','Benoit Joachim has lost about 45 seconds on Halgand'),(1750,44,'2006-05-26 14:06:08','Halgand up with the leaders','Credit Agricole\'s Patrice Halgand has joined the lead group. We\'re still trying to get a full composition of the lead group. The peloton is at 5:15 and we are now 96km into today\'s stage.'),(1751,44,'2006-05-26 14:12:16','The leaders are nearing the top of the climb','Our lead group is just around twokm from the summit of the Forella Staulanza.'),(1752,44,'2006-05-26 14:12:58','Time to guess','Well, it\'s time again for our daily contest. Give it some thought and then\r\ntell us who you think will win today\'s stage. Send your choice in an e-mail\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your\r\ne-mail.\r\n\"In November 2005 after the suspension of a rider (Roberto Heras) for doping we made our contract one of the most rigorous with regard to this subject.
\"The implications and consequences of the detention of Manolo Saiz are highly worrying - they damage our name and the name of cycling.
\"We have cancelled our agreement with the owners of the team (Active Bay) and will respect outstanding financial obligations.\"
We will chose a winner from among the correct entries. Today\'s winner\r\nwill receive a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling By Graham Watson\r\n
Please note:\r\n
Just one entry per person per day.
No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.'),(1753,44,'2006-05-26 14:17:46','Your thoughts','The response has been quite large and it seems the vast majority of you agree with Liberty Seguros\'s decision to cut its sponsorship of Manolo Saiz\'s team.
We asked if Liberty was correct in its decision and as of five minutes ago the results looked like this:
Yes 1257 (92.70%) \r\nNo 48 (3.54%)Unfortunate as it is, we find ourselves in agreement. It seems the only way to get these guys\' attention some times is to hit them where it counts... and in this business that\'s right, square in the wallet.
Undecided 51 (3.76%)
total votes 1356
We\'ll be posting a letters page as well, today. Thanks for your input folks.'),(1754,44,'2006-05-26 14:17:00','Up and over','Our leaders have crossed over the Forella Staulanza and we\'ll get a time check when Basso and crew hit the top.'),(1755,44,'2006-05-26 14:21:38','The peloton hits the top at 5:20',''),(1756,44,'2006-05-26 14:36:20','At 110km','The leaders have 4:40 over a small chase group, including Discovery\'s Joachim, and 5:25 on the Gruppo Maglia Rosa.'),(1757,44,'2006-05-26 14:43:18','Saiz update','Eufemiano Fuentes, former doctor with Spanish teams Kelme and ONCE, Ignacio Labarta, deputy sporting director of the Valence team, Madrid doctor Jose Luis Merino and mountain-bike racer Alberto Leon all reported to court number 31 in Madrid for questioning today.
Liberty team manager Manolo Saiz was arrested Tuesday before being released a day later with investigators judging his role in the burgeoning affair was \"only that of a client\" and that there was only a \"slight risk he will abscond,\" the judicial sources said.
With regard to the other four, the authorities had to decide within 72 hours of their arrest if they should be held further, the timeframe expiring Friday morning.\r\n'),(1758,44,'2006-05-26 14:47:12','At 115km','The leaders are right at 5:00 ahead of the main field, with a few stragglers in between.'),(1759,44,'2006-05-26 14:59:20','At km 125','The gap is holding at 5:10... but the road ahead is a bit on the tough side, eh?'),(1760,44,'2006-05-26 15:08:00','Gap shrinking on climb','The gap between the lead group and the Basso group is coming down as they both work their way up the day\'s second climb, the Passo di Fedáia, which is also known as the \"Marmolada\" and features pitches as steep as 18 percent.'),(1761,44,'2006-05-26 15:20:00','On the Marmolada','The lead group, is nearing the summit and is 4:35 ahead of the Basso Group. The group includes
44. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 49:16
12. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 18:27
20. Patrice Halgand (F), Credit Agricole, at 24:04
\r\n38. Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, at 40:07
15. Juan Manuel Garate (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 19:15
111. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 2:00:43
47. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 50:26
48. Fortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, at 53:35
25. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., at 31:19
28. Parra Pinto Ivan Ramiro (Col), Cofidis, at 32:17
50. Johann Tschopp (Swi), Phonak, at 55:32
17. Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Sp), Lampre, at 20:50
\r\n'),(1762,44,'2006-05-26 15:24:16','Leaders nearing the top of the Marmolada','The lead group is within 1km of the top.'),(1763,44,'2006-05-26 15:26:39','Tough, tough climb','The Marmolada is a legendary climb for a reason. Classified as a CAT. 1, do recall that the Giro doesn\'t do hors categorie like the Tour does. At the Tour, this climb would rate such a beyond category classification.'),(1764,44,'2006-05-26 15:29:00','Baliani snags climbers\' points','He has moved into second on the hunt for the KOM jersey. This is how it looked this morning
Overall KOM
1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 46 Pts.
\r\n2. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 31 Pts.
\r\n3. Fortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 26 Pts.
\r\n4. Sandy Casar (F), Francaise des Jeux, 23 Pts.
\r\n5. José E. Gutierrez Cataluna (Sp), Phonak, 23 Pts.
Baliani gets 15 points, so he moves up to second.'),(1765,44,'2006-05-26 15:35:24','Basso group up and over','The gap was at 5:04 when the maglia rosa group hit the top of the Marmolada. Check your profile and see that there is still some tough, tough, tough work ahead.'),(1766,44,'2006-05-26 15:35:51','Contest reminder','Give it some thought and then\r\ntell us who you think will win today\'s stage. Send your choice in an e-mail\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your\r\ne-mail.\r\n
We will chose a winner from among the correct entries. Today\'s winner\r\nwill receive a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling By Graham Watson\r\n
Please note:\r\n
Just one entry per person per day.
No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.'),(1767,44,'2006-05-26 15:41:54','Long, long descent','It\'s a beautiful day and the roads are nice and dry. This road off of the Marmolada would have been miserable and dangerous had the weather been like it was on Wednesday.'),(1768,44,'2006-05-26 15:45:45','Leaders in Canazei','the lead group is on the small stretch of relatively flat ground between the Marmolada and the Passo Pordoi.'),(1769,44,'2006-05-26 15:51:55','On the Pordoi','The leaders are on the lower slopes of the Pordoi. The latest time gap is at 5:55. The leaders made a bit of time on the descent. Perhaps Ivan Basso decided to take it a little easy on the descent. He has reason to ride carefully. In addition to leading the Giro, Basso became a dad for the second time yesterday. He now has a son in addition to his beautiful little daughter. Congrats to the man in the pink jersey.'),(1770,44,'2006-05-26 15:52:38','POP! There goes Bettini','The points leader, who has been holding his own has slipped off the back of the group.'),(1771,44,'2006-05-26 15:57:02','Julich slipping off','Julich is slipping off the back of the group. Strategy or exhaustion? '),(1772,44,'2006-05-26 16:02:33','Baliani is setting tempo','Baliani is really looking for climbers\' points and setting a nice pace at the front of the lead group. The gap, meanwhile, is growing as the leaders are now 6:35 ahead of the Basso group.'),(1773,44,'2006-05-26 16:06:26','Julich and Bettini about 1:15 back','The peloton is at about 6:40.'),(1774,44,'2006-05-26 16:08:37','The gap is at 6:40','with CSC setting tempo in the Basso group.'),(1775,44,'2006-05-26 16:11:00','Up front','Baliani is setting a strong tempo. With him are:
\r\nEmanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria)
Juan Manuel Garate (Quick Step)
Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas)
. Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Cofidis)
Felipe Laverde Jimenez(Ceramica Panaria)
Evgeni Petrov (Lampre)
Tadej Valjavec (Lampre)
Jens Voigt (CSC)
Johann Tschopp (Phonak)
Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole)
Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Lampre)
At 2:25 are Eltink, Engels, Julich and Bettini. The peloton is at 6:30.\r\n'),(1776,44,'2006-05-26 16:19:01','Baliani group is nearing the top','The Baliani group is nearing the top of the Pordoi.. They will have about 62km remaining to the finish.'),(1777,44,'2006-05-26 16:20:46','10 more points for Baliani','He crests the summit and grabs top points atop the Cat. 1 Passo Pordoi.'),(1778,44,'2006-05-26 16:23:21','Bettini, Julich group hits the top','at 3:00'),(1779,44,'2006-05-26 16:25:52','Saunier Duval moves to the front of the Basso group','Saunier Duval is putting some pressure on at the front of the Maglia rosa group. He wants to solidify Simoni\'s hold on the podium. Of course, there is a long, long, descent which will help Savoldelli at least minimize his losses.'),(1780,44,'2006-05-26 16:26:39','Basso group nearing the top','The Basso group is moving up toward the top and already 6:30 behing the leaders'),(1781,44,'2006-05-26 16:27:07','Gap at the summit','is 6:47.'),(1782,44,'2006-05-26 16:28:50','Liberty question','We\'ve had a couple of readers write in and ask what the Liberty guys are wearing today. They\'re still in their team kit, despite their sponsor\'s decision to completely withdraw its financial support of the team. Well, for one thing, they probably can\'t afford new jerseys.'),(1783,44,'2006-05-26 16:38:06','The Bettini Julich group','has been reabsorbed by the peloton. The leaders, meanwhile, are enjoying a nice 6:40 advantage over the main field.'),(1784,44,'2006-05-26 16:42:33','That front group','We have the following riders up front
Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria)
Juan Manuel Garate (Quick Step)
Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas)
Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Cofidis)
Felipe Laverde Jimenez(Ceramica Panaria)
Evgeni Petrov (Lampre)
Tadej Valjavec (Lampre)
Jens Voigt (CSC)
Johann Tschopp (Phonak)
Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole)
Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Lampre)
and the new KOM leader, Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria)
The peloton is at 6:35'),(1785,44,'2006-05-26 16:43:29','Work in the maglia rosa group','is being done by Saunier Duval and CSC.'),(1786,44,'2006-05-26 16:45:29','A flat','Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Lampre) has flatted. He\'s made a quick change and is chasing back to the lead group. His mechanic is making an adjustment on his bike, but he\'s already joined back up.'),(1787,44,'2006-05-26 16:46:24','Villa back at the car','He\'s back at his team car again, getting a new radio.'),(1788,44,'2006-05-26 16:50:29','Saunier Duval massing at the front','Still on the descent, the Saunier Duval team has moved up front with 40km to go. We have to get a good time check.'),(1789,44,'2006-05-26 16:55:00','Peloton at 40km to go','And the gap is just at 6:00.'),(1790,44,'2006-05-26 17:00:14','Peloton at 35km to go','Still on the descent, the speed is quite high at around 70kph and the lead is at around 6:05'),(1791,44,'2006-05-26 17:00:39','Break at 30km to go','We\'ll get a new time check when the peloton gets there.'),(1792,44,'2006-05-26 17:04:56','Cuapio has crashed','In the peloton, Perez Cuapio is having a bad day, but he\'s up and at it again.'),(1793,44,'2006-05-26 17:06:00','Peloton at 30km-to-go','The gap at the 30km mark is 5:38. '),(1794,44,'2006-05-26 17:11:49','Four riders have moved off','from the lead group. Petrov, Villa, Tschopp and Sella are trying to step up the pace. They have an 18km climb ahead and they want a healthy gap going into the climb. They\'ve been pulled back, but the pace is picking up... both up front and in the Saunier Duval driven peloton. The gap is down to 5:00.'),(1795,44,'2006-05-26 17:12:39','Leaders at 20km to go...','And that means that the climb is coming up soon. The gap is at 5:40.'),(1796,44,'2006-05-26 17:14:00','Leaders coming to the final climb','The leaders are moving on to the foot of the 18.5km climb to the finish on the Passo San Pellegrino, which hits 10 percent for the first three kilometers, and kicks in with some 15-percent pitches toward the top. '),(1797,44,'2006-05-26 17:17:53','The peloton is at 20km to go','and the gap is at 5:36. Is that enough for the leaders to hold on until the finish? We\'ll see.'),(1798,44,'2006-05-26 17:20:07','Saunier Duval','is driving the peloton into the base of the climb. The gap is at 5:42.'),(1799,44,'2006-05-26 17:21:40','On the climb:','We have the following riders up front
Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria)
Juan Manuel Garate (Quick Step)
Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas)
Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Cofidis)
Felipe Laverde Jimenez(Ceramica Panaria)
Evgeni Petrov (Lampre)
Tadej Valjavec (Lampre)
Jens Voigt (CSC)
Johann Tschopp (Phonak)
Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole)
Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Lampre)
and the new KOM leader, Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria)
The peloton is at 5:30'),(1800,44,'2006-05-26 17:23:07','Leaders at 15km to go','The lead dozen are still together, with Panaria and Lampre with three riders each up there.'),(1801,44,'2006-05-26 17:24:37','Saunier Duval','Still driving in the peloton. Simoni is hoping to put real pressure on Savoldelli. The gap is down to 5:10.'),(1802,44,'2006-05-26 17:26:52','The Lampre and Panaria trios','are setting a quick tempo at the front of the lead group.'),(1803,44,'2006-05-26 17:28:20','Gap at 4:42','Depending on when the top climbers in the peloton decide to pick things up, these guys up front may have a tough time staying away.'),(1804,44,'2006-05-26 17:29:24','Tadej Valjavec (Lampre)','Has moved off the lead group. Personally, we\'d love to see a Slovenian winner today.'),(1805,44,'2006-05-26 17:30:24','Valjavec','has a nice little gap... now Voigt is chasing hard. Meanwhile the gap back to the peloton is at 4:20.'),(1806,44,'2006-05-26 17:30:48','Voigt joins Valjavec',''),(1807,44,'2006-05-26 17:32:15','Now Parra and Villa are moving up','to the lead pair. The two leaders have a bit of a gap still.'),(1808,44,'2006-05-26 17:33:27','10km to go','For the two men up front.'),(1809,44,'2006-05-26 17:34:16','Voigt and Valjavec','Still have a good little 15-second gap on Parra and Villa.'),(1810,44,'2006-05-26 17:36:51','Voigt and Valjavec','Are holding their own.... as Villa has left Parra. Villa wants to join his teammate Valjavec up there.'),(1811,44,'2006-05-26 17:38:06','Voigt and Valjavec','are 4:05 ahead of the peloton with 9km to go.'),(1812,44,'2006-05-26 17:38:51','No more entries today','We are well under the 10km-to-go mark.'),(1813,44,'2006-05-26 17:39:18','Garate has joined Villa','and they have both left Parra.'),(1814,44,'2006-05-26 17:40:19','Piepoli attacks out of the peloton','He has Simoni, Cunego and Basso on his wheel... with the rest of the peloton strung out in single-file.'),(1815,44,'2006-05-26 17:41:58','Basso sure looks relaxed','Lots of pressure and Basso seems totally at ease.
Up front Garate and Villa have joined Voigt and Valjavec. Valjavec takes another dig and now Garate goes.'),(1816,44,'2006-05-26 17:43:05','Garate is now climbing on his own','Juan Miguel Garate is setting a very, very good tempo at the front. No one is with the Spanish national champion... Voigt is chasing.'),(1817,44,'2006-05-26 17:43:48','Wowie Zowie...','Voigt has bridged up. Jens Voigt is riding beautifully on this climb.'),(1818,44,'2006-05-26 17:45:18','The peloton is at 3:30...','Savoldelli is suffering and is losing more time on Simoni. Danielson is trying to pace him back.
Up front Garate and Voigt continue to drive ahead.'),(1819,44,'2006-05-26 17:46:06','Garate and Voigt','are five kilometers from the top and Voigt puts in a dig. He\'s got to be feeling good today.'),(1820,44,'2006-05-26 17:47:35','Voigt and Garate','Are setting a good pace up there. In the peloton, the pace is still being set by Leonardo Piepoli.'),(1821,44,'2006-05-26 17:48:20','There goes Simoni','Basso and Cunego are joining him. Savoldelli appears to be well down... in another time zone.'),(1822,44,'2006-05-26 17:49:20','Gutierrez is dropped.',''),(1823,44,'2006-05-26 17:50:34','Back in the peloton','Simoni and Basso are off with Cunego chasing hard. Up front, Garate and Voigt are 3.5km from the finish.'),(1824,44,'2006-05-26 17:52:38','Gutierrez chasing hard','Cunego is losing ground to Basso and Simoni who are swallowing up some of the stragglers in the break. Behind Cunego, Gutierrez is trying hard to fight back.'),(1825,44,'2006-05-26 17:53:27','2:45','Garate and Voigt are three kilometers from the top and they remain 2:45 ahead of Simoni and Basso. It looks like these guys will pull off the stage win.'),(1826,44,'2006-05-26 17:55:29','Cunego is still losing ground to Simoni and Basso','Garate and Voigt are through the tough 15-percent part and it will ease off to the finish. That will do Voigt a bit better.'),(1827,44,'2006-05-26 17:56:37','Voigt and Garate','Are nearing the 2km mark.'),(1828,44,'2006-05-26 17:57:59','Garate','Looks uncomfortable and nervous. Voigt is on his wheel and looks very relaxed. This look reminiscent of the Hincapie stage win at the Tour last year.'),(1829,44,'2006-05-26 17:58:56','Big Slovenian flags on the course','Slovenian fans are out in force... and a tad disappointed that Valjavec isn\'t there.'),(1830,44,'2006-05-26 17:59:50','Basso and Simoni','Cruise past Halgand and making time on Cunego, Gutierrez and Savoldelli.'),(1831,44,'2006-05-26 18:00:05','One kilometer to go','For Garate and Voigt'),(1832,44,'2006-05-26 18:00:34','It\'s going to be a charge to the line','for these two leaders.'),(1833,44,'2006-05-26 18:01:19','500 meters to go','Garate charges.... Voigt right on his wheel.'),(1834,44,'2006-05-26 18:02:31','There goes Garate','Voigt pats Garate on the back... he is spent and concedes the win.'),(1835,44,'2006-05-26 18:03:00','Garate nears the line','points back to Voigt and raises his arms in victory.'),(1836,44,'2006-05-26 18:03:57','Simoni and Basso in the final km','Villa finishes about 1:21 back in third.'),(1837,44,'2006-05-26 18:05:38','Basso and Simoni come in at 2:15','Gutierrez catches Cunego and comes in at 2:38. '),(1838,44,'2006-05-26 18:07:08','Savoldelli','Finishes with Sandy Casar and Pelizotti at 4:15... about two minutes down on Simoni.'),(1839,44,'2006-05-26 18:19:58','Well that\'s a wrap.','Check back soon for results, a complete report from Andy Hood and photos from Graham Watson. Speaking of our photographer in Italy, reader Adam Leman is today\'s winner. he will receive a copy of Watson\'s book Landscapes of Cycling.'),(1840,44,'2006-05-26 18:05:00','Word from the course','is that Jan Ullrich has pulled out of the Giro. He\'s reportedly suffering from back pains and figures that he\'s had a good Giro, using it as a three-week training camp for the Tour. Not a bad ride... including an impressive win in the long 50km time trial.'),(1841,45,'2006-05-27 13:56:29','Good day...','and welcome to the 20th stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia. This one is another biggie, folks. Besides the Giro\'s highest mountain pass, the 8589-foot Gavia, halfway through the 211km stage, the peloton faces the infamous Mortirolo 30km from the uphill finish at Aprica. Averaging 10.2 percent for 12.8km, the very narrow Mortirolo has an 18-percent pitch in its midsection, where a new memorial remembers the late Marco Pantani. \r\n'),(1842,45,'2006-05-27 14:11:00','On the Gavia','The peloton is on the lower slopes of the Gavia. Right now, Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r) and Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) are about 35 seconds ahead of the field. Bruseghin sure has been out on the attack quite a bit this Giro. Sort of an Italian version of the now-retired Jackie Durand.'),(1843,45,'2006-05-27 14:14:37','Danielson out','We don\'t completely understand why, but American Tom Danielson did not make the start today. Our man, Andrew Hood, plans to speak with him later today.'),(1844,45,'2006-05-27 14:17:59','At km 97','Our two leaders are about 1:25 ahead of the main field and working well together. This climb is known as the Cima Coppi since it is the highest point of this Giro d\'Italia. There\'s a special incentive to reach the top first, given that the rider to do it gets bragging rights, extra KOM points and a hefty check, to boot.'),(1845,45,'2006-05-27 14:23:56','Danielson','Andrew Hood reports that Tom Danielson did not start after falling ill overnight with a fever. Discovery Channel sport director Johan Bruyneel said Danielson wasn\'t feeling good going into Friday\'s grueling climbing stage and succumbed to fever.
\"When he woke up this morning, he wasn\'t in condition to ride such a hard stage,\" Bruyneel said. \"Tom had a good Giro and he was doing a good job helping Paolo (Savoldelli) and staying there in the GC. On the stage to La Thuile, Tom got cold on the long, wet descent and he\'s been fighting it since then.\"
Danielson will take a rest to fully recover and then reload for the Vuelta a España where he will be the team captain for GC.\r\n'),(1846,45,'2006-05-27 14:25:02','Weather and other news','It was a cool, cloudy at start, mostly sunny and warm at the finish, though. There are more clouds up high on the Gavia, big crowds building on the Mortirolo ...
Also, Team CSC penned a two-year contract extension with Carlos Sastre this morning.'),(1847,45,'2006-05-27 14:26:28','Contest time!','Well, it\'s time again for our daily contest. Give it some thought and then\r\ntell us who you think will win today\'s stage. Send your choice in an e-mail\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com.\r\nBe sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your\r\ne-mail.\r\n
We will chose a winner from among the correct entries. Today\'s winner\r\nwill receive a copy of Landscapes\r\nof Cycling By Graham Watson\r\n
Please note:\r\n
Just one entry per person per day.
No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.'),(1848,45,'2006-05-27 14:39:15','Gap is holding','The peloton is taking this one together. Feared as this climb is, it crests barely past today\'s halfway mark and there is a lot of work ahead.'),(1849,45,'2006-05-27 14:51:19','Chechu','Discovery\'s Rubiera has moved up to Calzati as Bruseghin fades back. Those two have about 45 seconds on Bruseghin and about 1:30 on the peloton.'),(1850,45,'2006-05-27 14:51:50','Pictures','Andy Hood has been sending in Photos today. Scroll down and check them out.'),(1851,45,'2006-05-27 14:56:17','Garate','Has moved up and past the two leaders. He is with David Lopez of Euskaltel and they are moving to within 1km of the top.'),(1852,45,'2006-05-27 14:57:50','Garate takes the Cima Coppi','Garate takes the honor of earning the Cima Coppi at this year\'s Giro.'),(1853,45,'2006-05-27 15:04:28','Jose Serpa second','David Lopez was third and the peloton came across at about one minute. The three men who reached the top first are together on the descent. It\'s a long ride down on twisty, switch-backed roads. The weather is good, but there\'s a lot of snow melt making parts of the road a little wet in spots.'),(1854,45,'2006-05-27 15:13:00','The three men have been joined by Vila','and are maintaining a 45-second lead over the peloton, which is being led by Gilberto Simoni and the Saunier Duvals.'),(1855,45,'2006-05-27 15:23:43','Garate and crew','are still holding a lead of about 45 seconds on a large chase group. Basso is in a much larger group at 1:05'),(1856,45,'2006-05-27 15:24:55','As things flatten out','Garate and crew have been caught'),(1857,45,'2006-05-27 15:26:00','All together now','The peloton is quite relaxed. '),(1858,45,'2006-05-27 15:29:26','In Bormio','Serpa and another rider are slightly ahead of the peloton, but the gap is small.'),(1859,45,'2006-05-27 15:33:53','At the intermediate sprint','Serpa takes the sprint and is about 35 seconds ahead of the peloton'),(1860,45,'2006-05-27 15:36:39','CSC at the front','of the peloton. Serpa is holding on to a 30-second advantage. It\'s mostly downhill to the next climb of the day, the steep narrow roads of the Mortirolo.'),(1861,45,'2006-05-27 15:37:14','Voigt is driving at the front','and they scoop up Serpa.'),(1862,45,'2006-05-27 15:44:54','At km 145','The peloton is cruising along very quickly on roads that are largely flat, with a slight downhill slope.'),(1863,45,'2006-05-27 15:49:05','Zoooooom','The peloton is heading toward the Mortirolo and the profile here allows for terrific speeds. The peloton is moving along at 75kph.'),(1864,45,'2006-05-27 15:58:43','Still flying toward the Mortirolo','This is a long, long approach to the climb.'),(1865,45,'2006-05-27 16:05:06','50km to go','The peloton is still together, and the pace remains quite high as the riders approach the final major climb of this Giro d\'Italia.'),(1866,45,'2006-05-27 16:06:49','In Mazzo del Valtellina','The peloton is winding its way through the narrow streets of the mountain village of Mazzo del Valtellina'),(1867,45,'2006-05-27 16:07:47','And now the road is rising','Saunier Duval is setting tempo at the front.'),(1868,45,'2006-05-27 16:09:02','Oh this is going to blow things apart','Basso is relaxed and happy, but the rest of the crowd is strung out in single file on this climb.'),(1869,45,'2006-05-27 16:10:52','Gutierrez is already struggling','We also see Emanuel Sella fading back as is Franco Pellizotti'),(1870,45,'2006-05-27 16:12:18','CSC at the front','Savoldelli is holding on. Simoni is there. Cunego is there.'),(1873,45,'2006-05-27 16:15:33','Correction','Sastre is there... and setting tempo at the front.'),(1872,45,'2006-05-27 16:15:02','Garate has been dropped.','Garate has a lock on the climbers\' jersey, so maybe he isn\'t too concerned.'),(1874,45,'2006-05-27 16:16:28','Gutierrez fights his way back','and is locked on Basso\'s wheel.'),(1875,45,'2006-05-27 16:17:15','At the front','Basso is at the front and making these guys suffer.'),(1876,45,'2006-05-27 16:18:04','Basso blows things apart.','All of the challengers have been shelled... except for Piepoli and Simoni.'),(1877,45,'2006-05-27 16:18:31','Piepoli fades','It\'s down to Basso and Simoni'),(1878,45,'2006-05-27 16:19:19','Basso','Is just flying up the climb. He looks relaxed and the guys who are trailing well behind him are struggling up the climb.'),(1879,45,'2006-05-27 16:20:55','Simoni taking a pull','Still Basso and Simoni at the front. As the slope eases off, Piepoli working his way back. Behind them Gutierrez sheds Cunego. Savoldelli is about 45 seconds back already.'),(1880,45,'2006-05-27 16:22:00','Simoni and Basso','Ticking along nicely... Piepoli never caught on. Cunego is fighting to catch Gutierrez now that it\'s steepening.'),(1881,45,'2006-05-27 16:22:59','Gutierrez','\"The Buffalo\" is really struggling on the steep slope. He only trails the two leaders by 20 seconds, though. Cunego has passed him.'),(1882,45,'2006-05-27 16:24:47','Cunego and Gutierrez','are connecting with Piepoli.'),(1883,45,'2006-05-27 16:26:47','Basso knocks a fan aside','Some wanker running alongside the race leader takes it upon himself to pour water on Basso. The CSC man apparently didn\'t appreciate it.'),(1884,45,'2006-05-27 16:27:42','Basso and Simoni','The two leaders are about 40 seconds ahead of Piepoli and another 4 seconds ahead of Cunego and Gutierrez. Savoldelli is 1:28 back'),(1885,45,'2006-05-27 16:28:56','40km to go','The two leaders are 40km from the finish.'),(1886,45,'2006-05-27 16:32:20','Basso and Simoni','What a combo.'),(1887,45,'2006-05-27 16:33:26','Basso is amazing.','The race leader drops back to get a bottle from his team car and just cruises back up to Simoni without expending an effort.'),(1888,45,'2006-05-27 16:34:01','Cunego loses contact with Gutierrez','Cunego can\'t stay with the big man from Phonak.'),(1889,45,'2006-05-27 16:37:25','Man this climb lasts forever','The climb just now has worked its way out of the trees and the climb continues.'),(1890,45,'2006-05-27 16:37:00','The leaders','have passed the new monument to Marco Pantani.'),(1891,45,'2006-05-27 16:38:58','Savoldelli caught and passed by Garate',''),(1892,45,'2006-05-27 16:41:33','Savoldelli at 2:30','Savoldelli is still losing time. Gutierrez is closing in on Piepoli. '),(1893,45,'2006-05-27 16:42:36','3km to top','The end is nigh! The final big climb of the Giro is almost done. Gutierrez, meanwhile, has caught and passed Piepoli.'),(1894,45,'2006-05-27 16:44:33','Gutierrez at 45 seconds','What an impressive ride. Gutierrez is holding his own and doing it in style. He will hold on to his second place in the overall standings.'),(1895,45,'2006-05-27 16:45:36','2km to go','The two men up front are two kilometers from the top. Savoldelli is at 3:05.'),(1896,45,'2006-05-27 16:47:58','35km to go','The two leaders are about 1.5km from te top and 35km from the finish line.'),(1897,45,'2006-05-27 16:48:32','Cunego fighting back',''),(1898,45,'2006-05-27 16:49:38','Massive crowds','Many appear to be somewhat intoxicated... lordy.'),(1899,45,'2006-05-27 16:51:13','Oh these crowds','This is a huge day at the Giro and the crowds are 10 deep along side the road. This is insane.'),(1900,45,'2006-05-27 16:52:27','Over the top','Finally some barriers. Basso, by the way, appears to have earned the climber\'s jersey.'),(1901,45,'2006-05-27 16:52:58','Cunego and Gutierrez','Are over the top at 1:09'),(1902,45,'2006-05-27 16:54:44','Basso and Simoni','heading down the narrow roads of the descent. Piepoli hits the top at 1:48.\r\n'),(1903,45,'2006-05-27 16:55:20','Savoldelli group still climbing','at 3:18... he has Garate and Sandy Casar with him'),(1904,45,'2006-05-27 16:56:00','Savoldelli at 3:42','Il Falco will be pulling out the stops on this descent, no doubt.'),(1905,45,'2006-05-27 16:57:28','Less than 30km to go',''),(1906,45,'2006-05-27 16:58:38','Savoldelli flying','Savoldelli is just rocketing down the slope and has left Casar and Garate'),(1907,45,'2006-05-27 17:00:26','Our two leaders are nearing the 25km mark','Saunier Duval sport director Matxin Fernandez told Andrew Hood this morning that Simoni was going to \"go for the win\" today, but Ivan Basso said the same thing. These two are having a tug-of-war.'),(1908,45,'2006-05-27 17:01:52','Cunego','Cunego told reporters at the finish line Friday that he\'s feeling better in the final week of the Giro. \"I wish the Giro was four weeks long\" - Cunego speaks only for himself on that score!'),(1909,45,'2006-05-27 17:03:37','Holy Moly','Savoldelli is just flying down the road. Meanwhile Basso and Simoni are 1:12 ahead of Gutierrez and Cunego. Piepoli is at 2:05. We\'ll see where Savoldelli is.'),(1910,45,'2006-05-27 17:05:44','Still no time check on Savoldelli','but he\'s way back. Nonetheless, it\'s fun to watch him.'),(1911,45,'2006-05-27 17:06:32','Simoni and Basso at 20km to go','Twenty k until the finish.\r\n'),(1912,45,'2006-05-27 17:07:28','Gutierrez and Cunego','are 52 seconds back at 20km to go.'),(1913,45,'2006-05-27 17:09:45','Savoldelli at 2:45','He made up some time on the descent.'),(1914,45,'2006-05-27 17:12:53','Gutierrez and Cunego','Are chasing like mad men and are trying to reduce the Basso/Simoni advantage as they reach the 15km-to-go mark, the gap is at 45.'),(1915,45,'2006-05-27 17:14:44','Basso and Simoni','Are on the final climb. '),(1916,45,'2006-05-27 17:16:32','Savoldelli still at 3:00','Savoldelli risks losing another spot on GC if he lets Cunego get too much time on him, but this last climb isn\'t really something that would favor Cunego.'),(1917,45,'2006-05-27 17:17:16','6:30 in the saddle','After yesterday\'s 7-hour stage, this has been a big pair of stages.'),(1918,45,'2006-05-27 17:18:26','Simoni and Basso','Are more than holding their own against Gutierrez and Cunego on this climb. It\'s almost certain that one of these two men will win the stage.'),(1919,45,'2006-05-27 17:19:53','Basso and Simoni','have 1:12 on Gutierrez and Cunego'),(1920,45,'2006-05-27 17:23:57','Simoni and Basso','have upped their advantage to 1:24.'),(1921,45,'2006-05-27 17:26:14','With 10 kilometers remaining','Savoldelli has caught on with Piepolli... but those two are 4:10 behind the two leaders.'),(1922,45,'2006-05-27 17:28:08','Gutierrez and Cunego','Are 1:30 behind the two men up front. Piepoli and Savoldelli are 4:00 back.'),(1923,45,'2006-05-27 17:28:41','More time','Guitierrez and Cunego are now 1:53 back.'),(1924,45,'2006-05-27 17:30:04','Five km to go','Basso and Simoni are five km from the finish. This is a moderate climb and the two leaders are just flying toward the finish. Will Basso give Simoni the win or will there be a sprint?'),(1925,45,'2006-05-27 17:30:51','Cunego and Gutierrez','Reach tht 5k banner at 1:58'),(1926,45,'2006-05-27 17:32:01','Piepoli and Savoldelli','are at 4:41'),(1927,45,'2006-05-27 17:33:14','Basso moving ahead','Basso is moving off the front... no gifts?'),(1928,45,'2006-05-27 17:34:07','Look at him go','He\'s just ridden him off his wheel. Simoni is way back already.'),(1929,45,'2006-05-27 17:34:58','Basso','He has 12 seconds on Simoni. '),(1930,45,'2006-05-27 17:36:04','Zoooooom','Man, Basso is on his way to a stage win... within the final kilometer.'),(1931,45,'2006-05-27 17:36:54','Basso is not slowing down...','Hell, he\'s almost sprinting to the finish.'),(1932,45,'2006-05-27 17:37:59','It\'s Basso','He crosses him self and holds up a picture of his new son!'),(1933,45,'2006-05-27 17:39:11','Now that\'s cool','There\'s no denying the motivation of a new dad! Simoni finishes at 1:18. Wow.'),(1934,45,'2006-05-27 17:41:09','Gutierrez and Cunego','Come in at 2:52. Cunego takes third and gets 8 seconds of bonus time.\r\n'),(1935,45,'2006-05-27 17:44:27','Piepoli and Savoldelli','Come in at 6:03... and it looks like he has slipped to fifth on GC'),(1936,46,'2006-05-28 14:59:10','Good morning ...','... and here we are once again, for the final stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia. After a brutal campaign in the mountains, this is a day for the fast men to shine, and as VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood notes, Henk Vogels, Paolo Bettini and Stefen Schumacher are all still in the bunch.'),(1937,46,'2006-05-28 15:02:51','Low and slow, bro\'','The peloton is in no hurry to start the fireworks today. They\'ve been on the road for an hour at an average pace of just 30.4km/hour.'),(1938,46,'2006-05-28 15:08:09','Plenty of fireworks on Saturday, though','Yesterday, an exasperated Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) called race leader Ivan Basso an \"extraterrestrial\" after the CSC man dropped him like an empty GU wrapper on the final climb to Aprica and accused him of riding unfairly.\r\n\r\n\"Basso asked me to wait for him on the descent (of the Mortirolo). If I had known he was going to do that, I would have used a different tactic. Obviously, there are no gentlemen in this game,\" Simoni said.\r\n\r\n\"I don\'t think I\'ve stolen anything from Simoni,\" Basso countered. \"The only thing I said to Simoni on the descent was to not take risks. I\'ve proven to be very generous in numerous occasions in this Giro.\" '),(1939,46,'2006-05-28 15:16:42','Things could be worse, Gibo\' old boy','Simoni, a two-time winner of the Giro, will finish on the podium once more today, barring unfortunate happenstance. He\'s slotted into third place, right behind runner-up José E. Gutierrez (Phonak). Not too shabby . . .'),(1940,46,'2006-05-28 15:18:49','99km to go','The peloton is cruising through Merate.'),(1941,46,'2006-05-28 15:28:03','It\'s contest time!','While we\'re waiting for the first pedal to be turned in anger, let\'s launch our final daily contest. Give it some thought and then tell us who you think will win today\'s stage. Send your choice in an e-mail to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Be sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your e-mail.\r\n\r\nWe will choose a winner from among the correct entries. Today\'s winner will receive a copy of Landscapes of Cycling By Graham Watson\r\n\r\nPlease note: We’ll accept just one entry per person per day. No entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.\r\n'),(1942,46,'2006-05-28 15:46:07','Looking ahead . . .','Basso has crushed the competition in this year\'s Giro. He has nine minutes, 18 seconds over Gutierrez and 11:59 on Simoni. Can he do it again come the Tour? Send your predictions to webletters@insideinc.com. And remember, he\'s got a brand-new son, so he won\'t be getting much sleep between now and July.'),(1943,46,'2006-05-28 16:12:45','And we\'re off!','Gabriele Missaglia (Colombia-Selle Italia) is having a bit of a dig. He has a couple minutes on the bunch, which is getting antsy.'),(1944,46,'2006-05-28 16:14:54','Antsy indeed','Missaglia won\'t be out there long ... the peloton has come to life and the gap is vanishing like free food in the press tent.'),(1945,46,'2006-05-28 16:21:23','Back he comes','Missaglia finds himself back in the bosom of the peloton after a quick, ruthless pursuit. '),(1946,46,'2006-05-28 16:28:07','Welcome to Milan','Now we have 11 laps of a 4.8km circuit and the Saunier Duval boys on the front.'),(1947,46,'2006-05-28 16:32:40','Lovely day for a parade','The bunch has completed the first of 11 sunny trips around the Milan circuit, with CSC on the front.'),(1948,46,'2006-05-28 16:37:06','Vogels takes a spill','One of the fast men tapped by VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood as a potential winner of this stage, Henk Vogels, has laid it down. He\'s back up and on the bike, though.'),(1949,46,'2006-05-28 16:41:09','Applause for Bramati','Davide Bramati (Quick Step) waves to the cheering crowd in what will be his final race as a pro.'),(1950,46,'2006-05-28 16:45:51','Retired but not unemployed','Though he\'ll be hanging up his cleats, Bramati will remain involved in pro racing ... he\'ll be stepping into a staff gig at Quick Step.'),(1951,46,'2006-05-28 17:03:42','Lap 5','Basso is getting the old chariot ride around Milan, courtesy of his CSC teammates.'),(1952,46,'2006-05-28 17:06:40','Yo, Bobby!','Bobby Julich does a turn at the front. Good to see a homeboy up there on Memorial Day weekend.'),(1953,46,'2006-05-28 17:12:55','Basso speaks','Basso may have flattened everyone in this year’s Giro, but it hasn’t gone to his head. The race leader told our Andrew Hood: \"I am not looking to replace Lance (Armstrong) or be anyone except myself. I have proven what I am capable of and I will only be myself.\" And he even copped to making a mistake - not putting on a cape on the descent to La Thuile. \"It would have only taken 15 seconds but it ended costing me a minute. Ullrich lost a Tour because of a similar mistake.\" '),(1954,46,'2006-05-28 17:16:24','In the pink','As the CSC mob drags the bunch around Milan, it appears that they\'re sporting pink handlebar tape in honor of the maglia rosa. The crowds are absolutely huge as we hit five laps to go.'),(1955,46,'2006-05-28 17:19:14','The speed\'s ramping up a tad','They\'re turning 7:30 laps out there ... call it 38.2km/hour.'),(1956,46,'2006-05-28 17:20:43','Riis weighs in on the Simoni-Basso tiff','Concerning the Basso-Simoni \'polemica\' of Saturday\'s finish, CSC chief Bjarne Riis said: \"Basso didn\'t steal anything from anyone. He was the strongest and he\'s shown he\'s the strongest every day in this Giro. He deserved to win the stage.\"'),(1957,46,'2006-05-28 17:27:43','More on Simoni v. Basso','RAI TV is reporting that Basso demanded money from Basso to let him win Saturday\'s stage, a charge Basso denied in a press conference Sunday morning. \"I told him at the top of the descent (off the Mortirolo) to not take any risks and nothing more. Everything else is not true. It\'s not the first time Simoni has blown up at the end of a race.\" Ouch.'),(1958,46,'2006-05-28 17:29:05','Faster and faster','CSC is stepping it up again ... 44.5 km/hour now.'),(1959,46,'2006-05-28 17:31:50','And faster still','59km/hour ... as our man Andrew Hood notes, \"That\'s gotta hurt.\"'),(1960,46,'2006-05-28 17:41:07','Ouch!','Looks like Mirco Lorenzetto (Milram) has hit the deck and may be unable to finish as the bunch heads into its final lap. What a shame ... to make it all the way to Milan and then crash out.'),(1961,46,'2006-05-28 17:42:58','CSC driving','Basso\'s boys are on the front with Milram right behind them, hoping to deliver for Alberto Ongorato. '),(1962,46,'2006-05-28 17:44:27','Watch for Bettini','... he\'s in a good spot.'),(1963,46,'2006-05-28 17:44:44','Attack!','Ongarato has a go!'),(1964,46,'2006-05-28 17:46:02','And the winner is ...','Robert Forster of Gerolsteiner!'),(1965,46,'2006-05-28 17:53:03','The top three','1. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner); 2. Axel Richeze (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare); 3. Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile).'),(1966,46,'2006-05-28 18:05:25','Arrivederci','That\'s all from here ... stay tuned to VeloNews.com for a complete report, photos and results from the final stage of the 2006 Giro d\'Italia.'),(1968,55,'2006-07-01 15:09:00','Welcome to VeloNews Live Tour de France Coverage','Good day and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 7.1km Strasbourg Prologue Time Trial of the 93rd Tour de France.\r\n\r\nWe\'ve had 105 riders finish today\'s prologue so far and the top 20:
1. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 08:21
\r\n2. O’grady Stuart (Aus), CSC, 08:21
\r\n3. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 08:27
\r\n4. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 08:27
\r\n5. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 08:29
\r\n6. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 08:31
\r\n7. Christopher Horner (USA), Davitamon-Lotto, 08:32
\r\n8. Hugo Victor Hugo (Col), Phonak, 08:33
\r\n9. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 08:33
\r\n0. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 08:33
\r\n11. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 08:34
\r\n12. Isaac Galvez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 08:35
\r\n13. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 08:35
\r\n14. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 08:35
\r\n15. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 08:36
\r\n16. Michael Albasini (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, 08:37
\r\n17. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 08:38
\r\n18. Christian Vandevelde (USA), CSC, 08:38
\r\n19. Rik Verbrugghe (B), Cofidis, 08:40
\r\n20. Alessandro Ballan (I), Lampre, 08:40
\r\n\r\n'),(2070,59,'2006-07-03 13:12:00','Obernai to Esch-sur-Alzette - 228.5km','Good day and welcome to the second stage of the 93rd Tour de France, a 228.5km stage from Obernai to Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg.
This is the Tour’s second longest stage and opens with two significant Cat. 3 climbs in the forested hills of the Vosges and closes with two shorter Cat. 4 climbs on the France-Luxembourg border just before the finish. In between is 150km of rolling terrain through the agricultural Lorraine region. There’s bound to be an early breakaway on such a long stage, but the straight wide roads favor the sprinters’ teams in pulling things back together before the final 20km. The two Cat. 4 climbs with 16km and 13.5km to go, followed by two smaller, unrated ones in the last 5km, could spawn a break by a small group.
Today\'s stage began just before noon and we saw an early attack by two riders: David De la Fuente (Saunier Duval) and Aitor Hernandez (Euskaltel Euskadi).\r\n\r\nAfter more than an hour of racing the two escapees have bumped their lead to about 10 minutes.'),(1970,55,'2006-07-01 15:19:46','Julich finishes with 16th best time','Bobby Julich finishes with the 16th best time of the day, so far.\r\n\r\n'),(1971,55,'2006-07-01 15:20:00','Time for a contest!','It\'s time for all of those prognosticating viewers to try their hand at picking today\'s winner. We have a new feature for that... check the \"Daily Contest\" link across the top and see the cool stuff you can win today, simply for being more accurate than anyone else... well, that and being randomly chosen from among the correct choices.'),(1972,55,'2006-07-01 15:26:00','The leaders','There haven\'t been many changes in the Current Standings. To keep track of things, use this link and we\'ll be updating that throughout today\'s TT. Current\r\nStandings, '),(1973,55,'2006-07-01 15:27:58','Chavanel','Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) - the Time Trial champion of France - comes through 18 seconds down. You can really see that the final finishing stretch takes a toll on these guys.\r\n'),(1974,55,'2006-07-01 15:31:13','Jens Voigt','is on route. His teammate David Zabriskie is someone who we\'ll follow over those 7.1km.'),(1975,55,'2006-07-01 15:34:00','Robbie McEwen comes in','with a time of 8:45. His is 39th best of the day, so far:\r\nCurrent\r\nStandings, \r\n'),(1976,55,'2006-07-01 15:39:14','Voigt','CSC\'s Jens Voigt comes in with a time of 8:41... 29th on the day.'),(1977,55,'2006-07-01 15:42:27','Doctor Fuentes\' Pharmacy','Police were surprised when they raided the Madrid apartment of Spanish\r\ndoctor Eufemiano Fuentes on May 23 to find a cornucopia of products ranging from human growth hormones, testosterone patches, EPO and insulin.
In one apartment, 96 pouches of frozen blood and 20 pouches of frozen plasma were found, while in another office, an additional 89 pouches of frozen blood and 19 pouches of frozen plasma were among the haul.
Among centrifuges and other medical apparatus to extract and transfuse blood, members of the doping squad of Spain’s Guardia Civil found were more than 100 different products.
The information was part of a condensed version of a 500-page dossier of court and police records that Spanish authorities gave to UCI and Tour de France officials ahead of Saturday’s stage.
Here is a sampling of the products found by authorities as printed in Saturday’s edition of L’Equipe after reporters gained access to the report:
\r\n'),(1978,55,'2006-07-01 15:43:38','No changes in the top five','Lang\'s time is still holding up as the day\'s best. Any bets on how long that will last. We\'re approaching the last 20 riders, so things should start getting interesting.'),(1979,55,'2006-07-01 15:47:32','Rabobank\'s Dekker is on the road','Erik Dekker is on route. He is not expected to shake up the top five. We\'re not seeing anyone shaking up the top-five at this point.'),(1980,55,'2006-07-01 15:51:00','Andreas Kloden','He\'s on the road now. With no Jan Ullrich, is this the new leader of the T-Mobiles? He\'s wearing No. 21, so that means he\'s the leader on paper... will he be able to live up to the role? He is quite a talented rider and we may see quite a bit from the German, once touted as a replacement for Jan Ullrich.\r\n\r\nNo change in the leader board, but Paolo Savaldelli - winner of the Giro prologue - is now on the road.\r\n\r\nCurrent\r\nStandings, '),(1981,55,'2006-07-01 15:57:18','Be sure to check out our photos and videos','Scroll down to the bottom of our viewer and you can take a look at our latest Photos from Strasbourg and below that are new videos from our crew here on the scene.\r\n\r\nAlso if you get a moment to check out
Andrew\r\nHood\'s latest story'),(1982,55,'2006-07-01 15:58:14','Millar is on the road','David Millar - who says he has learned from his two year suspension - is on the road.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile Savoldelli looks on pace to match the fastest time of the day.'),(1983,55,'2006-07-01 15:59:21','Wiggins is on route','The Trackie, Bradley Wiggins is on route. He is also a favorite today.'),(1984,55,'2006-07-01 16:00:12','Savoldelli','Close! Savoldelli finishes one second off of Lang. He\'s in third so far.'),(1985,55,'2006-07-01 16:05:58','Landis gets a late start','Holy smokes... \r\nLandis missed his start... \r\n\r\nThe Phonak man showed up late for his start, but he only missed three seconds or so. It was no Delgado muck up... when the defending Tour champ missed his start by two minutes in 1989.'),(1986,55,'2006-07-01 16:07:31','Millar won\'t win','Millar crosses the line well off the top spot... in about 20th place.\r\n\r\nLandis, by the way, lost about 8 seconds. D\'OH!'),(1987,55,'2006-07-01 16:08:28','Wiggins in seventh','Wiggins hasn\'t taken the top spot either.'),(1988,55,'2006-07-01 16:09:06','Hushovd is the new leader','Thor Hushovd finishes in 8:17, four seconds up on Lang. Nice ride.'),(1989,55,'2006-07-01 16:10:11','Landis','Strange news. Landis crosses the halfway mark just about eight seconds behind the best time of the day... mmmm.'),(1990,55,'2006-07-01 16:10:57','Zabriskie on route','Another of the day\'s favorites, David Zabriskie, is on his way.'),(1991,55,'2006-07-01 16:13:24','Landis finishes','... about nine seconds off of Hushovd\'s pace. '),(1992,55,'2006-07-01 16:15:22','Zabriskie','Zabriskie hits the midway point in third.'),(1993,55,'2006-07-01 16:16:44','Hincapie','George Hincapie hits the midway mark with the same time as Zabriskie\r\n'),(1994,55,'2006-07-01 16:17:51','Michael Rogers','The World Time Trial champion finishes in 8:23, fifth best on the day.'),(1995,55,'2006-07-01 16:19:01','Zabriskie finishes','CSC\'s Dave Zabriskie comes in 8:21, second best on the day. Hincapie is flyin\''),(1996,55,'2006-07-01 16:20:28','OHHHH so close!','George Hincapie finishes 73/100th of a second behind Hushovd. Thor Hushovd wins the prologue time trial of the Tour.'),(1997,55,'2006-07-01 16:25:00','Top ten','1. Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 8:17
\r\n2. Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 8:17
\r\n3. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 8:21
\r\n4. Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 8:21
\r\n5. Valverde (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 8:21
\r\n6. O’grady (Aus), CSC, 8:21
\r\n7. Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 8:23
\r\n8. Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 08:25
\r\n9. Landis (USA), Phonak, 8:26
\r\n10. Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 8:27
Full Results \r\n\r\n'),(1998,56,'2006-07-02 13:40:54','Strasbourg to Strasbourg - 184.5km','Good day and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the first stage of the 2006 Tour dde France, a big 184km loop that starts and finishes in Strasbourg, that beautiful region that has long been the scene of territorial dispute between France and Germany.
Today\'s route will take the peloton into Germany near the end of the stage, though passage across the border is much easier than in the past.
This should have marked the triumphant appearance of Jan Ullrich in the Tours only foray into his homeland this year, but of course, that isn\'t the case after Friday\'s decision to exclude him and eight other riders for their alleged association with the doping scandal in Spain. That will perhaps temper the enthusiasm of the German crowds a bit, but there are still many of their countrymen in the peloton today and the crowds on both sides of the border are expected to be quite large.'),(1999,56,'2006-07-02 13:48:38','Early attacks...','The race is still sorting itself out this afternoon after today\'s start, just about half an hour ago.\r\n\r\nThere was an early attack - at the 2km mark - by Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux) and Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom). They have since been joined by four riders:
Nicolas Portal (Caisse d\'Epargne)
Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner)
Unai Etxebarria (Euskaltel)
Walter Beneteau (Bouygues Telecom).\r\n\r\nThey are now a good 3:25 ahead of the main field.\r\n'),(2000,56,'2006-07-02 13:51:58','At 22km','The seven leaders - Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux), Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom), Nicolas Portal (Caisse d\'Epargne), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Unai Etxebarria (Euskaltel) and Walter Beneteau (Bouygues Telecom) - are ticking along nicely and working quite well together. They have a lead of 3:30 and the Credit Agricole team of race leader Thor Hushovd is doing the bulk of the work in the main field. Obviously, they want a field sprint today, so they are quite disinclined to let this break get too far down the road. We\'re also likely to see the Davitamon Lotto team of Robbie McEwen lend a hand at some point.'),(2001,56,'2006-07-02 13:58:00','Contest reminder!','Here\'s a reminder, folks. Don\'t forget our daily contests. You can enter (just once a day) by clicking on the Daily Contest link att he top of the page.
We also are getting quite a bit of feedback on our newest feature, the VeloNews television features we\'re posting. Some of you, like Scott in Oregon, really like them.
The Current Situation on the Road
Our seven escapees are at 53km and are holding on to a lead of 4:20. They seem to be at the limit of their freedom.'),(2006,56,'2006-07-02 14:32:00','Thor in Yellow','We asked Thor Hushovd about his win yesterday and if it changes his outlook on the opening stages of the Tour... and whether the effort may have cost him a bit of ooomph in today\'s sprint.
“I don’t know, I guess we will see tonight. That’s all I can say. But I’m in good form so I think I will be better than ever before. I just have good form, so I think everything will work good. Winning the prologue was a bonus. Now I want to go for stage wins. After we will see for the green jersey.â€He\'s leading the points competition, too, of course, but it\'s George Hincapie who gets the green jersey today... because Hushovd gets that nice yellow one to wear.'),(2007,56,'2006-07-02 14:39:22','Intermediate sprint mark','At 53km, the peloton is still 4:30 behind the seven leaders. Just to re-cap, Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux), Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom), Nicolas Portal (Caisse d\'Epargne), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Unai Etxebarria (Euskaltel) and Walter Beneteau (Bouygues Telecom) have been off the front since the 3km mark. The Credit Agricole team has been holding them at about 4:30 for 20km or so. It\'s doubtful they will be allowed much more than that and we\'re likely to see them reeled in as the finish line approaches.'),(2008,56,'2006-07-02 14:51:27','Just to give you an idea...','Christian Vande Velde is equipped with an SRM on the road today. He\'s clicking along in the peloton at around 45kph and with a heart-rate in the low 140s.'),(2009,56,'2006-07-02 14:55:17','At 65km','The gap is holding at 4:35. Not much to report, but you see the profile folks. It\'s not really too likely that we\'ll see much drama on the stage until the catch and then the big effort by the sprint teams. The only thing that the seven escapees can realistically hope for today is for one of them to snag the climber\'s jersey atop this Tour\'s first climb, the Cat. Cote de Heiligenstein (the hill of the holy rock).'),(2010,56,'2006-07-02 14:59:00','Looking ahead','The run-in to Strasbourg has a succession of turns and roundabouts to negotiate, which will string out the first bunch and could put a lead-out train like Boonen’s in command. Boonen is the favorite to take his 18th victory of the season, but he will have to be wary. There’s a kilometer of wide, straight roadway from the final left turn, and it will be into the wind. Anyone on his wheel and to the right will get shelter — that’s the sort of circumstance that McEwen loves to exploit. So watch the Aussie, particularly if he gets a good lead-out from Fred Rodriguez through that last turn.'),(2011,56,'2006-07-02 15:05:04','With 108km to go','The seven riders are now 4:10 ahead of the peloton.'),(2012,56,'2006-07-02 15:07:59','SRM data','We\'re getting power, speed and heart-rate readings courtesy of SRM and CyclingPeaks. Beat Zberg, for example, is cruising along at 39kph, putting out 310 watts of power and has a heart-rate of 129.
Yeah, it\'s cool... but we wish we had data from Fausto Coppi\'s Tour performances, eh?'),(2013,56,'2006-07-02 15:15:09','100km to go','The Credit Agricole team is putting in work at the front. The gap is holding at 4:20.'),(2014,56,'2006-07-02 15:16:50','Leaders in the feedzone','We\'ll get a time check when the peloton gets there.
Don\'t forget our Daily Contest, which you can enter by clicking on the the button above.'),(2015,56,'2006-07-02 15:19:00','Wind not a factor today','It\'s nice and warm and the winds we were worried about never really developed.
A bit of personal trivia today. This is a beautiful area of France and Germany and one your Live Update Guy holds dear to his heart, having spent his youth on the German side of the border.'),(2016,56,'2006-07-02 15:21:45','SRM data','Sometimes the SRM data we get is a touch spotty. Right now, Christian Vande Velde is crusing along with a cadence of 97, putting out 200 watts... and well, our reading says he doesn\'t actually have a pulse. Someone get that man a doctor!
Meanwhile, dead or not Vande Velde and the rest of the peloton have reached the feedzone 4:37 behind the seven leaders.'),(2017,56,'2006-07-02 15:27:23','Halfway mark','The race is at the halfway point of today\'s stage and the gap is holding at 4:35.'),(2018,56,'2006-07-02 15:35:19','With 85km to go','The gap is still holding at 4:35.'),(2019,56,'2006-07-02 15:36:18','Leaders on the \"climb\"','It\'s more of a sprint mark than a KOM.'),(2020,56,'2006-07-02 15:37:11','Charge!','It was a sprint... and Weggman wins it. He gets a jersey.'),(2021,56,'2006-07-02 15:39:06','New phots, new videos','Scroll down to the bottom of the live update page. We have new photos posted and links to new video from our Tour crew.'),(2022,56,'2006-07-02 15:43:45','With 77km to go','The gap is holding at 4:39.'),(2023,56,'2006-07-02 15:44:48','Quick Step is moving to the front.','Credit Agricole is getting help from Tom Boonen\'s team.'),(2024,56,'2006-07-02 15:46:23','Milram is up too','The gap is already coming down. It\'s at 4:10.'),(2025,56,'2006-07-02 15:57:05','With 70km to go','The pace in the peloton is picking up and the gap is coming down. The Milram, Quick Step and Davitamon teams have all put riders up front to lend a hand to the C.A. chase. The gap is now under 4:00.
In today\'s L\'Equipe they\'ve interviewed Alexandre Vinokourov who says he\'s been cheated by the decision to pull his team out of the Tour.
\"It was undoubtedly my last chance to win the Tour and it\'s been taken from me,\" Vinokourov said in an interview with L\'Equipe on Sunday. \"Right up until the last minute we hoped the Tour de France would give us the benefit of the doubt and allow us to race.\"\r\n'),(2026,56,'2006-07-02 16:04:53','Gap at 3:55','With 63km to go, the leaders have just 3:55. The peloton is quite obviously monitoring the break and we can expect them to be pulled in within the final 20km.'),(2027,56,'2006-07-02 16:11:48','With 58km to go','The leaders are 3:24 ahead of the field.\r\n'),(2028,56,'2006-07-02 16:17:32','The gap is coming down','The big sprinters\' teams are picking up the effort and the gap is now under 3:00 - now 2:40 - with 53km to go.'),(2029,56,'2006-07-02 16:25:00','48km to go','The leaders are at Plobsheim and have just 2:10 on the peloton'),(2030,56,'2006-07-02 16:35:00','In Germany','The leaders are in Germany and are barely holding on to a lead of 2:00'),(2031,56,'2006-07-02 16:36:14','The leaders are 40km from the finish','The seven leaders are 40km from the finish... and they have a lead of 2:05. '),(2032,56,'2006-07-02 16:37:13','Peloton in Germany','The peloton is moving steadily, but the race is on wide, wide Autobahn roads and they can see the escapees ahead. The gap is 1:54.'),(2033,56,'2006-07-02 16:39:00','Gap continues to drop.','The leaders are just 1:48 ahead of the field.'),(2034,56,'2006-07-02 16:44:25','35km to go','And the gap is down to 1:35...tick, tick, tick, tick, tick'),(2035,56,'2006-07-02 16:53:54','With 28km to go','The leaders are 1:25 ahead of the field. We\'ll see the pace pick up in the next few kilometers.'),(2036,56,'2006-07-02 17:00:32','Huge crowds in Germany','Even without Jan Ullrich in the field, Germans have plenty of their countrymen to cheer on:
'),(2047,56,'2006-07-02 17:21:21','It was CA\'s Hinault','who kept Hincapie from grabbing the second spot in the sprint. 5.9 to go.'),(2048,56,'2006-07-02 17:22:09','With five kilometers remaining','The speed is quite high with Milram setting up for Zabel'),(2049,56,'2006-07-02 17:22:57','Liquigas is moving up','They could be setting up for our favorite Swede, Magnus Backstedt.'),(2050,56,'2006-07-02 17:23:56','Knees setting hard pace','Milram\'s Knees is leading the field with four km to go. We see Valverde up there. Di Luca has been dropped... by the field'),(2051,56,'2006-07-02 17:24:32','Oh man...','With 3km to go... it\'s a big mix. Rabobank is up there now.'),(2052,56,'2006-07-02 17:25:22','2.5km to go','No one is in control.... '),(2053,56,'2006-07-02 17:25:55','2km to go...','Hincapie and Hushovd are working up toward the front. McEwen is working up there, too.'),(2054,56,'2006-07-02 17:26:26','Backstedt is working up front.','On the last turn'),(2055,56,'2006-07-02 17:26:35','1km to go!',''),(2056,56,'2006-07-02 17:27:10','It\'s a mad dash','McEwen is working up. Boonen charges'),(2057,56,'2006-07-02 17:27:24','Casper goes!',''),(2058,56,'2006-07-02 17:28:31','It looks like Jimmy Casper!','A French win. Boonen gets surprised by Casper.\r\n\r\nHushovd has crashed!'),(2059,56,'2006-07-02 17:29:17','Hushovd crashed after the finish','Oh he looks hurt.. '),(2060,56,'2006-07-02 17:31:06','Hushovd','Hushovd crashed after the finish. He\'s bleeding from his arm... but we\'re hoping that he didn\'t break anything. '),(2061,56,'2006-07-02 17:34:15','Still no word on Hushovd','We will try to get you an update on the condition of Thor Hushovd... and the state of the GC. For the moment, we have Casper as the stage winner, but it there is a lot of calculating to do when it comes to figuring out who is in the yellow jersey.'),(2062,56,'2006-07-02 17:35:39','Stage Results:','1. Jimmy Casper (Cofidis)
\r\n2. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon)
\r\n3. Erik Zabel (Milram)
\r\n4. Daniele Bennati (Lampre)
\r\n5. Luca Paolini (Liquigas)
'),(2063,56,'2006-07-02 17:36:33','Hushovd is on his way to the hospital','It looks like he may have been hit by one of those big green hands'),(2064,56,'2006-07-02 17:38:00','It appears that Hushovd was cut','by one of those silly PMU hands.\r\n'),(2065,56,'2006-07-02 17:39:37','It looks like Hincapie is in the jersey','Hincapie\'s cheeky move at the final sprint mark earned him the yellow jersey.\r\n'),(2066,56,'2006-07-02 17:42:51','Hushovd','That was ugly. It is quite clear from reviewing the video, Hushovd did not crash. He got a bad, bad cut from a from one of those big green hands. Hitting one of those at speed... that can be very serious. We have to hope that he can start tomorrow. There was a lot of blood.'),(2067,56,'2006-07-02 17:44:03','Hincapie is putting on the jersey','George Hincapie is in the yellow jersey. He did it solely on the strength of his move as Beneteau was being caught and not on the misfortune of Thor Hushovd.'),(2068,56,'2006-07-02 17:46:00','GC - Unofficial','1. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery
\r\n2. Thor Hushovd (N) Credit Agricole, at 0:02
\r\n3. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 0:06
\r\n4. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, at 0:06
\r\n5. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, at 0:06
'),(2071,59,'2006-07-03 13:34:12','DiLuca out','Last year\'s ProTour winner Danilo di Luca (Liquigas) has pulled out of the Tour with a urinary infection, his team said on Monday. \r\n\r\nDi Luca, who finished last in the first stage 2:29 behind the main group, withdrew just before the start of today\'s stage. \r\n\r\nHe had already shown symptoms of a fever before the Tour on\r\nThursday and was about to withdraw before changing his mind. \r\n\r\nDi Luca\'s disappointing performance in the Tour of Italy in May had made him more determined to have a good Tour de France as a way of recouping himself. Di Luca had a great year last season, winning several biggies, including Amstel Gold Race and the Fleche Wallonne as well as the overall ProTour title. \r\n'),(2072,59,'2006-07-03 13:39:27','Wegman intent on scoring points','While our two leaders have grabbed KOM points on both CAT. 3 climbs today, Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), too, has scrambled for points on those climbs, grabbing two points on the Col des Pandours and one point on the Col de Valsberg. So he now has a total of six KOM points. He will need to grab a few points on the day\'s last two climbs, though, if he is to keep the polka dot jersey. By taking top points on both of today\'s climbs, Hernandez has eight points right now and leads the KOM contest. '),(2073,59,'2006-07-03 13:44:18','At 68km','The two leaders have an advantage of 9:25. That\'s down a bit from their biggest gap - 11:20 - about forty kilometers ago. Discovery is doing the bulk of the work at the front. We can expect to see the sprinters\' teams - Milram, Davitamon, Quick Step and maybe even Credit Agricole - lend a hand later on in the stage.\r\n\r\nSpeaking of Credit Agricole, Thor Hushovd is riding today. He has a bandage on his arm from that ugly cut he suffered yesterday, reported variously as being caused by one of those large PMU hands or by his brushing up against a spectator\'s camera as he charged to the finish. Either way, the big green hands have been blamed for the crime and are forthwith banned from the final two km of any stage in which a sprint finish is expected.'),(2074,59,'2006-07-03 13:48:42','Casey Gibson photos','Casey Gibson has just posted photos from the road, so scroll down and take a look. As we said, Thor Hushovd started today. Fortunately that cut looked a lot worse than it was. Man that was ugly.'),(2075,59,'2006-07-03 13:49:42','Contest reminder!','Just a reminder folks that you can enter our Daily Contest, by simply clicking on the Daily Contest button at the top of our update page. Good luck.'),(2076,59,'2006-07-03 13:57:53','At 80km','The two leaders - David De la Fuente (Saunier Duval) and Aitor Hernandez (Euskaltel Euskadi) - have raised their lead to more than 10 minutes again, but they have a long haul before they can even think about reaching the finish.'),(2077,59,'2006-07-03 14:01:26','Moderate pace','The average speed for the first two hours of racing today has been a relatively light 38.7kph. This last hour, the pace was a slightly higher 40.5kph, barely enough to break the hour at your local district TT. \r\n'),(2078,59,'2006-07-03 14:09:14','Disco getting help','The Quick Step and Davitamon teams are starting to get a little antsy about a 10+ minute lead and have moved a few of their guys up front, too.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a warm day, by the way, folks. A nice summer this year, with temperatures summer-like, but not the extremes we\'ve seen in past years.'),(2079,59,'2006-07-03 14:14:19','Gap is dropping','With the added horsepower at the front of the peloton, the gap has already been cut by more than a minute. The two leaders are now 9:00 up on the main field.'),(2080,59,'2006-07-03 14:23:59','Approaching 100km','Our two leaders are coming up on the 100km mark. Their lead continues to drop and they are now 8:15 ahead of the main field. What are the odds of them lasting another 128km?\r\n\r\nBy the way, if you\'re going to be away from you computer and still want to check in on the live action you can point your mobile device browser to our mobile live window at http://www.velonews.com/live_mobile. Come on. You can be subtle about it and when your boss is yapping about the strategic plan for the coming three months, you can sneak a peek at what you really care about.'),(2081,59,'2006-07-03 14:28:20','Our man Roop','By the way, if you pop open that picture of Thor Hushovd (below), you\'ll spot our guy Rupert Guinness in the Hawaiian shirt. Ol\' Roop has a habit of wearing those things throughout the tour and is usually pretty easy to spot in a crowd... those things are actually pretty rare in France.'),(2082,59,'2006-07-03 14:33:44','Würth out of cycling','German tool maker Würth has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Astaná team, support which had been slated to run at least until the end of the year.
The company issued the following statement on Monday:
\"The sponsorship contract has been terminated with immediate effect after the announcement of the Astana team that they would not take part in the Tour de France.\"
Meanwhile Wegman is off on his own... can he hold it to the finish? Wouldn\'t that be cool?\r\n'),(2125,59,'2006-07-03 17:15:06','Wegman still ahead','But he\'s just 20 seconds up there. Double checking our math... it looks like De la Fuente has the climber\'s jersey.'),(2126,59,'2006-07-03 17:15:41','9km to go','Wegman has just 15 seconds. There\'s a tough little climb ahead.'),(2127,59,'2006-07-03 17:16:17','Oh the peloton is close','He is just 10 seconds ahead of the field.'),(2128,59,'2006-07-03 17:16:58','Wegman looks tired','he\'s maybe 70 meters ahead'),(2129,59,'2006-07-03 17:17:18','He\'s caught','With 7.5km to go'),(2130,59,'2006-07-03 17:18:04','Boonen and Hincapie','are moving up to the front. Wegman is well off the pace now.'),(2131,59,'2006-07-03 17:19:33','Ag2r\'s Calzatti','Attacks... he\'s caught. Now a Gerolsteiner rider is off the front. Now he\'s caught by T-Mobile\'s Kessler. Kessler is off the front, with 6km to go.'),(2132,59,'2006-07-03 17:20:16','Kessler has six seconds on the field','with 5.9km to go.'),(2133,59,'2006-07-03 17:21:00','Kessler is upping his advantage','with 5.3km to go he has 10 seconds.'),(2134,59,'2006-07-03 17:22:02','Kessler is driving hard','The peloton is chasing, but the field is losing little chunks of time. He has 4km to go, with 12 seconds '),(2135,59,'2006-07-03 17:22:36','Kessler','He\'s 3.5km from the finish and he has 14 seconds.'),(2136,59,'2006-07-03 17:23:07','Milram doing the work','With 3km to go, Kessler has 15 seconds.'),(2137,59,'2006-07-03 17:23:39','2km to go','He has 14 seconds, but man he looks like he\'s hurting'),(2138,59,'2006-07-03 17:24:30','Kessler driving as there is a crash in the field','The crash won\'t affect the GC'),(2139,59,'2006-07-03 17:24:48','1km to go','Kessler is nine seconds ahead of the field.'),(2146,60,'2006-07-04 13:30:19','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of Stage 3 of the 93rd Tour de France, a 216.5km route through Luxembourg, Belgium and into Holland, ranking almost as an homage to the Spring Classics.
This stage saves the really hard part for the finish, with six categorized climbs and two sprints in the final two hours of racing. And these are not just any old climbs. The first is the Côte de la Haute-Levée, one of the key climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the last, 2km from the finish, is the infamous Cauberg that concludes another spring classic, the Amstel Gold Race.\r\n
In between these two climbs are 80km of hilly roads, often narrow after the race crosses the Belgian-Dutch border in the last 30km. It\'s these twisting roads with their traffic-slowing \"street furniture\" that has riders most concerned. One hopes that the field is broken up by the time the dicey roads appear.'),(2142,59,'2006-07-03 17:25:00','Ohhhhh it\'s so close!','Kessler is fighting to hold on..... but he\'s still 200 meters from the line... 100... 75 ! Ohhhhhh He\'s caught!'),(2143,59,'2006-07-03 17:26:12','McEwen!','Robbie McEwen '),(2144,59,'2006-07-03 17:27:19','Hushovd is in yellow','Hushovd almost crashes... this time it\'s his pedal. He pulls a foot out of his pedal, but he is back in the yellow jersey.'),(2145,59,'2006-07-03 17:28:52','The crash','We need to do a tally on who was there... but the crash happened within the final three kilometers so it should have no affect on the finishing times of those caught behind it.'),(2147,60,'2006-07-04 13:38:00','A rapid start','Racing began at noon today and after a series of early attacks a lead group of five formed at around 14 to 15 kilometers. Initiating the break was CSC\'s Jens Voigt and he has been joined by Jose Luis Arrieta and Christophe Laurent (Agritubel) Jerome Pineau of Bouyges Telecom and Unai Etxebarria of Euskaltel.
The five leaders are past the 55km mark and have a lead bordering on the six-minute mark.'),(2149,60,'2006-07-04 13:47:09','At 65km','Our five leaders\' advantage is dropping a bit and is now less than five minutes.'),(2150,60,'2006-07-04 13:49:09','Contest Reminder','It looks like some of you are already sending in your entries, which is terrific. If you haven\'t yet, go ahead and hit the Daily Contest button on the top of this page. Good luck and congrats to yesterday\'s winner: Aimee from Utah.'),(2148,60,'2006-07-04 13:45:27','Today\'s climbs','While the Categorized Climbs in today\'s stage don\'t kick in until the 131km mark, the terrain before that is not easy. Take a look at the profile.
We should note that Fabian Wegmann - the Gerolsteiner rider who grabbed the first climber\'s jersey in this Tour - tried an early attack today, but had no success. He is clearly hoping to grab points on the following climbs:
Category 3 - Côte de la Haute-Levée - 3.6 km climb to 5.5 % - Km 131
Cat. 3 - Côte de Oneux - 3.2 km climb to 5.1 % - Km 155
Cat. 4 - Côte de Petit-Rechain - 1.7 km climb to 4.7 % -Km 165.5
Cat. 4
Côte de Loorberg - 1.3 km climb to 5.8 % - Km 189
Cat. 4
Côte de Trintelen - 1.7 km climb to 5.1 % -Km 201
Cat. 3 The Cauberg - 0.8 km climb to 7.3 % -Km 214.5\r\n'),(2151,60,'2006-07-04 14:00:42','Climbs','One question we get quite often is how the Tour categorizes climbs. Interestingly, updated profiles of today\'s race show the final climb categorized as a CAT. 3 and ours shows it as a CAT. 4. That underscores the subjective element of this process, but this is a general guidline to follow throughout the Tour:\r\n
Cat . 4: Usually less than 3km in length, an easy pitch that amounts to no more than a sustained rise in the road
Cat . 3: Slightly harder, up to 5km in length
Cat . 2: Between 5km and 10km, and steeper than a 4-percent grade
Cat . 1: Long and steep. Between 10km and 20km, and steeper than a 5-percent grade.
Hors -catégorie (HC) or above category : The longest, steepest mountain climbs. Extremely difficult climbs, sometimes 15km to 20km, with grades often exceeding 10 percent.
2005 winner : Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank
2006 prize: $32,000'),(2152,60,'2006-07-04 14:06:57','While we\'e at it','We also get a number of questions about points distribution for the race for the green jersey. Here is the formula for that:
Flat stages:\r\n
1st place 35 points 2nd 30 3rd 26 4th 24 5th 22 6th 20 > and descending in one-point increments to 25th place
Rolling stages:
1st place 25 points 2nd 22 3rd 20 4th 18 5th 16 6th 15 > and descending in one-point increments to 20th place
Mountain stages:\r\n
1st place 20 points 2nd 17 3rd 15 4th 13 5th 12 6th 10 > and descending in one-point increments to 15th place
Time trials:
1st place 15 points 2nd 12 3rd 10 4th 8 5th 6 6th 5 > and descending in one-point increments to 10th place\r\n
Intermediate sprints:
1st place 6 points 2nd 4 3rd 2 (Three each day in stages 1-10, two each day in stages 11-20)'),(2153,60,'2006-07-04 14:08:25','At 85km','The five leaders are holding at just around five minutes. Once the peloton decides how far these guys can get, that\'s generally it, isn\'t it?'),(2154,60,'2006-07-04 14:14:07','Time gap','The peloton reached the 85km mark 5:42 behind the five escapees.'),(2155,60,'2006-07-04 14:19:58','The gap is holding','Our latest time check puts the peloton just around 5:40 behind the escapees.'),(2156,60,'2006-07-04 14:26:58','Casey Gibson','has just posted a couple of photos from today\'s start. It\'s also a good time to remind you to check out the videos we have up. Our crew have been working like crazy in their new-found roles as TV producers and on-air \"talent.\"'),(2157,60,'2006-07-04 14:34:42','At 100km','The five leaders still have an advantage of around 5:45. They are on that long gradual drop leading to the first of today\'s climbs.'),(2158,60,'2006-07-04 14:44:00','Interesting Info','If you get a chance, wander over to Cycling\r\nPeaks and take a gander at the SRM data coming off of a select group\r\nof riders\' bikes, including VeloNews diarist Christian Vande Velde.'),(2159,60,'2006-07-04 14:46:08','At km 113','The leaders are heading toward the feedzone and then face the day\'s first rated climb, the Category 3 Côte de la Haute-Levée, averaging 5.5 percent for 3.6km.\r\n'),(2160,60,'2006-07-04 14:56:03','Reminder','Don\'t forget to enter today\'s contest, but do us a favor and be sure to enter the name of the stage winner in the Subject Line of your e-mail. It sure makes picking a winner a lot easier for us.'),(2161,60,'2006-07-04 14:58:24','In the feedzone','Our leaders are in the feedzone and we\'ll get a nice time check when the peloton rolls through, too.'),(2162,60,'2006-07-04 14:59:07','Gap is 5:54','The leaders are almost six minutes up on the peloton.'),(2163,60,'2006-07-04 15:05:13','Leaders on the climb','The peloton is leaving the feedzone, 5:38 behind the lead group.'),(2164,60,'2006-07-04 15:07:05','The climb is taking a toll','The five leaders are making the grind up the climb. With temperatures nearing 90 and humidity at 42 percent, it\'s a big effort working up a 5.5% grade.'),(2165,60,'2006-07-04 15:14:35','Pineau','takes the top points at the summit of the Côte de la Haute-Levée.\r\n'),(2166,60,'2006-07-04 15:15:24','The gap is under five','minutes. The peloton is moving up the climb 4:40 behind the leaders.'),(2167,60,'2006-07-04 15:16:58','With 82km remaining','the gap is dropping and is now 4:31 as the peloton crests the Côte de la Haute-Levée.'),(2168,60,'2006-07-04 15:24:52','Up next','is the Cat. 3 Côte de Oneux, which crests at 155km, 3.2km climb averaging 5.1 percent.'),(2169,60,'2006-07-04 15:25:39','With 79km to go','The gap is holding at 4:40'),(2170,60,'2006-07-04 15:31:52','Voigt takes the sprint at Spa','1 -Voight 6 points
Laurent 4 points
Arrieta 2 points
The gap, meanwhile is 4:35.'),(2171,60,'2006-07-04 15:33:50','With 68km to go,','the leaders are heading toward the Côte de Oneux.'),(2172,60,'2006-07-04 15:42:09','With 63km to go','The leaders are on the Côte de Oneux and are holding lead of 5:10'),(2173,60,'2006-07-04 15:44:07','Credit Agricole','is moving to the front of the peloton and working to protect the yellow jersey of Thor Hushovd.'),(2174,60,'2006-07-04 15:46:26','Pineau','gets the four points atop the Côte de Oneux.'),(2175,60,'2006-07-04 15:52:18','The peloton crests the Côte de Oneux','5:03 behind the leaders, who are now 54km from the finish.'),(2176,60,'2006-07-04 15:56:26','Crash in the field','We see Fred Rodriguez on the ground and a Rabobank rider. Fred looks like he\'s holding his arm... a sign of a broken collarbone... Oh we hope not.'),(2177,60,'2006-07-04 15:56:00','The Rabobank rider is Dekker','Erik Dekker and Fred Rodriguez are still at the side of the road.'),(2178,60,'2006-07-04 15:58:48','The gap is at 4:55',''),(2179,60,'2006-07-04 16:03:32','Both riders are hurt','Dekker and Rodriguez were hurt badly enough to force them to abandon the Tour.
Ahead, Pineau takes top points on the climb. '),(2180,60,'2006-07-04 16:04:00','Dekker has a broken collarbone','no word on Rodriguez yet, but it sure looked like he did the same.'),(2181,60,'2006-07-04 16:05:39','Backstedt','is struggling. He\'s having a tough time on the terrain today.'),(2182,60,'2006-07-04 16:06:53','The peloton crests the climb','4:20 behind the leaders.'),(2183,60,'2006-07-04 16:16:00','40km to go','The gap is coming down. Arietta takes the sprint, with Voigt in second. Laurent takes third. That means Voigt - who won the first two sprints - has earned a total of 16 seconds of bonus time today.'),(2184,60,'2006-07-04 16:21:59','Landis speaks','Our guy Jason Sumner spoke with Floyd Landis at the start this morning:
On getting through the long days at the Tour
“The race is a combination of multiple days of fatigue and whatever else, so every little thing you do helps. Mostly I just have everybody do everything for me. That’s the best thing.â€
On the heat:
“The heat doesn’t bother me. I’d rather have it this way. Staying hydrated is just about paying attention. If you get thirsty, drink. Some people don’t like the heat, but for me it’s fine.â€
On predictions for stage 3:
“For me I don’t think I’ll really factor. But I do think there are a couple guys who will try because it’s a good opportunity to get the jersey. I think if George rides smart he doesn’t have to attack. He can probably get the jersey back. Valverde might try because he can sprint. It’s going to be a difficult day for the sprinters to control, or even be there at the end. For me I’ll just try to stay with the leaders at the front and stay out of trouble. I don’t think it’s a course for me to try to get the lead.â€\r\n'),(2185,60,'2006-07-04 16:23:00','Laurent takes a dig','With the leaders\' advantage coming down, Laurent decides it may be time to work his way to the finish on his own.'),(2186,60,'2006-07-04 16:25:26','Gap is dropping','The five leaders are back together... but the gap is down to 3:03, with 34km to go.'),(2187,60,'2006-07-04 16:27:27','Hot hot hot','The temperatures are going up and it\'s in the mid- to high-90s'),(2188,60,'2006-07-04 16:28:37','A catch is inevitable','The gap is dropping fast. Jerome Pineau wants to make the next climb and snag a few points if he can.'),(2189,60,'2006-07-04 16:30:53','In Holland','The race is coursing its way through Dutch roads. The gap is now at 2:20, with 29km to go.'),(2190,60,'2006-07-04 16:32:34','Attacks out of the field','Boogerd and Pieter Weening have attacked out of the field. '),(2191,60,'2006-07-04 16:34:02','Pineau takes the points','Pineau is now the KOM leader on the road.'),(2192,60,'2006-07-04 16:34:36','The gap is now at 2:00','The leaders will either surrender or break up soon.'),(2193,60,'2006-07-04 16:35:29','Peloton crests the climb',' trailing the leaders by 1:48. The Weening/Boogerd attack has been negated.'),(2194,60,'2006-07-04 16:40:09','Our five leaders','Are 20km from the finish, with a scant advantage of 1:38.'),(2195,60,'2006-07-04 16:42:46','Iban Mayo','has had an unfortunately timed mechanical. He\'s taken a teammate\'s wheel and the whole Euskaltel squad is pacing him back to the peloton.
The leaders are working through the hilly terrain, the gap is holding at 1:28.'),(2196,60,'2006-07-04 16:44:39','Laurent tries again','He\'s getting something of a gap as his four companions seem willing to let him go.
Mayo is back in the field.'),(2197,60,'2006-07-04 16:45:42','Laurent is caught','by Arietta... and here comes Voigt'),(2198,60,'2006-07-04 16:46:40','Voigt has joined the two leaders','Pineau and Etxebaria have blown'),(2199,60,'2006-07-04 16:47:33','Crash in the field','Valverde is down. He\'s holding his arm... another collarbone break.'),(2200,60,'2006-07-04 16:48:03','Valverde hit someone\'s wheel','It looks like Valverde is out of the tour.'),(2201,60,'2006-07-04 16:49:03','With 16km to go','The three leaders are 1:20 ahead of the main field.'),(2202,60,'2006-07-04 16:52:31','Valverde is out','and is on his way to the hospital.'),(2203,60,'2006-07-04 16:52:00','Arrieta has attacked','Laurent and Voigt have been dropped.'),(2204,60,'2006-07-04 16:53:00','O\'Grady has crashed','Race radio reports that O\'Grady has crashed... though we haven\'t seen it.'),(2205,60,'2006-07-04 16:59:00','Arrieta is 1:22 ahead','and he is well ahead of the next rider. With 9km to go.'),(2206,60,'2006-07-04 17:01:12','Arietta is holding his own','With 7.5km to go, he\'s 50 seconds ahead of Laurent and Voigt and 1:20 on the peloton.'),(2207,60,'2006-07-04 17:02:36','Voigt and Laurent caught','Arietta is 1:02 ahead'),(2208,60,'2006-07-04 17:03:18','The pace in the field','is very high as Arietta is five km from the finish and heading to the Cauberg'),(2209,60,'2006-07-04 17:04:36','Just 49 seconds','With fourkm to go. O\'Grady is up, by the way... he is well off the back of the field'),(2210,60,'2006-07-04 17:05:12','He\'s bound to be caught.','He has 31 seconds. The big sprinters\' teams are driving hard.'),(2211,60,'2006-07-04 17:05:44','27 seconds.','He is on the climb... it\'s gonna hurt.'),(2213,60,'2006-07-04 17:06:00','Sebastian Hinault','has jumped off the front of the field.... No, that\'s not Hinault. It\'s Julian Dean.\r\n\r\nArietta has just 14 seconds on the field.'),(2214,60,'2006-07-04 17:07:08','Oh here comes the field','Caught'),(2215,60,'2006-07-04 17:07:31','Boogerd driving hard','The field is strung out'),(2216,60,'2006-07-04 17:07:56','Kessler is off the front','with Gilbert on his wheel.'),(2217,60,'2006-07-04 17:08:12','Sandy Casar has flatted','He won\'t contest today'),(2218,60,'2006-07-04 17:08:48','Kessler','is 2km from the finish. He was caught with 50 meters from the line yesterday. Wish him luck!'),(2219,60,'2006-07-04 17:09:15','Gilbert caught','but Kessler is within 800 meters of the line'),(2220,60,'2006-07-04 17:09:24','Oh man he may pull it off!',''),(2221,60,'2006-07-04 17:09:50','Kessler is on his way...','Will he make it? They are flying up on him'),(2222,60,'2006-07-04 17:10:07','Kessler','Kessler wins it!!!!!'),(2223,60,'2006-07-04 17:11:00','Matthias Kessler','Deserved that one, didn\'t he? He lost a heartbreaker yesterday and he tried the same thing today and this time it worked. It was his teammate, Michael Rogers, who won the field sprint at five seconds.'),(2224,60,'2006-07-04 17:17:37','O\'Grady working his way to the finish','Stuart O\'Grady is going to finish... well back, but he is coming into the finish today.'),(2225,60,'2006-07-04 17:19:02','Boonen in yellow','World Champion Tom Boonen is the new leader, with a one-second advantage over Michael Rogers and five on George Hincapie.'),(2226,60,'2006-07-04 17:20:00','Stage Results:','1. Matthias Kessler (G), T-Mobile
\r\n2. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 00:05
\r\n3. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:05
\r\n4. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:05
\r\n5. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:05
\r\n6. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:05
\r\n7. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:05
\r\n8. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 00:05
\r\n9. Georg Totschnig (A), Gerolsteiner, 00:05
\r\n10. Fabian Wegmann (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:05
\r\n'),(2227,60,'2006-07-04 17:29:47','GC - Unofficial','1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\n2. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 00:01
\r\n3. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 00:05
\r\n4. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:07
\r\n5. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 00:15
\r\n6. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:15
\r\n7. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:16
\r\n8. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 00:17
\r\n9. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 00:17
\r\n10. Matthias Kessler (G), T-Mobile, 00:17
\r\n11. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:20
\r\n12. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:20
\r\n13. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 00:21
\r\n'),(2228,61,'2006-07-05 13:12:43','Good day and welcome ...','To VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fourth stage of the 93rd Tour de France, which starts in the Belgian city of Huy on the right bank of the Meuse River at the foot of the infamous Mur de Huy, brings the Tour back to France.
Tom Boonen will be happy to start the day in the jersey on home ground. This is another homage tot he classics, as it traces some of the roads of the Flèche Wallonne, climbing a couple of Ardennes hills in the opening 60km; but then it heads southeast on a flat-to-rolling route, mainly on wide, straight roads till it reaches the French border.
Boonen and others will have to stay alert over the final two hours, which are bound to be hectic, first on 80km of twisting, undulating back road through the countryside of Picardy, until the race reaches a straight, hilly highway inside 15km to go. Into St. Quentin, the riders cross a bridge they cross in Paris-Roubaix before engaging the uphill sprint that curves left in the final 200 meters.'),(2229,61,'2006-07-05 13:14:02','O\'Grady takes the start','CSC\'s Stuart O\'Grady has decided to start despite a cracked vertebra he suffered in a crash yesterday. That dude is seriously tough.'),(2230,61,'2006-07-05 13:31:00','Racing underway for','a bit more than an hour now. The peloton rolled out of Huy at 12:15. We saw a series of early, albeit unsuccessful, attacks. One event of note is that Jerome Pineau won top points on the Cat. 3 Cote de Peu d’Eau at km 13:
1. Jerome Pineau (Bouygues Telecom) 4pts
2. David De la Fuente (Saunier Duval) 3pts
3. Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) 2pts
4. Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) 1pt
We later had a break succeed at around 20km and the situation now puts the following riders ahead of the field
Average speeds, by the way are still under the 40kph mark.'),(2238,61,'2006-07-05 14:35:19','Question of the day','If you haven\'t voted in the VeloNews poll yet, please do so. We\'ve been getting a lot of letters from folks who seem to believe that we should just surrender the doping issue to the cheats and let them do what they want, as long as they admit it (visions of the old Saturday Night Live skit come up for some us older folk). Obviously we have our own view on the matter, but want to see what the consensus of opionion is out there. Go to the front page of VeloNews.com and vote...just once please.'),(2239,61,'2006-07-05 14:40:00','Feedzone','The chase has eased up a little as the peloton reaches the feedzone some 4:45 behind the leaders.'),(2240,61,'2006-07-05 14:51:00','Leaders approaching the 100km mark','The race leaders are working their way toward the 100km mark. Before that, though, is the day\'s first intermediate sprint at 98km. Their lead is dropping back down to 4:35 as the main field has finished lunch and setting about the task of keeping tabs on these guys.'),(2241,61,'2006-07-05 14:56:54','All Quick Step','The team of Tom Boonen is still doing all the work at the front of the main group. '),(2242,61,'2006-07-05 14:59:12','Martinez','Takes the \"sprint\" at 98km. There seemed to be tacit agreement to allow the Discovery man to grab six seconds. With the GC on the top end bunched up as high as it is, he moves up into 14th place on the overall standings.'),(2243,61,'2006-07-05 15:05:47','With 100km remaining','The leaders are now less than 4:00 ahead of the field. Quick Step is still doing the bulk of the work.'),(2244,61,'2006-07-05 15:14:00','Quick Step','Has nearly its full crew up front, with seven riders at the front of the peloton. With 93km to go, the leaders have bumped their advantage back up to 4:17.'),(2245,61,'2006-07-05 15:18:54','With 90km','remaining, the gap is 4:20.'),(2246,61,'2006-07-05 15:23:31','With 87km to go','The leaders are 4:11 ahead of the field. Any bets?'),(2247,61,'2006-07-05 15:31:56','With 83km to go','The pace is picking up in the main field. It\'s still mostly Quick Step up there as the gap comes down to 4:03.
Boonen and Co. probably can\'t expect a lot of help from the Davitamon crew or anyone else today. He\'s one of the favorites to win today\'s stage and Robbie McEwen\'s battered team - with Fred Rodriguez out and Chris Horner riding with a buggered up finger - isn\'t going to put any effort into setting up Boonen for the finish. McEwen, Hushovd and other sprinters are likely to leave the Quick Steps up there to tire themselves.'),(2248,61,'2006-07-05 15:35:13','Dr. Fuentes','Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor involved in cycling\'s blood-doping scandal in Spain, told Spanish radio on Wednesday that tennis, football and athletics were also involved.
Fuentes, a former doctor of Spanish cycling teams Kelme and Once, also said not all the names from the judicial investigation, dubbed Operation Puerto, had been revealed.
\"Not all the names have been revealed,\" Fuentes told radio Cadena Ser in a telephone interview. \"And some of those on the list should not have been there. I don\'t know why.\"
He also said he would not reveal any names because of professional confidentiality.
He said names chosen had been selected and that perhaps the others would be revealed at a later date, saying it concerned not only cycling, but also other sports such as athletics, tennis and football (what Americans call \"soccer\". \r\n'),(2249,61,'2006-07-05 15:43:11','With 73km to go','The Quick Steps are still working hard, with the gap is just under four minutes, at 3:58.'),(2250,61,'2006-07-05 15:45:33','Martinez','takes another six seconds of bonus time, moving him into seventh on GC.'),(2251,61,'2006-07-05 15:47:23','One Lotto rider','is now lending a hand in the chase. There are now a few Davitamon-Lottos moving up, but still now major contribution. That said, the gap is moving down bit-by-bit and is now at 3:50. We\'ll get a clean time check at the sprint mark.'),(2252,61,'2006-07-05 15:53:58','Pace is picking up','Davitamon is moving a few more riders up in the field, although only Christophe Brandt is putting in time at the front. The others are hovering just behind the Quick Step crew. The gap is coming down and now at 3:30 with 65km to go.'),(2253,61,'2006-07-05 16:00:35','Landis has flatted','He\'s being paced on to the peloton.
The gap, meanwhile is down to 3:02 with 61km remaining.'),(2254,61,'2006-07-05 16:09:27','With 55km to go','the gap is down to 3:09. (We think we just heard our Fat Guy warming up.)'),(2255,61,'2006-07-05 16:11:00','It\'s still mostly Quick Step','The gap, with 53km to go, is now down to 2:50. Still only one Davitamon rider is helping up there.'),(2256,61,'2006-07-05 16:18:56','Gap is shrinking','The five leaders are at 2:38 with 50km to go. Milram and Davitamon are moving up to lend a hand.'),(2257,61,'2006-07-05 16:28:19','Milram and Davitamon','have a couple riders up there, but it\'s still mostly Quick Step. The gap, with 42km to go, is down to 2:42.
Scroll down, if you get the chance. We have new photos from Jason Sumner and we should be getting a new video here pretty soon.'),(2258,61,'2006-07-05 16:34:32','With 38km to go','The gap is 2:09. We should see the catch with about 20km or so to go, which would count as a well-timed chase.'),(2259,61,'2006-07-05 16:39:18','McEwen flats','He\'s pacing back into the field, which should be easy, since the pace is zippy, but not insanely fast.'),(2260,61,'2006-07-05 16:43:03','With 31km to go','The gap is now less than two minutes. We\'re seeing something of a mix up front, with riders from Lampre, Credit Agricole, Milram and Davitamon helping the Quick Steps.'),(2261,61,'2006-07-05 16:47:00','With 29km to go','the peloton is 1:45 behind the five leaders. It looks like they may make the third intermediate in Bernot in 10km. If so, Martinez is likely to gain another six seconds, for a total of 18 seconds of bonus time, putting him four seconds out of the jersey. Of course, after a long day in the saddle, he won\'t be contesting that final charge to the line, so he\'s not a candidate for the 20, 12 or 6 seconds of bonus time at the finish. Nonetheless, he is certainly the break\'s big beneficiary.'),(2262,61,'2006-07-05 16:50:14','With 26km to go','The gap is down to 1:33'),(2263,61,'2006-07-05 16:51:48','Contest Reminder','Just a reminder that you have about 15km to make your pick. Hit the Daily Contest button on top. 25km to go to the finish, the gap is 1:22.'),(2264,61,'2006-07-05 16:53:00','Peloton at 25km to go','and they hit that banner at 1:18'),(2265,61,'2006-07-05 16:59:17','Martinez','gets his six seconds, which puts him in fifth place on GC. With 19km to go, the gap is 1:12.'),(2266,61,'2006-07-05 17:01:30','With 18km','to go the gap is down to 1:10. Ag2r\'s Jose Arrieta has flatted and is back chasing... mostly on his own.'),(2267,61,'2006-07-05 17:03:09','With 15km','The gap is 1:05. We may see the catch come at around 10km to go'),(2268,61,'2006-07-05 17:04:03','Arrieta back in the field','... but that is a long way to the front. He won\'t get most aggressive rider today.'),(2269,61,'2006-07-05 17:05:31','under one minute','The peloton is moving up fast. The guys up front are not giving up though. We can expect an attack from one of the lead group.'),(2270,61,'2006-07-05 17:06:36','Crash in the field','It doesn\'t look like anyone is hurt. The peloton took a big sweeping turn and Iban Mayo seems to have been caught out by the crash. '),(2271,61,'2006-07-05 17:07:20','Big crowds at the finish','We figure they\'re counting on a sprint finish.'),(2272,61,'2006-07-05 17:12:00','Mayo is back in the field','The lead group is down to three riders: Martinez, Cedric Coutouy (Agritubel),Laurent Lefevre (Bouygues Telecom) are there.'),(2273,61,'2006-07-05 17:13:00','No more entries','accepted. We are at 8km from the finish.'),(2274,61,'2006-07-05 17:14:35','With 7km to go,','the three leaders are at 28 seconds.'),(2275,61,'2006-07-05 17:15:08','Liquigas powering the chase','Maggy Backstedt is setting a hard tempo at the front.'),(2276,61,'2006-07-05 17:15:46','Hey, we might pull this off!','is what these three leaders are thinking with 6km to go.'),(2277,61,'2006-07-05 17:16:25','Phonak coming up to pull','With five km to go, the three leaders have 25 seconds.'),(2278,61,'2006-07-05 17:16:58','23 seconds','With 4.5km to go'),(2279,61,'2006-07-05 17:17:46','Jockeying in the field','With four km to go... the gap is down to 17 seconds.'),(2280,61,'2006-07-05 17:19:05','With 3km to go','Working through a traffic circle the peloton is just seven seconds ahead of thef field.'),(2281,61,'2006-07-05 17:19:44','Lefevre and Martinez are off','With 2.5km to go, they have six seconds.'),(2282,61,'2006-07-05 17:20:34','Zabel flats','He\'s out and the two leaders are caught:\r\n'),(2283,61,'2006-07-05 17:20:52','With two km to go',''),(2284,61,'2006-07-05 17:21:13','With 1km to go',''),(2285,61,'2006-07-05 17:21:30','It\'s a long uphill stretch',''),(2286,61,'2006-07-05 17:21:55','There is a turn near the finish','Boonen is hanging back...'),(2287,61,'2006-07-05 17:22:17','Crash!','Hushovd?'),(2288,61,'2006-07-05 17:22:40','McEwen!','McEwen gets it!'),(2289,61,'2006-07-05 17:23:44','It was not Hushovd','It was Julian Dean. He hit the deck and managed to avoid being hit by anyone. Wow'),(2290,61,'2006-07-05 17:25:24','McEwen is back in the green jersey','and may have the yellow ta boot. We\'ll get you updated ASAP.'),(2291,61,'2006-07-05 17:27:07','Boonen still in yellow','Our initial estimate suggests Boonen is still in the yellow jersey\r\n'),(2292,61,'2006-07-05 17:35:00','Stage Results:','1. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto
\r\n2. Isaac Galvez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 00:00
\r\n3. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:00
\r\n4. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:00
\r\n5. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:00
\r\n6. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:00
\r\n7. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:00
\r\n8. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 00:00
\r\n9. Michael Albasini (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:00
\r\n10. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:00
\r\n11. Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis, 00:00
\r\n'),(2293,61,'2006-07-05 17:36:05','GC - Unofficial','1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\n2. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 00:01
\r\n3. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 00:05
\r\n4. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:07
\r\n5. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 00:10
\r\n6. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:12
\r\n7. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 00:15
\r\n8. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:15
\r\n9. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:16
\r\n'),(2294,62,'2006-07-06 13:20:15','Good day and welcome ...','To VeloNews.com\'s Live coverage of the fifth stage of the 93rd Tour de France, a 225km race that starts north of Paris and heads southwest into Normandy and local forecasts call for temperatures in the low 70s, moderate west winds in the riders’ faces and a 40-percent chance of rain, so we\'re seeing something of an end to the heat of the past week.'),(2295,62,'2006-07-06 13:38:00','Off to a fast start','Today\'s stage began at 11:40 this morning and we saw a series of attacks, none successful until an eight man group formed off the front. Of that only two riders - Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, [123rd at 3:52] and Björn Schröder (G), Milram, [130th at 5:21] - were able (permitted?) to stay out there.\r\n\r\nThose two are now more than 9:30 ahead of the field, with Johan Vansummeren in between at 8:40.\r\n'),(2296,62,'2006-07-06 13:41:59','Just two leaders','Vansummeren is waiting for the peloton. He scampered off in search of a few sprint points and built nearly a minute on the field. He\'s back now, though.'),(2297,62,'2006-07-06 13:43:00','This may be a tough finish','A fast, tricky run-in with roundabouts and plenty of turns through the streets of sprawling Caen will again make it hard for a sprinter’s lead-out train to succeed. Some will try late, solo attacks, but a head wind will make it hard for anyone to succeed. The last 2km are completely flat alongside the horse-race course at Caen, with a tricky turn 1km from the line.
With both the yellow jersey of Tom Boonen and green jersey of Robbie McEwen in play, these two sprinters should again be the chief protagonists. The flat, wide finish straightaway favors Boonen over McEwen, while the challengers should be Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), Erik Zabel (Milram) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank), along with Spaniard Isaac Galvez (Caisse d’Épargne), Austrian Bernhard Eisel (Française des Jeux) and Italian Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital). Sprinters who lead out early will have a hard time hanging on in the head wind.\r\n'),(2298,62,'2006-07-06 13:45:17','Contest reminder','Here\'s your chance to prove how good you are. Today, we\'re giving away a pair of Specialized sunglasses to the lucky winner, randomly chosen from those who correctly guess the day\'s stage winner. Be sure to include the name of your choice in the subject line of your e-mail. Look up on top and hit our Daily Contest button to enter. Remember, no entries accepted after the 10km to go mark.'),(2299,62,'2006-07-06 13:53:47','Big advantage','The two leaders are at the 85km mark and have an advantage of 11:10. '),(2300,62,'2006-07-06 13:58:27','Still no rain','While chances for rain are fairly high today, the roads have stayed dry. The wind isn\'t as bad as originally forecast, although that may change as we head tot he finish, where strong coastal breezes would mean a headwind coming into the finish.'),(2301,62,'2006-07-06 14:10:00','Are they letting these guys go?','The two leaders have now bumped their advantage to a hefty 12:30 at the 91km mark. This could be a break that succeeds... or not.
Either way, we\'re not in for a real barn burner for the next couple of hours, to we need to come up with a Daily Diversion for this stage. It might be a good time to resurrect our Exotic Locales contest, where you tell us from where you might be checking up on the Tour. That\'s how we got to know Major Jason Bryan, now a VeloNews contributor, who is stationed in Iraq and still trying to ride his bike.
We\'ll offer a special prize to the person in the most unusual place from which you\'re checking in. That could be right here in the U.S. - a cube farm in Silicon Valley, an office complex in Cleveland, a house in Laramie, Wyoming (as if anyone actually lives in Wyoming) - or it could be a remote corner of the globe. We gave an award to a guy at the South Pole one year - he had to prove it, too.
Anyway, send a note to VNInteractive@InsideInc.com and we\'ll come up with an appropriate prize. Be sure to mention the contest in the subject line, since we get a lot of other mail (and SPAM) in that mailbox.
We\'ll mention some of the better entries and pick a winner in the next day or so. Let us know where you\'re check in from.'),(2302,62,'2006-07-06 14:16:00','Questions?','We get a lot of questions from viewers every day, too. We\'ll try to answer some of the more common ones \"on the air\" until things get a bit more frantic on the road. If you have a question drop a note to VNInteractive@InsideInc.com and be sure to mention it in your subject line. We also take feedback - good, bad, indifferent - so we can hope to improve our coverage along the way.'),(2303,62,'2006-07-06 14:23:00','Moderate pace','The two men in the break are upwards of 13 minutes ahead of the main field, but the pace is below 40kph. At 104km, the two leaders are coming up on the Category 4 Côte du Buquet, a 3.1km climb, averaging 3.4 percent. We can imagine that Jerome Pineau will do his best to snage the third-place spot on this and the remaining climbs of the day when the peloton comes rolling along.'),(2304,62,'2006-07-06 14:28:41','Easy question','Josh in Connecticut writes:
Hi Velo Folks,\r\n\r\nActually Josh, you might adjust the color on your set. It\'s a yellow number, it looks kinda green to us, too, though. Anyway, that color is used to distinguish the team leading the overall teams competition. All Discovery riders have those yellow numbers, as the Discos are leading CSC by one second on team GC.'),(2305,62,'2006-07-06 14:30:00','Nice locale','Curt in Lewisburg Pennsylvania writes
Thanks for the great TDF coverage. It keeps me sane on the days I\'m stuck in the office.My question is: In yesterday\'s stage, why did Martinez (DSC rider on the 5-man break away) wear a green number on the back of his jersey? I know of the significance of the red number, but I\'ve never seen the green number.
Thanks!
I\'m checking out the live updates from my 1795 farm house built by my great,\r\ngreat, great, great, great grandfathers half brother.Now how cool is that?
Meanwhile Kevin writes
Greetings,The Chicken capital of the Netherlands? Do they have a sign at the city limits? That\'s pretty exotic.'),(2306,62,'2006-07-06 14:34:41','A chase?','The are up and over the Cote du Buquet. Schroder takes the three points and his partner gets two. Meanwhile the tempo in the peloton is up a bit and the gap is coming down. It\'s now less than 11 minutes.'),(2307,62,'2006-07-06 14:36:23','','Dominic writes
I’m watching your online coverage of the Tour de France via my laptop in an office in Barneveld, the Netherlands. The Chicken capital of the Netherlands!
I am keeping track of the action from my cube at \"Tele Atas\" in Lebanon, New Hampshire. We are the same company that provides the data for the cool maps you are using to track the progress of the race on the road in France....now was that a left or a right on Rue Grande?You guys do nice work. Thanks!'),(2308,62,'2006-07-06 14:40:41','Question','We\'ve received a lot of questions along these lines:
Who were the lucky winners of yesterday\'s Decibel helmets? I also picked Robbie McEwen but figure he is a popular pick during these early stages. Thanks!You are right. There were close to 800 of you who picked Robbie yesterday (safe bet, eh?). We pick winners within an hour of the stage finish and then send an e-mail to notify the winners. We\'ve refrained from announcing those winners on-line, because we\'ve actually gotten one guy in trouble. His boss was also a cycling fan and it raised an eyebrow when he found out that his employee was watching the Tour from his desk. We find it utterly shocking that people are actually allowing the Tour de France to divert their attention from the tasks at hand.'),(2309,62,'2006-07-06 14:43:23','Quick Step getting serious','TThe two leaders are at km 113 and their advantage is suddenly dropping to manageable levels. They are now but 9:35 ahead of the field, as the peloton seems to have ended its game of \"you get \'em,\" \"no you get \'em.\"'),(2310,62,'2006-07-06 14:44:57','Wegmann grabs that point!','Remember Fabian Wegmann? He\'s not giving up in the KOM contest. He snagged the remaining point on the top of the Cote du Buquet. He beat Pineau to the top.'),(2311,62,'2006-07-06 14:57:14','100km from the finish','The rain has started and the two leaders are 8:41 ahead of the main field.'),(2312,62,'2006-07-06 14:59:05','It\'s really pouring','The Quick Step boys are leading the peloton and they are getting drenched. Meanwhile, the two leaders are coming out of the very localized storm.'),(2313,62,'2006-07-06 15:05:40','rain eases up','The peloton is out of the worst of the rain. Word from the finish is that it\'s clear and sunny.'),(2314,62,'2006-07-06 15:17:00','The relegation','We\'ve received a number of questions regarding the relegation of Thor Hushovd. His infraction did not occur when his teammate Julian Dean crashed. The judges ruled that Hushovd took a bad line in the final turn. He denies it, but he has little chance to appeal that. He goes from fourth to 149th on the day. No time loss, but he misses out on the points he would have earned.'),(2315,62,'2006-07-06 15:18:14','Pineau gets the point','While the two leaders have grabbed the two top spots on the Cote de St. Gregorie, Pineau has beat De la Fuente and Wegmann to the top.'),(2316,62,'2006-07-06 15:24:06','Vansummeren','is jumping out for the remaining two points at the sprint mark at 80km to go. The Davitamon man is just grabbing them to deny them to Hushovd and other points contenders.'),(2317,62,'2006-07-06 15:25:51','The Gap','Vansummeren hits the sprint mark 6:45 behind the two leaders. The rain has stopped.'),(2318,62,'2006-07-06 15:31:21','A Question','Reader Doug Cannell asks why there is no team time trial this year. Man, you got us on that one. We\'re still trying to figure out why the UCI bagged the world championship and Olympic medal in the 100km four-man TTT. That was a great event. Anyway, the Tour simply opted not to include one this year. Indeed, there was a gap for a few years in which there were no TTTs at the Tour. We love the event, but hey... we don\'t run the thing, just report on it.'),(2319,62,'2006-07-06 15:31:47','The leaders','are 76km from the finish and their lead is down to 7:10.'),(2320,62,'2006-07-06 15:36:07','Exotic locales','Wow... what a little community we have here. We have viewers in South Africa, Tokyo, Sweden, Norway, Chicken Capitals of the Netherlands, Office cubicles all over the U.S.... a guy in a hospital bed recovering from a knee replacement (good on ya Marc J. Shaffer, get well soon!), a cop on patrol in Texas... We\'ll keep reading these and posting a few.'),(2321,62,'2006-07-06 15:40:04','Definition of relegation','We\'ve had a couple of notes asking about the actual effect of a \"relegation.\" When a riders is found to have sprinted in an unsafe fashion, he is relegated to the end of the group with which he finishes. That could be a small group or, as was the case yesterday, it could include nearly the entire field. Hushovd went from fourth to 149th place. The result is a loss of points, but there is no time penalty - except if you lose a spot that had earned a time bonus. Hushovd\'s GC position did not change, but he lost out on the sprinter\'s points for fourth.'),(2322,62,'2006-07-06 15:46:17','The village departe\'','We got a letter from reader Rick Lo:
Dear VNInteractive,Rick, what you see the riders relaxing in is the tour\'s Village Departe\', which is constructed every day at the start. All three major tours construct these fenced-off areas, to which entry is limited to riders and anyone holding an official pass - including reporters, support staff and \"VIPs\"'),(2323,62,'2006-07-06 15:48:19','The gap is coming down quickly','The leaders have crossed the day\'s last climb - the Cat. 4 Côte du Boulay - and have an advantage of less than six minutes.'),(2324,62,'2006-07-06 16:00:24','The rain is gone','The two leaders are 56km from the finish and are holding a lead of 5:27.'),(2325,62,'2006-07-06 16:02:00','A note from our friend','We got a note from VeloNews\'s Iraq correspondent, Major Jason Bryan:
You see pictures of riders getting coffee and reading the paper before a stage. Is there a rider-only area at the start, or do riders wander into \"public\" areas?
Thanks,
Don’t forget about your “captive†audience in Iraq, who would rather be in South Africa, Tokyo, Sweden, Norway, Chicken Capitals of the Netherlands, or an office cubicle in the US… however, I’d rather be here than in a hospital bed from a knee replacement.Nahhh Major, we didn\'t forget... And, hey, we even had someone check in from Wyoming!... who\'da thunk it?'),(2326,62,'2006-07-06 16:08:49','The peloton is speeding up','as they head toward the final intermediate sprint at the 50km to go mark. The two leaders are through there and they are about 5:00 ahead of the main field. We\'ll see who goes for the two points for third.'),(2327,62,'2006-07-06 16:09:07','The gap is at 4:55',''),(2328,62,'2006-07-06 16:12:30','Vansummeren','sneaks off the front to get the final two points.'),(2329,62,'2006-07-06 16:18:18','Chicken Capitals','Hey, apparently there is more than one chicken capital out there. Gainsville, Georgia makes claim of being the Chicken Capital of the World.... as do a couple of places in Arkansas... You guys sort this out amongst yourselves.'),(2330,62,'2006-07-06 16:21:03','Crash','There\'s been a crash at the back of the field. No one appears to be injured. The pace had been moderate in the main field, as the yellow jersey had been off at the side of the road, taking a \"natural break\" (is there an un-natural break?), so none of the guys caught out by the crash will catch up. Meanwhile the gap is still coming down. The two leaders are just 4:35 ahead of the field with 42km to go.'),(2331,62,'2006-07-06 16:25:00','Good question','
I\'ve been following cycling for a few years now and have a question for you regarding the jerseys that the winners of the races wear. Does the organizations running the races bring leaders, points & KoM jerseys for every team? Or do they have some sort of set-up that allows them to produce the neccessary team logos onto the jerseys as needed?\r\n\r\nThe Tour has a pretty nifty set-up which allows them to quickly add a team logo to the yellow, green, white and polka-dot jerseys. We\'ll try to get our guy Jason Sumner to snap a picture of that one of these days.'),(2332,62,'2006-07-06 16:33:43','35km to go','The gap is coming down, but the peloton will need to pick up the pace to pull these guys back. The two leaders are 3:58 ahead of the main field. The weather is quite moderate after today\'s rain storm.'),(2333,62,'2006-07-06 16:35:07','32km to go','The gap is 3:48.'),(2334,62,'2006-07-06 16:42:46','With 28km to go','Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, and Björn Schröder (G), Milram are 3:15 ahead of the field. The peloton is driving hard now, though. The Davitamon, Credit Agricole and Quick Step teams are driving the tempo. And they are quickly shrinking the gap.'),(2335,62,'2006-07-06 16:43:41','Like we said','The gap is coming down quickly. The leaders are at the 25km to go mark and the gap is 2:50.'),(2336,62,'2006-07-06 16:49:05','With 20km to go','The gap 2:29. We can expect a catch, but it\'s going to close.'),(2337,62,'2006-07-06 16:51:30','Cross- headwind','The wind is coming from the right side of the road... and it\'s fairly strong, but it has not yet broken the peloton into echelons. The two leaders are 2:11 ahead of the field as the peloton hits the 20km mark.'),(2338,62,'2006-07-06 16:53:36','With 16km to go','The gap is down to 2:00'),(2339,62,'2006-07-06 16:54:24','Crash!','Egoi Martinez (Discovery) fifth overall hits the deck'),(2340,62,'2006-07-06 16:54:00','He\'s still down.','He may get back up, but he\'s lost his spot on GC no matter what. '),(2341,62,'2006-07-06 16:56:36','Leaders 15km from the finish','The gap is 1:47. The Martinez crash, by the way, happened because he touched wheels with another rider as the field was splitting to avoid a traffic island.'),(2342,62,'2006-07-06 16:58:04','No word on Martinez','We\'re not sure if he\'s up yet. We\'ll update you ASAP. His crash involved just him and did not slow down the peloton for even a second.'),(2343,62,'2006-07-06 17:00:10','With 12km to go','the lead is 1:27.
Chris Wright
York, Maine
Martinez up and riding. He\'s hanging on to the medical car and being attended to.'),(2344,62,'2006-07-06 17:00:25','With 11km to go','The gap is 1:14'),(2345,62,'2006-07-06 17:04:45','With 10km to go','The two leaders are 1:03 ahead. Oh they\'re gonna get caught, but they are not giving up.'),(2346,62,'2006-07-06 17:05:30','48 seconds','The two leaders hare 8.5km from the finish and they have to be hoping for a miracle at this point.'),(2347,62,'2006-07-06 17:08:26','Split in the field','The Quick Steps have stepped it up so much, that the field has split, with 5km to go... the gap is down to 16 seconds.'),(2348,62,'2006-07-06 17:09:25','With 4km to go,','the gap is 11 seconds and the two men up front are looking over their shoulders.'),(2349,62,'2006-07-06 17:09:45','Seven seconds to go','They are within sight of the main field.'),(2350,62,'2006-07-06 17:10:44','Crash!','Another crash in the field. It was very close to the front of the field. Vansummeren and a CSC rider...'),(2351,62,'2006-07-06 17:11:23','With three km to go','The two leaders are caught. Maggy Backstedt is powering at the front of the field.'),(2352,62,'2006-07-06 17:11:42','2.5km to go,','Milram is driving hard at the front.'),(2353,62,'2006-07-06 17:12:20','2.0 km to go.','Liquigas is setting up for Paulini.'),(2354,62,'2006-07-06 17:12:50','Boonen, Zabel, McEwen','Are hovering near the front'),(2355,62,'2006-07-06 17:13:04','Under the banner','1 kilometer to go'),(2356,62,'2006-07-06 17:13:16','Zabel moving up....',''),(2357,62,'2006-07-06 17:13:44','McEwen gets a good leadout','Boonen goes'),(2358,62,'2006-07-06 17:14:42','Freire goes!','McEwen may have gone too early. Boonen and Freire fight it out for the win and the Rabobank man gets it.'),(2359,62,'2006-07-06 17:17:33','McEwen fifth',''),(2360,62,'2006-07-06 17:18:39','Boonen still in yellow','1. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank
2. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic
3. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi.'),(2361,62,'2006-07-06 17:24:18','Martinez finishes at 1:17',''),(2362,63,'2006-07-07 13:25:44','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the sixth stage of the 2006 Tour de France, a relatively short 189km affair across the rolling hills of Normandy from Lisieux to Vitré.
There\'s some initial fun with a visit to Camembert cheese country and a Cat. 3 hill at Vimoutiers that has a 13-percent pitch, but then the shorter (189km) stage settles into a series of long, straight, sometimes hilly highways across the open farmland of Normandy. Rolling hills precede the entry into Vitré, where the course loops around and through town to reach a slightly uphill finishing straight almost 2km long\r\n'),(2363,63,'2006-07-07 13:27:00','Weather','Today\'s weather is a little on the dicey side with sporadic rain showers predicted throughout the day. As you can see from the photos photographer Casey Gibson sent in earlier today, the sign-in was under a threatening sky... a threat that was carried out as the race got underway just a bit less than 30 minutes ago, at 1:00 p.m. local time.'),(2364,63,'2006-07-07 13:32:24','An early break','involving Guiseppe Guerini (T-Mobile), David Lopez Garcia (Euskaltel), Vincente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d\'Epargne), Stephane Auge (Cofidis) and good old Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas) has been hovering off the front, not really managing to get a lot of distance on the field. At 25km it looks like they are about to be caught.'),(2365,63,'2006-07-07 13:34:16','Backstedt back','As the leaders approach the summit of the day\'s only ranked climb, the Cat. 3 Cote de la Huniere, Backstedt has slipped off the back of the lead group... not exactly his favorite terrain.'),(2366,63,'2006-07-07 13:38:11','The lead group is falling apart','There have been others slipping back, leaving just Guerini and Lopez Garcia scamper over the climb for the top spots, but Jerome Pineau keeps his grip on the Polka-Dot jersey by shooting out of the peloton and snagging the third spot for two more points.'),(2367,63,'2006-07-07 13:45:16','The peloton is together at 34km','It begs the question if anyone will get the chance to sneak off the front today, or if we\'ll just see a well-patrolled peloton keeping tabs on anyone trying for a bit of TV time. The chasing efforts of the past few days did take a toll on the Quick Steps, Tom Boonen really wants a stage win and he may be running out of patience. (All of that is admittedly speculative and will be proved meaningless when three guys scoot off the front and get 15 minutes on the field)'),(2368,63,'2006-07-07 13:46:36','Attacks are continuing','There is no indication that the headbangers out there are giving up. There are plenty of attacks... none yet successful.'),(2369,63,'2006-07-07 13:49:30','Contest Reminder','Remember that we have a daily contest and it\'s quite easy to enter. All you have to do is hit the Daily Contest button on top of this page and submit one entry with a guess of who will win today\'s stage. We do not accept entries after the 10km-to-go mark, (which is why all of you who submitted Matthias Kessler\'s name starting at 5:11 p.m. didn\'t get to enter based on his victory at 5:10 p.m.)'),(2370,63,'2006-07-07 13:54:00','Weather still spotty','But the sun is coming out along the route. You can see the changes in conditions, by scrolling down and taking a look at the photos submitted by Casey Gibson today.
Meanwhile the peloton has slowed as a few riders look for a place to rid themselves of this morning\'s coffee.'),(2372,63,'2006-07-07 13:57:00','Intermediate sprint','The peloton has reached the day\'s first sprint - at 46km - and the results are as follows
1 . Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux) - 6pts and 0:06
2. Stephane Auge (Cofidis) 4pts and 0:04
3. Florent Brard (Caisse d\'Epargne) 2pts and 0:02
We have to wait and see if this sprint will shake things up and allow a break to slide off the front.\r\n'),(2373,63,'2006-07-07 14:07:00','A break','And it has produced something of a break. We have 9 men off the front. Four of them - Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux), Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Christian Knees (Milram) and Florent Brard (Caisse d\'Epargne) - are being chased by another group of five. The leaders have about 45 seconds on the main field and the pursuers are out there in the middle. If we see nine men off the front, though, the peloton won\'t let that get too far up the road, we\'re certain.'),(2374,63,'2006-07-07 14:08:00','Chase group caught','Four of the five men in the chase group have been pulled back, with a Liquigas rider - we think it\'s Albasini - still chasing.'),(2375,63,'2006-07-07 14:09:00','It is Albasini','It is Michael Albasini (Liquigas) still chasing.... or rather was Albasini. He\'s caught.'),(2376,63,'2006-07-07 14:13:00','Gap is tiny','And a new chase group of nine suggests that we were right that the man in the yellow jersey isn\'t really in the mood to let anyone go. There are nine chasers... including Boonen. Any bets on the longevity of the break?'),(2377,63,'2006-07-07 14:17:53','The gaps','The four leaders have 20 seconds on the chase group and the yellow jersey group of nine - which includes some real horsepower in the form of Magnus Backstedt and Axel Merckx - is about 35 seconds ahead of the peloton. Now how cool would that be if we saw the yellow jersey go on the attack on a day like this?'),(2378,63,'2006-07-07 14:19:52','Three guesses as to what team is leading the peloton','Robbie McEwen\'s Davitamon Lotto team apparently disagrees with our assessment that it\'s \"cool\" to see the yellow jersey on the attack and is moving several riders to the front. The peloton is 45 seconds beihind the lead group and the chasers are closing in.'),(2379,63,'2006-07-07 14:20:43','At 61km','The Boonen group has caught the original break. The peloton is about 40 seconds back'),(2380,63,'2006-07-07 14:24:49','The leaders','Padrnos (Discovery)
Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)
Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux)
Calzati (Ag2r)
Quinziato (Liquigas)
Lefevre (Bouyges Telecom)
Geslin (Bouyges Telecom)
Lefevre (Bouyges Telecom)
Camano (Euskaltel)
Auge (Cofidis)
Wrolich (Gerolsteiner)
Flecha (Rabobank)
Merckx (Phonak)
Boonen (Quick Step)
Hushovd (Credit Agricole)
Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux)
Backstedt (Liquigas)
'),(2381,63,'2006-07-07 14:25:50','They have a minute now','Looking at the list up there, it\'s obvious there\'s some real talent in the mix. It sure would be interesting to see these guys get some distance. '),(2382,63,'2006-07-07 14:28:49','CSC adding power to the chase','but the gap is now 1:40'),(2383,63,'2006-07-07 14:33:05','At 72km','The gap is at 1:30'),(2384,63,'2006-07-07 14:36:00','Dangerous group','We\'ve already said that the peloton has reason to be nervous, which is why Davitamon and CSC are throwing in a big effort right now, but look at just how dangerous this group is when you scan the overall standings:
1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\n5. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:19
\r\n15. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 00:35
\r\n24. Vaugrenard BenoÃt (F), Francaise des Jeux, 00:40
\r\n34. Philippe Gilbert (B), Francaise des Jeux, 00:48
\r\n41. Laurent Lefevre (F), Bouygues Telecom, 00:54
\r\n45. Axel Merckx (B), Phonak, 00:56
\r\n66. Pavel Padrnos (Cz), Discovery Channel, 01:09
\r\n67. Iker Camano (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:10
\r\n68. Sylvain Calzati (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:10
\r\n74. Anthony Geslin (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:15
\r\n85. Antonio Juan Antonio (Sp), Rabobank, 01:34
\r\n109. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 03:51
\r\n142. Peter Wrolich (A), Gerolsteiner, 08:41
\r\n143. Florent Brard (F), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 08:47
\r\n160. Stéphane Auge (F), Cofidis, 16:59
\r\n171. Magnus Bäckstedt (Swe), Liquigas-Bianchi, 30:04
\r\n'),(2385,63,'2006-07-07 14:39:38','Little cooperation','Of course some of these guys understand the hazard of trying a break when one of the guys in the group is wearing the yellow jersey. Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas), Anthony Geslin (Bouygues Telecom) and Florent Brard (Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B) are trying to work their way out of the lead group and have 15 seconds.'),(2386,63,'2006-07-07 14:41:08','Backstedt has 20 seconds','The peloton is coming up on the Boonen group quite quickly, but Backstedt and his two partners are adding to their lead little-by-little.'),(2387,63,'2006-07-07 14:46:03','More teams chasing','And the gap is coming down. The Boonen group is about to be absorbed. The Magnus Backstedt group is 20 seconds ahead of the Boonen group.'),(2388,63,'2006-07-07 14:48:33','Boonen and Co. caught','The yellow jersey is back in the fold. That leaves Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas), Anthony Geslin (Bouygues Telecom) and Florent Brard (Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B) about 20 to 25 seconds ahead of the field.'),(2389,63,'2006-07-07 14:52:05','Two minutes','Are they gonna let these guys go? Maybe for a while. The peloton seems happy to have brought Boonen back for the time being.'),(2390,63,'2006-07-07 14:54:00','At 86km','The peloton is now 2:40 behind the Backstedt group. It would be nice to see Backstedt take the stage... one reader - Mary Boyd in Georgia - has consistently voted for big Maggy to win a stage. She writes in today that she\'s too scared to make the pick today out of fear that she\'ll jinx the big Swede.'),(2391,63,'2006-07-07 14:58:36','With 97km to go','The three men up front are now 3:44 ahead of the main field. The weather is holding.'),(2392,63,'2006-07-07 15:03:27','Things have settled down a bit','After that frantic hour, the peloton has settled down. The next question is how long of a leash the sprinters\' teams will let the trio up front have. With less than 100km to go, they aren\'t likely to get more than five or six minutes.'),(2393,63,'2006-07-07 15:04:50','At the Feed Zone','With 92km to go, the gap is 4:12'),(2394,63,'2006-07-07 15:09:08','With 90km to go','The gap is 4:20. Andy Hood reports that the wind is picking up at the finish line and will be a headwind as the couse heads to the line. Yesterday\'s finish, too, was into a head wind. Do we favor Freire in the event of a field sprint then? Could be.'),(2395,63,'2006-07-07 15:16:09','With 85km','The gap is now at 4:45.'),(2396,63,'2006-07-07 15:25:28','SPRUNGGGGG!!!','It looks like the leash is about five minutes long. The CSC and Quick Step teams are working up front. It looks like Stuart O\'Grady is putting in some work at the front. He\'s looking pretty good for a guy with a cracked vertabra. Tough guy, eh?'),(2397,63,'2006-07-07 15:31:37','With 73km to go','The gap is coming down and it\'s now 4:29.'),(2398,63,'2006-07-07 15:40:07','With 67km remaining,','the three leaders are just 4:00 up on the main field.'),(2399,63,'2006-07-07 15:41:42','Sacchi','We forgot to mention earlier in the day that the peloton is down to 171 riders. Milram\'s Fabio Sacchi is suffering from bronchitis and did not start today.'),(2400,63,'2006-07-07 15:43:09','Chase is on','The gap is dropping fast and Backstedt and crew have but 3:40 on the main field at the 65km to go mark. None of these guys counts as a GC threat, but Boonen and other sprinters aren\'t worried about that. They want a stage win.'),(2401,63,'2006-07-07 15:50:51','At 60km to go','The peloton is at 3:25. The peloton is clearly serious about the chase. '),(2402,63,'2006-07-07 15:57:16','Birthday','Erik Zabel turns 36 today. He\'d be happy to take the stage today.'),(2403,63,'2006-07-07 16:00:02','Gap is holding','The three leaders are 54km from the finish and remain just around 3:30 ahead of the field. Davitamon has moved Vansummeren up front to lend a hand.'),(2404,63,'2006-07-07 16:05:40','Big mix up front','Credit Agricole, Quick Step, Rabobank and Davitamon are all lending a hand in the chase.'),(2405,63,'2006-07-07 16:07:06','With 48km to go','The gap is down to 3:10'),(2406,63,'2006-07-07 16:14:51','43km to go','The gap is down to 2:36 and the likelyhood of survival is down to almost nuthin\'\r\n'),(2407,63,'2006-07-07 16:20:56','2:00','With 38km remaining, the gap is down to 2:00.'),(2408,63,'2006-07-07 16:23:51','36km to go','The peloton is stretched out in single-file and the gap is 1:50.'),(2409,63,'2006-07-07 16:26:00','With 35km remaining','The gap is shrinking fast. The winds are picking up - coming from the right side of the road making a strong cross-headwind. The gap is down to 1:45. What is that singing we hear in the background?'),(2410,63,'2006-07-07 16:28:13','With 33km to go','The peloton is charging hard. The gap is now 1:35. Backstedt - who is a great guy to draft off of in these winds - is looking a bit on the tired side.\r\n'),(2411,63,'2006-07-07 16:29:47','The leaders','are within sight of the peloton. The roads are straight and the gap is now less than 90 seconds.'),(2412,63,'2006-07-07 16:30:24','With 30km to go','The gap is 1:24'),(2413,63,'2006-07-07 16:31:45','With the day\'s final intermediate sprint','coming up, the chase may ease off for a bit, in order to neutralize the impact on the points race. The gap is at 1:24'),(2414,63,'2006-07-07 16:35:00','The three leaders are at the sprint','Not that they\'re sprinting, but the passage of that one means that the chase will resume and we expect the trio up front to be pulled back in soon.'),(2415,63,'2006-07-07 16:40:28','With 24km to go','The gap is coming down again. The three men are 1:09 ahead of the field.'),(2416,63,'2006-07-07 16:43:27','The chase is easing up a bit','The work is falling to Quick Step, but the gap is now just around a minute.'),(2417,63,'2006-07-07 16:44:25','With 20km to go','The gap is 1:01'),(2418,63,'2006-07-07 16:48:48','With 17km to go','The gap is holding at a minute.'),(2419,63,'2006-07-07 16:51:27','With 15km to go','The gap is now under a minute at 58 seconds.'),(2420,63,'2006-07-07 16:52:00','0:52',''),(2421,63,'2006-07-07 16:53:17','Well-timed','The peloton is picking up the pace again and it looks like the three leaders will be caught within the next five or six km.'),(2422,63,'2006-07-07 16:55:30','With 12km to go','The gap is 34 seconds'),(2423,63,'2006-07-07 16:56:20','11km to go','and the gap is at 28 seconds.... the weather is turning bad, too.'),(2424,63,'2006-07-07 16:57:33','10km to go','Our three leaders are 10km from the finish and they are 26 seconds ahead of the peloton. It\'s not raining yet, but it is threatening to.'),(2425,63,'2006-07-07 16:57:48','9.5km to go','The time gap is 20 seconds.'),(2426,63,'2006-07-07 16:58:38','All the cars are out of the way','Just a couple of motorcycles - one of which is carrying our guy Jason Sumner. The gap is 19 seconds with 8.5km to go'),(2427,63,'2006-07-07 16:59:47','7.5km to go','The chase is hard. The gap is 16 seconds.'),(2428,63,'2006-07-07 17:00:47','The gap','is a tiny 13 seconds, but these guys are not giving up.'),(2429,63,'2006-07-07 17:01:20','Lampre throwing in','and the gap is seven seconds...'),(2430,63,'2006-07-07 17:01:53','6.5km to go','The pack is closing in fast.'),(2431,63,'2006-07-07 17:02:58','Traffic circles','slowed the peloton a bit, but the catch appears to inevitable'),(2432,63,'2006-07-07 17:03:23','Five kilometers to go','and....
'),(2433,63,'2006-07-07 17:04:33','Did he sing to soon?','The trio have held them off for another kilometer, but they\'re caught.\r\n'),(2434,63,'2006-07-07 17:05:22','Quick Step and Lampre are driving at the front',''),(2435,63,'2006-07-07 17:05:46','2.9km','Lampre is driving hard'),(2436,63,'2006-07-07 17:06:32','Lots of turns and narrow roads','So far, the peloton is so stretched out that there have been no crashes.'),(2437,63,'2006-07-07 17:06:41','Two kilometers to go',''),(2438,63,'2006-07-07 17:07:31','Lampre','Is still driving hard, as Boonen and McEwen are hovering in good position.'),(2439,63,'2006-07-07 17:07:42','1km to go',''),(2440,63,'2006-07-07 17:08:00','McEwen is not in a good position','As Boonen\'s team takes over at the front.'),(2441,63,'2006-07-07 17:08:15','Zabel on Boonen\'s wheel',''),(2442,63,'2006-07-07 17:08:00','McEwen rushing up','That\'s a pretty late move, though.'),(2443,63,'2006-07-07 17:09:00','Where the @#$% did he come from???','McEwen comes out of nowhere with a GREAT leadout from Gert Steegmans!'),(2444,63,'2006-07-07 17:19:00','Stage Results:','1. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto
\r\n2. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:00
\r\n3. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:00
\r\n4. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:00
\r\n5. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:00
\r\n6. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:00
\r\n7. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:00
\r\n8. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:00
\r\n9. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:00
\r\n10. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:00
\r\n'),(2445,63,'2006-07-07 17:20:00','Overall:','
1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\n2. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:12
\r\n3. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 00:21
\r\n4. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:25
\r\n5. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 00:25
\r\n6. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:27
\r\n7. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 00:35
\r\n8. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:36
\r\n9. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 00:37\r\n\r\n'),(2446,64,'2006-07-08 14:46:00','Good day and welcome ...','And welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the seventh stage of the 2006 Tour de France, a 52km individual time trial from St. Grégoire to Rennes, the site of Greg LeMond\'s critical 1989 victory in a much longer time trial (73km TT from Dinard), marking the turning point in his effort to recover from that debilitating late 1986 hunting accident, which many say cost him at least tour wins (1987 and 1988).
This is 2006, however, and the dynamic is quite different in this this Tour. There are only a couple of podium finishers in the mix - Bobby Julich and Andreas Kloden - and no clear favorites out there. This is the first opportunity for this year\'s winner to throw down the gauntlet. With a week of racing in their legs, the GC contenders finally get their day in the sun with this critical individual effort. The counterclockwise circuit has two distinct halves: narrow, hilly back roads at first and long, straight flat highways at the end. The final 15km are likely to be very fast with a tail wind.\r\n'),(2447,64,'2006-07-08 15:03:00','Top five','With 93 of 170 riders finished, Gerolsteiner\'s Sebastian Lang is on top of the leader board:
1. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:02:47
\r\n2. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:03:17
\r\n3. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:03:28
\r\n4. Hugo Victor Hugo (Col), Phonak, 01:03:52
\r\n5. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:04:21
\r\n'),(2448,64,'2006-07-08 15:07:07','Contest Reminder','We are, once again, offering our Daily Contest today. Remember that our Time Trial Rules are slightly different:
Keep\r\nTrack of Standings'),(2451,64,'2006-07-08 15:19:52','The guys we will be watching','The top contnenders will be taking off in the following order:
Christian Vandevelde (USA), CSC, 3:42
\r\nYaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel, 3:44
\r\nEddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 3:46
\r\nBobby Julich (USA), CSC, 3:48
\r\nCyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 3:50
\r\nMarcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 3:52
\r\nKlöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 3:54
\r\nDavid Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 3:56
\r\nPatrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 3:58
\r\nVaugrenard BenoÃt (F), Francaise des Jeux, 4:00
\r\nDavid Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 4:02
\r\nChristophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 4:04
\r\nCadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 4:06
\r\nMatthias Kessler (G), T-Mobile, 4:08
\r\nSerhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 4:10
\r\nVladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 4:12
\r\nFloyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 4:14
\r\nPaolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 4:16
\r\nThor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 4:18
\r\nGeorge Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 4:20
\r\nOscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 4:22
\r\nMichael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 4:24
\r\nRobbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 4:26
\r\nTom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 4:28
'),(2452,64,'2006-07-08 15:21:37','Iban May','Looks like he\'s shaken off those two crashes he\'s had this week. Word from Euskaltel is that he\'s feeling good and turning in a reasonable time.'),(2453,64,'2006-07-08 15:27:38','Zabel','Milram\'s Zabel is on route. He had his 36th birthday yesterday, but had a bigger celebration the day before, as his 12-year-old son earned his first victory in a bike race. Good genes no doubt. Remember, Zabel has six green jerseys to his credit.'),(2454,64,'2006-07-08 15:32:43','Tour v. ProTour?','News today is that the Tour, other ASO productions, the Giro and the Vuelta will not be part of the ProTour in \'07.
The Tour de France will not be part of cycling\'s ProTour series, the race chairman said Saturday.
Patrice Clerc suggested that the Tours of Italy and Spain would follow suit, creating a schism between the sport\'s three premier races and its governing body, the UCI, which organizes the ProTour.
\"We do not want this ProTour system,\" said Clerc, chairman of the company that runs the Tour de France. \"There will be no more discussions.\"
The Tour and the UCI have long been at odds over the workings of the ProTour. Clerc criticized the ProTour as \"solely commercial\" and said that the UCI had refused a compromise to try to narrow their differences.
\"We will not be in the ProTour,\" he said. \"We will no longer discuss the ProTour. It is finished.\"
Clerc said organizers of the Tours of Spain and Italy are \"perfectly aligned with my declarations.\"
He did not say how the Tour de France and the other tours might organize themselves now or whether they would create their own separate calendar of races.\r\n'),(2455,64,'2006-07-08 15:34:51','Simoni on the road','Gilberto Simoni is on the Tour de France. We could expect a lot from him at this Tour... especially now that his arch-rival Ivan Basso isn\'t here.'),(2456,64,'2006-07-08 15:38:00','Top Ten','While this is bound to change, here are the current top 10:
1. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:02:47
\r\n2. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:03:17
\r\n3. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:03:28
\r\n4. Hugo Victor Hugo (Col), Phonak, 01:03:52
\r\n5. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:04:21
\r\n6. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:04:23
\r\n7. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 01:04:49
\r\n8. Bradley Wiggins (GB), Cofidis, 01:04:53
\r\n9. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 01:04:56
\r\n10. Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Milram, 01:04:58
Keep\r\nTrack of Standings'),(2457,64,'2006-07-08 15:43:00','Now come the biggies','Levi Leipheimer, who has to be considered a podium favorite, is on the road.
Meanwhile Iban Mayo finishes the day with the 38th best time so far.'),(2458,64,'2006-07-08 15:49:22','At 16.5km','Sastre (CSC) sets a new best time at the first time check. Meanwhile, his teammate, Bobby Julich has started.'),(2459,64,'2006-07-08 15:55:03','Menchov at 16.5km','2005 Vuelta winner Denis Menchov has set a new standard - 20:07 - at the first time check\r\n'),(2460,64,'2006-07-08 15:55:25','Julich has Crashed!',''),(2461,64,'2006-07-08 15:56:46','Bobby Julich has hit the deck','It was in 1999 that Bobby Julich crashed out of the Tour at the time trial in Metz. He\'s hurt and it looks doubtful that he will not be getting back up. We\'ll report on his condition. '),(2462,64,'2006-07-08 15:57:42','Ambulance for Julich','It looks like Bobby Julich will be out of the Tour. Meanwhile, his teammate David Zabriskie is on his way.'),(2463,64,'2006-07-08 16:04:12','Millar','The man who had the World Time Trial title pulled from him after a doping confession, David Millar (Saunier Duval) is on the road.'),(2464,64,'2006-07-08 16:05:13','Leipheimer at 16.5km?','The Gerolsteiner man is not riding well, 61st at the first time check, 1:32 slower than Menchov'),(2465,64,'2006-07-08 16:06:25','Vande Velde','Is 11th at the first time check... 35 seconds off of Menchov\'s time.
Meanwhile, there is now change in the final times.'),(2466,64,'2006-07-08 16:07:18','Cadel Evans','Davitamon Lotto\'s GC man is on the road.'),(2467,64,'2006-07-08 16:09:44','Matthias Kessler','Has started. We have ten riders remaining.'),(2468,64,'2006-07-08 16:14:00','Lang still tops','With 130 riders in to the finish, Lang still tops the leader board.'),(2469,64,'2006-07-08 16:15:30','Landis on the road','This could be good.'),(2470,64,'2006-07-08 16:17:34','Menchov','The \'05 Vuelta winner sets a new best time at Check Mark No. 2, but Andreas Kloden just set a new best time at Check Point No.1 - 19:57. Zabriskie will be coming up soon, as Paolo Savoldelli starts for Discovery.'),(2471,64,'2006-07-08 16:19:00','World Time Trial Champion coming up','Michael Rogers - currently third on GC - is approaching the start house... still getting ready and warming up. Zabriskie hits the first time check, 15 seconds off of Kloden\'s pace.'),(2472,64,'2006-07-08 16:22:22','Hincapie on his way','George Hincapie is on his way. Fifth overall, coming up are Oscar Freire, Michael Rogers, Robbie McEwen and Tom Boonen.'),(2473,64,'2006-07-08 16:26:00','Rogers on his way','The odds are good that he will be catching Oscar Freire, a strong sprinter, but not an exceptional time trialist.'),(2474,64,'2006-07-08 16:27:00','McEwen in the start house','Robbie McEwen - in the green points jersey - is waiting to start.'),(2475,64,'2006-07-08 16:29:00','Boonen off!','Yellow jersey holder, Tom Boonen, is waiting in the start house. It might be interesting to see if Boonen actually catches McEwen. He\'s not the best in the world, but he\'s a much better time trialist than McEwen and he has the yellow jersey'),(2476,64,'2006-07-08 16:32:33','Time Check No. 1','These are the current top spots at time check No. 1, but we still have some real biggies out on the road
1. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 00:19:59
\r\n2. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:20:06
\r\n3. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 00:20:07
\r\n4. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 00:20:07
\r\n5. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 00:20:14
\r\n6. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 00:20:14
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:20:14
\r\n8. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 00:20:22
\r\n9. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:20:24
\r\n'),(2477,64,'2006-07-08 16:34:21','That\'s weird','Christian Vande Velde has caught his two-minute man: Levi Leipheimer, who has crossed through the second time check more than three minutes down on Menchov\'s time.'),(2478,64,'2006-07-08 16:37:00','Landis on the road','But word is that he has had a flat... still he\'s riding well and second best at time check No. 1, trailing Serhiy Honchar by 17 seconds and a small bit ahead of Kloden.
1. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 00:19:37
\r\n2. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:19:54
\r\n3. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 00:19:59
\r\n4. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:20:06
\r\n5. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 00:20:07
\r\n6. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 00:20:07
\r\n7. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 00:20:14
\r\n8. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 00:20:14
\r\n9. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:20:14
\r\n10. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 00:20:18
\r\n'),(2479,64,'2006-07-08 16:43:08','Zabriskie','is ninth best at time check No. 2.'),(2480,64,'2006-07-08 16:44:13','Hincapie','At time check No. 1, Hincapie has reached time check No. 1 52 seconds off of Honchar\'s pace.'),(2481,64,'2006-07-08 16:45:28','Popovych','Is only 19th best at the first time check, slower even than Hincapie.'),(2482,64,'2006-07-08 16:46:14','Sebastian Lang','Is still atop the leader board at the finish.'),(2483,64,'2006-07-08 16:48:15','Rogers','is at check No. 1 in 13th place. Hincapie, meanwhile, catches former U-23 TT champion, Thor Hushovd, his two minute man.'),(2484,64,'2006-07-08 16:48:52','Christian Vande Velde','Who caught and passed Leipheimer has finished with the 16th best of the day.'),(2485,64,'2006-07-08 16:49:43','Leipheimer at the finish','1:07:49 - more than five minutes off of the day\'s faster times. What up with that?'),(2486,64,'2006-07-08 16:55:55','Final times from Time Check No.1','Everyone is through Time Check No. 1
1. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 00:19:37
\r\n2. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:19:54
\r\n3. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 00:19:59
\r\n4. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:20:06
\r\n5. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 00:20:07
\r\n6. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 00:20:07
\r\n7. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 00:20:14
\r\n8. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 00:20:14
\r\n9. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:20:14
\r\n10. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 00:20:18
\r\n11. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 00:20:21
\r\n'),(2487,64,'2006-07-08 16:56:00','Honchar is flying','Honchar is setting a new top time at time check No. 2
1. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 00:43:50
\r\n2. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 00:44:53
\r\n3. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 00:44:53
\r\n4. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:45:00
\r\n5. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 00:45:05
\r\n'),(2488,64,'2006-07-08 16:58:00','Zabriskie in 8th spot at No.3','At the third time check, Dave Zabriskie (CSC) comes through with the 8th-best time at that mark.'),(2489,64,'2006-07-08 17:01:33','Landis','Comes through time check No. 2, with the second best time, but he\'s some 40 seconds off of the pace of Honchar.
Zabriskie finishes with the seventh-best time of the day, so far.'),(2490,64,'2006-07-08 17:07:44','Hincapie at No.2 check','Hincapie comes through the second time check some 2:00 off of Honchar\'s time, 25th best.'),(2491,64,'2006-07-08 17:08:37','At the finish','The current top ten at the finish1. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:02:47
\r\n2. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:03:17
\r\n3. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 01:03:22
\r\n4. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:03:25
\r\n5. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 01:03:26
\r\n6. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 01:03:27
\r\n7. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:03:28
\r\n8. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:03:40
\r\n9. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 01:03:48
\r\n10. Hugo Victor Hugo (Col), Phonak, 01:03:52
\r\n11. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 01:03:54
\r\n12. Lövkvist Thomas (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:04:19
\r\n13. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:04:21
\r\n14. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:04:23
\r\n15. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:04:24
\r\n16. Didier Rous (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:04:34
\r\n17. Rubiera José Luis (Sp), Discovery Channel, 01:04:49
\r\n18. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 01:04:49
\r\n19. Bradley Wiggins (GB), Cofidis, 01:04:53
\r\n20. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 01:04:56
\r\n21. Christian Vandevelde (USA), CSC, 01:04:57
\r\n22. Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Milram, 01:04:58
\r\n23. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel, 01:05:00
\r\n24. Mikel Astarloza (Sp), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:05:01
\r\n25. Giuseppe Guerini (I), T-Mobile, 01:05:03
\r\n26. Sandy Casar (F), Francaise des Jeux, 01:05:11
\r\n27. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:05:15
\r\n28. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:05:25
\r\n29. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 01:05:26
\r\n30. Alessandro Ballan (I), Lampre, 01:05:32
\r\n31. Azevedo José (P), Discovery Channel, 01:05:38
\r\n32. Ronny Scholz (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:05:40
\r\n33. Georg Totschnig (A), Gerolsteiner, 01:05:43
\r\n34. Pavel Padrnos (Cz), Discovery Channel, 01:05:45
\r\n35. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:05:47
\r\n36. Christian Knees (G), Milram, 01:05:54
\r\n37. Christopher Horner (USA), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:05:57
\r\n38. Magnus Backstedt (Swe), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:05:58
\r\n39. Pineau Jérôme (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:06:02
\r\n40. Pierrick Fedrigo (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:06:02
\r\n41. Axel Merckx (B), Phonak, 01:06:02
\r\n42. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 01:06:07
\r\n43. Xabier Zandio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:06:08
\r\n44. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:06:10
\r\n45. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 01:06:12
\r\n46. Koos Moerenhout (Nl), Phonak, 01:06:18
\r\n47. Laurent Lefevre (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:06:18
\r\n48. Fabian Wegmann (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:06:22
\r\n49. Rujano José (Vz), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:06:36
\r\n50. Riccardo Ricco (I), Saunier Duval, 01:06:37
\r\n51. Gomez Marchante Jose Angel (Sp), Saunier Duval, 01:06:37
\r\n52. Bram De Groot (Nl), Rabobank, 01:06:38
\r\n53. Ramiro Ivan Ramiro (Col), Cofidis, 01:06:43
\r\n54. Michael Boogerd (Nl), Rabobank, 01:06:48
\r\n55. Nicolas Portal (F), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:06:48
\r\n56. Christophe Brandt (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:06:53
\r\n57. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 01:06:55
\r\n58. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 01:06:56
\r\n59. Patxi Vila Errandonea (Sp), Lampre, 01:06:57
\r\n60. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 01:06:59
\r\n61. Laurent Brochard (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:07:00
\r\n62. Stefano Garzelli (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:07:01
\r\n63. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 01:07:02
\r\n64. Michael Albasini (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:07:04
\r\n65. Matthieu Sprick (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:07:10
\r\n66. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz), Milram, 01:07:11
\r\n67. Mario Aerts (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:07:11
\r\n68. Miguel Juan Miguel (Sp), Agritubel, 01:07:11
\r\n69. Johan Vansummeren (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:07:15
\r\n70. Iban Mayo (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:07:20
\r\n71. David Arroyo (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:07:22
\r\n72. Ralf Grabsch (G), Milram, 01:07:24
\r\n73. David Canada (Sp), Saunier Duval, 01:07:25
\r\n74. Carlos Da Cruz (F), Francaise des Jeux, 01:07:26
\r\n75. Iker Camano (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:07:26
\r\n76. Simon Gerrans (Aus), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:07:27
\r\n77. Martin Perdiguero M.angel (Sp), Phonak, 01:07:28
\r\n78. Rik Verbrugghe (B), Cofidis, 01:07:30
\r\n79. Nicolas Jalabert (F), Phonak, 01:07:34
\r\n80. Giovanni Lombardi (I), CSC, 01:07:39
\r\n81. Mirko Celestino (I), Milram, 01:07:41
\r\n82. Gorka Verdugo (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:07:43
\r\n83. Samuel Plouhinec (F), Agritubel, 01:07:48
\r\n84. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, 01:07:49
\r\n85. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), Credit Agricole, 01:07:50
\r\n86. O’grady Stuart (Aus), CSC, 01:07:51
\r\n87. Martinez José Alberto (Sp), Agritubel, 01:07:54
\r\n88. Walter Beneteau (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:07:55
\r\n89. Luis Jose Luis (Sp), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:07:55
\r\n90. Alexandre Moos (Swi), Phonak, 01:07:58
\r\n91. Stephane Goubert (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:07:59
\r\n92. David Moncoutie (F), Cofidis, 01:08:03
\r\n93. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:08:05
\r\n94. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 01:08:06
\r\n95. Christophe Le Mevel (F), Credit Agricole, 01:08:07
\r\n96. Ruben Lobato (Sp), Saunier Duval, 01:08:07
\r\n97. Anthony Charteau (F), Credit Agricole, 01:08:10
\r\n98. Robert Hunter (RSA), Phonak, 01:08:11
\r\n99. Jimmy Engoulvent (F), Credit Agricole, 01:08:12
\r\n100. Paolo Tiralongo (I), Lampre, 01:08:13
\r\n101. Mickael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 01:08:13
\r\n102. Sylvain Calzati (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:08:14
\r\n103. Schröder Björn (G), Milram, 01:08:15
\r\n104. Vasseur Cédric (F), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:08:18
\r\n105. Florent Brard (F), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:08:18
\r\n106. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, 01:08:21
\r\n107. Christophe Mengin (F), Francaise des Jeux, 01:08:21
\r\n108. Moises Duenas Nevado (Sp), Agritubel, 01:08:22
\r\n109. David De La Fuente (Sp), Saunier Duval, 01:08:23
\r\n110. Christophe Laurent (F), Agritubel, 01:08:24
\r\n111. Salvatore Commesso (I), Lampre, 01:08:24
\r\n112. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 01:08:25
\r\n113. Anthony Geslin (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:08:26
\r\n114. Marco Velo (I), Milram, 01:08:28
\r\n115. Daniele Righi (I), Lampre, 01:08:29
\r\n116. Arnaud Coyot (F), Cofidis, 01:08:31
\r\n117. Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 01:08:35
\r\n118. Matej Mugerli (SLO), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:08:36
\r\n119. Steven De Jongh (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:08:36
\r\n120. Carlström Kjell (FIN), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:08:40
\r\n121. Filippo Pozzato (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:08:47
\r\n122. Patrice Halgand (F), Credit Agricole, 01:08:47
\r\n123. Manuel Juan Manuel (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:09:04
\r\n124. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:09:07
\r\n125. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:09:08
\r\n126. Pieter Weening (Nl), Rabobank, 01:09:14
\r\n127. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:09:14
\r\n128. Wilfried Cretskens (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:09:14
\r\n129. Benoit Salmon (F), Agritubel, 01:09:19
\r\n130. Joly Sébastien (F), Francaise des Jeux, 01:09:19
\r\n131. Unai Etxebarria (Vz), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:09:19
\r\n132. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:09:20
\r\n133. Auge Stéphane (F), Cofidis, 01:09:20
\r\n134. Coutouly Cédric (F), Agritubel, 01:09:23
\r\n135. Antonio Juan Antonio (Sp), Rabobank, 01:09:26
\r\n136. Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:09:27
\r\n137. Hinault Sébastien (F), Credit Agricole, 01:09:29
\r\n138. Isaac Galvez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:09:31
\r\n139. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 01:09:34
\r\n140. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:09:36
\r\n141. Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:09:38
\r\n142. Christophe Rinero (F), Saunier Duval, 01:09:45
\r\n143. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 01:09:53
\r\n144. Philippe Gilbert (B), Francaise des Jeux, 01:09:56
\r\n145. Bram Tankink (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:10:03
\r\n146. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Sp), Agritubel, 01:10:09
\r\n147. Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis, 01:10:09
\r\n148. Julian Dean (NZl), Credit Agricole, 01:10:19
\r\n149. Aitor Hernandez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:10:28
\r\n150. Manuel Calvente (Sp), Agritubel, 01:10:28
\r\n151. Matteo Tosatto (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 01:10:33
\r\n152. Wim Vansevenant (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:10:38
\r\n153. Beat Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, 01:10:45
\r\n154. Peter Wrolich (A), Gerolsteiner, 01:11:30
\r\n155. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 01:11:44
\r\nBut Honchar is on his way to a top finish.'),(2492,64,'2006-07-08 17:08:58','Millar crosses with 28th best',''),(2493,64,'2006-07-08 17:09:21','Christophe Moreau','Crosses with the ninth best of the day.'),(2494,64,'2006-07-08 17:10:09','Boonen has caught and passed','McEwen... hey, it\'s a little revenge for the past few days.'),(2495,64,'2006-07-08 17:10:54','Rogers','The world time trial champion has reached the third time check with the seventh best of the day.'),(2496,64,'2006-07-08 17:11:17','Evans finishes','With the 8th best time of the day.'),(2497,64,'2006-07-08 17:15:38','Honchar sets a new top time','Former world time trial champion Serhy Honchar finishes in 1:01:43, 1:04 better than Lang\'s time.'),(2498,64,'2006-07-08 17:17:52','Landis','is already 57 seconds off of Honchar\'s time. He may concede the stage and temporary grip on the jersey to Honchar, but he is emerging as the favorite of the big GC contenders'),(2499,64,'2006-07-08 17:18:05','Landis heading to the finish',''),(2500,64,'2006-07-08 17:18:53','Landis','Landis finishes 1:01 behind Honchar and that\'s second best on the day. Incredible ride by Honchar.'),(2501,64,'2006-07-08 17:19:19','Honchar is in yellow','... it looks like Honchar will get the jersey today.'),(2502,64,'2006-07-08 17:21:34','Savoldelli','Finishes in 1:03:55.'),(2503,64,'2006-07-08 17:26:02','Hincapie finishes','George Hincapie has finished in a time of 1:04:25, 23rd best on the day.'),(2504,64,'2006-07-08 17:26:48','Rogers','Rogers is catching Thor Hushovd, his six-minute man.'),(2505,64,'2006-07-08 17:28:54','Rogers finishes in fourth','His teammate takes the stage and the jersey.'),(2506,64,'2006-07-08 17:28:54','Rogers finishes in fourth','His teammate takes the stage and the jersey.'),(2507,64,'2006-07-08 17:35:16','Boonen heading to the finish','He\'s more than four minutes off of Honchar\'s pace., but finishes with a respectable 1:05:35 (41st on the day)'),(2508,64,'2006-07-08 17:35:49','McEwen is in','Having been passed by Boonen, McEwen gets 109th.'),(2509,65,'2006-07-09 13:23:31','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the eigth stage of the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, covering 181 kilometers from St-Méen-le-Grand to Lorient.\r\n\r\nHuge crowds are expected on this hilly run through cycling-mad Brittany. The stage starts at the birthplace of three-time Tour champion Louison Bobet, who worked in the family bakery at St. Méen-le-Grand before becoming a cyclist. The biggest crowds will be on the Cat. 3 Mûr-de-Bretagne and on the sprint line in Plouay — where Hincapie won the ProTour classic last year. The final 20km is on wide highways with a fast run-in to Lorient, where the finish is on the slightly curving and flat Avenue Jean Jaurès.\r\n'),(2510,65,'2006-07-09 13:44:00','Numerous attacks','Racing started a bit more than an hour ago today - at 12:25 p.m. - and we saw a series of attacks, all of which have proven to be unsuccessful, so far. The pace has been a brisk 45kph over the first hour. The attacks have not stopped and right now an interesting group has formed off of the front of the field, including David Zabriskie (CSC), Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile), Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r Prevoyance), Mario Aerts (Davitamon-Lotto) and Kjell Carlström (Liquigas-Bianchi).'),(2511,65,'2006-07-09 13:46:30','At 52km','The men up front are building up a bit of a lead. They are now 2:00 up on the main field, with Credit Agricole\'s Patrice Halgand in pursuit, hoping to bridge up.'),(2512,65,'2006-07-09 13:51:00','The group','That\'s an interesting composition up there. Obviously, Kessler has won a Tour stage, having pulled of that delightful last-minute attack the other day. He\'s 11th on GC and Zabriskie - now 10th - is also a former Tour stage winner, having snagged the opening time trial in last year\'s Tour. He is the only American to have won stages in all three grand Tours and did so in successive events to boot. He took a great stage win at the Vuelta in 2004, a Giro stage in 2005 and quickly followed it by becoming only the third U.S. rider to wear the yellow jersey when he won the opener last year.
Zabriskie\'s Giro and Tour stage wins were in his specialty, but in a way, so was his first grand tour win. He turned Stage 11 at the Vuelta into a 161km individual time trial. He was wasted by the time he hit the 20km to go mark that day... but he pulled it off.'),(2514,65,'2006-07-09 13:59:00','The gap is growing','With Halgand now in the group there is one more rider to lend a hand and the gap is growing, but the strange thing is that Zabriskie just got stung by a bee. He\'s back with the medical car getting a bit of attention. He\'ll be back up soon, though. The lead is up to 3:30.'),(2515,65,'2006-07-09 14:01:45','At 64km','The bee sting has been treated, Zabriskie is back up with the leaders and the gap is now 5:35.'),(2516,65,'2006-07-09 14:06:59','A reader\'s letter','We just received a note from a reader to remind us that Tyler Hamilton, too, has won stages in all three grand tours. That\'s actually not true anymore, since his time trial victory in the 2004 Vuelta a Espana was subsequently negated and Victor Hugo Pena is actually credited with the Stage 8 TT win in 2004. Sorry, Hamilton is credited with wins in only two of the three tours.'),(2517,65,'2006-07-09 14:11:16','Phonak and T-Mobile','are leading the chase in the main field. Zabriskie may not pose a long-term threat on GC, but he is the virtual leader on the road and neither team wants to give him too much time up there. Of course, Quick Step and Davitamon also have an interest in this one. Even though Davitamon has a rider up there in the break, it\'s doubtful that Mario Aerts lending too much of a hand at this point, since his team leader (at least on these flat stages) is Robbie McEwen and the Aussie Pocket Rocket wants to snag his fourth stage win. QuickStep\'s Tom Boonen, meanwhile, really wants to get his first win.'),(2518,65,'2006-07-09 14:13:53','Contest Reminder','No matter how you think this break will develop and whether you believe it will succeed or not, surely you have an opinion as to who will win today\'s stage. Give it a shot. We\'ll be giving away two pair of Specialized sunglasses to folks randomly selected from today\'s winners.\r\n'),(2519,65,'2006-07-09 14:15:00','At 73km','The leaders are 7:20 ahead of the main field, with 108km remaining in today\'s stage.'),(2520,65,'2006-07-09 14:25:24','Yesterday\'s time trial','While Zabriskie was a bit disappointed in his performance in yesterday\'s 52km individual time trial, Phonak\'s Floyd Landis had to be pleased with his. Despite finishing second to Sergei \"spell it with a G\" Gontchar, Landis emerged on top of the list of GC favorites yesterday. It appears that he missed a major disaster - something akin to Bobby Julich\'s crash - when he managed to stop his bike after his bars broke. Initially we thought that his aero bars had merely slipped, but last night Andrew Hood had a Q&A session with John Lelangue and it sounds like it was much more serious than that.
Meanwhile the other American podium hopeful - Levi Leipheimer - had what he described as \"the worst time trial of my life,\" finishing more than six minutes behind stage winner Gontchar.
VeloNews Editorial Director, John Wilcockson followed Leipheimer in yesterday\'s TT and reports that \"he never got into the rhythm of a good ride. He was turning the pedals at 90-100 rpm, but that was clearly on a gear that wasn\'t going to give him the speed he needed to average. When he shifted up a gear, or when he was on the many false flats, he was often getting out the saddle (and obviously losing more time by not being on the aero bars then).\"
Wilcockson isn\'t willing quite yet to write off Leipheimer\'s chances, though.
\"In a Tour like this when the mountains will now be the decider, the five (or fewer) minutes he lost to Landis and the other contenders doesn\'t rule him out of the podium in Paris.\"
Okay... but he sure didn\'t do himself any favors yesterday.\r\n'),(2521,65,'2006-07-09 14:29:45','At 80km','The leaders are working their down the back side of the day\'s second climb, the Cat 4. Cote de Saint-Mayeux. The gap is coming down a bit, as Phonak is powering the chase.'),(2522,65,'2006-07-09 14:34:00','The other stage winner in the group','While we were mentioning Kessler\'s win in this year\'s Tour and Zabriskie\'s in last year\'s, Patrice Halgand was working to bridge the gap up to the original break. He, too, is a stage winner, of course, having won the 147km 10th stageof the 2002 Tour, a ride from Bazas to Pau.'),(2523,65,'2006-07-09 14:40:28','With 92km remaining','Our six leaders have an advantage of 6:35. It\'s still Phonak doing the bulk of the work up front, although, it may fall to Davitamon and Quick Step to seal the deal if they want to pull these guys back.'),(2524,65,'2006-07-09 14:52:21','With 86km remaining in today\'s stage','Our six leaders are losing some of their advantage, but they remain a healthy 5:40 ahead of the field.
We doubt that Phonak is going to do more than limit the gap and the final work will have to fall to the sprinters\' teams if they hope to get this thing back into the fold. Even though T-Mobile has the yellow jersey, they have a talented rider in the break in Matthias Kessler, so the German team has little reason to do much up there.'),(2525,65,'2006-07-09 14:58:11','Loading Pictures','and video. Keep checking at the bottom of today\'s update page. We\'re loading photos from today\'s route - as well as that rather disturbing shot of the new use for helmets (ick) - and we\'ll be doing so for the next 30 minutes or so. Also look for Jason Sumner\'s interview with Levi Leipheimer, on how he sees the rest of the Tour shaking out for him after yesterday\'s time trial.'),(2526,65,'2006-07-09 14:58:32','',''),(2527,65,'2006-07-09 15:05:34','Chatting with Landis','Jason Sumner had a chance to speak with Floyd Landis this morning.
On placing second in the stage 7 TT:
\"There’s a long way to go. I’m happy with the way it went yesterday, but the mountains will tell us more.\"
On whether or not he thinks he can win the Tour:
\"I hope so. I’ve been training for it the whole year. It’s been our objective and we have a good team. So far we’ve been fortunate to not have any bad incidents.\"'),(2528,65,'2006-07-09 15:06:48','On Julich\'s crash','Sumner also spoke with CSC DS Alain Gallopin on Bobby Julich
\"He broke his wrist. They did surgery in the evening to clean it all up. I went to the hospital this morning and he was outside. Now he’s on the plane headed back home to Nice.
On what caused crash:
\"I think it was just a mistake. In the beginning there was a lot of gravel on the road, but he arrived to fast. When I saw it again on the television it was clearly just a mistake.\"'),(2529,65,'2006-07-09 15:08:51','Zabriskie','Sumner also spoke with Dave Zabrikie on a tough stage 7 TT, that saw CSC teammate Bobby Julich crash out of the race, while Zabriskie finished a disappointing 13th:
It sucks for Bobby but we\'ll keep going. It was a hard day. The way I was riding I knew I would be down a little ways. I just didn’t have the big power I needed to deal with the wind.\"
On stage 8:\"Today could be a nervous day, so we need to just keep Carlos out of trouble.\"
Well, he also managed to join the day\'s significant break, which, by the way is maintaining an advantage of 5:18, with 72km remaining.'),(2530,65,'2006-07-09 15:17:44','The gap is coming down','albeit slowly. The Phonak team is still up front and the gap is down to 5:02.'),(2531,65,'2006-07-09 15:29:03','With 58km to go','The peloton trails the break by 4:50'),(2532,65,'2006-07-09 15:41:04','With 50km to go','The six leaders are 4:30 ahead of the main field.'),(2533,65,'2006-07-09 15:44:41','FDJ is lending a hand now','The Francaise des Jeux team is moving up front to help with the chase and the gap is coming down, now with 46km to go, the gap is 3:54.'),(2534,65,'2006-07-09 15:49:00','The pace in the field','is picking up and with 43km remaining, the group is 3:44 ahead of the field. It\'s all FDJ at the front.'),(2535,65,'2006-07-09 15:52:09','Yellow numbers','We still get questions regarding the yellow numbers worn by some riders in the peloton. Those are awarded to the riders on the squad leading the team classification. Up until yesterday\'s TT, those belonged to the Discovery boys, but now it\'s the T-Mobile squad who own those.'),(2536,65,'2006-07-09 15:57:00','With 39km to go','The gap is 3:29. The Phonak squad has dropped back and is riding alongside the T-Mobiles. The work is being done now by Francaise des Jeux, hoping to set up Bernard Eisel for a stage win. Interestingly, the Quick Step is nowhere to be seen up there. Boonen threw his team up to chase on a couple of occasions this past week and it didn\'t do much good for the guy in terms of stage wins.'),(2537,65,'2006-07-09 15:58:35','With 36km to go','The gap is at 3:24.'),(2538,65,'2006-07-09 16:05:07','Pace picking up','With 32km to go, the gap is now less than three minutes. Meanwhile as the chase picks up, scroll down and check our latest video posts. Jason Sumner had a chance to interview Levi Leipheimer this morning and had a video camera with him the other day, when he rode on one of the press motorcycles.'),(2539,65,'2006-07-09 16:06:58','The lead group is breaking up','Calzati attacked and Halgand has scampered off the front to chase. The other four aren\'t really chasing.'),(2540,65,'2006-07-09 16:09:19','Halgand working to bridge','He\'s still seven seconds behind Calzati. The other men in break are another seven seconds back.'),(2541,65,'2006-07-09 16:10:32','Halgand joined by Carlstrom','The Liquigas rider has joined up with Hagland. The other three are at 16 seconds.'),(2542,65,'2006-07-09 16:12:13','Carlstrom','is doing the chase work and Halgand is not doing much to chase. Calzatti is eight seconds ahead of his two pursuers and 30 seconds ahead of Zabriskie, Kessler and Aerts. The peloton is another two minutes back.'),(2543,65,'2006-07-09 16:16:28','Calzati','Is putting in a good effort. On his own he\'s bumped up his lead over the two chasers to 39 seconds and 1:09 on the three men behind them. The lone attacker is now 2:38 ahead of the peloton.'),(2544,65,'2006-07-09 16:18:56','Leipheimer','We\'ve received a number of e-mails asking about Levi Leipheimer\'s performance yesterday. Jason Sumner spoke with Levi\r\nLeipheimer this morning. Bottom line, says Leipheimer, he\'s making no excuses.'),(2545,65,'2006-07-09 16:20:00','With 20km to go','Calzati is bumping up his advantage. He\'s 55 seconds ahead of the Halgand/Carlstrom chase, 1:33 ahead of the three other men from the break and a total of 2:45 ahead of the peloton. Calzati is motivated to be sure and he looks like he has the energy reserves to pull this off.
The big question is how the peloton reacts when it starts pulling back the other five men from the break. If the chase eases off a bit, Calzati has a good chance.'),(2546,65,'2006-07-09 16:24:36','With 17km to go','The peloton is about to sweep up Zabriskie, Kessler and Aerts. Calzati is 1:06 ahead of Carlstrom/Halgand and 2:33 ahead of the peloton.'),(2547,65,'2006-07-09 16:26:40','Trio caught','Calzati is 1:10 ahead of Halgand and Carlstrom and 2:30 ahead of the field.'),(2548,65,'2006-07-09 16:28:20','Boonen flats','Tom Boonen has pulled off for a wheel change.'),(2549,65,'2006-07-09 16:29:51','With 13km to go','Calzati has a 1:26 lead on the chasing pair and 2:38 on the peloton. That Boonen flat came at a good time for Calzati. It sure couldn\'t hurt. Quick Step isn\'t chasing.'),(2550,65,'2006-07-09 16:32:55','Coming up on 10km to go','Calzati has upped his lead over the main field to 3:07. This guy may have a good shot. Place your bets... you have 100 meters to put in your pick for our Daily Contest.'),(2551,65,'2006-07-09 16:33:47','Phillipe Gilbert','is trying to jump out of the main field... the peloton isn\'t freaking out over that one.'),(2552,65,'2006-07-09 16:34:28','Calzati','Is 9km from the finish. He\'s 3:05 ahead of the peloton and 1:37 ahead of Carlstrom and Halgand.'),(2553,65,'2006-07-09 16:37:35','Contest Cut-Off','Just a reminder that entries submitted after the 10km to go mark - no matter how accurate - are not counted. That said, Calzati gave folks ample opportunity to put in a vote for him.\r\n\r\nHe\'s now 8km from the finish and holding on to a 3:00 lead. Can you imagine how he must feel right now? Exhausted to be sure, but completely amped by the realization that he\'s about to get a Tour de France stage win. '),(2554,65,'2006-07-09 16:39:16','6.0km from the line','Calzati is flying down the road - a big, big freeway - and still 3:05 ahead of the main field.'),(2555,65,'2006-07-09 16:42:11','The chase','is easing off. The peloton has surrendered the stage win to the lone attacker. The riders in the field may pull back the two chasers. Calzati is 4.1km from the finish and he is 2:00 ahead of the two chasers and 3:10 ahead of the field.'),(2556,65,'2006-07-09 16:43:18','High five!','Calzati\'s team director just drove up and told his rider to enjoy himself. He gave himself a high-five and told him that he\'s got this one.'),(2557,65,'2006-07-09 16:44:17','With 3km to go','Calzati has 2:00 on his closest pursuers - Carlstrom and Halgand - and 3:06 ahead of the main field.'),(2558,65,'2006-07-09 16:45:26','2.0km to go','The French stage winner is on his way... with a huge smile on his face. He has comfortable two- and three-minute buffers.'),(2559,65,'2006-07-09 16:46:18','In the final kilometer','Calzati is in the last kilometer.'),(2560,65,'2006-07-09 16:47:35','Sylvain Calzati','Celebrates his victory. He has won his first career stage win and France\'s second stage win of this Tour.'),(2561,65,'2006-07-09 16:48:28','Carlstom and Halgand in the final kilometer',''),(2562,65,'2006-07-09 16:49:50','Jockeying for position','Halgand leads out... but Carlstrom beats him.... and McEwen wins the field sprint!'),(2563,65,'2006-07-09 16:53:19','Stage Results - no change in GC','1. Sylvain Calzati (F) Ag2r
2. Kjell Carlström (F) Liquigas-Bianchi
3. Patrice Halgand (F) Credit Agricole
4. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon
There is no change in the top end of the overall standings.'),(2564,66,'2006-07-11 13:23:00','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the ninth stage of the 93rd edition of the Tour de France. After Rest Day No.1, the peloton eases its way back into competiton with this flat, 169.5km stage from Bordeaux to Dax.
The sprinters won’t waste the opportunity, especially on a completely flat stage like this one. It barrels southwest through the pine forest of the Landes almost to the Atlantic coast before turning south. Any breakaways are likely to be swept up after the route turns southeast for the final 35km — where winds off the ocean could split the peloton into echelons (perhaps CSC will make one of its trademark surges) and possibly catch out some of the favorites. A number of sharp turns in Dax itself in the final 5km could again split the pack, leaving a smaller-than-usual group to tackle the long, slightly uphill finishing straight.\r\n\r\n'),(2565,66,'2006-07-11 13:30:57','It\'s a nice late start','It takes a bit to get the legs moving again after a rest day and with that in mind, the organizers of the Tour invariably schedule a relatively short and easy stage to follow a break in the action. The peloton is rolling through a relatively long neutral zone - the stretch from the village departe\' to the official start. Today\'s is longer than usual, coming in at almost 10km, through the streets of Bordeaux. We\'ll probably see a few attacks today, but the odds of success are pretty small. Of course, that\'s what people thought about Calzati\'s chances on Sunday, now didn\'t they?\r\n'),(2566,66,'2006-07-11 13:35:00','Weather','It\'s a nice day in Bordeaux with a few clouds and temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s. We don\'t expect rain and the winds, thus far at least, have been quite moderate.'),(2567,66,'2006-07-11 13:36:00','And they\'re off!','We\'ll see what the mood of the peloton is today and see if anyone stands a snowball\'s chance of sneaking off the front and staying away.'),(2568,66,'2006-07-11 13:47:39','A few small probes','There have been a couple of early attempts at establishing a gap from some riders, but I don\'t think anyone is really in the mood to put up with it. FDJ\'s Arnaud Coyot tried from the line, but he was reeled in quickly. '),(2569,66,'2006-07-11 13:53:59','Knees gives it a shot','Christian Knees has wandered up the road. He\'s about 30 seconds ahead of the field at 11km. He\'s being chased by two riders.'),(2570,66,'2006-07-11 14:00:16','','Walter Beneteau (F), Bouygues Telecom (84th at 7:24) and Stéphane Auge (F), Cofidis, (160th at 24:54) are the two riders in pursuit of Knees (who sits in 45th place at 5:19)\r\n\r\n'),(2571,66,'2006-07-11 14:03:12','Knees about to be joined','Auge and Beneteau are moving up on Knees. The three of them are now close to a minute-and-a-half ahead of the peloton.'),(2572,66,'2006-07-11 14:06:23','Three off the front','and at 20km the the escapees have a lead of about 2:30. Now we get to see just how far the peloton is willing to let these guys go today. We\'re not claiming any special insight here, but we\'d be surprised to see this gap turn into anything much bigger than six minutes, given the relative length of today\'s stage.'),(2573,66,'2006-07-11 14:12:00','Blast from the past.','Scroll down to our latest Photo and see if you can guess who that might be in this 10-year-old picture. It\'s easy, we\'re sure, but it\'s a good shot from VeloNews\'s archives. We\'ll mention the first one of you to guess it right. (Seth Pelletier got it right).'),(2577,66,'2006-07-11 14:23:14','The gap is growing...','... but the rate of growth is slowing a bit. The three leaders - now at the 35km mark - are leading the field by 5:15.'),(2574,66,'2006-07-11 14:13:00','One sprint passed','The three men off the front have passed through the day\'s first points sprint at Le Barp.
Beneteau contested it and the results are as follows:
1. Beneteau - Six Points and Six Seconds
2. Auge Four points and Four Seconds
3. Knees Two Points and Two seconds\r\n'),(2575,66,'2006-07-11 14:17:40','The gap is growing','The three leaders are now 4:50 ahead of the field... and reaching the 30km mark.'),(2576,66,'2006-07-11 14:20:37','Yes, it\'s Floyd','That photo appeared in a 1996/97 issue of Made in USA (a VeloNews special) when Mr. Landis, fresh off of being the NORBA rider of the year in 1995, secured a sponsorship from a small SoCal mountain bike component manufacturer, Two Wheel Performance - TWP. Landis was the entire team.\r\n\r\nCongrats to Seth Pelletier for being the first among you to guess that one.'),(2578,66,'2006-07-11 14:29:36','Edging up','The gap is now 5:45 at 37km'),(2579,66,'2006-07-11 14:34:38','At 45km','The gap has grown to 6:45. We\'ll see how much longer this lasts.'),(2580,66,'2006-07-11 14:39:13','The gap is now','more than 7:00. The leaders are a good six kilometers ahead of the peloton, which has just reached 40km'),(2581,66,'2006-07-11 14:42:26','After an hour','The leaders have been ticking along well above the 46kph mark and the peloton has been ambling along at 40. Still no real interest in a chase.'),(2582,66,'2006-07-11 14:47:55','We\'re seeing a bit of an effort','In the peloton. T-Mobile is at the front, but the chase isn\'t really frantic at this point. We may see Quick Step, Davitamon and a few others lend a hand, if the gap - now 7:35 - continues to grow.'),(2583,66,'2006-07-11 14:55:00','Nearing 50km','for the peloton and the gap is holding at 7:45'),(2584,66,'2006-07-11 14:57:03','The sprinters aren\'t going','to let this opportunity slip. Take a look at tomorrow\'s profile (below)'),(2585,66,'2006-07-11 14:58:22','With 110 to go','The leaders are 7:45 ahead of the field\r\n'),(2586,66,'2006-07-11 15:04:45','Nearing 8:00','Davitamon isn\'t doing anything to lend a hand, but Lampre and other teams are moving up one or two riders to lend a hand.'),(2587,66,'2006-07-11 15:12:19','With 100km to go...','the peloton is picking up the pace. The gap is down to 7:20, as several teams have put riders into the chase.'),(2588,66,'2006-07-11 15:14:56','Update from the Major','We\'ll be posting a new update from VeloNews Iraq correspondent, Major Jason Bryan. He\'s been following the Tour, stuck in a Forward Operating Base in Iraq... and e-mailing us with regular diaries. We\'ll have the latest posted soon after the finish.'),(2589,66,'2006-07-11 15:15:59','Cipollini','Mario Cipollini is riding in the Liquigas car, as the peloton is beginning to string out in single file.'),(2590,66,'2006-07-11 15:23:50','With 90km to go','The three leaders\' advantage is being trimmed. They now have 6:45.'),(2591,66,'2006-07-11 15:29:35','The gap clearly topped out at 8:00','The chase is on and the gap is now down to 6:15.'),(2592,66,'2006-07-11 15:33:33','With 84km','The gap is now 6:10. The Lampre team has taken up the bulk of the work at the front. The T-Mobile team of Sergei Gontchar is nowhere to be seen at the front of the field.'),(2593,66,'2006-07-11 15:41:00','Less than 6:00','The chase is getting serious and our three leaders are now 5:48 ahead of the main field, with 77km to go.'),(2594,66,'2006-07-11 15:47:31','With 74km to go','The gap is now 5:40. Any bets on whether these guys will make it? Davitamon is not putting anyone up front, as McEwen says that the team\'s focus is now on Cadel Evans\' chances for the overall and his own goal of preserving the Green Jersey. Of course, if other teams manage to reel in this break, Robbie the Rocket sure isn\'t going to soft-pedal into Dax.'),(2595,66,'2006-07-11 15:49:29','Quick Step','Is moving up to the front. We see quite a number of teams with riders in the mix as the gap is down to 5:30, with 70km remaining.'),(2596,66,'2006-07-11 15:57:00','A small respite','For the men up front and for the peloton. The main field has moved through the feedzone, which slowed the chase a bit. The gap is up to 5:54, with 63km remaining.'),(2597,66,'2006-07-11 16:01:26','With 60km remaining,','The gap - which bumped up to 6:00 again - is coming back down.'),(2598,66,'2006-07-11 16:17:25','And the chase is on again...','With 48km to go, the gap is down to 4:45.'),(2599,66,'2006-07-11 16:23:56','With 42km','The three leaders have gone through the third sprint of the day. The gap is down to 4:20'),(2600,66,'2006-07-11 16:27:15','With 40km','the gap is down to 3:55.'),(2601,66,'2006-07-11 16:31:59','With 35km to go','The gap is shrinking. The trio up front have just 3:31'),(2602,66,'2006-07-11 16:34:48','A look ahead',' Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel has primed his riders for a first day of climbing in the Pyrenees which could decide the future destination of the yellow jersey.
The first of two days in the Pyrenees, Wednesday\'s 190/5km stage from Cambo-les-Bains to Pau has three climbs in total - the category three Col d\'Osquich, the unclassified Col de Soudet and the category one Col du Marie Blanque.
Compared to Thursday\'s monster climbing stage, it will be a piece of cake that should tempt more than a few riders - including Discovery Channel.
\"Given how the race stands at the moment there\'s going to be attacks as soon as we ride into the mountains,\" said Bruyneel, whose best placed rider is Paolo Savoldelli in 13th at 2:10 behind Gonchar.
\"We have to go on the offensive. We can\'t just sit back and watch what\'s happening.\"\r\n\r\n'),(2603,66,'2006-07-11 16:39:26','With 30km to go','The peloton is 2:50 behind the three leaders.'),(2604,66,'2006-07-11 16:42:11','2:40','At 27km to go'),(2605,66,'2006-07-11 16:44:10','At the 25km to go mark','The gap is now 2:25.'),(2606,66,'2006-07-11 16:45:04','Contest Reminder','You have another 15km to guess whether these guys will stay away or be caught, and who will win under either scenario.'),(2607,66,'2006-07-11 16:49:05','2:20','With 21km to go. These guys are feisty.'),(2608,66,'2006-07-11 16:51:00','With 20km to go (for the peloton)','We just spotted our buddy Didi \"The Devil\" Senft. It\'s good to see him out and about. The gap is now 1:56.'),(2609,66,'2006-07-11 16:56:15','With 16km to go','The gap is down to 1:40.'),(2610,66,'2006-07-11 16:57:30','With 14km to go','This is not a happy trio... we\'ve spotted a couple of gestures after Christian Knees has tried a couple of attacks. The gap is 1:38.'),(2611,66,'2006-07-11 17:00:47','Full-on','The peloton is going to have to raise the tempo a bit. With 11km to go, the gap is around 1:15. We may see another heart-breaker catch, with a kilometer or so to go.'),(2612,66,'2006-07-11 17:03:55','With 10km to go','The three leaders are just 1:02 ahead of the field. Calzati\'s win on Sunday came after he jumped out of a break with a catch seeming nearly inevitable. '),(2613,66,'2006-07-11 17:04:35','Nine kilometers','The trio ahead have just 39 seconds.'),(2614,66,'2006-07-11 17:06:53','With seven kilometers to go','The peloton is charging hard. Knees makes an attack as the three men have but 25 seconds on the field. He\'s caught.'),(2615,66,'2006-07-11 17:07:55','With 6km to go','The peloton is charging, but the three men up front are fighting amongst themselves.'),(2616,66,'2006-07-11 17:08:24','With five km to go','There is no cooperation up front. The chase is on.'),(2617,66,'2006-07-11 17:08:51','Beneteau attacks','But the peloton is just seven seconds down.'),(2618,66,'2006-07-11 17:09:16','Four kilometerss to go and',''),(2619,66,'2006-07-11 17:10:07','Liquigas and Quick Step','Up front with 3 kilometers remaining.'),(2620,66,'2006-07-11 17:10:35','Remember it\'s a twisty route','Check the pictures. '),(2621,66,'2006-07-11 17:11:05','With 2.5km to go','The peloton is charging hard.'),(2622,66,'2006-07-11 17:11:29','Liquigas','is up front with CSC'),(2623,66,'2006-07-11 17:11:00','O\'Grady tries a dig',''),(2624,66,'2006-07-11 17:12:34','In the final kilometer','Quick Step has swallowed up O\'Grady\r\n'),(2625,66,'2006-07-11 17:12:53','McEwen is sneaking up',''),(2626,66,'2006-07-11 17:13:16','Boonen charges',''),(2627,66,'2006-07-11 17:14:03','Wow!','Here comes McEwen.... and it\'sFreire!'),(2628,66,'2006-07-11 17:16:27','Photo finish','Freire edges McEwen and Zabel comes in third, edging Boonen who appears to have started his sprint a little too early today. Cristian Moreni (Cofidis) takes fifth'),(2629,66,'2006-07-11 17:22:08','Stage Results','1. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank
\r\n2. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto
\r\n3. Erik Zabel (G), Milram
\r\n4. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step
\r\n5. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis
\r\n6. Isaac Galvez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne
\r\n7. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval
\r\n8. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas
\r\n9. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner
\r\n10. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, all s.t.
\r\n'),(2630,66,'2006-07-11 17:27:56','GC','Overall
1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile
\r\n2. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 01:00
\r\n3. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 01:08
\r\n4. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 01:45
\r\n5. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:50
\r\n6. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:52
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:52
\r\n8. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:53
\r\n9. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 02:03
\r\n10. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 02:07
\r\n'),(2631,66,'2006-07-11 17:30:07','Today\'s contest winner','Congratulations to Jay Harwood winner of today\'s edition of the Daily Contest.'),(2632,67,'2006-07-12 13:05:43','Good day and welcome ...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 10th stage of the 93rd edition of the Tour de France.
The Tour finally heads to the hills in this 190.5km race from Cambo-les-Bains to Pau. This is a much \"easier\" introduction to the mountains than in recent years. Instead of a mountaintop finish, the last of three climbs on this 190.5km stage across the Basque part of the Pyrénées is 42.5km from the finish in Pau. That means that riders dropped on the Col de Marie-Blanque will have a chance to chase back to the peloton. Breakaways will inevitably go clear on the rolling roads that precede the day\'s major obstacle, the Col de Soudet, that climbs for almost 15km at over 7 percent, with some much steeper pitches on the upper reaches of the bumpy, narrow road that leads to the 5052-foot summit. The organizers have given the Soudet an hors-catégorie rating, which means that it\'s one of the toughest climbs of this Tour. The Cat. 1 Marie-Blanque, another 40km along the way, is shorter but even steeper, and could easily spring a breakaway group. \r\n\r\n'),(2633,67,'2006-07-12 13:09:00','Nearing an hour of racing','The peloton left the neutral start at around 12:15. The actual bike race kicked off after 7.5km in the neutral zone... at around 12:28 There are 169 riders in the field as Laurent Brochard (Ag2r) did not start today.\r\n\r\nRight now, the day\'s lone attacker is Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis). He\'s at 31km, but he\'s not really getting much of an advantage over the main field. He\'s but 20 seconds ahead of the peloton, but there is a group of 15 trying to join him, so we\'ll see if it shakes out as a real break.'),(2634,67,'2006-07-12 13:17:40','Juan Antonio Flecha','has managed to bridge the gap and is now moving ahead of Chavanel. The pursuit group never made it up to Chavanel and so we have two men at the front of the field, though not working together. Flecha is a potential stage winner and could do something on a stage like this.'),(2635,67,'2006-07-12 13:19:29','Contest Reminder','Just to remind you folks that our Daily Contest button is up there. Keep in mind that you have until the 10km to go mark to make a pick and holding off with a guess may be a good strategy on a day like this. We pick from among the correct guesses and that\'s a random pick, so being fast may not help you.'),(2636,67,'2006-07-12 13:20:00','All together now','All together now... despite the Flecha foray, the peloton is now one biig happy family again. Having passed through the day\'s first intermediate sprint (we\'ll get results in a moment) and approaching 39km.'),(2637,67,'2006-07-12 13:21:00','Sprint at Larceveau','Results:
1. Carlos da Cruz (Francaise des Jeux) - 6 seconds and 6 points
2. Beat Zberg (Gerolsteiner) - 4 seconds and 4 points
3. Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) 2 seconds and 2 points'),(2638,67,'2006-07-12 14:02:00','Exotic Locales','While you might be holding off on your stage picks today, don\'t forget we\'re still running our exotic locales contest. We\'re going to give the winner a copy of the 2006 edition of Pro\r\nCycling Manager, which is actually quite entertaining. So whether you\'re in Tibet, Burma, South Africa, Cleveland or Wyoming (?!?!?) let us know where you are and briefly tell us why you think it represents an unusual spot on the globe from which to follow the Tour de France. Send a note to: VNInteractive@InsideInc.com Hey, you could be on the side of the road in France, pulling our mobile feed while waiting for the peloton. We want to hear about you.
\r\nWe\'ll name a winner in a few days, after folks get a chance to send a note. '),(2639,67,'2006-07-12 13:35:00','A new break','and this one might actually stick for a while. Jens Voigt and 14 others have gone off the front. They are now more than a minute ahead of the field at 50km. We\'ll give you a full list and their relative positions on GC in a moment.\r\n\r\n'),(2640,67,'2006-07-12 13:37:00','Composition of the break','28. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 03:50
\r\n43. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 05:05
\r\n66. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Agritubel, 06:32
\r\n79. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 07:21
\r\n82. Cédric Vasseur (F), Quick Step-Innergetic, 07:27
\r\n85. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 07:47
\r\n90. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 08:12
\r\n100. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 08:42
\r\n105. Christophe Rinero (F), Saunier Duval, 09:16
\r\n106. Matthieu Sprick (F), Bouygues Telecom, 09:17
\r\n117. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 11:34
\r\n114. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 10:59
\r\n123. Carlos Da Cruz (F), Francaise des Jeux, 13:00
\r\n143. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 16:18
\r\n151. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 19:36
\r\n'),(2641,67,'2006-07-12 13:39:00','Up and over the Col d’Osquich','The lead group has made it over the day\'s first climb, the Category 3 Col d’Osquich. They have dropped Hushovd and the other big sprinter, Steegmans, but the lead group maintains a healthy lead over the peloton, which reached the top at 1:36 behind the break.'),(2642,67,'2006-07-12 13:48:09','Coming down','the back side of the Col d’Osquich, the leaders are at 57km and about to begin the gradual rise to the day\'s second sprint (at Laguinge -74.5km) and then the long haul up the summit of the hors categorie Col du Soudet (at 101km). The peloton is at 1:41.'),(2648,67,'2006-07-12 14:27:25','On the climb','The leaders are on the climb and now nearly 8:30 ahead of the peloton, with 104km remaining in today\'s stage.'),(2643,67,'2006-07-12 13:50:53','At 58km','The gap is just around 2:00 minutes. Hushovd and Steegmans, meanwhile, are back in the peloton.'),(2644,67,'2006-07-12 13:58:36','Contest Reminder','Don\'t forget that our Daily Contest button is up there, folks. Hold off on your pick, like we suggested, if you want, but do enter.
Our leaders are working together quite nicely. No rush from the peloton as Sergei Gontchar and a few others have taken the opportunity to relieve themselves on the side of the road. It would be a violation of protocol, of course, for anyone to attack out of the field now.'),(2645,67,'2006-07-12 14:03:57','A common question','The break taken by the yellow jersey and others raises a common question we\'ve been getting ever since we started publish our \"Stage Stats,\" which includes Jury decisions.
A lot of you have written in to ask why riders have been hit with those 100 Swiss Franc fines for the crime of comportement incorrect en public. They aren\'t actually being fined for pissin\' off the side of the road - it\'s inevitable on a long stage - but for doing so in a spot where there are a lot of members of the public. Yeah, it\'s not precise, but the Tour Jury is simply using the rule to demand a touch of discretion on riders\' part. \r\n'),(2646,67,'2006-07-12 14:11:00','At 75km','Our leaders have an advantage over the main field of 6:35.
Back in the peloton Credit Agricole\'s Jimmy Engouvent, who has been suffering from persistent back pain, has abandoned. The Tour peloton is now composed of 168 riders.'),(2647,67,'2006-07-12 14:18:25','At 80km','The leaders are now 7:59 ahead of the peloton. This is a large gap, but they are also heading into the hor categorie Col de Soudet in a bit. The dynamic of the race will change when that climb - (14.7km at 7.3 %) - begins in about five kilometers.'),(2649,67,'2006-07-12 14:29:30','T-Mobile is up front','in the peloton, as they, too, are working up the climb. The weight of responsibility is falling to the team of the yellow jersey.
Up ahead, the real danger man in the break is probably Mercado, a respectable climber, who has not really had a break-out performance in the Tour. Could this be the day?'),(2650,67,'2006-07-12 14:32:15','The 13 up front','Are bumping up their lead and are now 9:08 ahead of the main field with 102.5km to go in the stage.'),(2651,67,'2006-07-12 14:35:48','With 11km to climb','for the leaders, the gap is now up to 9:10.
Christian Vande Velde has flatted on the climb and he\'s now having to chase for a bit.'),(2652,67,'2006-07-12 14:37:28','Strange sight','The yellow jersey team of Sergei Gontchar are, as expected, up front, but in the third spot at the front of the peloton is the green jersey of Robbie McEwen. He\'s hoping to maintain position as long as possible... before the slope gets tough.'),(2653,67,'2006-07-12 14:41:25','Daily Contest','Don\'t forget the Daily Contest button up on the top of the page. You can vote until the 10km-to-go mark. Remember to vote with your head and not your heart. Some days, no matter how much you love the guy, the race profile will preclude a victory by a guy like Robbie.'),(2654,67,'2006-07-12 14:42:33','T-Mobile still setting tempo','...but the Phonak team has moved into the second position.'),(2655,67,'2006-07-12 14:43:43','lead group coming apart','The sprinters in the escape are beginning to falter. The gap is now 9:20'),(2685,67,'2006-07-12 15:53:48','Assuming they make it','and finish at least 3:50 ahead of Gontchar, we will see a French leader in the Tour. Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) is the best placed in the seven man group, at 3:50, with Mercado next at 6:32.'),(2657,67,'2006-07-12 14:48:49','Voigt and Bennati','Are trailing off of the other 11 leaders.
Voigt told our contributor Sebastian Moll the other day that he\'s been shaken up badly by the events leading into the Tour.
“I used be razor sharp at the start of the Tour,†Voigt says, but because his designated task this year was to pull for Basso in the flats instead of attacking as in earlier years, Voigt is not in his normal July condition.
“To ride in the wind for Ivan here and there is much easier than what I am used to doing,†Voigt says. “To do that, I thought, it wouldn’t matter that I am two kilos heavier than usual. Bjarne told me to be ready for the last week. Right now I am not ready.â€\r\n \r\n'),(2658,67,'2006-07-12 14:51:45','Mayo','One of the climbing hopes of the Euskaltel team - Iban Mayo - has blown and is trailing off of the back of the peloton. A heartbreaker for the Basque fans on the course.'),(2659,67,'2006-07-12 14:53:29','The lead group has come apart','Cyril Dessel and Juan Miguel Mercado have moved ahead of the rest of the group. '),(2660,67,'2006-07-12 14:57:49','Mercado and Dessel','Have five kilometers of climbing left. The other 11 riders in the original break are spread out in small groups over about a minute-and-a-half. The peloton - what\'s left of it - is 9:01 back.'),(2661,67,'2006-07-12 14:58:39','Mayo is suckin\'','Iban Mayo, often touted as a big hope for a Tour win, is well off of the peloton.'),(2662,67,'2006-07-12 15:00:47','Dessel and Mercado','are working well together. The are about 20 seconds ahead of Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) and Christophe Rinero (Saunier Duval) and another 30 seconds ahead of Cedreic Vasseur (Quick Step) and Inaki Isasi (Euskaltel).'),(2663,67,'2006-07-12 15:02:00','T-Mobile','Is climbing as a single unit at the front of the peloton. Matthias Kessler is up front setting a strong tempo. They remain 9:01 behind the two leaders. The peloton is still made up of about 55 riders or so. Mercado is well of the pace, trailing by quite a bit.'),(2664,67,'2006-07-12 15:05:01','Okay...','We\'ve seen it all. The two leaders just passed a guy wearing a fake fat suit... one of those you see bar patrons wearing on Sumo Wrestling nights.... on a mountain in the Pyrenees.'),(2665,67,'2006-07-12 15:08:30','Nearing the top','The two leaders are riding into the clouds and coming up to the summit. It looks like they have about 1km to go.'),(2666,67,'2006-07-12 15:10:42','Kessler','Still setting tempo at the front of the peloton. The two leaders are still 9:15 ahead of the T-Mobile-led yellow jersey group. T-Mobile still has several riders in the group.'),(2667,67,'2006-07-12 15:11:09','Mercado accelerates','But Dessel slowly works his way back.'),(2668,67,'2006-07-12 15:12:15','Dessel attacks','And Mercado is chasing up as the two approach the 20 points atop of the climb. Dessel gets it. They still have 90km remaining, so they will need to work together for a bit.'),(2669,67,'2006-07-12 15:14:44','Pineau flailing','It looks like Jerome Pineau\'s week-long run in the Polka Dot jersey is heading to an end. He\'s been shed by the peloton and is riding alongside Milram\'s Erik Zabel, who has never been referred to as an Angel of the Mountains.'),(2670,67,'2006-07-12 15:16:47','Gontchar','Has blown... The T-Mobiles are not sending anyone to help, though.'),(2671,67,'2006-07-12 15:18:05','Leaders on the descent','While this scene is beautiful, they are working their way through the mist... which makes for something of a dangerous descent.'),(2672,67,'2006-07-12 15:18:57','The gap is around','9:30. The men in the break have been drifting over the top spread out over five minutes.'),(2673,67,'2006-07-12 15:19:47','Out of the clouds','The two leaders are out of the mist with 82km to go. '),(2674,67,'2006-07-12 15:22:07','Merckx','Axel Merckx has been dropped out of the peloton. He did announce that he has signed a new one-year deal with Phonak and then plans to retire.'),(2675,67,'2006-07-12 15:23:20','The Leaders have company','Euskaltel\'s Inigo Landaluze has worked his way up to the two leaders. Meanwhile the T-Mobile led peloton has crested at 9:44.'),(2676,67,'2006-07-12 15:27:34','Christophe Rinero','Has joined the three leaders. We have four men at the front and the peloton is now 9:56. Wowie Zowie...'),(2677,67,'2006-07-12 15:29:46','Landaluze may get help, too','His teammate Inaki Isasi and Cristian Moreni are chasing and not too far back. The leaders are having an easier time on the descent than the big group led by T-Mobile.'),(2678,67,'2006-07-12 15:33:05','Isasi joins up','We have five riders up front and they have 10:22 on the peloton. Man, this is a strange stage... a strange Tour. The nice thing, though, is no one has any idea how this Tour is going to shake out.'),(2679,67,'2006-07-12 15:40:00','Through the feedzone','The five leaders are on that little rise after the feed zone. They have about one minute on Cedric Vasseur and Cristian Moreni and 10:30 on the peloton. Gontchar, meanwhile, has rejoined the main group. We see Hincapie, Landis and Leipheimer up there.'),(2680,67,'2006-07-12 15:41:44','The leaders','Are working their way down the little descent ahead of the Col de Marie Blanque.'),(2681,67,'2006-07-12 15:43:55','Vaseur and Moreni','are chasing like crazy. They are working hard to rejoin the five leaders.'),(2682,67,'2006-07-12 15:47:00','The gap is growing!','The T-Mobile team-led peloton is nearly 11 minutes behind the break, with many of the men from the original 13-man break spread out in between.'),(2683,67,'2006-07-12 15:48:56','Vaseur and Moreni','Are closing in... but how will they do on the climb ahead?'),(2684,67,'2006-07-12 15:50:01','Connected.','We have a seven man group up front, but with the Col de Marie Blanque\'s steep slopes ahead, it will be a tough one to hang on with.'),(2686,67,'2006-07-12 15:56:30','Kessler','Is still doing the bulk of the work at the front. The T-Mobiles still have five riders at the front. The gap is 10:43.\r\n'),(2687,67,'2006-07-12 15:57:41','Disco moving up','The Discovery team is working its way up to the front, though they\'re leaving the T-Mobiles to do the work.'),(2688,67,'2006-07-12 16:02:14','Up up up','The leaders are on the slopes of the Col de Marie Blanc... but they\'re not all that\'s going up. The gap is now more than 11 minutes.'),(2689,67,'2006-07-12 16:06:00','Who\'s up there?','Just a reminder who we have in the front of the race:
28. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 03:50
\r\n43. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 05:05
\r\n66. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Agritubel, 06:32
\r\n82. Cédric Vasseur (F), Quick Step-Innergetic, 07:27
\r\n90. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 08:12
\r\n105. Christophe Rinero (F), Saunier Duval, 09:16
\r\n143. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 16:18
28. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 03:50
\r\n43. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 05:05
\r\n66. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Agritubel, 06:32
\r\n82. Cédric Vasseur (F), Quick Step-Innergetic, 07:27
\r\n90. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 08:12
\r\n105. Christophe Rinero (F), Saunier Duval, 09:16
\r\n143. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 16:18
\r\n\r\nMatthieu Sprick (F), Bouygues Telecom, by five minutes. Then another 1:25 back are Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre and Carlos Da Cruz (F), Francaise des Jeux and then Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi and Jens Voigt (G), CSC are just getting caught by the field.\r\n\r\n'),(2690,67,'2006-07-12 16:10:39','The seven men in the lead','Are still together and 46km from the finish.'),(2691,67,'2006-07-12 16:10:00','Mercado has gone','Mercado is attacking and the Dessel has jumped on his wheel.'),(2692,67,'2006-07-12 16:14:35','T-Mobile pushing pace','The T-Mobiles have trimmed the gap to 10:05, but come on... the leaders are 45km from the finish. The two leaders - Mercado and Dessel - are three km from the front.'),(2693,67,'2006-07-12 16:16:22','Landaluze chasing','The Euskaltel man is 15 seconds behind the two leaders. Mercado looks good.'),(2694,67,'2006-07-12 16:17:52','The T-Mobile chase','has trimmed the lead to less than 10 minutes.'),(2695,67,'2006-07-12 16:18:25','Mercado and Dessel','Are two kilometers from the top. Landaluze is still about 15 seconds back.'),(2696,67,'2006-07-12 16:21:46','Didi!','The two leaders are nearing the top of the Col de Marie Blanc and they have just been blessed by Didi Senft, the \"Devil\" of the Tour.'),(2697,67,'2006-07-12 16:22:42','The two leaders','Are about 9:40 ahead of the field.'),(2698,67,'2006-07-12 16:24:02','The two leaders','Are within 500 meters of the summit'),(2699,67,'2006-07-12 16:25:26','Dessel, Mercado','are 20 seconds ahead of Lansaluze, 24 seconds up on Moreni and Rinero.'),(2700,67,'2006-07-12 16:27:07','Over the top','Dessel takes the points.'),(2701,67,'2006-07-12 16:27:38','Landaluze','Comes across 30 seconds back'),(2702,67,'2006-07-12 16:27:00','It\'s a long descent to the finish','Moreni and Rinero cross at 1:00. We could see the top five regroup.'),(2703,67,'2006-07-12 16:29:13','The peloton still climbing','the gap is 9:40 back.'),(2704,67,'2006-07-12 16:30:23','Rubiera shelled','CheChu has been dropped by the main field... the T-Mobiles are getting a bit of help from Discovery.'),(2705,67,'2006-07-12 16:31:51','Gontchar','has been dropped as the peloton nears the top... but he has 40+km of descent to catch back on.'),(2706,67,'2006-07-12 16:34:01','That peloton','Has to make up some serious time over these last 40km. Rasmussen has attacked out of the main field... and trying to grab a few KOM points.'),(2707,67,'2006-07-12 16:35:34','Leipheimer','Has been dropped by the main field. He is pedaling squares. He\'ll make up time on the descent, but how does this bode for tomorrow\'s killer stage? Leipheimer is behind Gontchar.'),(2708,67,'2006-07-12 16:36:40','Rasmussen over the top','He grabs a few points and the peloton hits the top soon after. The time gap is 9:17 at the top.'),(2709,67,'2006-07-12 16:37:24','Leipheimer','Over the top and chasing.'),(2710,67,'2006-07-12 16:40:08','Place your bets','Okay folks. Remember that we don\'t take entries after the 10km to go mark. Obviously, this stage has shaken out and you may have an idea who will win... so hit the Daily Contest button on the top of the page.'),(2711,67,'2006-07-12 16:43:52',' Landaluze','Is still chasing the two leaders. He\'s about 10 seconds behind Mercado and Dessel, with 28km to go.
Leipheimer, meanwhile, has rejoined the peloton. '),(2712,67,'2006-07-12 16:44:14',' Landaluze','Is now eight seconds back. The peloton is at 9:15'),(2713,67,'2006-07-12 16:44:44','Gontchar','Back in the field.'),(2714,67,'2006-07-12 16:46:38',' Landaluze','Driving hard and he\'s about to reconnect with the two leaders.'),(2715,67,'2006-07-12 16:47:15','We now have three leaders','And the peloton is actally losing time. They are 9:28 back.'),(2716,67,'2006-07-12 16:51:00','Did we call that too early?',' Landaluze did not reconnect after all.'),(2717,67,'2006-07-12 16:52:54','The gap back to the main field','is 9:30. The main field is growing. Erik Zabel is moving up through the field. That\'s a sign that the field is coming together.'),(2718,67,'2006-07-12 16:53:48',' Landaluze','Came really close... but now he\'s losing time again. He\'s 24 seconds back. The leaders have 20km to go.'),(2719,67,'2006-07-12 16:56:52',' Landaluze','is now 30 seconds behind the two leaders. Behind him at 1:15 are Moreni and Rinero.'),(2720,67,'2006-07-12 16:58:06','With 17km to go',' Landaluze continues to lose time to the two leaders... and so does the peloton, which is now at 9:30.'),(2721,67,'2006-07-12 17:01:35','How cruel the Tour','Gontchar is hauling bottles for the team... yellow jersey or not. He\'s back into playing the role of domestique for the team.'),(2722,67,'2006-07-12 17:02:56','The gap is growing','The T-Mobile team is just doing it\'s best to minimize the damage. The two leaders are 11.5km from the finish and lead Landaluze by 50 seconds and the peloton is at 9:30'),(2723,67,'2006-07-12 17:04:27','With 10.5km to go',' Landaluze is at 52. he peloton is at 9:28'),(2724,67,'2006-07-12 17:06:31',' Landaluze','is at 55 seconds. The two leaders are still working hard together. Dessel is going to be in yellow tonight. He also leads the Polka Dot jersey competition.\r\n'),(2725,67,'2006-07-12 17:07:21','Contest closed','By the way, our 10km-to-go rule is hard and fast... so no more entries.'),(2726,67,'2006-07-12 17:09:33','Eight km to go','With Landaluze at 1:00, the race will be decided between Juan Miguel Mercado and Cyril Dessel. Dessel becomes the fifth rider to wear yellow in this Tour. We can imagine that the record of eight is going to be challenged this year.'),(2727,67,'2006-07-12 17:09:57','9:36 to the peloton',''),(2728,67,'2006-07-12 17:11:54','Dessel','Is doing the bulk of the work. Mercado seems to think that if the Frenchman is taking the jersey, he should conserve a bit of energy for the sprint to the line.... in five kilometers.'),(2729,67,'2006-07-12 17:12:33','The yellow jersey','is setting tempo at the front of the peloton. Gontchar and Co. are 9:33 back.'),(2730,67,'2006-07-12 17:12:54',' Landaluze','hits the five kilometers to go mark at 1:01.'),(2731,67,'2006-07-12 17:13:47','What a stage','The absence of a single dominant rider sure makes this Tour the most exciting in years.'),(2732,67,'2006-07-12 17:14:15','With 3km to go','The peloton is just reaching the 10km to go mark.'),(2733,67,'2006-07-12 17:15:05','Mercado is not working too much','Okay... he\'s sitting on Dessel\'s wheel. He wants the stage win.'),(2734,67,'2006-07-12 17:15:06','Mercado is not working too much','Okay... he\'s sitting on Dessel\'s wheel. He wants the stage win.'),(2735,67,'2006-07-12 17:16:38','With 2km to go','The two men in front are working their way through the streets of Pau. Dessel is still doing the work. The peloton is 9:09 back.'),(2736,67,'2006-07-12 17:17:39','The two men','are in the final kilometer.... Dessel is nervous. He can\'t play games.'),(2737,67,'2006-07-12 17:18:03','This break','The two men have been off for more than 150km'),(2738,67,'2006-07-12 17:18:22','Nearing the finish',''),(2739,67,'2006-07-12 17:19:11','Mercado goes!','Dessel responds... \r\n\r\n'),(2742,67,'2006-07-12 17:20:24',' Landaluze','Comes in for third at 56 seconds.'),(2741,67,'2006-07-12 17:19:44','Sprint!','Mercado gets it! Dessel fought to the line.\r\n'),(2743,67,'2006-07-12 17:21:59','Moreni and Rinero','Come in at 2:24 for fourth and fifth'),(2744,67,'2006-07-12 17:22:00','Tick tick tick tick','It\'ll be a while before we see the peloton amble into town.'),(2745,67,'2006-07-12 17:25:42','Lampre leading','the peloton as they enter the final kilometer... at 6:10 back.'),(2746,67,'2006-07-12 17:26:07','There are points left...','So we will see a sprint. Zabel is in there.'),(2747,67,'2006-07-12 17:26:58','Field Sprint!','Bonnati edges Zabel for 8th.'),(2748,67,'2006-07-12 17:30:41','Today\'s winner','Congratulations to Ms. Barbara Morgan, who won today\'s Daily Contest.'),(2749,67,'2006-07-12 17:34:49','Stage results','1. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Agritubel
\r\n2. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:00
\r\n3. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:56
\r\n4. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 02:24
\r\n5. Christophe Rinero (F), Saunier Duval, 02:25
\r\n6. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 05:03
\r\n7. Vasseur Cédric (F), Quick Step-Innergetic, 05:35
\r\n8. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 07:23
\r\n9. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 07:23
\r\n10. Stefano Garzelli (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 07:23
'),(2750,58,'2006-07-13 12:24:44','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 11th stage of the 93rd edition of the Tour de France. Today\'s stage - with a profile that resembles a rip saw - takes the peloton over the mighty mountain passes of Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde and Portillon merits the greatest attention from the race favorites — even though this one then continues into Spain for another 40km to finish on the long, but gently graded climb to the Pla-de-Beret summit.'),(2751,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(2752,58,'2006-07-13 12:32:00','Racing began early today','With 168 riders leaving Tarbes at 11:12 this morning. After several initial attacks, the day\'s break formed and we have four riders - Iker Camano (Euskaltel) [51st on GC, at 10:09], Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) [91st, at 17:02], Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) [123rd, at 30:07] and David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) [157, at 42:25] - comfortably ahead of the peloton as they begin to work their way up the lower slopes of the hors categorie Col du Tourmalet... well \"comfortable\" is a relative term, since not much is comfortable on the Tourmalet, is it?
This is an 18.3km climb that averages 7.7 percent. The four leaders - now at the 56km mark - are 7:20 ahead of the peloton, which contains all of the big players, including the new yellow jersey Cyril Dessel (AG2R) and Juan Miguel Mercado, who says he wants the jersey as early as today.
Back at kilometer 17.5, Robbie McEwen snagged the day\'s first sprint, adding to his considerable lead in the points contest.'),(2753,58,'2006-07-13 12:35:55','Landis predicts a decisive stage','Speaking with VeloNews\'s John Wilcockson, “This will be the most difficult stage ahead of the Alps,†said Floyd Landis, who’s now in fifth overall, 4:45 behind new race leader Cyril Dessel (AG2R) after Wednesday’s “no hope†breakaway succeeded. “The Col du Tourmalet has a category HC and then there are four category ones. The final climb is not so steep but very long. I think only a small group will be fighting for the win.â€
This assessment by Phonak’s big hope to win this Tour is probably right on the money. Stage 11 is 206.5km long, which equates to a about six and a half hours of racing, and the total amount of climbing is a daunting 17,473 feet.\r\n\r\n'),(2754,58,'2006-07-13 12:39:01','At 60km','...and 15km from the summit of the Tourmalet, the four escapees remain together some 8:11 ahead of the peloton.'),(2755,58,'2006-07-13 12:43:08','The Tourmalet','The Tourmalet was one of the first major mountain climbs to be included in the Tour, in 1910, when it was climbed from the opposite direction. Climbing it west-to-east, as is being done Thursday, is longer and more spectacular. It’s a taxing 18.3km long, averaging 7.7 percent with long sections at 10 percent — first on the early slopes up a steep valley and through the village of Barèges, and then across an open mountainside in a series of bold curves.'),(2756,58,'2006-07-13 12:45:36','Contest Reminder','Any idea who is going to win this one? You get a shot at a prize if you\'re right. Go ahead and hit the Daily Contest button atop our page.'),(2757,58,'2006-07-13 12:48:38','At 62km','and 13km from the top of the Tourmalet, the four leaders are 7:40 ahead of the peloton, which remains relatively intact, including all four jersey leaders.'),(2758,58,'2006-07-13 12:55:15','Mayo','is already suffering and the peloton is not on the toughest part of the the Tourmalet. The four leaders are now 6:44 ahead of the field, with 11lm remaining on this climb.'),(2759,58,'2006-07-13 12:59:00','At 65km','The four leaders are 10km from the top of the Tourmalet. They are now 6:30 ahead of the main field, which is being tempo-ed by Ag2r. Iban Mayo, Euskaltel\'s ace climber is already back with the sprinters\' group.'),(2760,58,'2006-07-13 13:02:26','Mayo','is already trailing the peloton by 1:35. Something is up with the man often regarded as one of the most dangerous climbers in the peloton.'),(2761,58,'2006-07-13 13:03:47','Leaders are 6:20 ahead','And Mayo, leaning on his team car, is already 2:00 behind the peloton. He may be dropping out.'),(2762,58,'2006-07-13 13:05:20','After the Tourmalet','There are 131.5km to race on Thursday after crossing the Tourmalet, with the remaining Cat. 1 climbs coming at 101.5km, 70.5km and 45.5km to go, before starting the gradual uphill to the finish at Vielha with 23.5km remaining.
After Wednesday’s much easier stage, T-Mobile’s longtime yellow jersey Sergei Gontchar said, “The day was particularly hard as we are only seven [in the team]. We worked without any help … it was a pity that other teams didn’t follow our lead. The situation was hard to control.â€
It will be much harder for T-Mobile on Thursday even though the jersey has slipped to Dessel’s AG2R squad, whose leader Christophe Moreau said, “[Thursday’s] stage will make the standings clearer.â€'),(2763,58,'2006-07-13 13:07:49','With 8km','of the Tourmalet remaining for the four leaders, the gap is down to 5:53. Mayo, meanwhile is 2:20 behind the peloton.'),(2764,58,'2006-07-13 13:08:31','Lombardi','CSC\'s Giovani Lombardi has abandoned.'),(2765,58,'2006-07-13 13:11:02','Mayo','Not a happy camper. He\'s 2:30 behind the peloton and not-too-kindly asking the TV camera to leave him alone. I think he would prefer to suffer in private. He\'s been suffering a sore throat, a problem he attributed to air conditioning in his hotel. Whatever the problem, he may not even make the time cut today.'),(2766,58,'2006-07-13 13:13:31','Moos','Alexandre Moos has dropped off the back of the peloton. Not a good sign for Phonak. He is supposed to be one of Floyd Landis\'s top lieutenants.'),(2767,58,'2006-07-13 13:18:33','That\'s weird','Gilberto Simoni is back riding with Robbie McEwen. Brilliant in the Giro, the Saunier Duval man simply doesn\'t have it in July.'),(2768,58,'2006-07-13 13:23:43','Chris Horner has been dropped','The Ag2r Team is setting tempo up front of the peloton, and the break is 5:10 ahead. Chris Horner has been dropped, which is not good for Cadel Evans. Horner will undoubtedly regain the group on the descent, but this isn\'t a good sign.
Paolo Savoldelli, too, has been shed by the peloton.
Heyyyyyyyy.... Miguel Indurain just walked into the press room.'),(2769,58,'2006-07-13 13:26:24','Leaders are three km from the top','of the Tourmalet. The peloton, meanwhile, is being shredded. Ag2r is setting a strong pace. Landis is right there with them. He has Robbie Hunter with him.'),(2770,58,'2006-07-13 13:29:01','Zabriskie','has been dropped. There is a big group of Discovery riders trailing off the back.'),(2771,58,'2006-07-13 13:32:32','The leaders are nearing the top','and the margin has been trimmed to 4:27'),(2772,58,'2006-07-13 13:33:00','Up and over','De la Fuente appears to have taken the KOM points, outsprinting Wegmann to the top.'),(2773,58,'2006-07-13 13:37:38','Rasmussen','Jumps out of the field and seeking points... but hey, Thomas Voeckler charges past him and pips him at the line. The peloton comes across the top 3:48 behind the leaders.'),(2774,58,'2006-07-13 13:39:34','Oh this descent','Is beautiful. The roads here are much nicer than they have been in years past. These roads were quite rough... not anymore. The speeds are quite high'),(2775,58,'2006-07-13 13:44:53','The four leaders','Are speeding down the Tourmalet and have an advantage of 3:50 over the peloton.'),(2776,58,'2006-07-13 13:54:44','Between climbs','The leaders and the peloton are in the valley between the Tourmalet and the Col d\'Aspin. The gap is 4:00'),(2777,58,'2006-07-13 13:55:42','Leaders are on the Col d\'Aspin','Not much time to rest and the Aspin kicks in soon after the end of the descent off of the Tourmalet.'),(2778,58,'2006-07-13 14:01:09','Ag2r','Is still setting tempo at the front, as the peloton reaches the base of the Col d\'Aspin, 3:55 behind the leaders. Cyril Dessel is tucked in comfortably... as are Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie'),(2779,58,'2006-07-13 14:05:01','The leaders are extending their advantage','The four men off the front are now 5:35 ahead of the peloton. Thomas Voeckler, meanwhile, is trying to bridge up to these four. He\'s about 2:22 behind the leading four. He never eased off after snagging KOM points from Rasmussen.'),(2780,58,'2006-07-13 14:11:58','Voeckler','Feisty little fella that he is, is still chasing on the Aspin. He is 2:11 behind the four leaders. '),(2781,58,'2006-07-13 14:14:01','The four leaders','Are 5:01 ahead of the peloton, with 104km - and four Cat.1 climbs - remaining in today\'s stage.'),(2782,58,'2006-07-13 14:16:01','Voeckler closing','The leaders are 2.5km from the top of the Aspin and Voeckler is about 1:50 behind them. He may catch on the descent, which is immediately followed by the 9.7km Col de Peyresourde.'),(2783,58,'2006-07-13 14:20:06','The pace in the peloton','is picking up and there are a few riders - like Quick Step\'s Juan Miguel Garate - are being shed off the back. The gap is shrinking as the four leaders approach the top of the climb 4:19 ahead of the peloton. Voeckler, meanwhile is 1:20 back.'),(2784,58,'2006-07-13 14:23:00','Up and over','The four leaders are over. Voeckler crests the climb 1:15 behind. Wegmann has taken top points on the climb, ahead of De la Fuente. In the peloton, Rabobank is setting tempo at the front for Rasmussen.'),(2785,58,'2006-07-13 14:30:26','Voeckler','is 1:15 behind the four leaders. The peloton hit the top of the climb at 3:42.'),(2786,58,'2006-07-13 14:34:24','Voeckler','is 1:10 back as the four leaders hit the base of the descent and work their way through the streets of Arreau. The peloton is at 3:32.
Comments? Questions? Drop us a line.'),(2787,58,'2006-07-13 14:36:15','Sam Abt','This morning in Tarbes, the New York Times\'s Sam Abt was officially recognized for having covered 30 Tours de France. Congratulations Sam.'),(2788,58,'2006-07-13 14:38:35','On their way up','the Col de Peyresourde and they lead Voeckler by about 55 seconds and the peloton by 3:33.'),(2789,58,'2006-07-13 14:40:41','Oh that\'s gotta hurt','A big group of riders just fought their way back on to the back of the peloton... just as the peloton is scooting up the Col de Peyresourde.'),(2790,58,'2006-07-13 14:46:48','Ag2r','with VeloNews diarist Simon Gerrans setting the tempo at the front, the gap is staying a very workable 3:45. Voeckler is still chasing. Heroic or bonehead move. You make the call.'),(2791,58,'2006-07-13 14:47:00','Voeckler close','He\'s just 35 seconds behind the break, with about 9km of the Col de Peyresourde remaining.'),(2792,58,'2006-07-13 14:50:49','Correction','We just said that the leaders had 9km of climbing to go. They actually have 10. Voeckler is now 20 seconds behind the leaders.'),(2793,58,'2006-07-13 14:56:36','Voeckler','Is still just behind the leaders... the peloton is at 4:03, still led by the efforts of Ag2r. Mercado dropped a chain... but he\'s up and chasing. He\'s riding quite nicely and looks good. In the peloton, the biggies - Landis, Hincapie, Kloden - are all there and looking quite comfortable.'),(2794,58,'2006-07-13 14:58:00','Camano fading','Euskaltel\'s Iker Camano is fading off the pace of the leaders and is about to be caught by Voeckler - who is looking quite good today.'),(2795,58,'2006-07-13 15:00:44','Of the three men up front','Flecha is the weakest. He, like Camano, is fading back. '),(2796,58,'2006-07-13 15:04:10','Voeckler has passed Camano','and is closing in on Flecha. Meanwhile, the peloton is at 4:03. We see Leipheimer up there, riding a whole heck of a lot better than yesterday.'),(2797,58,'2006-07-13 15:08:55','Discovery\'s Martinez','Egoi Martinez has blown. He was suffering on the Tourmalet, recovered on the Aspin and has slipped off the back of the peloton on the Peyresourde. Discovery\'s ranks are being cut back and Hincapie may soon be on his own. '),(2798,58,'2006-07-13 15:11:11','Wegmann and De la Fuente','Are working their way to the top... they lead Flecha by 30 seconds and Voeckler is just not catching on. He\'s at 1:20. Camano is another back.'),(2799,58,'2006-07-13 15:13:08','De la Fuenta and Wegmann','Are now 1:00 ahead of Flecha. Voeckler is looking pretty spent. He has another 5km to climb before he gets momentary respite and then faces two more Category 1 climbs.'),(2800,58,'2006-07-13 15:13:49','Popo','Popovych is hovering at the back of the main field. That\'s another Disco who\'s suffering.'),(2801,58,'2006-07-13 15:15:37','Voeckler','Is now 1:13 behind Flecha, who is 1:00 behind the two leaders - Fabian Wegmann and David de la Fuente.'),(2802,58,'2006-07-13 15:17:02','Azevedo','Has slipped back in the peloton, too. Discovery is having a tough time of this. Hincapie, though, is still up there.'),(2803,58,'2006-07-13 15:18:00','Wegmann and De la Fuente','Are on the final kilometer of the climb. Flecha is at 1:00, Voeckler is at 2:15 and Camano has been caught by the peloton at 3:17'),(2804,58,'2006-07-13 15:20:07','De la Fuente','Has taken top points on the climb and it looks like he is now the top man in the KOM race.'),(2805,58,'2006-07-13 15:21:00','Voeckler caught','as Rabobank is pulling Rasmussen to the top of the climb to get the fourth points on the climb.'),(2806,58,'2006-07-13 15:22:35','Rasmussen over the top','He gets fourth place on the climb, 3:04 behind the leaders.'),(2807,58,'2006-07-13 15:24:19','De la Fuente still leads','He is some 20 seconds ahead of Fabian Wegmann on the descent. Flecha is nearly 2:00 back and looks likely to be swallowed up by the peloton.'),(2808,58,'2006-07-13 15:28:30','De la Fuenta and Wegmann','Are now together. Flecha is at 1:55 and the peloton is at 3:24 with 60km remaining in today\'s stage.'),(2809,58,'2006-07-13 15:33:07','Peloton at 3:20','and they trail Flecha by about a minute.'),(2810,58,'2006-07-13 15:34:52','Wegmann and De la Fuente','Are in Luchon, with the day\'s second - and final - intermediate sprint. They don\'t care, but are concerned about the Cat. 1 Col du Portillon - 7.9km at 7.9 percent. Ick'),(2811,58,'2006-07-13 15:37:22','Ag2r','Is leading the peloton. They have five riders at the front of the peloton. It\'s amazing how a team rises to the occasion when one of its riders is in yellow. Discovery, meanwhile, lost most of its riders on the last climb. Popovych and another are rejoining the peloton, but are they going to be able to last on these next two Cat. 1 climbs?'),(2812,58,'2006-07-13 15:40:19','De la Fuenta and Wegmann','Are on the slopes of the Col du Portillon. The peloton is at 3:26 and Flecha is somewhere in the middle.'),(2813,58,'2006-07-13 15:41:58','Sam Abt','We just posted a photo of Sam and his 30-year award. He and our own guy John Wilcockson (39 Tours) are the veterans of the English Speaking press at the Tour.'),(2814,58,'2006-07-13 15:42:48','Pop!','Wegmann is dropped as De la Fuente motors off. Flecha has been caught.... and Thomas Voeckler has been dropped.'),(2815,58,'2006-07-13 15:44:21','T-Mobile moving up','Woooo Hooo! T-Mobile is now putting the pressure on at the front of the peloton. Kloden, Rogers, Kessler are driving the tempo hard. Landis is there. Cadel Evans is up there, too,'),(2816,58,'2006-07-13 15:46:36','Bang!','The yellow jersey has been dropped. Man, the T-Mobiles are driving hard on the front. Landis is there, We do not see Hincapie.'),(2817,58,'2006-07-13 15:47:18','Dessel','has two teammates with him. But Ag2r has left Moreau up there.'),(2818,58,'2006-07-13 15:48:26','Amazingly','We see Michael Boogerd up there working with Rasmussen. Leipheimer is still there, riding better than the past few days. '),(2819,58,'2006-07-13 15:49:38','Dessel','Has been left on his own by his team. The Ag2r squad is now putting all of its effort into working for Moreau.'),(2820,58,'2006-07-13 15:51:46','Up front','De la Fuente is 1:20 ahead of Wegmann, but the peloton is just 2:30 back.
Kessler is driving hard at the front. \r\n\r\nHincapie has been dropped and is riding with the yellow jersey group.'),(2821,58,'2006-07-13 15:53:05','The \"peloton\"','has been trimmed to about 20-25 riders. They have just caught Wegmann.'),(2822,58,'2006-07-13 15:54:11','Simoni','is in the elite group. Cunego has popped off the back.'),(2823,58,'2006-07-13 15:54:43','Hincapie','has slipped out of the second group. He is struggling today.'),(2824,58,'2006-07-13 15:56:46','Kessler spent','Matthias Kessler has put in his effort. He\'s gone off the back. Rogers and Kloden are the T-Mobiles up there. Leipheimer and Landis are in the mix. Ahead, the lone leader - de la Fuente - is about 1:15 ahead of the group.'),(2825,58,'2006-07-13 15:59:39','Mayo out','He has pulled out of the Tour. Well ahead of where he made that decision, we see a strong mix of riders now being led by Boogerd and Rasmussen. Sastre is there, Moreau, Leipheimer, Landis, Simoni, Rogers... Cunego is now catching on in the final kilometer of the climb.'),(2826,58,'2006-07-13 16:00:58','Dessel and Mercado','The two men who vaulted to the top of GC yesterday are both suffering. Third-placed Floyd Landis may be in a position to take the jersey. He looks relaxed today.'),(2827,58,'2006-07-13 16:02:52','De la Fuente','Is near the top of the climb. He is now solidifying his hold on the polka-dot jersey, with 45km to go as he enters Spain.'),(2828,58,'2006-07-13 16:04:27','The Landis group','crests the climb at 1:28 behind De la Fuente.\r\n'),(2829,58,'2006-07-13 16:04:54','Yellow jersey','group is at 3:44 and still climbing.'),(2830,58,'2006-07-13 16:06:27','Franck Schleck','of CSC crashed out of the lead group, but he\'s up and chasing.'),(2831,58,'2006-07-13 16:10:00','That elite group','Includes Jose\' Azevedo (Discovery), Carlos Sastre, Frank Schleck (CSC), Floyd Landis (Phonak), Michael Rogers, Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile) Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) Denis Menchov, Michael Boogerd and Mikael Rasmussen (Rabobank), Levi Leipheimer and Marcus Fothen (Gerolsteiner). Cadel Evans (Davitamon) David Arroyo (Caisse d\'Epargne) Damiano Cunego (Lampre).'),(2832,58,'2006-07-13 16:12:37','Landis pushing the pace','On the descent. De La Fuente is just 1:22 ahead of the chase group. He looks beat.'),(2833,58,'2006-07-13 16:17:34','On the flat before the climb','David Arroyo (Caisse d\'Epargne) Damiano Cunego (Lampre) have scampered ahead in an attempt to hook up with De la Fuente.'),(2834,58,'2006-07-13 16:19:43','The Landis group','Has eased up a bit. They let David Arroyo (Caisse d\'Epargne) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre) go, since neither poses a major GC threat. Cunego is in 60th at 10:51 and Arroyo is 98th at 18:22.'),(2835,58,'2006-07-13 16:21:35','The road ahead','With about 32km remaining in this stage, the road ahead is mostly uphill. The next 18km will involve a gradual climb to the finishing climb to Puerto de Beret, a 13.2km climb that averages a relatively mild 5.5 percent.'),(2836,58,'2006-07-13 16:24:19','De la Fuente','Is about 30 seconds ahead of Cunego and Arroyo. The two men are about 1:00 ahead of the Landis group. The yellow jersey group is gaining time, too and they are but 1:10 behind the Landis group'),(2837,58,'2006-07-13 16:25:36','Arroyo and Cunego','Are closing in on De la Fuente.'),(2838,58,'2006-07-13 16:28:22','Three men up front','De le Fuente is wasted. He\'s been off the front pretty much all day. He is likely to get dropped, but he has a nice, nice, hold on the Polka Dot jersey.'),(2839,58,'2006-07-13 16:30:04','The lead trio','are 55 seconds ahead of the Landis group. The yellow jersey group is closing in on the Landis group. We can\'t tell who is in there with the yellow jersey group though. We have to assume that Hincapie is in that group.'),(2840,58,'2006-07-13 16:30:59','Landis group','is beginnin to work under the guidance of the three Rabobank riders. They are now just 40 seconds behind the leaders. '),(2841,58,'2006-07-13 16:32:50','Closing in','The Landis group are just 15 seconds behind the Cunego group. They are extending their lead over the yellow jersey group, too.'),(2842,58,'2006-07-13 16:33:06','Caught','The Cunego group is caught.'),(2843,58,'2006-07-13 16:36:49','The leaders','Are 23km from the finish. Rabobank is driving the pace. They and Gerolsteiner each have three riders in the bunch. Gerolsteiner has Georg Totschig, Marcus Fothen and Leipheimer. '),(2844,58,'2006-07-13 16:39:37','Cunego dropped','With 19km left, Damiano Cunego has been dropped by the lead group, which is still being powered by Rabobank.'),(2845,58,'2006-07-13 16:40:28','As the leaders approach the final haul','The yellow jersey group trails the Landis group by 1:24'),(2846,58,'2006-07-13 16:41:55','The lead group','Rasmussen is setting tempo at the front, Boogerd is there behind him and Simoni (41st on GC at 9:19) is sitting comfortably behind them. Landis looks quite comfy.'),(2847,58,'2006-07-13 16:43:00','Pop!','De la Fuente has been dropped by the lead group. '),(2848,58,'2006-07-13 16:44:09','Leipheimer','Seems to have recovered from the problems he\'s run into these past few days.'),(2849,58,'2006-07-13 16:45:00','With 16km to go','The official start of the climb starts in about 1km... it\'s a 13km climb, but the last 2km are flat.'),(2850,58,'2006-07-13 16:46:48','The gap back to the yellow jersey group','is about 2:00 now.'),(2851,58,'2006-07-13 16:47:22','The leaders are 15km from the finish','The road is turning up...'),(2852,58,'2006-07-13 16:51:13','De la Fuente caught by the yellow jersey group','He\'s totally spent'),(2853,58,'2006-07-13 16:52:37','Today\'s WTF moment','The Tour and the UCI just announced over the race radio that the top five finishers will have their bikes weighed at the finish.'),(2854,58,'2006-07-13 16:53:27','Lead group splits','Simoni is in trouble, Azevedo, Rasmussen... all gone'),(2855,58,'2006-07-13 16:54:35','Boogerd is driving hard','This mellow grade seems to favor a power rider like Boogerd. Landis and Leipheimer are there with Menchov and Boogerd. Kloden is in the mix, as is Sastre'),(2856,58,'2006-07-13 16:55:56','We see','Evans, Sastre, Menchov, Leipheimer. Landis... and Moreau has just popped'),(2857,58,'2006-07-13 16:57:44','Leaders 10km to go','Sastre, Kloden, Menchov, Evans, Landis, Leipheimer all going on the wheel of Boogerd.'),(2858,58,'2006-07-13 16:58:32','He is not gonna stop!','This group of seven is flying, with Boogered driving hard at the front'),(2859,58,'2006-07-13 16:59:43','Mercado attacks out of the yellow jersey group','Dessel catches on with 10km to go.'),(2860,58,'2006-07-13 17:00:12','Boogered is still up there','He is beginning to show signs of wear.'),(2861,58,'2006-07-13 17:00:49','The yellow jersey group','is now 3:00 behind the Landis group.'),(2862,58,'2006-07-13 17:02:11','Boogerd blows','And Menchov attacks'),(2863,58,'2006-07-13 17:03:05','Kloden is dropped','Sastre Landis Cadel Evans and Leipheimer.... who attacks with 7.3km to go'),(2864,58,'2006-07-13 17:03:26','Leipheimer caught',''),(2865,58,'2006-07-13 17:04:16','It\'s down to five','Menchov, Landis, Leipheimer, Sastre and Cadel Evans'),(2866,58,'2006-07-13 17:04:53','Moreau','has lost a minute. Up front, the leading five have 7km to go.'),(2867,58,'2006-07-13 17:06:07','Landis','Whether willingly or not is in the front\r\n'),(2868,58,'2006-07-13 17:06:45','Dessel at 3:42',''),(2869,58,'2006-07-13 17:07:14','The leading five','Are thinking about the finish... and they\'ve slowed a bit'),(2870,58,'2006-07-13 17:07:47','Boogered closing back in','He is 11 seconds back behind the five men up front.'),(2871,58,'2006-07-13 17:08:56','5.5km to go','three-and-a-half of it is on the climb.'),(2872,58,'2006-07-13 17:09:42','Dessel is at 3:29','He needs to finish within 4:45'),(2873,58,'2006-07-13 17:09:55','Five kilometers to go',''),(2874,58,'2006-07-13 17:11:31','The five up front','are not playing well together... a lot of eyeing one another with the stage win, rather than GC in mind.'),(2875,58,'2006-07-13 17:12:16','With four kilometers to go','It looks like Dessel may preserve his hold on the jersey... which is cool going into Bastille day.'),(2876,58,'2006-07-13 17:13:00','Leipheimer and Sastre','Have to be the favorites for a stage win today. Dessel is holding his margin at 3:33.'),(2877,58,'2006-07-13 17:14:53','With 3km to go','only one kilometer of climbing remaining... the gap to Dessel is 4:06.'),(2878,58,'2006-07-13 17:15:52','Leipheimer attacks','He has Menchov and Landis with him... Menchov goes... Landis counters.'),(2879,58,'2006-07-13 17:16:26','Landis driving hard at the front.','Sastre is way back... Landis and Mechov have a gap on Leipheimer.'),(2880,58,'2006-07-13 17:16:47','With 2.3km to go...','Leipheimer rejoins.'),(2881,58,'2006-07-13 17:17:08','On the flat','Two kilometers to go'),(2882,58,'2006-07-13 17:17:36','Menchov, Landis and Leipheimer','Are driving to the finish.'),(2883,58,'2006-07-13 17:18:01','Into the final kilometer',''),(2888,58,'2006-07-13 17:20:39','Tick, tick, tick','With time bonuses awarded to third-placed Landis (8 seconds) Dessel has to come in within 4:37'),(2887,58,'2006-07-13 17:19:20','Leipheimer','is setting up for a win...Menchov goes, he wins.... Leipheimer second... and Landis third.'),(2889,58,'2006-07-13 17:21:44','Dessel is driving hard','He wants to preserve the jersey. He wants to be in the jersey on Bastille day. Speaking of French guys on Ag2r, Moreau comes in at 2:29.... a lot of time.'),(2890,58,'2006-07-13 17:22:57','Dessel','Reaches the one km mark at 3:40'),(2891,58,'2006-07-13 17:23:59','Dessel finishes','4:45... Floyd Landis is in yellow'),(2892,58,'2006-07-13 17:24:27','Floyd Landis','is now the sixth man to wear a yellow jersey in the Tour de France.'),(2893,58,'2006-07-13 17:29:00','Stage Results and GC','\r\nTop 10
\r\n1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank
\r\n2. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, same time
\r\n3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, s.t.
\r\n4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, at 0:17
\r\n5. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 0:17
\r\n6. Michael Boogerd (Ned), Rabobank, at1:04
\r\n7. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 1:31
\r\n8. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, s.t.
\r\n9. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, s.t.
\r\n10. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r, at 2:29
Overall
\r\n1. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak
\r\n2. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r, at 0:08
\r\n3. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, at 1:01
\r\n4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, at 1:17
\r\n5. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 1:52
\r\n6. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, at 2:29
\r\n7. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, at 3:22
\r\n8. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Ag2r, at 3:33
\r\n9. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r, at 3:44
\r\n10. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, at 4:17
\r\n\r\nComplete results'),(2894,68,'2006-07-14 13:21:12','Happy Bastille Day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 12th stage of the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, a 211.5km race from Luchon to Carcassonne.
There are no major climbs on this first of three transitional stages between the Pyrénées and Alps, but that doesn\'t mean it will be an easy day. Stages like this often give rise to long breakaways that succeed, especially when the weather in this southern part of France is hot and sticky. Any break that develops in the hilly opening two-thirds of the stage will need to get at least a 10-minute lead if it has any chance of holding off the pack on the straighter roads and flatter terrain of the final 70km. \r\n'),(2895,68,'2006-07-14 13:25:00','Racing has been underway for about an hour','thus far today. There have been a couple of big breaks - mostly involving riders lower down on GC. Currently a group of 15 riders - including American George Hincapie, whose GC hopes evaporated yesterday, are ahead of the peloton by about 1:00. Phonak is taking its proper role at the front of the peloton, working to protect the jersey of Hincapie\'s compatriot, Floyd Landis.
The group formed on the slopes of the Category 2 Col de Ares and includes last year\'s KOM winner Mikael Rasmussen. He\'s in the hunt for points on the day\'s four Categorized climbs, this Cat.2 and then the three successive Cat. 4s over the next 100km\r\n'),(2896,68,'2006-07-14 13:31:00','Included in the break','are:
33. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 16:17
\r\n35. Mickael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 17:56
\r\n44. Giuseppe Guerini (I), T-Mobile, 26:42
\r\n40. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 23:01
\r\n45. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 26:59
\r\n47. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 28:31
\r\n50. Stephane Goubert (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 30:18
\r\n60. David Moncoutie (F), Cofidis, 34:53
\r\n65. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 36:51
\r\n70. Gorka Verdugo (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 41:07
\r\n73. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 43:10
\r\n117. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 1:01:28
\r\n119. Michael Albasini (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:03:14
\r\n128. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 1:07:50
\r\n\r\nYou can see a lot of strong riders in that group, many of whom came into the Tour with high hopes and have seen those evaporate in the mountains and/or last weekend\'s time trial.'),(2897,68,'2006-07-14 13:35:13','Benjamin Noval','has withdrawn from the Tour. Paolo Savoldell, who was hurt after yesterday\'s stage, pulled out earlier. This is a far cry from years past when the Postal/Discovery juggernaut would come into Paris with all nine riders still in the peloton.'),(2898,68,'2006-07-14 13:40:37','Contest Reminder','We just wanted to remind you to take advantage of our Daily Contest button. Remember, we don\'t take entries after the 10km-to-go mark.'),(2899,68,'2006-07-14 13:43:32','Pace is high','At 65km covered, the break is holding onto a scant 1:00 lead. Interestingly, as Rasmussen is off trying to collect KOM points, the current Polka Dot jersey holder, David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) is struggling to stay connected to the main field. '),(2900,68,'2006-07-14 13:48:07','Phonak','Does not seem interested in letting this group go. The men in the break have just 35 seconds on the main field. It could be that it is simply too big and unweildy to let go. If some of the bigger names, higher up on GC, like Cunego, Rasmussen, Guerini and Hincapie, slip back, they may be able to let the rest go.'),(2901,68,'2006-07-14 13:48:41','At 70km','This break seems doomed at this point. The gap is just 20 seconds.'),(2902,68,'2006-07-14 13:50:40','Some of the group has slipped back','Cunego and Rasmussen are back in the main field. Hincapie and Guerini are still in the break. Let\'s see how this shakes out.'),(2903,68,'2006-07-14 13:53:45','Nine riders','Are off gaining time again. They include, George Hincapie (Discovery), Jens Voigt (CSC), Giuseppe Guerini (T-Mobile), Daniel Bennati (Lampre), Stephane Goubert (Ag2r), Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel), Cristian Moreni (Cofidis), David Millar (Saunier Duval), Michael Albasini (Liquigas).
They have 33 seconds on the field, so their success is by no means certain.'),(2904,68,'2006-07-14 14:00:34','A bit of progress','The nine men in the break are at the 80km mark and are bumping their lead back up to around 1:00.'),(2905,68,'2006-07-14 14:11:35','The break is coming apart','There are five guys left and there are 30 seconds ahead of the peloton.'),(2906,68,'2006-07-14 14:19:07','Never say die','Hincapie, Voigt, Goubert, Moncoutie and Albasini are doing their best to hold on. At 93km, the quintet has but 20 seconds on the yellow jersey group... er... make that 15.'),(2907,68,'2006-07-14 14:21:11','','It\'s been a tough Tour for the Discovery team and for director Johan Bruyneel, whose undefeated record as a director is more than likely to end this year. VeloNews\'s Jason Sumner caught up with Bruyneel at the start. Bruyneel said he knew that it was going to be a difficult year for a team very used to being the favorite at the Tour.
\"With Lance gone, it\'s clear that we\'re in a transition,\" Bruyneel said. \"We put together the strongest team we could and maybe we came here with unrealistic expectations.\"\r\n\r\n'),(2908,68,'2006-07-14 14:21:56','All together','The break - which never got more than one minute - has been completely reabsorbed by the peloton at 94km.'),(2909,68,'2006-07-14 14:22:46','Two riders on the attack','We don\'t have them ID-ed yet.'),(2910,68,'2006-07-14 14:25:22','Another break is forming','There is a group of 20 riders forming off the front at 95km. Man, you\'d think these guys would be tired after yesterday!
Speaking of which, Chris Horner, said yesterday was the \"worst day ever\" he had on a bike.
\"If this wasn\'t the Tour de France, I\'d be back home walking the dog today.\"'),(2911,68,'2006-07-14 14:28:08','From that group of 20','Four riders have emerged. Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Allessandro Ballan (Lampre) and Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole). We don\'t have solid time gaps, but they are being chased by a large group that is slightly ahead of the main field. Of the four men in the break, Popovych is the best placed, 23rd at 9:00.'),(2912,68,'2006-07-14 14:29:05','At 100km','The Popovych group is trying to gain some time, but the time gaps are still quite small... in the 10- to 15-second range.'),(2913,68,'2006-07-14 14:30:16','half-a-minute','The Popovych group has 30 seconds on the main field. The big group of 15 or 20 riders has been reabsorbed.'),(2914,68,'2006-07-14 14:33:08','Jean Marie Leblanc','We just posted Sebastian Moll\'s short interview with outgoing Tour de France director Jean Marie Leblanc. Take a look if you get a chance, while this break is figuring out its plans for the next 108km of racing.'),(2915,68,'2006-07-14 14:34:12','The Popovych group','is bumping up its lead. At 106km, they are now approaching an advantage of 1:00 on the main field.'),(2916,68,'2006-07-14 14:39:00','At 110km','The Popovych group is now 1:20 up on the main field.
We were surprised largely because that\'s also the way they announce random drug tests. The weight requirement is 6.8kg. It\'s a strange rule in that it applies to all bikes, no matter what the size, no matter what the use. In other words, a 62cm cyclo-cross bike has the same requirement as does a 48cm pursuit bike. The justification for that rule is safety... in that the UCI wants to discourage a manufacturers\' race to \"stupid light\" bikes, bikes that compromise safety to save weight. Strangely enough, they allow teams to comply with the rule by adding little weights on the bike at the start line... hence, WTF!'),(2924,68,'2006-07-14 15:14:49','At 134km','the leaders have four minutes. Phonak is still up front, but Davitamon will have to lend a hand, if they want to protect and preserve the green jersey with Freire in the break up there.'),(2925,68,'2006-07-14 15:22:33','With 74km remaining','The break remains at 4:00.... the apparent limit of acceptable for Phonak. It will probably fall to the team of green jersey Robbie McEwen to shut this one down completely.'),(2926,68,'2006-07-14 15:28:31','and the leash is being pulled','The lead is now less than four minutes and it looks like with the big wide roads ahead, the gap is probably not that good.'),(2927,68,'2006-07-14 15:34:03','We appreciate your letters','Thanks for your kind notes and we will try to answer your questions directly or in the live coverage window.
One note, though, you can really dispense with the comments about how the French hate the idea of American winners at the Tour de France. Over the past 20 years, no Tour has been won by a French rider (the last, of course, being the great Bernard Hinault in 1985), and 10 Tours won by Americans (Three for Greg LeMond and seven for Lance Armstrong). The French have been gracious and wonderful hosts no matter who wins their national tour... much more so than we suspect Americans would be had there been French winners of the so-called \"World\" Series, eh?'),(2928,68,'2006-07-14 15:37:00','The pace is high','Every day, the Tour publishes estimated time tables, based on predicted speeds. Today\'s time table are based on 40kph, 42kph and 44kph... but today\'s stage is being contested at around 46!
Meanwhile, the four men up front are now at the 61km-to-go mark and they have an advantage of 3:45... and we can see the Davitamon boys moving up a little in the field, which is still led by Phonak.'),(2929,68,'2006-07-14 15:42:38','The break is at 3:45','and the Phonaks seem relaxed. Landis is chatting in the peloton with his old friend and former teammate, George Hincapie.
We received a note reminding us about another silly UCI rule, calling for the universal application of standards. Indeed, the UCI rule limiting the distance between the outer edge of the handle bars and the tip of a saddle on a time trial bike is the same whether you\'re 4 foot 11 or 6 foot 6. The smaller rider could conceivably end up riding in the Superman position, while the taller would be scruntched up quite tight.'),(2930,68,'2006-07-14 15:45:07','With 55km to go','The four men are heading to the sprint at Mirepoix. Odds are good that Freire will grab that. If he wins that one and holds on to take the sprint at the finish, he\'ll move into the points jersey. With that in mind, the Davitamon team is beginning to lend a hand in the chase.'),(2931,68,'2006-07-14 15:50:56','With 50km to go','Freire gets his points, edging Ballan and Le Mevel. The leaders are now 4:15 ahead of the field. We\'ll see how all of this shakes out in terms of a chase, over the next hour or so.'),(2932,68,'2006-07-14 15:57:45','The peloton reaches the sprint at Mirepoix','at 4:05.
By the way, we\'ve received a number of letters asking about VeloNews Iraq correspondent, Major Jason Bryan. He is doing well and is poised to come home soon. In fact, he\'s so close to heading back, he just had to send his bike back. We bet he misses it, too. Speaking of missing things, Major Bryan is missing a big day today... no, he\'s not celebrating Bastille Day, but his son is celebrating his fifth birthday today. Happy Birthday, Jack, from all of us at VeloNews.'),(2933,68,'2006-07-14 16:07:10','The gap is going up a bit','and the four men have 4:33 at 37km to go. The Milram team is now sending up riders to the front. The pace is still very high. There is a strong tail wind blowing.'),(2934,68,'2006-07-14 16:09:45','Contest reminder','The race is zipping by quickly and we don\'t accept entries after the 10km-to-go mark. We have 35km to go.'),(2935,68,'2006-07-14 16:10:49','Wind is breaking things up.','As the road turned, the wind direction changed to a strong breeze from the side and broke up the peloton.'),(2936,68,'2006-07-14 16:11:38','With 32km remaining','The gap is 4:26. It\'s going to be a tough job to pull these guys back up.'),(2937,68,'2006-07-14 16:20:46','The break','has just 27km to go and they are holding their lead... indeed, they\'re bumping it up. They are 4:28 up on the peloton.'),(2938,68,'2006-07-14 16:24:00','These guys are going to make it','With 25km to go, they are now 4:35 ahead of the main field.
Meanwhile, reader Gavin McCraley is at the finish line and reports that \"it is very, very hot at the finish. About 38 celsius (98F), and pretty humid. Slight haze and a few clouds, but otherwise blue skies and beautiful.\"
In the pressroom, it\'s hotter than that and a lot of these guys smoke! (hack hack hack)'),(2939,68,'2006-07-14 16:28:00','21km to go','The leaders are coursing their way to the finish. They are now 4:40 ahead of the main field.'),(2940,68,'2006-07-14 16:31:38','20km to go','Freire has to be the big fav\' if it comes down to a sprint. If Le Mevel wants to win on Bastille day he is going to have attack early, but this route doesn\'t offer much opportunity for a guy to scamper off.'),(2941,68,'2006-07-14 16:34:39','Up front','This race will come down to these four:
Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery)
Oscar Freire (Rabobank)
Allesandro Ballan (Lampre)
Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole)
Of the four Freire - a three-time world champion - is clearly the favorite. Ballan is no bad sprinter in his own right. Popovych may be the big GC beneficiary and, depending on how far ahead they finish, could even see the top 10.'),(2942,68,'2006-07-14 16:38:26','With 13km','With 13km remaining, the gap is now nearly insurmountable. The gap is 4:25.
Meanwhile, the day after taking over the top spot at the Tour de France, American Floyd Landis got a surprise present Friday morning at the stage 12 start in Luchon when team owner Andy Rihs presented his star rider with a brand new yellow accented BMC SLC 01. The new ride includes yellow bar tape, yellow Speedplay pedals, yellow Powertap computer and yellow DT Swiss 240s front hub.
Outside of the color changes, BMC head product manager Andrew James said it was the same bike that Landis has been riding in the Tour this far. It was James who actually got the bike to the race, driving 10 hours from company headquarters in Grenchen, Switzerland, so that the morning presentation could happen.
“We’ve kept it real quiet,†explained James, “but it’s been in the pipeline for about two months. We just figured that based on his early season performances, there was a good chance it could happen.â€
If Landis holds onto his lead, keep an eye out for more yellow accents. James said he’s been in contact with all Phonak’s gear suppliers, adding that a yellow Selle Italia saddle and yellow tires were the likely next additions.'),(2943,68,'2006-07-14 16:40:49','More bad news for Ullrich','Apparently, Jan Ullrich had been working with the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes for longer than assumed so far. In it’s Friday edition the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung published documents from the investigation of the Spanish authorities, showing that Ullrich used doping products leading up to and during the 2005 Tour de France.
\r\nThe Sueddeutsche Zeitung secured a so called “road book†from the office of Fuentes in which the dosage and duration of medication for Ullrich is documented in detail. The road book shows that Ullrich took a mix of hormones, insuline, cortisone, testosterone, as well as a unit of his own prepared blood during the first week of the 2005 Tour de France.\r\n'),(2944,68,'2006-07-14 16:41:16','10km to go - No more contest entries','The gap is 4:27'),(2945,68,'2006-07-14 16:45:28','Popovych attacks','Man, he\'s flying... with 7km to go\r\n'),(2946,68,'2006-07-14 16:46:14','Freire and Ballan chasing','They caught Popo... Le Mevel has been dropped. No French winner today.'),(2947,68,'2006-07-14 16:46:37','Freire attacks','Caught... with 6.8km to go.'),(2948,68,'2006-07-14 16:46:59','Popo','Goes again... and he\'s caught again.'),(2949,68,'2006-07-14 16:47:34','Le Mevel is chasing','but it doesn\'t look good. He\'s 15 seconds back.'),(2950,68,'2006-07-14 16:48:02','With four km to go....','Popovych attacks again. Ballan pulls him back.'),(2951,68,'2006-07-14 16:48:48','With 3km to go','We have three riders up front and Popo goes!'),(2952,68,'2006-07-14 16:49:48','Popovych is','powering off. Ballan has chased down all of these and Freire hasn\'t done squat..'),(2953,68,'2006-07-14 16:50:41','Two kilometers','to go.... Popo has this one in the bag. Freire and Ballan are not cooperating, expending more energy giving each other grief.'),(2954,68,'2006-07-14 16:51:32','Freire now','is still hanging on Ballan\'s wheel... he wants second for the points, since he blew the chance at a win.'),(2955,68,'2006-07-14 16:52:16','Popovych is 500 meters from the line','He has this one in the bag. It\'s going to be a big chunk of time back to his two \"pursuers\"\r\n'),(2956,68,'2006-07-14 16:52:00','Solo win for Yaroslav Popovych!','Zip up the jersey.... smile... sign of the cross... raise your arms!'),(2957,68,'2006-07-14 16:53:55','Freire must have been tired','He doesn\'t even challenge Ballan for second. Ballan comes in second and Freire third. Le Mevel over in fourth.'),(2958,68,'2006-07-14 16:54:24','Now let\'s watch the clock','The peloton is still meandering into town.....'),(2959,68,'2006-07-14 16:57:17','Tick tick tick','Boonen, Zabel, Hushovd and McEwen mix it up in the sprint... and Boonen takes the field sprint at 4:31'),(2960,68,'2006-07-14 17:01:13','Stage Results','1. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel
\r\n2. Alessandro Ballan (I), Lampre, 00:27
\r\n3. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:29
\r\n4. Christophe Le Mevel (F), Credit Agricole, 00:35
\r\n5. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 04:25
\r\n6. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 04:25
\r\n7. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 04:25
\r\n8. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 04:25
\r\n9. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 04:25
\r\n10. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 04:25
\r\n'),(2961,68,'2006-07-14 17:02:38','Popovych moves into Top 10','1. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak
\r\n2. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:08
\r\n3. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 01:01
\r\n4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:17
\r\n5. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 01:52
\r\n6. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 02:29
\r\n7. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 03:22
\r\n8. Miguel Juan Miguel (Sp), Agritubel, 03:33
\r\n9. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 03:44
\r\n10. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel, 04:15
'),(2962,68,'2006-07-14 17:32:00','Contest Winner','Wishes to remain anonymous... since he or she is checking in from work... (not like anyone actually does that, do they?)'),(2963,69,'2006-07-15 13:30:40','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 13th stage of the 93rd Tour de France, at 230km, the longest of this year\'s Tour. With today\'s hot weather, it could be among the most greuling. Today\'s forcast calls for sunny early in th eday, then increasing clouds with some scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 91F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
The stage starts at Béziers on the Mediterranean seaboard before cutting across the southeast corner of the Massif Central on winding back roads that are constantly dipping and climbing through the foothills. The critical part of the stage comes with 60km to go, from where the race twists through the spectacular canyons of the Ardèche and Ibie rivers and crests two Cat. 4 climbs before emerging onto the N.102 highway with 25km to go. There’s a fast twisting descent to the wide Rhône River, which the race crosses before a flat finish in Montélimar. \r\n'),(2964,69,'2006-07-15 13:39:02','Racing started early today','With the length of today\'s stage, racing began before noon today, with the peloton rolling off of the start at 11:50.
There were several early escape attempts and with a bit of sorting out, the day\'s break finally emerged at around 30km. Right now we have five riders at the 85km mark with a big, big 13-minute lead. Those five are:
46. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 28:50
64. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 37:06
99. Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Milram, 57:07
112. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 1:01:28
114. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:03:54
'),(2965,69,'2006-07-15 13:47:28','Not much interest in pursuit','The Phonak team seems disinclined to bust a gut chasing these guys - with a 13-minute gap, our grasp of the obvious astounds even ourselves - which may be a result of the remarkable heat. It\'s well over the 100(F) mark and the peloton is taking an easy time of it. With Pereiro the best on GC - 46th at 28:50 - and no one posing a threat on KOM or points, there is really no need to put the hammer down on this one. '),(2966,69,'2006-07-15 13:55:00','The VeloNews Daily Doper','It seems that not a day goes by without some new doping news. It sort of us of 1998 when we confidently – and quite naively – declared that the Festina Scandal was a good thing, since it would raise the cost of doping to a point where it wasn’t worth the risk to career, reputation and wallet. Oh well, we’ve made mistakes before – like that pair of platform shoes we bought in 1974 – and we’re bound to make them again.
The Spanish newspaper AS claims to have the entire collection of Operación Puerto files and is publishing all them on the paper\'s home page. It\'s an interesting collection and we\'ll be trying to translate and highlight the key sections.
Questions? Comments? Complaints? Drop us a note.'),(2967,69,'2006-07-15 13:57:06','95 down and 135 to go','for the leaders, at least. The five men off the front are now 13:30 ahead of the peloton.'),(2968,69,'2006-07-15 14:00:00','Contest Reminder','Do recall that we have a Daily Contest. All you need to do is pick the name of today\'s stage winner - from the five off the front, perhaps? - and send us a note with the winner in the subject line of your e-mail. Use the Daily Contest button above, since the contest has its own e-mail address.'),(2969,69,'2006-07-15 14:12:14','16 minutes','With 125km remaining the five men up front are now 16:12 ahead of the field.'),(2970,69,'2006-07-15 14:23:43','With 118km remaining','The gap is now more than 17 minutes.
A reminder who is up there:
Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d\'Epargne)
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis)
Andriy Grivko (Milram)
Jens Voigt (CSC)
Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas)'),(2971,69,'2006-07-15 14:32:03','Beyond the halfway point','With more than half of today\'s stage knocked off, Voight, Pereiro, Chavanel, Quinziato and Grivko have 18:15 ahead of the peloton. This is the largest gap any break has built this Tour and still more than 10 minutes short of putting the best-placed member of the break - Pereiro - into the virtual race leadership.'),(2972,69,'2006-07-15 14:37:35','With 108km to go','The lead is 19:00 minutes.'),(2973,69,'2006-07-15 14:40:40','Still','These guys are still bumping up the lead. With 105km remaining, the five leaders are 19:30 ahead of the peloton, which remains intact.'),(2974,69,'2006-07-15 14:52:17','With 100km remaining','The peloton trails the leading five by 19:45. This break has a great chance of success, unless someone lights a fire under the peloton - which is doubtful - so maybe we can start picking reasons why one or the other of this group will win. Milram\'s Grivko, for example, is the only Ukranian in the peloton who has not won a stage in this year\'s Tour.'),(2975,69,'2006-07-15 14:53:41','The Chase is on!!','Well... okay... but they did knock seven seconds off of the leaders\' advantage over the last kilometer. That counts for something, doesn\'t it?'),(2976,69,'2006-07-15 14:59:44','With 95km remaining','The peloton has ever-so-slightly upped the tempo and is nipping away at the advantage of the five men up the road. The gap is now \"down\" to 19:28, but we\'re certain that the intent is merely to limit the impact of the only rider in the group who is less than half-an-hour down on GC.'),(2977,69,'2006-07-15 15:07:43','With 88km remaining','The lead has bumped up to 19:53. Jens Voigt is probably the most well-known of the group. It\'s nice to see him up there. He told our guy, Sebastian Moll, that he came to this Tour with the intention of riding to protect Ivan Basso and arrived a tad heavier -2kg - heavier than usual. He had not planned to take on his usual attacking style, but things changed for CSC and for Voigt and he\'s been instructed to attack and hunt for stage wins instead.'),(2978,69,'2006-07-15 15:11:49','Okay','That chase wasn\'t a chase... they were just stretching their legs. The gap is growing again. The guys up front are now 20:27 ahead.'),(2979,69,'2006-07-15 15:14:34','82km to go','The lead is now 21 minutes.\r\n'),(2980,69,'2006-07-15 15:23:00','Moreau...','We see the Tour cameras focused on the peloton, cruising along on at 42kph. Christophe Moreau just appeared on camera, smiled and declared Merci Phonak! thanking the yellow jersey team for doing work at the front.... or is he complaining about the lack of a chase? If he is, he should do a bit of work, no?'),(2981,69,'2006-07-15 15:30:27','Okay....','The gap is now nearly 24 minutes with 71km to go.'),(2982,69,'2006-07-15 15:35:00','A chat with Floyd Landis before the start','Our guy, Andrew Hood, spoke with Floyd Landis. The man in the yellow jersey seems to be the same unflappable character we\'ve always seen here... Only the color of his jersey (and bike) are changed.
On the difference riding in yellow jersey
“Not too much, it’s different for our team, we have a little bit more expectations, but at the beginning we made it clear we wanted to win. When we didn’t have the jersey, we rode at the front, so right now, nothing’s changed yet.\"
On riding in heat:
“Yesterday was a little bit out of control, but we were a little bit lucky because the competition for the green jersey worked out in our favor. I don’t know about today, but sometimes those competitions can help us out so we don’t have to pull at the front all day.â€'),(2983,69,'2006-07-15 15:39:00','A chat with John Lelangue before the start','Andrew Hood also spoke with Phonak director John Lelangue before the start about his plans for today:
“We will do like yesterday, if we do not get help from the sprinter teams or the other teams who are not in the breakaway, we don’t fight for the stage. They can go, no problem.
“We will only keep an eye on the dangerous contender for the GC. There is no problem for this. If there is a breakaway with guys who are more than 40 minutes (back), even if they come close to the jersey, no problem for us.\"
Which is apparently the attitude on display right now. Lelangue said he wasn\'t even concerned about the decision to let Yaroslav Popovych slip into the top ten on GC.
“We are not worried about Popovych – It was the time that we controlled, and the time we think that will be the normal limit for that. The objective when Popovych was in the breakaway, we gave them a maximum of five minutes, that’s all.\"\r\n'),(2984,69,'2006-07-15 15:42:41','The gap is up to 25 minutes','At some point, Phonak is going to chase'),(2985,69,'2006-07-15 15:57:00','Greg LeMond','We have three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond on the phone. He says he\'s excited about the Tour de France this year.
\"It\'s great to see Floyd leading the Tour. He\'s having a great year.\"'),(2986,69,'2006-07-15 15:58:15','The gap is 26:23','with 52km remaining.'),(2987,69,'2006-07-15 16:08:34','More from LeMond','On the 2006 Tour de France
\"For the first time since 1998 - when the Festina Scandal got people worried - you get to see classic racing. By that I mean, that people are actually getting tired. The speeds are a little lower, but the racing is better. I honestly think Operacion Puerto has had a good impact on the race. I think the Tour and the UCI are doing a lot to keep this sport clean. It\'s refreshing.\"
\"It\'s great to see Floyd leading this race. He has a great personality... he\'s a real champion... a real talent. His VO2 max is up around 90. He\'s a complete rider. He\'s my favorite for this year and I hope he comes back after that hip replacement to win another Tour.\"'),(2988,69,'2006-07-15 16:09:08','With 45km remaining','The gap is 26:53.'),(2989,69,'2006-07-15 16:20:00','LeMond','It\'s hard to believe that it\'s been 20 years since Greg LeMond won his first Tour de France. That was after coming in third in 1984 (his Tour debut) and second in 1985. While a lot of people point to that spectacular win in 1989 as one of the greatest in Tour history, LeMond himself says that the 1986 win was \"by far the hardest.\"
It wasn\'t a question of fitness, \"because my fitness was never better than in 1986,\" notes LeMond, but the fact that he had to take on his own teammate to win.
\"Hinault was one of the greatest Tour riders ever and suddenly found myself fighting with him - a teammate - for the win. It was psychologically, the hardest thing I ever did. The thing that was amazing, was the level of support and respect the people in France were showing to both of us through the whole thing. I\'m not sure where people come up with the idea that the French hate Americans, but I spent 12 years racing on French teams and I never sensed that. They were great... even when I was beating French riders - Hinault and Fignon - for the yellow jersey.\"'),(2990,69,'2006-07-15 16:26:27','Time gap','With 35km remaining is now 27:44. The break is now but a minute away from moving Pereiro into the virtual yellow jersey.'),(2991,69,'2006-07-15 16:32:07','Grivko','gets a new bike. He\'s working back up to the lead group, which continues to raise the advantage. With 32km remaining, the gap is 28:16.'),(2992,69,'2006-07-15 16:37:07','The Phonaks','Are picking up the pace and the gap is coming down... just a bit.'),(2993,69,'2006-07-15 16:38:36','With 27km to go','...for the leaders. The gap is coming down a bit and it\'s now 27:45.'),(2994,69,'2006-07-15 16:42:55','With 25km remaining','The leaders are attacking each other as they near the top of the day\'s last Cat. 4 climb. Grivko started the trouble, but he was caught and dropped. He\'s now chasing on his own... 16 seconds back.'),(2995,69,'2006-07-15 16:48:43','Grivko is chasing','After five hours in the break, Grivko\'s cheeky little move cost him quite a bit. The gap back to the peloton is now 27:00. Landis\'s jersey will stay where it is.'),(2996,69,'2006-07-15 16:50:40','Grivko','has 18km to go... and it looks like he\'ll be doing an individual time trial into fifth place on the day. He\'s now 30 seconds back... and looks tired.'),(2997,69,'2006-07-15 16:56:30','With 15km remaining','The four men up front - Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d\'Epargne), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Jens Voigt (CSC) and Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) lead Andriy Grivko (Milram) by 40 seconds. The gap back to the peloton is 27:00.'),(2998,69,'2006-07-15 16:57:44','Chavanel attacks','Quinziato joins up... but they are not making time on Voigt and Perierio.'),(2999,69,'2006-07-15 16:57:00','together again','The quartet is back together again with 12km to go.'),(3000,69,'2006-07-15 17:00:04','With 10km to go','Grivko trails by 40 seconds..... no more contest entries accepted, folks.'),(3001,69,'2006-07-15 17:03:07','7.5km to go','Grivko trails by 45 seconds. The four men remain together.'),(3002,69,'2006-07-15 17:04:17','With 6km to go','This is no band of brothers, here. These guys are flying to the finish, but no one here trusts the other.'),(3003,69,'2006-07-15 17:04:43','Whoa...','poor Grivko is 3:00 off the pace.'),(3004,69,'2006-07-15 17:05:43','5km to go','Quinziato tries a little dig.... caught... Voigt goes.'),(3005,69,'2006-07-15 17:06:30','He\'s caught','Pereiro attack..... and he and Voigt have a bit of a gap with 4km to go.'),(3006,69,'2006-07-15 17:07:21','With 3km to go.','Voigt is driving hard...and makes Periero take a pull'),(3007,69,'2006-07-15 17:07:56','Voigt and Pereiro','have five seconds.....'),(3008,69,'2006-07-15 17:08:46','Of the two','Periro is the better sprinter. 2km to go for the two men up front.'),(3009,69,'2006-07-15 17:09:06','14 seconds back to Chavanel',''),(3010,69,'2006-07-15 17:09:36','1km to go','The two men up front are cooperating... and the two chasers are soft-pedaling.'),(3011,69,'2006-07-15 17:10:27','Voigt attacks with 800 meters to go',''),(3012,69,'2006-07-15 17:11:16','Pereiro catches back on...','They jockey'),(3013,69,'2006-07-15 17:11:39','Perieiro refuses to work','And Voigt wins it anyway!!!!!'),(3014,69,'2006-07-15 17:12:00','Chavanel third','Top Five: 1. Jens Voigt (CSC)
2. Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d\'Epargne)
3. Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis)
4. Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas)
5. Andriy Grivko (Milram)'),(3015,69,'2006-07-15 17:12:00','The peloton','is way out there. Phonak merely needs to pick up the tempo a little and they should have the jersey well in hand... if they want it.'),(3016,69,'2006-07-15 17:21:09','Today\'s winner','Michael Hogue picked Voigt to win and we randomly picked Michael. Congrats!'),(3017,69,'2006-07-15 17:22:43','It\'s a mix of teams','at the front of the peloton. The Rabobanks are pushing things a bit harder than were the Phonaks. Landis looks relaxed, unworried, quite happy to take an easy ride to the finish line.'),(3018,69,'2006-07-15 17:29:50','Rabobank eased off','It may be that we do a new leader at the end of the day. The pace in the field is pretty maudlin... Landis isn\'t worried. Should he be?'),(3019,69,'2006-07-15 17:30:57','Peloton is at 10km to go','Unless these guys zoooooom to the finish at 60kph, there will be a new leader tonight. '),(3020,69,'2006-07-15 17:37:46','Tick tick tick','With four km to go, The peloton is 25:00 out... and there is little chance that we\'ll see these guys make it to the finish in under the 28:38 needed to preserve the jersey. This will be the seventh man to hold the yellow jersey in this Tour. The record is eight.'),(3021,69,'2006-07-15 17:39:16','With 2km to go',''),(3022,69,'2006-07-15 17:39:59','We have a new leader','Landis has let the jersey slip out of his hands... and the pressure to defend the jersey to another team.'),(3023,69,'2006-07-15 17:41:14','Field sprint','is won by McEwen.'),(3024,69,'2006-07-15 17:43:00','Pereiro heading to the yellow jersey presentation','He gets a hearty handshake from Jens Voigt.... well, this is either a cagey move or a bonehead decision on Phonak\'s part. We would bet on the former, but it\'s something we\'ll know for sure a week from tomorrow, when the peloton heads to Paris... with Landis in yellow... right?'),(3025,70,'2006-07-16 13:33:37','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverageof the 14th stage of the 2006 Tour de France, a 180.5km race from Montelimar to Gap.
With a rest day coming up in Gap, followed by the Alps, this gives the lesser known riders one of their last chances of glory. The intricate 180.5km stage through hilly terrain north of Mont Ventoux offers two Cat. 3 climbs in the first half and two Cat. 2s in the second half. The narrow back roads and constant ups-and-downs will make it a hard stage for everyone and encourage breakaways. The last of the climbs, the Sentinelle, is less than 10km from the finish and offers a great chance for a solo rider to stay clear of a small breakaway group. \r\n'),(3026,70,'2006-07-16 13:43:30','Racing','began at 1:00 today, so just about 40 minutes ago. We have seen several small breaks attempted, but the day\'s first serious break developed atop the first climb of the day. Currently 10 riders lead the field by about 1:00:
16. Michael Boogerd (Nl), Rabobank, 07:23
25. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 11:06
36. David Arroyo (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 19:43
41. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 24:28
50. Stephane Goubert (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 32:02
60. Iker Camano (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 35:05
73. Alessandro Ballan (I), Lampre, 43:42
80. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 46:07
83. José Rujano (Vz), Quick Step-Innergetic, 46:54
85. Salvatore Commesso (I), Lampre, 47:58
\r\n\r\n'),(3027,70,'2006-07-16 13:44:55','Break all but over','Hincapie, Mazzoleni, Commesso and Camano are the only survivors of the break, but are only 12 seconds ahead of the field, at the 31km mark.'),(3028,70,'2006-07-16 13:46:27','At 31km,','The Hincapie quartet is still around 10 seconds ahead of the field. Clearly Boogerd\'s presence in the break created too much discomfort in the peloton. The question now, though, is whether the men up there will be allowed to go.'),(3029,70,'2006-07-16 13:48:15','Hincapie group','is now 15 seconds ahead of the peloton... David Moncoutie (Cofidis) and the latern rouge Sebastien Joly are trying to bridge up. One thing we can be certain of: Joly\'s presence isn\'t going to cause ripples of panic regarding GC.'),(3030,70,'2006-07-16 13:49:15','Break over','The Hincapie group and its pursuers are all back in the peloton, at 34km.'),(3031,70,'2006-07-16 13:50:40','At 35km','The peloton is intact. The pace has been quite brisk this afternoon and no one has managed to successfully slip off the front.'),(3032,70,'2006-07-16 13:52:47','Another try','Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile), Salvatore Commesso (Lampre) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) got away and have now been joined by Carlos Sastre (CSC), Egoi Martinez (Discovery), Levi Leipheimer....'),(3033,70,'2006-07-16 13:53:57','No way','With Sastre and Leipheimer in the break, these guys aren\'t gonna get too far. Sastre is in sixth at 3:21 and Leipheimer is in 15th....'),(3034,70,'2006-07-16 13:54:58','This one\'s over too','Kessler, Martinez, Commesso, Fedrigo and Davitamon\'s Mario Aerts are the only remnants of the break. They have 15 seconds at 38km'),(3035,70,'2006-07-16 13:56:36','','Pierrick is the best placed in the group. He\'s 42nd at 26:12... which is slightly better than the GC position of the current yellow jersey, when he started the day yesterday.'),(3036,70,'2006-07-16 13:59:06','Will this one go?','Egoi Martinez (Discovery), Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile), Mario Aerts (Davitamon), Salvatore Commesso (Lampre) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) have 25 seconds at 40km'),(3037,70,'2006-07-16 14:02:13','Speed for the first hour','The pace has been a relatively brisk 46kph for the opening hour of racing.
Our five leaders have an advantage of 30 seconds.
Ahead the Cat.3 Col de Peyruegue begins at 66km.'),(3048,70,'2006-07-16 14:24:59','The Flecha Quartet','is back in the peloton. Verbrugghe and Canada are 10 seconds behind the Kessler five. The gap back to the peloton is just 25 seconds at 64km. The climb begins soon.'),(3049,70,'2006-07-16 14:26:27','No update on Simoni','He\'s still riding alone nearly seven minutes off of the pace. He\'s a candidate to miss the time cut if this keeps up.'),(3050,70,'2006-07-16 14:27:23','Martinez slips back','to Verbrugghe and Canada.... to help? Or is he sucking wind?'),(3051,70,'2006-07-16 14:28:05','On the climb','The four men up front, lead their three chasers by seven seconds and the peloton by 45 seconds.'),(3052,70,'2006-07-16 14:31:41','At 68km','The four leaders are now 17 seconds ahead of the pursuing three and 1:00 ahead of the peloton.'),(3053,70,'2006-07-16 14:37:59','With 2km to climb','Martinez fades back to the peloton. Verbrugghe and Canada are still 20 seconds behind the four leaders. The peloton is now at 2:00.'),(3054,70,'2006-07-16 14:42:49','Up and over','Canada and Verbrugghe are up with the leaders. The six are now 3:10 ahead of the peloton.'),(3055,70,'2006-07-16 14:49:06','Horner tells us he is ill','Davitamon\'s Chris Horner said it would be a \"miracle\" if he finishes today. He has a sore throat and he feels \"just awful.\"'),(3056,70,'2006-07-16 14:53:12','Eddy Merckx','VeloNews\'s Neal Rogers spoke with five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx this morning. Regarding Phonak\'s decision to hand off the jersey yesterday, Merckx said it was a good strategy, saving the team for when things really heat up in the Alps. As for the podium in Paris, Merckx predicts Landis, Menchov and Kloden...\"and maybe Cadel Evans.\"'),(3057,70,'2006-07-16 14:56:15','Another Major in the desert','We just got a note from Major Tom Smedley from the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade in Iraq. His two kids - Connor and Rylie - have turned into big Tour de France fans and he said it would be great if we could give a big shout out to the two boys and the rest of the family in Tennessee.... No, we can\'t do that. Sorry.'),(3058,70,'2006-07-16 14:59:14','At 85km','the six-man break - Kessler, Commesso, Aerts, Verbrugghe, Fedrigo and Canada - have a four-minute advantage over the main field.'),(3059,70,'2006-07-16 15:06:00','It\'s Hotter than...','Jason Sumner and Neal Rogers called in. They were on the descent of the Cat. 2 Col de Perty and report that the Tour actually has water trucks out on the road in an attempt to cool the pavement, so it won\'t get too soft. Recall, that it was on another hot, hot day on a Stage into Gap where soft pavement spelled the end of Joseba Beloki\'s career as a major Tour contender.'),(3060,70,'2006-07-16 15:10:09','With 90km to go','The peloton is now 5:00 behind the leaders. '),(3061,70,'2006-07-16 15:15:57','Magnus Backstedt','Race radio reports that Magnus Backstedt has abandoned the Tour. Ahead, in the peloton, the Caisse d’Epargne is doing the bulk of the chase work.'),(3062,70,'2006-07-16 15:19:16','The gap','The leaders are working their way to the top of the Col de Perty, the remain about 5:35 ahead of the main field, quite a bit lower down the climb.'),(3063,70,'2006-07-16 15:26:48','A common question','We\'ve been getting several questions about the sponsor of the yellow jersey. For years, the jersey has been sponsored by Crédit Lyonnais, but the yellow jersey now sports a new logo and folks have written in asking about the \"new\" sponsor, LCL?
Well, it\'s not a new sponsor, it\'s a new logo. Crédit Lyonnais has simply redesigned its brand. LCL, of course, stands for \"Le Crédit Lyonnais.\"'),(3064,70,'2006-07-16 15:28:00','Up and over','The six leaders are over the top of the climb. The gap back to the peloton is now around 5:40.'),(3065,70,'2006-07-16 15:32:01','Canada takes top points','The six leaders are on the descent and they are taking it easy on the road. Recall, that the organizers did their best to cool off the road with water trucks. It may have helped, although the effort was an hour ago and the water has since evaporated and the road is heating up in these 100+ degree conditions.'),(3066,70,'2006-07-16 15:34:35','The peloton','reaches the top of the climb at 5:46.'),(3067,70,'2006-07-16 15:41:20','With 72km remaining','The gap is now 5:40. The peloton, too, is taking it relatively easy on the descent.'),(3068,70,'2006-07-16 15:48:27','The six men up front','The leaders are holding their own with 67km to go. The gap is 5:35.'),(3069,70,'2006-07-16 15:50:00','Quick Step has taken over','at the front of the peloton. Boonen wants a win. He\'s clearly the better climber of the favorite sprinters. The peloton is stretched out in single file. '),(3070,70,'2006-07-16 15:55:57','With 60km','The gap is coming down and the leaders are now 5:15 ahead of the peloton.'),(3071,70,'2006-07-16 16:00:37','The chase','The chase isn\'t making too much progress. With 55km to go, the gap is 5:30.'),(3072,70,'2006-07-16 16:05:47','With 51km remaining','The gap is now 5:10. That\'s not a lot of progress over the last 9km.'),(3073,70,'2006-07-16 16:08:07','Liquigas','is sending a rider or two up there, too. The chase is having an impact... it\'s hit the 5:00 mark with 49km to go.'),(3074,70,'2006-07-16 16:11:30','At 48km to go','The gap is now 4:50. Ahead, the Cat. 2 Col de la Sentinelle, tops out at less than 10km from the finish and, if these guys get caught, could prove to be the thing that separates Boonen from the rest of the sprinting talent in the field.'),(3075,70,'2006-07-16 16:16:17','With 42km remaining','The gap is now down to 4:25. The Liquigas team is helping out.... and now Phonak is moving up.'),(3076,70,'2006-07-16 16:22:39','Crash! In the break.','There was dirt in the road and Canada slid out. Kessler hit him and he flipped over his bars. It looks like Verbrughhe went down too.'),(3077,70,'2006-07-16 16:24:24','Only three men in the break','Verbrugghe is the one that crashed first. Canada over reacted and then Kessler hit Canada and launched over the bike of Canada and then the barrier on the side of the road.'),(3078,70,'2006-07-16 16:25:27','Verbrugghe looks hurt','He\'s still off the road. Kessler and Canada may not be getting back into the race, either. The gap now is 3:36... to the three riders up front.'),(3079,70,'2006-07-16 16:25:57','The peloton is coming up on the crash site','Police are warning riders to slow.....'),(3080,70,'2006-07-16 16:26:18','','Kessler is up... and is waiting for the peloton. He\'s lucky.'),(3081,70,'2006-07-16 16:28:36','With 35km to go','The gap is 3:36. Kessler is in the field. No report on Verbrugghe and Canada yet.'),(3082,70,'2006-07-16 16:32:37','The Liquigas team','is driving hard. Quick Step is hanging back, though. With 30km to go, the three leaders have 3:25.'),(3083,70,'2006-07-16 16:35:34','3:15','With 28km to go, the three men in the front are holding their own.'),(3084,70,'2006-07-16 16:38:16','Still no word on the two crash victims','We have not seen any reports on the conditions of Canada and Verbrugghe. Canada was holding his arm like he may have had a broken collarbone. Verbrugghe was in the bushes and not moving. We hope that he will be okay.'),(3085,70,'2006-07-16 16:40:12','With 24km to go','The pace is furious, but with a brisk tailwind, the three leaders are maintaining a 3:15 gap.'),(3086,70,'2006-07-16 16:41:56','Verbrugghe is on his way','to a hospital. We don\'t know about Canada.'),(3087,70,'2006-07-16 16:42:51','The gap is 3:00','The leaders are at 22km and are coming up on the sprint mark at 160km. The climb of the Sentinelle comes up after that.'),(3088,70,'2006-07-16 16:44:44','Canada is also out of the Tour','Canada, too, is on his way to the hospital.'),(3089,70,'2006-07-16 16:46:16','The leaders','slide through the sprint mark, but they just rode through, more concerned with the Sentinelle, which kicks in soon.'),(3090,70,'2006-07-16 16:48:01','Verbrugghe','probably broke his leg in that crash. Canada reportedly broke his collarbone.'),(3091,70,'2006-07-16 16:52:39','On the climb','The peloton is on the Sentinelle. The leaders are 16km from the finish... with a gap of just 2:10'),(3092,70,'2006-07-16 16:54:11','Riders being dropped','The pace in the peloton is quite high. There are several riders being dropped on the climb. One of them is Kessler, who is just counting his blessings to have avoided serious injury in that horrific crash.'),(3093,70,'2006-07-16 16:54:35','The leaders','are 14.5km from the finish.'),(3094,70,'2006-07-16 16:57:41','With 3km of climbing','and 10km of descent, the leaders are 1:50 ahead of the main field.'),(3095,70,'2006-07-16 17:02:54','Aerts dropped','And the gap is coming down'),(3096,70,'2006-07-16 17:03:45','The peloton is fighting hard','De la Fuente and Rasmussen are driving hard for points.'),(3097,70,'2006-07-16 17:04:21','The two leaders','Are 1:00 ahead of Aerts and 1:11 ahead of the peloton.'),(3098,70,'2006-07-16 17:05:02','Aerts caught','The two leaders are nearing the top'),(3099,70,'2006-07-16 17:05:37','10km to go','no more entries accepted.
Meanwhile, De la Fuente has blown.'),(3100,70,'2006-07-16 17:06:38','','Salvatore Commesso (Lampre) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) are over the top and they have 9.5km to go and 45 seconds on the field.'),(3101,70,'2006-07-16 17:07:19','Boogard drives the peloton over the top','The gap is 35 seconds... 9.2km to go'),(3102,70,'2006-07-16 17:09:28','This is a dicey descent','It\'s a fast drop into Gap. Rasmussen, by the way, scored the fifth spot on the climb and is now just 7 points out of the polka dot jersey. De la Fuente is just now cresting the climb. He needs tomorrow\'s rest day, for sure.'),(3103,70,'2006-07-16 17:10:39','With 7km to go','The gap is down to 22 seconds as Boogerd is driving hard...with hopes of pulling these guys back.'),(3104,70,'2006-07-16 17:12:02','With five km to go','The \"peloton\" is now just 15 seconds back.'),(3105,70,'2006-07-16 17:12:57','four kilometers to go','The gap is 17 seconds. Discovery driving hard at the front. '),(3106,70,'2006-07-16 17:14:00','With 3km to go','The gap is 12 seconds.'),(3107,70,'2006-07-16 17:14:34','The leaders are in Gap','the chase is easing off.'),(3108,70,'2006-07-16 17:15:00','Two kilometers to go...','the peloton is at 15 seconds. Popovych is chasing again, pulling hard.'),(3109,70,'2006-07-16 17:15:54','13 seconds.','Popovych is trying to set up Hincapie'),(3110,70,'2006-07-16 17:16:12','Final kilometer','Commesso goes'),(3111,70,'2006-07-16 17:16:00','The gap is 10 seconds','the two men up front are jockyeying....a CSC rider (Jens Voigt?) has launched off of the Discovery lead-out and is charging hard...'),(3112,70,'2006-07-16 17:18:00','Pierrick Fedrigo','Gets the win.... that was Christian Vande Velde coming up on the two escapees.'),(3113,70,'2006-07-16 17:18:37','',''),(3114,70,'2006-07-16 17:20:05','','1. Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom)
2. Salvatore Commesso (Lampre)
3. Christian Vande Velde (CSC)'),(3115,70,'2006-07-16 17:24:00','Stage and GC - Preliminary results.','1. Pierrick Fedrigo (F), Bouygues Telecom
\r\n2. Salvatore Commesso (I), Lampre, 00:00
\r\n3. Christian Vande Velde (USA), CSC, 00:03
\r\n4. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:07
\r\n5. Georg Totschnig (A), Gerolsteiner, 00:07
\r\n6. Stefano Garzelli (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:07
\r\n7. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 00:07
\r\n8. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 00:07
\r\n9. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:07
\r\n10. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), Credit Agricole, 00:07
Overall
1. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\n2. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 01:29
\r\n3. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:37
\r\n4. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 02:30
\r\n5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 02:46
\r\n6. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 03:21
\r\n7. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 03:58
\r\n8. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 04:51
\r\n9. Miguel Juan Miguel (Sp), Agritubel, 05:02
\r\n10. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 05:13
\r\n\r\n'),(3116,70,'2006-07-16 18:27:00','Today\'s Daily Contest winner','Craig Matthews was one of a very small group of you who picked today\'s stage winner.'),(3117,71,'2006-07-18 12:32:56','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 15th stage of the Tour de France, a 187km haul from Gap to the top of L\'Alpe d\'Huez. This should be a biggie folks. With the hors categorie Col d\'Izoard and the Cat. 2 Col du Lautaret, the road isn\'t easy coming up to the hor categorieL\'Alpe d\'Huez. This should really shake out the overall standings. With all due respect to Oscar Pereiro - who lost nearly half an hour on GC in the Pyrenees - the GC picture among Tour contenders looks like this:
\r\nFloyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 64:06:33
\r\nDenis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, at 1:01
\r\nCadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon, at 1:17
\r\nCarlos Sastre (Sp), Team CSC, at 1:52
\r\nAndreas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, at 2:29
\r\nMichael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, at 3:22
\r\nLevi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, at 5:37
\r\n\r\n'),(3118,71,'2006-07-18 12:35:30','Racing has','been underway for about 40 minutes. We\'ve seen a few attacks, but until the sprint at Embrun (35km) nothing managed to stay away. Currently there is more of a split in the main field - with 30 riders off the front - than a real break. We\'re still trying to ID all of the players in that group.'),(3119,71,'2006-07-18 12:46:00','That split','Involves about 25 riders and they now have about 1:40 on the main field. Up there are several strong riders, but none of the big GC guys.\r\n\r\nDiscovery, for example, has George Hincapie and Egoi Martinez, T-Mobile has Eddy Mazzoleni.
CSC has David Zabriskie, Jens Voigt and Frank Schleck.
Gerolsteiner has Fabian Wegmann.
Ag2r has Jose Luis Arrieta.
Rabobank has Juan Antonio Flecha.
Phonak has Axel Merckx.
Lampre has Damiano Cunego and Patxi Vila Errandonea....
As far as we can tell, Merckx is the best-placed GC rider in the mix. We\'ll have a complete list in a moment.
For now,t he group is at 43km and still quite a way from the start of the Izoard.'),(3121,71,'2006-07-18 12:56:11','The men in the break','George Hincapie and Egoi Martinez (Discovery)
\r\nEddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile)
David Zabriskie, Jens Voigt and Frank Schleck (CSC)
Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner)
Jose Luis Arrieta (Ag2r)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank)
Axel Merckx (Phonak)
Damiano Cunego and Patxi Vila Errandonea (Lampre)
David Arroyo and Vincente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d\'Epargne)
Anthony Charteau (Credit Agricole)
Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel)
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis)
David de la Fuente and Ruben Lobato (Saunier Duval)
Bernhard Eisel and Benoit Vaugrenard(Francaise des Jeux)
Stefan Garzelli and Michael Albasini (Liquigas)
Jerome Pineau (Bouygues Telecom)
Christian Knees (Milram)'),(3122,71,'2006-07-18 13:00:12','At 54km','The leaders have an advantage of 3:35 over the main field. Obviously Pineau, Wegmann and De la Fuente are there looking for KOM points. Merckx is there to monitor the break for Landis. It looks like Eisel - who won points at the first sprint - just came along for the ride as did second-placed Albasini and Vila.
The real danger men in terms of a stage win could be those seeking to salvage a bit of personal pride, including Garzelli, Cunego and, to a lesser extent, Hincapie.
Of course, three minutes with 133km remaining - especially these 133 km - isn\'t all that much.'),(3123,71,'2006-07-18 13:03:41','The weather','as you can see from some of the photos we just posted, the weather is beautiful today. Temperatures are in the high 70s and low 80s. It\'s a perfect Alpine day.'),(3124,71,'2006-07-18 13:05:12','Contest Reminder','We just wanted to give you a friendly reminder to drop an entry into our Daily Contest. You have until the 10km to go mark (which is on the road to Alpe d\'Huez today) to enter. There is a Daily Contest button on top of the page.'),(3125,71,'2006-07-18 13:08:46','Lobato','Ruben Lobato of Saunier Duval is trying to scamper of on his own. Maybe he wants to help protect De La Fuente\'s hold on the climber\'s jersey. He has a ways to go. He\'s at 58km and the Col d\'Izoard tops out at kilometer 86. The road is tipping up, but the official climb starts at km 72 and the succeeding 14km average 7.7 percent.'),(3126,71,'2006-07-18 13:10:56','At 60km','Lobato is holding on to a 15-second lead. The other men in this big break are another 3:40 ahead of the peloton.
Hello,The percentage grade is a lot easier to explain than are the more subjective categories offered up by the organizers. The formula is quite simple. It simply means that the rate of vertical rise in the road as a percentage of the amount traveled horizontally. In other words, if a road rises 1 meter for every 10 it travels forward, it is a 10-percent grade. Hence, a 45-degree angle would be a 100 percent grade, rising 1 meter for every meter it travels forward.'),(3133,71,'2006-07-18 13:29:27','On the climb','The Hincapie group - or is it the Schleck group? Or the De la Fuente group? ---- anyway, the guys in the break are on the climb and currently sit 4:20 ahead of the main field. That will change over these next few kilometers, no doubt.'),(3134,71,'2006-07-18 13:30:00','Past Winners on the Alpe','Winners on L’Alpe d’Huez
Could you please explain how the hills are graded? ie - what does 7.7 % mean exactly?
Garzelli is 2km from the top and we\'ll get the time gaps sorted out atop the climb. We do know that the yellow jersy group is around five minutes behind Garzelli, but the picture of what is going on in between is less clear.'),(3146,71,'2006-07-18 14:05:00','Landis jumps off the front','Nooooo... he\'s taking a leak. Sorry. He\'s relaxed... not to worried.'),(3147,71,'2006-07-18 14:08:07','Garzelli','is nearing the top of the climb.'),(3148,71,'2006-07-18 14:08:58','Up and over','Garzelli gets top points atop the Col d\'Izoard.'),(3149,71,'2006-07-18 14:13:06','Hincapie group','crests the climb at 1:10. There are still 14 men in the break. Garzelli, by the way, is 45th at 34:20 on GC, so he\'s not a big concern in the overall picture.'),(3150,71,'2006-07-18 14:14:15','The peloton','is well back. The guestimated gap is around 5:41.'),(3151,71,'2006-07-18 14:15:00','Peloton crests','at 6:30. '),(3152,71,'2006-07-18 14:19:54','Time gaps','Garzelli is 1:10 ahead of the Hincapie group, which contains 15 other riders - including Cunego, Merckx, Martinez, Arrietta. The next group crested at 4:36. The peloton came across the top of the climb 6:30 behind Garzelli. While the yellow jersey group set a good tempo up the climb, it wasn\'t a panic...given that there were several riders taking \"natural breaks\" on the way up.'),(3153,71,'2006-07-18 14:21:21','Martinez has crashed','Race radio reports that Egoi Martinez has crashed, but we have no reports on his condition.'),(3154,71,'2006-07-18 14:24:47','At 100km','Garzelli leads the chase group of 15 (sans Martinez) by 1:10.'),(3155,71,'2006-07-18 14:30:52','Garzelli','Is approaching the base of the Col d\'Izoard at Brioncon. Ahead, he has a big haul up the Col du Lautaret (12.1km at 4.4 percent), whcih crests at km 134.'),(3156,71,'2006-07-18 14:34:02','Chilly reception','We\'ve received a number of questions about our earlier comment about the chilly reception Lance Armstrong has received since his arrival in France. Some of you aren\'t too sure about what Armstrong said at the ESPYs. '),(3157,71,'2006-07-18 14:35:32','Garzelli','Leads the Hincapie group - that includes David Zabriskie - by about 1:00. Landis, meanwhile, had a mechanical, but he\'s up and back with the yellow jersey group.'),(3158,71,'2006-07-18 14:37:15','The Hincapie chase group','is growing and is now up to 17 riders. They are just 35 seconds behind Garzelli.'),(3159,71,'2006-07-18 14:42:54','The Hincapie chase group','Has joined Garzelli. In the group are George Hincapie (Discovery)
\r\nEddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile)
David Zabriskie, Jens Voigt and Frank Schleck (CSC)
Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner)
Jose Luis Arrieta (Ag2r)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank)
Axel Merckx (Phonak)
Damiano Cunego (Lampre)
David Arroyo and Vincente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d\'Epargne)
Anthony Charteau (Credit Agricole)
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis)
David de la Fuente and Ruben Lobato (Saunier Duval)
Benoit Vaugrenard(Francaise des Jeux)
Juan Miguel Mercado (Ag2r)Jerome Pineau '),(3160,71,'2006-07-18 14:46:42','Question','A reader asks:
I\'ve seen red numbers, white numbers And I think even yellow. Could you explain the differnt colored numbers for me?Yup. The red number belongs to the most aggressive rider. The yellow numbers are on the guys leading the team competition and the rest of the peloton gets white numbers.
Thanks!
Meanwhile, the peloton is coming through the feedzone. They are now 4:45 behind the Garzelli/Hincapie group.'),(3161,71,'2006-07-18 14:50:09','Still not a lot of detail on Martinez.','He is up and riding and we believe he is in the peloton.'),(3162,71,'2006-07-18 14:51:26','Knees','Has bridged up to the Hincapie group after being dropped on the Col d\'Izoard. This next climb - the Col di Lautaret - should be easier on him.'),(3163,71,'2006-07-18 14:53:07','T-Mobile','is putting a rider up front of the peloton. The chase is on and the gap is now 4:20.'),(3164,71,'2006-07-18 14:55:25','At km 121','Dave Zabriskie scampers to the front of the group and gets six points at the sprint mark at the day\'s second intermediate sprint, at Le Montetier les Baines'),(3165,71,'2006-07-18 15:03:46','On the climb','Patxi Villa (Lampre) and David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) have moved off the front of the leading group. They are being chased by David Arrayo (Caisse d\'Epargne).
Back in the peloton, the Caisse d\'Epargne team is getting help from Phonak. The gap is now 3:59.'),(3166,71,'2006-07-18 15:10:49','Villa and De la Fuente','Are just a 100 meters or so ahead of the lead group. They have five kilometers left to climb. The peloton - with all of the big players - is at 4:08.'),(3167,71,'2006-07-18 15:11:44','Boonen','has withdrawn from the Tour. He had trouble early in the day and he\'s pulled out of the Tour de France.'),(3168,71,'2006-07-18 15:15:36','Pineau','He was in the original break.... he\'s now been spit off of the back of the peloton... from the front to the back.
The peloton, is still about four minutes behind the leaders. They are now at the five km to go mark and it looks certain that the big, big fight will be on the 21 switchbacks of L\'Alpe d\'Huez.'),(3169,71,'2006-07-18 15:16:12','De la Fuente and Villa','Have been pulled back by the other men in the break.'),(3170,71,'2006-07-18 15:21:07','Correction','De la Fuente and Villa have not been pulled in. They are one kilometer from the top and lead the other men from the break by 30 seconds.'),(3171,71,'2006-07-18 15:22:32','De la Fuente snags the points','He has played the day nicely and has solidified his hold on the Polka Dot jersey.'),(3172,71,'2006-07-18 15:25:17','The Polka Dot jersey','De la Fuente has 118 points to second-placed Rasmussen\'s 73. The men in the break crested the climb 29 seconds behind the two leaders. The peloton is at 4:00.
The big, big battle is going to come down to the day\'s final climb.'),(3173,71,'2006-07-18 15:31:14','It\'s a long drop','It\'s 38km from the top of the Col du Lautaret to the start of the climb up L\'Alpe d\'Huez. It shouldn\'t take too long, though, with a bit of flat at the botton... and then the 14km up the Alpe (at 8 percent).'),(3174,71,'2006-07-18 15:33:16','Angel of the mountains','Our riders have passed by the Angel of the mountains. Unfortunately, it isn\'t the same beautiful angel we saw at the Tour of California, but the one we\'ve seen at the Tour and the Giro for a few years now... This angel appears to have tied one on... and needs a shave.'),(3175,71,'2006-07-18 15:33:58','With 42km to go','The peloton is 3:48 behind the lead group.'),(3176,71,'2006-07-18 15:35:58','Beautiful day, beautiful roads','The race is coursing through just gorgeous Alpine roads, with 40km to go...14 of which are straight up.'),(3177,71,'2006-07-18 15:39:33','The peloton is at 3:55','The leaders are heading down the road with 38km to go. We may see one of these guys make it to the top first, but we wouldn\'t lay any money on that. Once the big fav\'s hit the climb, this thing is going to blow apart.
After the 35km descent of the Galibier and intermediate Col du Télégraphe, the next 23km is down the Maurienne Valley. Of the remaining 79km, some 47km are uphill, in three separate climbs: the 23km Col de la Croix de Fer, the 6km Col du Mollard and the 18km grind to the finish at La Toussuire. ...) At 4km longer than L\'Alpe d\'Huez, and at the end of a grueling menu of 17,000 feet of climbing, La Toussuire could well be the \"new\" Alpe.
A stage has never finished at La Toussuire.
You\'d think they\'d used up all of the epic climbs around here, too.\r\n\r\n'),(3235,72,'2006-07-19 12:36:00','Racing has been underway','for just about 50 minutes. We saw the usual early attacks, including one by last year\'s KOM winner Michael Rasmussen of Rabobank.
Currently - at 26km and on the day\'s first climb - Rasmussen has joined with Francaise des Jeux\'s Sandy Casar and Lampre\'s Tadej Valjavec. They lead the peloton by 2:15. In between and 8-man chase group at 1:10 - Jose Rubiera (Discovery), Mikel Astarloza (Ag2r), Marzio Brushegin (Lampre), Salvatore Commesso (Lampre), Vincente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d\'Epargne), Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel), Jose Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval) and Laurent Lefevre (Bouygues Telecom).
That group is being chased at 45 seconds by a group of five - Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery), Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval), Ivan Parra (Cofidis), David Arroyo (Caisse d\'Epargne) and Patrick Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)'),(3236,72,'2006-07-19 12:40:44','Gaps','The gaps between the respective groups are tighening. The Rasmussen group leads the peloton by just around 2:30. Cofidis\'s David Moncoutie has come out of the peloton in an effort to bridge up to the Simoni group.'),(3237,72,'2006-07-19 12:46:42','The Simoni group','has joined the group of eight ahead. At 30km that now larger group is 1:55 behind the Rasmussen trio.'),(3238,72,'2006-07-19 12:47:25','Contest Reminder','Turn in your picks folks. Remember you get one entry a day - just us the Daily Contest button above.'),(3239,72,'2006-07-19 12:52:50','Moncoutie has faded back','Calzatti is off on his own, 35 seconds behind that 13-man Simoni group. The Rasmussen trio is 1:55 ahead of that group and 2:40 ahead of the peloton.
The main field is being led by Phonak and the pace is such that the peloton remains largely intact.'),(3249,72,'2006-07-19 13:27:35','Approaching the top','The Rasmussen group has 3:00 on the Popovych group. Rasmussen is kicking it up and over the top. He gets top points. Rasmussen has 93 points now. De la Fuente has 108, but there are another 20 points waiting on the next climb.'),(3250,72,'2006-07-19 13:28:35','The pace in the peloton','is picking up. We see Boogerd driving the tempo.'),(3251,72,'2006-07-19 13:29:58','The chase group is over',''),(3252,72,'2006-07-19 13:31:22','And the peloton','hits the top at 4:40.'),(3253,72,'2006-07-19 13:34:27','Long descent','The 55 kilometers will go by quickly as they are mostly downhill. There is one exception in the short - but difficult - Col de Telegraphe, which offers no KOM points. The next rated climb is the hors categorie Col de la Croix de Fer, a 22.7km climb that averages 6.9 %.'),(3254,72,'2006-07-19 13:36:11','Crash!','Christophe Brandt from Davitamon and Phonak\'s Perdiguero are on the tarmac. But all seem to be okay and riding again.'),(3255,72,'2006-07-19 13:37:40','Popovych','is descending like a mad man and has moved ahead of the big chase group. He is trying to bridge up to the three men ahead.'),(3256,72,'2006-07-19 13:43:03','Popovych','is still chasing... but he\'s not making a ton of time of his companions. The gap back to the peloton from the front group is 4:50. The chase group is 3:10 ahead of the peloton.'),(3257,72,'2006-07-19 13:44:57','The leaders','are now at 63km and will work their way up to the Col du Telegraphe.'),(3258,72,'2006-07-19 13:48:48','Time gaps','The Rasmussen trio is now 2:25 ahead of Popovych. He leads the chase group he was in by 55 seconds and the peloton is about two minutes behind Popo.'),(3259,72,'2006-07-19 13:50:39','The peloton is on the climb','on the un-rated Col du Telegraphe\' the peloton is now 5:15 behind the leading trio.'),(3260,72,'2006-07-19 13:55:08','Up and over the Telegraphe\'','The three leaders are over the top of the Telegraphe\'. Popovych is stoll 2:25 behind them and holding on to a 50-second lead on the other men of that big chase group. The peloton, meanwhile is 5:42 behind the three leaders.'),(3261,72,'2006-07-19 14:00:20','Six minutes','The Rasmussen trio is now six minutes ahead of the peloton. They are 3:00 up on Popovych and 3:40 on the big chase.'),(3262,72,'2006-07-19 14:01:50','Rasmussen descending cautiously','He is coming down the descent off of the Telegraphe\' and taking it easy. He\'s hanging off of the back of Valjavec and Casar. He won\'t get dropped, but he is being careful.'),(3263,72,'2006-07-19 14:06:03','To review','As you know, Michael Rasmussen, Tadej Valjavec and Sandy Casar are off the front and lead the peloton is about six minutes back. In between Yaroslav Popovych is chasing on his own at 3:50 and is about to be caught by a 13-man chase group. They are:
Jose Rubiera (Discovery)
Mikel Astarloza (Ag2r)
Marzio Brushegin (Lampre)
Salvatore Commesso (Lampre)
Vincente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d\'Epargne)
Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel)
Jose Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval)
Laurent Lefevre (Bouygues Telecom)
Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval)
Ivan Parra (Cofidis)
David Arroyo (Caisse d\'Epargne)
Patrick Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)'),(3264,72,'2006-07-19 14:07:39','The three leaders','Are in St. Michel de Maurienne.'),(3265,72,'2006-07-19 14:08:00','Crashes','Sylvain Chavanel has crashed... he didn\'t move for some time... but now he\'s up and getting on his bike.
Meanwhile, Daniele Bennati (Lampre), who was third in the points contest, has crashed and abandoned the Tour. We have no injury report.'),(3266,72,'2006-07-19 14:16:09','Lunch','The three leaders are through the feedzone and heading toward the day\'s second sprint mark at St. Etienne de Cuines. How much do you wanna bet they don\'t contest that one, because right after that, they are introduced to the Col de la Croix de Fer, 22.7km at 6.9%. '),(3267,72,'2006-07-19 14:17:06','Time gaps','Popovych is back with the other men in the chase group. They now trail the leaders by 4:10. The peloton is another 2:25 back at 6:35.'),(3268,72,'2006-07-19 14:24:39','The leaders','Are still in the flats... heading to the second rated climb of the day. With 90km remaining there\'s still a lot of work ahead. The leaders are 4:45 ahead of the Popovych group. The peloton is another 2:10 back at 6:58.'),(3269,72,'2006-07-19 14:27:44','Bennati','The word is that he may have broken his wrist on that crash off of the Col du Telegraphe\'. There is also an injury to his hip.'),(3270,72,'2006-07-19 14:28:36','Peloton is at 7:12.','The peloton seems more concerned with the Popovych group than the Rasmussen trio. The Popovych group is around 2:30 ahead of the peloton.'),(3271,72,'2006-07-19 14:32:34','With lunch over','The peloton is back on the job. The gap is coming down a bit and the Popovych group is just 2:00 ahead of the field... while the Rasmussed group has 7:00.'),(3272,72,'2006-07-19 14:37:18','The three leaders','Are at the sprint mark at 103km and on their way to the lower slopes of the hors categorie Col de la Croix de Fer. The Popovych group is at 5:37 and the peloton is at 7:16.'),(3273,72,'2006-07-19 14:41:24','Gerolsteiner joins in the chase','With Leipheimer\'s position under threat from Popovych, the Gerolsteiners are helping Phonak with the chase.'),(3274,72,'2006-07-19 14:45:50','On the climb','The leaders are moving up the climb and cooperating quite nicely.'),(3275,72,'2006-07-19 14:47:51','The Popovych group','is about to get caught. That should lessen the pressure on the peloton... and may bode well for the three leaders.'),(3276,72,'2006-07-19 14:49:40','Seeing the inevitable','Ppovych and Calzati have scampered ahead of the big chase group.
Ahead, Sandy Casar is being dropped.'),(3277,72,'2006-07-19 14:51:36','Casar losing ground','and waaaaaaay back behind the peloton David de la Fuente has popped off the back of the main field. He\'s going to lose his hold on the Polka Dot jersey by the time Rasmussen reaches the top of the climb.'),(3278,72,'2006-07-19 14:55:00','The big chase group','has come apart at the seams and nine of them - including Popovych - have been pulled back by the peloton. Remaining up there are Sinkewitz, Popovych, Calzati, Commesso, Arroyo and Simoni.'),(3279,72,'2006-07-19 14:56:58','The leaders are 11km from the top','and enjoy a lead of 6:40 on the peloton. The five chasers - the Simoni group - are about 40 seconds ahead of the peloton. '),(3283,72,'2006-07-19 15:03:09','Bada Bing Bada Boom','Valjavec has popped.... Rasmussen is now working his way up the mountain on his own. He has a lead of 7:00 on the peloton. He stands a good chance of staying ahead at least until the Col du Maurienne at km 146.5... (well, as long as no one tells him this is like an individual time trial).'),(3281,72,'2006-07-19 14:58:12','Casar at 1:00','He\'s really popped.'),(3282,72,'2006-07-19 14:59:01','The Simoni group','leads the peloton by about 1:00.'),(3284,72,'2006-07-19 15:04:33','Simoni','being caught'),(3286,72,'2006-07-19 15:06:14','Rasmussen','Is flying up the Croix de Fer. He has a minute on Valjavec, two on Casar and nearly seven minutes on the peloton. '),(3287,72,'2006-07-19 15:09:29','CSC','Is now up front, setting tempo at the front. Very interesting. They have five guys in the field and Landis has no one with him.'),(3288,72,'2006-07-19 15:11:03','Vrooooom','The CSCs are setting a strong tempo. Vande Velde, Schleck and Sastre are putting the hurt on the rest of the peloton.'),(3289,72,'2006-07-19 15:12:43','The peloton is stretched out','The pace has really picked up and, as the grade increases, the whole peloton is in single file. The yellow jersey of Floyd Landis is tucked in there right behind the CSCs.'),(3290,72,'2006-07-19 15:13:58','Vande Velde','is still setting a tempo at the front. Kloden and Leipheimer are hanging on the back of Landis.'),(3291,72,'2006-07-19 15:15:04','Mercado','The winner of the stage into Pau is trailing off the back of the peloton. Hincapie has also been shelled off of the back of the peloton.'),(3292,72,'2006-07-19 15:16:00','Valjavec trails','Rasmussen by 1:20 and Casar trails by 2:20. The fast-moving peloton is now 6:35 behind the man up front.... and all of the men in the big chase group are back in the field.'),(3293,72,'2006-07-19 15:17:33','Landis','Has no one in the lead group.'),(3294,72,'2006-07-19 15:18:50','Leipheimer attacking','Leipheimer is scooting off ahead of the peloton. Landis is in a very dangerous position now. He\'s on his own, trailing three CSC riders and he has five pink T-Mobile jerseys on his wheel.'),(3295,72,'2006-07-19 15:20:46','Leipheimer','is moving off and has a good 15-second gap on the field. Vande Velde has faded. He has eased off the front and is slipping back through the peloton, which is down to about 30 riders.'),(3296,72,'2006-07-19 15:23:24','Landis','We spoke with Landis this morning. He said he\'s still feeling pretty good.
\"I feel good. I’m a little tired, but I think everyone is today. The plan is to try to do the same again. It’s not easy to control but if we can let a breakaway go and catch them at the end that would fine. But I’m sure the will be lots of attacks. It’s the Tour and everyone wants to win a stage. I’m sure they drank lots of coffee today.\"\r\n'),(3297,72,'2006-07-19 15:23:50','Landis on his challengers:','\"It looks like Kloden was the strongest yesterday and he has a good record at the Tour, so probably him. Some guys have bad days and then they get better. There’s only a few guys to watch now, so it gets easier.\"\r\n'),(3298,72,'2006-07-19 15:25:21','Leipheimer','is moving up on the peloton... he has about 40 seconds. Meanwhile Rasmussen is about six minutes up, closing in on the top of the mountain.'),(3299,72,'2006-07-19 15:28:22','Leipheimer said he was gonna do this:','\"I’m going to definitely look out for the break. I think maybe halfway through the stage will be the moment to go. We’ve done this stage in the Dauphine already and that’s where it worked. I think I’ll just keep my eyes open and go off feelings.\" \r\n'),(3300,72,'2006-07-19 15:29:11','Rasmussen','is five kilometers from the top. He\'s well ahead of Valjavec by 1:30 and 2:30 ahead of Casar.'),(3301,72,'2006-07-19 15:30:37','Landis','gets a bit of company. Axel Merckx has managed to fight his way back into the yellow jersey group. '),(3302,72,'2006-07-19 15:31:00','Frank Schleck on winning yesterday:','\"For me nothing will change I will stay the person I am and keep my head straight. Of course it’s a lot more media, but I don’t know I have been in this situation. I let it come how it comes.\"'),(3303,72,'2006-07-19 15:32:53','Leipheimer moving up','both the mountain and the GC.... he is now 1:30 up on the field. He\'s now eighth on GC, displacing Michael Rogers... which is not good for Landis, since the T-Mobiles may be chasing soon.'),(3304,72,'2006-07-19 15:34:03','Landis fading back','Landis is beginning to slip back through the peloton. He\'s still in the max, but he\'s not riding up front. He\'s lucky because the chase is not frantic at this point.'),(3305,72,'2006-07-19 15:36:02','Landis on whether he will surrender the yellow jersey again:','\"That depends on the circumstance. I’m very confident in my time trial so if the right situation came along I might let it go again.\"'),(3306,72,'2006-07-19 15:39:09','The pace','Now are we seeing a blown opportunity? The pace in the yellow jersey group is dropping. The gap to Rasmussen is 8:10. Leipheimer is now 2:30 up on the field and closing in on Casar.'),(3307,72,'2006-07-19 15:40:53','Leipheimer catches Casar','Levi Leipheimer has moved up on Casar, who was one of the original break of three.'),(3308,72,'2006-07-19 15:42:22','Rasmussen','is on the last kilometer of the climb.
In the peloton, Merckx is slipping back to the back of the group.'),(3309,72,'2006-07-19 15:43:51','Merckx is gone again','His big hope is to catch back on for the descent. Remember folks, there are still two climbs after this one.'),(3310,72,'2006-07-19 15:44:37','Rasmussen is now','The leader on the race for the Polka Dot jersey 113 points to De la Fuente\'s 108.'),(3311,72,'2006-07-19 15:45:43','Valjavec','Is next... he\'s closing in on the top, but still has a way to go. He\'s about 4:00 behind Rasmussen. Leipheimer and Casar are about 1:30 behind the Slovenian.'),(3312,72,'2006-07-19 15:47:16','Fast descent','Rasmussen is working his way down the road on his way to the Cat. 2 Col du Mollard.'),(3313,72,'2006-07-19 15:47:49','Rasmussen','passes a Texas flag... sorry folks no one from Texas in this bike race this year.'),(3314,72,'2006-07-19 15:49:25','Valjavec','Up and over the top of the climb. Casar and Leipheimer are within 1:20'),(3315,72,'2006-07-19 15:50:30','Time gap','is tighter than that. Valjavec crosses the top 4:55 behind Rasmussen and then Leipheimer and Casar come over at 5:33.\r\n'),(3316,72,'2006-07-19 15:53:08','Next up','David Moncoutie is about 30 seconds ahead of the peloton. He\'s not a GC threat (55th at 53:50), so no one is really chasing him hard.
Meanwhile, the increasing isolated Floyd Landis is benefitting from a fairly maudlin pace up the climb. T-Mobile has five riders there. CSC\'s Vande Velde has come back up, so Sastre has two teammates with him... Ag2r has three guys, but the yellow jersey has no one.'),(3317,72,'2006-07-19 15:53:45','Peloton crests','at 8:12. Landis is there and no one has attacked.'),(3318,72,'2006-07-19 15:54:33','Valjavec','is just 35 seconds ahead of Leipheimer and Casar. He trails Rasmussen, though, by 5:00.'),(3319,72,'2006-07-19 15:56:07','Zipping down the hill','Rasmussen is on his way to Belleville... at the base of the Col du Mollard.
Meanwhile, Merckx is back at Landis\'s side.'),(3320,72,'2006-07-19 16:01:01','Rasmussen is now','on the Col du Mollard. He leads his nearest pursuer - Tadej Valjavec (Lampre) by 5:00. '),(3321,72,'2006-07-19 16:03:00','Oscar Pereiro','and his teammates Vladimir Karpets and David Arroyo have attacked out of the yellow jersey group.... not much distance, but they are increasing the pressure on the group.'),(3322,72,'2006-07-19 16:06:55','Leipheimer closing in','on Valjavec. Casar is there, but he\'s pretty wasted at this point.'),(3323,72,'2006-07-19 16:08:31','Holy....','If you ever want to dispell the illusion that cycling is an eco-friendly sport, you should see Rasmussen right now. We have on skinny little dude on a 14-pound bike and he\'s surrounded by about six cars, seven motorcycles and a helicopter....'),(3324,72,'2006-07-19 16:09:10','Leipheimer','Has caught and passed Valjavec and dropped Casar.'),(3325,72,'2006-07-19 16:10:53','The peloton','is on the Col du Mollard and Oscar Pereiro and his Caisse d\'Epargne boys are pushing the tempo. There are five T-Mobiles behind them and Landis is about halfway back in the peloton. Merckx looks like he is ready to pop again.'),(3326,72,'2006-07-19 16:11:42','Yellow jersey group','Merckx is still there. Landis is quietly moving up in the field.'),(3327,72,'2006-07-19 16:13:41','With 36km to go','The gap between Rasmussen and Leipheimer - who has been rejoined by Valjavec - is about 5:10. The peloton is at 7:20.'),(3328,72,'2006-07-19 16:17:02','Rasmussen is over the top','Rasmussen has earned another 10 KOM points. He has 123 points. De la Fuente - who is way off the pace today - is at 108.'),(3329,72,'2006-07-19 16:21:37','Yikes!','Rasmussen picked a bad line through one of these turns on this dicey descent. He is going to have to be careful on this one. Leipheimer and Valjavec have crested at 4:43.'),(3330,72,'2006-07-19 16:23:03','Casar','About to be caught by the yellow jersey group. The yellow jersey group is growing a bit and Merckx is up there with him.'),(3331,72,'2006-07-19 16:23:51','Casar','reaches the top at 6:59 behind Rasmussen and the peloton is over at 7:22.'),(3332,72,'2006-07-19 16:27:34','Time gaps','With 25km to go, Michael Rasmussen leads Leipheimer and Valjavec by 4:40. Casar has been reabsorbed by the peloton which is now at 7:10.'),(3333,72,'2006-07-19 16:29:45','Narrow, narrow roads','... roads? Well, more like well-paved goat paths. It\'s not a climb designed for American monster SUVs. A Hummer would be hanging wheels off of both sides at the same time.'),(3334,72,'2006-07-19 16:30:40','Rasmussen','is losing a bit of time on the descent. He\'s somewhat of an awkward descender. He\'s now 23km from the finish.'),(3335,72,'2006-07-19 16:34:04','Goofy a descender that he is','Rasmussen is probably better off working his way down this thing on his own. As the roads begin to straighten out, the Dane is making time on the field. He\'s bumped it back up to 7:25. Can you imagine how much time a talented descender like Savoldelli could do on a road like this?'),(3336,72,'2006-07-19 16:34:39','20km to go','Rasmussen is closing in on the climb. It starts in 2km'),(3337,72,'2006-07-19 16:36:34','Leipheimer','and Valjavec are working their way down. Ahead, Rasmussen is back on his favorite terrain: Up, up, up.... he has 4:45 on his two closest pursuers.'),(3338,72,'2006-07-19 16:38:10','The peloton','is at 6:47 now... the stage - and this race - will come down to the final climb. Let\'s see how Landis -who has just one teammate with him- handles the very likely attacks on this final 18km climb.'),(3339,72,'2006-07-19 16:40:01','Time gaps','As Rasmussen moves up the final climb to La Toussuire, he is now 4:20 ahead of Leipheimer and Valjavec and the peloton is at 6:47.'),(3340,72,'2006-07-19 16:41:18','This climb.','Never included in a Tour before, the climb to La Toussuire is 18.4km and averages 6 percent. It\'s rated as a Cat. 1.'),(3341,72,'2006-07-19 16:43:22','Helmets','We have received several questions about the fact that riders are no longer removing their helmets on the final climb. The UCI got rid of that exception last year. You always have to wear helmets now.\r\n'),(3342,72,'2006-07-19 16:43:51','The peloton is on the climb','The time gap to Rasmussen is now 6:20.'),(3343,72,'2006-07-19 16:45:10','That\'s gutsy','Phonak has put Merckx at the front of the peloton... he\'s the only one left, so he\'ll blow his wad early and then Landis will be on his own. Speaking of a blown wad... Christophe Moreau is trailing off the back already.'),(3344,72,'2006-07-19 16:46:42','Leipheimer is on his own','Valjavec has popped again. Leipheimer is working hard and is chasing, but he has 4:10 to make up on this climb if he wants to win it. Rasmussen is looking good, though a bit tired, with 15km to go.'),(3345,72,'2006-07-19 16:47:51','Leipheimer','is making a little progress. He\'s nipping away at Rasmussen\'s lead, but he\'s still at 4:00.'),(3346,72,'2006-07-19 16:48:34','BOOM!','T-Mobile has lost one of their guys. Kessler shook his head, pulled off the front and is now riding well off the back.'),(3347,72,'2006-07-19 16:49:39','Landis is in the mix','Merckx has gone, though. He did what he could and is now trailing.'),(3348,72,'2006-07-19 16:50:57','Rogers moves up to the front','and is putting the pressure on. Frank Schleck - yesterday\'s winner - has popped. Landis is still holding.'),(3349,72,'2006-07-19 16:51:38','Another Alpe d\'Huez winner','Guiseppie Guerini has faded out of the group. T-Mobile is down to Rogers and Kloden.'),(3350,72,'2006-07-19 16:52:11','Menchov attacks!','Rogers on his wheel.'),(3351,72,'2006-07-19 16:52:00','Cadel Evans is chasing','Pereiro is up there... but Landis is not reacting.'),(3352,72,'2006-07-19 16:54:41','Landis is fighting back','Menchov is up there with Rogers and Cadel Evans and Pereiro... Landis is coming up being pulled up by Kloden and Mazzoleni...'),(3353,72,'2006-07-19 16:55:26','Today\'s WTF moment!','So why did Kloden and Mazzoleni just bring Landis back up to Rogers? '),(3354,72,'2006-07-19 16:56:44','Time gaps','Leipheimer is 3:48 behind Rasmussen and Valjavec is about another minute back. The peloton -what\'s left of it - is at 5:42.'),(3355,72,'2006-07-19 16:57:59','Rasmussen','has 11.5km to go. He looks set to win this one. Leipheimer is not making enough time on him to win the stage.'),(3356,72,'2006-07-19 17:00:05','Sastre','The CSC climber attacks. T-Mobile is chasing, but Landis has cracked.'),(3357,72,'2006-07-19 17:00:23','Landis has been dropped.',''),(3358,72,'2006-07-19 17:02:16','Landis has been dropped','Oscar Pereiro is still in the group, so he\'s already back out of the jersey. Ahead, Kloden and Rogers are driving hard, chasing Sastre.'),(3359,72,'2006-07-19 17:04:23','Sastre','is riding beautifully on his own. He\'s putting time on the group. Landis has really blown. He\'s fading back and he has really slowed, with 10km to go.'),(3360,72,'2006-07-19 17:05:46','With 9km to go','Rasmussen is holding a 3:40 lead on Leipheimer. Sastre is now about 45 seconds up on the T-Mobile-powered group.'),(3361,72,'2006-07-19 17:06:48','Landis','has already lost 2:00 to the Kloden/Rogers/Menchov/Pereiro group.'),(3362,72,'2006-07-19 17:08:57','This Tour','No matter how you feel about today\'s stage, you have to admit that this has been an amazing Tour. It\'s much better when it\'s not a foregone conclusion.'),(3363,72,'2006-07-19 17:10:07','Sastre has caught','Leipheimer. He is driving hard and the gap is 3:20 to Rasmussen.'),(3364,72,'2006-07-19 17:11:08','Sastre is flying','Rasmussen looks pretty wasted, but he has a big advantage in time on this climb, with 6.25km to go.'),(3365,72,'2006-07-19 17:11:41','Landis','Landis is now 3:46 behind the Kloden group. '),(3366,72,'2006-07-19 17:12:16','Sastre','has dropped Leipheimer. Sastre chasing hard.'),(3367,72,'2006-07-19 17:13:02','Rasmussen has five kilometers to go','He is still about 3:20 on Sastre, who is making big time.'),(3368,72,'2006-07-19 17:13:46','Kloden','The Kloden group has Menchov, Rogers, Cadel Evans, Oscar Pereiro...'),(3369,72,'2006-07-19 17:14:38','Landis has lost 4:00','to the Pereiro/Kloden group.'),(3370,72,'2006-07-19 17:15:41','Rasmussen at 4km to go','He is reinvigorated. Sastre is at 2:54, but a full kilometer behind the Dane.'),(3371,72,'2006-07-19 17:16:43','Menchov puts the hammer down','Pereiro isn\'t letting him go anywhere. Menchov is getting reeled in now, too.'),(3372,72,'2006-07-19 17:17:08','Leipheimer caught','and Kloden attacks. Menchov blows.'),(3373,72,'2006-07-19 17:18:04','Pereiro hanging on!','Kloden is driving hard at the front of a group that has been trimmed to three riders - Kloden, Evans and Pereiro.'),(3374,72,'2006-07-19 17:19:01','Kloden group at fourkm to go.','Rasmussen at three km to go and Sastre is at 3.5km to go'),(3375,72,'2006-07-19 17:19:24','Pereiro','is putting in his pull.'),(3376,72,'2006-07-19 17:20:07','The Pereiro group','is closing in Sastre. These guys are flying.'),(3377,72,'2006-07-19 17:21:16','Rasmussen','is 2:28 ahead of Sastre and the Evans/Pereiro/Kloden group are another 37 seconds back. Leipheimer has blown completely now. He\'s crawling up the climb.'),(3378,72,'2006-07-19 17:22:05','two kilometers to go','for Rasmussen. Sastre is 2:22 back Kloden and crew are another 40 back and Landis is at 9:25.'),(3379,72,'2006-07-19 17:23:08','Landis','has now lost all hope of ever getting the yellow jersey back. Oscar Pereiro will be in yellow again tonight.'),(3380,72,'2006-07-19 17:23:57','One kilometer to go','Rasmussen has one kilometer to go. He\'s further solidified his hold on the climber\'s jersey.'),(3381,72,'2006-07-19 17:25:27','Michael Rasmussen','Wins the most difficult stage of the 2006 Tour de France and has swept all of the day\'s brutally difficult climbs. '),(3382,72,'2006-07-19 17:26:12','Now let\'s watch the clock','Sastre is on his way in to the finish. He\'s got just thirty seconds on the Pereiro group.'),(3383,72,'2006-07-19 17:27:13','Sastre second','at 1:46'),(3384,72,'2006-07-19 17:28:22','Pereiro sprints for third','He wants a time bonus and finishes in third at 2:00 with Kloden and Evans. Moreau and Desell have finished together at 2:35\r\n'),(3385,72,'2006-07-19 17:29:11','Leipheimer comes in at','3:30... Menchov comes in at 3:42.'),(3386,72,'2006-07-19 17:29:47','Cunego comes in','at 4:21'),(3387,72,'2006-07-19 17:30:58','Landis has a long way to go.','Merckx has worked his way back up to his team leader and he\'s pacing Landis to the finish, but it will be a huge margin when these two men reach the finish.'),(3388,72,'2006-07-19 17:33:28','Stage Results','1. Mickael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank
\r\n2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 01:41
\r\n3. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:54
\r\n4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:56
\r\n5. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 01:56
\r\n6. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 02:37
\r\n7. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, 02:37
\r\n8. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 02:37
\r\n9. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, 03:24
\r\n10. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 03:42
\r\n11. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 03:42
\r\n12. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 03:42
\r\n13. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), T-Mobile, 03:42
\r\n14. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 04:21
\r\n'),(3389,72,'2006-07-19 17:35:11','The new GC picture:','1. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\n2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 01:50
\r\n3. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 02:29
\r\n4. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 02:43
\r\n5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 02:56
\r\n6. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 03:58
'),(3390,72,'2006-07-19 17:35:47','Landis finishes','The yellow jersey crosses the line at 10:05'),(3391,72,'2006-07-19 17:38:45','Landis loses big time','He started the in the yellow jersey, but Floyd Landis lost more than eight minutes to his closest rivals on the final 18km climb today. Well, it was good while it lasted, but the whole GC picture has changed. Pereiro is back in yellow, but we\'ll see if we don\'t see another big change in the picture tomorrow... another tough mountain stage.'),(3392,72,'2006-07-19 17:39:00','Landis is out of the top-10','While the decision to let Oscar Pereiro gain nearly 30 minutes the other day really hasn\'t affected Landis - who has lost time to all of his potential challengers - but guys like Kloden and Menchov have to wonder about their decision to leave Phonak to do the work that day.
Take a look at the completely new picture on GC now:Full Results. Well, you can say what you want, but you\'d be way off the mark if you claimed this Tour wasn\'t exciting.'),(3393,72,'2006-07-19 18:07:06','Daily Contest Winner','Congratulations to Margaret Robinson. Her submission was randomly selected from among today\'s correct entries and she has won today\'s Daily Contest. Well, as they say... th, th, th, th, that\'s all folks... tune in tomorrow. This Tour is far from over, but this stage is.'),(3394,73,'2006-07-20 12:30:19','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 17th stage of the 2006 Tour de France, a 200.5 kilometer haul over five rated climbs from St. Jean de Maurienne to Morzine.
This is almost identical to the stage in 2000 when Marco Pantani attacked on the first climb (the 15km, 6.4-percent Saisies) and forced Armstrong\'s U.S. Postal squad to chase for 100km over the Aravis, Colombière and Châtillon climbs to the foot of the day\'s main obstacle: the mighty Col de Joux-Plane (11.7km at 8.7 percent). It was partway up the Joux-Plane that Armstrong bonked and could only watch as Ullrich and others rode away from him, and he conceded almost two minutes by the finish in Morzine. \r\n'),(3395,73,'2006-07-20 12:36:44','Racing began','About 45 minutes ago., as 146 riders left the start today. Jose Rujano - Quick Step\'s big GC hope - pulled out over night, after finishing last on yesterday\'s stage. They said this was a weird Tour this year and that\'s another example... when Jose Rujano finishes way behind Robbie McEwen on a killer mountain stage.
Anyway, we had a couple of early moves and at 12km a group of 13 formed and that has since been cut to 11 riders - one of those who pulled out was David de la Fuente, who had hopes of regaining momentum in his hunt for the climber\'s jersey.'),(3396,73,'2006-07-20 12:39:00','At 42km','Our 11 escapees have 4:50 on the peloton. Those riders are:
Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)
Stuart O’Grady (CSC)
Pavel Padrnos (Discovery)
Daniele Righi (Lampre)
Juan Manuel Garate and Bram Tankink (Quick Step)
Patrice Halgand and Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole)
Stephane Auge (Cofidis)
\r\nPhilippe Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux)
\r\nLuca Paolini (Liquigas)
'),(3397,73,'2006-07-20 12:48:22','Coming up to Albertville','The leaders are in Albertville, host of the 1992 Winter Olympics, the last year the Winter Games were held in the same year as the Summer games. The Winter Games started that new staggered schedule in 1994 in Lillehammer in Norway after that. Albertville also marks the point on the the profile of today\'s stage at which the work begins. The riders will be working their way up to the Col des Saisies, a Category 1 climb that averages 6.4% for 14.9 kilometers.'),(3398,73,'2006-07-20 12:52:00','No real GC threats in the break','Of the 11 men in the break - which has 8:30 at the 50km mark - none are considered to be major GC, points or KOM threats. T-Mobile\'s Patrik Sinkewitzis the highest placed on GC, in 36th overall at 49:57.... well, that would apply to most Tours. Remember when Oscar Pereiro went the other day and his 46th place on GC (at 28:50) didn\'t mean anything, either? Who knows? Maybe Sinkewitz will be in yellow tonight.\r\n
The only other time they did that this year was to allow the entire peloton to continue the race after the Jens Voigt and Oscar Pereiro break finished 30 minutes ahead of the field. They had to bump the usual 9 percent cut (applied on flatter stages) up to allow more than six guys to continue after Stage 13. \r\n'),(3402,73,'2006-07-20 13:06:44','The leaders are at 60km','The peloton, meanwhile, is several kilometers back, as the gap has grown to 10:50'),(3403,73,'2006-07-20 13:13:37','Heading on to climb No.1','The leaders are working their way toward the lower slopes of the Col des Saisies - Cat.1 14.9km/6.4% - and will start the climb with an 11-minute advantage over the main field.'),(3404,73,'2006-07-20 13:15:19','Contest Reminder','While you have until the 10km to go mark to enter our daily contest, you can\'t win unless you do enter before that. So keep an eye on developments and then hit the Daily Contest button at the top of our viewer when get inspired.'),(3405,73,'2006-07-20 13:19:58','Gap growing','As the break works its way up the Col des Saisies, the gap back to the peloton is now more than 11:20.'),(3406,73,'2006-07-20 13:22:23','Phonak','Is moving to the front of the peloton as the main field reaches the lower ramps of the Col des Saisies.'),(3407,73,'2006-07-20 13:24:01','Phonak pushing the tempo','on the Col des Saisies. The gap to the leaders is now coming down, too. They are just 10:00 ahead of the main field. '),(3408,73,'2006-07-20 13:26:36','At 70km','the leaders\' advantage has been trimmed to less than 10 minutes'),(3409,73,'2006-07-20 13:34:38','Lots of action in the field','As the pace is really picking up. Landis has already lost one of his key lieutenants, in that Axel Merckx has popped off the back. The leaders - now 10km from the summit are just 7:50 ahead of the field.'),(3410,73,'2006-07-20 13:37:17','Oh there it goes','Here\'s a group of five... Sastre, Kloden, Rogers, Evans and Landis have moved out of the peloton and are leaving the yellow jersey group'),(3411,73,'2006-07-20 13:38:34','Landis moves ahead','Landis has something of a gap. He is 6:43 behind the lead group ahead, but we don\'t have formal time gaps back to the Kloden group, which has now been joined by Denis Menchov.'),(3412,73,'2006-07-20 13:41:00','If we see another change in the yellow jersey','and assuming it isn\'t going to someone who has already had it, we\'ll match the previous record of eight different men in yellow in a single Tour. And given the nature of this race, it could be 9.
Meanwhile, Landis is now 6:02 behind the lead group. He is being chased by Rogers, Menchov and Evans. Klden and Sastre have slipped back to the yellow jersey group... and no, we don\'t have time gaps yet.'),(3413,73,'2006-07-20 13:44:00','The leaders are 6km from the summit','The 11 leaders are now just 5:30 ahead of Landis and 7:00 ahead of the yellow jersey group. Rogers and Menchov are back with that group now, too.'),(3414,73,'2006-07-20 13:44:56','Time gaps','Race radio puts the 11 leaders 5:23 ahead of Landis and Landis another 1:20 ahead of the yellow jersy group, which itself has been trimmed to just 17 riders.'),(3415,73,'2006-07-20 13:47:07','With 5km of climbing','Landis is now 5:00 behind the 11 leaders and 1:30 ahead of the 17-man yellow jersey group. In that group, we see Sastre, Schleck, Kloden, Rasmussen, Menchov, Boogerd, Dessel, Leipheimer, Kloden, Moreau'),(3416,73,'2006-07-20 13:48:14','With 4.5km of climbing','Landis is now 5:15 behind the break and 1:15 ahead of the Pereiro group.'),(3417,73,'2006-07-20 13:51:21','With 4km to go','Landis is 4:50 behind the 11 leaders. The Pereiro group - now 19 riders - is at 6:11... 1:21 behind Landis.'),(3418,73,'2006-07-20 13:53:28','With 3km to go','Landis is now 3:50 behind the lead group, which appears to be coming apart on the upper portions of the climb. Meanwhile the yellow jersey group is 2:00 behind the American. Wowie. Is this a great Tour de France, or WHAT?!?!?\r\n
Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)
Stuart O’Grady (CSC)
Pavel Padrnos (Discovery)
Daniele Righi (Lampre)
Juan Manuel Garate and Bram Tankink (Quick Step)
Patrice Halgand and Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole)
Stephane Auge (Cofidis)
\r\nPhilippe Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux)
\r\nLuca Paolini (Liquigas)
Landis is now just 2:06 behind the break and he\'s 3:45 ahead of the peloton.'),(3429,73,'2006-07-20 14:17:45','Landis at 2:00','As the leaders come through the feedzone. The peloton is at 3:27.'),(3430,73,'2006-07-20 14:22:03','On the next climb','Out of the feedzone, the lead group is breaking up on the Col des Aravis (5.9km - 7.1%) Halgand is scampering off. Landis is 1:40 behind the remaining riders in the original break. The peloton is 3:40 behind Landis.'),(3431,73,'2006-07-20 14:25:36','Peloton moving up','The yellow jersey group is moving up on Landis. His advantage has been trimmed to 2:55.'),(3432,73,'2006-07-20 14:28:01','Caisse d\'Epargne setting tempo','The Caisse d\'Epargne team of race leader Oscar Pereiro is setting the pace at the front of the field. Landis, meanwhile is closing in on the men in the original break and is less than a minute behind them. He is closing in on the support caravan behind the break.'),(3433,73,'2006-07-20 14:28:53','He gets \'em','Floyd Landis has caught 10 men from the break. Halgand is still ahead.'),(3434,73,'2006-07-20 14:30:45','Updated time check','The time checks have been a little spotty. Landis is setting tempo with Juan Miguel Garate at the front of the group. They are shedding some of the men in the break. Auge, Tankink and Paolini have popped off the back.'),(3435,73,'2006-07-20 14:31:33','Halgand is 1:20 ahead','of Landis. The peloton is now 4:04 behind Landis.'),(3436,73,'2006-07-20 14:34:09','Landis group','Includes Padrnos, O\'Grady, Sinkewitz, Righi and Garate. Clearly the American can\'t expect help from Sinkewitz or O\'Grady, but Garate doesn\'t seem shy about lending a hand. If they reach Halgand - who is now 1:52 - they may get help from him as well. '),(3437,73,'2006-07-20 14:37:55','Halgand closing in on the top','of the Col des Aravis. He\'s 1:40 ahead of the Landis group and 5:10 ahead of the peloton.'),(3438,73,'2006-07-20 14:40:20','Landis','is doing all of the work in the group. Garate is not in the group. Remarkably, the Czech Padrnos is there... Oooop... there he goes. He\'s OTB.'),(3439,73,'2006-07-20 14:44:13','Halgand','is not really a big challenger for the KOM jersey, by the way. He started the day 71st in the KOM race with 3 Pts. He\'s moved up with top points on the Col des Saisies and now the Col des Aravis, but still well behind Rasmussen\'s 153.\r\n'),(3440,73,'2006-07-20 14:45:12','Halgand on top','We\'ll get good time checks here.'),(3441,73,'2006-07-20 14:46:30','The Landis group','hits the top at 1:14.'),(3442,73,'2006-07-20 14:51:12','The peloton','reaches the top of the climb at 5:42 - so, 4:31 behind Landis.\r\n'),(3443,73,'2006-07-20 14:52:37','Is Pereiro in trouble?','He looks good going over the top of the climb, but he has just one of his Caisse d\'Epargne teammates with him. Even if the Landis move fails - and at this point, that\'s far from certain - it may result in a change in GC.'),(3444,73,'2006-07-20 14:56:17','Halgand','is now less than one minute ahead of the Landis group. Padrnos has rejoined, but Garate has not.'),(3445,73,'2006-07-20 14:57:28','Landis closing in','on Patrice Halgand. Will Roger Leagay tell his rider to form an alliance?'),(3446,73,'2006-07-20 14:58:00','The Landis group','Is now 40 seconds back. The peloton is now nearly another 5:00 behind that chase. Folks, no matter whether you loved, hated or cared nothing about Lance Armstrong, those last seven tours never had the level of excitement that this one does. Remember in 1999, when he finished stage 2 - the infamous ride over the Passage du Gois - with more than seven minutes on Alec Zulle, the man who eventually finished second that year. Dominance may be impressive, but it sure doesn\'t make things exciting over a three-week race.'),(3447,73,'2006-07-20 15:02:38','Halgand about to be caught','He is 15 seconds ahead of Landis as they begin the Cat. 1 climb up the Col de la Colombiere.'),(3448,73,'2006-07-20 15:05:26','Well...','Landis rides right past Halgand. Halgand comes on to the back. Up there are Sinkewitz, Landis, Righi and Halgand. O\'Grady was dropped on the lower part of the climb. The peloton is 5:30 back.'),(3449,73,'2006-07-20 15:10:00','Landis makes a bike switch','Totally cool and relaxed, Landis pulls over gets off of his bike and jumps on a new one. The lead group is down to Halgand and Sinkewitz. The peloton is at 5:38.'),(3450,73,'2006-07-20 15:12:03','Caisse d\'Epargne','is setting tempo at the front of the peloton. Pereiro has two teammates with him now, but none of the other teams are helping at all. The gap is now 5:45.'),(3451,73,'2006-07-20 15:16:05','With 6km of climbing','left on the Col de la Colombiere (a Cat.1, 11.8km at 5.8%) Landis has upped his lead over the peloton to 6:08... Can you believe this Tour? We can\'t.'),(3452,73,'2006-07-20 15:19:59','Halgand','is dropped. He\'s having a tough time hanging with Landis. Sinkewitz is sitting on his wheel... and the peloton is at 6:28.'),(3453,73,'2006-07-20 15:22:17','The peloton','Is involved in a game of \"you do it\" \"No, you do it!\" The gap is up to 6:46 and the Caisse d\'Epargne team is stuck doing the work. Pereiro looks pretty spent.'),(3454,73,'2006-07-20 15:26:44','Landis is nearing the top','Halgand trails by 1:03 and the peloton - get this - is now at 7:21.'),(3455,73,'2006-07-20 15:27:00','Landis and Sinkewitz are over the top','of the Col de la Colombiere. Up next is the a long descent and then the Cat 3 Cote de Chatillon sur Cluses and then the brutally difficult Col de Joux Plane (hors categorie 11.7km at 8.5%) Halgand crosses over at exactly 1:00'),(3456,73,'2006-07-20 15:34:25','Peloton','Is still climbing.'),(3457,73,'2006-07-20 15:36:46','Guess who is virtual leader of the Tour?','The peloton has crested at 8:33'),(3458,73,'2006-07-20 15:40:14','Floyd and his shadow','Landis is flying down the back side of the Col de la Colombiere. Sinkewitz is on his wheel... and the time check to the peloton is 8:45. That\'s eight minutes and forty-five seconds folks!'),(3459,73,'2006-07-20 15:43:47','Confusion in the peloton','Everyone is leaving Pereiro and the only other remaining Caisse d\'Epargne rider to chase. They are losing time on the climbs and on the descents. We should expect some big attacks on the Joux Plane. Realistically, Landis can\'t expect the gap to remain and even if he rides well over these remaining 50km, he can\'t expect to get the jersey back, can he? Sastre stands a good chance of attacking a fading Pereiro on the Joux Plane and moving into the jersey. Remember, though, there\'s still a time trial on Saturday. Wow... what a race.'),(3460,73,'2006-07-20 15:44:10','The gap','is now more than 9:00. Wowie Zowie.'),(3461,73,'2006-07-20 15:47:01','Now it\'s up to CSC','Caisse d\'Epargne has pulled off the front once the gap hit 9:10 and it\'s Jens Voigt now driving at the front for CSC.'),(3462,73,'2006-07-20 15:49:33','CSC','is finally making headway on the chase. The gap is at 8:57... as Landis and Sinkewitz head on to the Cote de Chatillon sur Cluses'),(3463,73,'2006-07-20 15:52:58','Time gaps','Halgand is 2:34 behind Landis and Sinkewitz. The peloton is at 9:06.'),(3464,73,'2006-07-20 15:55:39','The peloton','is still 9:05 back... and just coming up to the Cote de Chatillon sur Cluses.'),(3465,73,'2006-07-20 15:57:42','Halgand is at 3:10','and the peloton is now 8:50 behind Landis. CSC is doing most of the work.'),(3466,73,'2006-07-20 15:59:48','With 40km to go','The gap back to Halgand is now 3:31... so much for our thoughts on the strategic alliance, eh? The peloton is now 8:38 behind Landis.'),(3467,73,'2006-07-20 16:01:09','1km from the summit','of the Cote de Chatillon sur Cluses. We\'ll get a good time check on the peloton when those guys hit the top.'),(3468,73,'2006-07-20 16:02:36','Loading up','Landis is getting water and food from the team car and he\'s closing in on the top'),(3469,73,'2006-07-20 16:03:12','Up and over','The two leaders are over the Cote de Chatillon sur Cluses. We\'ll get a time check.'),(3470,73,'2006-07-20 16:05:00','T-Mobile','is moving up to help with the chase. From the looks of Pereiro, we can expect another change in race leadership today. He doesn\'t look ready for the climb up the Joux Plane... but then, who is?'),(3471,73,'2006-07-20 16:07:50','With 35km to go','Landis and Sinkewitz are now 8:12 ahead of the peloton. Halgand made the summit of the climb at 4:46. He may be caught by the hard-working peloton.'),(3472,73,'2006-07-20 16:10:49','Peloton','is nearing the top of the climb. The gap at the top of the Cote de Chatillon sur Cluses is 8:03'),(3473,73,'2006-07-20 16:13:15','Landis','Is drinking lots and lots of water. He\'s fueling up, staying cool and working his way up to the Col de Joux Plane.
Remember what Cadel Evans told our guy Rupert Guinness yesterday: \"Anything can happen in this Tour... it already has!\"
And he said that before today\'s stage. What a Tour!'),(3474,73,'2006-07-20 16:18:05','French press...','We have a lot of French friends in the pressroom at the Tour, and we\'re not usually ones to complain or give them grief, but yesterday, one headline declared that Landis had the jersey after the Alpe, but did so without class:
Maillot Jaune sans Panache said the headline.
Well, check the road, guys. To paraphrase our friends from Brooklyn:
\"We got your panache right here, pal!\"'),(3475,73,'2006-07-20 16:19:19','With 25km to go','Landis is ticking along the flats before the Joux Plane. The tempo in the peloton is up. T-Mobile and CSC are chasing hard and the gap is down to 7:22.'),(3476,73,'2006-07-20 16:22:28','Om the climb','The Tour de France may well be decided on this final climb of the day, the hors categorie Col de Joux Plane. It\'s 11.7km averaging 8.5%... and then a steep drop into Morzine.'),(3477,73,'2006-07-20 16:22:57','The gap','Halgand is at 6:35 and about to be swept up by the peloton.'),(3478,73,'2006-07-20 16:23:52','Halgand caught','The peloton is 6:52 behind Landis. The big GC guys are all in there, but for how long?'),(3479,73,'2006-07-20 16:24:58','Sinkewitz dropped','Landis is off on his own. The gap to the peloton is 6:43. '),(3480,73,'2006-07-20 16:25:23','Peloton at 25km to go','Landis has 22km to go.'),(3481,73,'2006-07-20 16:28:15','On the climb','The peloton is on the climb... Voigt pops! This thing is going to blow apart.'),(3482,73,'2006-07-20 16:30:08','Credit where credit is due','Okay, sages that we all are, only our ranting cartoonist came close to calling it.
\"Funny if Floyd attacks tomorrow...that would just about slap the icing on this weirdo cake.\"\r\n'),(3483,73,'2006-07-20 16:31:36','KABOOM!','The whole peloton is completely blowing apart. Schleck and Sastre are leaving the rest of the peloton... yellow jersey, polka dot, white... all being left behind.'),(3484,73,'2006-07-20 16:34:00','Landis 8km from the top','He leads Sinkewitz by 2:17. Sastre is 6:00 back. Evans and Moreau are chasing at about 45 seconds.'),(3485,73,'2006-07-20 16:35:56','The peloton','or the yellow jersey group includes a big bunch of GC players. They are about 30 seconds behind the Moreau/Evans chase.'),(3486,73,'2006-07-20 16:37:25','Landis is 7km from the top','He is 3:00 ahead of Sinkewitz, 5:58 ahead of Sastre, 6:15 ahead of Moreau/Evans?Menchov and 6:30 ahead of the yellow jersey.'),(3487,73,'2006-07-20 16:38:03','Moreau','has left Evans. Menchov, too, has been dropped by the Frenchman'),(3488,73,'2006-07-20 16:38:44','Sastre','is at the 20km to go mark. Landis is at 18km to go, 5:55 ahead of the Spaniard.'),(3489,73,'2006-07-20 16:39:56','Landis','is looking a bit worse for wear... he has 5.8km of climbing to go. He\'s on the steep part of the climb. '),(3490,73,'2006-07-20 16:40:51','Sastre closing in on Sinkewitz',''),(3491,73,'2006-07-20 16:42:12','Sastre','trails Sinkewitz by 1:35 and is 5:37 behind Landis. Moreau is 40 seconds behind Sastre... and is followed by Schleck, Evans, Cunego, Boogerd and Menchov.'),(3492,73,'2006-07-20 16:43:55','Landis has 4.8km','of climbing left. The boys from T-Mobile seem to have disappeared. Kloden and Co. have been dumped by the Menchov/Boogerd/Evans group.'),(3493,73,'2006-07-20 16:45:31','Sastre is now second on the road','he passes Sinkewitz who is waiting for Kloden and the boys. Pereiro is now about 7:00 behind Landis. Sastre looks poised to move into the yellow jersey, if Landis doesn\'t grab it today.'),(3494,73,'2006-07-20 16:46:56','Landis','is now 5:43 ahead of Sastre. Cunego, meanwhile, has attacked. He\'s fighting for the White Jersey now held by Marcus Fothen. Further back, Kloden has cracked and is being dropped by the yellow jersey.'),(3495,73,'2006-07-20 16:48:05','Cunego charging','He\'s trying to catch on to Sastre. Again, he\'s not a GC threat (16th at 17:46) but he\'s fighting for the best young rider competition.'),(3496,73,'2006-07-20 16:49:18','Landis leading','He has 3km to go to the top of the Joux Plane and has 15km to go to the finish. He leads Sastre by 5:45 and Cunego by 6:20.'),(3497,73,'2006-07-20 16:51:07','Kloden suffering','He\'s been seriously gapped by the yellow jersey group, which is now 7:10 behind Landis.'),(3498,73,'2006-07-20 16:52:32','Kloden back up with the yellow jersey','But that group is now 7:10 behind Landis. Landis is now 2.25km from the top of this climb.'),(3499,73,'2006-07-20 16:53:21','Cyril Dessel','remember him? Well, he\'s popped. We won\'t be seeing him for a while.'),(3500,73,'2006-07-20 16:54:20','Sastre','is 5:32 behind Landis. Cunego is at 6:04.'),(3501,73,'2006-07-20 16:55:13','Landis','is now on the final kilometer of the climb.'),(3502,73,'2006-07-20 16:56:16','Sastre looks good','The gap is around 5:30 up to Landis. If that holds to the finish, the Spaniard will be in yellow and Landis will be in second.'),(3503,73,'2006-07-20 16:58:11','Up and over','Floyd Landis is over the Col de Joux Plane...'),(3504,73,'2006-07-20 16:58:48','Now we\'ll get good time checks','Sastre up next... the estimated gap is 5:30'),(3505,73,'2006-07-20 16:59:36','Moreau has fought back','and is with Cunego. Pereiro, too, is fighting hard. He may manage to keep the jersey.'),(3507,73,'2006-07-20 17:00:54','Moreau','has dropped Cunego'),(3508,73,'2006-07-20 17:01:20','Sastre is closing in','on the top of the climb.'),(3509,73,'2006-07-20 17:02:01','Landis at 10km to go...','No more contest entries.'),(3510,73,'2006-07-20 17:03:27','Sastre','Crosses the top of the climb at 5:08'),(3511,73,'2006-07-20 17:04:24','Moreau','Crosses at 6:05'),(3512,73,'2006-07-20 17:04:42','Cunego crosses','at 6:21'),(3513,73,'2006-07-20 17:05:26','Yellow jersey group','Crosses at 6:52... Pereiro still has the jersey by a bit.'),(3514,73,'2006-07-20 17:05:49','Rasmussen Evans','Kloden come over seven minutes back.'),(3515,73,'2006-07-20 17:06:18','Okay,','let\'s join Floyd... he\'s at 5km to go and zoooooooming down to the finish.'),(3516,73,'2006-07-20 17:07:54','Landis','Is making a bit of time on the descent. He\'s now 5:20 ahead of the Sastre. Meanwhile, Fothen has lost 3:00 to Cunego. He may make it up in the TT, though'),(3517,73,'2006-07-20 17:08:17','Landis','Is now 3km from the finish'),(3518,73,'2006-07-20 17:09:19','Landis at 2km to go','Floyd Landis is flying down to Morzine. He\'s working hard to make time.'),(3519,73,'2006-07-20 17:09:48','Landis in the final kilometer',''),(3520,73,'2006-07-20 17:11:00','Floyd Landis wins!','He\'s fighting for every second and celebrates the biggest win of his career and one of the most AMAZING stages in Tour history.... no raised arms... just powers across the line, and punches the air after he crosses the line.'),(3521,73,'2006-07-20 17:12:59','Wow...','Now that was a stage. Next let\'s watch the clock folks. The whole picture of the Tour is changed. How much? We\'ll see in the next few minutes.'),(3522,73,'2006-07-20 17:13:55','Pereiro','Has five km to go. He\'s chasing hard, hoping to keep the jersey... Sastre is working hard to get it himself.'),(3523,73,'2006-07-20 17:15:51','Sastre at 1km to go',''),(3524,73,'2006-07-20 17:17:01','Sastre finishes','and charges hard to the line... he comes across at 5:41'),(3525,73,'2006-07-20 17:17:26','Moreau',' comes through at 5:57\r\n'),(3526,73,'2006-07-20 17:18:04','Cunego','takes fourth at 6:40'),(3527,73,'2006-07-20 17:18:55','Pereiro','Does it by four seconds. He keeps the jersey. So Sastre is in second and Landis is in third.'),(3528,73,'2006-07-20 17:20:03','What a stage','Floyd Landis is back in this bike race.... one of the most amazing stages in Tour history and he\'s making this one of the most amazing Tours in years. Wow.'),(3529,73,'2006-07-20 17:22:36','Stage Results','1. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak
\r\n2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 05:42
\r\n3. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 05:58
\r\n4. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 06:40
\r\n5. Michael Boogerd (Nl), Rabobank, 07:08
\r\n6. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 07:08
\r\n7. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 07:08
\r\n8. Klöden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 07:08
\r\n9. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 07:08
\r\n10. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 07:20
\r\n11. Mickael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 07:24
\r\n12. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 07:24
\r\n13. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 07:24
\r\n14. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 08:37
\r\n15. Giuseppe Guerini (I), T-Mobile, 08:37
\r\n16. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 08:49
'),(3530,73,'2006-07-20 17:24:00','GC','1. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\n2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 00:12
\r\n3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:30
\r\n4. Andréas Klöden(G), T-Mobile, 02:29
\r\n5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 03:08
\r\n6. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 04:14
\r\n7. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 04:24
\r\n8. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 05:45
\r\n9. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 08:16
\r\n'),(3531,73,'2006-07-20 17:24:37','Landis is now 30 seconds out of the lead','Well that oughta make Saturday\'s time trial interesting, eh?'),(3532,73,'2006-07-20 17:53:54','Contest Winner','Congratulations to Dean McBeth'),(3533,74,'2006-07-21 12:46:19','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 18th stage of the 2006 Tour de France, a 197-kilometer ride from Morzine-Avoriaz to Mâcon.\r\n\r\nRacing is just getting underway.'),(3534,74,'2006-07-21 12:50:12','It\'s going to be hard...','to match yesterday\'s stage, but who knows? This has been one goofy Tour. The poor guys on the print side - lulled by seven years of covering Tours that have been settled with two weeks to go - are going nuts trying to put together the next issue of VeloNews.
But we\'re in a more transient medium and we have to concern ourselves with the here and now, namely today\'s stage. Although there are Cat. 2, Cat. 3 and Cat. 4 climbs in the middle section of this 197km stage from the Alps through the Jura mountains to the Saône Valley, the whole course is on wide routes nationales. The stage is likely to open with constant attacks before a breakaway establishes itself on the hills in the middle part of the stage. The last 50km are almost completely flat before the 400-meter final straightaway in the northern part of Mâcon.\r\n'),(3535,74,'2006-07-21 12:52:08','Last time a road stage finished','in Mâcon was 15 years ago in 1991, the first year of Miguel Indurain\'s five-year run of Tour wins. The guy who won that stage is still riding here today, Viatcheslav Ekimov, who dashed away from the peloton in the final kilometer and held off the sprinter-led peloton by seven seconds.\r\n\r\n'),(3536,74,'2006-07-21 12:58:48','Papa Freire','Oscar Freire, who scooted home on the rest day to visit his wife and newborn son Marco, has left the Tour. While he was second in the points race to Robbie McEwen, Freire really had no chance of gaining on the green jersey and... well, sometimes the rest of this stuff doesn\'t seem all that important, when you have a newborn. We have to agree Oscar.
Speaking of locked up jerseys, Michael Rasmussen scored 10 points on the Joux Plane yesterday and is a lock - assuming he finishes in Paris - for the polka dot jersey. It could be - and we aren\'t predicting squat - that the Tour\'s three top jerseys could be taken by two former mountain-bike racers and a former BMX-er. Pretty cool, eh?'),(3537,74,'2006-07-21 13:01:19','Attacks come quickly','We\'ve seen a couple of attacks already. The latest involves Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery), Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux) and David Millar (Saunier Duval). At the 7km mark, they have a 15 second lead. But look at the profile folks... this is an attack on the descent.'),(3538,74,'2006-07-21 13:06:00','Mosty aggressive rider','While most of the awards at the Tour are based on hard numbers, one daily award is offered on a more subjective basis. The most aggressive rider of the day and of the Tour are basically awarded by eight guys sitting around and saying \"Hey how about....?\" Well, yesterday was a no-brainer and they didn\'t have much to talk about, did they? Check our Stats page to see who won that (as if you didn\'t know) and to see who had to visit the medical car, among other things.'),(3539,74,'2006-07-21 13:08:15','After the descent','from Morzine, Vaugrenard has been dropped and Popovych and Millar are now 35 seconds ahead of the peloton at the 17km mark.'),(3540,74,'2006-07-21 13:13:00','O\'Grady...','... not the CSC guy, but our own resident crank. Often when our cartoonist and columnist waxes political and tells folks he doesn\'t particularly like the current resident of the White House, we get a lot of letters. Many say \"Bravo!\" \"Yippie!\" or \"Right On!\" while just as many say \"Cancel my subscription\" \"Shut up about politics\" or our favorite \"Write what you know....\" Well, those of you who chant that last mantra - urging O\'Grady to write what he knows - will be happy with this latest Rant. This he knows.'),(3541,74,'2006-07-21 13:14:00','Our two attackers','At 22km, the two men off the front have seen their advantage grow to more than 1:30, but it looks like they\'re being pulled back by the efforts of the Liquigas team and are now just 20 seconds up on the main field.'),(3542,74,'2006-07-21 13:18:09','Liquigas','really wanted someone in today\'s break. They are sending a rider off to try and bridge that little gap up to the two escapees. It looks like Quinziato and he\'s with Sebastian Lang of Gerolsteiner.'),(3543,74,'2006-07-21 13:21:32','Still two leaders','The effort to bridge has failed and Popovych and Millar are still about 25 seconds ahead of the main field.'),(3544,74,'2006-07-21 13:27:13','That other jersey','While we mentioned that the yellow, green and polka-dot jerseys are being won by mountain-bike racers and a BMX-er, the White Jersey race has been fought out by two men with very classic roadie roots. Damiano Cunego took the best under-25 jersey from Gerolsteiner\'s Marcus Fothen yesterday. We should see a big show down at the time trial tomorrow. Fothen trails by just five seconds, and he\'s no slouch of a time trialist. Of course, winning the 2004 Giro d\'Italia proves Cunego has something there, too.
For all of the Americans celebrating the possibility of the 11th (!) U.S. Tour victory since 1986, you should be concerned. Looking at the contest for the White Jersey, there is not a single American who falls into the under-25 category at this Tour. The U.S. obviously has a large talent pool of riders, but there are none here that are under 25. Recall, for example, that before Greg LeMond won his first Tour de France, he had finished third in the 1984 Tour - winning the White Jersey along the way - and second in the 1985 Tour.
What we found interesting was that he was producing very normal power outputs on those climbs yesterday, pushing about 350-390 watts on the big cols. Landis has a VO2 max quite close to 90, so those outputs are quite within the range of normal. What was spectacular was the fact that it came so quickly after his total shut-down on Wednesday, something which may be attributed to dehydration or simple \"bonk.\" You could certainly see he was making a big effort to stay hydrated throughout yesterday\'s ride.'),(3548,74,'2006-07-21 13:45:19','Approaching 48km','We see a new attack of 15 riders. No IDs yet and they only have about 20 seconds on the field.'),(3549,74,'2006-07-21 13:49:21','That group of 15','Is still just 10 seconds ahead of the field. '),(3550,74,'2006-07-21 13:54:42','Ullrich','German media reports that Jan Ullrich will not be taking place in the usual post-Tour criteriums, races which generally don\'t offer much prestige, but usually offer boatloads of cash.
Ullrich\'s agent Walter Strohband said that Ullrich has contracts to ride in several events, but given the current environment, he would be the focus of attention for all of the wrong reasons.
\"Jan said he would prefer to pull out of the races and to let the organizers know now, so that they can work to attract other big-name cyclists for their events.\"'),(3551,74,'2006-07-21 14:00:00','Okay now they have time','At 58km, the group of 15 has built up a good 1:20 lead, so it\'s worth typing these names in. In the break of 15, we have:
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner)
David Zabriskie (CSC)
Egoi Martinez (Discovery)
Patrick Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)
Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r)
Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank)
Mateo Tosatto (Quick Step)
Mario Aerts (Davitamon)
Sebastian Hinault (Credit Agricole)
Inaki Isasi (Euskaltel)
Christian Moreni (Cofidis)
Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux)
Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas)
Jerome Pineau (Bouygues Telecom)'),(3552,74,'2006-07-21 14:05:00','At 60km','The 15 leaders have 2:00 on the peloton. This break represents a broad cross-section of teams and no real GC threats - with Leipheimer (18th at 22:01) being the best of the bunch. The only thing that could doom this one is if Milram and Davitamon opt to chase. While Milram might be motivated to try and set up Erik Zabel for a win, Davitamon is likely not interested in chasing, given that Robbie McEwen has a huge points jersey lead and they have Aerts in the break.'),(3553,74,'2006-07-21 14:09:06','3:30 at 65km','There doesn\'t seem to be a whole lot of chasing going on. This one might stick. '),(3554,74,'2006-07-21 14:10:23','Contest Reminder','Whether you think these 15 guys will stay away or get swept up a couple of meters from the line, you need to pick a winner. Remember to enter, using our Daily Contest button atop this page.'),(3555,74,'2006-07-21 14:11:03','4:00 at 68km','The peloton is at least letting these guys run out the leash a bit.'),(3556,74,'2006-07-21 14:19:24','Sproing....','And there\'s the end of the leash. At 4:00 minutes, the pace picked up in the peloton and the gap has come down to 3:45 at 74km'),(3557,74,'2006-07-21 14:23:50','The gap is back up to 4:00','at the 78km mark.'),(3558,74,'2006-07-21 14:27:00','One reader pointed out','That today is the last \"work day\" of the Tour. In other words, most of you slackers won\'t have an excuse to look in on the coverage of the Tour next week and your respective companies will note a sudden and inexplicable spike in productivity. This is bad. This can create problems. Our advice is to ease back a little... don\'t overdo it, because you\'ll only have to explain the commensurate drop in productivity in September, come Vuelta time. Do what the French do and take the whole month of August off. They have the right attitude.'),(3559,74,'2006-07-21 14:28:51','Well','maybe that leash is a little longer than we thought. The peloton is now 4:38 behind the 15-man break at the 83km mark.'),(3560,74,'2006-07-21 14:37:21','At 85km','The gap is 4:25.
We\'ve had many questions about how the French press has responded to Floyd Landis\'s ride yesterday. The reponse has been very positive, with many papers hailing the performance as ranking up there with the style of a Merckx or Hinault. Indeed, the papers this morning underscore the weakness of the claim that they somehow hate Americans.'),(3561,74,'2006-07-21 14:44:00','Saturday\'s Time Trial','The peloton is 3:50 behind the leaders who are at the 89km mark.
So after yesterday\'s performance, we have to talk about the Phonak man\'s chances to take the overall title. Obviously, tomorrow\'s time trial will play a big role in that. Take a look at the top-five and how those riders did in the first TT.
Current Overall Standings
1. Oscar Pereiro
2. Carlos Sastre, at 00:12
3. Floyd Landis, at 0:30
4. Andréas Klöden, at 2:29
5. Cadel Evans, at 3:08
As they they performed in Stage 7
(Times listed are actual times and not relative to other riders\' performances)
2. Landis, 1:02:44
8. Klöden, 1:03:26
11. Evans, 1:03:32
18. Sastre, 1:03:54
23. Pereiroe, 1:04:24
'),(3565,74,'2006-07-21 15:11:02','Saunier Duval','is taking the full effort in the chase. The gap is down to 3:20.'),(3566,74,'2006-07-21 15:19:53','The Angel','The beautiful angel of the mountains is here. Yeah, the Tour has had an angel for almost as many years as its had a devil (our buddy Didi Senft from Germany), but the angel was... well... not that angelic. For one thing he smokes... and he often needs a shave. But THIS angel... sigh. There\'s a picture below.'),(3562,74,'2006-07-21 14:45:25','At 94km','The leaders are now 3:25 ahead of the field.'),(3563,74,'2006-07-21 14:59:09','The chase','Is being driven by the Saunier Duval team - so much with our Milram guess - and the gap is coming down. It\'s now 3:22 at 102km.\r\n'),(3564,74,'2006-07-21 15:02:28','With 93km remaining','The leaders are 3:21 ahead of the peloton. Saunier Duval is driving the chase.'),(3567,74,'2006-07-21 15:23:36','With 77km to go','The peloton is now at 3:24. Saunier Duval is doing the work at the front.'),(3568,74,'2006-07-21 15:26:50','With 74km to go','The gap really isn\'t changing much. The peloton is at 3:25.'),(3569,74,'2006-07-21 15:31:29','The leaders are on','the Category 2 Col du Berthiand - 4.7km at 6%.'),(3570,74,'2006-07-21 15:33:25','The climb','The 15 leaders are staying together on the climb. They are 3.5km from the top.'),(3571,74,'2006-07-21 15:37:12','The peloton is on the climb','The riders up front are still together. They are 2km from the top and the gap is 3:13.'),(3572,74,'2006-07-21 15:40:09','1km from the summit','The fifteen leaders are closing in on the top. The gap is still at 3:22... and Saunier Duval is still putting in the chase effort.'),(3573,74,'2006-07-21 15:42:04','The peloton','Is stretched out in single file. Saunier Duval is at the front. Right behind, is the team of the yellow jersey and then a gaggle of Phonaks - including Landis - and CSC protecting Carlos Sastre.'),(3574,74,'2006-07-21 15:42:26','Up and over','The leaders crest the climb as a group. '),(3575,74,'2006-07-21 15:46:42','Peloton','is over the top and the gap is 3:42. The Lampre team is lending a hand with the chase, now, too. The leaders are now 63km from the finish.'),(3576,74,'2006-07-21 15:51:06','Ullrich','Word in the press room is that the T-Mobile team has formally severed its relationship with Jan Ullrich. '),(3577,74,'2006-07-21 15:53:11','The leaders are','on the Category 4 Cote de Chambod. They are still together... and the gap is 3:10'),(3578,74,'2006-07-21 15:57:10','With 55km to go','The leaders are over that little Cat. 4 and are now on mostly flat roads to Macon. The gap is down to 3:09 and Saunier Duval is still at the front.'),(3579,74,'2006-07-21 16:02:38','Calzati','attacks out of the lead group... he has a teeny gap'),(3580,74,'2006-07-21 16:03:31','With 50km to go','Martinez is up there with him and other riders in the original group are closing in.'),(3581,74,'2006-07-21 16:04:00','Isasi','Attacks just after the group came together.... Leipheimer bridges up'),(3582,74,'2006-07-21 16:05:16','Leipheimer and Isasi','Have about 20 seconds. '),(3583,74,'2006-07-21 16:06:30','21 seconds','Leipheimer and Isasi have 21 seconds on the group. Pineau is trying to bridge up.'),(3584,74,'2006-07-21 16:08:00','Leipheimer and Isasi','Have a nice little gap. Pineau gives up the chase and the rest of the chase group is now at 30 seconds. The peloton, meanwhile is at 4:00, and the two leaders are 46km from the finish.'),(3585,74,'2006-07-21 16:10:00','More on Ullrich','Jan Ullrich was fired by T-Mobile this morning. He was suspected of using the services of doctor Eufemiano Fuentes whom Spanish police believe is at the heart of a blood-doping network.
T-Mobile general manager Olaf Ludwig announced the news during the 18th stage of the Tour de France between Morzine and Macon though the sacking had been made in writing on Thursday.
Ullrich published a statement on his internet site saying that his axing was \"unacceptable.\"
\"I am very disappointed that this decision was not communicated to me personally but that it was faxed to my lawyers,\" Ullrich added.
The 32-year-old Ullrich had been under contract with T-Mobile until the end of the year, but like most pro rider contracts, Ullrich\'s included an escape clause, allowing the team to fire any rider suspected of doping. \r\n'),(3586,74,'2006-07-21 16:15:27','With 42km to go','The two leaders aren\'t making a lot of time on the rest of the original break. They are just 25 seconds ahead of the other 13, but the attacks have pushed the gap to the peloton up to 4:18.'),(3587,74,'2006-07-21 16:18:03','Ho ho...','Robbie McEwen scampers off the front of the peloton... not attacking, but to scream at the TV camerabike to \"get the @#$% up the road.\" He apparently felt the Saunier Duvals were getting a bit of a boost in the chase.\r\n'),(3588,74,'2006-07-21 16:18:39','With 38km to go','The two leaders are 33 seconds ahead of the 13 men in the chase group. The peloton is at 4:30.'),(3589,74,'2006-07-21 16:26:24','With 33km to go','The two leaders are still just 20 seconds ahead of the chase group. The peloton is easing off... now at 5:00 and the Saunier Duval guys are (inexplicably) still chasing.'),(3590,74,'2006-07-21 16:28:09','Landis Interview','We had a few ill-timed technical issues last night, but we have finally posted our video of Floyd Landis\'s post-stage press conference yesterday.'),(3591,74,'2006-07-21 16:32:16','Leipheimer and Isasi','Are 28km from the finish and still not making any distance on the 13 chasers. They are, however, making time on the peloton. The Saunier Duval chase is now at 5:30. The chase group is at 17 seconds.'),(3592,74,'2006-07-21 16:35:02','Leipheimer and Isasi','are just 16 seconds ahead of the chasing 13. With 26km to go, they will be caught, but the 15 leaders are now 5:38 ahead of the peloton, so today\'s winner will come out of this group.'),(3593,74,'2006-07-21 16:35:50','25km to go','the peloton is at 6:00 and the two escapees are still dangling off of the front of the chase group.'),(3594,74,'2006-07-21 16:42:00','Leipheimer and Isasi','Are caught. The lead group is at the 20km-to-go mark and 6:38 ahead of the peloton. It\'s dead flat to the finish.'),(3595,74,'2006-07-21 16:43:59','19km','the gap back to the peloton is 7:00. To review, we have the following riders in the break
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner)
David Zabriskie (CSC)
Egoi Martinez (Discovery)
Patrick Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)
Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r)
Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank)
Mateo Tosatto (Quick Step)
Mario Aerts (Davitamon)
Sebastian Hinault (Credit Agricole)
Inaki Isasi (Euskaltel)
Christian Moreni (Cofidis)
Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux)
Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas)
Jerome Pineau (Bouygues Telecom)'),(3596,74,'2006-07-21 16:47:45','Attacks','The lead bunch is breaking up and Scholz - Leipheimer\'s teammate - is off the front.'),(3597,74,'2006-07-21 16:48:47','Scholz','Is now 15km from the finish. He is 18 seconds ahead of Moreni and Tosato.'),(3598,74,'2006-07-21 16:49:08','Three men in the front',''),(3599,74,'2006-07-21 16:51:00','The whole group','is broken up. Christian Moreni(Cofidis), Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner), Mateo Tosatto (Quick Step) lead the next chase group - Sinkewitz Leipheimer, Flecha, Quinzato and Pineau - by 15 seconds and the rest of the bunch are at 30'),(3600,74,'2006-07-21 16:54:17','With 10km to go','The three men are 23 seconds ahead of the chase group of five. The peloton is some 8:00 back, now.
Contest Entries Closed for the Day.'),(3601,74,'2006-07-21 16:57:21','Moreni, Tosatto and Scholz','Have 36 seconds on the chase group with 7km to go.'),(3602,74,'2006-07-21 16:58:20','The other 12','riders have regrouped and are 36 behind Moreni, Scholz and Tosatto'),(3603,74,'2006-07-21 16:58:43','The peloton is waaaaay back','at 8:26.'),(3604,74,'2006-07-21 16:59:34','Quinziato','Is trying to bridge a gap of 43-second gap... and the rest of the guys are looking at each other...'),(3605,74,'2006-07-21 17:00:45','With 5km to go','The three leaders are 35 seconds back. The others are now at 53 seconds back. The peloton is at 8:32.'),(3606,74,'2006-07-21 17:01:26','With four kilometers to go','The three leaders are holding a 40-second lead on Quinzato.'),(3607,74,'2006-07-21 17:03:00','With 3km to go','The leaders are flying to the finish and holding their lead.'),(3608,74,'2006-07-21 17:03:11','Scholz tries a dig',''),(3609,74,'2006-07-21 17:04:10','2km to go','The three men are solidly ahead of Quinziato'),(3610,74,'2006-07-21 17:05:26','On the final kilometer','It\'s going to come down to these three.... and they are watching each other closely. Scholz is stuck up front'),(3611,74,'2006-07-21 17:06:00','Scholz is still stuck up front','It\'s bound to be one of the Italians.'),(3612,74,'2006-07-21 17:07:00','Tosatto!','Tosatto attacks... and holds it to the line. Moreni is second and Scholz third.'),(3613,74,'2006-07-21 17:07:42','Quinziato','comes in at 44 seconds and the rest of the bunch at 1:04'),(3614,74,'2006-07-21 17:09:00','Stage Results','1. Matteo Tosatto (I), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\n2. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 00:00
\r\n3. Ronny Scholz (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:02
\r\n4. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:47
\r\n5. Sébastien Hinault (F), Credit Agricole, 01:03
\r\n6. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:03
\r\n7. Sylvain Calzati (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 01:03
\r\n8. Vaugrenard BenoÃt (F), Francaise des Jeux, 01:03
\r\n9. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:03
\r\n10. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 01:03
\r\n11. Mario Aerts (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:03
\r\n12. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 01:03
\r\n13. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp), Rabobank, 01:03
\r\n14. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, 01:06
\r\n15. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 02:25
\r\n
\r\n'),(3615,74,'2006-07-21 17:14:43','Peloton','There are still points on the line... and these guys are sprinting in 8:00 minutes later.'),(3616,75,'2006-07-22 13:43:00','Good day and welcome...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 19th stage of the 2006 Tour de France, a 57-kilometer individual time trial from Le Creusot to Montceau les Mines.
Start\r\nTimes '),(3620,75,'2006-07-22 14:58:00','Top times','Sergei Gontchar - winner of the stage 7 time trial - is setting some impressive times at the intermediate time checks today and is likely to be atop the leader board by several minutes when he comes in today. Of course, he\'s been working as domestique for most of the Tour and his GC hopes are non-existent, given that he started the day 2 hours out of first.'),(3618,75,'2006-07-22 14:24:00','Contest Reminder','Please read the rules of our Daily Contest. They differ slightly on Time Trial days and we require you to estimate the winner\'s time as well as his name - as in \"Honchar 1:12:06.\" So, if you\'ve already entered today\'s contest and not submitted a time, do it again. We\'ve already deleted entries submitted without times and will allow you to do it again.'),(3619,75,'2006-07-22 14:56:07','The top 10','1. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:11:03
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:11:20
\r\n3. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:11:26
\r\n4. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:11:28
\r\n5. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:11:48
\r\n6. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:12:06
\r\n7. Nicolas Portal (F), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:12:20
\r\n8. O’grady Stuart (Aus), CSC, 01:12:31
\r\n9. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, 01:14:03
\r\n10. Johan Vansummeren (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:14:05
\r\n'),(3621,75,'2006-07-22 15:01:43','Today\'s route','This final time trial follows a complicated 57km route between the twin industrial cities of Le Creusot and Montceau-les-Mines. There are a few long straightaways, but in between - from 5km-17km, 23km-34km and 47km-55km - the course is on a mixture of narrow back roads and city streets that twist and climb around the district\'s former coalmines and steel mills. In other words, it\'s a challenging up-and-down course where riders are constantly changing direction, sprinting out of turns, grinding up hills and racing down descents. \r\n'),(3622,75,'2006-07-22 15:08:38','David Millar','Has finished in 1:11:46... good enough for fifth, for the time being.'),(3623,75,'2006-07-22 15:11:12','Current top ten','1. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:11:03
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:11:20
\r\n3. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:11:26
\r\n4. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:11:28
\r\n5. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 01:11:46
\r\n6. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:11:48
\r\n7. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:12:06
\r\n8. Nicolas Portal (F), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:12:20
\r\n9. O’grady Stuart (Aus), CSC, 01:12:31
\r\n10. Koos Moerenhout (Nl), Phonak, 01:12:38
\r\n\r\n\r\nGontchar, though will change that picture.'),(3624,75,'2006-07-22 15:12:00','Gontchar','comes in at 1:07:45... wow. That\'s more than three minutes better than second place (Lang) and a big 18 minutes over Phonak\'s Robbie Hunter, who is in last place at 1:25:54 and faces elimination on the day\'s time cut.'),(3625,75,'2006-07-22 15:18:20','The top 10','1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 01:07:45
\r\n2. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:11:03
\r\n3. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:11:20
\r\n4. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:11:26
\r\n5. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:11:28
\r\n6. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 01:11:46
\r\n7. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:11:48
\r\n8. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:12:06
\r\n9. Nicolas Portal (F), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:12:20
\r\n10. Stuart O’Grady (Aus), CSC, 01:12:31
\r\n'),(3626,75,'2006-07-22 15:27:00','Rasmussen','Is on his way... He is bound to have a better time trial than he did last year. Recall he had a disastrous final TT last year, when he literally fell from third overall to seventh on GC.'),(3627,75,'2006-07-22 15:32:20','16 riders remaining','There are another 16 riders to go. Frankly, the focus today is on the final three or four riders, the big contest of the day, indeed, of the past three weeks. Be honest, without looking, you probably can\'t name the guy who finished third in the closing time trial of the 1989 Tour de France.'),(3629,75,'2006-07-22 15:33:38','Marcus Fothen','and Damiano Cunego will both be on the road shortly. There is a real contest between these two for the white jersey of the best rider under 25.'),(3630,75,'2006-07-22 15:34:00','Cunego off','Fothen started three minutes ago and we now have both top contenders for the white jersey on the road. With just a four-second difference, we\'d have to put our money on Fothen to take the jersey, given that he is a solid time trialist.
I\'m not much for watching live, but I am today....and I am sending good energy to Floyd...along with thousands of other goofballs bike geeks wearing lycra with black socks.'),(3646,75,'2006-07-22 16:23:21','Moreau','is closing in on time check No. 1.\r\n\r\nVande Velde comes in with the day\'s 13th best time.'),(3647,75,'2006-07-22 16:24:59','Menchov flyin\'','Menchov is through the first time check with the sixth-best time, 57 seconds off of Gontchar\'s time.'),(3648,75,'2006-07-22 16:27:55','Evans','Comes through the time check at 16.5km, 1:07 off of Gontchar\'s time.'),(3649,75,'2006-07-22 16:30:13','It was a trick question','The 1989 Tour came down to a final time trial. We asked if anyone remembers who came in third in that TT. It was Fignon... Thierry Marie took second that day. '),(3650,75,'2006-07-22 16:31:15','Landis','Comes through the first time check two seconds FASTER than Gontchar.'),(3651,75,'2006-07-22 16:35:13','Sastre','Has already lost 1:05 to Landis at time check No. 1'),(3652,75,'2006-07-22 16:37:35','Oscar Pereiro','Comes through the first time check with a time of 19:55... 10 seconds slower than Landis.'),(3653,75,'2006-07-22 16:40:00','Top ten at Time Check No. 1','1. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak
1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 01:07:45
\r\n2. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:11:03
\r\n3. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:11:20
\r\n4. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:11:26
\r\n5. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:11:28
\r\n6. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 01:11:29
\r\n7. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 01:11:46
\r\n8. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:11:48
\r\n9. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:12:00
\r\n10. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 01:12:01
\r\n'),(3659,75,'2006-07-22 17:00:09','Pereiro','Comes through the second time check about 1:00 behind Landis\'s time. Floyd Landis is now the virtual leader of the Tour by 27 seconds.'),(3660,75,'2006-07-22 17:02:11','Top 16 at time check No. 2','1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 00:41:19
\r\n2. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:41:45
\r\n3. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 00:41:51
\r\n4. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:43:26
\r\n5. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 00:43:27
\r\n6. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 00:43:27
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:43:34
\r\n8. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 00:43:35
\r\n9. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 00:43:43
\r\n10. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 00:43:45
\r\n11. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 00:43:48
\r\n12. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 00:43:51
\r\n13. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 00:43:56
\r\n14. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 00:43:57
\r\n15. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 00:44:02
\r\n16. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 00:44:05
\r\n'),(3661,75,'2006-07-22 17:05:35','Riding like a man possessed','It appears that someone has lit the blue touch paper, forcing Landis to dig deep into his suitcase of courage and yada, yada, yada....'),(3662,75,'2006-07-22 17:08:57','Landis','is still putting time into Pereiro and Sastre. We\'ll get confirmation of that in about four minutes when he hits time check No. 3'),(3663,75,'2006-07-22 17:11:52','Time checks','Suggest that T-Mobile\'s Kloden is in third place in the Tour.
Landis keeps tapping his helmet. It may be that his earpiece is out, which is too bad. Lelangue actually has been giving good advice.'),(3664,75,'2006-07-22 17:13:14','Kloden','comes through time check No. 3 second best, 47 seconds off of Gontchar\'s time, but he\'s closing in on Cadel Evans, his three-minute man.'),(3665,75,'2006-07-22 17:14:04','Menchov finishes','With a time of 1:12:18, 13th best of the day.'),(3666,75,'2006-07-22 17:15:40','Kloden','Catches Evans in the final kilometer.'),(3667,75,'2006-07-22 17:16:12','Kloden finishes','with a time of 1:08:26'),(3668,75,'2006-07-22 17:17:21','Landis','has third best time at the third time check... but he is crushing Pereiro.'),(3669,75,'2006-07-22 17:18:46','Landis in the final kilometer','He won\'t win the stage, but he looks on track to win the Tour.'),(3670,75,'2006-07-22 17:19:39','Landis finishes with a time','of 1:08:56 - third best of the day.'),(3671,75,'2006-07-22 17:23:56','Top ten at the finish','With Sastre and Pereiro on the road: 1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 01:07:45
\r\n2. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:08:26
\r\n3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 01:08:56
\r\n4. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:11:03
\r\n5. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:11:20
\r\n6. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:11:26
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:11:26
\r\n8. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:11:28
\r\n9. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 01:11:29
\r\n10. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 01:11:46
\r\n'),(3672,75,'2006-07-22 17:25:22','Top 20 at time Check No. 3','1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 01:02:36
\r\n2. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:03:22
\r\n3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 01:03:44
\r\n4. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:05:14
\r\n5. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:05:56
\r\n6. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, 01:06:01
\r\n7. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:06:02
\r\n8. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 01:06:08
\r\n9. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, 01:06:09
\r\n10. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:06:14
\r\n11. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:06:16
\r\n12. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 01:06:25
\r\n13. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 01:06:39
\r\n14. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:06:42
\r\n15. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:06:45
\r\n16. Nicolas Portal (F), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 01:06:48
\r\n17. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 01:06:52
\r\n18. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 01:06:55
\r\n19. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 01:07:01
\r\n20. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 01:07:02
\r\n'),(3673,75,'2006-07-22 17:26:00','Sastre finishes in','4:42 down, 19th best.'),(3674,75,'2006-07-22 17:27:27','Pereiro','finishes in 1:10:25, fourth best of the day and it\'s official. Floyd Landis is in yellow!'),(3675,75,'2006-07-22 17:28:58','Floyd Landis','Finishes third on the day, but he\'s well on his way to become the third American winner of the Tour de France... and he did it with plenty of panache!'),(3676,75,'2006-07-22 17:33:12','Stage Results','1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 57km in 1:07:45
\r\n2. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, at 00:41
\r\n3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, at 01:11
\r\n4. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., at 02:40
\r\n5. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, at 03:18
\r\n6. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, at 03:35
\r\n7. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, at 03:41
\r\n8. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, at 03:41
\r\n9. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, at 03:43
\r\n10. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 03:44
\r\n'),(3677,75,'2006-07-22 17:42:00','The overall picture:','1. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak
\r\n2. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 00:59
\r\n3. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:29
\r\n4. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 03:13
\r\n5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 05:08
\r\n6. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 07:06
\r\n7. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 08:41
\r\n8. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 09:37
\r\n9. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 12:05
\r\n10. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 15:07
\r\n'),(3678,76,'2006-07-23 13:09:37','Good day and welcome ...','To VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 20th and final stage of the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, a 154.5 kilometer ride from Sceaux-Antony to the Champs-Elysees in Paris. By tradition, this is a largely celebratory ride in terms of GC, with the peloton making a pretty mellow trip of it until, the team of the yellow jersey - Floyd Landis\'s Phonak squad - leading the way into Paris. Once on the Champs-Elysees, though, there is still a big fight for the honor of winning the most prestigious of sprint stages in the Tour.\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(3679,76,'2006-07-23 13:25:55','Start time at 1:50','The riders are signing in and the today\'s stage will begin at 1:50 p.m. Today\'s is an interesting and somewhat unusual Tour finale\', since most recent final stages looped through the countryside south or east of Paris before entering the city. This entire course is on suburban and city streets in the southern and western parts of the metro area. Most significant is the very steep Cat. 4 climb of Mont Valérien after 72km, which is followed by a fast sweep down to the Seine River at Clichy. The next 20km are along the right bank of the Seine before riders reach the traditional Champs-Élysées circuit after 100km. Eight laps of the 6.5km circuit complete the 2006 Tour, 400 meters after the final right turn from the Place de la Concorde. \r\n'),(3680,76,'2006-07-23 13:28:12','Finishing in Paris','Every Tour has finished in the Paris area: at Ville d’Avray in the suburbs in 1903; at the now defunct Parc des Princes velodrome (1904-67); the Municipal Velodrome at Vincennes (1968-74); and, from 1975, on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Only three times in the past 20 years has the finale not produced a mass sprint — last year, when winner Alexandre Vinokourov broke clear with Brad McGee in the final kilometer; in 1994, when a small break succeeded and Frenchman Eddy Seigneur took it by three seconds from American Frankie Andreu; and in 1987, when another American, Jeff Pierce, brought home a break by a second from Canadian Steve Bauer.\r\n\r\n'),(3681,76,'2006-07-23 13:29:27','Contest Reminder','Sure Robbie McEwen is the fav\' today, but there could be a surprise winner, too. Make your pick and send us a note by hitting the Daily Contest above.'),(3682,76,'2006-07-23 13:42:03','On a personal note','This has been an exceptional Tour - one of the best in my rapidly fading memory - and it\'s been made especially fun \"meeting\" as many of you as I have over the course of the past three weeks. While I haven\'t been able to answer each and every e-mail you\'ve sent in, I\'ve read all of them and have tried to answer as many as time permits.
You folks have been especially kind and even forgiving when I\'ve bobbled reports, misspelled common English words, misidentified riders or muddled time gaps. I\'ve tried to go back and correct as many errors as your or I have spotted, but there are probably still quite a few out there and for that I ask your forgiveness.
Regarding the most common complaints we are working to address many of them, including the need to get our videos to play on Mac and Linux operating systems. We also intend to make a few changes to our Live Update window, including an option that will allow you to change the order of the appearance of updates - most recent-first or first-first. We\'ve tried both ways and no matter how we do it, we end up annoying someone along the way, so we hope to give you the ability to change that order and... annoy yourself, rather than have us do it!
In the meantime, the stage is about to begin and we still have at least four-and-a-half hours of racing and stage coverage ahead of us.
Everyone talks as though Floyd has it won. Does tradition prevent those in 2nd and 3rd from trying to overtake the man in yellow on the last stage? I realize that 1 minute is a substantial lead, but what about in years when the lead is far smaller going in to the last stage? Thanks.Well there have been a few exceptions to the rule, but Floyd Landis has won this Tour. A couple of years ago, you might recall that Fillipo Simioni attacked a couple of times on the final ride to Paris. Simioni was not a GC contender, but he did have a few pending personal and legal issues with race leader Lance Armstrong. He was chased down by the Postal squad and rebuked by several riders in the peloton.
Of course the biggest exceptions, was the 1989 time trial that ended on the Champs in Paris. As you know Greg LeMond took the yellow jersey that day and won the Tour with the closest margin in history - eight seconds.
Perhaps the Tour\'s most unexpected finish came on July 22, 1979, when Bernard Hinault - who was in yellow already - outsprinted Joop Zoetemelk on the Champs Élysées after a 57km breakaway.
The two Tour stars finished two minutes ahead of the pack, with Hinault taking his seventh stage win of the race. I\'ve posted a picture below.\r\n'),(3687,76,'2006-07-23 14:15:36','Still cruisin\'','The peloton is ambling along... there are no attacks and riders are coming up to congratulate the jersey winners: Floyd Landis in yellow; Robbie McEwen in green; Michael Rasmussen in the polka dot jersey and Damiano Cunego in white.
Now the whole Phonak team - sadly without Robbie Hunter - who was eliminated by time cut yesterday.'),(3688,76,'2006-07-23 14:19:10','That Simioni attack','As we said, Simioni attacked in the final stage of the 2004 Tour. Christian Vande Velde was in the peloton that day and sent us his impressions - quite representative of how riders feel on this final day of a three-week Tour:
My legs felt like wood in the neutral and I was thinking how nice it was that I didn\'t have to be worried about an attack from the start. Then I looked up the road and saw Filippo Simieoni flying up the road. Next thing we know the pack is broken into a few pieces and some of us are really suffering and pissed off.'),(3689,76,'2006-07-23 14:28:50','A mellow day in the saddle','After 30 minutes of racing, the peloton has just now reached the 12km mark. It will be a while before the pace picks up.'),(3690,76,'2006-07-23 14:36:20','Lots of chatting in the peloton','The pace is still very easy-going. The racers are working their way through the increasingly urban environment...'),(3691,76,'2006-07-23 14:39:10','Champagne','The obligatory glass of champagne is in Floyd Landis\'s hand. He\'s posing for photographers - we see Graham and Cor Vos\'s Marketa Navratilova.Lance unleashed the dogs on him and he was soon brought back in and put back and his cage. What an ass. \"Grande juevos,\" Igor said after this happened, but still an ass. It\'s one thing if he and Lance want to have a little war and they hate each other. But when it starts affecting everyone else it kinda sucks.
It killed the moment, and it seems like there aren\'t too many more moments like that these days, with all the directors yelling at there riders to attack from the gun. Anyway, once it all settled in, we then rode easy and were able to catch up with the guys that we have been sharing the road with for the last three weeks but haven\'t necessarily said one word to. Maybe \"hey\" and a \"get out of the way\" and not many \"how is the wife and kids?\"
Many of you have suggested that he should be drinking a beer. He\'s actually not downing any alcohol on the road... he\'s just posing for the cameras. John Lelangue, however, is enjoying his.'),(3692,76,'2006-07-23 14:45:37','The pace picking up','The pace still isn\'t frantic, but the pace is picking up relative to the 25kph of the first half - hour.'),(3693,76,'2006-07-23 14:50:51','What a season','Landis has had a remarkable Tour, but he\'s done a fine job all season. Landis will win the Tour de France, today, but do recall he also won the inaugural Tour of California, Paris-Nice and the Tour de Georgia. Remarkable performances this year for a guy we first met in 1996, when he was riding on a small mountain-bike team based in Southern California. (A photo below)'),(3694,76,'2006-07-23 14:56:04','The first hour of racing','The peloton is coming up on its first hour in the saddle and working just a bit over 30kph.'),(3695,76,'2006-07-23 14:57:57','Landis video','We have just posted a new video from Floyd Landis\'s press conference last night.'),(3696,76,'2006-07-23 15:00:39','Up front','Landis\'s Phonak squad is setting the pace. Landis is riding alongside his good friend and former U.S. Postal teammate Dave Zabriskie (CSC) and clearly relishing this final ride into Paris.'),(3697,76,'2006-07-23 15:06:15','As the peloton','moves toward downtown Paris, the crowds are getting quite large. The Phonak team is setting tempo up front.'),(3698,76,'2006-07-23 15:14:12','Coming up to the day\'s first climb','The Category Cote de Gif sur Yvette. We doubt we\'ll see to much of a scramble for points. Rasmussen has a solid lead on the KOM points and Landis is the guy in second on that scale.'),(3699,76,'2006-07-23 15:17:06','Rasmussen is moving up','Maybe the Dane just wants to lead over the climb.'),(3700,76,'2006-07-23 15:19:11','Rasmussen','Takes the points on top of the climb, with a Phonak led peloton ambling up behind him.'),(3701,76,'2006-07-23 15:23:31','Speaking of Rasmussen','He rode to an 85th place in yesterday\'s time trial, finishing 8:51 down on Sergei Gontchar, which is actually worse than the 7:47 that he lost in last year\'s final time trial, in which he fell (literally at times) from third overall to seventh. His time trial yesterday though was not regarded as a disaster, since Rasmussen had few GC hopes and had little reason to push the pace.\r\n\r\n'),(3702,76,'2006-07-23 15:24:16','Warm day','It\'s quite warm, but it is also clouding up. We hope we don\'t see the rain the peloton encountered on the ride into Paris last year.'),(3703,76,'2006-07-23 15:33:00','The pace is still','moderate. There are several riders moving up, not to set tempo, but to say hello to Landis. Erik Zabel - the man who has won the green jersey six times - is chatting with the yellow jersey, meaning that he\'s won the green jersey one half of his total Tour starts. Not bad.'),(3704,76,'2006-07-23 15:36:10','A new video','conversation with Dirk Demol of Discovery.'),(3705,76,'2006-07-23 15:43:47','Leipheimer','Has scampered off the front... an attack? Nope. The man from Montana, pulls over gets off the road and begins applauding the peloton. Nice. A touch of class.'),(3706,76,'2006-07-23 15:48:27','Speaking of class acts...','Folks will long remember Floyd Landis\'s stunning stage 17 performance. It was clearly one of the best-ever in the Tour. But a lot of us will remember the class Landis showed not just on that day, but on the evening after Stage 16. Landis didn\'t need to sit around and explain himself that night, but he called an impromtu press conference and started it with:
\"First of all, I want you to now believe me when I say I respect you guys, because this is the last thing in the world I want to do. Anyway, what are the questions? I think I can guess, but let\'s hear it.\"
And he was smiling. '),(3707,76,'2006-07-23 15:55:30','One special visitor on the Champs','One visitor on the Champs Elysees today was here 17 years ago and stood on top of the podium. Nope Greg LeMond isn\'t here, but his Geoffrey has made the trip. Remember that photo? If not, we\'ve posted it below.'),(3708,76,'2006-07-23 16:00:31','With 89km to go','The \"mellowton\" is cruising at a very relaxed pace. '),(3709,76,'2006-07-23 16:07:09','Heading to the day\'s second','climb of the day at 72km. The peloton is coursing its way toward Mont Valerien. It\'s the last rated climb of the 2006 Tour de France, which will not have any impact on the the KOM standings. The day\'s first intermediate sprint comes up at km 92.'),(3710,76,'2006-07-23 16:18:38','Floyd Landis Photos?','Okay folks, John Wardin - the old director of the Mercury team - saw our Floyd-the-mountain-bike-dude photo has sent us some of his own pictures from Landis\'s appearance at the Tour de l\'Avenir. We\'ll post those and scrounge our own files for more from Landis\'s years on the bike. Dig through your own files and send us pic\'s from Landis\'s career. The older and more embarrassing the better.'),(3711,76,'2006-07-23 16:25:45','The other Americans','Our guy Jason Sumner spoke with George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer and Christian Vande Velde today. Both Leipheimer and Vande Velde said they continue to have high hopes for their own future Tours. Hincapie, meanwhile, said he loves the Tour, but plans to discuss his future with his family, perhaps hinting that it\'s time for his retirement. We sure hope not. He\'s been a great presence in the professional peloton.'),(3712,76,'2006-07-23 16:28:43','Crossing the Seine','The peloton is in the city center and heading to the first intermediate sprint of the day.'),(3713,76,'2006-07-23 16:35:26','With 68km remaining','The pace is moderate, but is bound to pick up as the race closes in on the Champs Elysees.'),(3714,76,'2006-07-23 16:42:00','SPRINT!','Okay.... it wasn\'t a sprint. Robbie McEwen gets a big leadout from the Tour\'s lantern rouge Wim Vansevenant and then the two sit up. McEwen then pushes his guy across the line.... letting him pick up six seconds. '),(3715,76,'2006-07-23 16:51:43','With 55km to go','And the peloton is nearing the finishing circuit on the Champs Elysees... a beautiful part of a beautiful city.'),(3716,76,'2006-07-23 16:54:24','And the race enters the','Champs Elysees with Phonak leading the way for the largely ceremonial entry, before the real race for the stage win begins.'),(3717,76,'2006-07-23 16:57:02','Eki','Forty years old - the oldest man in the field - is given the honor instead. Landis allows Eki to lead the peloton onto the Champs. What a nice gesture for an old teammate. This may be the Discovery man\'s last tour.'),(3718,76,'2006-07-23 16:58:52','Ekimov slips back into the peloton','The Phonaks are now in charge of the field. It looks like Hushovd from Credit Agricole has flatted.'),(3719,76,'2006-07-23 16:59:31','First attack','Walter Beneteau has given it a dig, but he\'s quickly swept up.'),(3720,76,'2006-07-23 17:01:04','Boy this pace','Is in stark contrast with the start. We have a total of eight trips around the 6.5km loop on the Champs. Euskaltel\'s Isasi is now trying his luck.'),(3721,76,'2006-07-23 17:02:59','Correction','That\'s not Isasi, it\'s his Euskaltel teammate Aitor Hernandez. He has a bit of a gap.'),(3722,76,'2006-07-23 17:04:10','45km to go','The pace is really high... sort of like horses tend to pick up the pace when they near the barn after a really long ride.'),(3723,76,'2006-07-23 17:05:16','Hernandez caught','And the attacks continue.'),(3724,76,'2006-07-23 17:10:23','Just an aside','As you recall, Floyd Landis rode on the old Mercury team herein the U.S. His old teammate Scot Moninger won the Bob Cook Memorial hill climb on Mt. Evans in Colorado, a 28-mile climb from Idaho Springs, Colorado to above the 14,000 foot mark. Remarkably, the man who finished second was 50-year-old Ned Overend, who lost by just five seconds. Wow.'),(3725,76,'2006-07-23 17:11:50','Thomas Voeckler','and Fabian Wegmann are on the attack. They have been joined by Jens Voigt'),(3726,76,'2006-07-23 17:12:49','Cunego','With the peloton flying at 50kph, Cunego flats and he is now chasing. He has to finish within 36 seconds of Marcus Fothen or he\'ll lose the White Jersey.'),(3727,76,'2006-07-23 17:13:36','Up front','The escapees are caught... but attacks are continuing.'),(3728,76,'2006-07-23 17:14:47','Whew','Cunego reconnects. He\'s turning into quite the time trialist!'),(3729,76,'2006-07-23 17:15:30','Voigt still on the attack','Voigt is one hard-core character.'),(3730,76,'2006-07-23 17:16:51','Voigt','has Moises Duenas Nevado with him... Popovych is up there, too. '),(3731,76,'2006-07-23 17:18:31','We see 14 riders','in the lead group. Chris Horner and Vansummerenare from Davitamon are there hoping to muddle things up, in hopes of seeing McEwen take the stage.'),(3732,76,'2006-07-23 17:18:00','These giys are getting a gap...','There are 11 riders up front with three riders closing in... but the gap back to the main field is 18 seconds.'),(3733,76,'2006-07-23 17:22:00','The break','Popovych (Discovery), Voight (CSC), Astarloza (Ag2r), Horner and Vansummeren (Davitamon) Garcia Acosta and Portal (Caisse d\'Epargne), Mengin (FDJ) Fedrigo (Bouygues), Knees (Milram), Duenas Nevado (Agributel)
Chasing at 14 seconds are Credit Agricole\'s Botcharov, Da Cruz (FDJ) and Albasini (Liquigas). The peloton is now at 30 seconds.'),(3734,76,'2006-07-23 17:25:53','It\'s a group of 15 up front','The peloton is at 26 seconds. The three chasers caught on. David Millar is in the lead group.'),(3735,76,'2006-07-23 17:26:43','26km to go','The 15 men have caused a panic in the main field and the gap is coming down... the leaders are 15 seconds ahead.\r\n'),(3736,76,'2006-07-23 17:28:06','Gilbert','Attacks out of the lead group. Horner chases... he\'s pulled back. The peloton is closing under the concerted efforts of Cofidis and Liquigas.'),(3737,76,'2006-07-23 17:29:12','Gilbert and Horner','Actually have a bit of a gap... Horner, who is interested in working for McEwen, is not working.'),(3738,76,'2006-07-23 17:30:45','Gilbert and Horner','Are five seconds ahead of the Voight group. The peloton is just 13 seconds behind the original break.'),(3739,76,'2006-07-23 17:31:51','21 km remaining','The two leaders have been pulled pack and the break has 14 seconds on the main field.\r\n'),(3740,76,'2006-07-23 17:34:12','With 20km to go','The Popovych-Millar-Voigt group are just ahead of the main field. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) has flatted... and has no support? The poor guy is waiting for a wheel.'),(3741,76,'2006-07-23 17:35:10','Lang is chasing','That poor guy. He may have to finish on his own. The lead group has come apart. Six riders with Millar driving at the front.'),(3742,76,'2006-07-23 17:37:07','','Up front now are Astarloza, Chris Horner, Garcia Acosta, Charteau, Millar and Mengin. The rest of the break are being pulled back.'),(3743,76,'2006-07-23 17:37:40','With 16.5km to go','The gap to the leaders is just 8 seconds.'),(3744,76,'2006-07-23 17:38:20','Cofidis','Is doing all of the chase work in the main field and the gap is down to five seconds.'),(3745,76,'2006-07-23 17:39:46','Astarloza','From Ag2r has attacked out of the lead group... they caught him and it looks like the peloton is about to pull the bunch back.'),(3746,76,'2006-07-23 17:40:16','All together now','The Liquigas and Cofidis teams are driving hard with 2 laps to go.'),(3747,76,'2006-07-23 17:41:08','Contest','You have just a bit of time to enter our daily contest. We cut you off at 10km-to-go'),(3748,76,'2006-07-23 17:42:32','Vansummeren','is doing his best to keep the pace high. He wants to minimize the opportunities for anyone to sneak off, so that McEwen can take a sprint win.'),(3749,76,'2006-07-23 17:43:50','10km to go','The stage - and the Tour - are 10km from the finish. No more entries folks.'),(3750,76,'2006-07-23 17:44:29','Vasseur','Cedric Vasseur (Quick Step) tries a dig. He\'s caught\r\n'),(3751,76,'2006-07-23 17:46:14','Landis tucked in there nicely','Landis and the Phonaks are staying near the front as the peloton finishes up the penultimate lap.'),(3752,76,'2006-07-23 17:47:34','Ding Ding Ding','Bell lap.'),(3753,76,'2006-07-23 17:48:17','The speed','is really high as the peloton is flying down through the final lap.'),(3754,76,'2006-07-23 17:48:42','Six km to go','Voigt tries again!'),(3755,76,'2006-07-23 17:49:11','He\'s caught,','but the German is a great addition to a bike race, ain\'t he?'),(3756,76,'2006-07-23 17:49:27','Discovery moving up','with five kilometers to go.'),(3757,76,'2006-07-23 17:50:26','Davitamon\'s','Vansummeren is driving hard with four km to go... at 70kph!'),(3758,76,'2006-07-23 17:51:08','With three kilometers to go','Landis is in the safe zone. Even if he has a mechanical or a crash, he gets the win.'),(3759,76,'2006-07-23 17:51:33','Flecha attacks','Juan Antonio Flecha flies ahead'),(3760,76,'2006-07-23 17:52:05','Eki!','Ekimov tries to go....'),(3761,76,'2006-07-23 17:52:51','Eki is pushing the pace','He\'s not getting a huge gap... and now Popo and Hincapie are going.'),(3762,76,'2006-07-23 17:53:16','One kilometer to go...','Popovych has cracked...'),(3763,76,'2006-07-23 17:53:31','Wow!','the speed is incredible to go'),(3764,76,'2006-07-23 17:53:48','McEwen is in position',''),(3765,76,'2006-07-23 17:54:34','McEwen goes too soon!','Hushovd beats him at the line! Floyd Landis wins the Tour de France'),(3766,76,'2006-07-23 17:56:18','Thor Hushovd\'s TdF Bookends','Credit Agricole\'s Thor Hushovd wins the prologue and then he wins the final stage of the Tour de France'),(3767,76,'2006-07-23 18:01:48','Floyd Landis becomes the third American winner of the Tour','twenty years after Greg LeMond\'s first victory another American wins the Tour. The U.S. has 11 wins in 21 editions of le Tour:
Greg LeMond - 1986, \'89 and \'90
Lance Armstrong - 1999 - 2005
Floyd Landis - 2006'),(3768,76,'2006-07-23 18:08:18','Stage Results','1. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole
\r\n2. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:00
\r\n3. Stuart O’Grady (Aus), CSC, 00:00
\r\n4. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:00
\r\n5. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:00
\r\n6. Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:00
\r\n7. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:00
\r\n8. Anthony Geslin (F), Bouygues Telecom, 00:00
\r\n9. Alessandro Ballan (I), Lampre, 00:00
\r\n10. Peter Wrolich (A), Gerolsteiner, 00:00
\r\n'),(3769,76,'2006-07-23 18:10:22','The final top 15','This is cool:1. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak
\r\n2. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 00:57
\r\n3. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:29
\r\n4. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 03:13
\r\n5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 05:08
\r\n6. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 07:06
\r\n7. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 08:41
\r\n8. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 09:37
\r\n9. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 12:05
\r\n10. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 15:07
\r\n11. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 17:46
\r\n12. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 19:19
\r\n13. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, 19:22
\r\n14. Michael Boogerd (Nl), Rabobank, 19:46
\r\n15. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 19:57
'),(3770,76,'2006-07-12 18:28:00','Thank you','Thank you folks for tuning in this year. It\'s been a spectacular Tour de France and your kind notes, suggestions and offers of help throughout have made this personally enjoyable for the entire crew at VeloNews.com. From John Wilcockson, Neal Rogers, Andy Hood, Jason Sumner, Kip Mikler, Charles Pelkey, Patrick O\'Grady, Rupert Guinness, Andy Pemberton, Stephen Price and Brian Patrick, we send a big THANK YOU to all of our readers and see you again in September for the Vuelta a Espana.'),(3772,82,'2006-08-26 18:30:00','Good day and welcome ...','...VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 2006 Vuelta a España. It\'s a real pleasure to be back with you and spending the next three weeks covering what will most certainly be a most interesting of grand tours.
Vuelta organizers - always known for their laid-back approach to racing - also try to throw a curve ball into the mix no-and-then and today is no different.
Today\'s opening stage involves a short - very short - Team Time Trial, forcing the Vuelta\'s nine-man teams to organize their efforts quickly and rocket through the pan-flat course along the water front at Málaga.
That will make for an interesting start to what we can expect for the weeks to come:
Stage 1, Aug. 26
Málaga-Málaga (TTT), 7.2km – Interesting twist on team time trial discipline, short and sweet
Stage 2, Aug. 27
Málaga to Córdoba, 167km – Flat stage across the heat of the Andalusian plain
Stage 3, Aug. 28
Córdoba to Almendralejo, 220km – Longest stage pushing north
Stage 4, Aug. 29
Almendralejo to Cáceres, 142km – Transition stages pushes Vuelta into Extremadura
Stage 5, Aug. 30
Plasencia to Estación de Esquà La Covatilla, 178km – First summit finish always comes early in Vuelta
Stage 6, Aug. 31
Zamora to León, 155km – Sprinters have another chance ahead of more mountains
Stage 7, Sept 1
León to Alto de El Morredero, 148km – Rough roads will make this summit finish even tougher
Stage 8 - September 2
Ponferrada to Lugo, 173km – Vuelta dips into Galicia, site of 2007 start
Stage 9 - September 3
A Fonsagrada to Alto de La Cobertoria, 206km – New climb near the fearsome steeps of the Angliru
Rest Day No. 1 - September 4
Stage 10 - September 5
Avilés to Museo de Altamira, 190km – Hilly stage along Asturian coast cannot be overlooked
Stage 11 - September 6
Torrelavega (Velódromo Oscar Freire) to Burgos, 165km – Climbs over Cantabrian mountain back onto central meseta
Stage 12 - September 7
Aranda de Duero to Guadalajara, 162km – Transition stage ideal for breakaways
Stage 13 - September 8
Guadalajara to Cuenca, 170km – Finish-line climb will produce sparks
Stage 14 - September 9
Cuenca-Cuenca (ITT), 33km – Longest TT might not be long enough for specialists to make up ground
Stage 15 - September 10
Motilla del Palacar to FactorÃa Ford (Almussafes), 175km – Watch out for winds on flat transition stage
Rest Day No. 2 - September 11
Transfer
Stage 16 - September 12
AlmerÃa to Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto, 145km – Highest point of 2006 Vuelta
Stage 17 - September 13
Adra to Granada, 167km – Hilly stage past white-washed Andalusian villages
Stage 18 - September 14
Granada to Sierra de la Pandera, 153km – Steep mountain climb above Jaén
Stage 19 - September 15
Jaén to Ciudad Real, 195km – Transition stage with another danger of high winds
Stage 20 - September 16
Rivas Futura to Rivas Vaciamadrid (ITT), 28km – Decisive if podium isn’t decided yet
Stage 21 - September 17
Madrid-Madrid, 150km – Spain’s capital shuts down to host Vuelta finale
The Vuelta in total
3129.2km, 21 stages, two rest days, 32 rated climbs, five summit finishes, two individual time trials and one team time trial.'),(3773,82,'2006-08-26 18:41:37','Start order','Riders from the 21 teams competing in this Vuelta are now warming up around the start area for today\'s very short 7.2km time trial. The start is still some time off, with the first team leaving the gate at 12 after 7:00. Here is the order in which the teams will be leaving the start house:
1. Relax Gam (Sp) 7:12 p.m.
\r\n2. Lampre (I) 7:16 p.m.
\r\n3. Davitamon (B) 7:20 p.m.
\r\n4. Phonak (Swi) 7:24 p.m.
\r\n5. Francaise des Jeux (F) 7:28 p.m.
\r\n6. Credit Agricole (F) 7:32 p.m.
\r\n7. T. Mobile (G) 7:36 p.m.
\r\n8. Bouygues (F) 7:40 p.m.
\r\n9. Liquigas (I) 7:44 p.m.
\r\n10. Ag2r (F) 7:48 p.m.
\r\n11. Cofidis (F) 7:52 p.m.
\r\n12. Milram (I) 7:56 p.m.
\r\n13. Quick Step (B) 8:00 p.m.
\r\n14. Gerolsteiner (G) 8:04 p.m.
\r\n15. Saunier Duval (Sp) 8:08 p.m.
\r\n16. Euskaltel Euskadi (Sp) 8:12 p.m.
\r\n17. Discovery (USA) 8:16 p.m.
\r\n18. Astana (Kz) 8:20 p.m.
\r\n19. Illes Balears (Sp) 8:24 p.m.
\r\n20. CSC (Dk) 8:28 p.m.
\r\n21. Rabobank (Nl) 8:32 p.m.
\r\n'),(3774,82,'2006-08-26 19:01:59','A unique start','Folks, take a moment to scroll down and see Andy Hood\'s photos from today\'s start. Especially of note is the unique stage start in Malaga\'s big sports stadium - a healthy crowd was already on hand an hour before start and more cars were seen pouring in for the free show.
Riders start nine-abreast on a start ramp and roll down part of an athletics track before rolling out of the stadium turning into the wind for about 500m then left along the beach. '),(3775,82,'2006-08-26 19:06:07','Today\'s weather','There is a brisk on-shore breeze, which should result mostly in cross-winds as the route hugs the Mediterranean from the soccer stadium to the old port.'),(3776,82,'2006-08-26 19:12:00','The 2006 Vuelta is underway!','The Spanish continental Relax Gam team is now on route.'),(3777,82,'2006-08-26 19:18:49','Contest Reminder!','By the way folks, be sure to hit our Daily Contest Button on top of the Live Update ticker. We\'re giving away the new 2007 Calendar featuring the art work of VeloNews\'s own David Brinton, who has to be one of our personal favorites. The man is a real talent.
Anyway, when you enter today, you have to have three pieces of information in your SUBJECT line. Which team will win, who on that team will cross the line first (so who will get the leaders\' jersey) and what the winning time will be.
Good Luck!'),(3778,82,'2006-08-26 19:20:22','No one wants to be tagged as the fav\'','No one seemed to want to be the favorite in today\'s weird little TTT: Discovery Channel\'s Johan Bruyneel said CSC was the favorite while the CSC crew said Astana could pull off a surprise. Since we don\'t speak Russian or Kazakh, we couldn\'t get an answer out of Vino\'s troops ... '),(3779,82,'2006-08-26 19:28:19','Remember the last time...','... the Vuelta started with a TTT? The 2004 Vuelta kicked off with a 27.7km TTT, which landed Floyd Landis in the leader\'s jersey. He eventually lost it to Roberto Heras, who went on to win his third Vuelta. The race was also marked by the departure of one Tyler Hamilton, who was later reported to be positive for blood doping. How unfortunate that all three men have since had their lives so disrupted... it\'s sad for cycling. We hope that in the future, none of these great races is disrupted by positive doping tests. We\'d hope riders wise up and figure out that at some point the costs of cheating far exceed the benefits. Okay, you may say I\'m a dreamer, but I\'m...\r\n'),(3780,82,'2006-08-26 19:44:37','Bouygues on route','Sorry we aren\'t getting times for the finishing squads, we\'ll get those ASAP.\r\n'),(3781,82,'2006-08-26 19:47:00','Current Top Five','1. T-Mobile, at 7:47\r\n2. Credit Agricole 0:02\r\n3. Lampre at 0:10\r\n4. Davitamon at 0:14\r\n5. Phonak, at 0:16'),(3782,82,'2006-08-26 19:51:08','Ag2r on route','With Cyril Dessell leading the way, the Ag2r team is on route'),(3783,82,'2006-08-26 19:53:48','Bouygues Telecom','comes in at 8:00 flat.'),(3784,82,'2006-08-26 19:54:35','With big Maggy','at the front, the Liquigas drives across the line at 7:49 and good enough for third place.'),(3785,82,'2006-08-26 19:56:52','Goofy as the concept might be','this super-short TTT is pretty cool. It\'s terrific to see teams working to form up so quickly.'),(3786,82,'2006-08-26 19:59:11','Milram is on deck','and it reminds us to mention another thing we like about the Vuelta... they don\'t use grumpy old men in UCI officials\' uniforms to hold the riders at the start. From our perspective they went out and hired super models for the job here in Spain.'),(3787,82,'2006-08-26 19:59:00','Petacchi on route!','With Milram on the road, that means that Petacchi is back and riding another grand tour. He\'s been off the bike since he broke his knee cap in the Giro.'),(3788,82,'2006-08-26 20:01:06','Contest Reminder!','Don\'t forget to put in your bets.'),(3789,82,'2006-08-26 20:06:00','Milram','Milram is in, with a 7:44! The German/Italian squad is in with the best time of the day. The team almost didn\'t pull it off, as three of its fastest charged across the line with a gap... but the official team time is taken on the fifth rider, remember?'),(3790,82,'2006-08-26 20:09:11','Davide Rebellin','Won\'t get the leader\'s jersey today, that\'s for sure. He hit the deck and had to make a bike switch. He\'ll cruise in, but will have a pretty poor time in relation to the rest of the team.'),(3791,82,'2006-08-26 20:10:20','Quick Step comes through','at 7:51.'),(3792,82,'2006-08-26 20:10:40','Saunier Duval','This team could do well today.'),(3793,82,'2006-08-26 20:15:15','Euskaltel','... is on the road'),(3794,82,'2006-08-26 20:17:09','Gerolsteiner','... finishes sixth in 7:55 (minus Rebellin, who will ride it in solo).'),(3795,82,'2006-08-26 20:18:42','Saunier Duval','... finishes in 7:49, third best so far'),(3796,82,'2006-08-26 20:19:00','Discovery','... is on the course.'),(3797,82,'2006-08-26 20:21:49','Rollin\' along','The Disco\' boys are scooting along nicely. We\'ve always liked the TTT ... it\'s something of a ballet on bikes.'),(3798,82,'2006-08-26 20:22:45','Euskaltel','... crosses in seventh spot, 7:54.'),(3799,82,'2006-08-26 20:25:03','Astana hits the circuit','... and better them than us. This course has more twists and turns than a paperback mystery.'),(3800,82,'2006-08-26 20:26:48','Here\'s Discovery','. . . crossing in 7:45, second fastest so far.'),(3801,82,'2006-08-26 20:27:09','Caisse d\'Epargne','... is off and running.'),(3802,82,'2006-08-26 20:29:59','If Milram\'s time holds ...','.... Erik Zabel will be in the leader\'s jersey, as he crossed the line first.'),(3803,82,'2006-08-26 20:30:49','Astana brings it in','... fourth fastest at 7:48.'),(3804,82,'2006-08-26 20:31:19','CSC','... is on the road and rollin\'.'),(3805,82,'2006-08-26 20:33:39','Caisse d\'Epargne','Is flying in to the finish'),(3806,82,'2006-08-26 20:34:35','Caisse d\'Epargne now leads','They appear to have put Garcia-Acosta in the front.'),(3807,82,'2006-08-26 20:35:15','The final team is on the road','The Rabobank squad is on the road.'),(3808,82,'2006-08-26 20:35:49','CSC is doing nicely','We may see another change in leadership.'),(3809,82,'2006-08-26 20:37:58','Menchov','Defending champion, Denis Menchov, has opted not to wear the gold jersey today. He\'s in his Rabo\' kit. He did receive the jersey in a special ceremony this year, an experience he was denied last year, since the race was apparently won by Roberto Heras.'),(3810,82,'2006-08-26 20:38:25','CSC!','CSC comes in with a time of 7:36. Sastre may be wearing Gold tonight.'),(3811,82,'2006-08-26 20:43:00','Rabobank finishes','With a time of 7:54, the 12th fastest of the day, so CSC wins the day, with a time of 7:36, followed by Caisse d\'Epargne at 7 seconds, Milram in third at 8 seconds and Discovery in fourth at 9 seconds.'),(3812,82,'2006-08-26 20:46:22','It\'s official','Sastre is in gold with a time of 7:36, with his eight teammates rounding out the top nine.'),(3813,82,'2006-08-26 20:47:00','Today\'s contest','Congratulations to Alex Lockhart, who called it all and called it within one second. Good work.
Be sure to check in with us again tomorrow - and every day throughout the Vuelta - starting at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time in the United States.'),(3814,83,'2006-08-27 13:48:00','Good day and welcome ...','...to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the second stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Esapana, a 176 kilometer race from Malaga to Cordoba.
The opening 50km of the day\'s route include to Category 3 climbs, the Alto de Casabermeja at 20km and the Puerto de Las Pedrizas ten km later.
At the finish, we can expect a mass gallop to the line with a closing stretch that features a wide, 300-meter straightaway to the line. The peloton will be hitting that at speed, too, since that closing stretch comes after a slight downhill of about half-a-kilometer.'),(3815,83,'2006-08-27 13:59:31','It\'s been a pretty uneventful day','in the peloton. After three hours of racing, we have a lone escapee - Mario de Sarraga (Relax-Gam) - who has been up the road since the fifth kilometer. At 125km, de Sarraga has an advantage of 3:50, which doesn\'t look good, given that the average pace today has been under 40kph. '),(3816,83,'2006-08-27 14:02:37','It\'s a warm day','today in Spain. The weather was actually quite pleasant - in the mid-70s - near the coast in Malaga, but as the route winds its way to the finish, the temperatures are above 90 at the finish.'),(3817,83,'2006-08-27 14:04:32','Contest Reminder','Go hit the Daily Contest on the top of the page, today. The odds are good that we\'ll see a sprint today... and there is some real horsepower in the field, including Maggy Backstedt, Thor Hushovd and none other than Robbie - the rocket - McEwen in the mix.'),(3818,83,'2006-08-27 14:08:08','De Sarraga losing time','He\'s just 2:30 ahead of the main field. He\'s at 135 km. At 59km he had 12:45 on the field. He\'s really beginning to fade. Milram, Cofidis, Lotto are all lending a hand in the \"chase,\" which has been pretty mellow all day. The Relax rider really hasn\'t triggered a sense of panic in the main field.'),(3819,83,'2006-08-27 14:13:57','De Sarraga','Gets his third intermediate sprint of the day. He\'s bound to be caught, but he\'s managed to get a few Euros for his efforts today. At 138km covered, we have just 38km to go, so we\'ll be seeing a pretty early finish today... easily before 3:15 in the afternoon. Most grand tours try to get the day\'s racing finished up at around five.'),(3820,83,'2006-08-27 14:14:00','Backstedt and Hushovd','snag the remaining points at the sprint mark.'),(3821,83,'2006-08-27 14:18:22','The peloton','is ticking along nicely on wide open roads in one of the more empty portions of Spain. This will not bode well for de Sarraga who is likely to be caught.'),(3822,83,'2006-08-27 14:20:09','Small attack from the field','Cofidis\'s Thierry Marichal and Benoit Joachim (Discovery) have jumped out of the field in hopes of bridging up to de Sarraga.'),(3823,83,'2006-08-27 14:21:14','De Sarraga','has company. He\'s been on his own for 135km, so he\'ll welcome the company, if he can stay with these guys.'),(3824,83,'2006-08-27 14:23:10','De Sarraga','Is hanging on, but this dude looks spent. He just looked into the TV camera and shook his head... apparently the pace now is a bit high for him now.'),(3825,83,'2006-08-27 14:24:05','The peloton','doesn\'t seem too worried about the three escapees.'),(3826,83,'2006-08-27 14:26:46','News from Germany','Jan Ullrich has apparently accepted his dismissal by T-Mobile following doping accusations prior to this year\'s Tour de France and will not seek financial compensation from the German team, according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine.
Former Olympic champion and Tour de France winner Ullrich was sacked by T-Mobile after a Spanish police investigation offered evidence that the German rider was given EPO and other banned substances by a Madrid-based sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
The 32-year-old Ullrich denies the doping allegations but has reportedly decided not to go to court for financial compensation.
Ullrich, earning a reported 2.5 million euros a year, was contracted with T-Mobile until the end of the season, but the paychecks stopped in July. \r\n'),(3827,83,'2006-08-27 14:28:34','With 27km to go','The three escapees are ticking along at a nice pace. '),(3828,83,'2006-08-27 14:31:14','POP!','De Sarraga could hold on. With 25km to go, Thierry Marichal and Benoit Joachim will try to hold off the peloton. They now have 1:00 on the main field.
Just a note about today\'s relatively early finish. It, too, is being driven by television concerns. There\'s an F-1 race coming up on TV and they don\'t want to compete with that.'),(3829,83,'2006-08-27 14:33:52','Thierry Marichal and Benoit Joachim','Are holding their 1:00 lead. De Sarraga, meanwhile, is back in the field.'),(3830,83,'2006-08-27 14:36:01','Chase picking up','As the two leaders near the 20km to go mark, the gap is coming down and they only have 35 seconds on the field. If we see a sprint, we get to see the first test of Petacchi\'s form. He says he\'s here to lead-out for Erik Zabel.'),(3831,83,'2006-08-27 14:37:03','The pace is high','After a maudlin tempo today, the peloton is picking up, with the peloton hitting nearly 60kph.'),(3832,83,'2006-08-27 14:41:31','With 15km to go','The two men off of the front are holding on to a 20-second lead. Milram (for Zabel and/or Petacchi), Credit Agricole (for Thor Hushovd) and Lotto (for McEwen) are up front in the peloton.'),(3833,83,'2006-08-27 14:47:03','Caught','With 10km to go, the race is zooming into the outskirts of Cordoba.'),(3834,83,'2006-08-27 14:48:21','The peloton is nine km from the finish.',''),(3835,83,'2006-08-27 14:49:53','With 8km to go','The pace is high and there is no one in clear control of the field.'),(3836,83,'2006-08-27 14:51:22','Up front','With about 5km to go, we see a mix of Davitamon-Lotto, Lampre, Astana, Cofidis and Milram up there.'),(3837,83,'2006-08-27 14:52:37','Rocketing into town','The peloton is kicking it in at 60kph and the field is in single-file behind the combined efforts of Lampre and Milram. Ahead we have a slight down hill before the final straight.'),(3838,83,'2006-08-27 14:54:11','Stretched out','With 4km to go, the peloton is still stretched out. We see Chris Horner up front, taking a big pull.'),(3839,83,'2006-08-27 14:54:49','O\'Grady is up there','with 3km to go. He may be aiming for a stage win, protecting the jersey for CSC.'),(3840,83,'2006-08-27 14:55:26','Still no one in control','There is a big mix up front with no team playing a dominant role.'),(3841,83,'2006-08-27 14:56:13','With 2km to go','Saunier Duval takes over... Sastre has flatted. '),(3842,83,'2006-08-27 14:56:57','Man this is FAST!','Sastre is back on the bike... and his mechanical occured in the final three km to go, so he\'s cool'),(3843,83,'2006-08-27 14:57:12','Final kilometer,','Milram takes over'),(3844,83,'2006-08-27 14:57:37','Milram is working for Zabel','Here comes Robbie!.... '),(3845,83,'2006-08-27 14:58:48','Bettini!!!!!!!','Out of no where, the reigning Italian and Olympic champion pops out of the field and drag races McEwen to the line and beats him!'),(3846,83,'2006-08-27 15:01:08','Preliminary results','1. Bettini
\r\n2. Hushovd
\r\n3. Paolini
\r\n4. McEwen
McEwen clearly sat up when it became clear he wasn\'t going to win it.'),(3847,83,'2006-08-27 15:02:33','Hushovd','It looks like Thor Hushovd - who garnered bonus seconds out on the road and at the finish - is the new leader of the Vuelta.'),(3848,83,'2006-08-27 15:06:25','No contest winner today','You guys were just as surprised as we were by Bettini\'s win today. While it really shouldn\'t come as a shock, he wasn\'t on our list, either.
We\'ll double-up on our prize list tomorrow.
Be sure to check in with VeloNews.com at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time in the U.S. to follow developments in Stage 3. Thanks for tuning in today, folks.'),(3849,84,'2006-08-28 14:00:58','Good day and welcome ...','To VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the third stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana, a 220 kilometer race from Córdoba to Almendralejo.
Today\'s stage covers a long stretch of hilly terrain, which culminates in a gradual drop to the finish town of Almendralejo. There is a little bit of a kicker at the end, but this looks like another day for the sprinters, just like yesterday. '),(3850,84,'2006-08-28 14:06:00','All 189 riders','have started today, as the peloton rolled out of Cordoba at just a bit after noon today. The day quickly offered up a pair of Category 3 climbs in the opening 30km - the Alto de Villaviciosa (at 6km) and the Puerto del Aire (at 30km).
Relax\'s Mario de Sarraga did his best to grab top points on the first climb, to protect the KOM jersey he earned in his long solo break yesterday.
With three men escaping off the front after the first climb, de Sarraga couldn\'t do the same on the Alto del Aire at 30km, but still holds a healthy 11-point KOM lead over Jose Garrido Lima (Quick-Step).'),(3851,84,'2006-08-28 14:10:00','The escape','Up front, right now we have a trio of Herve\' Duclos Lassalle (Cofidis), Enrico Franzoi (Lampre) and David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) covering long lonely roads under oppressive heat just over 100 degrees. At Km 80, they marked an advantage of slightly more than six minutes over the main field, which is about what they\'ve had for the past 15km.\r\n'),(3852,84,'2006-08-28 14:14:06','The vampires','The UCI blood testers showed up this morning at 7:00 to visit the hotel rooms of riders on Caisse d\'Epargne, Phonak, Relax-Gam, Quick Step and Liquigas.
No one rang the bell on the dopo-meter, so everyone is good to go today.'),(3853,84,'2006-08-28 14:17:31','Daily Contest','Are these three going to stay off the front? Will they be caught only to open a window for an opportunist? Will it come down to a field sprint? Heck, we don\'t know. Like you, we can only guess.
If you think you can come up with a good guess and let us know who you think will win today\'s stage, look on top of the page, and hit the Daily Contest button. You are limited to one entry per day. Entries are not accepted after the 10-kilometers-to-go mark. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line of your e-mail (it makes sorting through a few thousand entries so much easier).'),(3854,84,'2006-08-28 14:20:00','Our three escapees','It\'s hot, with no shade and these three have a long way to go. They are holding on to a lead hovering between six and seven minutes, but the pace is quite slow today on this, the longest stage of the 2006 Vuelta. The peloton has averaged just 36.5kph for the past two hours.\r\n'),(3855,84,'2006-08-28 14:27:27','Our guy Andrew','Had a bit of trouble yesterday. Normally, the drill for the crew covering these big tours is to visit the start, knock off a few interviews, grab a bit of free food and then drive the course and make it to the press room at the finish, where you can watch the video feed and work on your story. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood found himself stuck yesterday, though. He made what he called \"a rookie mistake\" and got caught behind the peloton... spending most of the day ticking along in his car at 40kph. There was no short-cut, so he almost missed the finish, but did manage to sneak past and get some post-race interviews and hammer out his story. We\'re making him buy the Sangria tonight.'),(3856,84,'2006-08-28 14:31:28','Not much to report','The peloton has clearly decided to make this an easy day in the saddle, as the pace indicates. Can you blame them? It\'s hot out there (100+), although it is a dry heat. It\'s still miserable on a day when you need to cover 220k.
In the mean time, if you have comments, questions, gripes or anything, drop us a line and we\'ll try to address a few as we continue with our coverage today.'),(3857,84,'2006-08-28 14:41:00','The gap is holding.','The peloton is letting those three guys bake out there as the leaders approach the 90km mark. If we were bettin\' men, we\'d have to say they will be reeled in over the remaining 130km in today\'s stage.'),(3858,84,'2006-08-28 14:48:00','Credit Agricole','is doing the bulk of the work up front today, but their efforts are far from frantic. They will do their best to set their guy Hushovd up for a stage win and, of course, to protect his yellow jersey. Hushovd holds the distinction of wearing the leader\'s jersey in two grand tours this year. '),(3859,84,'2006-08-28 14:56:37','The escapees','Our latest time check gives the three men off the front an advantage approaching 8:00. The pace is still quite moderate as the heat makes everyone in the field wary of putting out too much of an effort.'),(3860,84,'2006-08-28 15:02:03','At 110km','The gap is coming down a bit, as the peloton finished lunch and the race crosses the half-way mark.'),(3861,84,'2006-08-28 15:09:34','Rollin\', rollin\', rollin\'','Hour two of racing slid by at about 36.5 km/h (22.7 mph).'),(3862,84,'2006-08-28 15:13:10','How hot is it?','It was so hot, most of the riders stayed in their team buses until just before the start of today\'s stage instead of stepping out to chat with the fans (and the press). Our man Andrew Hood says it\'s something like 104 degrees Fahrenheit on the road ... that\'ll make the post-stage sangria taste awfully good.'),(3863,84,'2006-08-28 15:30:13','A helping hand','Milram has joined Crédit Agricole up front.'),(3864,84,'2006-08-28 15:32:42','More racing on tap','It\'s gonna be a busy week ... the Tour of Britain kicks off Tuesday, headlined by Quick Step\'s Tom Boonen, who will be looking to fine-tune his form for the world road championships. Bangers and mash, anyone?'),(3865,84,'2006-08-28 15:37:52','Gap coming down','... albeit gradually: Our leading trio has a margin of 6:30 over the peloton, led by Milram and Crédit Agricole.'),(3866,84,'2006-08-28 15:43:06','Daily Contest','Don\'t forget to send in your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. Hit the Daily Contest button at the top of the page. One entry per day, please, and be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line. And as always, no entries will be accepted after 10km to go.'),(3867,84,'2006-08-28 15:48:50','With some 91km to go . . .','. . . Astana\'s Carlos Barreda flats, but manages to rejoin the bunch without difficulty. '),(3868,84,'2006-08-28 15:51:09','The break plugs along','Our leaders – David de la Fuente (Saunier-Duval-Prodit), Hervé Duclos-Lassale (Cofidis) and Enrico Franzoi (Lampre-Fondital) – are holding onto six minutes and change up front.'),(3869,84,'2006-08-28 15:58:00','Golden boy','Race leader Thor Hushovd stands to stretch his legs a bit, tucked away neatly in the peloton.'),(3870,84,'2006-08-28 16:02:44','The chase continues','Milram and Crédit Agricole continue their work on the front of the bunch as the three leaders share the work of staying away. De la Fuente is carrying a tad more of the load than his pals, getting out of the saddle from time to time.'),(3871,84,'2006-08-28 16:09:26','The lead holds steady','. . . at 6:20 or thereabouts as the break burns along through the rolling Spanish plains. And we do mean \"burns.\" It ain\'t getting any cooler out there, folks.'),(3872,84,'2006-08-28 16:13:06','Did we speak too soon?','Seems the gap has dipped a bit with 67km remaining, to just over six minutes. Milram and Crédit Agricole have amped it up a notch. So has the sun ... we\'re looking at 42C, or 107F. Ouch. Pass the sunblock, please.'),(3873,84,'2006-08-28 16:19:45','Agua fria','The leaders are pounding down the water as they grind across the plains. This is some country here, folks ... it makes New Mexico look like Oregon. De la Fuente is still ramrodding the break, standing as the others sit and crank out the revs.'),(3874,84,'2006-08-28 16:20:57','With 60-odd kilometers to go ...','. . . the gap has dipped under six minutes, to 5:39.'),(3875,84,'2006-08-28 16:27:17','That long Lycra line','The peloton presses forward, with Davitamon-Lotto joining Crédit Agricole and Milram at the front.'),(3876,84,'2006-08-28 16:41:26','The gap drops','. . . to 5:08 as the sprinters\' teams nibble away at the leaders\' margin.'),(3877,84,'2006-08-28 16:44:36','While we wait for the catch . . .','. . . a shout-out to Gilbert Duclos Lassalle, who became a grandfather last week after his son, Hervé, became a dad for the first time.'),(3878,84,'2006-08-28 16:46:14','Under five minutes now','The gap is coming down, to 4:25.'),(3879,84,'2006-08-28 16:49:01','Speaking of Duclos Lassalle . . .','. . . he\'s been calling for the medicos. Don\'t know why, exactly – could it be post-partum depression? We\'ll check and get back to you.'),(3880,84,'2006-08-28 16:52:31','44km to go','The gap is down to just over four minutes as the bunch stretches out in a long, long line.'),(3881,84,'2006-08-28 16:56:46','Hounds v. hare','Milram and Davitamon-Lotto are cranking it up as the three leaders chat with their team cars one at a time. They seem resigned to being brought back.'),(3882,84,'2006-08-28 17:04:09','Water carrier','Laszlo Bodrogi looks like he\'s got a giant CamelBak under his kit - he\'s all loaded down with about 12 water bottles for Crédit Agricole. Chris Horner is watering down his legs. Did we mention that it\'s hot?'),(3883,84,'2006-08-28 17:05:32','Slow going','The race is about a half-hour behind schedule, thanks to the heat.'),(3884,84,'2006-08-28 17:09:07','35km to go','The bunch is leaving our leaders out there on a slow roast. They don\'t want to make the catch too quickly and risk a counterattack going free.'),(3885,84,'2006-08-28 17:11:35','3:17','. . . is the gap.'),(3886,84,'2006-08-28 17:15:56','Down, down, down','. . . to 3:07.'),(3887,84,'2006-08-28 17:17:42','In the drops','Our leading trio seems to have collected a second wind of sorts with 25km to go . . . they\'re ticking it over nicely again.'),(3888,84,'2006-08-28 17:20:32','2:55','Under three minutes now as the sprinters\' teams smell the finish line just ahead.'),(3889,84,'2006-08-28 17:26:11','2:24','Can the break hold on? Will the chase succeed? Hey, in a world where \"Extreme Makeover\" can win an Emmy, anything is possible.'),(3890,84,'2006-08-28 17:29:01','Whoa','The gap has plummeted to just over 90 seconds with less than 20km remaining.'),(3891,84,'2006-08-28 17:31:42','1:25','De la Fuente\'s been giving it his best, but the seconds just keep slipping away.'),(3892,84,'2006-08-28 17:33:36','Hasta la vista','Looks like De la Fuente wants to go it alone ... he\'s jumped and shed Duclos Lassalle, but Franzoi stuck to him.'),(3893,84,'2006-08-28 17:36:14','15km to go','. . . and just over a minute.'),(3894,84,'2006-08-28 17:37:27','58 seconds now','And the hounds can see the hares on this straight stretch of road. Awwwoooooo . . . .'),(3895,84,'2006-08-28 17:39:06','No quit in these guys','The two leaders are still pounding the pedals as the gap comes down to 47 seconds.'),(3896,84,'2006-08-28 17:40:06','A long day in the saddle','More than five and a half hours in 100-plus heat. And you thought your job was tough.'),(3897,84,'2006-08-28 17:41:45','44 seconds now','. . . as De la Fuente continues to drill it with Franzoi on his wheel.'),(3898,84,'2006-08-28 17:44:22','7km remaining','Crédit Agricole is putting the hammer down, and the gap is at 30 seconds.'),(3899,84,'2006-08-28 17:46:21','That\'s all she wrote','Our leaders have exchanged a quick handshake – \"Nice workin\' with ya . . .\" – as the bunch bears down.'),(3900,84,'2006-08-28 17:49:25','5km to go','. . . and a slight rise to the finish with Ag2r on the front.'),(3901,84,'2006-08-28 17:50:35','Liquigas-Bianchi','. . . is muscling in on the act at the front.'),(3902,84,'2006-08-28 17:52:06','Millar time?','David Millar has a dig!'),(3903,84,'2006-08-28 17:53:44','Millar gets gobbled up','. . . and it\'s Ventoso taking the bunch sprint!'),(3904,84,'2006-08-28 17:54:49','Hushovd second . . .','. . . and O\'Grady third.'),(3905,84,'2006-08-28 17:58:42','Hushovd holds lead','. . . and that\'s it for today\'s Live Update. We\'ll see you here again tomorrow.'),(3906,85,'2006-08-29 13:56:00','Good day and welcome ...','to the fourth stage of the 61st edition of the Vuelta a Espana, covering a very reasonable 135 kilometers from Almendralejo to Cáceres.
After yesterday\'s brutally hot and very long (220km) stage, today\'s start comes at a very civilized 2:00 p.m., so we\'re still a few minutes away from the kick-off of this stage.'),(3907,85,'2006-08-29 14:12:30','And there they go...','The stage has started in Almendralejo. This is the shortest mass-start stage of the Vuelta and, like we said, it couldn\'t come at a better time. The peloton had to cover a painfully hot 220 km yesterday and riders face the first climbing stage tomorrow, with a tough finish up La Covatilla.
One thing that is not different from yesterday, is that temperatures are still in the upper 90s and temperatures on the black asphalt on the road surfaces exceed that by a big margin. In his diary yesterday, Discovery\'s Michael Barry said that his computer was registering temperatures in excess of 110(F).\r\n'),(3908,85,'2006-08-29 14:18:00','News from the weird','Here’s an interesting news item from AFP:
Agence France Presse - Australia\'s dual silver medal-winning Olympic cyclist Gary Neiwand was jailed for 18 months Tuesday after pleading guilty to stalking a former girlfriend.\r\n'),(3909,85,'2006-08-29 14:22:55','Contest reminder','It\'s a zippy little stage today and a lot of folks are giving this one to the sprinters. Do you? Or are those little hills along the way enough to launch a successful break today? You make the call and hit the Daily Contest on top of the page.Neiwand admitted a total of 11 offences, including stalking and telephone harassment.
The 39-year-old had already been sentenced in February to four months in jail for breaching an order to stay away from his ex-wife. The new offences were committed after his release.
The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard how Neiwand, who won cycling silver medals at the 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney Olympics, began stalking his girlfriend after they broke up in May this year.
Prosecutors said he made numerous hang-up phone calls to the woman and her mother, and sent sexually explicit text messages to her employer.
Defence lawyers told the court that Neiwand was suffering from depression after his marriage collapsed.
Chief magistrate Ian Gray jailed Neiwand for 18 months, with a non-parole period of nine months, saying his offences were serious and a message needed to be sent to the community that such behaviour was unacceptable.
In addition to his two Olympic silver medals, Neiwand won bronze at the\r\n1988 Seoul and 2000 Sydney Games. He also won the World Championships in both the keirin and sprint in 1993 and was Commonwealth Games sprint champion in 1986, 1990 and 1996.
And, yes, in case you\'re wondering, we did have a winner in yesterday\'s contest. Jim actually called the name of the day\'s winner a good two hours prior to the finish. He also says that he\'s a long-time fan of Live Coverage because \"it always makes the long mornings at work fly by,\" (which is why we\'ll do Jim a favor and not mention his last name).'),(3910,85,'2006-08-29 14:22:00','First attack','Relax\'s Raúl Garcia de Mateo has scampered out of the main field and has a nice little 1:00 gap on the peloton after five km.\r\n'),(3911,85,'2006-08-29 14:30:00','At 15km','Garcia de Mateo\'s advantage is approach 3:00. The peloton, behind the Credit Agricole team of race leader Thor Hushovd, is not really intent upon pulling this one back right away.
It should be noted that the Relax team is the only continental squad in this Vuelta. They have ample motivation to make a show of things, given that this is the team\'s sole grand tour exposure this season.\r\n'),(3912,85,'2006-08-29 14:47:00','Not much to report.','The pace is quite moderate as our lone escapee works his way down the road. He\'s continuing to add to his lead, but the odds are he\'ll hit the end of his leash pretty soon here, since today\'s is such a short stage. Hushovd and his Credit Ag team are leading the chase, but eventually we\'ll see the other sprinters\' teams lend a hand if the gap becomes unmanageable.
In the mean time, if you have a question, comment, complaint or beer recommendation, Drop us a line and we\'\' try to address some of your comments here on-line.'),(3913,85,'2006-08-29 14:56:09','News from the doping front','The UCI has issued a statement today, suggesting that it expects to see more names revealed in connection with Spain\'s Operación Puerto investigation:
The Spanish government has informed the UCI that further information in connection with the current investigations being conducted by the Guardia Civil (police) as part of Operación Puerto will be handed over to it.UCI president Pat McQuaid said he may well seek life-time bans against both Jan Ullrich and Tyler Hamilton if those documents indicate those riders\' involvement in the case. Both have been suspended before - Ullrich for taking ecstacy at a night club and Hamilton for blood-doping - and McQuaid has argued that involvement in Operación Puerto would constitute second offenses in both cases, meriting a life-time ban for both men.\r\n'),(3914,85,'2006-08-29 14:58:52','Under very hot conditions','Garcia is continuing at a moderate pace. He\'s at the 27km mark and holding a lead of 3:30 over the peloton.'),(3915,85,'2006-08-29 15:04:42','At 32km','Garcia\'s lead is up to four minutes. We\'re still not betting the kids\' college funds on this guy\'s chances today, though.'),(3916,85,'2006-08-29 15:17:00','A note','We received a nice note from one of our regular readers, Dr. Chuck Roberts of the Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta:This information will be included in the files that the UCI has on the riders involved and will be sent to the National Federations concerned, to enable them to take the necessary decisions.
The UCI reiterates its determination to fight against doping as severely as possible and to respect legal procedures and rules.
You mention that Relax is the “only continental team†in the Vuelta. I guess you mean European continent. So where are all the others based?!The good reverend also made a good beer recommendation, as per our earlier request:I also wish Saul Raisin was there with his team, cheering and pulling Thor along. I visited him in the rehab hospital while he was here in Atlanta, and he’s a great young man. I hope and pray he gets back on his game one day!
Flying Dog brewery based in Colorado. Tire Bite Golden Ale is hard to beat; and who of us have not feared a dog doing to our tire what the dog on the label is doing?!Well, Doc (reverend?) you\'re right... in a way. The Relax squad is the only Non-ProTour professional team in the Vuelta. The designation \"continental\" is used as a term applied to professional teams one tier below the ProTour level. Yes, Relax is Euro continental team, as Navigators, Health Net and others are American continental teams.
Please do send our best wishes - and those from many of our readers - to Saul. His recovery is inspiring and we can\'t wait to see him back in the peloton.
As for your beer recommendations, we have to confess that we\'ve actually tried each of them at some point in the past few months and we have to agree... plus the brewery actually uses label art by the incomparable Ralph Steadman. How can you beat that?'),(3917,85,'2006-08-29 15:12:00','At 42km','The gap is now 6:45.... after an hour of saddle time.'),(3918,85,'2006-08-29 15:35:22','Pokin\' along','The average speed so far: 42.2km/h, or 26.2 mph.'),(3919,85,'2006-08-29 15:42:52','Intermediate sprint','Our lone leader, Garcia, takes maximum points at the first intermediate sprint, at Jaraiz de la Vera. Second goes to Thor Hushovd, with Stuey O\'Grady taking third.'),(3920,85,'2006-08-29 15:46:36','In other news . . .','. . . William Fotheringham of The Guardian takes a look at the 2006 Tour of Britain, which gets under way today in Glasgow. Seems the race is enjoying excellent health despite problems elsewhere in the sport – it has new sponsors and may add a seventh day of racing. Keep an eye on VeloNews.com for results as they come in.'),(3921,85,'2006-08-29 15:56:09','Tugging on the leash','Garcia\'s margin dips a tad, to six minutes.'),(3922,85,'2006-08-29 16:03:57','The pace picks up','Crédit Agricole has moved to the front and begun chipping away at Garcia\'s lead. It\'s down to 5:35.'),(3923,85,'2006-08-29 16:08:10','Daily Contest','Don\'t forget to hit the button at the top of the page and send in your pick for today\'s winner. Slap the name in the subject line (it makes our mailman\'s job a whole lot easier), and place your bets before the final 10km, please.'),(3924,85,'2006-08-29 16:10:27','42C . . .','. . . translates to 107.6F. Hot enough for ya?'),(3925,85,'2006-08-29 16:15:30','Drink up','As you might expect, given the temperatures, racing in Spain is thirsty work, according to our diarist Michael Barry. \"We went through at least 130 water bottles yesterday,\" he told European correspondent Andrew Hood. \"I was constantly drinking something to try to stay cool.\"'),(3926,85,'2006-08-29 16:16:46','Garcia\'s lead boiling away','The gap is down to just over four minutes.'),(3927,85,'2006-08-29 16:20:03','No jokes about dry heat, please','Even Carlos Sastre, who likes it hot, is finding these conditions a bit much. \"I like the heat, but this is very hot even by my standards. It could take it out of us up La Covatilla (on Wednesday), but I prefer the heat to the cold,\" he says.'),(3928,85,'2006-08-29 16:25:02','Phonak motivated','Our man Andrew Hood has had a word with Juan Fernandez, sport director of Phonak. \"We are going to ride the Vuelta with our heads held high,\" said Fernandez. \"This is a sour way to leave the sport, but we have a motivated team with riders looking to make an impression.\" The list includes Ryder Hesjedal, \"who wants to do well in his first major shot at a grand tour,\" Fernandez added.'),(3929,85,'2006-08-29 16:26:30','Garcia fading','His gap has dwindled yet again, to 3:50. Average speed: 40.5km/h, or 25.16mph.'),(3930,85,'2006-08-29 16:32:07','Speaking of heat . . .','. . . 2006 Giro winner Ivan Basso underwent a grilling today, according to Agence France Presse. Prosecutor Franco Cosenza called Basso cooperative and said he would see the Italian rider again on September 12.'),(3931,85,'2006-08-29 16:36:09','Tick, tock','Garcia clings to a lead of just under three minutes.'),(3932,85,'2006-08-29 16:39:36','Wednesday\'s stage . . .','. . . will pass through the hometown of dethroned 2005 Vuelta champ Roberto Heras. Race organizers don\'t plan to take any special precautions against disgruntled fans, according to race director Victor Cordero. \"A certain rider produced a positive dope test, and that was the end of that,\" Cordero told Reuters. \"If we\'d changed the route after Heras\'s positive, we\'d have been giving in to the cheats.\"'),(3933,85,'2006-08-29 16:41:30','43km remaining','CSC comes forward as the second intermediate sprint approaches . . . but to no avail, as the order is precisely the same as in the first dash for time: 1. Garcia; 2. Hushovd; 3. O\'Grady.'),(3934,85,'2006-08-29 16:42:48','Another weather feature','Now the wind is picking up out of the west. Mmm, yeah, heat and wind. Ain\'t nothin\' but a party. . . .'),(3935,85,'2006-08-29 16:48:05','If you picked Garcia as today\'s winner . . .','. . . prepare to be disappointed. The bunch has closed to within two and a half minutes.'),(3936,85,'2006-08-29 16:56:47','Under two minutes now . . .','. . . with 35km remaining.'),(3937,85,'2006-08-29 17:03:10','Hounds v. hare','Davitamon-Lotto and Crédit Agricole are on the front as Fernandez (Cofidis) takes a few detour into a ditch. No worries – he\'s quickly back in the bunch.'),(3938,85,'2006-08-29 17:05:21','25km remaining','And we\'ll throw in the obligatory shill for Robbie McEwen. Fred Rodriguez says the Aussie pocket rocket will be getting after it again today: \"Robbie is still probably the fastest guy here. We\'ve just made some mistakes with our timing. He wants to win.\"'),(3939,85,'2006-08-29 17:07:43','Tick, tock','The chase as conducted by Hushovd\'s squad remains measured . . . they don\'t want to pull Garcia back too quickly. The man in red clings to a lead of 1:20 as he stands up briefly to stretch the legs.'),(3940,85,'2006-08-29 17:11:42','20km to go','. . . and Garcia remains out front, but only just; he\'s rockin\' and rollin\', with a lead of just over a minute.'),(3941,85,'2006-08-29 17:15:33','CSC joins the chase','O\'Grady must fancy his chances, eh?'),(3942,85,'2006-08-29 17:16:17','Valverde off the back','But he\'s getting paced back up.'),(3943,85,'2006-08-29 17:16:42','And here comes the catch','Stick a fork in Señor Garcia . . . he\'s all done.'),(3944,85,'2006-08-29 17:18:00','Kapow!','Another Relax rider counters as Garcia comes back . . . Jorge Garcia? Yep. He\'s down in the hooks and motoring.'),(3945,85,'2006-08-29 17:20:51','A long shot','It\'s 15km to the finish. The peloton seems to doubt our man can stay clear.'),(3946,85,'2006-08-29 17:24:54','Short leash','Garcia has 18 seconds as, unruffled, the sprinters\' teams start sorting things out behind. Still, TV time is TV time, no?'),(3947,85,'2006-08-29 17:27:02','Speaking of sprinters . . .','. . . our man Andrew Hood had a chat with CSC director Kim Andersen, who said O\'Grady is going to give it another shot today after finishing third on Monday: \"He\'s close to the jersey and he\'s feeling good, so he will try to sprint again today.\"'),(3948,85,'2006-08-29 17:27:39','Zoom','A Euskaltel rider isn\'t waiting for O\'Grady to rip it. Off he goes.'),(3949,85,'2006-08-29 17:30:03','8km to go','. . . and nothin\' doing for Euskaltel\'s Iziar. The bunch wants to battle.'),(3950,85,'2006-08-29 17:31:58','CA up front',' . . . Milram\'s in the mix, too. '),(3951,85,'2006-08-29 17:34:49','Astana having a go?','With 5km to go, Perez (Cofidis) and Redondo (Astana) have a dig. 58km/h. Ouch.'),(3952,85,'2006-08-29 17:35:31','4km to go','Caught. Gerolsteiner on the front.'),(3953,85,'2006-08-29 17:37:03','3km to go','We\'re in the outskirts of Caceras and Saunier Duval are setting things up for Ventoso. Milram\'s right on \'em, though.'),(3954,85,'2006-08-29 17:37:20','2km','Millar is drillin\' it.'),(3955,85,'2006-08-29 17:38:00','Now Milram\'s out front','Can Zabel score?'),(3956,85,'2006-08-29 17:38:44','A hard left-hander ...','CA out front . . .'),(3957,85,'2006-08-29 17:39:02','And a right to the finishing straight . . .','Milram still out front . . .'),(3958,85,'2006-08-29 17:39:56','It\'s anyone\'s race!','. . . and the winner is . . .'),(3959,85,'2006-08-29 17:40:45','Zabel!','. . . followed by race leader Hushovd.'),(3960,85,'2006-08-29 17:42:36','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','See you here again tomorrow as the Vuelta heads for the hills.'),(3963,86,'2006-08-30 14:02:00','Today\'s route','takes riders over 178 kilometers to the ski station at Covatilla and throws up a series of tough climbs before the tough finale\'. In the first 100km, the peloton first hits to Category 1 climbs - Piornal and Honduras and then, with just over 40km to go, the Cat. 2 at Lagunilla, setting them up for the 6.5 percent, 18km climb to 1960 meters.'),(3962,86,'2006-08-30 13:42:51','Good day and welcome ...','to the fifth stage of the 61st edition of the Vuelta a Espana, the tour\'s first foray into the mountains. The Covatilla has been the seen of some interesting battles, usually in the final week of the Vuelta instead of the constituting the opening salvo as it is this year. In 2002, Roberto Heras made a real mark on the race, swooping up nearly all of a large break that had formed earlier in the day. Heras also made a mark in 2004, again not winning the stage, but putting time on his rivals.'),(3964,86,'2006-08-30 14:07:41','This could be a day for Sastre','Our guy Andrew Hood spoke with Bjarne Riis today. The CSC director is confident about his top rider\'s chances to take the overall at the Vuelta:
\"I think Carlos can win the Vuelta. Sure, he raced the Giro and the Tour already, but it\'s not impossible to race three big tours. He rode easy in the Giro and only worked hard in a few summit finishes and the Tour he was easy until the final mountains. Then he\'s recovered and trained at home after the Tour. The only worry is the first hard mountain stages. We have to see how he does.\"'),(3965,86,'2006-08-30 14:10:29','Over the first climb','We had a 12:30 start today and remarkably the peloton is still wholly intact, with all 189 riders still taking part in the Vuelta. The current situation on the road is we have a group of 13 riders who have crested the first climb of the day - the Category 1 Puerto de Piornal - and lead the field by just over one minute.'),(3966,86,'2006-08-30 14:12:40','Maybe we\'ll see him on TV','Roberto Heras, the disqualified winner of the 2005 Vuelta, hails from nearby Bejar, the city perched right at the base of the La Covatilla climb.
Heras is halfway through a two-year racing ban after testing positive for EPO in the penultimate stage of the 2005 Vuelta.
Heras did not challenge the ban to CAS, and instead his attorneys are taking the case through the Spanish civil courts. An appeal has been filed following an earlier ruling upholding the ban and the issue is still unresolved. That didn\'t stop Vuelta organizers from awarding the 2005 title to Denis Menchov.'),(3967,86,'2006-08-30 14:14:38','Another vote for Sastre','David Millar (Saunier Duval), who is just now ending his own two-year ban, told Marca that \"I see Carlos Sastre as the only rider truly focused on winning. And I think he would be a good winner, too. He only speaks when he needs to and I think he\'s a clean rider. He would deserve this victory.\" '),(3968,86,'2006-08-30 14:16:17','Not so fast says Carlos...','Satre, though, says this year\'s three-grand-tour schedule has taken a toll on him. He told Andrew Hood that \"I don\'t know how the legs will respond. This is the first time I\'ve raced three grand tours in one season, so it\'s unknown for me. ... The climb is hard and offers no protection. It\'s open to the wind and the heat. It\'s not easy.\"'),(3969,86,'2006-08-30 14:23:30','At 70km','That group of 13 is working its way down the climb and maintaining a 1:30 lead. Those riders are as follows
Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
\r\nPietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole)
\r\nVladimir Gusev (Discovery)
\r\nIñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
\r\nPaolo Bettini (Quick Step)
\r\nDavid Arroyo (Caisse d\'Epargne)
\r\nBenoit Joachim (Discovery)
\r\nAngel Vallejo (Relax Gam)
\r\nSergio Paulinho (Astana)
\r\nJoaquin Rodriguez (Caisse d\'Epargne)
\r\nTorsten Hiekmann (Gerolsteiner)
\r\nEric Leblacher (Francaise des Jeux)
\r\nXavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom)
\r\n'),(3970,86,'2006-08-30 14:26:15','Hot, hot, hot','The weather is once again quite warm, with temperatures hovering in the high 90s and low 100s... the good news is that we\'re talking Fahrenheit at least.
Today\'s route pushes through some interesting country. The Valle de Jerte is one of the top cherry producing regions of Spain and each April, the valley becomes covered in a blanket of white as cherry trees blossom....but that\'s not the case today. There was a huge forest fire in the mountains just north of the start in Plasencia, with huge billows of smoke blowing west. The route, however, pushed east and so the peloton didn\'t ride near the blaze.'),(3971,86,'2006-08-30 14:27:32','Contest Reminder','Will these guys get caught? You make the call and hit the Daily Contest button on the top of the page. Remember one entry per person per day and you can\'t vote in the final 10km.'),(3972,86,'2006-08-30 14:32:06','Today\'s news of the Weird','Here\'s an intersting item of fallout resulting from yesterday\'s stage:
Agence France Presse - A resident of the western Spanish town of Caceres has made an official complaint against the Vuelta a Espana peloton, claiming riders were speeding in the fourth stage of the event here, a sub-prefecture spokeswoman said Wednesday.We\'d guess this fella ain\'t much of a fan of the sport.'),(3973,86,'2006-08-30 14:33:54','With less than 100km remaining,','The men in the break are reaching the base of the day\'s second major climb, the Puerto de Honduras, and holding about the same gap they\'ve had for most of the day, just around 1:30.'),(3974,86,'2006-08-30 14:36:57','CSC is doing most of the work','That gap of 1:30 has been limited largely through the efforts of Sastre\'s CSC team. With Thor Hushovd more than likely to lose the jersey today, Credit Agricole (with a rider in the break) certainly isn\'t playing the role of defender today and CSC has its eye on the big prize.'),(3975,86,'2006-08-30 14:40:00','The men in the break','As you can see one big wild card in the break is Michael Rasmussen. He could certainly hold his own on that final climb today.\"A complaint for speeding has indeed been made against the peloton,\" the spokeswoman said.
Erik Zabel claimed victory in the stage which saw a mass sprint for the line with participants hitting speeds of more 60 kilometres (40 miles) per hour. In urban areas the speed limit is 50 kilometres an hour.
The resident who complained, fed up with the inconvenience of the town staging a race day, spent an hour and a half registering his case with police.
Local media quoted police spokesman Cesar Garcia as saying he had taken down the complaint \"chapter and verse\" and archived everything as per regulations.
Rasmussen told VN.com earlier this month that he\'s interested in chasing a stage victory. The Danish climber won a Vuelta mountain stage in 2003 to herald his arrival to the big-time.
\"I don\'t have any ambitions for the GC or the mountains jersey. I will be at the disposition to help Menchov and maybe if things go my way, I can try to win a stage.\"
Since that conversation, however, Rasmussen suffered through a cold a week before the Vuelta, telling Dutch journalists he was only able to train three hours during the entire week leading up to the race.
Meanwhile, you can also see that Discovery has a couple of guys up there. We\'d wager that Bruyneel sent them up to help Tom Danielson, if he needs it, on the final climb.'),(3976,86,'2006-08-30 14:43:03','Bad news from Belgium','Belgian cyclist Christophe Brandt was said to be in stable condition on Wednesday, a day after a dramatic crash left his family and his Davitamon team concerned over his chances of survival.
A regular on the Belgian team\'s roster for the Tour de France, Brandt suffered multiple injuries when he crashed on the Sels to Merxem Cup race.
His injuries forced doctors to induce a coma.
In an emergency operation Tuesday Brandt had to have one of his kidneys removed. His spleen also burst although doctors were able to save it.
Brandt also suffered a fractured arm and four shattered ribs, one of which caused a collapsed lung.
His team manager, Marc Segeant, said from the Antwerp hopital where the rider is being treated: \"The doctors are going to keep Christophe in a coma for another two days.
\"The doctor said that any threat of nerve damage and that we are looking at a long recovery period for Christophe.\"
Sergeant added that Brandt, a domestique for the likes of Australian teammate Robbie McEwen, would be able to ride again.
\"The doctors said that competing at the highest level is still possible with only one kidney.\"
Brandt crashed on Tuesday when racing in the peloton at speeds approaching 50 kph. He hit a traffic lights post before violently hitting a car.\r\n'),(3977,86,'2006-08-30 14:44:27','The climb','Andrew Hood describes the climb which riders are now working their way up - Puerto de Honduras - as \"very hard, very steep and with narrow roads. I almost drove off that sucker a few years back.\" '),(3978,86,'2006-08-30 14:55:17','Time gap is holding','The leaders are working their way up the Puerto de Honduras and maintaining an advantage of less than one minute on the main field. It\'s still CSC doing the heavy lifting in the peloton.'),(3979,86,'2006-08-30 15:00:08','Questions?','If you have a question, a comment, a complaint or... mmm... fine wine suggestions, drop us a line. '),(3980,86,'2006-08-30 15:01:06','Another prediction for the day','Iban Mayo said that he doesn\'t think there will be many differences made on the Covitilla climb. \"I think it will be a relatively big group, but we have to wait and see. I think the legs feel okay.\"'),(3981,86,'2006-08-30 15:18:52','Down and out','Charlie Wegelius (Liquigas-Bianchi) has abandoned after crashing earlier.'),(3982,86,'2006-08-30 15:22:18','Leaders top summit','Our lead group has topped the first-category Puerto de Honduras with a lead of 4:24. Bettini, Florencio, Leblacher, Rodriguez and Vallejo fell off the pace on the climb, but there\'s always the descent for playing catchup, no?'),(3983,86,'2006-08-30 15:25:52','A nice break from the heat','It\'s 21 degrees C on the summit (that\'s 69.8 F for you Yanks), sunny, and a bit blustery. That has to feel good after rolling around in triple-digit heat, even if it means going uphill.'),(3984,86,'2006-08-30 15:30:15','Whoops','We forgot to mention how our leaders topped that summit: 1. Gusev; 2. Caucchioli; 3. Joachim. Sorry \'bout that. More coffee is indicated.'),(3985,86,'2006-08-30 15:34:57','Zoom','And down we go. The feed zone is just ahead, followed by the Cat. 2 Alto de Lagunilla, and the guys who got shelled on the Puerto de Honduras are bombing along, trying to regain contact.'),(3986,86,'2006-08-30 15:40:45','Gotcha!','The chasers have hooked up with the front-runners and we now have a lead group of 16 with something like four minutes and change on the peloton.'),(3987,86,'2006-08-30 15:49:39','This just in','Acqua Sapone has signed Tom Boonen – pardon us, Frank Vandenbroucke, according to the Belgian press. It\'s the ninth pro team for the 31-year-old Belgian, who since being sacked by Unibet.com reportedly has spent his time racing in Italy under the name \"Francesco Del Ponde\" – an Italian spin on his real name – with a fake ID bearing the picture of Quick Step-Innergetic\'s world champion. '),(3988,86,'2006-08-30 15:56:45','Upping the pace','The main bunch has taken some time back on the leaders, clipping the deficit to 3:18. Our diarist Michael Barry, looking a tad warmish, is escorting Tom Danielson, as Ivan Mayo slips off the back for a quick consultation with the team car.'),(3989,86,'2006-08-30 15:58:37','45km remaining','And the leaders will hit the Cat. 2 in just about 4km.'),(3990,86,'2006-08-30 16:02:47','Draggin\' \'em back','The gap is down to 2:08.'),(3991,86,'2006-08-30 16:04:02','Another abandon','Martin Perdiguero has called it a Vuelta. Meanwhile, Rasmussen is on the march at the front of the lead group.'),(3992,86,'2006-08-30 16:09:24','10-12 percent','Ouch. Just thinking about it makes our legs tired.'),(3993,86,'2006-08-30 16:11:11','At the summit . . .','Elias grabs the points ahead of Caucchioli, 2:26 up on the bunch, which has shed race leader Thor Hushovd.'),(3994,86,'2006-08-30 16:14:27','Up ahead . . .','. . . lies the beyond-category ascent to La Covatilla.'),(3995,86,'2006-08-30 16:18:31','Hasta la vista','Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi) has a dig. He\'s ticking along nicely all by his lonesome.'),(3996,86,'2006-08-30 16:21:19','Landaluze . . .',' . . . has about 20 seconds on his former compañeros.'),(3997,86,'2006-08-30 16:21:56','The main peloton . . .','. . . is at 2:25.'),(3998,86,'2006-08-30 16:23:29','No day at the beach','These are some narrow, rough, tree-lined roads. \"Hairy,\" our man Andrew Hood calls \'em.'),(3999,86,'2006-08-30 16:24:22','Checking the rear-view mirror','Landaluze keeps peeking over his shoulder. Don\'t look back, Hoss, something may be gaining on you.'),(4000,86,'2006-08-30 16:28:29','Fun with gravity','Landaluze is 1:06 ahead of the Rasmussen group, which in turn is 1:26 ahead of a much-reduced lead pack, down to about 50 riders.'),(4001,86,'2006-08-30 16:30:24','Caisse d\'Epargne . . .','. . . is leading the charge in the bunch.'),(4002,86,'2006-08-30 16:39:09','25km to go','Landaluze started the day at 1:01 back, in 106th place. Looks like the Caisse d\'Epargne boys are bent on seeing he doesn\'t improve that position any more than absolutely necessary. Alejandro Valverde sits 19th overall at 46 seconds down.'),(4003,86,'2006-08-30 16:41:05','20km to go','Remember, Caisse d\'Epargne has a one-two punch on tap. Oscar Pereiro sits in 17th overall in the same time as ProTour leader Valverde.'),(4004,86,'2006-08-30 16:42:56','Tick, tock','Landaluze, mashing the pedals in a pretty stout gear, has 56 seconds on the Rasmussen group with the main bunch a further 1:26 back.'),(4005,86,'2006-08-30 16:46:12','Big fun ahead','Nothing like an 18km uncategorized climb to separate the sheep from the goats.'),(4006,86,'2006-08-30 16:49:07','In other news','Cheers to Roger Hammond, who won today\'s second stage of the Tour of Britain. More later.'),(4008,86,'2006-08-30 16:50:14','Landaluze coming back','His lead is down to 20 seconds with 15km to go. We\'re on the final climb proper.'),(4009,86,'2006-08-30 16:51:20','And the peloton . . .','. . . is just 1:20 back. It\'s showtime.'),(4010,86,'2006-08-30 16:56:34','Landaluze . . .','. . . is swept up by the first chase and discarded like an empty bidon.'),(4011,86,'2006-08-30 16:59:28','Venga venga venga!','Alberto Benitez (Saunier Duval) has a go as Paulihno drops his chain. No worries – he gets back in the hunt.'),(4012,86,'2006-08-30 17:01:15','Rasmussen fading','Kaboom . . . out of the lead group he goes, with Joachim and Landaluze. Meanwhile, Benitez\'s eyes were apparently bigger than his legs, as that counterattack turned into a vicious shelling.'),(4013,86,'2006-08-30 17:03:49','Attack after attack','The lead group is hacked down to five as Gusev, then Paulinho throw down. Caisse d\'Epargne is still pressing the chase, with Valverde looking cool in that white ProTour leader\'s jersey.'),(4014,86,'2006-08-30 17:04:35','Another attack','David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) drills it.'),(4015,86,'2006-08-30 17:05:48','9km to go','Astana\'s Paulinho rolls it along a flattish section of the ascent.'),(4016,86,'2006-08-30 17:07:26','Arroyo joins Paulinho','A bit of a chat and off they go.'),(4017,86,'2006-08-30 17:08:23','Gobble, gobble','The main chase gulps down the remnants of the break.'),(4018,86,'2006-08-30 17:09:38','Menchov shelled','Was it a mechanical or a physical?'),(4019,86,'2006-08-30 17:10:42','Angel Gomez','. . . shoots off the front on this 10-percent grade.'),(4020,86,'2006-08-30 17:11:51','Arroyo and Paulinho still rippin\' it','. . . as Valverde sits on Sastre\'s wheel in the chase.'),(4021,86,'2006-08-30 17:15:03','Vino\' pops','The Kazakh wobbles out of the back as Iñigo Cuesta cranks along, serving as Sastre\'s tow truck. '),(4022,86,'2006-08-30 17:16:06','Arroyo sheds Paulinho',' . . . 25 seconds between them now.'),(4023,86,'2006-08-30 17:17:21','5km to go','Valverde and Danilo Di Luca are forcing the pace!'),(4024,86,'2006-08-30 17:20:00','Danielson among the lead chasers','Valverde is rockin\' and rollin\' on that bike.'),(4025,86,'2006-08-30 17:22:04','Jose Angel Gomez Marchante',' . . . has made it up to the head of affairs. The Saunier Duval man is out of the saddle and looking over his shoulder.'),(4026,86,'2006-08-30 17:24:11','Di Luca attacks again','. . . cracking Sastre! Danielson reacts! Up front, Gomez Marchante clings to a 20-second lead.'),(4027,86,'2006-08-30 17:25:50','Whoops','. . . that\'s Janez Brajkovic, not Danielson, on Di Luca\'s wheel.'),(4028,86,'2006-08-30 17:26:48','Di Luca and Brajkovic catch Gomez Marchante . . .','. . . who sits on for a second and then attacks them.'),(4029,86,'2006-08-30 17:28:20','Di Luca repays the favor','Towing Brajkovic up to Gomez Marchante, the little Italian rolls right on past him.'),(4030,86,'2006-08-30 17:29:03','Di Luca\'s doing all the work','And there goes Gomez Marchante: Kaboom.'),(4031,86,'2006-08-30 17:29:44','There goes Brajkovic!','He\'s going for the stage!'),(4032,86,'2006-08-30 17:30:13','Di Luca claws back on','The two have a quick chat in the final 500 meters . . .'),(4033,86,'2006-08-30 17:31:24','And here comes Kashechkin!','Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) sneaks up onto the leading duo . . .'),(4034,86,'2006-08-30 17:33:09','Too late . . .','Di Luca gets it ahead of Brajkovic and Kashechkin!'),(4035,86,'2006-08-30 17:39:45','Nice move by Di Luca','. . . who leaps away in the final 200 meters for the win. That does it for today – stay tuned for a complete report from European correspondent Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results. Thanks for watching, and we\'ll see you here again tomorrow.'),(4036,87,'2006-08-31 13:58:00','Good day and welcome ...','to Velonews.com\'s Live Coverage of the sixth stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana, a relatively flat 177km race from Zamora to León.
A look at the profile today will give you a clue as to how this stage might finish. For the sprinters, it comes as a welcome break after yesterday\'s tough haul to the Vuelta\'s first summit finish at La Covatilla.
One rider who won\'t be contesting a field sprint - if there is one today - is Davitamon Lotto\'s Robbie McEwen, who, along with Frenchman Freddy Bichot and Belgian Christophe Detilloux, missed the time cut in Stage 5 and was eliminated from the race.
Harsh as that is, it underscores the difficulty of the achievement of only four riders in the past who have won stages in all three grand tours in a single season. Alessandro Petacchi, of course, is the most recent to have achieved that, but he missed the Tour de France and most of the Giro d\'Italia this year when he broke his knee cap in Stage 3 of the Giro.'),(4037,87,'2006-08-31 14:05:29','Today\'s escape','After the usual flurry of early attacks, the day\'s sacrificial lamb has been allowed to slip off the front for his day of riding on his own. The big news is that he is not a member of the Relax-Gam team. This time it\'s Mathieu Claude, of Bouygues Telecom, who got away at kilometer 8. He has managed to build up a reasonable lead of 7:00 by the 35km mark and his progress will be monitored throughout the day by GPS, video and race radio. We wouldn\'t bet the farm on his chance of success... but there have been miscalculations and miracles in the past, so these efforts are worth the trouble.'),(4038,87,'2006-08-31 14:11:00','Heading to León','The Vuelta marks its first foray to the city of León since the 2004 Vuelta kicked off here with a team time trial (one a bit longer than the one that started this year\'s race).
The VeloNews crew has a bit of a soft spot for León in that it is the home base of our European Correspondent Andrew Hood and his lovely wife Maria Jesus or \"MJ.\"
Take a look at the map we just posted at the bottom of the page to get a feel for where in Spain the race is heading and to note the rather significant transfer that took place last night.'),(4039,87,'2006-08-31 14:16:43','Contest Reminder','Well, with the day\'s expected break underway and the prospect of a sprint into León (just look at that profile, folks), it\'s time to start placing your bets.
Just head to the top of the page and hit the Daily Contest button and send in your best guess as to who will take today\'s stage.
A few reminders
Piil has been with the Danish team CSC since 2001 and said it was \"time for a change.\"
CSC boss Bjarne Riis didn\'t waste much time getting a replacement for the man who won a Tour de France stage in 2003. CSC announced that it has signed current Tour of Britain leader Matthew Goss to a three-year contract.
The 19-year-old Tasmanian has already made quite an impression this year by posting six victories in Europe so far this season. Goss has been the subject of a four-team bidding war and it looks like Riis and CSC won that one.\r\n\r\n'),(4043,87,'2006-08-31 14:48:34','Okay, okay, it\'s not a lightbulb joke, but...','reader Geoffrey E. Melhuish sent this one in and we decided to post it, since it seems to speak to the core values of most of our readers:
A Gearhead was walking on campus one day when his friend, another head, rode up on an incredible shiny new bicycle. The first head was stunned and asked, \"Where did you get such a nice bike?\" The second replied, \"Well, yesterday I was walking home minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up to me on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, \'Take what you want!\'\"'),(4044,87,'2006-08-31 14:51:26','With 118 km to go','our lone escapee is beginning to lose a bit of time on his long and lonely break. He is now 9:15 ahead of the field. The tension is palpable, no?'),(4045,87,'2006-08-31 15:00:13','Okay, here\'s an idea...','Geoffrey\'s joke, which caused a ripple of laughter here, has prompted us to change the goal of today\'s \"live letter section.\" Send us your best bike-related joke (it has to be generally tasteful) and we\'ll have our resident joker - Patrick O\'Grady - judge them. The winner will receive a signed Old Guys Who Get Fat in Winter jersey and a rare now-out-of-print copy of O\'Grady\'s book \"The Season Starts When?!?!\"The second head nodded approvingly, \"Good choice. The clothes probably wouldn\'t have fit.\"
So come up with your best and Drop us a line.'),(4046,87,'2006-08-31 15:06:10','Another abandon','Race radio reports that Milram\'s Volodymyr Dyudya has pulled out of the race. We\'ll try to get a word on why.'),(4047,87,'2006-08-31 15:12:17','Approaching the 100km to go mark','Mathieu Claude, of Bouygues Telecom, is still out on his own, riding about 8:30 ahead of the main field. The pace has been a reasonably brisk 42kph given the fact that he\'s out there in the plain of Spain pretty much exposed to the elements, which today are not all that friendly. He\'s getting a bit of a cross wind and riding in toasty temperatures in the 90s. Road surface temps, of course, are much higher than that.'),(4048,87,'2006-08-31 15:24:03','Danielson','Andrew Hood spoke with Tom Danielson at the start this morning. The Discovery rider finished 42 seconds behind Danilo di Luca, but said he was generally satisfied with his performance.
Danielson said his legs \"didn\'t feel so good\" but he was satisfied he didn\'t lose too much. \"I wanted to stay with Valverde and Sastre, but people just started jumping all over the place, and I just didn\'t have the legs.\" he said he feels better today and expects to do well in the climbs this weekend. '),(4049,87,'2006-08-31 15:29:00','Davitamon\'s DS on Robbie','Davitamon-Lotto sport director Hendrik Rendant said McEwen\'s departure \"was not planned, why else would he ride 200km in this heat?!\"
He said McEwen \"lost contact early and just could never regain contact with the group.\" He said Robbie was \"disappointed because he wanted to be one of those riders to win a stage in all three grand tours in the same season. He really wanted to win the stage and today would have been perfect for him.\"'),(4050,87,'2006-08-31 15:30:34','Ryder\'s too heavy?','Regarding yesterday\'s tough finish Ryder Hesjedal told Andrew Hood, \"I lost contact with the front group at a steep section at the bottom and just didn\'t want to push too deep to try to catch back on. I was floating about 100 meters behind them for a long time and then when the attacks came later, it was too fast for me. I hope to do well in the coming mountains, but it\'s almost unfair because these Spanish guys weigh in at 55kg and I am 70kg.\" '),(4051,87,'2006-08-31 15:31:00','One guy who is far from being too heavy','Janez Brajkovic said it was \"great to be riding so well in a big stage like that. I just felt great so I followed Di Luca and tried to win, but he was too fast in the sprint. I am satisfied, but I am not thinking about anything in the GC. I am here to learn, get stronger and help Tom.\" '),(4052,87,'2006-08-31 15:31:49','Di Luca\'s happy!','Di Luca said he will \"try to defend the jersey until Sunday. I do not expect to fight for the final victory because riders like Valverde and Sastre will become stronger as this Vuelta continues. The final week is very hard and I am focused on the world championships. I wanted to win a stage here, so I have already accomplished that sooner than I expected.\" '),(4053,87,'2006-08-31 15:39:41','With 90km remaining','Our lone escapee is still in the 8:00 range.'),(4054,87,'2006-08-31 15:47:30','In other news','Christophe Brandt, who suffered multiple injuries in a high speed crash on Tuesday, has been brought out of a medically induced coma after showing signs of improvement, according to Agence France Presse. Brandt has had a kidney removed, ruptured his spleen, broke four ribs and an arm, and suffered a collapsed lung, but team spokesmen say he\'s awake and has spoken with his wife. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.'),(4055,87,'2006-08-31 15:51:00','78km to go','Claude\'s margin is under nine minutes.'),(4056,87,'2006-08-31 15:59:30','Under 70km . . .','. . . and the gap keeps coming down. Our leader has a cushion of 7:52 as Saunier Duval, Milram and Crédit Agricole marshal the pursuit.'),(4057,87,'2006-08-31 16:06:22','Some hard country','The terrain we\'re traversing today reminds us of the flatter portions of the American Southwest, where a fella can see company comin\' along way off. Claude will be getting some company here shortly . . . with 60-some-odd klicks to go, his lead is down to about six and a half minutes.'),(4058,87,'2006-08-31 16:10:02','Tick, tock','Down to 5:20 now. Set the table and break out the sippin\' whiskey, Hoss, company\'s a-comin\'.'),(4059,87,'2006-08-31 16:12:06','Saunier Duval on the front','Can Ventoso do it again? Someone seems to think so.'),(4060,87,'2006-08-31 16:14:15','Cooler today','The temps are in the 30-degree-C range (86F). Nice day for chasing someone across Spain. The gap is down to 4:30.'),(4061,87,'2006-08-31 16:18:00','Don\'t forget our joke contest','Here\'s an entry in the ever-popular light-bulb category:
\r\n
\r\nQ: How many cyclists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
\r\n
\r\nA: Eleven. One to screw it in and 10 to discuss how Eddy Merckx would\r\nhave done it.
\r\n
\r\nThanks and a tip of the VeloNews.com cycling cap to Bryan Price. Keep \'em coming,. folks.\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(4062,87,'2006-08-31 16:23:09','More roadblocks for Tyler Hamilton','Don\'t expect to see Tyler on the U.S. world\'s team this year. In fact, he may have trouble finding a team to ride with, period. Our man Andrew Hood has the scoop, and you can read it here while we wait for the bunch to reel Claude back in.'),(4063,87,'2006-08-31 16:25:31','48km to go','Claude is just 3:45 up on the bunch. The golden jersey, Di Luca, is chatting it up prior to a gentlemanly natural break. Piano, piano . . . .'),(4064,87,'2006-08-31 16:35:46','40km to go','Three minutes and change is the gap. The usual suspects are driving the chase: Crédit Agricole, Saunier Duval, Liquigas, and so on. It\'s a measured pursuit, as always . . . no point in bringing Claude back too soon and thus encouraging those pesky counterattacks.'),(4065,87,'2006-08-31 16:44:40','The gap . . .','. . . is down to 2:45.'),(4066,87,'2006-08-31 16:45:50','Also lending a hand . . .','. . . are Milram and Lampre. Credit where credit is due, no?'),(4067,87,'2006-08-31 16:51:18','Aches and pains','Claude is showing the strain up front, stretching now and again, as his lead dwindles to just over two minutes.'),(4068,87,'2006-08-31 16:52:46','Maggy on the front','Good to see our erstwhile diarist Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas) taking a turn.'),(4069,87,'2006-08-31 16:54:28','Under 30km remaining','Man, this is flat. We bet that a guy with decent vision could stare west, standing on an anthill, and see the back of his own head.'),(4070,87,'2006-08-31 16:56:18','25km to go','The gap is 1:23. The bunch is getting hungry.'),(4071,87,'2006-08-31 16:57:41','Whack!','The lead is down to 44 seconds.'),(4072,87,'2006-08-31 16:59:58','Break ahoy!','The bunch can see their quarry now – and boy, does Claude look cooked.'),(4073,87,'2006-08-31 17:01:41','The catch is made','Nice try, Claude, but nothin\' doin\'. Back in the bunch with you.'),(4074,87,'2006-08-31 17:09:00','Charrrrrge!','Enrico Franzoi (Lampre) and Olivier Kaisen (Davitamon-Lotto) have seized the day and built a gap of some 20 seconds.'),(4075,87,'2006-08-31 17:13:14','Kaisen kranking','Franzoi is 123rd at 28:21, with Kaisen 174th at 32:00, so Di Luca and Liquigas couldn\'t care less. The sprinters will have to fetch this one back.'),(4076,87,'2006-08-31 17:17:37','7km to go','This two-man escape doesn\'t appear to be getting much traction . . . and poof, there they go. All together now.'),(4077,87,'2006-08-31 17:18:00','And now, the counterattacks','It\'s a little twisty here – nice spot to break some legs. Frederic Bessy (Cofidis), Stephan Schreck (T-Mobile) and Anthony Geslin (Boygues Telecom) are giving it a go. Nothin\' doing.'),(4078,87,'2006-08-31 17:21:00','Enough nonsense','At 3km, the sprinters\' teams put the hammer down.'),(4079,87,'2006-08-31 17:21:00','Milram out front','. . . working for Zabel. Man, they\'re rippin\' it.'),(4080,87,'2006-08-31 17:23:14','Zoom','SD\'s up there for Vendoso, with David Millar driving the train.'),(4081,87,'2006-08-31 17:23:43','Hard left turn ...','. . . 750 meters to go!'),(4082,87,'2006-08-31 17:24:31','Milram cranking for Zabel . . .',' . . . or Petacchi?'),(4083,87,'2006-08-31 17:25:45','Hushovd gets it!','Nice finishing effort by the big Norwegian. '),(4084,87,'2006-08-31 17:28:31','Behind Hushovd . . .',' André Greipel (T-Mobile) second and Erik Zabel (Milram) third.'),(4085,87,'2006-08-31 17:29:15','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks!','See you all here tomorrow. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for a full race report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results.'),(4086,88,'2006-09-01 13:40:00','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 7th stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana, a short race with a tough finish, covering 154.2 kilometers from León to Alto de El Morredero.
The peloton left town just 15 minutes ago and already we see early attacks, the first coming from Bouygues Telecom\'s Walter Beneteau. He was joined by Jorge Garcia (Relax), Daniele Nardello (T-Mobile), Jose Antonio Redondo (Astana) and Alberto Benitez (Saunier Duval), but the group was pulled back and the peloton remains intact.'),(4087,88,'2006-09-01 13:46:29','With 15km covered','The pace has been pretty brisk today. The very civilized start time (1:20 p.m.) and the easy profile on the opening stretch will have a bit to do with that. The anticipation of that killer climb at the end, too, will prompt a few attacks along the way, no doubt.\r\n'),(4088,88,'2006-09-01 13:48:55','Contest Reminder','If you have an idea who will take today\'s stage, go ahead and send you best guess in. Just go up to the top of the page and hit the Daily Contest button and follow the instructions.'),(4089,88,'2006-09-01 13:54:19','Today\'s weather','is considerably more moderate than over the past few days. Temperatures will top out at around 90 on the lower stretches of the course today, but it\'s a cool and comfortable 69 degrees atop the Category 1 climb at the finish.'),(4090,88,'2006-09-01 13:54:00','We\'re getting a bit of action','We have three riders off the front of the field. Lazlo Bodrogi (Credit Agricole) is chasing after Cofidis\'s Staf Scheirlinckx and Lampre\'s David Loosi. The two are about 20 seconds ahead of the Hungarian and about 30 seconds up on the peloton.'),(4091,88,'2006-09-01 13:52:00','Our other Contest','Our resident joker, Patrick O\'Grady, has picked a winner from yesterday\'s joke contest and we\'ll be announcing the recipient of that prize later in today\'s \"program.\"'),(4092,88,'2006-09-01 13:59:00','A combo of three','Bodrogi has reached the other two and the three men off the front are now about 1:00 ahead of the field.'),(4093,88,'2006-09-01 14:05:00','The three up front','now have a gap of about 2:30 on the main field.\r\n'),(4094,88,'2006-09-01 14:13:24','Questions?','We\'ll try to field a few questions again, today. Do us one favor, though. We do not have any particular insight as to why OLN - soon to be \'Versus\' - isn\'t broadcasting the Vuelta. But if you have other questions, comments, suggestions, complaints, praise, astute political observations or pasta recipes then drop us a line.'),(4095,88,'2006-09-01 14:17:00','At 41km','the three men off the front - Lazlo Bodrogi (Credit Agricole), Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis) and David Loosi (Lampre) - have a good five-minute advantage over the main field. None of these men is a particular GC threat and neither is an especially spectacular climber. We\'d bet with the relative distances involved that the leash the peloton allows them isn\'t much more than six or seven minutes tops... of course, we are often wrong.'),(4096,88,'2006-09-01 14:27:34','At 50km','The gap has grown to 8:00... so we were wrong about the length of the leash today. We\'ll see how far ahead these three are allowed to go.'),(4097,88,'2006-09-01 14:39:06','Nine minutes','And the pace has been pretty high today, with nearly 47km covered in the first hour. '),(4098,88,'2006-09-01 14:46:04','The gap','has grown to more than 11 minutes at the 60km mark as the trio up front work their way up the unranked Puerto del Manzanal. Man, we sure were wrong about how much time these guys were going to get.'),(4099,88,'2006-09-01 14:53:00','It\'s show time!','Trade Shows that is. If you need a dose of bike geek news, try Matt Pacocha\'s report from the opening day of EuroBike. There\'s enough carbon in there to give a free bike at Master\'s nationals. Have at it folks.'),(4100,88,'2006-09-01 15:01:24','A question to ponder','Will Farrington writes in to ask why the Fat Guy hasn\'t been singing whenever the break gets caught this tour. We asked his creator, Patrick O\'Grady, who tells us the Fat Guy has taken some time off. O\'Grady will neither confirm nor deny persistent rumors that the Fat Guy is at Mexican clinic getting his stomach stapled.'),(4101,88,'2006-09-01 15:03:26','Finally','The gap is coming down a bit. The three leaders peaked out at 11:30 and they are now 10:50 ahead of the main field, with 80km remaining in today\'s stage.'),(4102,88,'2006-09-01 15:09:28','It\'s a big gap . . .','. . . but the leaders are a long way from being a threat to the overall, each of them being down some 28 minutes and change on GC.'),(4103,88,'2006-09-01 15:18:24','Tick, tock','The lead is down a couple of ticks, to 10:40.'),(4104,88,'2006-09-01 15:29:34','Lunchtime','Not for us, but for our leaders, who are rolling toward the feed zone at 86km. They\'ll have plenty of time to make a leisurely meal . . . the gap remains on the fat side of 10 minutes.'),(4105,88,'2006-09-01 15:45:00','Don\'t forget . . .','. . . we also have the USA Cycling Professional Championships kicking off today in Greenville, South Carolina. Today brings the 20.15-mile individual time trial, and we expect to have some news for you later this morning. Meanwhile, you can read a preview by senior writer Neal Rogers by clicking here.'),(4106,88,'2006-09-01 15:54:55','We\'re past the intermediate sprint','And it passed without a struggle: 1. Loosli; 2. Bodrogi; 3. Scheirlinckx. We\'re getting conflicting reports about the gap ... it\'s either still around 10:40 or over 12. Obviously, it\'s faster for a speedy three-man break to clear a feed zone than it is for a bunched-up peloton.'),(4107,88,'2006-09-01 15:57:50','Ticking off the klicks','The break is rolling smoothly along, and the fabled \"mask of pain\" has yet to make an appearance, although there is a bit of leg-stretching going on.'),(4108,88,'2006-09-01 15:59:41','Under 10 minutes now','Saunier Duval and Euskaltel are at the head of the chase. Liquigas and Caisse d\'Epargne are chipping in, too.'),(4109,88,'2006-09-01 16:02:19','In other news . . .','. . . Belgium\'s Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques) has won the fourth \r\nstage of the Tour of Britain, from Wolverhampton to Birmingham. More as we hear it.'),(4110,88,'2006-09-01 16:03:49','73 km/h for the bunch','. . . and the gap is down to 9:30.'),(4111,88,'2006-09-01 16:10:20','While we wait for the final climb . . .','. . . how about a word from Chris Horner? Our European correspondent, Andrew Hood, spoke with Horner before today\'s stage, and he said his legs \"are starting to come around after the effort of the Tour. I knew I wouldn\'t be in shape to fight these Spanish guys, but I would love a stage. We\'ll see if there are some chances in the second week.\" '),(4112,88,'2006-09-01 16:11:22','Round and round','Our three leaders are negotiating a series of roundabouts as their lead starts dropping dramatically. It\'s down around seven minutes now.'),(4113,88,'2006-09-01 16:12:33','Michael Rasmussen is coming around, too','Rasmussen says he\'s feeling better, too, according to Andrew Hood. \"I had to forget about the GC after getting sick the week before the Vuelta started,\" he said. \"I almost didn\'t race at all, but the legs have better sensations. I don\'t if I will be able to follow the best, but maybe one day things will go my way.\" '),(4114,88,'2006-09-01 16:18:43','Coming up','The final climb is 18.6km, unfolding in a series of steps. The open 4km are the hardest and steepest, with ramps as steep as 15 percent. The grade levels out to 3-4 percent from 4-8km, and ramps back up with sections at 10 percent until 13km. After a false summit, the final 4.6km holds a steady 6 percent grade with the final 100m mostly flat. Average grade for entire climb is 6.1 percent, climbing just over 550m in 18.6km.'),(4115,88,'2006-09-01 16:19:21','6:27 now . . .','. . . as the bunch flows through the roundabouts.'),(4116,88,'2006-09-01 16:20:10','More pre-race intelligence','GC leader Danilo Di Luca: \"I hope to keep the jersey today, but it\'s hard to say how the stage will unfold. I don\'t know this climb, but they say it\'s not so hard. But the gaps are small, so it might be complicated to keep the jersey.\" '),(4117,88,'2006-09-01 16:21:17','And still more pre-race intelligence','Carlos Sastre at CSC: \"It\'s good that the fans are expecting a clash between the Spanish riders. Everyone is expecting Valverde and me to go against each other, but there are other riders who we have to watch, like Kashechkin and Di Luca. This Vuelta is just starting.\" '),(4118,88,'2006-09-01 16:22:20','Big Maggy . . .','. . . is sitting on the front of the bunch and dragging it along like a locomotive. Down to 6:03 now.'),(4119,88,'2006-09-01 16:23:15','20km to go','Going up!'),(4120,88,'2006-09-01 16:26:24','5:45 now','Man . . . can Magnus Backstedt pull back some time or what? We\'re glad he\'s not chasing us.'),(4121,88,'2006-09-01 16:27:55','Narrow going','Our leaders are snaking through a skinny little lane as they begin the climb. They\'re not wheel-to-wheel anymore . . . gravity is definitely taking a hand.'),(4122,88,'2006-09-01 16:30:42','4:38 now','The chase is on with a vengeance.'),(4123,88,'2006-09-01 16:32:18','Loosli\'s shed his pals','It\'s every man for himself on the climb. Behind, Astana is taking command of the chase as the Liquigas boys drift back.'),(4124,88,'2006-09-01 16:34:30','Ouch, ouch, ouch','The three leaders are suffering on the ascent. And the field is curb-to-curb behind. These boys look hungry.'),(4125,88,'2006-09-01 16:35:17','It\'s 12-13 percent','Just what a guy likes to see after 140km, no?'),(4126,88,'2006-09-01 16:37:13','Loosli looks okay','But David de la Fuente doesn\'t . . . he\'s had some sort of bother in the bunch.'),(4127,88,'2006-09-01 16:38:44','15km to go','Loosli is still ticking over nicely up front. He has a little more than four minutes in hand.'),(4128,88,'2006-09-01 16:39:53','One guy not expecting much drama . . .','. . . is Kim Andersen, DS at CSC: \"We hope today things stay the same. We\'re not expecting a lot of changes today. Sunday is the most dangerous stage.\" '),(4129,88,'2006-09-01 16:40:45','Luis Perez has a dig','. . . while Valverde sits at the back of the bunch, not looking so hot. Bad place to be with the bunch running curb-to-curb.'),(4130,88,'2006-09-01 16:41:39','Zoom','The Cofidis rider is zipping away from the bunch as Loosli clings to a lead of just under four minutes.'),(4131,88,'2006-09-01 16:42:35','Menchov is done, too','It\'s not gonna be his Vuelta, is it? At least he has plenty of company: Pereiro is joining him in a sprint out the back.'),(4132,88,'2006-09-01 16:47:36','Perez is devouring this climb','But he\'s being chased by an eight-man group including Ryder Hesjedal . . . which has just caught him.'),(4133,88,'2006-09-01 16:48:44','Loosli rolls grimly along','He still has 3:30 on the first chase, which has about a half-minute on the Di Luca group.'),(4134,88,'2006-09-01 16:49:46','The first chase . . .','. . . also contains Beltran, Devolder, Rodriquez and Vino\'. There\'s some firepower for you. But Caisse d\'Epargne is bearing down (or up) on them.'),(4135,88,'2006-09-01 16:51:29','Under 10km to go','And Loosli is starting to show a little wear and tear. '),(4136,88,'2006-09-01 16:52:55','Three minutes flat','Loosli stands, rocking from side to side, as the Vino\' group rockets along behind with Perez up front.'),(4137,88,'2006-09-01 16:54:22','Tick, tock','2:50 now. Di Luca\'s jersey is open and flapping. He does not look like a man having a good time.'),(4138,88,'2006-09-01 16:55:32','Di Luca\'s toast','Off he goes.'),(4139,88,'2006-09-01 16:56:47','9km to go for the pursuers','Loosli has just two minutes now.'),(4140,88,'2006-09-01 16:57:31','Valverde punches it!','He\'s out of the saddle and hammering. He\'s caught Vino\', Perez and Beltran.'),(4141,88,'2006-09-01 16:58:41','Valverde, Beltran and Perez together . . .','. . . and Vino and Kascheschkin come back.'),(4142,88,'2006-09-01 16:59:35','8 km to go for Loosli','That\'s gonna be a long 8km.'),(4143,88,'2006-09-01 17:02:04','Down to 1:20','Perez, Rodriguez and Valverde are driving the chase. Di Luca has popped, and we don\'t see our No. 2, Janez Brajkovic, anywhere, either.'),(4144,88,'2006-09-01 17:02:58','Di Luca . . .','. . . has already conceded more than a minute to the Valverde group.'),(4145,88,'2006-09-01 17:04:46','Wait a mo\'','Is that Brajkovic in the Valverde group?'),(4146,88,'2006-09-01 17:06:54','6km for Loosli','The pitch levels off a bit here, which must feel good on the old legs. He still has more than a minute in hand over the chase.'),(4147,88,'2006-09-01 17:08:14','5km to go','A quick dip down and then it\'s right back up.'),(4148,88,'2006-09-01 17:09:15','It\'s gonna be close','Call us sentimental, but we sure would like to see Loosli stay away for the win.'),(4149,88,'2006-09-01 17:09:45','55 seconds','4km to go.'),(4150,88,'2006-09-01 17:11:17','3km to go','And Loosli just keeps gutting it out.'),(4151,88,'2006-09-01 17:12:29','Mayo attacks!','Nothin\' doin\'. So he goes again.'),(4152,88,'2006-09-01 17:13:14','Valverde goes . . .','. . . Beltran counters . . .'),(4153,88,'2006-09-01 17:13:46','And Valverde goes again!','The chase has Loosli in sight!'),(4154,88,'2006-09-01 17:14:17','Brajkovic attacks!','115 pounds of whoop-ass!'),(4155,88,'2006-09-01 17:14:50','Now Vino\' goes!','He\'s caught Brajkovic and the two are off.'),(4156,88,'2006-09-01 17:15:37','Loosli is swept up','Chapeau, lad. Brajkovic and Vino\' lead into the final klicks.'),(4157,88,'2006-09-01 17:16:34','Gomez Marchante jumps!','Valverde is isolated.'),(4158,88,'2006-09-01 17:17:05','And Vino\' goes again!','1km to go!'),(4159,88,'2006-09-01 17:17:51','It\'s gonna be a drag race to the line!','Vino\'s pounding along, head down, shoulders rocking.'),(4160,88,'2006-09-01 17:19:13','300 meters to go . . .','. . . Vino\' looks over his shoulder . . .'),(4161,88,'2006-09-01 17:19:00','Valverde attacks!','And shoots straight past Vino\'!'),(4162,88,'2006-09-01 17:21:00','What a finale!','Valverde takes the win from Sastre with Gomez Marchante third!'),(4163,88,'2006-09-01 17:22:12','Hasta la vista to that golden shirt','Di Luca loses 1:57 to Valverde.'),(4164,88,'2006-09-01 17:23:26','Danielson loses big time','Three and a half minutes. That\'s gonna leave a mark.'),(4165,88,'2006-09-01 17:25:18','It\'s not all bad news for Discovery','Brajkovic took fourth and Beltran fifth on the stage . . . and Brajkovic takes the gold jersey!'),(4166,88,'2006-09-01 17:26:21','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','Thanks for tuning in . . . see you here again tomorrow. And don\'t forget to hang around for a complete race report from European correspondent Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson, and full results.'),(4167,89,'2006-09-02 12:21:51','Good day and welcome ...','...to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the eighth stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana, covering a hilly 181.6km from Ponferrada to Lugo.
Today\'s was an early start, with the peloton rolling out of Ponferrada at 10:15 this morning. There were several attacks from the gun with riders hoping to make time on the rolling terrain of today\'s stage. Right now as the race nears today\'s 95km mark, Quick Step\'s Kevin Van Impe is off on his own with about a five-minute lead on the main field.\r\n'),(4169,89,'2006-09-02 12:23:41','One abandon so far today','There was a costly pileup at about 69km involving several riders, including Davitamon-Lotto\'s Josep Jufre. The Spanish rider was the Belgian team\'s best option for the GC, starting Saturday\'s stage 12th overall at 2:37 back . Jufre cut his arm in the fall and was bleeding profusely and doctors were forced to apply a tourniquet. He obviously abandoned and was transferred to a local hospital.\r\n'),(4171,89,'2006-09-02 12:24:57','The weather and today\'s route','It\'s another good day, warm in the morning, but not nearly as hot as the Africa-like temperatures the peloton endured in the south.
The Vuelta enters Galicia, the lush region in northwest Spain, for the first time in 11 years. Galicia is the home of Tour runner-up Oscar Pereiro, but Lugo is nowhere near his hometown in the western reaches of the province. Still, there should be a big Pereiro cheering section on hand.\r\n'),(4172,89,'2006-09-02 12:25:46','This is not necessarily an easy day.','Today\'s stage opened with a fairly flat section, but turned into a roller-coaster after climbing the day\'s Cat. 3 about midway through the stage that carries the peloton into Galicia. Lush and green, there\'s nary a flat road in the final half of the stage. The stage finishes with a 1.5km rising finish, so the favorites will have to watch for splits in the bunch.\r\n'),(4173,89,'2006-09-02 12:26:32','Tom Danielson','Discovery Channel\'s Tom Danielson will be hoping his legs come back for Sunday\'s hard climbing stage to La Cobertoria. The American struggled Friday and fell out of the top 10 to 18th at more than four minutes back. In an e-mail message to VeloNews\'s Andrew Hood, Danielson simply wrote: \"Simply [bad] day. I have no idea what went wrong.\"\r\n'),(4174,89,'2006-09-02 12:27:13','Janez the Wonder Boy',' Discovery Channel team boss Johan Bruyneel said the team will now rally around race leader Janez Brajkovic, who is surprising everyone in what\'s his first grand tour. \"We will ride for him as long as he has the leader\'s jersey.\"\r\n'),(4175,89,'2006-09-02 12:38:00','Wow.','Race radio reports that the speeds today have been close to miraculous. While Van Impe is out there on his own, the pace has been phenomenal. Over the course of the first hour, he covered an amazing 53.2 km and barely slowed down in the second hour to just 48.2.
That remarkable first hour figure was largely driven by the gradual downhill gradient coupled with the intensity of the day\'s early attacks and the peloton\'s apparent unwillingness to let anything of significance form up off the front, but Van Impe is still out there, cooking on his own now, to boot. '),(4176,89,'2006-09-02 12:47:00','Van Impe','is ticking off the kilometers and still holding an advantage of about 5:30. He\'s at the 110 mark and still facing another 71km of life on his own if he hopes to win today\'s stage.
And yes, in case you\'re wondering, he is related. Kevin is the nephew of the great Lucien van Impe... which makes us feel especially old right now.'),(4177,89,'2006-09-02 12:53:26','Contest Reminder','Hey, here\'s your chance to pontificate, to predict or to just take a plain old shot in the dark. Hit the Daily Contest on top of the page and let us know what you\'re thinking. You get one entry a day and we pick a winner from the correct entries submitted.'),(4178,89,'2006-09-02 12:57:00','At 125km','Van Impe\'s advantage is down to 4:55. His day in the limelight may not result in a stage win. Four minutes-fifty-five is a pretty small amount to make up when the peloton senses a catch.'),(4179,89,'2006-09-02 13:00:00','Jokes and such','We have been somewhat remiss in announcing the winner of Thursday\'s joke contest. Patrick O\'Grady has, indeed, picked his favorite and he\'ll be making note of that today or tomorrow. We apologize for the delay. In the mean time, here\'s one of my favorite entries:
A devout cyclist dies and goes to heaven. Saint Peter meets him at the gate. Cyclist askes if there are bicycles in heaven. Peter says \"Sure, let me show you,\" and leads the guy into the finest Velodrome you can imagine.
\"This is great,\" the cyclist says. \"You will love it here\" says Peter. \"You will be fitted a custom track bike, the mechanics will glue on fresh silks each night, and your personal masseuse is always available.\" As they speak, a blur flys by them on the boards riding a gold plated Cinelli and the cyclist says \"Wow he was fast, that must be Eddy Merck!\"
\"No,\" says Peter, \"that was God, he only thinks he\'s Eddy.\" \r\n'),(4180,89,'2006-09-02 13:16:00','A slow decline','Van Impe is beginning to fade. His advantage is now around 4:45 as he passes the 135km mark. No bets on this one succeeding.'),(4181,89,'2006-09-02 13:23:00','A confession','We tried to offer up a lame excuse for the recent absence of the Fat Guy, the one who serenades the day\'s suicide break once the escapees have been caught. Sure, we came up with the explanation that he was off at a Mexican clinic getting his stomach stapled because, quite frankly, we couldn\'t really discuss the painful truth. Yes, the Fat Guy was hanging under a cloud of suspicion. He had tested positive and we simply couldn\'t face the expected media onslaught until the B-sample came back. Our Fat Guy had gone into hiding. Sadly, the B-sample, too, came back positive and the Fat Guy has, indeed, tested positive for Pork Rinds. He swears that his body produces naturally high levels of fat and cholesterol and vows to fight this all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In the mean time, we will be allowing him to sing as he fights this attack on his personal reputation, given that this is not a UCI-sanctioned report (and he has graciously offered to cover our insurance through his foundation).'),(4182,89,'2006-09-02 13:33:25','The pace is still quite high','Even after three hours in the saddle, Van Impe is holding his own and cruising along at 45kph. That\'s pretty zippy.'),(4183,89,'2006-09-02 13:37:36','Contract News','Davitamon\'s Peter Van Petegem has signed on with the Quick Step for next year. That could mean something big for the team\'s chances of re-taking the Paris-Roubaix title again next year. Van Petegem won the Tour of Flanders in 1999 and 2003 and won Paris-Roubaix in 2003 as well. Teamed up with world champion Tom Boonen now, this could be a big, big boost for Quick Step in the spring classics season.'),(4184,89,'2006-09-02 13:39:00','Comments, questions?','With a likely catch still a bit away, feel free to
drop us a line and we\'ll try to answer a few of your questions today.'),(4185,89,'2006-09-02 13:52:00','At km 165','Van Impe\'s advantage drops to 3:25'),(4186,89,'2006-09-02 14:05:29','The chase','With the prospect of another sprint finish, the peloton is cranking up its efforts. While Van Impe is still cooking along, the peloton is putting on a big chase, with Discovery, Liquigas and Milram leading the effort.'),(4187,89,'2006-09-02 14:08:50','The speed is quite high','The peloton is really cranking at 60+ kph\r\n
With 10km to go, the gap is now 43 seconds with Liquigas driving hard to make the catch.'),(4188,89,'2006-09-02 14:10:01','Abandons thus far in the Vuelta','We got a vote for Robbie McEwen to win today\'s stage, which reminds us to give folks a summary of the abandons thus far in the race:Stage 7\r\n
Steve Zampieri (Swi), Phonak\r\n
Stage 6\r\n
Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr), Milram\r\n
Stage 5\r\n
Robbie McEwen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto\r\n
Christophe Detilloux (B), Francaise des Jeux\r\n
Freddy Bichot (F), Francaise des Jeux\r\n
André Korff (G), T-Mobile\r\n
Charles Wegelius (GB), Liquigas\r\n
M.A. Martín Perdiguero (Sp) Phonak \r\n'),(4189,89,'2006-09-02 14:11:13','The chase is picking up and','poor mister Van Impe is just 15 seconds ahead of the peloton. He\'s looking over his shoulder, which means just one thing:
'),(4190,89,'2006-09-02 14:12:00','And the attacks from the field','with 9km to go, the attacks have begun out of the main field, but Liquigas is not having any of that, folks.'),(4191,89,'2006-09-02 14:14:49','The finishing circuit','The peloton comes through the finish line, but they have one loop of an eight-kilometer finishing circuit. There is a nice little kicker at the end, which should make things tough.'),(4192,89,'2006-09-02 14:16:16','Pereiro and Hasselbacher','have scampered off the front. Oscar Pereiro, the man who may be declared the winner of the Tour de France, has gone with the Gerolsteiner man. Liquigas has put big Maggy Backstedt on the front to drive the chase.'),(4193,89,'2006-09-02 14:17:11','Six kilometers to go','The two men are still ahead by about 12 seconds, but Backstedt is just driving hard.'),(4194,89,'2006-09-02 14:19:00','With four kilometers','The two men are caught and the peloton is flying hard at 65kph.... Maggy finally fades.'),(4195,89,'2006-09-02 14:20:57','With two kilometers to go','Gerolsteiner and Liquigas teams are setting up strong trains... here is Milram and Bettini is trying to get in there to snag a win.'),(4196,89,'2006-09-02 14:21:31','With one kilometer to go','The speed is incredible behind Credit Agricole\'s efforts'),(4197,89,'2006-09-02 14:22:00','On the little rise we mentioned','The gaps have popped and and Liquigas\'s Luca Paolini goes!'),(4198,89,'2006-09-02 14:22:36','He has a gap...','... and Bettini gives chase.'),(4199,89,'2006-09-02 14:23:28','He\'s caught...','and it\'s a big surge out of the field and here comes Vino\''),(4200,89,'2006-09-02 14:23:54','Vinokourov!','Vino\' wins it in the final 50 meters.'),(4201,89,'2006-09-02 14:31:00','Results','1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, 4:02:11
\r\n2. Ruggero Marzoli (I), Lampre, at 0:01
\r\n3. Uros Murn (SLO), Phonak
\r\n4. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole
\r\n5. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic
\r\n6. Erik Zabel (G), Milram
\r\n7. Samuel SÃnchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\n8. Thomas Ziegler (G), T-Mobile
\r\n9. Andrea Moletta (I), Gerolsteiner
\r\n10. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, all s.t.
Overall
1. Janez Brajkovic (SLO), Discovery Channel, 30:50:39
\r\n2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., at 0:05
\r\n3. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 0:10
\r\n4. J. Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 0:22
\r\n5. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), Astana, at 0:23
\r\n6. Manuel Beltran (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 0:51
\r\n7. Ruggero Marzoli (I), Lampre, 1:05
\r\n8. Bernhard Kohl (A), T-Mobile, 1:37
\r\n9. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:47
\r\n10. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, 2:07
\r\n\r\n'),(4202,89,'2006-09-02 14:33:00','That\'s all folks','We\'ll check the entries today to see if anyone picked the winner and send a note to you, if we pick your entry. If no one won, well, we\'ll double up tomorrow.
Thanks for checking in with VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the eighth stage of the Vuelta a Espana... and we\'ll be back tomorrow.'),(4203,90,'2006-09-03 13:30:00','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the \"Queen Stage\" of this year\'s Vuelta a Espana.
Racing has been underway for about two hours on this, the toughest stage in this year\'s Vuelta. The 207 kilometers of today\'s route covers a wide range of terrain, but really the most decisive of it will be the six rated climbs that hit riders from the start. The day started with the Category 3 climb to Minide. At km50, the route moves up the 16km of Category 1 roads up the Puerto de Connio and that\'s followed almost immediatly by the Cat. 1 Puerto de Ranadoiro (8km) At km 102 the Puerto de Cerredo (Cat. 3) warms the riders up for the 10km hor categorie Alto the San Lorenzo (10km - at 9 percent).
Of course, the surviivors then get to fight it out on the Cat. 1 Alto de la Cobertoria (9km - 8.5 percent).
So, what do you have planned for your day?'),(4204,90,'2006-09-03 13:32:00','The situation on the road','There were 179 riders at today\'s start at 11:30. We saw a series of attacks from the gun, including a nice group that included David Millar (Saunier Duval). Most attacks were reeled in, but we now have a break of 15 at km 74, with a gap of 2:30 on the main field. They are working their way onto the day\'s second Cat. 1 climb of the day, the 8-kilometer haul up the Puerto de Ranadoiro.\r\nWe\'re including their positions on GC to give an idea if any of these riders pose much of a threat to the overall standings. The men in the break are: 21. Igor Anton (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 4:38
\r\n24. David Arroyo (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 5:11
\r\n27. Xabier Zandio (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 7:09
\r\n30. Carlos Barredo (Sp), AWT, 7:54
\r\n32. Mauricio Ardila (Col), Rabobank, 9:35
\r\n36. José Miguel Elias (Sp), REG, 10:29
\r\n37. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, 11:21
\r\n39. Pieter Weening (Nl), Rabobank, 12:39
\r\n44. Ãngel Vallejo (Sp), REG, 13:49
\r\n46. Lars Ytting Bak (Dk), CSC, 14:33
\r\n49. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 16:15
\r\n59. Dario David Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 19:52
\r\n90. Joan Horrach (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 36:16
\r\n106. Iñigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 41:52
\r\n163. Ãngel GÓmez GÓmez (Sp), Saunier Duval, 53:13
'),(4205,90,'2006-09-03 13:49:50','Over the top','Our lead group has crested the top of the Puerto de Ranadoiro and we should get a good time check at the summit. The pace has been quite high today, considering the terrain, with an average speed of about 38.5kph for the first two hours of racing today.'),(4206,90,'2006-09-03 13:53:00','The gap at km 85 is still around 2:45','Dario Cionni of Liquigas has opted to try his luck on his own.'),(4207,90,'2006-09-03 13:54:37','Contest reminder','This is going to be a wild stage, so shot-in-the-dark guesses may do you as well as anything today. Go ahead and let us know who you think might win today by simply hitting the Daily Contest button on the top of the page and following instructions.'),(4208,90,'2006-09-03 13:58:40','Time to bail','T-Mobile\'s Thomas Ziegler has dropped out at the feedzone, making him the third rider to abandon today, including his teammate Andre Greipel and Saunier Duval\'s Juan Jose Cobo.'),(4209,90,'2006-09-03 14:02:00','Cioni back in the lead group','As we near the halfway mark in today\'s stage, Cioni has been pulled back into the fold.\r\n'),(4210,90,'2006-09-03 14:27:00','Our latest time check','Puts the lead group at 110 km with an advantage of 2:30 over the main field.
Questions? Comments? Drop us a line.'),(4211,90,'2006-09-03 14:39:00','Saul Raisin','Now there\'s a name we haven\'t mentioned for a bit. Our guy Casey Gibson was at the Palmetto Project Charity Ride and Saul Raisin showed up to show his support. He is looking good and happily riding. What a great bit of news, especially after the fear that the young man from Georgia wasn\'t going to make it after his horrible accident this year. Take a look at Casey\'s photos. Saul\'s looking good.'),(4212,90,'2006-09-03 14:45:42','The long road ahead','The leaders are beginning to work their way up the long - uncategorized - climb up the Puerto de Somiedo, which crests at km 136. Then there is a long drop before the beyond category Puerto de San Lorenzo and then head to the final summit of the Alto de la Cobertoria before a short drop to the finish line. All told, today\'s stage features 4,135 meters of climbing, about half an Everest ... but the roads are better here. The escapees have an advantage of 3:45 over the field.\r\n'),(4213,90,'2006-09-03 14:46:51','How tough is this stage?','Well Andrew Hood asked someone who might know. Pedro Delgado - former Vuelta and Tour winner - called this stage s a \"leg-breaker. This stage will bust up the peloton and mark real time gaps that will mark the differences in the GC all the way to Madrid. Riders who ride well have a real chance to be on the final podium. It\'s going to be a brutal stage.\" '),(4214,90,'2006-09-03 14:51:53','What Valverde thinks','Valverde said he had a chance to preview the final four climbs of today\'s stage requires a perfect ride: \"A day like this, you can\'t neglect anything, and despite the difficulty, you have to continue eating and drinking all the time.\"'),(4215,90,'2006-09-03 14:52:15','Ask Johann','Bruyneel, Discovery Channel sport director: \"For me, the big favorite is Valverde.\" Concerning Brajkovic, Bruyneel said, \"he\'s very young, he cannot win. He\'s going to go as long as he can, we are not setting any objective.\"'),(4216,90,'2006-09-03 14:57:32','Contract news','British rider Mark Cavendish has signed a two-year contract to ride for T-Mobile next season, the German team said today.
The 21-year-old Cavendish, born on the Isle of Man, raised his profile recently by finishing second in two stages of the Great Britain Tour.
T-Mobile is actively recruiting new riders and re-shaping the squad after losing Andreas Kloden and Jan Ullrich this year. Despite the Ullrich scandal, the team has had its license renewed and sponsors are actually handing the control of the teams day-to-day operations to an American, Bob Stapleton (not to be confused with Lance Armstrong\'s attorney, Bill Stapleton). \r\n'),(4217,90,'2006-09-03 14:57:54','OUCH!','The Spanish daily AS is reporting that Josep Jufre - the Davitamon-Lotto rider who crashed in Saturday\'s stage - lost more than 1.5 liters of blood after cutting his tendon in his right arm near the bicep. (The human body has about 5 liters of the red stuff). \"It was so spectacular and he was bleeding so fast, we thought he cut one of his main arteries,\" said one of the Vuelta doctors. '),(4218,90,'2006-09-03 15:02:29','What does Sastre think about today\'s stage?','\"It\'s very difficult and the climbs are very explosive. There\'s no room for recovery because it\'s just one climb after another. Anyone who has a bad day can lose a lot.\"'),(4219,90,'2006-09-03 15:02:57','Iban Mayo\'s thoughts?','\"This Vuelta is just in the first week and everyone is saying that things are clear, but I think there are going to be more changes because we still have a lot of racing ahead of us,\" said Mayo, who started at 2:37 back. \"For me, my goals are to win a mountain stage, and if I am at the front in the mountains, then my position in the overall should improve. We\'ll see.\"'),(4220,90,'2006-09-03 15:03:20','The once-great mullet','Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom), who was forced to abandon the Tour de France, has recently resumed training and hopes to return to competition before the end of the season ... '),(4221,90,'2006-09-03 15:07:02','At 132km','The lead group is sticking together and holding a three-minute lead over the peloton. Of course the day\'s big action will come on the final two climbs of the day and we\'ll see if any of these escapees make it to the finish ahead of the field.'),(4222,90,'2006-09-03 15:08:30','That gap is actually smaller than we thought','Our latest time check gives the lead group a smaller advantage than we reported. Nearing the summit of this long unrated climb, the gap is down to 1:55.'),(4223,90,'2006-09-03 15:11:05','What a day....','Concerning the weather, absolutely spectacular day. Sunny, warm, with slight breeze. The Asturias region of northern Spain is notorious for its horrible weather. David Millar refused to finish the stage the last time the Vuelta climbed the nearby Angliru after torrential rains turned the steep narrow roads into treacherous otter slides. Millar stopped at the line, placed his race number on the finish line and then pulled out of the race in protest. '),(4224,90,'2006-09-03 15:18:40','Over the Puerto de Somiedo','the leaders are less than two minutes ahead of the peloton with all of the big GC riders still in the mix. Ahead are the two final climbs of the day that should sort out the field... and the Vuelta for that matter.'),(4225,90,'2006-09-03 15:19:05','Spain celebrates','News was spreading fast among fans lining Sunday\'s route that Spain\'s national basketball team beat Greece, 70-47, to win the world championship. Now if only a Spanish rider can win today\'s stage, the fiesta should be a good one ...'),(4226,90,'2006-09-03 15:19:27','Contract News','Martin Perdiguero - who threatened to retire following the Floyd Landis doping scandal - said he has \"offers\" from other teams to race next season following the closure of Phonak at the end of this year.'),(4227,90,'2006-09-03 15:36:56','Sastre and crew','CSC is really working the front to bring down the differences to set sail their overall threat, Carlos Sastre. The 31-year-old Spanish rider is durable, to say the least. This Vuelta marks his fifth(!) consecutive grand tour - and he\'s finished them all. He rode the 2005 Tour to help team captain Ivan Basso finish second overall, then finished third in the 2005 Vuelta (later bumped to 2nd following Heras doping DQ). This spring, he helped Basso win the Giro and finished fourth overall in the Tour after pulling within 12 seconds of the yellow jersey. Now he\'s bucking for overall victory.'),(4228,90,'2006-09-03 15:38:21','Oh yeah, the joke contest...','
While we wait for news from the front, let\'s return to our joke contest of August 31. You may recall that we offered up an ultra-stylish Old Guys Who Get Fat in Winter jersey, autographed by longtime VeloNews wiseacre Patrick O\'Grady, plus a copy of his out-of-print collection of cycling cartoons, \"The Season Starts When?\", for the best cycling-related joke submitted by you, our dear readers.
\r\n\r\nMr. O\'Grady has been extra busy as of late, acting as media adviser to the Fat Guy, who recently tested positive for pork rinds yet insists, despite all evidence to the contrary (including a six-pack of chins and a booty with its own ZIP code), that he is innocent. Drawing on his knowledge of a previous case, O\'Grady advised the Fat Guy to get himself a couple of puppies. Alas, the fat bastard ate them. \"Probably wasn\'t a good idea to name \'em \'Pommes\' and \'Mayo,\'\" muses O\'Grady. \"So now in addition to WADA, USADA, UCI, USA Cycling, the AMA, Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, he\'s got the ASPCA and PETA after him.\"
\r\n\r\nHappily, it being Labor Day weekend, O\'Grady has scored a little time off to sift through the thousands of entries, and he\'s chosen a long, rambling joke from Chris Baldwin as the winner. We present it, and our congratulations, below:
\r\n\r\nIt\'s the end of the office-park crit season, double points, and the title is up for grabs. So many guys are fit this year that the lead has changed hands all summer. Not even the team efforts of so many committed weekend warriors could control the competition.
\r\n \r\nAnd so, with double points on the line on the final evening, a new guy rolls up to the line, his legs furry, his tan splotchy, his bike an all-star collection of mismatched parts and colors. He inspires snickers from the collective maw as he takes to the very front.
\r\n \r\n\"Okay, you know the rules, gentlemen,\" shouts the promoter. \"Double points tonight, for the whole shooting match. One hour plus two laps. There will be a bell with one lap to go.\"
\r\n\r\nAnd he points to a tiny brass bell hanging from a steel tripod, perched on the curb next to the driveway leading home. The riders pay no attention, save for the new guy, who is transfixed by the contraption.
\r\n \r\n\"That\'s the dinkiest bell I\"ve ever seen,\" he squeaks. \"Where\"d you get it?\"
\r\n\r\n\"It was cast from the melted-down steel from the Huffys of the 1986 7-Eleven squad,\" replies the promoter. \"The brass was taken from the spoke nipples of the wheels they used during their first European season.\"
\r\n\r\nThe new guy stares in awe. He nearly misses the start as the gun goes off, still gaping at the finish bell while the rest of the pack clips in.
\r\n\r\nRound and round they go, circling the office park for an hour at their anaerobic threshold. At times the lead is indiscernible. One weekend warrior leads another, who is passed by yet a third. Back and forth, to and fro. It\'s anybody\'s guess who will win tonight\'s race and perhaps the overall season points total.
\r\n\r\nWith an hour gone by, the surprising figure of the new guy comes to the front, dodging and weaving behind the clear race favorites, showing that perhaps he has what it takes to hold off until the end.
\r\n\r\nWith one lap left the promoter steps out from behind the race table and moves towards the bell. He grasps the lanyard with his fist and yanks heartily, producing a tinny peal that only barely reaches the ears of the speeding cyclists. \"One lap to go, one lap to go,\" he shouts. The leaders begin their final-lap dance, slowing and turning speed into tactics, all in order to place themselves best at the final turn.
\r\n\r\nAll except the new guy. He launches unwatched out of the second turn and holds as much speed as his wobbly bike can manage. He churns and burns and fires up a mighty turn of the legs until he is well clear of the sleeping peloton. Stunned by this move, they drift out of their tactical reverie and begin a futile chase to salvage second. The new guy is going to win free and clear.
\r\n \r\nThe new guy realizes this and throws his hands well into the air a full 50 meters before the line. He pumps his fists and points to his chest and even makes the baby-carriage motion with his arms. He is ecstatic with his dark-horse win.
\r\n\r\nExcept that his bike can not handle the excitement. The loose bolts, the squeaky rims, the clattering chain, all have been stressed to the limit this weekday evening. The combined pressures of an hourlong crit, plus the wobbly victory dance, send him careening out of control. Behind him and in front of him, the peloton and promoter are sickened to watch the new guy lose it.
\r\n\r\nThe front wheel buckles, the new guys slides out. He comes unclipped and continues to skid, his bike on top of him, until he is headed right for the promoter\'s table. Sensing doom, the promoter jumps out of the way, grabbing just his stopwatch and some clipboards before the new guy slams into him.\r\nThe new guy comes to a stop only when he meets with the lap bell, face first. He is knocked out cold, his teeth fly akimbo, he collapses to the parking strip in a dead faint.\r\n\r\nThe peloton crawls across the line together. The promoter comes from behind a shrub. They look in horror as the new guy lies motionless on the grass. From somewhere high up in the range of human hearing a ringing peal of metal comes tinkling out of the silence. It grows and grows until all present are met with the full-throated clanging of the race bell. Louder and louder it chimes until finally, after nearly a minute, the sound recedes and is carried away on the wind. The new guy is down for the count.
\r\n\r\n\"Did you see that?\" asks one of the racers. \"I\'ve never seen anything like that in my life. Do you think he\'s okay?\"
\r\n\r\n\"I would have never believed it if it hadn\'t happened before my own eyes,\" says another. \"Did anybody get the new guy\'s name?\"
\r\n\r\n\"I don\"t know for sure,\" says the promoter. \"But his face sure rings a bell.\"
'),(4229,90,'2006-09-03 15:43:51','On the Puerto de San Lorenzo','The lead group has already broken into two parts with Martinez, Anton and Arroyo off front heading up penultimate climb. '),(4230,90,'2006-09-03 15:47:19','The peloton is on the climb','and the power house climbers are all there: Sastre, Valverde, Janez Brajkovic ... and the lead group of three has about a minute.\r\n\r\nWhoa... Menchov just popped off the back of the yellow jersey group.'),(4231,90,'2006-09-03 15:49:41','CSC sweeping \'em up','On our next-to-last climb, the chase containing Valverde, Di Luca and the other favorites is picking up stragglers one by one and consigning them to the dustbin.'),(4232,90,'2006-09-03 15:50:00','Martinez leads Arroyo','The two men are ticking off a brisk tempo. The have a gap of some 50-odd seconds.'),(4233,90,'2006-09-03 15:55:42','After a slight dip, it\'s back up','The twosome had a brief respite, topping 46kph (28.5mph) on a quick descent, before getting back to the grind.'),(4234,90,'2006-09-03 15:59:58','Crack, snap','This 10km climb is taking its toll . . . the favorites\' group is down to a couple dozen hardcores chasing the leaders, Arroyo and Martinez.'),(4235,90,'2006-09-03 16:01:57','Martinez grinds along in the saddle . . .','. . . while Arroyo stands, rocking the bike to and fro.'),(4236,90,'2006-09-03 16:04:32','Inigo Cuesta leads the chase','The CSC man is parked on the front, cranking out the revs like a machine.'),(4237,90,'2006-09-03 16:06:23','40 seconds now','Sastre has a mechanical. He\'s back on and rolling.'),(4238,90,'2006-09-03 16:07:28','Danielson on water duty','He\'s back to the team car to collect drinks for the lads. Lots of bottles being emptied over sweaty heads today.'),(4239,90,'2006-09-03 16:10:05','The leaders are nearing the top of the climb','The two leaders are about 1k from the top of the climb and about 45 seconds ahead of their closest pursuers.Riders are reaching out to fans to grab water bottles - to drink and dump it on their heads - riders are even swapping the bottles between themselves '),(4240,90,'2006-09-03 16:12:28','Up and over','Martinez and Arroyo are over the top with Arroyo taking the top spot.'),(4241,90,'2006-09-03 16:13:09','The gap at the top','is 59 seconds back to the yellow jersey group.'),(4242,90,'2006-09-03 16:13:47','Smooth roads','with nice barriers on the descent. '),(4243,90,'2006-09-03 16:16:41','Anton','Euskaltel\'s Igor Anton has rejoined the leaders. Martinez, Anton and Arroyo are working their way down the descent and hold about 1:00.
Paolo Bettini is trying to reconnect with the yellow jersey group.'),(4244,90,'2006-09-03 16:18:02','90kph','The speed on this descent is really high, especially when you consider the fact that they have a lot of turns on this sucker....'),(4245,90,'2006-09-03 16:19:03','With 34km to go','The race only has this descent and then the \"nasty cousin\" of the Angrilu remaining. That climb kicks in right after the descent.'),(4246,90,'2006-09-03 16:22:16','Bettini\'s back','Nice one Paolo. Let\'s see how he does on the final climb.'),(4247,90,'2006-09-03 16:22:38','Hey!','Horner made it back to the yellow jersey group, too!'),(4248,90,'2006-09-03 16:23:11','The gap now is down to 40 seconds.','The three leaders are just 40 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group.'),(4249,90,'2006-09-03 16:28:16','Still on the descent','With 25km to go, Kashechkin is hammering the front - to spring Vinokourov? The peloton sweeping through one fo the beautiful limestone canyons that mark northern Spain.'),(4250,90,'2006-09-03 16:29:43','Zzzzzoooooom','The Astana-led chase effort is paying off. The gap is down to 19 seconds. These boys will get caught before the climb.'),(4251,90,'2006-09-03 16:30:04','And they are','caught, that is.'),(4252,90,'2006-09-03 16:31:00','Things have eased off','With 23km to go, riders are taking a final deep breath before the final climb of the day. We should see some serious action at the front.'),(4253,90,'2006-09-03 16:32:51','Egoi Martinez','is sitting on the back loading up with water bottles... and up front there goes Bettini. He fought his way back on and now he is taking a flyer on the gradual lower slopes of the descent.'),(4254,90,'2006-09-03 16:34:53','Bettini','is 20km from the finish, which means he will be moving into the lower slopes of the climb pretty soon.'),(4261,90,'2006-09-03 16:46:36','Valverde','has two of his guys setting tempo at the front.'),(4264,90,'2006-09-03 16:52:18','In Barzana','Bettini is working his way on to the serious part of the day... the final climb as he leaves the picturesque village of Barzana. Caisse d\'Epargne is still driving the tempo at the front as the yellow jersey group, 32 seconds behind Bettini, who is 9km from the finish.'),(4256,90,'2006-09-03 16:39:29','Comment from the car','Jose Luis \'Chechu\' Rubiera - traveling in Discovery Channel car today - just told Spanish TV, \"Brajkovic is surprising everyone and the team is very strong today, so we hope he can keep the jersey. Valverde looks the best of the favorites.\" '),(4257,90,'2006-09-03 16:39:44','Oh Paolo!','Bettini is no sprinter, but he beat the peloton\'s fastest in the first stage. He\'s no climber either, but maybe he can deliver another surprise - now with 45sec gap '),(4258,90,'2006-09-03 16:40:45','While the one Continental team in the peloton','is called \"Relax,\" it\'s the race leader, Brajkovic, who looks relaxed in the saddle.'),(4259,90,'2006-09-03 16:41:25','Caisse d\'Epargne has three riders on front','In the group Horner, Hesjedal, Danielson are all in there ... '),(4260,90,'2006-09-03 16:43:07','Bettini','Hits 15km to go... the real climb will be kicking in soon. Bettini still has 45 seconds.\r\n'),(4263,90,'2006-09-03 16:48:45','With 12km to go','The selection will start soon. Bettini has 33 seconds on a big group of top GC contenders.'),(4265,90,'2006-09-03 16:53:21','This final climb','is 8km with grades of 10 percent near the top. The race isn\'t over at the top, though. There is an 800 meter drop to the finish.'),(4266,90,'2006-09-03 16:54:10','On the climb','Bettini started the climb 35 seconds ahead of the main field.'),(4267,90,'2006-09-03 16:56:00','With 7km to go','the gap has been trimmed. Sylvester Szymd (Lampre) is moving up to Bettini.'),(4268,90,'2006-09-03 16:56:00','Bettini','Caught and passed by Sylvester Szymd.'),(4269,90,'2006-09-03 16:57:39','Szymd','Caught.... and there goes Vino!'),(4270,90,'2006-09-03 16:58:12','Kashechkin joins Vino','and we have to Astanas driving hard at the front with 6km to go.'),(4271,90,'2006-09-03 16:59:22','Kashechkin had some trouble','catching his team leader.... and the peloton is really strung out in single file behind them. No panic, but there is a hard chase. The two Astanas have but 11 seconds. Vino is pushing the pace.'),(4272,90,'2006-09-03 17:00:16','Caisse d\'Epargne','is setting tempo at the front. Discovery is there... the team still has five guys in the mix.'),(4273,90,'2006-09-03 17:01:04','5.5km','The gap is now 14 seconds....word is that Kazakhstan\'s prime minister is here ... the two Astanas have 20 seconds now.'),(4274,90,'2006-09-03 17:01:50','The yellow jersey group','is down to about 12 riders with 5km to go. The gap is 22 seconds with five kilometers to go.'),(4275,90,'2006-09-03 17:03:08','Brajkovic','the Wonder Boy is very relaxed. Valverde and Karpets are the ones driving the chase, as Saunier Duval\'s Piepoli is moving to the front now.'),(4276,90,'2006-09-03 17:04:20',' Kashechkin is nearing virtual lead','at only 23 seconds down on GC he is now the leader on the road. Sastre attacks - Di Luca, Valverde follow, but Brajkovic is getting dropped ... '),(4277,90,'2006-09-03 17:06:01',' Kashechkin and Vino','are four KM from the finish and have 17 seconds on Sastre, Valverde and Piepoli... and another 25 on Brajkovic.'),(4278,90,'2006-09-03 17:07:25','Vino still driving','at the front. Brajkovic is fading.'),(4279,90,'2006-09-03 17:08:29','With 3km to go...','The two Astana men are holding their 17 second advantage on their nearest pursuers. Brajkovic is now 45 seconds back and appears to have lost the jersey.'),(4280,90,'2006-09-03 17:09:19','Brajkovic','at 54 seconds and being paced by his teammates. Danielson and Devolder were trying to tow Brajkovic, but the youngster couldn\'t quite follow the pace, with Beltrán up the road chasing his chances with Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel).'),(4281,90,'2006-09-03 17:10:43','Brajkovic','is now more than one minute down on the two leaders, with some real power-house climbers in the middle. Gomez Marchanter, Sastre, Valverde and Di Luca are chasing at 17 seconds.'),(4282,90,'2006-09-03 17:11:43','2km to go','...as the two Astanas hit the 2km mark. The gap is increasing'),(4283,90,'2006-09-03 17:13:02','Sastre and Valverde','are working to close the gap, but they are not making much headway. Brajkovic comes through the 2km mark at 1:18.
Ahead Valverde takes off, leaving his companions in the dust.'),(4284,90,'2006-09-03 17:13:52','Valverde charging hard','Did he time this one well. He\'s on the steep part and has trimmed the gap to 11 seconds. Vino leaves his teammate Kashechkin'),(4285,90,'2006-09-03 17:14:27','Valverde','coming up on Kashechkin... as Vino moves off the front and has 1km to go.'),(4286,90,'2006-09-03 17:16:16','Valverde','is diggin in but he\'s not getting up to Vino.'),(4287,90,'2006-09-03 17:16:53','Vino....','Vino looks back, zips up jersey, second straight stage - 5:50:43 '),(4288,90,'2006-09-03 17:17:26','Valverde will get jersey',' - 2nd at 16sec and Kashechkin third +21 '),(4289,90,'2006-09-03 17:17:39','The chase','Sastre, Di Luca, Marchante, +42 '),(4290,90,'2006-09-03 17:19:00','Beltran, Piepoli','at 1:45'),(4291,90,'2006-09-03 17:19:29','Brajkovic','and his crew - Danielson in there - come in at 2:13'),(4292,90,'2006-09-03 17:31:00','Results','Stage 9
1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, 5:50:43
\r\n2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., at 0:16
\r\n3. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), Astana, at 0:21
\r\n4. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 0:43
\r\n5. J. Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 0:43
\r\n6. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 0:43
\r\n7. Manuel Beltran (Sp), Discovery Channel, 1:46
\r\n8. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 1:46
\r\n9. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:59
\r\n10. Stijn Devolder (B), Discovery Channel, 2:14
\r\n
Overall
1. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 36:41:31
\r\n2. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), Astana, at 0:27
\r\n3. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 0:44
\r\n4. J. Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 0:56
\r\n5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, 1:38
\r\n6. Janez Brajkovic (Slo), Discovery Channel, 2:05
\r\n7. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 2:21
\r\n8. Manuel Beltran (Sp), Discovery Channel, 2:28
\r\n9. Ruggero Marzoli (I), Lampre, 3:59
\r\n10. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol), Lampre, 5:18
FULL\r\nRESULTS\r\n\r\n'),(4293,90,'2006-09-03 17:43:00','That\'s a wrap folks...','Thanks for tuning in. A reminder that tomorrow is a rest day, a concept Live Update Guy fully intends to embrace. See ya on Tuesday.'),(4294,91,'2006-09-05 14:05:00','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the tenth stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana, covering 199km from Avilés to Museo de Altamira.
After Monday\'s rest day, riders are bound to react to the return to riding in their own ways. Some will be a bit creaky while others may be re-energized from spending a relatively easy day.'),(4295,91,'2006-09-05 14:11:00','The situation on the road','The peloton left the start today at 12:30 and the attacks began almost immediately. It wasn\'t until kilometer 40, however, that the day\'s first serious move developed. A group of 24 moved off the front. Nine of those riders have since slipped back and at kilometer 63, we have a group of fifteen riders with an advantage of about five minutes on the main field.
It\'s an interesting group and there is plenty of horsepower up there. Take a look for yourself. We\'re including those riders\'s positions on GC and the time it would require each to assume the overall lead:15. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 6:50
18. Sergio Paulinho (P), Astana, 7:56
\r\n21. Iban Mayo (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 12:17
\r\n24. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), Lampre, 14:21
\r\n33. Vladimir Gusev (Rus), Discovery Channel, 23:17
\r\n44. Dario David Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 33:12
\r\n47. Nicki Sorensen (Dk), CSC, 34:03
\r\n51. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 35:01
\r\n53. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 35:44
\r\n56. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 37:31
\r\n57. Sébastien Minard (F), Cofidis, 38:30
\r\n61. Sébastien Joly (F), Francaise des Jeux, 40:54
\r\n64. Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz), Credit Agricole, 44:02
\r\n110. Xavier Florencio (Sp), Bouygues Telecom, 1:12:51
\r\n117. Francisco José Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 1:14:32
\r\n'),(4296,91,'2006-09-05 14:13:00','The chances of survival?','With hilly - albeit mostly unrated - roads ahead, this could be one of those days for a break to succeed. With a lot of teams represented in the break - including that of race leader Valverde - and none of the players actually posing a threat on GC, there may be a tacit agreement to let this one actually make it to the finish... of course, we\'ve been wrong before.'),(4297,91,'2006-09-05 14:14:16','Contest Reminder!','Will they make it? Will they get swallowed up? You make the call and hit the Daily Contest on top of the page.'),(4298,91,'2006-09-05 14:15:43','At 73km','The men in the break have a lead of 5:15. '),(4299,91,'2006-09-05 14:24:00','News from a friend','A lot of you kept up with the regular updates from Major Jason Bryan, a live update fan with whom we kept up a regular correspndence. Eventually, Major Bryan began sending in his own Rider Diaries he called \"Sustaining Sanity in Iraq.\" You\'ll see that in the current issue of VeloNews Major Bryan has also written the \"At the Back\" column, which concludes with the note that he will likely be home by the time you read his story. Well, that\'s the case. Major Bryan is home with his wife and two children and happier than a bike geek in the Campagnolo factory.
We hadn\'t heard too much after his first week home, but we got a note last night explaining his absence from e-mail for the last couple of weeks:
The Bryan’s have returned from our own little vuelta. We’ve seen baseball games in Louisville, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. We even caught the Georgia Bulldogs in the NCAA football opener in Athens.\r\n\r\nWelcome home!'),(4300,91,'2006-09-05 14:29:00','At 80km','The 15 leaders have extended their advantage to 7:15, which is closing in on what Karpets would need to slip into the leader\'s jersey... close behind, though is Paulinho, which may cause Valverde\'s Caisse d\'Epargne boys to pick up the tempo, but will it prompt them to put in the effort to mount a full-on chase?'),(4301,91,'2006-09-05 14:37:12','Reader question','Reader Ron Swenson writes to ask:Shamefully, the mail has been held at the post office—so I haven’t even seen the latest VN yet (and it’s closed on Labor Day). I kept looking for it at every bike shop I stopped in along the way. My buds tell me it looks great.
Go Vino!
Sincerely,
Jason
In todays stage, Sergio Paulinho is listed amongst the leaders. Wasn\'t he implicated in Operacion Puerto?He was, indeed, Ron. Paulinho was among a group of Liberty Seguros-turned-Wurth-turned-Astana-Wurth-turned-Astana riders named in the Operacion Puerto case. He was also among a group cleared by Spanish courts on July 26. The UCI has not fully accepted the court\'s decision and intends to follow-up on the original allegations on its own, but current rules do allow Paulinho to ride, which is why he\'s at the Vuelta.'),(4302,91,'2006-09-05 14:45:00','Lunch time!','The 15 leaders are heading to the feedzone and it\'s time for a bit of an energy boost.
Speaking of energy boosts, take a look at Michael Barry\'s Diary to see the importance of grabbing a bite along the way.'),(4303,91,'2006-09-05 14:52:44','The peloton','comes through the feedzone some 7:40 behind the lead group.'),(4304,91,'2006-09-05 14:53:51','Actually...','...we have a more accurate time check (a buddy with a watch) and he gives us a gap of 8:11 at the feedzone.'),(4305,91,'2006-09-05 14:59:43','News from the doping front','Tour of Germany winner Jens Voigt has called for improved doping tests in cycling to ensure there is no confusion over whether riders have used banned substances to enhance performance.
\"We are doing a lot against doping but we need better tests that do not leave an element of doubt,\" Voigt said in an interview with Die Welt.
\"The tests must be positive or negative - no lawyers, no complaints. But it is a question of money. Who should pay for this development?
\"WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has gone to its limits with the tests and could certainly use twice its budget to carry out twice as many tests.\"
Frankly, we think if anyone can and should act as a spokesman for the peloton, Voigt is the one to do it. The guy is total class act.'),(4306,91,'2006-09-05 15:04:09','At the halfway mark','The leaders are still ticking along nicely. Looking ahead the Category 3 Alto del Mirador kicks in at km 179 and crests at 187. Assuming the men in the lead are still together, this should sort things out and set up the the final charge to the line, which sits atop a little 1.5km climb to the Altamira museum at Santllana del Mar.'),(4307,91,'2006-09-05 15:22:14','Rollin\', rollin\', rollin\'','The peloton is averaging 45kph (27.9mph). They\'d probably catch us, and quickly, too. But the leaders are still out there, barreling along toward the intermediate sprint at Llanes.'),(4308,91,'2006-09-05 15:35:31','Nine minutes is the gap . . .','. . . and Ventoso takes the intermediate sprint at Llanes from Joly and Cioni.'),(4309,91,'2006-09-05 15:39:32','Crash!','Matteo Tosatto (Quick Step-Innergetic) and Uros Murn (Phonak) have taken a skidder at the 120km mark. The docs are attending to them as CSC grinds along at the front of the peloton, chipping away at the leaders\' advantage.'),(4310,91,'2006-09-05 15:44:31','The gap is coming down','At the 126km mark the leaders\' advantage was just under seven minutes.'),(4311,91,'2006-09-05 15:47:21','Feliz cumpleaños!','\"Fast Freddy\" Rodriguez celebrated his 33rd birthday on Sunday and enjoyed the rest day hanging out with his wife, Annie, and their 1-year-old son, Hayden. He said now that top team sprinter Robbie McEwen is gone, he will try to win a stage in a sprint, but he expected some breakaways to stick this week as well.'),(4312,91,'2006-09-05 15:48:34','After three hours in the saddle . . .','. . . the gap has dwindled still further, to 5:33.'),(4313,91,'2006-09-05 15:54:13','Pereiro eyes world\'s','Oscar Pereiro, who is due to be declared the winner of the 2006 Tour de France following American Floyd Landis\'s positive test for a skewed testosterone/epitestosterone level, confirmed in a Monday press conference that he wants to ride the world championship road race in Salzburg on September 24. \"I\'m in the provisional list and I want to take part, although obviously I\'ll have to see how I get through the Tour of Spain first,\" Pereiro said. \r\n'),(4314,91,'2006-09-05 15:55:52','Tick, tock','At 140km the gap had fallen to 5:20.'),(4315,91,'2006-09-05 15:59:17','Caisse d\'Epargne confident','Eusebio Unzue, sport director at Caisse d\'Epargne, is confident in race leader Alejandro Valverde. Concerning his rivals, he doesn\'t think Alexandre Vinokourov will be able to get any stronger. \"It\'s clear that\'s he found his highest level of form very fast, but I don\'t think he\'ll get any better. If that\'s the case, turn out the lights and we\'re going home. You cannot forget that Kashechkin has been the steadiest until now and that (Carlos) Sastre and (José Angel Gomez) Marchante have been on top in the most difficult moments.\" '),(4316,91,'2006-09-05 16:00:38','145km','And the gap has ticked upward slightly, to 5:43.'),(4317,91,'2006-09-05 16:05:06','Don\'t expect any Tour-sized gaps','Oscar Pereiro, whose Tour depended heavily on a break that Phonak allowed to take a half-hour on the field, said nobody should expect Caisse d\'Epargne to do the same thing: \"We are not so stupid to allow a breakaway of a half hour.\" '),(4318,91,'2006-09-05 16:08:37','CSC in charge','Bjarne Riis\'s boys are motoring along up front on behalf of Carlos Sastre.'),(4319,91,'2006-09-05 16:10:23','Two good reasons to call it a Vuelta','In a rest-day interview, Paolo Bettini told VeloNews.com that he won\'t be finishing the Vuelta in order to be as fresh as possible for the upcoming world championships. And there was another good reason, too. \"I will probably quit the race around Granada (stage 17) because I need to go home to see my wife or she will kill me.\"'),(4320,91,'2006-09-05 16:13:24','Our leaders are ticking it over nicely','But the gap is coming down again, to just under five minutes with 45km to go.'),(4321,91,'2006-09-05 16:18:24','Sorensen wants a stage','Danish vet Nicki Sorensen, who is out there in today\'s breakaway, told VeloNews.com he\'d like to try to win a stage. Last year, Sorensen took a victory in Avila that he called \"the best win of my career. ... The form is getting better and we\'re all here to help Carlos (Sastre), but maybe there will be a chance in the second week to look for a stage victory as well.\"'),(4322,91,'2006-09-05 16:23:30','Speaking of our break . . .','. . . the margin is down to 4:30 at the 158km mark with CSC cranking out the revs on the front of the bunch.'),(4323,91,'2006-09-05 16:29:02','30km to go','. . . and the gap is down to 3:30 as the leaders approach the second intermediate sprint at Cobreces. Shortly after that we have that third-category climb with 12km remaining. Should be a few fireworks there, no?'),(4324,91,'2006-09-05 16:32:37','After scaling the Alto del Mirador . . .','. . . the riders will finish at the Museo de Altamira, a museum of the Altamira cave paintings that are some of the best preserved ancient wall paintings in Europe. '),(4325,91,'2006-09-05 16:37:01','Kohl on the comeback trail','T-Mobile\'s Bernhard Kohl, who crashed out of the Vuelta during the descent of the Puerto de San Lorenzo Saturday, is out of hospital and on the mend, according to the team\'s website. \"We X-rayed the neck, back and chest areas, as well as the pelvis, but we found no fractures,\" said team doctor Andreas Blum. \"Bernhard shot over the barriers at 60 km/h. Despite that he came off lightly. The lung contusion gave him trouble speaking. He didn\'t get his voice back until that night.\" The young Austrian had started the stage in eighth overall, only 90 seconds down on then-race leader Janez Brajkovic (Discovery Channel). It remains to be seen whether he\'ll be ready to ride the world\'s in Salzburg later this month.'),(4326,91,'2006-09-05 16:41:09','3:14 now','Next on the menu: The Alto del Mirador. Going up . . . .'),(4327,91,'2006-09-05 16:48:26','CSC still driving','The gap hovers around three minutes as Saunier Duval\'s David Millar leads the escape.'),(4328,91,'2006-09-05 16:49:25','And Mayo jumps!','Rebellin goes with him and Miller follows . . .'),(4329,91,'2006-09-05 16:49:55','Then Joly goes!','And he quickly opens a gap.'),(4330,91,'2006-09-05 16:51:18','No dice','He\'s caught, and Petrov has a dig.'),(4331,91,'2006-09-05 16:53:05','Four off the front','Petrov, Rebellin, Paulhino and Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d\'Epargne).'),(4332,91,'2006-09-05 16:55:36','9km to go','All together again for the lead group as the peloton powers along behind.'),(4333,91,'2006-09-05 16:58:15','The gap is 3:28','So it seems likely that our leaders will be fighting it out for the stage today. Saunier Duval\'s Ventoso is a fast finisher, amd Millar is on the front drillin\' it for his teammate.'),(4334,91,'2006-09-05 16:59:38','5km for our leaders','. . . who still hold 3:22 on the chase as the road tilts slightly upward.'),(4335,91,'2006-09-05 17:01:01','Cioni and Minard open the ball','Zoom!'),(4336,91,'2006-09-05 17:02:36','Gusev goes!','Man, who isn\'t having a dig? Now it\'s Sorensen.'),(4337,91,'2006-09-05 17:03:25','Petrov is chasing','. . . and Rasmussen shoots up the right side of the road! He has a gap.'),(4338,91,'2006-09-05 17:04:17','The chase is lined out behind . . .','. . . and Cioni brings the pursuit past Rasmussen, who\'s cracked. Boom.'),(4339,91,'2006-09-05 17:04:53','Mayo and Ventoso!','Rebellin\'s right on \'em.'),(4340,91,'2006-09-05 17:05:29','1km to go','Paulinho jumps! Another gap'),(4341,91,'2006-09-05 17:06:11','This may be the winning move . . .','. . . but Petrov and Rebellin are chasing . . .'),(4342,91,'2006-09-05 17:07:06','Paulinho gets it!','Rebellin second!'),(4343,91,'2006-09-05 17:08:04','The peloton is 2km from the finish','CSC still on the front.'),(4344,91,'2006-09-05 17:08:53','Valverde near the front','No doubt he\'s keeping an eye on Sastre. A guy doesn\'t want to give any gifts these days.'),(4345,91,'2006-09-05 17:12:32','Florencio was third . . .','. . . just in case you were wondering.'),(4346,91,'2006-09-05 17:13:29','Valverde holds the lead','Kash\' is second overall, with Sastre third.'),(4347,91,'2006-09-05 17:14:15','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks.','See you here tomorrow. Meanwhile, stay tuned for a report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results.'),(4348,92,'2006-09-06 13:55:00','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 11th stage of the 61st edition of the Vuelta a Espana. Today\'s stage covers 173.6 kilometers\r\nof hilly roads from the Oscar Freire velodrome in Torrelavega to Burgos.\r\n\r\nThe race has been underway for a bit more than half-an-hour and the attacks began within the first two kilometers today. One interesting effort came from Discovery\'s Tom Danielson, who now sits in 15th on GC, at 6:20. That was a bit too close for comfort and the peloton got a little nervous with a climber of that caliber off the front. If Danielson had made any time to speak of today, that would have moved him back into being a GC threat in the closing week, so it wasn\'t going to go anywhere. Sure enough he got called back to the field by Johann Bruyneel... and his breakaway companions - including Paolo Bettini - tried to get away. No luck. The day\'s break has yet to stick, but that could happen any time soon.'),(4349,92,'2006-09-06 14:02:41','At 30km','It\'s been a wild opening today with a series of attacks, with none really succeeding in getting anyone off the front today. At 30km the peloton is on the slopes of the day\'s first Category 1 climb, the Puerto de la Bragula and we\'ve seen some big efforts from Carlos Sastre and Alexandre Vinokourov. They may not succeed in getting off the front, but they intend to put race leader Valverde under pressure.'),(4351,92,'2006-09-06 14:04:21','Speaking of race leaders...','Defending Vuelta champion Denis Menchov has pulled out of the race, not arriving at the start this morning. A team official told us that Menchov is suffering from a gastro-intestinal ailment and is unable to continue, so we won\'t see a repeat winner this year.'),(4352,92,'2006-09-06 14:06:44','Contract news','Former world champion Igor Astarloa - he won in Hamilton - has signed a two year contract to ride for Milram, the Italian-German team announced today.
Astarloa, 30, who claimed the world title in 2003, won Milan-Turin this year as a member of the South African-sponsored Barloworld squad.
A strong all-arounder, Astarloa joins sprint specialists Alessandro Petacchi and Erik Zabel, Australian rider Brett Lancaster, Niki Terpstra of the Netherlands and Zabel\'s German compatriot, Marcel Sieberg.\r\n'),(4354,92,'2006-09-06 14:07:42','Contest Reminder','You can give it your best shot today. Don\'t forget to hit the Daily Contest button on top of the page and follow instructions.'),(4355,92,'2006-09-06 14:09:00','The day\'s break?','We see a good group forming on the lower slopes of the climb. Those riders - and their spots on GC - are as follows:30. Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 19:33
\r\n31. Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz), AWT, 20:34
\r\n32. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 23:00
\r\n40. Theo Eltink (Nl), Rabobank, 29:33
\r\n41. Dario David Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 30:07
\r\n57. Eric Leblacher (F), Francaise des Jeux, 37:08
\r\n84. David Loosli (Swi), Lampre, 1:00:17
\r\n97. Volodymir Gustov (Ukr), CSC, 1:07:41
\r\n98. Iñigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:07:55
\r\n115. Stuart O\'Grady (Aus), CSC, 1:15:29
\r\n121. Scott Davis (Aus), T-Mobile, 1:18:35
\r\n123. Alexandre Usov (Blr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:18:42
\r\n
Drop us a note if you have comments, questions, sage advice or any other reason to contact us.'),(4356,92,'2006-09-06 14:23:00','The break','Even with a sprinter like Thor Hushovd in the mix, the day\'s break has managed to crest the Puerto de la Bragula with a comfy 3:00 lead over the main field. It\'s a sign that the peloton is comfortable with letting these guys make a bit of time today, although it could be tough for them to hold out until the finish.'),(4357,92,'2006-09-06 14:37:00','A reader question','Here\'s a reader question representative of several we\'ve received.\r\n
With Phonak probably folding next year, any word on were, which\r\nteam, the BMC bikes will end on?\r\n
Paul Marabito
Paul, actually Phonak is not probably folding. The team is definitely\r\nclosing its doors at seasons end. BMC, meanwhile has already inked\r\na deal with Alexandre Vinokourov\'s Astana team.'),(4358,92,'2006-09-06 14:41:00','At 54km','The lead group has finished the descent and is now on its way to the day\'s second major bump in the road, the Cat. 1 Puerto del Escudo, with a nice 5:00 lead. Remarkably it\'s been Hushovd scoring all the points today... he\'s one the two intermediate sprints thus far and he was the first over the Puerto de la Bragula.'),(4359,92,'2006-09-06 14:51:30','At 60km','The lead of the Hushovd group has bumped up to 5:30 and they are coming close to kicking up the Cat. 1 Puerto del Escudo. The \"chase\" doesn\'t seem too frantic at this point, but we may see this group sort itself out over the next few kilometers.'),(4360,92,'2006-09-06 14:59:26','News of the weird','Today\'s weird news item comes from Helsinki. Finland\'s top opera star\r\napparently learned of the dangers\r\ninherent in cycling... even casually.'),(4361,92,'2006-09-06 15:03:31','The gap is holding','at around 5:20. No major chase underway, but it looks like this is about as far as the peloton is going to let these guys go.'),(4362,92,'2006-09-06 15:11:36','Leaders on the Puerto del Escudo','Steep little bugger, this: Cat. 1, 7.5 klicks, with an average grade of 8.6 percent. That\'ll wake up the legs.'),(4363,92,'2006-09-06 15:12:33','Martinez feels froggy','He\'s jumping.'),(4364,92,'2006-09-06 15:16:20','News of the weird, part 2',' A Mexican study finds ballroom dancing can give as good an aerobic workout as more conventional forms of exercise, according to United Press International. Dr. Hermes Ilarraza of the National Institute of Cardiology, who reported on his findings to the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain, said the benefits of physical training in patients with heart disease \"is well established. However, exercise compliance is often inadequate because patients find exercise boring. People like to dance so we thought it would be an attractive option.\" And so it was. Of a group of 40 heart-disease patients who committed to doing half an hour of exercise a day five days a week for five weeks, half got their exercise from a dance routine choreographed by a professional dancer who also had heart disease, while the others exercised on stationary bicycles. Ilarraza found that the dance group\'s exercise capacity increased by 28 percent, almost as much as the 31 percent increase for the cycling group. No wonder Martinez is up there shaking his booty.'),(4365,92,'2006-09-06 15:18:18','Tick, tock','Here\'s a revised time check for you: The word is that the peloton is 8:30 in arrears, with David Cañada stuck in no-man\'s land at 4:30.'),(4366,92,'2006-09-06 15:21:41','Martinez is past the feed zone','Up ahead, the Cat. 3 Puerto de Corrales.'),(4367,92,'2006-09-06 15:25:07','Dance fever','Martinez is really boogieing up there: 1:40 on his erstwhile breakaway companions, who in turn have 5:15 on Cañada and 9:45 on the bunch. So much for that short leash we were speaking of earlier.'),(4368,92,'2006-09-06 15:41:37','Discover(y) this','With 93km remaining, Martinez has extended his advantage to 2:45. Cañada hovers at 6:30 with the bunch at 10:35.'),(4369,92,'2006-09-06 15:43:42','Just in case you\'re wondering . . .','. . . Egoi Martinez began today\'s stage in 32nd overall, 23 minutes back.'),(4370,92,'2006-09-06 15:45:02','Average speed in hour two','36.3kph, or 22.5mph.'),(4371,92,'2006-09-06 15:47:19','Thor\'s hammered','Well, not exactly. But he does seem to be having trouble sticking with the chase. Maybe all those intermediate sprint points he\'s carrying are slowing him down. Behind him, meanwhile, Cañada is having his own problems – after a long stint in no-man\'s land, the peloton is bearing down on him.'),(4372,92,'2006-09-06 15:55:57','Martinez cranks out the revs','He still has three minutes or thereabouts. Behind, Cañada has decided to rejoin the bunch. Maybe he got lonely, eh?'),(4373,92,'2006-09-06 15:58:15','Over the Carrales','Martinez led, obviously, with Cioni heading the pursuit, followed by Leblacher.'),(4374,92,'2006-09-06 16:01:22','11:50 to the peloton','But just under three to the chase. Martinez will have his work cut out for him with 80km still to ride.'),(4375,92,'2006-09-06 16:03:00','Hasta la vista, compañeros de mi vida','Luis Sanchez (Astana) has called it quits.'),(4376,92,'2006-09-06 16:04:15','68km to go','Martinez still looks pretty sharp out there. Behind, the chase gets aero\' on a descent, topping 70kph.'),(4377,92,'2006-09-06 16:10:23','Chit-chat','Martinez has a chat with the team car before getting back to business. He\'s still hanging on to more than two minutes over the chase.'),(4378,92,'2006-09-06 16:17:45','San Felices dead ahead','Martinez clings to a margin of two minutes over the chasers and 11:52 on the bunch. He appears to be wearing a black band on his right sleeve ... we don\'t know why, but we\'ll try to find out.'),(4379,92,'2006-09-06 16:20:14','Under 60km remaining','And it\'s far from flat. Martinez stands to stretch . . . three hours in the saddle now.'),(4380,92,'2006-09-06 16:24:01','Caisse d\'Epargne takes the front','Golden jersey Valverde is tucked in neatly among his boys.'),(4381,92,'2006-09-06 16:25:55','Landaluze has nipped off the front','Doesn\'t fancy his chances in a sprint, we\'re guessing.'),(4382,92,'2006-09-06 16:27:05','The long Lycra line','Behind, the bunch seems finally to have gotten motivated to take a little time back. Valverde\'s outfit has them strung out big-time.'),(4383,92,'2006-09-06 16:28:45','Gustov joins Landaluze','CSC\'s man takes the front as the rain starts coming down.'),(4384,92,'2006-09-06 16:31:43','Martinez remains alone out front','He has a minute over his two pursuers.'),(4385,92,'2006-09-06 16:34:27','Another chat','Martinez exchanges a few words with the team car, collects a bottle and moves on.'),(4386,92,'2006-09-06 16:35:34','The gap falls . . .','. . . to 33 seconds. Martinez will wait for his pursuers and make it three up front.'),(4388,92,'2006-09-06 16:45:32','Three on the front','The chase is on-again, off-again, losing a degree of organization, as behind the Caisse d\'Epargne boys stay parked on the front of the peloton.'),(4389,92,'2006-09-06 16:48:03','Martinez catching a tow','He\'s skipping turns as Landaluze and Gustov rotate through.'),(4390,92,'2006-09-06 16:49:57','Tick, tock','The leading trio has 1:44 over the chase and 10:06 on the peloton as Martinez contributes to the cause with a quick pull.'),(4391,92,'2006-09-06 16:51:48','More departures','Luis Leon Sanchez Gil, Hervé Duclos-Lassalle and Jérome Pineau have all had enough of this year\'s Vuelta.'),(4392,92,'2006-09-06 16:53:48','2:13 to the chase . . .','. . . and 12:30 to the peloton.'),(4393,92,'2006-09-06 16:58:04','A non-chase chase','The presence of strong sprinters like Hushovd and O\'Grady in the pursuit may not bode well for its success . . . who wants to tow those dudes up to a stage win? We have 35km to go.'),(4394,92,'2006-09-06 17:00:25','The lead trio has 2:29 . . .','. . . over the chase and 10:50 over the bunch.'),(4395,92,'2006-09-06 17:02:14','Whoops','O\'Grady is in the peloton, not the chase. We must\'ve misread that last smoke signal from the race organization.'),(4396,92,'2006-09-06 17:04:12','Getting better all the time','Our leaders have 2:42 on the chase and 10:55 on the bunch. If we were a betting man, we\'d bet on them staying away to the finish.'),(4397,92,'2006-09-06 17:10:59','Raining again','Must feel kinda good after all the heat these guys have suffered through in this Vuelta. Our man Andrew Hood says it\'s 36C on the road in Burgos . . . that\'s 96.8F, folks.'),(4398,92,'2006-09-06 17:11:49','Our leaders . . .','. . . have 2:46 on the chase, which is really getting a hosing from above, you should pardon the expression.'),(4399,92,'2006-09-06 17:17:32','Back in the back','Scott Davis has a puncture. He\'s been doing a fair amount of work on the chase.'),(4400,92,'2006-09-06 17:20:22','The peloton leaves a tunnel . . .','. . . and heads for that rainstorm that soaked the chasers a few minutes ago.'),(4401,92,'2006-09-06 17:21:05','Tick, tock','The leaders have 2:33 on the chase and 10:59 on the bunch.'),(4402,92,'2006-09-06 17:26:18','Martinez nips off again','He\'s left Landaluze and Gustov behind.'),(4403,92,'2006-09-06 17:27:18','Under 10km to go','Martinez has 14 seconds on his erstwhile companions.'),(4404,92,'2006-09-06 17:28:25','Maybe he\'s just trying to stay ahead of the weather','There was some hail in that downpour.'),(4405,92,'2006-09-06 17:32:34','Martinez has a half-minute','Looking good . . .'),(4406,92,'2006-09-06 17:33:18','If he wins . . .','. . . Discovery Channel will have won a stage and held the leader\'s jersey in all three grand tours.'),(4407,92,'2006-09-06 17:34:18','4km to go','Martinez keeps ticking it over, standing to keep on top of that gear.'),(4408,92,'2006-09-06 17:36:08','3km to go','Landaluze and Gustov are fiddling about, trying to decide who gets second on the day.'),(4409,92,'2006-09-06 17:37:33','2km to go','And if he makes it, this win will be for more than Martinez and Discovery Channel. Johan Bruyneel just told Spanish TV that the team is wearing black armbands in dedication to \"Crocodile Hunter\" Steve Irwin. \"He was a big part of the Discovery Channel family and it would be beautiful to be able to dedicate this victory to him and his family,\" says Bruyneel. \r\n'),(4410,92,'2006-09-06 17:38:15','1km to go','Martinez is rockin\' and rollin\', cranking out the revs.'),(4411,92,'2006-09-06 17:39:26','Good on ya, mate!','It\'s a win for Martinez, Discovery and Steve Irwin!'),(4412,92,'2006-09-06 17:40:15','Landaluze gets second','Gustov third.'),(4413,93,'2006-09-07 14:04:06','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 12th stage of the 61st Vuelta a España. Today\'s is another \"transition\" stage, with some moderate - though mostly unrated - climbs. The only ranked climb is the Category 3 Alto de Santibanez de Ayllon, which peaks at the 66-kilometer mark.
Most suggest that today\'s will be a sprinters\' day and there are still a few good contenders in the field, including points leader Thor Hushovd, the ageless Erik Zabel, Big Magnus Backstedt and, never to be ignored, Alessandro Petacchi, who seems to be gradually building his legs back up after that devastating injury to his patella in the third stage of this year\'s Giro d\'Italia.\r\n'),(4414,93,'2006-09-07 14:08:00','Another wonderfully civilized start time','The peloton has only been racing for about 30 minutes as they didn\'t leave Aranda de Duero until about 1:30. That is one of the nicer aspects of racing in - and covering! - the Vuelta. Even if you\'re an early riser, these short stages and late start times give you a chance to trip around town, walk along the beach or even explore the huge number of castles dotting the countryside in Spain. One of our reporters even brought his then-10-year-old son to the Vuelta a couple of years ago and the two of them had a blast.'),(4415,93,'2006-09-07 14:10:00','While the morning has been relaxed','the pace quickly picked up once the peloton left Aranda de Duero. There were several attacks, including a big group of 13 that managed only a small advantage before being reeled back. The peloton is at km 24 and the attacks continue, although the right combination has yet to take shape. Right now we see four riders - Ian McLeod (Francaise des Jeux), René Haselbacher (Gerolsteiner), Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC) and Dmitriy Fofonov (Credit Agricole) - off the front, but we have no time gaps.'),(4416,93,'2006-09-07 14:11:00','Now this is cool','The four men off the front have been joined by another five riders, including Saunier Duval\'s Chris Horner and Liquigas\'s Magnus Backstedt. Backstedt will certainly add some horsepower to the break, as well as offer the others a good break when they\'re drafting off of him. '),(4417,93,'2006-09-07 14:14:00','The nine escapees','Have about 1:30 on the field. We\'ll get you the full list in a moment.'),(4418,93,'2006-09-07 14:16:00','The composition of the break','At this point, we\'re only getting reports on eight riders in the break. They are - with GC placement and time back - as follows
\r\n26. Christopher Horner (USA), Davitamon-Lotto, 13:55
\r\n60. José Luis Arrieta (Sp), Ag2r Prevoyance, 39:01
\r\n62. Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz), Credit Agricole, 40:15
\r\n102. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor), CSC, 1:10:07
\r\n118. Kevin Hulsmans (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:16:17
\r\n135. Ian Mcleod (RSA), Francaise des Jeux, 1:23:29
\r\n138. René Haselbacher (A), Gerolsteiner, 1:24:46
\r\n148. Magnus Backstedt (Swe), Liquigas-Bianchi, 1:29:31
\r\n'),(4419,93,'2006-09-07 14:24:00','Contest Reminder','If you want to take a guess as to who might win today\'s stage, (we already know that reader Mary Boyd has picked Magnus Backstedt) go ahead and hit the Daily Contest button atop the page and follow directions.'),(4420,93,'2006-09-07 14:25:00','Not much opportunity','Cofidis and Milram seem intent on reeling these fellers back into the fold. The gap is just around a minute.'),(4421,93,'2006-09-07 14:30:00','Questions?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Suggestions? Vacation recommendations?\r\nDrop us a line.'),(4423,93,'2006-09-07 14:43:00','The gap','is still just around a minute. Backstedt, meanwhile, beat Arvesen and Haselbacher at the day\'s first intermediate sprint at Ayllón (45km).'),(4426,93,'2006-09-07 14:59:26','On the climb','and a bit of rain falls on the escapees. Fearful that this break isn\'t going anywhere, Kevin Hulsmans (Quick Step-Innergetic) has moved ahead on his own.'),(4427,93,'2006-09-07 15:02:05','Up and over.','We do not have a time check, but the men in the break are over the climb at 66km. The next stop is a lunch break at the feedzone.'),(4428,93,'2006-09-07 15:12:21','Thinning the herd','Twenty-six riders had quit the Vuelta by the start of today\'s stage, including defending champ Denis Menchov. Add Sven Montgomery to that tally; he just bailed.'),(4429,93,'2006-09-07 15:15:21','Hulsman goes nowhere','And now, the hero of yesterday\'s stage, Egoi Martinez, is having a go with Joaquin Rodriguez.'),(4430,93,'2006-09-07 15:20:17','Nowhere again','We\'re all together now as Martinez leads over the Cat. 3 Also de Santibañez de Aylión, ahead of Pietro Caucchioli and Paolo Bettini.'),(4431,93,'2006-09-07 15:21:48','Another one out','Angel Gomez has said bye-bye, too. '),(4432,93,'2006-09-07 15:23:02','Still in the hunt','One rider who hasn\'t given up is Chris Horner. Horner told VeloNews.com the other day he was going to try something in the second week and it looks like he\'s living up to his promise. \"The legs are starting to come around. I was pretty tired after the Tour, but things are going better and I\'d like to try to win a stage,\" he said.'),(4433,93,'2006-09-07 15:26:54','Share the load, hermanos','Alejandro Valverde is hoping some of the sprinters\' teams will pitch in over the next couple of days. \"Now we have two stages for sprinters and I hope those teams will help control the race. You still have to pay attention and arrive in the best conditions for the time trial on Saturday. The team is working very good and I hope I can pay them back 100 percent,\" said Valverde.'),(4434,93,'2006-09-07 15:28:26','Or not, as the case may be','Team CSC sport director Kim Andersen thinks there\'s some tough sledding ahead: \'We want to have someone in all the breaks. It\'s important that the team have a rider in all the breaks. These next few days aren\'t going to be as easy as people think. I am not sure the sprinter teams will want to work.\"\r\n'),(4435,93,'2006-09-07 15:32:37','Speaking of breaks . . .','. . . a 10-man bunch had a go just before the feed zone: Jean-Patrick Nazon, Bernhard Eisel, Luca Paolini, Vladimir Gusev, Kevin Hulsmans, Heinrich Haussler, Bart Dockx, Bjorn Leukemans, Ian McLeod, Paolo Bettini and Ruben Perez Moreno. Chasing were David Arroyo, Thor Hushovd, Pieter Mertens and Joan Horrach Rippoll.'),(4436,93,'2006-09-07 15:35:11','Tick, tock','That lead group has taken a quick minute on the bunch. Arroyo\'s still chasing, some 12 seconds back, but his pals got sucked back in.'),(4437,93,'2006-09-07 15:37:13','Bettini\'s kind of day?','Our man Andrew Hood notes that we have a kind of rising finish to today\'s stage; he thinks it\'s good for the likes of Bettini, Hushovd or Erik Zabel.'),(4438,93,'2006-09-07 15:37:59','Hasta la vista','Andrew Moletta\'s had enough. He\'s out of the race.'),(4439,93,'2006-09-07 15:40:06','Arroyo joins the leaders','Our 11-man lead group has 2:35 on the bunch.'),(4440,93,'2006-09-07 15:49:21','No CSC boys in here','Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r), Bernhard Eisel (Française des Jeux), Luca Paolini (Liquigas-Bianchi), Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel), Kevin Hulsmans (Quick Step-Innergetic), Heinrich Haussler (Gerolsteiner), Bart Dockx (Davitamon-Lotto), Bjorn Leukemans (Davitamon-Lotto), Ian McLeod (Française des Jeux), Paolo Bettini Quick Step-Innergetic) and David Arroyo (Caisse d\'Epargne).'),(4441,93,'2006-09-07 15:52:15','29C out there today','That\'s 84F for you yanquis. Chance of showers, too. Sorry that we\'re not as nifty-looking as the women on The Weather Channel, but what do you expect for free?'),(4442,93,'2006-09-07 15:55:58','The leader are enjoying a bit of a descent','And a dollop of rain, too. We told you . . . .'),(4443,93,'2006-09-07 16:04:22','Caisse d\'Epargne on the front','They\'re just rolling along easily as ahead, the break ticks it over, quickly building its gap. We\'re told the margin has ballooned to nine minutes and change . . . but we hear a lot of strange things during the Vuelta, so don\'t take that for gospel just yet.'),(4444,93,'2006-09-07 16:04:56','Another one out','Markus Fothen peels off his race numbers.'),(4445,93,'2006-09-07 16:06:50','Arroyo looks to leap up','He\'s best-placed in the break, sitting 26th overall at 14:09 back. If the lads behind don\'t clock in and go to work here shortly, he\'ll rocket up the standings by day\'s end.'),(4446,93,'2006-09-07 16:11:50','¡Qué fria!','The riders are slipping into vests and jackets as the temperature plunges to 14C (57.2F) with about 60km to go. Caisse d\'Epargne doesn\'t seem any too eager to run these guys down.'),(4447,93,'2006-09-07 16:15:25','The gap is 10:33','Looks like the peloton has declared an unofficial rest day.'),(4448,93,'2006-09-07 16:20:42','Over 11 minutes now','Sheesh. This looks like a training ride.'),(4449,93,'2006-09-07 16:24:06','Enough is enough','Astana moves to the front and starts honking. Must\'ve finally warmed up, eh?'),(4450,93,'2006-09-07 16:29:56','The gap is dropping','10:30 now. Of Astana\'s three men in the top 10, Sergio Paulinho (10th) is most at risk, at 3:42 off the lead of Alejandro Valverde.'),(4451,93,'2006-09-07 16:33:05','73kph for our leaders','45mph. Not too shabby. 41.5km to go for the peloton, which is about 5km behind the break.'),(4452,93,'2006-09-07 16:38:56','The big Spandex snake','Astana has the bunch all lined out, snaking along through a roundabout and along this winding stretch of Spanish road. Less than 30km to go and the gap hovers around 10 minutes.'),(4453,93,'2006-09-07 16:44:00','25km to go','Astana is still driving the pursuit, but the gap remains at 10 minutes. '),(4454,93,'2006-09-07 16:50:23','Good cooperation up front','It can\'t last, though . . . someone is bound to throw down here shortly as our leaders zip along with under 17km to go.'),(4455,93,'2006-09-07 16:55:09','15km to go','Windy here . . . and a tail wind to boot. Our leaders are holding onto a margin of more than nine minutes as they race toward Guadalajara.'),(4456,93,'2006-09-07 16:57:22','Attack!','McLeod and Paolini!'),(4457,93,'2006-09-07 16:58:41','Nothing doing','11km to go.'),(4458,93,'2006-09-07 17:00:34','9:20 now','CSC appears to be chipping in now.'),(4459,93,'2006-09-07 17:01:45','8km to go','Hulsmans is on the front of the break, drilling it for Bettini. '),(4460,93,'2006-09-07 17:04:03','Haussler goes!','He shoots up the right side of the road.'),(4461,93,'2006-09-07 17:05:29','Curb to curb','The break is chasing its own tail, from one side of the road to another. Now Paolini goes up the right side of the road.'),(4462,93,'2006-09-07 17:05:59','Paolini has a gap!','Up a little rise and he\'s rolling it.'),(4463,93,'2006-09-07 17:07:40','3km to go','Paolini is punching it . . . Bettini is chasing.'),(4464,93,'2006-09-07 17:08:17','2km to go','It\'s a slight rise to the finish . . . '),(4465,93,'2006-09-07 17:09:07','Gusev chases!','The break is shattering . . . Paolini remains alone up front.'),(4466,93,'2006-09-07 17:09:49','1km to go!','Paolini\'s gutting it out!'),(4467,93,'2006-09-07 17:10:18','Quick look behind . . .','. . . the line is in sight . . .'),(4468,93,'2006-09-07 17:11:49','Paolini gets it!','He sits up and coasts across the line.'),(4469,93,'2006-09-07 17:13:28','A smooch for the old wedding ring','. . . by way of celebration.'),(4470,93,'2006-09-07 17:15:35','That was one sketchy finish','More twists and turns than a cheap mystery novel. Here\'s hoping the peloton knows what it\'s in for . . . they\'re at 4km to go.'),(4471,93,'2006-09-07 17:17:48','2km to go for the bunch','Astana still out front.'),(4472,93,'2006-09-07 17:19:10','The bunch is on the finishing climb','1km to go . . . and the leaders are through that dicey right-hander.'),(4473,93,'2006-09-07 17:19:56','Crédit Agricole setting the pace','Here we go . . .'),(4474,93,'2006-09-07 17:20:39','Napolitano takes the bunch sprint . . .','. . . 8:53 behind our winner, Paolini.'),(4475,93,'2006-09-07 17:22:01','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','Thanks for joining us today; see you here again tomorrow. Stay tuned for a report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results.'),(4476,94,'2006-09-08 13:48:34','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s coverage of Stage 13 of the 61st Vuelta a Espana, a 180 kilometer trip over hilly roads from Guadalajara to Cuenca.
Today\'s stage is punctuated by three Category 3 climbs spread along the route, with the first - the Alto de la Tendilla - rising up at kilometer 31. The Alto de Corcoles comes at kilometer 60 and then the closer, the Alto del Castillo, at 168km, has a reputation for breaking up the field on the way to the downhill finish in Cuenca. \r\n'),(4477,94,'2006-09-08 13:51:43','Today\'s start','came at 1:20 in the afternoon, with 158 riders leaving Guadalajara. T-Mobile\'s Lorenzo Bernucci did not sign in today. No word on why, but the T-Mobile team has been trimmed to just four riders. Remarkably the little Relax-Gam team continues on with all nine of its crew still here.'),(4478,94,'2006-09-08 13:53:00','At 20km','The pace has been pretty mellow this afternoon. No one has really put in a serious dig at the front, although the Disco\'s seem intent on ramping up the pace a bit.
Paolo Bettini has suffered a flat, but is already back in the group. Speaking of Bettini, he is still looking at leaving the Vuelta early, probably by the middle of next week.
\"I went into the breakaway (Thursday) to put in a little more work. I also wanted to try to win another stage, but I wasn\'t able to follow Paolini. I am trying to force myself to get the best possible shape before the worlds.\" '),(4479,94,'2006-09-08 13:55:22','Spanish chances at world\'s?','With the withdrawal of Oscar Freire from the world\'s roster, most Spanish fans are looking to Alejandro Valverde to turn in a strong performance. He\'s not so sure.
\"Without Freire, there\'s more pressure on me. He\'s had a lot of bad luck. I am going to be the team captain now and I am going to take it on with a lot of motivation. First, you have to finish the Vuelta, because the race is turning out to be pretty hard.\' '),(4480,94,'2006-09-08 13:55:48','Today\'s weather','It looks like there could be some more rain. There are already clouds building and forecasters are calling for cooler temperatures and the chance of showers later in the afternoon. '),(4481,94,'2006-09-08 13:56:22','An Angel on the podium?','Angel Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval) - fifth overall - said he\'s hoping to finish on the podium: \"Every day I fighting to keep my options open. Saturday\'s TT is an important test and I am going to fight to stay among the best.\"'),(4482,94,'2006-09-08 14:00:14','At 26km','The peloton is working its way up the Cat. 3 Alto de la Tendilla. We still have no reports of major attacks. Perhaps many in the field have already concluded that the final climb will prove to be decisive today.'),(4483,94,'2006-09-08 14:01:14','Contest Reminder!','Take a minute to rally your thoughts and enter our Daily Contest, by hitting the contest button atop this page and follow the instructions. Good luck.'),(4484,94,'2006-09-08 14:16:00','Over the top','and still intact. We still have no reports of a significant break developing in today\'s stage. The peloton has crested the day\'s first climb as a group. We\'ll see how long that holds.
The first riders over the top were:
David Arroyo (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\nEgoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel
\r\nPietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole
\r\nFrédéric Bessy (F), Cofidis
\r\n
Meanwhile, VeloNews\'s Andrew Hood spoke with Fred Rodriguez about his hopes here at the Vuelta and his season in general.'),(4485,94,'2006-09-08 14:18:37','Questions?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Suggestions? Declarations regarding your favorite frame material?\r\nDrop us a line.'),(4486,94,'2006-09-08 14:20:00','The speed is high on the descent','and we do see some fracturing of the peloton... but still no major gaps developing.'),(4487,94,'2006-09-08 14:26:00','First hour of racing','and the peloton has covered 46.2km. Pretty zippy after all.'),(4488,94,'2006-09-08 14:28:00','A bit of a break...','We have three riders Jean Patrick Nazon (Ag2r), Lars Ytting Bak (CSC) and Matteo Tosatto (Quick Step), with 20-second advantage on the main field.'),(4489,94,'2006-09-08 14:31:00','Through the sprint mark...','...at Sacedon (51km) and well get results ASAP.'),(4490,94,'2006-09-08 14:52:52','On the way...','... to the day\'s second climb, the Alto de Corcoles. We don\'t have any news on whether that three-man break successfully got a good gap. '),(4491,94,'2006-09-08 14:34:00','Sprint results','The results of the day\'s first sprint at Sacedon:\r\n1. Jean Patrick Nazon (Ag2r)
2. Lars Ytting Bak (CSC)
3. Matteo Tosatto (Quick Step), '),(4492,94,'2006-09-08 15:02:44','Five men off the front','Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), Luis Perez Rodriguez (Cofidis), Lars Bak (CSC), Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) and Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) took the lead over the Cat. 3 Alto de Córcoles, and they now have a minute\'s gap going through Alcocer.'),(4493,94,'2006-09-08 15:04:14','At 64km . . .','. . . that gap has doubled and then some, to 2:18.'),(4494,94,'2006-09-08 15:11:46','Up and up','The break now has 3:25. And Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d\'Epargne) has called for a consultation with the race docs. We\'ll try to find out what\'s going on and get back to you.'),(4495,94,'2006-09-08 15:15:45','Best-placed in the break . . .','. . . is Perez, sitting 15th overall at 6:11 behind gold jersey Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d\'Epargne).'),(4496,94,'2006-09-08 15:23:35','Tick, tock','Five minutes now. And Pereiro seems to be doing okay . . . he\'s back in the bunch with his mates.'),(4497,94,'2006-09-08 15:27:27','Feed zone coming up','We\'re at the 88km mark and getting a bit peckish.'),(4498,94,'2006-09-08 15:34:54','Good news and bad news','The good news: Twelve of 13 racers to test positive for banned substances in this year\'s Tour de France had Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE). The bad news: Sixty percent of the 105 riders tested declared TUEs. French anti-doping chief Pierre Bordry finds this disturbing. In comments to be published in Saturday\'s Le Monde, Bordry said this could be accepted in sports such as golf or archery, where the athletes tend to be older. \"On the other hand, 60 percent of AUT excuses on the Tour is seriously worrying and does put a doubt on whether or not they are hiding doping practices.\" Read all about it here.'),(4499,94,'2006-09-08 15:36:07','Coming up . . .','. . . the second intermediate sprint, at 100km in Priego.'),(4500,94,'2006-09-08 15:38:09','Caisse d\'Epargne on the job','Valverde\'s boys are up front, but the break\'s lead continues to grow, to 5:20. Average speed for the second hour of racing: 43.8kph, or 27.2mph.'),(4502,94,'2006-09-08 16:02:08','While we wait for news . . .','. . . let\'s talk toys. A friend of ours, a 50-something East Coast road racer, has found the hills a bit daunting of late and is shopping for a featherweight 21st-century wonderbike to make all the nasty pain go away. He asked us for recommendations; alas, our bike is even older and heavier than his, and our bank balance much less impressive. So we\'ll toss the question out to you: What would you buy if you had the opportunity and the bucks? Send your wish lists to webletters@insideinc.com'),(4503,94,'2006-09-08 16:03:28','The VeloNews.com carrier pigeon has landed . . .','. . . and reports that Landaluze has taken the intermediate sprint from Bessy and Bak.'),(4504,94,'2006-09-08 16:08:21','The gap is 7:38','. . . or so we\'re told. That pigeon has trouble operating a stopwatch; no opposable thumbs.'),(4505,94,'2006-09-08 16:09:51','The break is nipping right along','More than 40mph on a slight downgrade.'),(4506,94,'2006-09-08 16:11:33','Time is relative, apparently','Another report gives the break just 6:48 at 122km in. Darn pigeon.'),(4507,94,'2006-09-08 16:14:13','Quick Step lending a hand','The bunch is lining it out, apparently aided by a tail wind.'),(4508,94,'2006-09-08 16:15:25','Pereiro has a tummy upset','His team director has told Spanish TV: \"Oscar isn\'t feeing great, but he should be able to get through the stage. Just something he ate.\"'),(4509,94,'2006-09-08 16:21:01','Wonderbike recommendations','Todd in Tulsa weighs in: \"Orbea Orca, Dura-Ace, upgrade to Zipp wheels.\" Marcel in Boulder proposes: \"Cervelo R3, put some Zipp 303 carbon wheels with some M5 brake calipers and FSA cranks.\" And David in Minnesota chimes in: \"Cervelo Soloist Carbon. Fit it out with Dura-Ace 10-speed and a set of Zipp 404\'s (tubular) for racing and he will have a 15-pound race bike.\" \r\n'),(4510,94,'2006-09-08 16:22:47','Vino\' may be ailing, too','He wasn\'t looking any too sharp over the Cat. 3 climb and is lurking back in the bunch as the chase ramps up.'),(4511,94,'2006-09-08 16:24:53','The gap is coming down','The peloton has closed to just under five minutes.'),(4512,94,'2006-09-08 16:26:50','Quick Step, Milram sharing the load','The chase hits 60kph ... zoom zoom.'),(4513,94,'2006-09-08 16:28:38','The last winner in Cuenca . . .','. . . was Thor Hushovd. We haven\'t seen Crédit Agricole move up to the front yet, though.'),(4514,94,'2006-09-08 16:31:27','More wonderbike picks','Dan in Colorado: \"My wish list would be for Scot Nicol to build me another Steel Ibis Sonoma just like the one I ride now, with full Dura-Ace triple set-up to get me up those pesky hills we have out here in Colorado. It may not be a road racer\'s dream bike, but for the long-haul, 75-mile weekend rides it works very nicely.\" And Roy in North Carolina, a 60-something racer, weighs in for the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL.\r\n\r\n'),(4515,94,'2006-09-08 16:32:13','40km to go','The gap is plummeting; under four minutes now.'),(4516,94,'2006-09-08 16:34:17','Liquigas and Disco\' chipping in','The bunch has come to life under the encouragement of Olympic champ Paolo Bettini, who must be feeling froggy today.'),(4517,94,'2006-09-08 16:35:21','No worries for Vino\'','Herminio Diaz Zaballa, sport director at Astana, says Vinokourov \"has no problems at all, other than the things that happen two weeks into a grand tour. When the split happened, Vino\' was just at the back of the bunch getting water bottles. He\'s fine.\" '),(4518,94,'2006-09-08 16:37:04','Snip, snip','Down to three minutes, 10 seconds now with under 40km to ride.'),(4519,94,'2006-09-08 16:38:38','Could be a sloppy finish','It\'s raining in Cuenca as the gap slips under three minutes under the relentless pressure from Quick Step.'),(4520,94,'2006-09-08 16:41:45','Wanker of the Day Award','. . . goes to the fleawit who nearly got run over by the bunch as he jogged alongside them.'),(4521,94,'2006-09-08 16:43:48','Still more wonderbikes','Greg says he just replaced his 1995 Litespeed Ultimate with a 2007 Cannondale System Six: \"Wow. What a difference. The 58cm bike is right at 16 pounds and jumps up the hills when you step on it. I also recommend the compact cranks for the older guys.\"'),(4522,94,'2006-09-08 16:44:25','2:23 now','Raimond Dietzen, Gerolsteiner DS, just told Spanish TV: \"The break was looking good, but suddenly there are three teams collaborating on the chase and it\'s suddenly looking complicated to arrive. Davide (Rebellin) liked the look of today\'s finish, with this climb, and it was ideal for him, so we wanted to get him in the breakaway. We\'ll see if they can make it.\" '),(4523,94,'2006-09-08 16:47:58','2:02 now','The peloton is roaring along with Milram, Liquigas and Quick Step serving as locomotive to this choo-choo.'),(4524,94,'2006-09-08 16:51:22','Bad news for Jan Ullrich','A spokesman for German prosecutors has told AFP: \"Since 2003 unauthorized products were bought by Ullrich. These are not conclusions we have come to ourselves: They are supported by reports from the Spanish police in response to our inquiries into the investigation. We requested collaboration from the Spanish police to verify these findings.\" More as we hear it.'),(4525,94,'2006-09-08 16:52:12','And bad news for the break','Euskaltel sport director Gorka Gerrikagoitia doesn\'t think they\'re gonna make it. \"With four teams working now, I don\'t think they\'re going to make it. I had calculated that if they could hit the Castillo climb with a minute, a minute-30, they would have been okay.\" '),(4526,94,'2006-09-08 16:53:42','Under a minute now','Are we going to see a finish-line battle between Erik Zabel and Bettini?'),(4527,94,'2006-09-08 16:55:00','Under 40 seconds','The chase looks like the Team Time Trial from Hell . . . and the break is in sight. Say g\'nite, Gracie.'),(4528,94,'2006-09-08 16:59:38','Caught and dropped','See ya . . . wouldn\'t want ta be ya. We\'re headed for the base of the Cat. 3 Alta del Castillo.'),(4529,94,'2006-09-08 17:01:50','Quick Step and Milram continue to drive','And now the Disco boys are moving up.'),(4530,94,'2006-09-08 17:04:33','Everyone to the front!','Nobody wants to get caught out on this final climb, which gains about 200 meters in elevation and is followed by a tricky descent on narrow roads.'),(4531,94,'2006-09-08 17:05:40','15km to go','Through a real weirdo of a roundabout and zoom, back on the gas.'),(4532,94,'2006-09-08 17:07:00','Attack!','A Gerolsteiner is off and running ... Hasselbacher!'),(4533,94,'2006-09-08 17:08:01','Danilo Di Luca on the chase','The man in green has countered!'),(4534,94,'2006-09-08 17:09:13','This is one hellishly narrow lane','. . . no wonder everyone wanted to be on the front. Caisse d\'Epargne is chasing . . . Di Luca has been caught by a group including Arroyo and Sastre. Pereiro is in trouble.'),(4535,94,'2006-09-08 17:10:13','Nine or 10 riders out front','And Cofidis\'s Perez has a dig up the left-hand side of the road! Valverde is chasing with Bettini on his wheel.'),(4536,94,'2006-09-08 17:11:45','Vino, Valverde, Bettini on the march','But nobody seems eager to work with Valverde.'),(4537,94,'2006-09-08 17:12:32','A seven-man group is chasing back onto the leaders','Perez remains on the attack, but he hasn\'t got much of a margin.'),(4538,94,'2006-09-08 17:15:29','Perez keeps digging','Valverde, Di Luca, Kasheshkin, Anton are all in the chase.'),(4539,94,'2006-09-08 17:15:56','Hesjedal pushing the pursuit','The big man from Phonak is in that chase, too.'),(4540,94,'2006-09-08 17:17:07','8km to go','Sanchez (Euskatel) has a dig . . . he\'s outrunning the camera bikes.'),(4541,94,'2006-09-08 17:17:31','Sanchez using all the road','He needs it to keep away from the damn\' motos, which are out of control.'),(4542,94,'2006-09-08 17:19:26','Sanchez roaring along','62kph, curb to curb, using all the road.'),(4543,94,'2006-09-08 17:20:07','5km to go','A huge chase containing most of the race favorites has formed up behind as Sanchez clings to an eight-second margin.'),(4544,94,'2006-09-08 17:21:18','4km to go','And four motos surround Sanchez. Give the man a little room to ride, boys.'),(4545,94,'2006-09-08 17:22:01','3km to go','Sanchez clings to that eight-second gap, head down, in the hooks and hauling.'),(4546,94,'2006-09-08 17:22:42','Caisse d\'Epargne driving the chase','Sanchez is under 2km to go.'),(4547,94,'2006-09-08 17:23:21','Sanchez is in the town','. . . and here comes the chase!'),(4548,94,'2006-09-08 17:23:43','1km to go','The bunch is lined out behind him!'),(4549,94,'2006-09-08 17:24:13','Just a handful of seconds','Sanchez heads for the line . . .'),(4550,94,'2006-09-08 17:24:33','A slight rise to the finish','It\'s gonna be close . . .'),(4551,94,'2006-09-08 17:25:24','Wow! By a gnat\'s whisker!','Sanchez just holds on for the victory!'),(4552,94,'2006-09-08 17:27:56','Second and third are . . .','. . . Hushovd and Valverde.'),(4553,94,'2006-09-08 17:29:31','Some guys are gonna lose time today','That final power climb shattered the bunch. But the usual suspects were where they should\'ve been at the finish: Valverde, Kasheshkin and Sastre hold top three on GC.'),(4554,94,'2006-09-08 17:30:28','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','Thanks for joining us today. We\'ll see you here again tomorrow . . . in the meantime, stay tuned for a race report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results.'),(4555,95,'2006-09-09 13:51:40','Good day and ...','welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 14th stage of the 61st Vuelta a Espana. Today\'s 33.2-kilometer individual time trial could change things on the overall standings of this Vuelta and we\'ll be keeping track of the performances of the main GC challengers, as well as a few riders who may be looking for a stage win, but don\'t have much - if any - chance to change the composition of the top-ten.
Speaking of which, David Millar has emerged atop the current leader board, turning in the best time thus far, covering the 33.2km course in 40:54, a fraction of a second faster than CSC\'s Cancellara.
Top Five:1. Millar 40:54
2. Cancellara, s.t.
3. Bodrogi, at 0:45
4. O\'Grady, at 0:54
5. Arvesen, at 1:12'),(4556,95,'2006-09-09 13:53:48','Tom Danielson','is on route now and we should be getting time checks from his ride soon.'),(4557,95,'2006-09-09 13:55:09','Danielson','...at the 9.9km time check came through with the 12th best of the day, some 36 seconds off of the pace set by Cancellara.'),(4558,95,'2006-09-09 13:56:05','Top times at the finish','have not changed since Millar turned in his best-so-far performance.'),(4559,95,'2006-09-09 13:58:03','Contest reminder','Because we\'ve had a couple of days in which contestants have simply not picked the right winner, we\'ll offer up triple prizes today. Be sure to include the name and the winning time of today\'s winner and we\'ll give prizes to the three of you who are closest. Just go up and hit the contest button at the top of the page for the address. Good luck.'),(4560,95,'2006-09-09 14:01:41','Brajkovic','The skinny Slovene from Discovery is on route. You know, he\'s not that far out of contention and with his proven time trial strength this week and next, coupled with a couple fo good rides in the mountains and we could see him work his way on to a podium spot in Madrid. Either way, he\'s had a spectacular grand tour debut... reminiscent of a young Greg LeMond, who finished third in his first Tour de France... second in his second and, of course, first the third time he rode it.'),(4561,95,'2006-09-09 14:02:43','Sastre','is now on route.\r\nThe last two starters are getting ready in and around the start house and we\'ll be tracking performances for the duration.'),(4562,95,'2006-09-09 14:06:35','Valverde on route','Big cheers as the race leader is on his way...'),(4563,95,'2006-09-09 14:09:45','Danielson','at 20.7km has the seventh-best time, 44 seconds back.');
INSERT INTO `ticks` VALUES (4564,95,'2006-09-09 14:28:39','Technical issues','We had some WiFi problems here in the pressroom. We need to apologize. - We were just about to note that Vinokourov came through the 9.9km time check some 45 seconds off of the leading pace in 22nd place. Vinokourov, meanwhile, has come through with the seventh-best time'),(4565,95,'2006-09-09 14:29:25','Valverde','is on the little Cat. 3 climb that marks today\'s route'),(4566,95,'2006-09-09 14:43:24','More tech issues','and we apologize.\r\n\r\nWe\'re seeing the top riders already finishing, so we\'ve lost a lot of content today.\r\n\r\nSastre is riding a solid time trial and he appears to holding on to his top-three spot'),(4567,95,'2006-09-09 14:44:23','Sastre','41:40... Vinokourov has made up some time on Sastre, but it\'s not quite enough to jump into third.'),(4568,95,'2006-09-09 14:45:52','Kashechkin','Has come in with a time of 41:20. '),(4569,95,'2006-09-09 14:46:23','Valverde','is flying to the finish and he may even beat Millar\'s time... it will be close.'),(4570,95,'2006-09-09 14:47:09','Valverde',' Comes in at 41:07 and Millar takes the stage.'),(4571,96,'2006-09-10 13:31:00','Good day and welcome ...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 15th stage of the Vuelta a Espana.
Today\'s stage took an early start - 10:00 - and racing has been underway now for about three-and-a-half hours on this 182 kilometer route from from MotilladelPalancar to\r\nthe big Ford factory near Valencia.
As per usual, the day began with a series of attacks, driven in large part by the sole continental team in the peloton, the Relax-GAM squad. Several efforts proved fruitless until the seven kilometer mark when Kjell Carlström (Liquigas) joined up with Relax\'s Jorge GarcÃa. The two built up a substantial eight-minute lead, but Carlström has since faded back, being caught at km 101 and it\'s now just GarcÃa off the front at km 133 with a six-minute lead.'),(4572,96,'2006-09-10 13:34:08','Today\'s early start','is due to another conflict with other sporting events being broadcast on Spanish television coupled with the fact that tomorrow\'s rest day involves a big transfer back down to the Southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, returning almost to the same spot as last week. This year\'s route involves a lot of transfer time.'),(4573,96,'2006-09-10 13:36:37','Our apologies','Yesterday\'s Live Update was full of problems, largely rooted in connectivity issues. We apologize for the delay in getting reports up and we want to assure you that we have solved the problem. Fortunately, it was on a weekend and traffic tends to be a bit lighter than during the week, when many of you use Live Updates as a diversion from office work, but again, we do mean to apologize for the problems we encountered.'),(4574,96,'2006-09-10 13:38:35','GarcÃa\'s advantage','is coming down. He is now just 4:20 ahead of the field. It\'s likely that we\'ll see a catch before he makes it to the Ford plant, as the quality of roads continues to improve as the route makes its way toward Valencia.'),(4575,96,'2006-09-10 13:40:00','Yesterday\'s time trial','Race leader Valverde was happy at sign-in this morning, telling the crowd, \"I am very content with the result I achieved yesterday because it was a hard day and I believe it all turned out very well.\"
He really did boost his chances by holding his own against his top competition. He has significantly improved his time trialing.'),(4576,96,'2006-09-10 13:41:02','Cancellara','Team CSC\'s Fabian Cancellara is expected to pull out of the Vuelta, most likely after today\'s stage. The big Swiss time machine, who narrowly missed a victory in Saturday\'s TT, said he wants to prepare for the world TT championships Sept. 21. \"There\'s nothing for me in the final week of the Vuelta. I helped Carlos as much as I could for two weeks and I am feeling stronger every day. I want to win the world title.\"'),(4577,96,'2006-09-10 13:45:46','Vino\'s take','Vinokourov wasn\'t too happy about his TT ride. The Kazakh was predicting he\'d take a minute out of Valverde. Instead, he could only muster eight seconds, the same amount Valverde won in a time bonus after finishing third in Friday\'s stage into Cuenca.
Vino said before the start, \"The descent was a little dangerous and I took my precautions to avoid a fall. I see that the others didn\'t do that. Things didn\'t turn out the way I wanted them to, but there\'s still a lot of Vuelta ahead of us. We have to keep trying to do it.\"'),(4578,96,'2006-09-10 13:48:27','Two more non-starters','The peloton left the start today without Gerolsteiner\'s Davide Rebellin and Lampre\'s Ruggero Marzoli. Of the 189 riders that have started the Vuelta, 33 have abandoned. '),(4579,96,'2006-09-10 13:51:00','A little course history:','In 2004, Tyler Hamilton won a time trial at the Ford Factory, a victory that prompt post-race anti-doping controls that led to his eventual two-year ban for homologous blood doping. Hamilton\'s two-year ban ends on Sept. 23.
Victor Hugo Pena (U.S. Postal) is now the official winner of that September 11th stage.
That same day Postal\'s Floyd Landis slipped back into the overall leader\'s jersey. He would eventually lose it to Roberto Heras on the climbing stage to Calar Alto four days later. Heras went on to win the Vuelta. '),(4580,96,'2006-09-10 13:56:35','Tick, tick, tick','No one seems willing to let this guy get too far. GarcÃa\'s advantage is being cut quite quickly as the finish approaches. He\'s at km 152 and has just 2:40 on the main field.'),(4581,96,'2006-09-10 14:00:24','The pace is high','GarcÃa is cruising at a nice pace through generally downhill roads heading toward the coast. The gap continues to shrink, though as the chase is underway with 29km remaining.'),(4582,96,'2006-09-10 14:02:57','Contest Reminder','Remember to put in your pick today. Look for the link atop this page and follow the instructions'),(4583,96,'2006-09-10 14:03:45','Comments, questions?','
Drop us a line'),(4584,96,'2006-09-10 14:05:25','Less than 2:00','GarcÃa\'s advantage is just around 1:45 with 26km to go.'),(4585,96,'2006-09-10 14:08:54','Credit Agricole','and Lampre are setting a strong tempo in the chase. The gap is holding around 1:55.'),(4586,96,'2006-09-10 14:10:00','With 23.5km','to go the gap is 1:44. The speedometers show that GarcÃa is moving at 41kph and the peloton is doing 47. Not much chance he\'ll make it, folks.'),(4587,96,'2006-09-10 14:14:32','A reader letter','
David Millar wins a time trial and declares \"I am 100% clean\". Haven\'t we heard this before from him? Didn\'t he say this after his world championship win in Hamilton? Didn\'t he pass the dope tests there (and everywhere else for that matter) and call his detractors liars?\r\nSo he wins another TT, pees in a bottle, comes up clean and says once more he\'s clean. David, answer this for me - why should we believe you this time around? What\'s different?
Mike Tierney\r\nWoodstock Ontario
Canada
Mike, we\'re not going to bet the farm on the assumption that someone is riding clean and that others are not... we just don\'t know. We\'d like to believe that he learned his lesson and is not willing to risk a life-time ban. He is being subjected to extraordinary scrutiny now. We hope that\'s enough.'),(4588,96,'2006-09-10 14:16:30','The gap','is now exactly 1:00 with 19km to go. Milram, CSC and Credit Agricole are now powering the chase.'),(4589,96,'2006-09-10 14:18:33','On the attack since km 7','and poor Mr. Garcia is about 33 seconds ahead of the peloton.'),(4590,96,'2006-09-10 14:19:13','There\'s the look...','... over the shoulder. That\'s a bad sign.'),(4591,96,'2006-09-10 14:20:11','Chris Horner','is taking a pull at the front. No one is staying up there for too long. The pace is high. They want this guy back in the field.'),(4592,96,'2006-09-10 14:21:16','We don\'t do this too often','but, what the heck... maybe we\'ll pick a winner today. This could be a Fred Rodriguez day, eh?'),(4593,96,'2006-09-10 14:21:52','50 meters','Garcia is about to be swept up....
There\'s the catch!
'),(4594,96,'2006-09-10 14:26:21','Zooming toward the Ford plant','The pace is high as several teams are driving at the front, sharing the work. No single team is trying to dominate at this point, but we do see a couple of them setting up their trains.'),(4595,96,'2006-09-10 14:27:42','Lots of road furniture','With 12km remaining, the course is coming through some weird and unmarked traffic dividers.'),(4596,96,'2006-09-10 14:29:55','With 10 kilometers to go','The pace remains quite high. We see a couple of Davitamon riders up there, along with the Credit Agricole and Lampre teams.'),(4597,96,'2006-09-10 14:31:41','Wide roads','The course has finally come off of the narrow, snaky roads and the peloton is now driving down a wide, wide highway on the way to the finish. With 8km to go, the Credit Agricole squad is doing the bulk of the work at the front.'),(4598,96,'2006-09-10 14:34:26','Seven kilometers','to go.. it\'s Credit Agricole and Quick Step driving at the front. The pace has slowed as the route is heading into a bit of a sea breeze right now.'),(4599,96,'2006-09-10 14:35:32','With six km to go','The CSC and Lampre teams are moving up... and the pace is picking up as the peloton smells the finish line.'),(4600,96,'2006-09-10 14:37:14','Off the highway','with five kilometers to go, the course is heading toward the Ford plant and the roads are a bit narrower.'),(4601,96,'2006-09-10 14:38:10','Four kilometers to go','The Quick Step team is driving hard at the front as Bettini is moving up...'),(4602,96,'2006-09-10 14:38:38','Three','The pace is now above 60kph'),(4603,96,'2006-09-10 14:39:24','With two kilometers to go','Quick Step... still driving. We see Petacchi moving up, too.'),(4604,96,'2006-09-10 14:39:53','With one kilometer to go','Bettini is in the third spot... Milram driving hard now.'),(4605,96,'2006-09-10 14:40:04','Milram in command now.',''),(4606,96,'2006-09-10 14:40:38','Zabel leads out Petacchi',''),(4607,96,'2006-09-10 14:41:00','Petacchi in a bad position','With twisty route to the finish, Petacchi is shut out....
A mad scramble
A big surge and...it\'s a Gerolsteiner rider who takes the win. Förster? Yes, it\'s Robert Förster.'),(4608,96,'2006-09-10 14:45:00','Results','1. Robert Förster (G) Gerolsteiner, 182km in 4:24:55
2. Stuart O\'Grady (Aus) CSC
3. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre
There is no change in the overall.'),(4609,97,'2006-09-12 13:45:28','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 16th stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana. This is a toughy, folks. It covers only 145 kilometers, but take a look at the profile. In the words of Discovery\'s Michael Barry:
Over the first 80 kilometers we will climb from 80m to 2160m and will then descend down the mountain, do a short lap around the bottom and then climb back up, although this time to an observatory. It will be tough.\r\n'),(4610,97,'2006-09-12 13:49:00','Today\'s weather','is on the crappy side. The morning was punctuated by thunderstorms, which have since cleared up, but we can expect rain and cool conditions, especially on the top of the big climb. Recall that this is essentially the same stage in which Roberto Heras took the overall lead from Floyd Landis in 2004, which was also cold, windy and rainy atop the climb.'),(4611,97,'2006-09-12 13:53:00','The first half hour','The peloton has been underway for half-an-hour. We\'ve seen several attacks and the latest surge is a group of 27 that includes Discovery\'s Tom Danielson (who sits in 12th on GC at 7:46).'),(4612,97,'2006-09-12 13:54:00','The big group','has never gotten a lot of traction and Danielson seems to sense that. He\'s moved ahead of the lead group with Joan Horrach (Caisse d\'Epargne). We\'ll be getting some time checks ASAP.'),(4613,97,'2006-09-12 14:00:00','At 30km','The Danielson/Horrach effort didn\'t last too long, but those two are in the big group with a 30-second lead on the peloton. There are some big names - including Rasmussen - in that lead group. Egoi Martinez is trying to bridge up from the peloton, as well. Martinez is in the hunt for the climber\'s jersey and will be trying to snag as many KOM points as he can today.
Looking back to this stage in 2004, there\'s another bit of dark cycling history in that this was the last time Tyler Hamilton rode as a professional. He left the Vuelta that evening after finishing the stage and it was just a few days later that he learned of the positive result from his stage 8 individual time trial win, which took place at the big Ford facility south of Valencia.'),(4614,97,'2006-09-12 14:07:51','Contest Reminder!','Don\'t forget to make your pick today. Hit the Contest button on top of the page and follow the instructions.'),(4615,97,'2006-09-12 14:08:00','At 40km','The Danielson group has been pulled back, never having really gained a significant advantage. There were too many dangerous riders in that group. The peloton is making its way on to the lower slopes of the Cat 1 Alto de Velefique, which reaches an altitude of 6000 feet and tops out at 56.3km. That\'s a big transition from the start in Almeria, which is at sea level.'),(4616,97,'2006-09-12 14:20:00','The climb','The peloton remains intact as the course winds its way up the day\'s first big challenge.
Complaints? Faint praise? Election predictions? Drop us a line'),(4617,97,'2006-09-12 14:33:03','At 52km','The peloton is reaching the upper portions of the Alto de Velefique and hitting the parts that make this a Cat. 1 climb, namely the steep sections that hit 11 percent at points.'),(4618,97,'2006-09-12 14:37:50','Nearing the top','and we actually have updated reports on a break that has broken the peloton apart. We\'ll have a time check and details on the composition ASAP.'),(4619,97,'2006-09-12 14:40:00','The group','A big group has formed off the front. The gap is actually quite significant, beyond three minutes at this point. The group includes:
Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel
\r\nIñigo Chaurreau (Sp), Ag2r Prevoyance
\r\nPietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole
\r\nDaniel Becke (G), Milram
\r\nSébastien Minard (F), Cofidis
\r\nDmitriy Fofonov (Kaz), Credit Agricole
\r\nSébastien Joly (F), Francaise des Jeux
\r\nMauricio Ardila (Col), Rabobank
\r\nOscar Pereiro (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\nIñigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\nKurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor), CSC
\r\nJosé Antonio Redondo (Sp), AWT
\r\nAlessandro Spezialetti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi
Jérémy Roy (F), Francaise des Jeux trails the lead group by about 30 seconds.
\r\n'),(4620,97,'2006-09-12 14:52:00','Up and over','We\'ll get a time check and results of the KOM. Martinez appeared to be first, which moves him closer to earning the jersey.'),(4621,97,'2006-09-12 14:47:42','KOM','We don\'t have results of the climb yet, but here are how things stood this morning:
1. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, 81 Pts.
\r\n2. José Miguel Elias (Sp), REG, 70 Pts.
\r\n3. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 67 Pts.
\r\n4. David Arroyo (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 53 Pts.
\r\n5. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 50 Pts.
\r\n6. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 44 Pts.
\r\n7. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 40 Pts.
\r\n8. Ãngel Vallejo (Sp), REG, 36 Pts.
\r\n9. Janez Brajkovic (SLO), Discovery Channel, 33 Pts.
\r\n10. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), AWT, 32 Pts.
\r\n'),(4622,97,'2006-09-12 14:57:00','Time gaps','Still no word on the KOM results, but the peloton crested the climb slightly less than four minutes behind the men in the break, with Jeremy Roy caught in no-man\'s-land in between.'),(4623,97,'2006-09-12 15:10:10','Going backwards','Roy is falling back to the peloton . . . he\'s more than two minutes down on the leaders now, with the bunch two minutes behind him.'),(4624,97,'2006-09-12 15:15:25','Another one bites the dust','We just heard that Danilo Napolitano has called it quits. You may recall that the Lampre man and a frustrated Alessandro Petacchi had a bit of a spat after Sunday\'s sprint . . . the discussion left Petacchi with a broken hand.'),(4625,97,'2006-09-12 15:26:02','Sorry for the spotty updates','The VeloNews.com carrier pigeon appears to be suffering from the dismal weather (to say nothing of the usual ADD). What we need here is a giant condor with a Blackberry and a work ethic.'),(4626,97,'2006-09-12 15:32:08','That got his attention','Nothing like fear for one\'s job as a motivator. The VeloNews.com carrier pigeon finally weighs in with the results of the Alto de Velefique ascent: 1. Martinez; 2. Caucchioli; 3. Arvesen. Roy is being sucked in by the bunch, which remains some 3:40 in arrears, as our leaders hit the descent toward Bacares.'),(4627,97,'2006-09-12 15:46:00','Man down','Nacor Burgos Rojo (Relax Gam) has crashed coming off the Alto de Velefique; he\'s out of the Vuelta. Up front, Fofonov, Caucchioli, Arvesen and Charreau have a bit of a gap on their erstwhile compañeros as they work their way up the second first-category ascent of the day, the Alto de Calor Alto.'),(4628,97,'2006-09-12 15:58:38','Kaboom','The second Cat. 1 of the day is taking a toll on the break. Caucchioli, Martinez, Fofonov, Landaluze, Arvesen, Chaurreau, Redondo are in the lead, chased by Minard, Becke and Pereiro.\r\n'),(4629,97,'2006-09-12 16:02:49','Together again','We spoke too soon. Now Redondo, Minard, Martinez, Caucchioli, Pereiro, Fofonov, Arvesen, Chaurreau, Landaluze and Becke are together, with a gap of more than five minutes on the bunch. And guess what? It’s raining again. Ain’t nothin’ but a party.'),(4630,97,'2006-09-12 16:09:45','The rain in Spain (everybody sing!)','This part of Spain is the nation\'s driest ... one bartender told the VeloNews.com crew this morning over coffee that he can\'t remember the last time it rained. Before today, that is. Roads were flooded and there was a hint of snow on the higher peaks above Granada, which all makes for a cold and wet day in the saddle. Riders were picking through kit bags this morning, selecting gloves, arm warmers and rain jackets to wear during the stage.'),(4631,97,'2006-09-12 16:13:38','A tale of two Americans','Chris Horner said before the stage that the roads could be treacherous. \"It might be very slick today because of oil on these roads. We\'re going to have to be careful.\" But Tom Danielson is eager to throw down. \"I have nothing to lose so I am going to try something if I can. I am feeling better and I have recovered my motivation after my disappointment earlier in the race,\" he said.'),(4632,97,'2006-09-12 16:18:15','Gaps \'n\' stuff','Over the top of Calor Alto, Chaurreau, Caucchioli, Pereiro, Minard, Martinez, Landaluze, Becke and Redondo have a lead of just over two and a half minutes over Joly, Ardila Cano and Spezialetti. The bunch is nearly five and a half minutes behind.\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(4633,97,'2006-09-12 16:19:12','The good news . . .','. . . these boys are racing on new tarmac, freshly laid down for the Vuelta. On the climb, anyway.'),(4634,97,'2006-09-12 16:21:36','Tops at the top','1. Martinez; 2. Caucchioli; 3. Pereiro.'),(4635,97,'2006-09-12 16:26:07','Out of the clouds','The leaders are dipping into the valley, where it\'s considerably sunnier. The gap is 5:34 now with Caisse d\'Epargne on the front of the chase.'),(4636,97,'2006-09-12 16:30:12','The rain in Spain (reprise)','Carlos Sastre says his legs are feeling okay, and that\'s a good thing, given the weather. \"If it\'s raining today, that will change things. The stage will be even harder in the cold and rain,\" he said.'),(4637,97,'2006-09-12 16:37:23','Crash!','Jesus Hernandez (Relax Gam) is on the deck, getting checked out by the race medicos.'),(4638,97,'2006-09-12 16:41:04','The gap is holding steady . . .','. . . at 5:32. Race leader Alejandro Valverde is surrounded by his Caisse d\'Epargne boys at the front of the chase.'),(4639,97,'2006-09-12 16:49:19','We\'re racing to the base of the final climb','With the gap yo-yoing from 5:30 to 6, it should be an entertaining ascent. Carlos Sastre (CSC) is tucked in neatly among the Caisse d\'Epargne lads.'),(4640,97,'2006-09-12 16:50:12','And that final climb is a bear','Just ask race leader Valverde, who told VeloNews.com: \"I am more worried about the La Pandera climb than Calar Alto. La Pandera has much steeper sections and is a much more explosive climb. One bad moment there and you can lose a lot of time. Calar Alto is a longer climb, but more gradual. You can set a steadier pace.\"'),(4641,97,'2006-09-12 16:51:02','20km to go','And it\'s all uphill from here.'),(4642,97,'2006-09-12 16:55:23','Becke and Redondo','. . . are having a dig out of the break. Redondo is cranking out the revs on the front.'),(4643,97,'2006-09-12 16:57:23','Behind the leaders . . .','. . . the chase is spitting riders out the back, David Millar among them.'),(4644,97,'2006-09-12 16:59:35','Becke and Redondo . . .','. . . are on a 6 percent grade as the six-man Landaluze group motors along behind.'),(4645,97,'2006-09-12 16:59:58','The gap is coming down','Just 3:35 now from the lead duo to the peloton.'),(4646,97,'2006-09-12 17:01:40','Landaluze trying to bridge','He senses that his chase group is doomed and is in no-man\'s land, trying to reel in the lead pair.'),(4647,97,'2006-09-12 17:02:30','15km to go','And it\'s getting dark and damp again. That\'s gonna be a long 15km.'),(4648,97,'2006-09-12 17:03:26','49 seconds to the first chase . . .','. . . and CSC has gone to the front of the peloton, testing Valverde\'s legs.'),(4649,97,'2006-09-12 17:04:25','Is this a triathlon?','\'Cause this sure looks like the swim leg. \"Tell Noah to load up the Ark,\" says our man Andrew Hood.'),(4650,97,'2006-09-12 17:06:16','CSC\'s drillin\' it','Sastre must be feeling froggy. Up front, Redondo is putting Becke into difficulty. He\'s popped.'),(4651,97,'2006-09-12 17:07:17','Redondo\'s all alone out front . . .','. . . as CSC lines it out at more than 20 mph. Ouch.'),(4652,97,'2006-09-12 17:09:02','Vino\'s hovering in mid-group','Chris Horner and Danilo Di Luca are in there, too. The five-man chase in between is still ticking along.'),(4653,97,'2006-09-12 17:09:50','Redondo hits a 7 percent ramp','He\'s parked in the saddle, crouched over the bars, hands on the tops, zipping along.'),(4654,97,'2006-09-12 17:12:02','11km to go','Redondo appears to be suffering now, as behind him the five-man chase is fiddling about. It would be tough to stay motivated in this squall.'),(4655,97,'2006-09-12 17:13:30','CSC still on the front','Popping guys off the back . . . and now Martinez has leapt ahead! He\'s chasing Redondo.'),(4656,97,'2006-09-12 17:15:55','The peloton is shrinking','Just a couple dozen now. Ahead, Martinez has caught Becke and he\'s after Redondo. Landaluze is still up there, too.'),(4657,97,'2006-09-12 17:16:25','Tick, tock','Redondo has 2:19 on the greatly reduced peloton.'),(4658,97,'2006-09-12 17:16:54','Tock, tick','Landaluze is just 40 seconds behind Redondo.'),(4659,97,'2006-09-12 17:18:17','Horner remains in the peloton','9km to go for our leader . . . and Martinez is flying across the gap.'),(4660,97,'2006-09-12 17:19:25','The fabled mask of pain','Our man Redondo is wearing it. Landaluze is 30-odd seconds back with Martinez on the march.'),(4661,97,'2006-09-12 17:20:12','Sastre attacks!','Horner is losing contact!'),(4662,97,'2006-09-12 17:20:51','8km to go for Redondo','And a mad chase behind. Martinez has reeled in Landaluze.'),(4663,97,'2006-09-12 17:22:48','The main chase . . .','. . . is down to a dozen or so, Sastre among them. Valverde, Arroyo, are there, too.'),(4664,97,'2006-09-12 17:23:13','Three Discos there, too','Danielson, Devolder and Beltran?'),(4665,97,'2006-09-12 17:24:04','7km to go','Man, this like racing through a car wash. Sastre is clearly tired of it – he accelerates again.'),(4666,97,'2006-09-12 17:24:51','Sastre\'s testing Valverde','One of the Discos has popped . . . looks like Beltran.'),(4667,97,'2006-09-12 17:25:55','Redondo pushes forward','Sastre and Valverde are dueling behind . . .'),(4668,97,'2006-09-12 17:26:51','Vino\'s up the road ...','. . . and Valverde follows! Sastre clings to his wheel!'),(4669,97,'2006-09-12 17:27:31','Sanchez joins them','. . . and the chase is reeling in the two leaders.'),(4670,97,'2006-09-12 17:27:00','Sanchez third on the road','. . . and Sastre has a dig! Valverde\'s on him like a wet jersey.'),(4671,97,'2006-09-12 17:29:09','Attack after attack','The Euskaltel boys are hammering away at this group.'),(4672,97,'2006-09-12 17:29:50','Waiting game','Vino\' and Valverde look unruffled by all the action.'),(4673,97,'2006-09-12 17:30:33','Danielson has caught back on','. . . with an assist from Egoi Martinez from the earlier break.'),(4674,97,'2006-09-12 17:31:26','5km to go','Landaluze has caught Redondo!'),(4675,97,'2006-09-12 17:33:04','The climb steepens','Valverde, Sastre, Sanchez, Vinokourov, Danielson and Martinez are in the lead group. Kashechkin is a minute down.'),(4676,97,'2006-09-12 17:33:41','That\'s Igor Anton . . .','. . . who has caught Redondo. And Vino\' puts in a huge move! Sastre is cracking, but Valverde hasn\'t!'),(4677,97,'2006-09-12 17:34:14','Redondo sits up . . .','. . . to lend Vino\' a hand. It\'s Anton alone off the front.'),(4678,97,'2006-09-12 17:34:50','4km to go','Anton is alone up front with Redondo, Vino\' and Valverde behind. Sastre and Danielson are struggling behind.'),(4679,97,'2006-09-12 17:35:37','Redondo tows the chase . . .','. . . right past Anton. And Vino\' and Valverde hit the gas again!'),(4680,97,'2006-09-12 17:36:20','Vino\' has a look over his shoulder','. . . and Anton has another dig!'),(4681,97,'2006-09-12 17:37:20','Side by side','Vino\' and Valverde ride shoulder to shoulder as Sastre and Sanchez claw their way back up to them. 3km to go.'),(4682,97,'2006-09-12 17:38:05','Danielson attacks!','He roars right up from the back and off the front!'),(4683,97,'2006-09-12 17:38:39','Anton clings to 24 seconds','. . . as Danielson punches it.'),(4684,97,'2006-09-12 17:39:10','Danielson goes again!','Zoom!'),(4685,97,'2006-09-12 17:40:00','Anton\'s lead grows . . .','. . . to 34 seconds. 2km to go and Danielson has a gap.'),(4686,97,'2006-09-12 17:40:37','And Vino\' goes again!','Danielson is caught and passed!'),(4687,97,'2006-09-12 17:41:28','Sastre, Vino\' and Valverde','. . . are on the steeps en route to the final grind.'),(4688,97,'2006-09-12 17:42:33','29 seconds for Anton','Valverde, Vino\' and Sastre are riding together, joined now by Sanchez.'),(4689,97,'2006-09-12 17:43:21','Into the mist with 1km to go','Anton is mashing those pedals.'),(4690,97,'2006-09-12 17:44:12','Danielson rejoins the chasers','Man, this is an ugly climb. Sanchez is wobbling all over the road, blocking for his boy up the road.'),(4691,97,'2006-09-12 17:44:47','500 meters to go','. . . and Anton is well away, climbing out of the saddle toward the line.'),(4692,97,'2006-09-12 17:45:56','Up go the arms','Anton takes it. Valverde edges Vino\' for the runner-up spot.'),(4693,97,'2006-09-12 17:47:14','Kash\' concedes 1:28 on the day','. . . and a minute to Sastre and 1:25 to Vino\'. That\'s gonna leave a mark.'),(4694,97,'2006-09-12 17:48:22','Vino\' into third overall . . .','. . . behind Valverde and Sastre. Chapeau to the attacking Kazakh.'),(4695,97,'2006-09-12 17:49:34','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','Thanks for hanging with us this fine damp mountain morning. Stick around for a report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results. See you here again tomorrow.'),(4696,98,'2006-09-13 13:54:52','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 17th stage of the 2006 Vuelta a España, another tough haul from sea level that throws the peloton into the mountains within the first 15km.
Today\'s route includes the Category 1 Alto de Albandon, which over the course of 18km, takes the peloton from barely above sea level to around 1300 meters.
The next obstacle is the Category 3 Alto de Lanjaron (which crests at 86km) and then the Cat. 1 Alto de Monachil, which tops out at 1510 meters at the 146km mark and offers up a delightful mix of 12- and 13-percent grades on the way to the summit. This is not a mountain-top finish, though and the leaders on the final climb face a dauntingly fast 20km descent to Granada to make it to the finish today. \r\n'),(4697,98,'2006-09-13 13:55:00','Another late start','Because today\'s route is relatively short, the start kicked off at around 1:10. As expected, the attacks began quickly in anticipation of today\'s first climb, the Alto de Albandon.
There have been several attempts, including another large group of 33 riders with some very dangerous players on board, but none of those efforts got too far ahead of the peloton. As the race works its way up the slopes of the climb, we see the Discovery Channel working hard to pull back remaining escapees in an effort to secure the KOM jersey for Egoi Martinez.\r\n'),(4698,98,'2006-09-13 14:01:28','Contest Reminder','Don\'t forget to put in your picks for today\'s stage winner. We\'ll award two prizes today, so be sure to hit the Contest link atop the page.'),(4699,98,'2006-09-13 14:03:00','Wanna let us know what you\'re thinking?','Comments? Questions? Vacation recommendations? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(4700,98,'2006-09-13 14:04:00','The KOM battle','is heating up. Currently we have a small group moving ahead of the main field with about six kilometers remaining on the climb. Included in the break are:
Egoi Martinez, Discovery Channel
\r\nEvgeni Petrov, Lampre
\r\nXabier Zandio, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\nSerguei Yakovlev, AWT
\r\nPietro Caucchioli, Credit Agricole
\r\nKurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC
\r\n\r\nOf course, the interesting combination there is the fact that Martinez and Caucchioli are in the mix. Caucchioli leads the climber\'s jersey competition but just five points over Martinez.'),(4701,98,'2006-09-13 14:16:19','The Martinez group','is back in the fold, but the attacks continue as the peloton comes within 2.5km of the summit.'),(4702,98,'2006-09-13 14:23:17','One of the world\'s great treasures','The finish in Granada today affords anyone connected with the race - rider, official, team staff or spectator - to see one of the world\'s most beautiful buildings, the Alhambra, which dominates the skyline of Granada, sitting atop the al-Sabika, on the left bank of the river Darro, west of the city. The name is derived from the Arabic «qa\'lat al-Hamra\'» meaning \"Red Castle.\"
It was established and built by the Moorish Kings who dominated this part of the Iberian Peninsula until the lengthy Catholic reconquest finished up near the end of the 15th century. If you\'re lucky enough to be here following the race, you have to take the time to explore the castle. For the rest of you, we\'ll try to post a few pictures.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(4703,98,'2006-09-13 14:17:00','Another surge','We see another break developing. Discovery\'s Danielson is up there lending a hand to Martinez. The group - which has a small gap on the main field includes:
Thomas Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel
\r\nEgoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel
\r\nSergio Paulinho (P), AWT
\r\nDavid Arroyo (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\nSerguei Yakovlev (Kaz), AWT
\r\nPietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole
\r\nLars Ytting Bak (Dk), CSC
\r\nStéphane Goubert (F), Ag2r Prevoyance
\r\nDmitriy Fofonov (Kaz), Credit Agricole
\r\nEric Leblacher (F), Francaise des Jeux
\r\nDavid Millar (GB), Saunier Duval
\r\nKurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor), CSC
\r\nScott Davis (Aus), T-Mobile
\r\n'),(4704,98,'2006-09-13 14:21:00','A GC threat','Astana\'s Andrey Kashechkin has bridged up to the lead group as they cover the final kilometer of the climb.'),(4705,98,'2006-09-13 14:27:00','Spotty cell coverage','We\'re having a tough time getting results from the top of the climb. We do know that the group crested the summit with a gap on the peloton, but no exact times or results of the climb... yet.'),(4706,98,'2006-09-13 14:45:18','Valverde','has bridged up to the lead group over the course of the descent. The leaders are at the the 55km mark.'),(4707,98,'2006-09-13 14:49:54','One big happy family','It looks as though the break and the peloton are now once again back together as one. The separation appears to have been on a trial basis. Everyone is all back together... now everyone can sing Kumbayah as we head to the next climb.'),(4708,98,'2006-09-13 14:58:00','Reader letter:','We got this note from an intensely frustrated reader in Chicago:
I can’t take it any more! I don’t care, don’t care, don’t care about subpoenas, testimonies, admissions, whatever. But I am morbidly fascinated by the stuff, and can’t stop reading about it.We sympathize... so, as we were saying, the peloton is cruising down the back side of the day\'s first major climb and heading toward the Cat. 3 at km 86. The speeds are quite high and anyone hoping to serve a subpoena on anyone in the peloton will have a tough time doing it here.'),(4709,98,'2006-09-13 15:05:34','KOM results','Martinez did make it over the top of the climb first, with Caucchioli right on his wheel. This KOM contest is going to go down to the wire.It’s like I see the train wreck coming, and I know what is going to happen, but I watch anyway. Please stop giving such in-depth coverage to this doping madness, and cover things like La Vuelta, more thoroughly, so we readers can start focusing on something more productive and stop fixating on these awful doping issues and speculations.
Betsy Nelson
1. Egoi Martinez (Discovery)
2. Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole)
3. Andrey Kashechkin (Astana)
4. Tom Danielson (Discovery)'),(4710,98,'2006-09-13 15:18:20','Again with the spotty coverage','It appears that the Danielson group has once again taken a lead on the Valverde group as we approach the Cat. 3 Alto de Lanjaron. Maybe the favorites are going to give these guys a little rope. '),(4711,98,'2006-09-13 15:20:38','Among the leaders . . .','. . . are Bak, Goubert, Fofonov, Danielson, Leblacher and Paulinho. They have a lead of 2:15.'),(4712,98,'2006-09-13 15:27:07','More than three minutes','The break is ticking right along. They still have a ways to go, though . . . and don\'t forget that big hill just before the finish, the Alto de Monachil. That rascal should separate the sheep from the goats.'),(4713,98,'2006-09-13 15:29:30','36.4kph for the second hour','That\'s 22.6mph, yanquis.'),(4714,98,'2006-09-13 15:32:00','Over the Lanjaron','And the order is: 1. Leblacher; 2. Goubert; 3. Paulinho; 4. Danielson. The break has 3:42 now.'),(4715,98,'2006-09-13 15:45:43','Meanwhile, in doping news . . .','Hah! Made you look. Just kidding. We\'re as sick of it as you are. And there\'s no truth to the rumor that we\'re changing our name to \"VeloDoping: The Journal of Competitive Pharmacology.\"'),(4716,98,'2006-09-13 15:50:37','The break\'s advantage . . .','. . . is holding at about 3:45.'),(4717,98,'2006-09-13 15:52:37','In other news . . .','Agence France Presse reports that Andreas Klöden will skip the road race at the world’s in Salzburg. The T-Mobile rider, who finished third at the Tour de France in July but has since announced he will ride for Astana next year, has decided to concentrate on the 52.1km time trial. Germany is already without former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, who is fighting doping allegations, and Jens Voigt, this year\'s Tour of Germany winner, who has said he is too tired to have any chance of winning. T-Mobile\'s Matthias Kessler has also opted to miss the event, while Gerolsteiner\'s David Kopp is out after a training crash. Sounds like tough sledding for Germany.\r\n \r\n'),(4718,98,'2006-09-13 15:55:03','This may sound obvious . . .','. . . but Discovery\'s Dirk Demol says Danielson \"is feeling better.\" Demol also tells us that Manuel Beltran \"is motivated for the stage to Jaen. He lives there and wants to do something special there. Egoi (Martinez) is close to the climber\'s jersey - only four points away from Caucchioli - so he will try to get it.\" '),(4719,98,'2006-09-13 15:56:49','The break','A reminder of just who\'s up there with Danielson: Sergio Paulinho (Astana); Eric Leblacher (Française des Jeux); Stéphane Goubert (Ag2r); Dmitriy Fofonov (Crédit Agricole); and Lars Bak (CSC).'),(4720,98,'2006-09-13 15:59:15','Speaking of CSC','Bjarne Riis concedes that Valverde looks good, adding that \"he hasn\'t had a bad day yet. Maybe he will have one, then everything will change. I believe Carlos (Sastre) will be on the final podium. Which position, we have to wait and see.\" As for Sastre, he tells us: \"I will give the maximum to try to win. Yesterday they were a little bit better than me, but I was close so maybe next time I can be better. If I win, if I finish fifth or third or second, I will be satisfied because I never leave anything on the road.\" '),(4721,98,'2006-09-13 16:01:46','As for Valverde . . .','. . . he hasn\'t heard any fat ladies singing (or Fat Guys, for that matter). \"I felt good yesterday. I was able to follow the moves without too much difficulty,\" he told VeloNews.com. \"We are counting down the days. Nothing is finished yet. I see Vinokourov as the strongest now. I have to watch him.\" '),(4722,98,'2006-09-13 16:08:00','Danielson leads past the intermediate sprint','Paulinho and Leblacher crossed second and third at the 107km mark. The break now has nearly four minutes on the Valverde group and something like 10 on the main peloton, if you can believe the VeloNews.com carrier pigeon.'),(4723,98,'2006-09-13 16:18:24','The break keeps chugging along','No passengers in this lot. The gap seems stable at about four minutes.'),(4724,98,'2006-09-13 16:19:19','And now, today\'s weather report','Our man Andrew Hood says it was hot again this morning, with \"big winds blowing up the Sierra Nevada massif, so that means a tailwind coming into Granada. Threatening clouds building higher up, so it might rain.\" '),(4725,98,'2006-09-13 16:21:08','The Valverde group appears unruffled','Caisse d\'Epargne is ticking along, taking on water and snacks, and awaiting today\'s final climb.'),(4726,98,'2006-09-13 16:25:27','The gap is 4:22','Average speed for hour three: 37.4kph/23.2mph.'),(4727,98,'2006-09-13 16:28:17','35km to go','And the favorites are playing it cagey as the break ticks along. We haven\'t seen much of Alexandre Vinokourov today, but Neal Stephens at Astana says Vino still thinks he can win the Vuelta. \"That\'s his goal. He felt good yesterday but Valverde could ride defensively. He wasn\'t going to tow Valverde to the line and then lose the stage to him. He wants to win by attacking.\" '),(4728,98,'2006-09-13 16:31:10','Tough climb coming up','And it will be made tougher by a head-cross wind. The break continues to roll as behind, Caisse d\'Epargne is driving the chase.'),(4729,98,'2006-09-13 16:34:02','The gap dips','It\'s down to 3:20 as the break hits the lower slopes of the day\'s final obstacle.'),(4730,98,'2006-09-13 16:35:22','CSC comes forward','Hunting some time for Sastre, no doubt.'),(4731,98,'2006-09-13 16:36:25','Pereiro\'s had the schnitz','Hasta la vista, muchacho.'),(4732,98,'2006-09-13 16:37:00','CSC keeps lining it out','Stuey O\'Grady is on the front, hammering out of the saddle.'),(4733,98,'2006-09-13 16:38:50','Tick, tock','Two and a half minutes now as CSC roars up the lower slopes of this Cat. 1 climb.'),(4734,98,'2006-09-13 16:40:47','Ahead, Danielson is driving','As behind, CSC is breaking legs. Sastre looks good, but Vino\' and Valverde are right there too.'),(4735,98,'2006-09-13 16:41:35','CSC has really fractured this group','. . . and Saunier Duval\'s Piepoli goes!'),(4736,98,'2006-09-13 16:42:00','And Kashechkin follows','Valverde looks around . . . and sees that Sastre has been cracked by his own team\'s pace.'),(4737,98,'2006-09-13 16:44:00','Kash\' opens a gap','17 seconds.'),(4738,98,'2006-09-13 16:45:51','Danielson has dropped his mates','He\'s on his own at the front.'),(4739,98,'2006-09-13 16:46:00','Under 25km to go','José Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval) is reeling Kash\' in as the pair drive up on the remnants of the break.'),(4740,98,'2006-09-13 16:48:15','Valverde goes!','Vino\' reacts and Sastre follows!'),(4741,98,'2006-09-13 16:48:54','The battle\'s on','Valverde leads onto a section of 12 percent grade . . . ouch!'),(4742,98,'2006-09-13 16:50:31','Gomez Marchante catches Kash\'','They have 11 seconds over the Valverde group.'),(4743,98,'2006-09-13 16:51:39','Danielson remains alone out front','He\'s really putting the hammer down, shoulders rocking. He has a gap of 1:15 over Gomez Marchante and Kashechkin.'),(4744,98,'2006-09-13 16:52:26','Is Sastre suffering or sandbagging?','He\'s following the wheels back there.'),(4745,98,'2006-09-13 16:54:09','Danielson holds his gap','It\'s 1:12 back to Gomez Marchante and Kash\', who in turn have 17 seconds or thereabouts on the group containing Valverde, Vino\' and Sastre.'),(4746,98,'2006-09-13 16:56:10','24 seconds now',' . . . between the Valverde group and Gomez Marchante and Kash\'.'),(4747,98,'2006-09-13 16:56:22','And there goes Vino\'!','Zoom!'),(4748,98,'2006-09-13 16:56:58','He opens a big, big gap','Valverde and the others just watch as the Kazakh floors it.'),(4749,98,'2006-09-13 16:58:00','Vino\' catches his mate Kash\'','And the two Astana men go riight to work.'),(4750,98,'2006-09-13 16:59:15','The gap is 18 seconds now','Valverde and Sastre gut it up the climb as ahead the Astana boys get busy.'),(4751,98,'2006-09-13 16:59:39','Sastre pops!','Kapow. Valverde\'s chasing solo!'),(4752,98,'2006-09-13 17:00:28','Sastre claws back on','And off we go.'),(4753,98,'2006-09-13 17:00:41','Under 20km to go','. . . and it\'s all downhill.'),(4754,98,'2006-09-13 17:02:35','Danielson clings to a slender lead','Vino\', Kash\' and Gomez Marchante continue the chase as behind them Valverde and Sastre fight to conserve their positions on GC.'),(4755,98,'2006-09-13 17:03:18','Danielson summits','And down he swoops.'),(4756,98,'2006-09-13 17:04:20','Valverde sheds Sastre','He summits alone and is after our three-man chase.'),(4757,98,'2006-09-13 17:04:54','Whoa!','This is one hairy descent, and Valverde is using every inch of the road.'),(4758,98,'2006-09-13 17:05:45','Valverde brings them back . . .','. . . but Vino\' punches it again!'),(4759,98,'2006-09-13 17:07:25','It\'s Valverde, Kash\' and Gomez Marchante','. . . the race leader is chasing the speeding Vino\' with these two guys right on his wheel.'),(4760,98,'2006-09-13 17:08:04','76kph','47.2mph.'),(4761,98,'2006-09-13 17:08:52','Sastre has Paulhino with him','That\'s no help, is it?'),(4762,98,'2006-09-13 17:11:23','Valverde is having to do it all alone','He\'s getting a little irked with his Spanish pal, who won\'t take a pull. Ahead, Vino\' is drillin\' it as Danielson tucks into a quick descent.'),(4763,98,'2006-09-13 17:12:31','Sastre is just 19 seconds back . . .','. . . of the Valverde group.'),(4764,98,'2006-09-13 17:13:50','9km to go','Vino\' is just 17 seconds behind Danielson. The Valverde group has lost something like a minute to the Kazakh on this descent.'),(4765,98,'2006-09-13 17:14:46','8km to go','It looks like Sastre\'s group will catch the race leader\'s trio.'),(4766,98,'2006-09-13 17:16:30','Under 7km remaining','It\'s still Danielson out front, chased by Vinokourov, who is in the hooks and really driving.'),(4767,98,'2006-09-13 17:17:11','And Vino\' catches Danielson!','Danielson fights to catch his wheel.'),(4768,98,'2006-09-13 17:18:00','Behind . . .','. . . Gomez Marchante finally takes a pull. They\'re 1:42 behind Vino\' and Danielson.'),(4769,98,'2006-09-13 17:19:05','4km to go','Through the tunnel and the gap is 1:03 for the Valverde group.'),(4770,98,'2006-09-13 17:19:51','Vino\' and Danielson are taking time','These guys are flat out hammering!'),(4771,98,'2006-09-13 17:20:29','2km to go','The two leaders are trading pulls.'),(4772,98,'2006-09-13 17:21:23','Samuel Sanchez has a dig','Off he goes!'),(4773,98,'2006-09-13 17:23:16','Paulinho and Kash\' . . .','. . . are queering the chase, and Vino\' and Danielson have something like 1:24 on Valverde.'),(4774,98,'2006-09-13 17:23:41','50 meters to go!','Who\'s gonna get it?'),(4775,98,'2006-09-13 17:24:14','Danielson!','Well deserved. Vino\' second. Here comes Sanchez, who will get third. Start calculating those time bonuses, folks.'),(4776,98,'2006-09-13 17:24:51','Sanchez crosses at 1:08','Now where\'s Valverde?'),(4777,98,'2006-09-13 17:25:38','Valverde crosses at 1:38','And unless we\'re mistaken, that means he\'s lost the golden jersey!'),(4778,98,'2006-09-13 17:27:00','Vino\' has the golden jersey!','The Kazakh Attack leads Valverde by nine seconds with Sastre third at 1:51. Kash\' moves into fourth at 2:14 with Gomez Marchante fifth at 4:32. Danielson vaults into sixth at 6:09.'),(4779,98,'2006-09-13 17:31:27','And th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','Thanks for joining us for this exciting stage . . . see you here again tomorrow. Meanwhile, stay tuned for a report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results.'),(4780,99,'2006-09-14 13:54:49','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 18th stage of the Vuelta a Espana, featuring the last mountain-top finish of this tour.
This is a short 153km stage, with all of the major difficulty packed into the final beyond category climb.
Today\'s stage does offer up a Category 3 climb - the Alto de las Encebras - at around 45km and rolling hils along the way, but it\'s the final 24 kilometers that really pack a wallop, offering up the Cat. 2 Alto de los Villares, followed almost immediately by the finishing climb up the Sierra de la Pandera.\r\n\r\n'),(4781,99,'2006-09-14 13:55:00','Another civilized starting time','The peloton rolled out of Granada today at 1:30. Danilo Di Luca and Paolo Bettini have called it quits and are packing up and heading off to Salzburg to prepare for the world championships - just a week after the Vuelta finishes on Sunday.
The attacks came early again and we saw a group of seven riders scoot off the front at km 5. Those are
Nicki Sorensen, CSC
\r\nBenoît Poilvet, Credit Agricole
\r\nRaúl GarcÃa De Mateo, REG
\r\nMarkel Irizar, Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\nPedro Horrillo, Rabobank
\r\nPierre Drancourt, Bouygues Telecom
\r\nOlivier Kaisen, Davitamon-Lotto
The group is getting a little bit of time, but Vinokourov\'s Astana squad is monitoring the break. No one in the bunch is a GC threat, with Sorenson the highest placed at 38 minutes back.
The group has 42 seconds at km 18 with, Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) in pursuit at 12 seconds.'),(4787,99,'2006-09-14 14:32:13','On the day\'s first climb','The escapees are working their way up the Category 3 Alto de las Encebras. With enough riders in the break to grab the available points, it will be a while before we see Martinez and Caucchioli battle it out for points on a climb.'),(4783,99,'2006-09-14 14:08:00','Questions?','If you have a question, a comment, a complaint or anything else of interest to tell us, drop us a line.'),(4784,99,'2006-09-14 14:12:32','Contest Reminder!','Don\'t forget to turn in your picks for today\'s contest. Hit the Contest link at the top of the page and follow the instructions.
Congratulations to N.A. Samuels who was chosen from among yesterday\'s correct entries.
Speaking of yesterday\'s correct entries, how about that Tom Danielson? His teammate Michael Barry talks about the win in yesterday\'s diary entry.'),(4785,99,'2006-09-14 14:15:23','The gap is growing','Astana is not putting in too great of an effort to chase these guys and at 31km the gap is now 2:05. You gotta pick your battles and Astana isn\'t going to blow its collective wad on chasing this break when Vinokourov only has 9 seconds and the race will really play out in 100km or so.'),(4786,99,'2006-09-14 14:28:53','Reader question','Jose Hernandez poses an interesting question:
Why is Discovery\'s Egoi Martinez wearing the KOM jersey if he\'s tied with Credit Agricole\'s Pietro Caucchioli for points?That\'s a good question, Jose. First, let\'s look at the KOM standings, as of last night:
1. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, 117 Pts.
\r\n2. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, 117 Pts.
\r\n3. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 81 Pts.
\r\n4. José Miguel Elias (Sp), REG, 70 Pts.
\r\n5. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 60 Pts.
\r\n6. Igor Anton (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 57 Pts.
\r\n7. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), AWT, 57 Pts.
\r\n8. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), AWT, 54 Pts.
\r\n9. David Arroyo (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 53 Pts.
\r\n10. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 41 Pts.
\r\n
Obviously, the Vuelta isn\'t going to put two riders in the KOM jersey, but they do need someone to wear it, so there are a number of tie-breakers, starting with stage wins, number of points gained on more difficult climbs, etc. Martinez has a stage win and earns the jersey by that measure.'),(4788,99,'2006-09-14 14:42:10','Up and over...','Our leaders have crested the Alto de las Encebras and we\'ll get you a time check ASAP. Meanwhile race radio notes that the pace over the first hour has been a quite-tolerable 43.1kph.'),(4789,99,'2006-09-14 14:53:00','Results of the climb','The results of the Cat. 3 Alto de las Encebras
Olivier Kaisen, Davitamon-Lotto
Markel Irizar, Euskaltel-Euskadi
Nicki Sorensen, CSC
Benoît Poilvet, Credit Agricole
\r\n\r\nThe peloton came through at 2:33 and it looks like we\'ve had another abandon on the way up the hill.\r\n'),(4790,99,'2006-09-14 14:57:01','Down to 137 riders','That was Daniel Becke of Milram who bailed on the climb. By our calculation that means we have just 137 riders left in the peloton. The race went for several days with no abandons, but now it looks like its emptying faster than the riders\' hotel during the police raids at the 2000 Giro.'),(4791,99,'2006-09-14 15:02:57','At km 63','The men in the break have an advantage of 2:20 and are coming up on the intermediate sprint at Huelma (68km).'),(4792,99,'2006-09-14 15:19:42','While we wait for the VeloNews.com carrier pigeon to report in . . .','. . . here\'s a tidbit for you: If you\'re going to be attending the Interbike show in Las Vegas later this month, cycling legend Eddy Merckx will autograph advance copies of Owen Mulholland\'s \"Cycling\'s Golden Age: Heroes of the Postwar Era, 1946-1967\" from 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 27, at the VeloNews booth, No. 3359. Merckx wrote the foreword to the book.'),(4793,99,'2006-09-14 15:22:18','The intermediate sprint at Huelma is history','And the order is: 1. Poilvet; 2. Kaisen; 3. Garcia de Mateo Rubio. The break holds to a lead of just over two and a half minutes as it rolls toward the feed zone at 73km.'),(4794,99,'2006-09-14 15:32:48','The pigeon is taking five in the feed zone','No wonder the porky little bugger has trouble making it over the mountains. Meantime, we\'ve sent up his understudy, a turkey buzzard with a walkie-talkie. And lest we forget, here\'s a reminder of who\'s up front today:
\r\n
\r\nNicki Sorensen, CSC
\r\nBenoît Poilvet, Credit Agricole
\r\nRaúl GarcÃa De Mateo, Relax Gam
\r\nMarkel Irizar, Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\nPedro Horrillo, Rabobank
\r\nPierre Drancourt, Bouygues Telecom
\r\nOlivier Kaisen, Davitamon-Lotto
'),(4795,99,'2006-09-14 15:41:12','The big fun is a ways up the road yet','Following the second intermediate sprint at Los Villares, the race ascends the Cat. 2 Alto de Los Villares, followed by the beyond-category Sierra de la Pandera, where deposed race leader Alejandro Valverde hopes to rediscover his climbing legs. \"When (Alexandre) Vinokourov went away on the descent, I didn\'t have the legs to follow. I\'ll try and get the jersey back tomorrow, on the Pandera,\" the 26-year-old told Reuters yesterday.'),(4796,99,'2006-09-14 15:42:37','Tick, tock','The gap has come down a tad at midrace, to 2:05.'),(4797,99,'2006-09-14 15:46:00','Whoever is timing this thing . . .','. . . must be using one of Salvador Dali\'s clocks. Air VeloNews reports that the leaders have 4:05 at the 89km point.'),(4798,99,'2006-09-14 15:49:43','It\'s cold, foggy and windy at the summit','The fans are wearing jackets and hats. Lovely weather for a mountaintop finish. It\'s La Vuelta\'s third trip up the big hill: Roberto Heras won here in 2002, and Valverde took the honors in 2003.'),(4799,99,'2006-09-14 15:56:10','60km to go','The bunch is lined out behind our leaders, with Caisse d\'Epargne on the front. The second hour went by at 43kph (26.7mph).'),(4800,99,'2006-09-14 15:59:44','Before the start . . .','. . . we had a word with Valverde, who said: \"Vinokourov was just stronger than me. I thought I was feeling okay, but he had a better day. It seemed that maybe (José Gomez) Marchante could have collaborated a little bit more, but that\'s the race. We\'ll see how I feel today. If the legs are good, we have to attack. We\'re not giving up on winning the Vuelta.\" '),(4801,99,'2006-09-14 16:01:18','The gap has dipped a bit','It\'s down to three and a half minutes.'),(4802,99,'2006-09-14 16:02:24','More quotes \'n\' stuff','Disco\' director Johan Bruyneel was pleased as punch about Tom Danielson\'s win yesterday: \"It\'s very important for his confidence to win the stage. He deserved to win because he was on the attack all day and then he collaborated with Vinokourov. It\'s good to see Danielson becoming strong in the final week.\" '),(4803,99,'2006-09-14 16:05:11','Hesjedal looks to world\'s','Ryder Hesjedal abandoned Wednesday, telling VeloNews.com: \"Enough was enough. I was satisfied with my first two weeks of the Vuelta, but it was obvious I wasn\'t going to be able to stay with the best and I would have just been riding just to finish. I feel good and I\'d rather have a good world championships.\" '),(4804,99,'2006-09-14 16:05:55','Tick, tock','The gap is down to 3:20. Caisse d\'Epargne is still parked on the front of the pursuit.'),(4805,99,'2006-09-14 16:08:34','Up front . . .','. . . the break is motoring right along. If it weren\'t for all the different jerseys, we\'d think it was a team time trial.'),(4806,99,'2006-09-14 16:11:04','Yo-yo','Back up to 3:30.'),(4807,99,'2006-09-14 16:12:08','Save a little something for the hill, lads','La Pandera is called the \"Angliru\'s southern cousin\" as well as the \"hell of the south\" - today\'s final climb is steep, narrow, exposed and windy. \r\n'),(4808,99,'2006-09-14 16:21:58','The race hits Jaen','Manuel \"Triki\" Beltran is racing \"home\" today - the veteran lives in Jaen and lots of local fans have turned out to cheer on the popular rider. '),(4809,99,'2006-09-14 16:24:46','Speaking of Triki . . .',' . . . next year, he\'ll be riding with Liquigas, pencilled in for the Giro and the Vuelta. He was told by Discovery in the spring his contract wasn\'t going to be renewed, but he wants to finish his last race with the team \"at the maximum. This is the best team I\'ve ever known and I want to leave with a strong performance.\" '),(4810,99,'2006-09-14 16:25:54','Going up','The break is headed uphill out of Jaen . . . next up is the second intermediate sprint at Los Villares.'),(4811,99,'2006-09-14 16:26:55','The politics of the ProTour','Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme was spied in the start village in Granada this morning. There\'s a big pow-wow planned Saturday with the bosses of the three grand tours. Word has it that the big organizers will demand changes in the ProTour calendar or break off once and for all. They will bring their demands to the UCI during the world championships next week. '),(4812,99,'2006-09-14 16:27:59','The chase is taking its toll','The break\'s lead is down under two minutes under the pressure from Caisse d\'Epargne.'),(4813,99,'2006-09-14 16:28:25','Rubio attacks!','He can smell the chase closing in and off he goes.'),(4814,99,'2006-09-14 16:30:07','The lead group is down to four','Drancourt and Horrilo have popped.'),(4815,99,'2006-09-14 16:30:35','And Sorensen takes a dig','He has a gap.'),(4816,99,'2006-09-14 16:32:13','Sorensen is scooting right along','Is he going for the stage, or setting himself up to lend Carlos Sastre a hand when the going gets steep?'),(4817,99,'2006-09-14 16:33:27','Swooping along a descent . . .','. . . Sorensen has 1:44 on the peloton as he descends toward the sprint at 70kph.'),(4818,99,'2006-09-14 16:36:17','The peloton is on the descent','And Caisse d\'Epargne is drillin\' it.'),(4819,99,'2006-09-14 16:37:26','Three up front now','Rubio and Kaisen have rejoined Sorensen at the head of affairs.'),(4820,99,'2006-09-14 16:38:36','It\'s showtime!','We\'re in Las Villares. it\'s all uphill from here.'),(4821,99,'2006-09-14 16:40:09','The gap is 90 seconds','Choo choo . . . Valverde is following the Caisse d\'Epargne train through town.'),(4822,99,'2006-09-14 16:42:10','The lead trio has 40 seconds','. . . over Poilvet and Horrillo. The chase is bearing down on them.'),(4823,99,'2006-09-14 16:44:16','The pursuit has the chasing duo in sight','Up front, Sorensen\'s off again . . . Garcia de Mateo is chasing.'),(4824,99,'2006-09-14 16:45:00','Jose Antonio Garrido pops out','The Quick Step rider is legging it uphill and out of the bunch.'),(4825,99,'2006-09-14 16:46:47','Sorensen remains alone','He\'s putting quite the shoulder roll into this ascent.'),(4826,99,'2006-09-14 16:48:41','19km to go','And the chase is reeling Garrido back in. Caisse d\'Epargne must\'ve eaten their Wheaties this morning.'),(4827,99,'2006-09-14 16:49:03','Sorensen clings to a slim lead','Just 55 seconds now. Not much in this country.'),(4828,99,'2006-09-14 16:49:56','Needle on E','Pereiro\'s Wheaties tank just ran dry. Off he goes after a killer pull.'),(4829,99,'2006-09-14 16:51:52','Oh, yeah, that sprint . . .','1. Sorensen; 2. Garcia de Mateo Rubio; 3. Kaisen. Sorry \'bout that. The buzzard dropped his walkie-talkie and had to report in person.'),(4830,99,'2006-09-14 16:52:29','Just 37 seconds now','The Caisse d\'Chase is reeling him in.'),(4831,99,'2006-09-14 16:53:48','Zoom!','Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) jumps the bunch.'),(4832,99,'2006-09-14 16:54:27','No reaction','Mayo is closing in on Sorensen as the bunch watches him go.'),(4833,99,'2006-09-14 16:55:43','Egoi Martinez goes','Zips right up to Mayo. He\'s hunting KOM points.'),(4834,99,'2006-09-14 16:56:18','Astana on Danielson','Astana sport director Neal Stephens said Danielson deserved his stage win Wednesday: \"In a situation like that, there\'s not a lot to be said. Danielson was on the attack all day in the break and when Vinokourov caught him, he immediately started taking turns. If he had just sat on the wheel and tried to save it for the finish, Vinokourov probably would have attacked him. But Danielson helped and Vinokourov was better off because of it. That\'s what a gentleman does. Vinokourov did the right thing and Danielson deserved to win.\" '),(4835,99,'2006-09-14 16:56:54','Martinez and Mayo . . .','. . . have caught and passed Sorensen, who\'s fighting to hold the wheel.'),(4836,99,'2006-09-14 16:57:42','Just 20 seconds','That\'s all the two leaders have as Sorensen finds himself in a spot of bother.'),(4837,99,'2006-09-14 16:59:31','Mind you, this is the little hill','Only a Cat. 2, a mere speed bump, hardly worth mentioning. The beyond-category Sierra de la Pandera remains.'),(4838,99,'2006-09-14 17:00:15','The margin is now 35 seconds','As behind, Caisse d\'Epargne has shed a whole bunch of the peloton with its brisk pursuit.'),(4839,99,'2006-09-14 17:01:00','Tick, tock','42 seconds now. Sorensen has been gobbled up and is sitting at the back of the bunch.'),(4840,99,'2006-09-14 17:03:31','Over the Alto de las Villares','The peloton has summited and is rolling along a short false flat that precedes the final grinder.'),(4841,99,'2006-09-14 17:04:50','The gap is 30 seconds','It\'s one long Lycra line in pursuit of the two leaders.'),(4842,99,'2006-09-14 17:05:46','9km to go','Valverde\'s getting the old palanquin ride to the foot of the climb.'),(4843,99,'2006-09-14 17:06:33','25 seconds','Caisse d\'Epargne looks like they\'re setting up for a sprint!'),(4844,99,'2006-09-14 17:07:04','Mayo and Martinez . . .','. . . are on the climb. It kicks off with a 14 percent ramp in the first 400 meters.'),(4845,99,'2006-09-14 17:08:15','20 seconds','Danielson, Vino\', Valverde, Kashechkin, Sastre, they\'re all here. This road is not only steep, it\'s hardly any wider than a bike path.'),(4846,99,'2006-09-14 17:08:53','Perez (Cofidis) is on the go','He\'s catching Martinez and Mayo.'),(4847,99,'2006-09-14 17:10:57','Marchante goes as Perez is caught','. . . 7km to go.'),(4848,99,'2006-09-14 17:12:24','Joachin Rodriguez reels him in','Kash\' and Vino\' are unruffled. Beltran and Devolder are there for Disco\', as is Martinez. We don\'t see Tom Danielson.'),(4849,99,'2006-09-14 17:13:19','Karpets drillin\' it','Valverde is following the wheels.'),(4850,99,'2006-09-14 17:13:56','And there goes Kashechkin!','6km to go. Sastre follows!'),(4851,99,'2006-09-14 17:14:40','And Vino\' goes!','These Astana guys like to race, eh?'),(4852,99,'2006-09-14 17:15:11','Vino\' waves off the motos','. . . these guys are a real pain on this narrow road.'),(4853,99,'2006-09-14 17:16:08','Valverde hasn\'t got it','He can\'t respond, after all that work done by his team.'),(4854,99,'2006-09-14 17:17:18','Kash\' attacks, then Marchante','. . . and Valverde is toast. Up front, Vino\' has 16 seconds.'),(4855,99,'2006-09-14 17:18:02','Kash\' goes again','Sastre follows. Vino\' has his nose pinned to the stem on this steep bit.'),(4856,99,'2006-09-14 17:18:40','Marchante, Kashechkin and Sastre are chasing','Valverde can\'t follow.'),(4857,99,'2006-09-14 17:19:26','The wind here is absolutely killer','Just what a guy likes on a beyond-category climb.'),(4858,99,'2006-09-14 17:20:04','Vino has 19 seconds on his chasers . . .','. . . Valverde is a further 18 seconds behind.'),(4859,99,'2006-09-14 17:20:36','Vino\' is struggling to stay on top of the gear','And no wonder ... we\'re talking 17 percent ramps here.'),(4860,99,'2006-09-14 17:21:22','Gomez Marchante, Kash\' and Sastre are suffering, too','. . . and it looks like Danielson is clawing his way back up to Valverde.'),(4861,99,'2006-09-14 17:21:53','Up front . . .','. . . Vino\' is grinding toward his third win of this Vuelta.'),(4862,99,'2006-09-14 17:22:50','The race leader . . .','. . . has put 35 seconds on Valverde and has 20 seconds on the chasing trio.'),(4863,99,'2006-09-14 17:24:06','Kash\' has left his mates','He\'s going it alone. Behind, Valverde is back to within 30 seconds, joined by Anton and Piepoli.'),(4864,99,'2006-09-14 17:24:37','The Kazakh Attack','The teammates are together.'),(4865,99,'2006-09-14 17:25:42','Valverde has caught Sastre','. . . and is now just 22 seconds back. Ahead, Kash\' looks much better than Vino\', who is wearing that fabled Mask of Pain.'),(4866,99,'2006-09-14 17:26:14','2km to go','. . . and Valverde is fighting his way back.'),(4867,99,'2006-09-14 17:27:16','Vino\' finds a second wind','He\'s ahead of his teammate on this lesser grade. They have 23 seconds on Valverde.'),(4868,99,'2006-09-14 17:27:54','Valverde, Anton and Piepoli are chasing','. . . as the Kazakh teammates trade pulls at the front.'),(4869,99,'2006-09-14 17:28:30','Sastre is alone . . .','. . . and suffering. He\'s gonna fall right off the podium.'),(4870,99,'2006-09-14 17:29:38','1km for the Astana boys!','They have 27 seconds over the chasing trio and 17 seconds on the struggling Sastre, who is being joined by Danielson.'),(4871,99,'2006-09-14 17:30:04','A short, sharp descent . . .','. . . and then a rise to the line . . .'),(4872,99,'2006-09-14 17:30:31','Vino\' is driving it . . .','. . . and it\'s the final corner . . .'),(4873,99,'2006-09-14 17:31:46','Kash\' gets it . . .','. . . as Vino\' congratulates him. Marchante third. And Valverde claws his way back into fourth, a half-minute back.'),(4874,99,'2006-09-14 17:33:20','Danielson eighth','. . . at 46 seconds back.'),(4875,99,'2006-09-14 17:34:00','And the GC is:','1. Vinokourov; 2. Valverde; 3. Kashechkin. Sastre slips to fourth, and Danielson remains sixth overall.'),(4876,99,'2006-09-14 17:35:30','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','Thanks for joining us today; we\'ll see you here tomorrow. Meanwhile, stay tuned for report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results.'),(4877,100,'2006-09-15 12:59:36','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 19th stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana.
Today\'s stage offers up a tough profile, not punctuated by tough climbs, but offering up a seemingly endless series of hills over more than 200km.
The peloton is now down to 135 riders, who have just left Jaén a little less than half an hour ago.
At least at the start, the pace has been pretty moderate with no real attacks forming off the front. Will that change or are most of these guys tired from three weeks in the saddle and willing to wait until tomorrow\'s time trial? We\'ll see. \r\n \r\n'),(4878,100,'2006-09-15 13:00:56','At 18km','The pace remains moderate and under the control of Alexandre Vinokourov\'s Astana squad.'),(4879,100,'2006-09-15 13:13:20','Today\'s route','The opening stretch today takes the peloton over relatively easy and generally descending terrain, buut it will start kicking up at 35km and the peloton goes over the Category 2 Alto del Parque Natural at 75km, followed by two Cat. 3s at km 102 and 117, but a look at the profile underscores the fact that three moderately rated climbs are not the big challenge of the day, it\'s the relentless up-and-down of all of the unrated sections of the cours. Toward the end, though the route will mellow and the course winds its way onto wide flat highways until the finish. If anyone escapes over the hills before that, they will need a good gap to deny the remaining sprinters a stage win.'),(4880,100,'2006-09-15 13:20:00','At 35km','The peloton is now coursing its way up some of the day\'s early climbs. Again, unrated, the terrain isn\'t easy, but the pace is. It seems that the efforts from the past two days in the mountains have taken their toll.'),(4883,100,'2006-09-15 13:24:00','Not much','the three men off the front aren\'t really getting much distance on the field.'),(4884,100,'2006-09-15 13:25:00','Caught',''),(4885,100,'2006-09-15 13:30:00','We said it was mellow...','The pace has been quite moderate... covering only 37.5km over the first hour... and a lot of that was downhill, too, folks.'),(4882,100,'2006-09-15 13:21:00','A bit of a dig','We have some action off the front with three riders going clear on the hills at 36k. Those riders are (with their times back on GC noted on the right)
Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B., 20:33
\r\nDaniele Nardello (I), T-Mobile, 1:27:52
\r\nDavid Canada (Sp), Saunier Duval, 2:10:16
While none constitutes an immediate GC threat, Rodriguez is bound to make the Astana squad a bit uncomfortable, given that he is a teammate of Valverde\'s.\r\n'),(4886,100,'2006-09-15 13:37:00','Questions?','Comments? Complaints? Drop us a line.'),(4887,100,'2006-09-15 13:40:52','Contest reminder','Don\'t forget to put in your entries today. Will it be a sprint? Will an escape artist muddle those plans? Will Valverde try to make up time? You make the call and hit the Contest button on top.
Meanwhile we\'re seeing a few attacks, including an effort from an eight man group that included Credit Agricole\'s sprinter, Thor Hushovd. It\'s been reeled back in, but the immediate effect is that the pace has finally picked up in the main field.'),(4888,100,'2006-09-15 13:44:00','Another attack','The pace is picking up quite nicely and we have another group of four off the front. No time checks yet, but there are now major GC threats in this group, either.
Vladimir Gusev, Discovery Channel
\r\nJosé Luis Arrieta, Ag2r Prevoyance
\r\nAketza PeÑa, Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\nJosé Vicent Garcia Acosta, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
Of the escapees, Gusev is the highest placed at 44:49 out of first. Discovery still leads the team competition and this can only serve to aid in that effort.'),(4889,100,'2006-09-15 13:49:00','They still have a gap','The foursome still has distance on the field and we\'re looking to get a formal time check here soon.'),(4890,100,'2006-09-15 13:51:00','The day\'s first sprint','Results from the intermediate sprint at Peñallana suggest that our escapees have either been caught or gained some company. CSC\'s Lars Ytting Bak won the sprint, but two members of the break - \r\nJosé Luis Arrieta, Ag2r Prevoyance and José Vicent Garcia Acosta, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B. - came in second and third.'),(4891,100,'2006-09-15 14:00:00','Active','The pace has picked up and we\'re seeing several breaks form, move ahead and then be reeled in. It\'s the sort of terrain that will start to wear some of these guys down after a while. Right now we have eight riders off the front of the main field... and we do not have a definitive time check:
Lars Ytting Bak, CSC
\r\nVladimir Gusev, Discovery Channel
\r\nDmitriy Fofonov, Credit Agricole
\r\nJosé Luis Arrieta, Ag2r Prevoyance
\r\nAketza Peña, Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\nDavid Loosli, Lampre
\r\nPieter Mertens, Davitamon-Lotto
\r\nJosé Vicent Garcia Acosta, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\n'),(4892,100,'2006-09-15 14:24:07','Wind','It\'s windy out there today... and with blustering winds, this is \"echelon\" country - especially in last 60km. Keep an eye open for big turns on route. It\'s one of Bruyneel\'s favorite tricks to attack as the course turns into a cross-wind and Disco might try it again today '),(4893,100,'2006-09-15 14:26:00','Spain\'s team for world\'s','The Spanish world\'s team has been selected and Valverde will be the captain. Joining him are
JoaquÃn RodrÃguez (Caisse d\'\'Epargne-Illes Balears)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank)
Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom)
Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel)
Iñigo Cuesta (CSC)
Fran Ventoso (Saunier Duval)
Luis Pérez (Cofidis).
The ninth spot will be for Carlos Sastre (CSC) - if he wants it. He\'s asked the national coach to wait a few more days to see how he feels after Vuelta. If Sastre doesn\'t go, it will either be Egoi Martinez or Manuel Beltran - both Disco boys.
Interestingly, the man who might become the official winner of this year\'s Tour de France - Oscar Pereiro - was not included on the world\'s team! '),(4894,100,'2006-09-15 14:26:39','Vino\'','This morning at the start, Andrew Hood spoke with the race leader and Vinokourov said: \"I am very motivated to be the winner of the Vuelta. We have to control the stage today and then there\'s the time trial. Maybe I can even take some more time.\" '),(4895,100,'2006-09-15 14:26:00','The break','The latest time check from the road gives our eight escapees a lead of 4:10 on the main field. They are now at the top of the Category 2 Alto del Parque Natural.'),(4896,100,'2006-09-15 14:31:00','Chances for success?','The break just might make it today. There are lots of head-bangers in the breakaway. No Astana, but who cares? Vino\' doesn\'t. Disco has Gusev in there, so they won\'t chase. CSC and Caisse d\'Epargne both have someone. To review:
Lars Ytting Bak, CSC
\r\nVladimir Gusev, Discovery Channel
\r\nDmitriy Fofonov, Credit Agricole
\r\nJosé Luis Arrieta, Ag2r Prevoyance
\r\nAketza Peña, Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\nDavid Loosli, Lampre
\r\nPieter Mertens, Davitamon-Lotto
\r\nJosé Vicent Garcia Acosta, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\n'),(4897,100,'2006-09-15 14:43:04','Time','The escape group is gaining time on the main field. The gap is now 7:35 and the escapees are at the 83km mark.'),(4898,100,'2006-09-15 14:46:00','These guys just might do it','Who knows, but the Astana team doesn\'t appear to be taking much of an interest in the escape... and most of the other powerhouse teams are represented. It\'s looking good for these guys.'),(4899,100,'2006-09-15 15:02:09','Over the Cat. 2','Loosli led the way over the Alto del Parque Natural de Andujar, followed by Arrieta and Bak. The break has 7:22 in hand over the bunch.'),(4900,100,'2006-09-15 15:10:01','Tick, tock','The gap is nearly nine and a half minutes now. Do we have an unofficial rest day back in the bunch?'),(4901,100,'2006-09-15 15:15:29','Up the Cat. 3','Our leaders are taking advantage of the peloton\'s lethargy. They\'re zipping up the Cat. 3 Alto de Sierra Madrona at 100km.'),(4902,100,'2006-09-15 15:23:38','Today\'s stage may be a bit of a snoozer so far . . .','. . . but Vuelta race director Victor Cordero has pronounced himself \"very satisfied with this Vuelta. The race has been very exciting and we have a podium of top quality. Let\'s just hope we don\'t see a repeat of some of the problems we\'ve had the past few big tours and we can have this Vuelta serve as starting point to rebuild the sport.\"\r\n'),(4903,100,'2006-09-15 15:24:47','Horner looks to the world\'s','We\'s also spoken with Chris Horner, who says he\'s excited about racing the world\'s: \"I have good legs, but I have to have the right tactics if I hope to do anything. I don\'t have the legs to stay with the Bettinis, but the course looks hard enough to make it too hard for the sprinters and not quite hard enough that the big guns will dominate. If I can get into the right move. . . .\" '),(4904,100,'2006-09-15 15:27:16','More on Horner','Horner will return to his European base in Denia, Spain, for a few days before flying into Salzburg on Thursday. That will give him plenty of chances to check out the course. '),(4905,100,'2006-09-15 15:31:19','Looking ahead to Saturday\'s time trial . . .','. . . our man Andrew Hood taps David Millar and Alexandre Vinokourov as favorites for the stage.'),(4906,100,'2006-09-15 15:33:07','Meanwhile, back at today\'s race . . .','. . . Mertens leads over the Sierra Madrona, trailed by Nazon and Loosli.'),(4907,100,'2006-09-15 15:39:52','Next on the menu . . .','. . . is the Cat. 3 Alto del Tamaral at 117km. Our leaders still have something like nine minutes and change on the bunch; the third hour of today\'s stage poked along at an average of 36.5kph, or 22.6mph.'),(4908,100,'2006-09-15 15:47:09','Tick, tock','The gap is nearly 10 minutes now.'),(4909,100,'2006-09-15 15:54:53','Over the Tamaral','1. Mertens; 2. Fofonov; 3. Peña. The break is extending its lead on the descent and now has 11 minutes.'),(4910,100,'2006-09-15 15:57:17','Whither Mayo?','Iban Mayo looks more and more likely to leave Euskaltel-Euskadi. He just told Spanish TV: \"I have to talk with the team tomorrow and hear their offer. I haven\'t decided anything yet, but I still believe I have a lot to bring to this sport.\" '),(4911,100,'2006-09-15 16:01:03','Lest we forget','The break contains:
\r\n
\r\nLars Ytting Bak, CSC
\r\nVladimir Gusev, Discovery Channel
\r\nDmitriy Fofonov, Credit Agricole
\r\nJosé Luis Arrieta, Ag2r Prevoyance
\r\nAketza Peña, Euskaltel-Euskadi
\r\nDavid Loosli, Lampre
\r\n Pieter Mertens, Davitamon-Lotto
\r\nJosé Vicent Garcia Acosta, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
'),(4912,100,'2006-09-15 16:08:11','Rolling, rolling, rolling','The leaders have 10 minutes as behind, Astana leads the bunch, set up in echelon to counter the blustery winds.'),(4913,100,'2006-09-15 16:21:21','The gap holds steady','Ten minutes and change for our leaders.'),(4914,100,'2006-09-15 16:30:00','A colleague asks . . .','. . . \"why do they have a stage like this?\" Beats us. The VeloNews.com carrier pigeon nodded off while trailing the bunch and crashed into a tree. We\'ve engaged a red-knobbed coot as a temporary replacement. And before you jokers chime in, no, it\'s not O\'Grady.'),(4915,100,'2006-09-15 16:31:59','Meanwhile, the gap goes up again','More than 11 minutes now.'),(4916,100,'2006-09-15 16:34:41','Best-placed in the break . . .','. . . is Bak, 24th at 40:08. Small wonder the bunch seems less than eager to bring these lads back. Astana picked a great day to be sitting on the front, playing defense, eh?'),(4917,100,'2006-09-15 16:43:36','Vino\', vodka and the Vuelta','It seems Vino\' and Kash\' are making quite a splash back in their native Kazakhstan. The race is broadcast live each evening on local television (around 9 p.m. local time) and it seems everyone is putting their vodka on ice to watch the blond bombers rip up the Vuelta. \"They\'ve told us that the Vuelta is making a lot of publicity,\" Vinokourov said. '),(4918,100,'2006-09-15 16:47:58','55km to go for the leaders . . .','. . . the bunch is something like 4km behind.'),(4919,100,'2006-09-15 16:50:44','Through the four-hour point','The average speed: 35.8kph (22.2mph). A Sunday stroll – but it\'s only Friday.'),(4920,100,'2006-09-15 16:54:26','Our leaders hit 60kph on a short descent','Enjoy it while you can, boys . . . the last 30km are as flat as an ironing board.'),(4921,100,'2006-09-15 16:55:59','And now, the weather','It\'s clouding up at the finish in Ciudad Real . . . if these boys don\'t pick it up a tad, they\'re liable to be racing in the rain.'),(4922,100,'2006-09-15 16:56:47','Speak of the devil','It\'s raining. Al Roker ain\'t got nothin\' on us.'),(4923,100,'2006-09-15 16:58:47','47km to go . . .','. . . and 11:16 is the gap. It\'s still dry out here on the road, according to the VeloNews.com carrier pigeon, which is back on the job (and sporting a helmet).'),(4924,100,'2006-09-15 17:03:55','The leaders are in Puertollano','And we remind you that you have a good chance of picking today\'s winner, since he seems likely to be among this small group of front-runners. Make the call and hit the Contest button up top.'),(4925,100,'2006-09-15 17:06:48','This just in','While our leaders will enjoy the benefits of electronic timing at the finish, the peloton will be timed with a sundial.'),(4926,100,'2006-09-15 17:09:07','The gap plummets . . .','. . . all the way to 10:50. At this rate, the break is certain to be reeled in – by next Tuesday.'),(4927,100,'2006-09-15 17:11:50','Inside 40km now','The bunch is curb to curb.'),(4928,100,'2006-09-15 17:13:19','The \"sprint\" in Puertollano . . .','. . . went as follows: 1. Fofonov; 2. Gusev; 3. Bak.'),(4929,100,'2006-09-15 17:18:53','There is no truth to the rumor . . .','. . . that the peloton has been caught and dropped by an elderly woman with an aluminum walker.'),(4930,100,'2006-09-15 17:20:38','Ticking over the beads on the VN.com abacus . . .','. . . we\'ve just calculated that the race won\'t end until 6 p.m. local time, which will cut into our tapas time. We hate it when that happens.'),(4931,100,'2006-09-15 17:22:20','11:23','How do you say \"piano\" in Spanish?'),(4932,100,'2006-09-15 17:27:42','Another weather report','The wind is whipping up and the skies darkening, and the peloton seems to be upping the pace a bit. No sense spoiling a nice training ride by finishing in damp kit.'),(4933,100,'2006-09-15 17:28:32','The break\'s in a bigger hurry','Ther lead is over 12 minutes now.'),(4934,100,'2006-09-15 17:30:11','CSC puts the bunch in the gutter','Bjarne Riis likes this tactic, too.'),(4935,100,'2006-09-15 17:32:07','CSC drills it into the crosswind','Vino\', Valverde and the other honchos aren\'t caught out.'),(4936,100,'2006-09-15 17:35:00','And now, the attacks . . .','. . . followed by the traditional sitting-up. Oh, well. The bunch is riding curb to curb again. Chapeau to CSC for having a go.'),(4937,100,'2006-09-15 17:36:39','That little flurry . . .','. . . nibbled the gap down to 10:26.'),(4938,100,'2006-09-15 17:38:54','Under 18km for the break','. . . which seems to be losing some of its organization as the guys smell the finish line.'),(4939,100,'2006-09-15 17:39:49','Astana\'s back on the front','More than five hours in the saddle now. Makes our butt sore just thinking about it.'),(4940,100,'2006-09-15 17:40:00','15km for the leaders','Not a lot of obstacles here for a guy to use as a springboard for an escape. We\'ve seen lumpier pancakes.'),(4941,100,'2006-09-15 17:43:11','13km to go','And the break remains intact.'),(4942,100,'2006-09-15 17:46:27','Attack!','Fofonov, Loosli, Mertens have a dig.'),(4943,100,'2006-09-15 17:46:52','Fofonov goes again','Bak\'s after him.'),(4944,100,'2006-09-15 17:47:30','Bak again . . .','. . . dogged by Fofnov, Arrienta and Gusev.'),(4945,100,'2006-09-15 17:47:52','Gusev goes!','Arrieta trails him.'),(4946,100,'2006-09-15 17:48:25','9km to go','Bak digs again.'),(4947,100,'2006-09-15 17:49:12','A gap opens','Peña has popped.'),(4948,100,'2006-09-15 17:49:54','8km to go','Peña\'s plugging away, trying to regain contact, as Bak goes again.'),(4949,100,'2006-09-15 17:50:19','Garcia and Mertens chase','Bak has a slight gap.'),(4950,100,'2006-09-15 17:50:59','Gusev and Fofonov chase','Kapow!'),(4951,100,'2006-09-15 17:51:23','Bak again','Loosli is driving the chase.'),(4952,100,'2006-09-15 17:52:04','Bak\'s off alone','. . . Gusev shoots off after him.'),(4953,100,'2006-09-15 17:53:12','5km to go','Bak is crouched over his bars, punching it out. But Gusev, Garcia and Mertens are chasing.'),(4954,100,'2006-09-15 17:54:37','The chase is getting nowhere','Nobody wants to do the heavy lifting.'),(4955,100,'2006-09-15 17:55:04','Bak has 17 seconds','The chase remains disorganized.'),(4956,100,'2006-09-15 17:55:42','Bak digs through some twisty bits','Then he\'s out of the saddle and gunning it.'),(4957,100,'2006-09-15 17:56:13','3km to go','Bak\'s rocking on the bike like a boxer dodging punches.'),(4958,100,'2006-09-15 17:56:46','Fofonov, Loosli and Arrieta','. . . are bringing him back . . .'),(4959,100,'2006-09-15 17:57:15','Four at the front','Bak looks to be fading.'),(4960,100,'2006-09-15 17:57:34','Bak at the back','Okay, we had to say it.'),(4961,100,'2006-09-15 17:58:16','Another roundabout','Swoosh.'),(4962,100,'2006-09-15 17:58:38','Cat and mouse now','We\'re all over the road.'),(4963,100,'2006-09-15 17:58:54','1km to go','Bak takes another crack!'),(4964,100,'2006-09-15 17:59:42','Bak\'s on the front . . .','. . . the line\'s in sight . . .'),(4965,100,'2006-09-15 18:00:00','Fofonov and Arrieta go','. . . Arrieta driving . . .'),(4966,100,'2006-09-15 18:00:16','Arrieta gets it!','Fofonov second.'),(4967,100,'2006-09-15 18:01:12','Loosli third','Man, we were pulling for Bak on that one, but it wasn\'t gonna happen.'),(4968,100,'2006-09-15 18:02:11','And now, we wait','The honchos are still out there, somewhere, with the bunch.'),(4969,100,'2006-09-15 18:04:50','CSC moving forward','Astana remains out front. Everybody\'s protecting their GC guys.'),(4970,100,'2006-09-15 18:09:53','1km for the bunch','At long last . . .'),(4971,100,'2006-09-15 18:15:17','And that\'s that','We\'ll see you here tomorrow. Thanks for watching, and stick around for a report from Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and full results.'),(4972,101,'2006-09-16 13:28:41','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 20th stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Espana, a 28-kilometer individual time trial near Madrid. This is the final real opportunity for anyone to shake up the leaderboard in this three-week grand tour. Tomorrow\'s stage, assuming the margins aren\'t within a few seconds after today, will pretty much be a parade into downtown Madrid.
We\'ve obviously passed on the opportunity to fully report on the progress of all 135 remaining riders in this race and are, instead, focusing on the last few riders who might make a serious impact on the overall standings.Remaining Departure times116. HORNER, Christopher Davitamon - Lotto, 1:28\r\n
117. ARROYO, David Caisse D\'Epargne, 1:30\r\n
118. PETROV, Evgeni Lampre - Fondital, 1:32\r\n
119. RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin Caisse D\'Epargne, 1:34\r\n
120. PAULINHO, Sergio Astana, 1:36\r\n
121. ANTON, Igor Euskaltel - Euskadi, 1:38\r\n
122. SZMYD, Sylvester Lampre - Fondital, 1:40\r\n
123. MARTINEZ, Egoi Discovery, 1:42\r\n
124. PIEPOLI, Leonardo Saunier Duval, 1:44\r\n
125. DEVOLDER, Stijn Discovery, 1:46\r\n
126. KARPETS, Vladimir Caisse D\'Epargne, 1:48\r\n
127. PÉREZ, Luis Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone, 1:50\r\n
128. BELTRAN, Manuel Discovery, 1:52\r\n
129. SÃNCHEZ, Samuel Euskaltel - Euskadi, 1:54\r\n
130. DANIELSON, Thomas Discovery, 1:56\r\n
131. GOMEZ MARCHANTE, J. Angel Saunier Duval, 1:58\r\n
132. SASTRE, Carlos Team CSC, 2:00\r\n
133. KASHECHKIN, Andrey Astana, 2:02\r\n
134. VALVERDE, Alejandro Caisse D\'Epargne, 2:04\r\n
135. VINOKOUROV, Alexandre Astana, 2:06\r\n'),(4973,101,'2006-09-16 13:40:49','Current top-ten','Things will change over the course of the day, of course, but here are the top times from the finish line, thus far.
The big news, of course, is that David Millar will not repeat his stage win from last Saturday, given that he is now fifth-best on the day, so far.
1. Bodrogi 34:05\r\n
2 OGrady a 0:06\r\n
3 Hiekmann a 0:29\r\n
4 Rosseler a 0:34\r\n
5 Millar a 0:39\r\n
6 Backstedt a 1:18\r\n
7 Ljungqvist a 1:36\r\n
8 De_Weert a 1:38\r\n
9 Van_Impe a 1:59\r\n
10 Sacchi a 2:02'),(4974,101,'2006-09-16 13:48:36','Horner','Hits the first time check with the 20th best time of the day. We won\'t be seeing a stage winning performance from the man from Bend, but he\'s had a pretty good season this year. No reason to be disappointed this year.'),(4975,101,'2006-09-16 13:52:20','Karpets','tenth on GC is on his way. '),(4976,101,'2006-09-16 13:54:17','Zubeldia','Finishes with a time of 36:42, the 28th best of the day. He just re-signed with Euskaltel last night and will be with the team until the end of 2008.'),(4977,101,'2006-09-16 13:56:17','Young Brajkovic','has finished with the seventh best time of the day, just as his teammate Manuel Beltran heads out of the starting gate.'),(4978,101,'2006-09-16 13:57:42','Keep those cards and letters...','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(4979,101,'2006-09-16 13:58:30','Samuel Sanchez','The Euskaltel rider who took a stage in this year\'s Vuelta - and now 7th on GC - is on route. '),(4980,101,'2006-09-16 13:59:04','Danielson','is in the start house. We\'ll see how the Discovery man does today.'),(4981,101,'2006-09-16 14:03:56','Top ten at the finish','We\'re bound to see some changes in this picture.\r\n1. Bodrogi 34:05
\r\n2. OGrady at 6
\r\n3. Hiekmann at 29
\r\n4. Rosseler at 34
\r\n5. Millar at 39
\r\n6. Backstedt at 1:18
\r\n7. Brajkovic at 1:28
\r\n8. Arvesen at 1:31
\r\n9. Ljungqvist at 1:36
\r\n10. Barredo at 1:38
'),(4982,101,'2006-09-16 14:05:53','Danielson','is looking good, covering a tough route loaded with tricky corners, roundaobotus, speed bumps, etc as it winds its way through a large urban development outside of Madrid. '),(4983,101,'2006-09-16 14:06:45','Karpets','hits the 11km time check at 14:30, the third best of the day.'),(4984,101,'2006-09-16 14:08:29','Sastre','Another rider we want to keep track of is Carlos Sastre as he fights to gain a spot on the podium. Back at the start, Valverde takes off in an effort to make up nearly a minute on Vinokourov.'),(4985,101,'2006-09-16 14:09:00','Vinokourov','is in the start house.'),(4986,101,'2006-09-16 14:09:57','He\'s off!','Vino is on the road.'),(4987,101,'2006-09-16 14:11:52','All in gold','Vino is flying on the straights, but he\'s playing it smart through the the round-abouts.'),(4988,101,'2006-09-16 14:14:46','Danielson','Hits the 11km mark in 14:44, good enough for the 8th best so far.'),(4989,101,'2006-09-16 14:15:15','If Vinokourov wins','he will be only the second non-European to win the Vuelta, behind Lucha Herrera of Colombia.'),(4990,101,'2006-09-16 14:16:30','Valverde','taking risks. He is really driving hard and going full out, even through the risky portions of the round-abouts.'),(4991,101,'2006-09-16 14:18:37','Sastre','14:36 at the 11km mark. Sixth best so far.'),(4992,101,'2006-09-16 14:20:58','Kashechkin','hits the 11km mark at 14:44, eight seconds slower than Sastre, but he started the day with 45 seconds to spare...'),(4993,101,'2006-09-16 14:22:25','Valverde comes through','Wow... sets a new best time at km 11, 14:18. Let\'s wait for Vino\''),(4994,101,'2006-09-16 14:24:36','Here comes Vino...','It\'s still tight... Vinokourov hits the mark at 14:21... losing three seconds to Valverde. Valverde needs another 50 seconds a big mission.'),(4995,101,'2006-09-16 14:27:14','Vino holding his own','Unofficial intermediate time checks put Vinokourov just a couple of seconds off of Valverde\'s pace.'),(4996,101,'2006-09-16 14:28:32','Sastre','Is ticking along nicely. From the looks of it, he\'s borrowed the eliptical chainrings from Bobby J\'s bike. We\'ll see how he does with those at the second time check.'),(4997,101,'2006-09-16 14:31:38','Samuel Sanchez','sets a new best time with a 33:45.'),(4998,101,'2006-09-16 14:32:34','Sastre','hit the 20.5km time check 27 seconds off of Sanchez\'s time and is now heading to the finish.'),(4999,101,'2006-09-16 14:34:50','Danielson','heading to the line...34:43...barely holding on to his place on GC by about 20 seconds.'),(5000,101,'2006-09-16 14:35:38','Unofficial','intermediate time checks - using GPS, so accurate - put Vinokourov in the lead by about 11 seconds.'),(5001,101,'2006-09-16 14:36:36','Here\'s a little nugget.','Word here at the Vuelta is that Floyd Landis is in Madrid and will be at the start tomorrow.'),(5002,101,'2006-09-16 14:37:51','Vinokourov','Sets the new top time at the 20.5km time check. He\'s extending his lead over Valverde, adding another 10 seconds to his hold on GC.'),(5003,101,'2006-09-16 14:38:43','Sastre','crosses the finish in 34:23, good enough for fifth on the day, but probably not good enough to knock Kashechkin off the podium.'),(5004,101,'2006-09-16 14:40:50','Kashechkin','finishes in 34:45, he loses time to Sastre, but it wasn\'t enough to lose his spot on the podium.'),(5005,101,'2006-09-16 14:41:09','Valverde','is heading to the finish.'),(5006,101,'2006-09-16 14:42:12','Valverde','comes through with a time of 33:58, 13 seconds off of Sanchez\'s time. How will Vino do?'),(5007,101,'2006-09-16 14:42:49','Vinokourov','heads to the finish and we\'ll see if he gets a stage win on his birthday.'),(5008,101,'2006-09-16 14:43:46','Vino!','comes in with a time of 33:39, wins the stage, and gets a lock on the Vuelta!'),(5009,101,'2006-09-16 14:45:20','Today\'s contest winner','is Roy Drinkwater. Nice call. Congrats.'),(5010,102,'2006-09-17 13:33:00','Good day and welcome ...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 21st and final stage of the 61st edition of the Vuelta a Espana, a 142 kilometer \"parade\" around Madrid to celebrate the all-but-certain overall victory of Astana\'s Alexandre Vinokourov.
The remaining 135 riders left the start today at 11 in the morning. There were a couple of showy attacks, but the peloton has been staying together for the past two-and-a-half hours and the day really won\'t be kicking in until the peloton reaches the first of six laps on the 6km finishing circuit on the Plaza de Cibeles at center of Madrid, finishing at the central square with the famous Cibeles fountain.'),(5011,102,'2006-09-17 13:40:53','A final vampire visit','The UCI doping control officials paid their final morning visit to a selection of riders from Euskaltel-Euskadi, T-Mobile, Credit Agricole and Cofidis. All riders tested were declared fit to ride. The morning hematocrit test is regarded as a \"health check,\" because an elevated hematocrit is merely considered an indicator of doping rather than solid proof of EPO use. Instead of a two-year suspension, a rider is given a two-week \"rest break,\" during which he has an opportunity to do a bit of explaining, no doubt. Do recall that the morning hematocrit test was the only test Marco Pantani ever failed in his career despite a rather extensive circumstantial record of performance-enhancing doping and, of course, the recreational drug use that eventually killed him.'),(5012,102,'2006-09-17 13:48:00','Coming up on 100km','The pace has been moderate all day and there is no indication that things will change for the next few kilometers. With 42.2km remaining, the peloton is within six km of reaching the Plaza de Cibeles for the first of six trips around a six-kilometer circuit. Before the action starts, we wanted to thank those of you who checked in with us throughout this Vuelta. We enjoyed your correspondence and encouragement, even when we dropped the ball as we did during the first individual time trial on September 9.
One note, when we say \"we,\" we really don\'t mean that in the editorial - or royal - sense. There is a real crew of people here and this is a good time to mention some names of those responsible (at fault?) for bringing you our daily reports:
Andrew Hood, VeloNews European Correspondent
Andrew Pemberton, Director of VeloNews Interactive
Stephen Price, our tech guy
and the two \"voices\" you \"hear\" in these reports, Charles Pelkey, Editor of VeloNews.com and Patrick O\'Grady, resident crank, maddog media hound and officially the VeloNews \"editor at large.\"
We will, by the way, all be back next Sunday for the men\'s world championship road race in Salzburg, Austria.'),(5013,102,'2006-09-17 13:52:23','Contest reminder','Is it going to be a sprint? Will someone get away? Go ahead and make your picks folks. The final contest of the 61st Vuelta will provide three prizes, so it\'s worth the effort to send in an e-mail Go to the contest link on top of the page and follow the instructions. Good luck.'),(5014,102,'2006-09-17 13:53:12','Comments, questions?','If you have a comment, complaint or question, Drop us a line.'),(5015,102,'2006-09-17 14:02:13','A nice little break','We see a group of seven off the front, with a gap of about 20 seconds. Oscar Pereiro and Chris Horner are in the group.'),(5016,102,'2006-09-17 14:05:00','','The seven men in the break are as follows:
\r\nLuis Perez, Cofidis
\r\nChristopher Horner, Davitamon-Lotto
\r\nFrédéric Bessy, Cofidis
\r\nOscar Pereiro, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\nÃngel Vallejo, Relax-Gam
\r\nJorge Garcia, Relax-Gam
\r\nPierre Drancourt, Bouygues Telecom
The seven men have 22 seconds. The Phonak and Credit Agricole teams are giving chase.\r\n'),(5017,102,'2006-09-17 14:09:33','The pace is high','The men off the front are now 20km from the finish and the gap is extending, now to 28 seconds.'),(5018,102,'2006-09-17 14:12:50','Nice big crowds','It\'s a beautiful day in Madrid and the crowds are quite large today. There isn\'t a cloud in the sky and it\'s a beautiful way to spend the day, either racing or watching.'),(5019,102,'2006-09-17 14:14:26','With three laps to go','18km to go, the seven escapees are just 15 seconds up the road. It doesn\'t look likely that the Horner group is going to stay out there today. '),(5020,102,'2006-09-17 14:17:42','The break','The seven men in the lead are working well together, but there is a serious chase underway from the sprinter\'s teams without anyone in the break.'),(5021,102,'2006-09-17 14:19:27','These guys are holding their own','The break is resisting capture, with 12km to go. They have 12 seconds on the field. I wouldn\'t bet the ranch, but they are working hard.'),(5022,102,'2006-09-17 14:20:58','With 11km to go','The peloton is being driven by Credit Agricole and the gap is holding at 14 seconds.'),(5023,102,'2006-09-17 14:21:56','With 10km to go','The escapees are holding their own at the front. A reminder, we have the following riders in the bunch:
The seven men in the break are as follows:
\r\nLuis Perez, Cofidis
\r\nChristopher Horner, Davitamon-Lotto
\r\nFrédéric Bessy, Cofidis
\r\nOscar Pereiro, Caisse d\'Epargne-I.B.
\r\nÃngel Vallejo, Relax-Gam
\r\nJorge Garcia, Relax-Gam
\r\nPierre Drancourt, Bouygues Telecom
'),(5024,102,'2006-09-17 14:24:15','Credit Agricole','Hushovd\'s team is doing most of the work at the front of the peloton. The gap is holding, though, with 9km to go.'),(5025,102,'2006-09-17 14:25:13','The catch is coming','The leaders are just a few hundred meters ahead with 8km to go.'),(5026,102,'2006-09-17 14:26:12','Catch!','They\'re caught.'),(5027,102,'2006-09-17 14:27:06','One lap to go','The break is over and the peloton is coursing its way onto the final lap through today\'s finishing circuit. Vinokourov looks cool and relaxed.'),(5028,102,'2006-09-17 14:27:54','Another dig','There is another attack - this one from a lone Bouyges Telecom rider - but it\'s not going anywhere.'),(5029,102,'2006-09-17 14:29:15','Another attack','The escape was caught, but now we see a solo effort from Quick Step rider Kevin De Weert, who is building a nice little gap. Can he hold it?'),(5030,102,'2006-09-17 14:30:01','De Weert','is within four kilometers of the finish... but it looks like he\'s about to be caught.'),(5031,102,'2006-09-17 14:31:05','CSC is now driving','at the front as De Weert gets pulled back with 3km to go.'),(5032,102,'2006-09-17 14:31:43','Wow','Flat ground and the pace is rockin\' at 60+ kph.'),(5033,102,'2006-09-17 14:32:43','2km to go','TheCredit Ag boys are driving now....'),(5034,102,'2006-09-17 14:33:05','1km to go','Pereiro suffers a mechanical'),(5035,102,'2006-09-17 14:33:26','Milram moving up...','Zabel? Liquigas? '),(5036,102,'2006-09-17 14:33:49','500 meters to go...','There is a big surge....'),(5037,102,'2006-09-17 14:34:00','Zabel gets it!','Thirty-six-year-old Erik Zabel gets his second stage win of the Vuelta, beating Thor Hushovd to the line. Hushovd can take solace in the fact that he has earned that cool fish-emblazoned points jersey, but it\'s Zabel who wins the final stage. Nice! If ever there was a class act in the peloton... Zabel is one of the ones we\'d count in that contest.'),(5038,102,'2006-09-17 14:35:22','It\'s official','Alexandre Vinokourov is the winner of the 61st edition of the Vuelta a Espana. '),(5039,102,'2006-09-17 14:39:44','That\'s a wrap folks','Thanks again for joining us these past three weeks. We are honored that you\'ve chosen to spend your mornings \"listening\" to us babble over the course of a three-week tour.
Don\'t forget to join us again next week for the men\'s professional road race championship in Salzburg, Austria.
All the best and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Now go out and ride your bikes!'),(5040,106,'2006-09-24 12:42:03','Good day and welcome ...','and welcome to VeloNews.com Live Coverage of the 2006 world professional championship road race in Salzburg, Austria.'),(5041,106,'2006-09-24 12:56:26','It\'s a long day in the saddle','The peloton left Salzburg this morning at 10:30, with 198 riders representing countries from all over the world.
It didn’t take long for the opening salvo José Ramos (Venezuela) bolting out of the pack off the gun to open up a 30-second gap going through the service tents at 1km. Giving chase on the day’s first climb were Bram de Groot (Holland), Ronaldo Nocentini (Italy) and Marcos Kovac (Slovakia). That didn’t last long and the group came through the first passage at the Tiefenback climb together.
Alex Cano (Colombia) went on a solo flier with about 5km to go in the first lap, drawing out Tyler Farrar (USA). The average speed on the first lap was 44.226kph.
Farrar was chasing Cano at 35 seconds midway through the second lap when a group of chasers formed on the second passage at Tiefenback.
Pulling out were: Jurgen Van Goolen (Belgian), Luis Perez (Spain), Thomas Voeckler (France), Stephan Schreck (Germany), Ronaldo Nocenteni and Matteo Tossato (Italy), Bram de Groot (Holland), Aliaksandr Kychinski (Belarus), Nicolas Roche (Ireland) and Daniel Petrov (Bulgaria).
Farrar was absorbed and then Cano on the third passage at Tiefenback to make the day’s early break. Two riders – Frantisek Rabon (Czech Republic) and Robert Radosz (Poland) – were chasing at at 3:44 with Ramos chasing at 6:51 while the main bunch rolled through at 9:58 at the end of three laps.
With the peloton starting on the fifth of 12 laps now, the lead group is already on the hard Tiefenbach climb - so midway through the lap ... while the main pack just rolled through the start-finish 14:55 back \r\n \r\n'),(5042,106,'2006-09-24 13:07:39','These guys are working','very nicely together... and building a healthy lead. To review, we have
Tyler Farrar (USA)
Nicolas Roche (Ireland)
Matteo Tosatto (Italy)
Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy)
Jurgen Van Goolen (Belgium)
Bram De Groot (Netherlands)
Daniel Petrov (Bulgaria)
Luis Rodriguez (Spain)
Stephan Schreck (Germany)
Aliaksandr Kychinski (Belarus)
Thomas Voeckler (France)
Alex Cano (Colombia)
The lead is bumping up to more than 15 minutes.\r\n \r\n'),(5043,106,'2006-09-24 13:08:46','Can Cancellara double up?','Our guy, Andrew Hood spoke with Fabian Cancellara – the recently crowned world time trial champion - at the start this morning.
“I was very tired after the time trial Friday, but that’s normal after the race with a small party. I feel good and with the gold medal, you have more power than some of the others. Now I can go over the limit. I have to see how good I feel and how good I recover. I think I can have a good day. I think it will be a really fast race. When you see the women’s and the U23 race, it was very fast. When you see the last lap with 45-46kph average, I think we’ll go over 50kph average. It’s possible that six-seven riders at the front. It depends on how the teams ride.â€\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n'),(5044,106,'2006-09-24 13:10:24','Questions?','Questions? Comments? Complaints? Suggestions? Recipies? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(5045,106,'2006-09-24 13:13:00','We took a poll...','...last week and found that many of you - the majority of you - prefer it when our latest entry appears first in your ticker. We\'re not sure if we\'ll hear as many complaints as we did when we had it the other way, but we figured that we\'d listen to the majority for this race. We are working on a solution that will allow you to pick your preference, but it may be a bit before we get that going.
In the mean time, we think we have an equitable solution. During the event, we\'ll post with the most recent entry first and afterwards, we\'ll reverse it, so that you can read it like a running narrative. We\'ll also turn off the auto-refresh at that time.
It seems the fans of the \"most recent last\" option are the ones who come in to read later and don\'t want the surprise ending ruined and the fans of \"most recent first\" are the ones following the action as it happens and don\'t want to constantly scroll down through these things.
Now, is everyone happy? We doubt it, but we\'re tryin\'.'),(5046,106,'2006-09-24 13:15:46','A Norwegian champion?','We spoke with Kurt-Asle Arvesen, who is riding for Thor Hushovd, this morning about his team\'s chances for success and how he can contribute to the effort.
“I feel good now, don’t ask me in six hours. We have a winner, so we have a chance. We hope it comes down to a sprint. The others have the big teams, so we have to only follow.â€
But the Norwegians don\'t have anyone in this break. Interestingly, the biggies - Italy, Spain, France, Belgium - all do. Still these are not the designated riders and we should see the chase pick up soon... or we\'ll be looking at a 20-minute gap.\r\n\r\n'),(5047,106,'2006-09-24 13:16:00','Danny Pate','... on American chances today.
“Our expectations are that hopefully Freddy and Horner can do well. We will try to take care of everything they need. I am feeling pretty good. I’ve been doing a lot of races the last month. It looks pretty good for our team. We have a couple of young guys on our team, but I think we’ll ride pretty good. I am looking forward to it. I am expecting it to be unpredictable. It’s a 50-50 one way or the other. The course is right on the edge. You saw on the U23 guys, there was a break, but the best sprinter in the race was in the break and the group behind almost caught them. We’ll race Franco-Belge next week, then we’re done.â€\r\n\r\n'),(5048,106,'2006-09-24 13:17:25','Super Mario predicts:','Mario Cipollini.
“I think it can be a sprint because the course isn’t as hard as everyone says it was, but it depends on the riders. If they make it hard, maybe a small group can get away. If they wait too long, it will be a sprint from a big group. The course isn’t so hard that it will break apart the peloton.â€\r\n\r\n'),(5049,106,'2006-09-24 13:18:46','What does Horner think?','Chris Horner spoke with Andrew Hood this morning, too.
“I feel good, hopefully feel good on the bike. In a sprint, there’s not much I can do. Maybe I can help out Freddy or even Guido (Trenti), he’s got some speed too. Hopefully it will come down to a break and hopefully I will be in it or someone from the team. We have Freddy, Guido, myself, Christian, all guys who should be able to make it to the finish. We got five other strong guys who can help us get to there. You can’t make any conclusions from the U23 races or the women’s races because they don’t have the same number of riders on the teams, the team strategies on who’s working. This race could be a break, could be a sprint, either or. If a break wants to go and not come back at the end of the race, but it’s so hard to see that scenario where everyone is happy and the right people are in the break. There could be a break with the Bettinis and the Valverdes, but then there could be a move that comes out of that break. That will all happen with two or three laps to go. Anything earlier than that, there’s too much time in the back for the guys to organize a chase. If I was taking an educated guess, I saw it would be a sprint, with 40-60 guys coming over the hill together. I wouldn’t bet my house on that.\"
Maybe he called it. We\'ll see.'),(5050,106,'2006-09-24 13:22:27','The chase?','With the gap having bumped to more than 15 minutes, the home team - the Austrians - and a couple of other squads, particularly the Aussies and the Spanish, are beginning to set tempo at the front of the field. We\'re not even at the half-way mark in today\'s race, so we can imagine how that 14-minute advantage might evaporate if someone lights a fire underneath the peloton\'s collective rear end.'),(5051,106,'2006-09-24 13:26:53','Contest reminder','Pick a winner today and we\'ll give you a copy of the \"Golden Age of Cycling,\" which is just now coming out of the printer\'s. It\'s a gorgeous book and if we pick your name from among the correct entries submitted you can have a copy all to your self. Of course, you should still get a copy if you don\'t win (shameless commercial plug). Hit the Pick the Winner Contest button on top of the page and follow instructions.
Speaking of links at the top of the page, be sure to hit the World\'s Course link, too, for a look at today\'s route.'),(5052,106,'2006-09-24 13:28:45','It is a chase...','The Swiss, Austrians and Dutch are leading the chase and the gap has been shaved to 11:29 at end of five laps. '),(5053,106,'2006-09-24 13:32:36','Can Thor do it?','Assuming the chase succeeds in pulling these guys back, one major contender will have to be Thor Husvhod. Andrew Hood spoke with Norway\'s team leader at the start.
“It’s a nice day and I am feeling good. It can be a sprint, because the course is not too hard. We’re going to follow the big nations and then we’ll see what happens in the last two laps. I had a lot of recovery after the Vuelta, so we’ll see if I have good legs at the end.â€\r\n\r\n'),(5054,106,'2006-09-24 13:34:07','The Colombian','Cano has been dropped from the lead group. American Tyler Farrar is looking comfortable up there, as is the young Irishman Nicolas Roche... who, if he wins today, would be the first son of a former world champion to win the rainbow jersey. How cool would that be?'),(5055,106,'2006-09-24 13:38:40','This is no amateur operation, folks','While there is a certain charm to watching top professionals have to fight their way through crowds of drunken and rowdy fans on some of the world\'s toughest roads, the Austrians will have none of that. They have fenced off the entire route today. Considering that it has to cover both sides of the road, we\'re talking about Forty-Five Kilometers (!) of crowd fencing. Wow.'),(5056,106,'2006-09-24 13:39:29','The Swiss','Are taking charge of the chase and the gap is coming down. It\'s less than 10 minutes and counting.'),(5057,106,'2006-09-24 13:40:18','The gap','At the hard Tiefenbach climb - about halfway through the circuit - the gap to the Farrar group is now about 9:07. '),(5058,106,'2006-09-24 13:42:40','Also chasing','Bernhard Kohl - the young Austrian prospect - was leading the way up the climb. Kohl abandoned the Vuelta a Espana after an awful crash that saw him fly off course and disappear into a ravine. No one realized he had crashed and he was stuck down there for a while. Luckily, he had a race radio and could call for help. '),(5059,106,'2006-09-24 13:56:59','The chase','Is really heating up. The gap is down to less than eight minutes - 7:53 at the end of lap 6 - meaning the chasers have whacked about seven minutes out of the escapees advantage in less than two laps. We\'ll see these boys back in the fold quite soon.'),(5060,106,'2006-09-24 13:58:06','The speed','in the peloton has definitely cranked up now. No more shoulder-to-shoulder... It\'s more like wheel-to-wheel '),(5061,106,'2006-09-24 14:01:36','The wind','A breeze is picking up on the upper parts of the course, but there\'s little terrain that\'s actually exposed to the wind, so it likely won\'t be much of a factor. '),(5062,106,'2006-09-24 14:04:12','','The peloton is hitting the first of two climbs on the course, while the break is hitting the second; so the difference has come down dramatically compared to two laps ago when the bunch was at the start/finish when the break was on the Tiefenbach.
It\'s like a UN summit at the Tiefenbach climb, with flags from Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and a host of others. '),(5063,106,'2006-09-24 14:06:00','No Cinderella story today.','Word is that all three riders from Burkina Fasso have pulled out of the race. But they guy they posed with at the start today - Mario Cipollini - is hamming it up with the TV cameras at the start/finish ... still looking svelte and stylin\' as ever.
We also spied Ekimov in the press room. The Russian mullet-man said he thinks a breakaway will stay to the finish - if they race hard in the final laps '),(5064,106,'2006-09-24 14:10:12','','We have some action in the main bunch on the Tiefenbach, with five or six riders jumping off the front. We see two Italians in the six-man counter-attack off the front of the main pack.'),(5065,106,'2006-09-24 14:14:27','This could be interesting','In the group that we can see so far are: Popovych, Nuyens, Pozzato '),(5066,106,'2006-09-24 14:19:54','The counter-attack','has been pulled back and Spain is now at the front of the peloton. We\'re looking at maybe a six-minute gap to the escape.\r\n'),(5067,106,'2006-09-24 14:23:28','The gap','is down to 4:30... and, hey! There\'s Christian Vande Velde working his way up the right side of the peloton.'),(5068,106,'2006-09-24 14:24:11','Ooooops...','Luis Perez just missed his feed ... he\'s gonna be hungry.'),(5069,106,'2006-09-24 14:25:00','Spent','Looks like Bernhard Kohl\'s day is probably done - he\'s just rolling through the start/finish area after pulling hard for three laps. Kohl is leaving T-Mobile and will ride next year at Gerolsteiner. '),(5070,106,'2006-09-24 14:27:33','The chase','Has eased a bit. The Farrar group is at 4:44 and the peloton seems to like that as a reasonably manageable gap.'),(5071,106,'2006-09-24 14:29:00','With five laps to go','The gap might even increase - the main pack probably doesn\'t want to catch the break just yet.... and young Mr. Kohl has just pulled out.'),(5072,106,'2006-09-24 14:35:00','The break','The Farrar group is still away and heading to the base of the Tiefenbach. We\'ll get a good time check. '),(5073,106,'2006-09-24 14:38:13','One guy you never want to forget','is Tom Boonen. Remember last year when he popped out of nowhere to win the world\'s? Well, he\'s here today, too, and we may not hear anything about him until it counts again. Boonen says he is feeling great and ready to defend his jersey... if not for himself, then for Belgium.
\"I\'m crazy about this race. I\'ve got the legs to win, whereas last year when I won in Madrid I didn\'t feel as though I didn\'t. Instead (of the Vuelta), I raced a bunch of one-day races and stepped up my training. It seems to be working for me, but we\'ll see if I\'m right. It won\'t be up to me to be a protagonist. That will be up to Bettini, Valverde, and the rest.Our team won\'t be trying to control the race. On the other hand, we\'ve got good riders who will be able to slip into any breakaways that go. Philippe Gilbert and Nick Nuyens have a chance of winning the title for Belgium. It\'s up to us to use our collective strength.\"'),(5074,106,'2006-09-24 14:39:31','The peloton','reaches the base of the Tiefenbach about 2:55 behind the break. Pozzato driving hard up the climb. '),(5075,106,'2006-09-24 14:40:30','Bettini','on Boonen\'s chances: \"If Boonen is still with us with around 60 or 70km to go, we will have to toughen the race up to try and drop him. We will make the race hard. If we wait until the last lap, it will be too late and half the peloton will still be together.\"'),(5076,106,'2006-09-24 14:41:15','Another one from the home team','Peter Wrolich of Austria - who was also pulling hard - has slipped off the back of the main bunch.'),(5077,106,'2006-09-24 14:48:17','It looks like','the chase is backing off a bit. There is no interest in bringing these guys back too soon, since that will just blow the race apart again.'),(5078,106,'2006-09-24 14:51:00','Eight laps down','and four to go. The peloton has been racing 4h17min,59sec.
It looks like some more action off the front of the main bunch ... another blue Italian jersey slipping away. We see Kazahk, French and Italian riders ... '),(5079,106,'2006-09-24 14:53:52','A dozen','or so riders have moved off the front of the main field, but this group is not gaining much traction. The gap to the Farrar group, meanwhile, is at 2:38.'),(5080,106,'2006-09-24 14:55:01','A quick look through the peloton...','... and it looks like ALL the Americans are still in the race. '),(5081,106,'2006-09-24 15:03:20','Italy','The Italians are massing at the front.... look at all of those purty blue jerseys.'),(5082,106,'2006-09-24 15:05:29','Another trip','up the Tiefenbach as the Farrar group nears the base of the hard climb.'),(5083,106,'2006-09-24 15:06:52','And the peloton','hits the base at exactly 2:00 back.'),(5084,106,'2006-09-24 15:09:09','It\'s no longer the Farrar group','He and several others have been spit off the back of the escape group'),(5085,106,'2006-09-24 15:09:24','ATTACK!','Paolini and Flecha attacking out on main group! '),(5086,106,'2006-09-24 15:11:31','Flecha and Paolini','have been joined by four others. Still no real gap, but there\'s muscle in that group.'),(5087,106,'2006-09-24 15:12:08','The gap','to the survivors in the break - once more than 15 minutes up on the field - is now down to 1:25.'),(5088,106,'2006-09-24 15:13:54','Farrar','Farrar has chased back onto the lead group ... but they got the peloton breathing down their necks '),(5089,106,'2006-09-24 15:15:52','The chase group','A dangerous group has formed ahead of the peloton and chasing the escaope group. We see O\'Grady, Cancellara... you don\'t want to let the world TT champion off the front... especially with a CSC teammate with him.'),(5090,106,'2006-09-24 15:17:20','That chase group','has 14 riders in there. We still need a time gap. Another CSC rider in that group is Carlos Sastre.'),(5091,106,'2006-09-24 15:20:35','The chase group is now in the lead','The Cancellara group has caught the Farrar group... we have 25 riders in the lead. '),(5092,106,'2006-09-24 15:21:47','This is dangerous...','The Italians have four riders up there... Nicki Sorensen is also there - ANOTHER CSC rider. It looks like there are FIVE from that team in the lead bunch. '),(5093,106,'2006-09-24 15:23:19','The gap','With three laps to go, the dangerous group of 25 are just 39 seconds back. Spain is driving hard at the front.'),(5094,106,'2006-09-24 15:24:58','Wow...','Di Luca is up in this lead group, too.'),(5096,106,'2006-09-24 15:29:00','This lead group','Nicolas Roche (Ireland)
Matteo Tosatto (Italy)
Danilo Di Luca (Italy)
Filippo Pozzato (Italy)
Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy)
Jurgen Van Goolen (Belgium)
Stijn Devolder (Belgium)
Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
Andonov Petrov (Bulgaria)
Luis Perez (Spain)
Samuel Sanchez (Spain)
Carlos Sastre (Spain)
Stephan Schreck (Germany)
Thomas Voeckler (France)
Aliaksandr Kychinski (Belarus)
Bram De Groot (Netherlands)
Tyler Farrar (USA)
Marcus Ljungqvist (Sweden)
Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
Stuart O\'Grady (Australia)
Nicki Sorensen (Denmark)
Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan)
Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Norway)
Raivis Belohvosciks (Latvia)
Vladimir Efimkin (Russian Federation) \r\n'),(5097,106,'2006-09-24 15:30:36','Five riders','have moved off of the lead group.'),(5098,106,'2006-09-24 15:32:50','The five','are getting reeled back by the rest of the lead group. The level of cooperation is not great. Weird, given that there are four Italians up there and six guys who ride together on CSC.'),(5099,106,'2006-09-24 15:34:45','De Groot','Popped off the back of the lead group. He\'s back in the field.'),(5100,106,'2006-09-24 15:35:20','The lead group','is about 55km from the finish and they are ramping up their effort. We still need a time gap.'),(5101,106,'2006-09-24 15:36:43','Spain','The Spanish team appears none too happy with the composition of the lead group, despite the fact that they have three guys up front. The Spanish team is riding for Valverde and they are driving hard at the front of the peloton.'),(5102,106,'2006-09-24 15:37:45','The gap','is now at 55 seconds.'),(5103,106,'2006-09-24 15:39:26','Kashechkin','is powering at the front of the lead group. Poor Roche has popped off and we don\'t see Farrar in there. He may have been dropped too... yup.'),(5104,106,'2006-09-24 15:42:12','Di Luca','is powering now... The lead group is being trimmed back, but the gap is bumping up to more than one minute. The cooperation is improving up there.'),(5105,106,'2006-09-24 15:42:49','The lead group','is down to 19 riders. Among those dropped are Farrar and Roche, as well as Tossatto.'),(5106,106,'2006-09-24 15:45:00','The gap','is coming down. Di Luca is driving ahead of the escape group with Ljungqvist.'),(5107,106,'2006-09-24 15:45:49','The gap','is just 25 seconds. '),(5108,106,'2006-09-24 15:47:00','We have a group of 8','O\'Grady, Di Luca, Ljungqvist, Sorenson, Cancellara, Devolder and two others are driving ahead of the rest of the escape group.'),(5109,106,'2006-09-24 15:49:27','The big lead','group is reassembling but the peloton is coming on, too.'),(5110,106,'2006-09-24 15:52:00','The lead group','Is just about to hit the start/finish area, meaning that there are two laps to go.'),(5111,106,'2006-09-24 15:53:09','The peloton','hits the start/finish about 31 seconds back. Not much chance of success.'),(5112,106,'2006-09-24 15:55:37','Contest Reminder!','You only have about 30km in which to take a shot at guessing the winner. \r\n'),(5113,106,'2006-09-24 15:56:00','The lead group','has been caught.
The chase really picked up over the last few km and we suddenly have the whole peloton together and there will be fresh attacks coming from here on out. \r\n\r\n'),(5114,106,'2006-09-24 16:04:27','On the climb','On the first little hump...There are a few gaps in the peloton, but it looks like the it will be the Tiefenbach will be the decisive climb on the last lap.'),(5115,106,'2006-09-24 16:05:28','There is a little break','There are three riders off the front... with a bit of a gap. We can\'t ID these guys yet.'),(5116,106,'2006-09-24 16:06:32','The three up front...','We see Loosli from Switzerland... and a rider from Belarus (Siutsou) and Chavez from Mexico.'),(5117,106,'2006-09-24 16:07:14','Nice little gap...','the three up front have about 20 seconds.'),(5118,106,'2006-09-24 16:09:03','On the Tiefenbach','Bettini is moving off the front...'),(5119,106,'2006-09-24 16:09:51','Passed','The trio off the front have been caught and Bettini is off the front with Fabian Wegmann of Germany.'),(5120,106,'2006-09-24 16:10:48','It\'s still','30km to the finish. Is Bettini up for a long effort? It may be that he\'s just hoping to test the competition.'),(5121,106,'2006-09-24 16:11:39','The peloton','is chasing in single-file.... and there are still about 65 riders in the bunch.'),(5122,106,'2006-09-24 16:14:03','About to be caught','The Spanish have chased down the man they\'re quite worried about. Interesting... and it\'s likely that the big decisive move will really come on the last lap.'),(5123,106,'2006-09-24 16:14:49','Two new riders','off the front... with Switzerland\'s Loosli and Davide Rebellin up there.'),(5124,106,'2006-09-24 16:15:36','The peloton','is pushing hard and it\'s likely that the two off the front will be pulled back as they head to the start/finish area.'),(5125,106,'2006-09-24 16:16:00','The gap','is just 10 seconds... they are about to be caught.'),(5126,106,'2006-09-24 16:21:00','All together...',''),(5127,106,'2006-09-24 16:32:12','With less than one lap','to go... the pack is coming apart and we see a nice group with Vino and Horner....'),(5128,106,'2006-09-24 16:32:31','Vino attacks','The pack has turned off the main highway onto the final tricky narrow roads '),(5129,106,'2006-09-24 16:32:57','He\'s caught','Now Cancellara and Bettini are on the attack.'),(5130,106,'2006-09-24 16:33:11','Now Sanchez on the attack....',''),(5131,106,'2006-09-24 16:34:00','',' Schumacher off front with Bettini on 4th wheel .... and the peloton is right there.... a big group.'),(5132,106,'2006-09-24 16:34:48','Wow... there is Zabel','We see Millar, Zabel and McEwen... still in the mix... with one haul up the Tiefenbach left.'),(5133,106,'2006-09-24 16:36:01','Boonen is still in there, too','This is far from being settled. Paolini attacks as the peloton hits the lower parts of the Tiefenbach.'),(5134,106,'2006-09-24 16:36:35','Wegmann','With Kroon, Bettini and Millar and Vino\' in pursuit.'),(5135,106,'2006-09-24 16:37:07','Bettini attacks','Bettini is off on his own.... he\'s driving hard.'),(5136,106,'2006-09-24 16:38:00','Bettini','Is being chased by Karsten Kroon, Vinokourov, Boogerd, Millar... wow.'),(5137,106,'2006-09-24 16:39:36','Did he go too early?','It\'s eight kilometers from the finish and it\'s mostly down hill. The five chasers are powering hard. Wegmann, Vinokourov, Millar and two Dutchies... Boogerd and Kroon.'),(5138,106,'2006-09-24 16:39:54','Bettini is caught...','we have six men in the lead.'),(5139,106,'2006-09-24 16:40:20','There are more coming up','It looks like we are going to see a field sprint.'),(5140,106,'2006-09-24 16:41:12','All together...','Back together. No climbs left and we will be seeing a sprint.'),(5141,106,'2006-09-24 16:41:41','Italy','Three Italians attack hard off the front.'),(5142,106,'2006-09-24 16:42:34','We\'re looking at about','forty riders in the peloton. The three Italians are caught and the attack comes from Boogerd.'),(5143,106,'2006-09-24 16:43:13','Schumacher',' is on the attack now... but he\'s not getting too far.'),(5144,106,'2006-09-24 16:43:58','Rebellin attacks','The Italians are worried about bringing Boonen to the finish... so they\'re sending riders off the front.'),(5145,106,'2006-09-24 16:44:54','Rebellin','is off the front, with three riders coming up... but Rebellin is still soloing toward the finish... about five kilometers away.'),(5146,106,'2006-09-24 16:45:50','He\'s caught','And counter attack from Vino... and now Cancellara goes.'),(5147,106,'2006-09-24 16:46:12','He\'s caught....','Boonen is there. Bettini is on his wheel.'),(5148,106,'2006-09-24 16:47:11','Now Millar','Millar attacks, but is quickly caught. We see Valverde, Boonen, McEwen, O\'Grady... lots of fav\'s in the mix, folks.'),(5149,106,'2006-09-24 16:47:28','One kilometer to go','Valverde gets a lead-out'),(5150,106,'2006-09-24 16:48:00','700 meters','lots of killer sprinters... but... there\'s a little gap. Four guys - Zabel? - now that would be cool.'),(5151,106,'2006-09-24 16:49:00','Four riders off the front','Sanchez.... Zabel... Valverde and Bettini, too!'),(5152,106,'2006-09-24 16:50:00','Zabel jumps off...','did he go too early? Bettini comes on hard... pulls around.... Bettini GETS IT! Holy SH.... errrrr... SMOKES!\r\n\r\nPaolo Bettini! What a deserving winner.'),(5153,106,'2006-09-24 16:52:48','Bettini','Oh is he happy.... \r\n\r\n1. Paolo Bettini (Italy)
\r\n2. Erik Zabel (Germany)
\r\n3. Alejandro Valverde (Spain)
'),(5154,106,'2006-09-24 16:59:50','Today\'s contest winner','Beth Locke of Utah... you\'re today\'s winner.'),(5155,116,'2006-10-18 06:49:00','Welcome to Kona!','Aloha and welcome to the 28th Annual Ford Ironman World Championship. Over 1,800 athletes from 40 different countries will be competing on Saturday for the title of champion. It will be a busy week for sure in Kona and there is lots of celebration and preparation on hand. We have a full crew on the island to bring you the action all week. \r\n
\r\nAs we lead up to the race on Sauturday all of the IT editors will be checking in regularly throughout the week with updates, commentary and images from the field. Stay tuned and check back often as we bring you the sights, sounds and stories behind the 2006 Ironman World Championship. \r\n'),(5160,116,'2006-10-18 07:48:00','Jimmy: On down the road:','Until today I had never been to Kona. I have been to Maui seven years in a row for the Xterra World Championships, but never made it over to Kona. One thing I have always been curious about is what is this place really like? How hot, windy, and gnarly is it really? Like most of you I have only seen the race on TV and through pictures. \r\nBeing here is kind of like seeing your third grade classroom again after 20 years, I recognize certain landmarks and views but it all seems a bit smaller than I would have imagined. So, on that note I thought you might like to see a bit more than traditional shots from the course. Thus, I am just heading out the door to ride up to the bike turnaround at Hawi and will be documenting the entire course. Check back in a few hours to see what I find. \r\n'),(5161,116,'2006-10-18 14:24:14','Amy: This morning\'s ocean swim was a choppy affair...','...and the swim traffic in and out of Kailua Bay was starting to resemble I-5 at rush hour, with athletes bumping and barging in and out of the bay. But Kona\'s a glorious place, and a little jostling for position does nothing to dampen the wonder of a swim in warm tropical waters surrounded by some of the world\'s fittest athletes. Michellie Jones, Heather Fuhr and Lori Bowden were spotted on their way to Dig Me Beach, all looking fit, happy and ready to go...as was Colorado\'s own Joanna Zeiger as she headed out onto her swim. While damage from Sunday\'s earthquake was extensive to some homes, life does seem back to normal in Kailua town, with the restaurants, shops and coffee hangouts as packed as ever. Early weather forecasts are calling for a spot of rain on Saturday; when it rained extensively here a few years back, with rain on race morning, that brought the humidity and temps up just in time for the run, rendering it less like a blast furnace and more like a tropical steamroom. Time will tell. Until then, watch this space!'),(5162,116,'2006-10-18 15:53:00','Sarah: The weather is always better in Hawaii, right?','That is an easy assumption to make-and easier still if it is snowing and frigid in your hometown locale of Boulder, Colorado-while you imagine that athletes, sponsors and media members alike are having the meteorological time of their lives on the Big Island the week of the Ironman. But as a frequent traveler to the tropics, a previous resident of Palm Springs, California, and a lover of all things hot (and, in addition, a native of the continually moist and always moldy Cape Cod, Massachusetts), I am surprised to find myself in Kona-and suffering a bit to in the heat and humidity. \r\n
\r\nJust how hot is it? If perspiration is any indicator-and note that I am not, by nature, a particularly sweaty person-I write to you dripping, despite the shaded and ventilated comforts of my second-story condo. My run this morning at 6:30 a.m. down Alii Drive-a super highway for cyclists and joggers, irregardless of weather, traffic and/or time of day-left me completely soaked, unable to walk around in the shorts and sports bra I had worn to meet and greet the already wet at Kailua Pier. Peter Reid took one look at me and asked, \"Hot enough for you?\" I tried to laugh but wished I had followed his lead, opting to swim instead (or drink an Americano at Lava Java, where I had run past him yesterday, undoubtedly splashing a few outside patrons in the process with some puddle-spray-like perspiration). Tomorrow morning, I\'ll swim instead of run, waiting to do my daily eight-mile jog at night... no, that won\'t work either-it is hot as hell then, too.\r\n
\r\nTo the folks at home: If it is snowing and 17 degrees in Boulder, know that it\'s 85 and 68 percent humidity here. But since I do like it hot, I\'m not complaining: I wouldn\'t trade the sun and fun of Hawaii with my non-Kona co-workers in the office. But I also don\'t have to race-and if you don\'t either, think twice (if you haven\'t already) about comparing your IM personal best to the sweaty rigors of Kona. \r\n
\r\nAnd if you are racing, remember to keep up those electrolyte levels-there was a good reason why the most popular question at this afternoon\'s Q&A with coaches and pros at the Ironman expo was how to manage hydration and sodium intake. \r\n'),(5164,116,'2006-10-19 12:33:02','Chad: Race Predictions','I\'ve been handing out the official race posters at registration the last few days so I\'ve seen every athlete come through. On the pro side everyone is of course looking extremely fit and ready to go. Chatted with Normann Stadler this morning and he seemed calm and loose despite getting two flats yesterday on a warm-up ride. Remember last year he had to pull out due to multiple flats. Hopefully the island is good to him and he has a opportunity to show the damage he can do to the field on the bike. Earlier this week I talked to Peter Reid and he thought Faris has a great chance to repeat. The wind hasn\'t kicked up until around noon each day so it could be another year for the bikers to really test the field. Look for Stadler, Al-Sultan, and Hellreigal if conditions are good.'),(5163,116,'2006-10-19 06:48:00','Chad: Not the average open water swim!','I have never competed in a race with an ocean swim and after today\'s adventure I may not want to. After a hot and sticky day I just wanted to jump in the Pacific and cool off. I waded into the water at a very small public beach and ducked under a couple of waves that were breaking close to shore. When I popped up I was over 50 yards from shore being pulled out by a rip current. I tried to swim back in and I didn\'t move. I treaded water for a couple of minutes thinking about what to do. Fortunately I had seen a show on TV about being caught in a rip and swam sideways out of it just enough to body surf three waves back into shore. A few cuts on my feet from the coral but safely back on land! It was a stressful 10 minutes to say the least. The athletes jumping into the Kona Pier on Saturday don\'t have to face a rip current but do have to face larger than normal swells due to the recent earthquake and 1800 other aggressive swimmers without the aid of a wetsuit. It\'s no wonder that this is the hardest single day endurance event in the world when the 2.4 mile swim starts out in the mighty pacific. '),(5168,116,'2006-10-20 08:51:54','Amy: WE SAW Normann Stadler...','at the morning swim today sporting the new Blue Seventy pointzero3 Swimskin. The eye-catching skinsuit is built for the swim from Lycra and a 0.3mm fabric that yields the same surface properties as neoprene—but the compression means there\'s no buoyancy. It\'s crafted using Blue Seventy\'s Helix pattern, essentially a figure 8 turned on its side, with Lycra used in the Helix portions of the suit. Blue Seventy\'s Tim Moxey brought the spanking-new suits over from the Mainland for athletes including Stadler, Heather Gollnick, Bryan Rhodes, Mitchell Anderson, Karen Smyers and Linda Gallo. \"There are 18 of them in the world, and 16 of them are here,\" he said this morning. Of the fabric, Moxey said: \r\n\"It\'s over 50 times more slick than skin and four times more slippery than the other swim skins on the market.\"'),(5170,115,'2006-10-20 21:08:35','Jimmy; Dude, it\'s totally raining out here!','This was the latest quote I heard while heading back from the race start. It has been raining since about 8pm. Not usually too much of an issue, and arguably good considering the heat that is so often the case in Kona. However, it has already been unseasonably humid and with the recent earthquake lots of loose earth has fallen into drainage revines leaving its mark on parts of the course in the form of landslides covering up to an entire lane of the road. This could mean increased risk of flats and dehydration tomorrow. '),(5172,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(5173,112,'2006-10-21 06:27:00','Welcome to the Ford Ironman World Championship','Good day and Welcome to Inside Triathlon\'s coverage of the 2006 Ford Ironman world championships, held today, October 21 in Kailua Kona on Hawaii\'s big island. Roughly 1800 amateur and professional athletes will be completing 2.4 swimming miles, 112 miles on the bike and a marathon -26.2 miles or running- today. The first wave of athletes, the professionals, just left the starting gate and are embarking on the 2.4 mile swim. Mother nature is offering up ideal conditions so far today, with a light rain falling and cool temperatures in the 60s.'),(5174,112,'2006-10-21 06:57:41','Check out www.ironmanlive.com','for live video coverage.'),(5175,112,'2006-10-21 06:59:40','The gun just fired off for the agegroup competitors',''),(5176,112,'2006-10-21 07:03:25','Pressure cooker','Why is that there are athletes on Alii Drive yesterday running hard at mid-day, sweating out all of their valuable electrolytes and carefully tended hydration? Do they not heed the advice of no less a Kona expert than Peter Reid, a three-time winner here? Earlier this year he told us that the one thing he\'s observed in all the years he\'s been coming here is this: People do too much the week of the race. He would concentrate on turning things over with short rides and runs. One expert I know is even more blunt than Reid on this subject: \"That\'s just stupid.\" And yet, and yet...every year we see people doing way too much race week. It\'s easy to fall into the trap, I know...competitive juices flow, a taper makes you nuts and the pressure cooker that is the Ironman world championship can make people think it\'d be a good idea to do \"one more\" whatever or \"a little more\" of this. To this I can only say, for next year, please, please, please promise me that you\'ll try this: When you feel like a little more, lie down until the urge passes.'),(5166,116,'2006-10-19 17:11:00','Andy: Program Announcement','For those of you returning to the IT Team blog, you\'ll notice that the order of the entries has been reversed so that the most recent entry is at the top. We had some comments from people who thought (and I agree) that this would be easier to view. Comments are always welcome. Drop me a line with you thoughts, suggestions, questions or gripes. We love feedback. '),(5167,116,'2006-10-19 17:14:00','Sarah: Getting the Pulse of the Pros - Notes from Thursday\'s pre-race conference','Thursday\'s pre-race media conference figured the usual faces: Germany\'s Faris Al-Sultan, New Zealand\'s Cameron Brown, Belgium\'s Rutger Beke and the U.S.\'s Cameron Widoff, Australia\'s Michellie Jones, Australia\'s Kate Major, New Zealand\'s Jo Lawn and Aussie-born Kate Allen, now representing Austria. Among the notably absent were Switzerland\'s Natascha Badmann, Canada\'s Lisa Bentley, Germany\'s Normann Stadler and Australia\'s Chris McCormack. But those who did attend had some telling comments and interesting reflections to make on their training, racing and the competition at this year\'s biggest Ironman showdown. \r\n
\r\nMichellie Jones, on whether she needs a win at Ironman Worlds to complete her career: \"I think my triathlon career is pretty complete right now. I was pretty happy to win silver here last year. Silver seems to be my color... If I could win, would it be fantastic? Of course it would. It\'s bragging rights. It\'s the biggest race. But if it doesn\'t happen, I\'ll still walk away from it and be OK with it.\"\r\n
\r\nCameron Brown, on how this week\'s high humidity and heat could affect the race: \"Some of the runs out on the hilly drive have been really extreme... There\'s also been a lot of wind. If it\'s going to be like that, the bike will be very tough.\"\r\n
\r\nFaris Al-Sultan, on his season this year without a significant win: \"Hawaii is the race that counts. But you don\'t win any other races if you\'re not a 100 percent prepared. Of course, I want to win every race. But you can\'t if you\'re not prepared.\"\r\n
\r\nKate Major: \"You never fully learn everything... [Experience] doesn\'t make it any easier to win. It doesn\'t matter come race day - it\'s all starting from a fresh.\"\r\n
\r\nCameron Widoff, on what makes him think he can win this year at his 16th attempt at the Kona crown: \"I have more experience than anyone else here coming into this race. I just keep getting better. I just hope that everyone has a good event as they possibly can here.\"\r\n
\r\nCameron Brown: \"My hope is to try to stay as close as I can on the bike and try to unleash a good run.\"\r\n
\r\nKate Allen: \"I was a little disappointed with my bike last year so I\'ve done some more on that. I know I can have a good run. I\'m going to go out there and focus on finishing.\"\r\n\r\n
\r\nCameron Brown: \"No lead is a comfortable lead.\"\r\n\r\n
\r\nJoanna Lawn: \"I feel that this race is experience and desire. Everyone trains and trains hard.\"\r\n\r\n
\r\nFaris Al-Sultan, on the pressure of being last year\'s race champion: \"I know I have won this race - I can do it. An advantage to everyone who hasn\'t [won] is that they don\'t know [if they can win].\"\r\n\r\n
\r\nJoanna Lawn, on whether it\'s possible for anyone to beat Natascha Badmann: \"I just think it\'s all upstairs. Everyone trains the same - it\'s just who can push through the pain.\"\r\n\r\n
\r\nMichellie Jones, on whether she expects to win: \"My expectation is that I want to finish.\"\r\n\r\n
\r\nFaris Al-Sultan: \"The most important moment of my life will be when I cross the finish line. But when I crossed last year, I have no remembrance of that.\" \r\n'),(5177,112,'2006-10-21 07:27:33','As with any race I could sense the tension...','prior to the start. It still surprises me how little the Ironman pros warm up prior to the start. Basically they just get in at the small beach behind the King Kam host hotel and swim the short 300m to the start. Then it is a few 50\'s back and forth and then the gun.\r\n
\r\nThe pier is super slick from the rain on the algea and more than a few press people took a digger on the way to watch the start. I think I would have preferred being in the water. \r\n
\r\nJust prior to the start we got a light sprinkling of rain. It is cool and very calm. During the week we have had high surf warnings, yet, this morning was calm and very smooth. \r\n
\r\nAfter the usuall creap forward from the start of about\r\n25 meters the pros got of to what looked like a smooth, almost casual start. There wasn\'t much bumping and the group almost immediately split left to right.\r\n
\r\nThe right side, which hugs the inner edge of the course was the way to go as they had a 25-50m lead as they headed out of sight. These races are all about getting on the right feet and just settling for 50 minutes. \r\n
\r\nIt looked like Faris was toward the front with the lead women spread throughout the men. This should be a better day for the ladies race with the new 15 min split between the pros and age groups.\r\n'),(5178,112,'2006-10-21 07:45:20','Cats and Dogs','Just got reports that it\'s raining at the 18 mile mark on the bike course. Temperature is 78 degrees. '),(5179,112,'2006-10-21 07:51:07','Amy: RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY:','The last time it rained cats and dogs on the night before the race, as it did last night (I think it was 2002) I was helping Dan Empfield with his bike count on the pier. As the skies darkened, we found our notes disintegrating and our pens quitting. Someone in our crew had the bright idea to take shelter in the porta-potties, as yet unused because the race had, of course, yet to bring athletes into transition. So there we were, huddled in the little blue boxes while our partners, wearing garbage bags, shouted details about the bikes we were cataloging: \"1117, steep, titanium,\" and so on. It was a miserable job. So miserable, in fact, I had to go over to Slowtwitch.com to check my memory to make sure I wasn\'t embroidering with time. Turns out I wasn\'t. This is what I said back then: \"Many competitors\' already frayed nerves may have popped completely last night as, around 6 p.m., the skies over Kona opened up. The clouds had been threatening since early afternoon and finally gave way just an hour or so after the last athletes turned their bikes over. It was a typical tropical rain shower, heavy in bursts, but it had staying power. The Slowtwitch crew was already deep into its bike count on the pier, and at one point was the only collection of fools on the pier, along with a few other bike company guys like Kestrel\'s Preston Sandusky and Litespeed\'s Herbert Krabel. When our paper became too wet to write on, and the pens gave out, half of our survey team took refuge in the porta-potties while their spotters shouted the bike descriptions to them. In the middle of a tropical downpour, in the dark, you\'d hear guys and gals yelling, \"Kestrel! Â… Trek! Â… steep seat angle! Profile one-piece bar!\" until we\'d get out of shouting range. Then the heavens would let us dry off for a while and we\'d try to soldier on, literally wringing out our clothing. Then it would start again. The Ironman folks kindly brought out some garbage bags for us so at least we\'d keep some warmth on our bodies as the downpour continued in fits and starts. We finally called it a night around 7:30, soaked to the bone.\"\r\n
\r\n\r\nI\'d forgotten the part about wringing out my shirt.\r\n
\r\nBut Empfield has soldiered on through all sorts of conditions—this one the most extreme—and incredibly tight deadlines to produce an invaluable service for our industry. Where else can you find, in incredible detail, information on the types of equipment used at the very pinnacle of long-course racing? After 15 years of this, he\'s more than due a public thank-you from the likes of me, but I guess for the moment this\'ll have to do. Dan, thank you for this. I know firsthand what a misery the job is, and how fun it can be and how you\'ll always come out of it with a story to tell. Some, of course, more hilarious than others. '),(5180,112,'2006-10-21 07:59:39','Go time','The professional athletes have exited the swim and are heading out on the Queen K highway for the long slog up to Hawi. Faris Al-Sultan, winner of last year\'s race, was the first big gun to exit the water, and headed out on the bike. Joining him quickly were Cameron Brown and Chris McCormack. Perhaps attempting to make a statement, 2004 champion Normann Stadler surged to the lead group and blew by Al-Sultan as the group entered the highway. The speeds the athletes are traveling at right now makes the race seem like an olympic distance event.'),(5181,112,'2006-10-21 08:00:00','Women out of the water','The first woman out of the water was California Linda Gallo of the Luna women\'s triathlon team. Gallo holds the swim record at Ironman Wisconsin from 2005. On her feet was strong swimmer Joanna Zeiger of Boulder, Colorado, one of the top American hopes. Siezing the lead early in the bike course is Canadian Gina Kerr. A race note, six-time Ironman champion Natascha Badmann of Switzerland exited the water a full 12 minutes down on the pack of lead women. Badmann, known for her strengths on the bike and run, did not appear too concerned. '),(5182,112,'2006-10-21 08:15:48','Australian Michellie Jones leads','The women\'s race is starting to take shape, as two-time world champion, Australian Michellie Jones, has siezed the lead, holding a 12 second advantage over Canadian Gina Kerr. American Joanna Zeiger is sitting in third place with Dede Griesbauer in fourth place, almost two minutes back. '),(5183,112,'2006-10-21 08:16:58','Weather is the X-factor','The weather might play a factor today as it is pouring on the athletes on the first leg of the bike course. While the rain isn\'t supposed to stick around, the presence of the moisture should make for a very humid day. Reports are saying that there is a five mile per hour headwind greeting the athletes as they head out on the Queen K highway. '),(5184,112,'2006-10-21 08:20:11','Slow start?','Initial reports are saying that the swim this year was one of the slower in Ironman history. Faris Al-Sultan was first out of the water, and most of the top men came in in roughly 55 minutes, much slower than in previous years. Amateur athlets are beginning to pour out of transition area one. Between the one hour and ten minute mark and one hour and fifteen mark, 200 athletes will leave T1 every minute.'),(5185,112,'2006-10-21 08:32:15','The Norminator is in command','Normann Stadler is leading on the bike right now with Faris Al-Sultan in second place. Chris McCormack is in fourth place '),(5186,112,'2006-10-21 08:33:50','Noticably absent...','from the front group is Cameron Widoff and Rutger Beke who are perhaps waiting to make their moves later'),(5187,112,'2006-10-21 08:56:03','Present in the front group...','is Spaniard Xterra world champion Eneko Llanos. Llanos was a factor at last year\'s Ironman Western Australia, where he finished second. '),(5188,112,'2006-10-21 09:08:24','Currently, Zeiger sits in third','If you’re surprised that Joanna Zeiger didn’t run up out of the Kailua Pier in first place for the women—she was second behind American Linda Gallo—be assured that a conservative first leg was all part of the former Brown University super-swimmer’s plan. According to husband Mark, Zeiger’s pre-race strategy was to hold back a bit on the swim, not necessarily investing all her energy in a first-place exit. Mark also noted that Zeiger has improved on the bike, and if conditions are right today, he expects his wife to upset a few two-wheel favorites during the second leg. Currently, Zeiger sits in third after 10 miles of the bike. '),(5189,112,'2006-10-21 09:09:31','Badmann has a plan','At mile 10 of the bike, Natascha Badmann’s 12 minutes back of current women’s leader Michellie Jones. But is the six-time Ironman world champion worried? \r\n
\r\nProbably not, said her Swiss-based manager, Peer Zebergs. “She’s always positive,†commented Zebergs as he watched the bike leg unfold on live television. “Last year, when she got a penalty, she used it for recreation. She knows she’s back a few minutes but that’s normal for her. She will not be negative.†To validate Zebergs’ comments, Badmann, who will turn 40 on December 6, was all smiles in transition despite a slow swim.\r\n'),(5190,112,'2006-10-21 09:18:11','Two and a half hours in','We are about two and a half hours into the 2006 Ford Ironman world championships. The men are 35 miles into the bike course and German Normann Stadler is out ahead of the men\'s race by roughly three minutes ahead of second place Chris Lieto, who heads up the front group of men. Also in that group are last year\'s winner Faris Al-Sultan of Germany, Cameron Brown of New Zealand, Chris McCormack of Australia and Michael Lovato of the United States. '),(5191,112,'2006-10-21 09:23:05','Ford Ironman Louisville/Kentucky','Registration just opened for the inaugural race to be held Sunday, August 26, 2007. Go to www.ironmanlive.com for registration information.'),(5192,112,'2006-10-21 09:23:23','Riding off the front is a similar tactic Stadler used to win the 2004 championships',''),(5193,112,'2006-10-21 09:23:51','Faris in second','At the 42 mile mark Faris Al-Sultan is in second place, heading up a chase group of six at 4:10 back. '),(5194,112,'2006-10-21 09:24:39','Missed the cutoff','The final age grouper has exited the water, a 79-year-old man from Korea. He is two minutes outside of the swim cutoff time and his race is over. Too bad!'),(5195,112,'2006-10-21 09:26:12','Tactics','It\'s interesting that, at this point of the race, the pro men\'s race will take on tactics not unlike a professional bike race. The front group of six men has to decide how far they want to let Stadler get out in front of them before giving chase. He is a super cyclist but is not known for his running prowess, so he\'ll try to get as much time on the runners as possible on the bike.'),(5196,112,'2006-10-21 09:44:36','Jimmy just caught up with Tony Deboom...','Jimmy Archer: Why the slow swim, what\'s up with that?\r\n
\r\nTony Deboom: \"Yeah, wow, what did they go?\"\r\n
\r\nJA: 53ish for the leaders, 55 for the man group. Luc Van Lierde was out of the water close to 5th but first though the hot corner (800m from transition).\r\n
\r\nTD: \"I was saying that all week. The water\'s been rough, big swells and strong currents. I thought it might be a slow swim.\"\r\n
\r\nJA: So, most likely currents then, it seemed pretty calm today.\r\n
\r\nTD: \"Yeah, wow this could be interesting.\"\r\n
\r\nJA: Good for Norman though, he came out in the group. I don\'t think he has ever come out with the leaders. No chasing today I guess, he can just go off the front right out of transition.\r\n
\r\nTD: \"Yeah, everyone else seemed to swim slow but he had his normal swim.\"\r\n
\r\nJA: How \'bout the rain in Hawi?\r\n
\r\nTD: \"Is it raining up there?\"\r\n
\r\nJA: It was dumping just past Kwaihai.\r\n
\r\nTD: \"Yeah? Wow, it will be cool, probably fast, really humid if it clears up. There is lots of race to go.\"\r\n
\r\nJA: It\'s looking good for Tri-Dubai though?\r\n
\r\nTD: Hopefully.'),(5197,112,'2006-10-21 09:45:22','A note on drafting','While drafting is, of course, technically illegal at the ironman, the athletes riding in a group will benefit from riding with each other. The World Ironman Corproation has changed the rules regarding drafting over the years, primarily in altering the \"draft zone\" that athletes cannot ride in. Previously, athletes could not ride within 10 meters of the rider in front of them. This year the draft zone is, I believe, seven meters. If you\'ve ever ridden 21 feet behind someone on a windy day, you\'ll know how much it can help.'),(5198,112,'2006-10-21 09:46:49','How much gap to give Normann?','So the front group of men must decide how far of a leash they will give Stadler before they start upping the pace. And then that will depend on which athletes will be willing to head to the front of the group and start drilling it. Everyone wants to save their legs for the run, so it can be a bit of a game of bluff. '),(5199,112,'2006-10-21 09:48:14','Stadler continues to hammer on the bike','As we see it right now, Normann Stadler has a five minute lead on a group of six: Luke Bell, Chris McCormack, Marino Van Hoenacker, Chris Lieto, Cameron Brown, Tom Evans and Faris Al-Sultan. At 6:30 is Thomas Hellreigel, and at seven minutes is a group of 30 including Rutger Beke, Oscar Galindez, Cameron Widoff, Michael Lovato, Luc Van Lierde and Timo Bracht'),(5200,112,'2006-10-21 09:49:37','Rick and Dick Hoyt miss the cutoff','Every year Dick Hoyt travels to Kona from Massachussettes to compete in the race with his son Rick Hoyt. Rick has cerebral Paulsy. Rick has said this will be his final year at Kona. Unfortunately, Rick and Dick have missed the swim cutoff time. Their race is over.'),(5201,112,'2006-10-21 09:50:27','Jones out in front','Michellie Jones of Australia is attempting to do what Normann Stadler is currently doing - riding off the front of the women\'s race. Jones is a strong all-rounder from her years as a dominant olympic distance athlete.'),(5202,112,'2006-10-21 09:57:52','Wattage cottage','Luke Bell, Faris Al-Sultan, Cameron Brown and Mike Montgomerie are all athletes today who are riding with an SRM power meter which is hooked up to a radio feed. It\'s a cool feature from SRM. You can see the wattage that these guys are pumping out on the SRM website.'),(5203,112,'2006-10-21 09:59:08','Go, no go?','Heather Fuhr is considering pulling the plug on today\'s race, as she is more than 10 minutes down. More than 20 minutes down is Canadian Lori Bowden, a two-time winner here. I would be surprised to see Bowden leave the race, as she said yesterday that her primary goal this year is to just have fun. Bowden is returning to race Ironman after the birth of her first child last year.'),(5204,112,'2006-10-21 10:00:54','Lieto moves into second','We are getting reports that Chris Lieto has moved into second, and Chris McCormack is going with him. They are dropping Luke Bell and Faris Al-Sultan, who is 30 seconds behind these two. Looks like these guys are the ones who are willing to drop the hammer and try to bring back the Norminator. '),(5205,112,'2006-10-21 10:03:55','If the heat and humidity...','is going to play a role in the marathon you have to believe that Stadler could have an advantage by riding off the front. Remember, there is no Peter Reid or Tim DeBoom here this year. These are the strongmen who could run down Stadler, and with them absent, the athletes who are chasing are going to have to look to each other to decide when to chase.'),(5206,112,'2006-10-21 10:07:52','Why the slow swim times?','Professional swim leader Francisco Pontano’s exit time of 53:27 today was almost nine minutes slower than the championship course record for the 2.4-mile leg, set in 1998 by American pro Lars Jorgenson. The Spanish athlete’s time, which fronted a pack of at least 10 other pro men and two pro women, all of whom swam in the 53-minute range, was more than three minutes slower than 2005 world champion Faris Al-Sultan’s time of 49:54. \r\n
\r\nFrom the rock walls of Kailua Pier, where hundreds of spectators pushed and teetered for front-row sighting, conditions in the bay seemed ideal, calmer than earlier in the week when larger-than-normal swells and wind kicked up a chop that turned some athletes towards the community pool. A leading lifeguard who had been on a paddleboard during the professional swim (and who preferred to remain anonymous) noted that the swell out in the bay had been small, typical for this time in October, nothing that would account for surprisingly slow swim times \r\n
\r\nAccording to Neal Henderson, head of exercise science at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and this year’s swim guide for physically challenged Colorado athlete Trish Downing, one reason times were so slow was due to an ebbing tide. While Downing made the swim turnaround in 44 minutes, it took her and Henderson an hour and one minute to stroke back to the pier. \r\n
\r\nBut Henderson’s explanation doesn’t necessarily explain why at least four age-group athletes swam faster than the pro field leaders. Ironman commentator Paula Newby-Frazier noted in her course commentary that slow swims, especially in the women’s race, have been a deciding factor in how the race has unfolded, giving Michellie Jones an advantage and putting Natascha Badmann shockingly far back on the bike. \r\n'),(5207,112,'2006-10-21 10:10:17','Cameron Brown has missed his special needs bag...','at the turnaround of the bike. And Natasha Badmann has finally come through, but is a whopping 14 minutes down on Jones. But I don\'t think anyone is wanting to rule out the Swiss star at this point. Badmann has a long history of coming from behind to win. She\'s won six of the last eight Ironman world championships, including in 2004 when the only woman to beat here was Nina Kraft, who was juiced on EPO. '),(5208,112,'2006-10-21 10:16:33','Live coverage','Check out www.ironmanlive.com for live video and race coverage.'),(5209,112,'2006-10-21 10:17:12','Heather Fuhr has dropped out','and Dede Griesbauer has passed Joanna Zeiger for second place in the women\'s race. Griesbauer has won Ironman UK. '),(5210,112,'2006-10-21 10:25:10','Age-group notes','Although Rick and Dick Hoyt didn’t make it to T1 ahead of the two-hour and 20-minute cut-off time necessary for the bike, age-group fans at home should know that the senior citizen crowd at Ironman Hawaii is doing just fine. Sister Madonna Buder, the 76-year-old phenomenon who set a new course record in the 75-79 age group in 2005, looked tanned, toned and strong climbing up Palani hill on the bike. Same goes for the oldest athlete in today’s race, South Korea’s Hong-Gyu Kim, who, at age 79, finished Ironman Korea just a little more than a month ago in perfect form. Both athletes have completed the first part of the 112-mile bike leg. \r\n'),(5211,112,'2006-10-21 10:29:00','It continues to rain on the South end of the bike course','Temps are cool but braking is difficult with the wet conditions. There\'s a headwind on the way out, but super fast on the return leg. '),(5212,112,'2006-10-21 10:30:07','An emotional end to a stellar Ironman career','We just ran into Dick Hoyt in the lobby of the hotel, he and his family were wheeling Rick Hoyt back in. Dick had tears in his eyes but was surprisingly upbeat... he said he thought he was on pace to set a new personal record on his way out on the swim, but on the way back he thought the boat he was towing (with Rick Hoyt) was 10 pounds heavier. Sounds like that current was pretty strong.'),(5213,112,'2006-10-21 10:35:39','On the SRM site...','we can see that Luke Bell is currently pushing about 250 watts and going 42 miles per hour. I\'ll bet he\'s heading downhill...this is a really cool feature... it has each athlete\'s pulse, miles per hour and power output for Luke Bell, Faris Al-Sultan, Cameron Brown and Mike Montgomery. '),(5214,112,'2006-10-21 10:42:08','Natasha Badmann just hit the turnaround','and is heading back into town. She grabbed a huge special needs bag and placed it on her aero bars. Interesting enough, Badmann only has aero bars on her bike. She has no convential bars that swing out to the side like most bikes. She has no brake hooks... She also has a water bladder built into the frame of her carbon Cheetah bike. Don\'t know if I could control that thing!'),(5215,112,'2006-10-21 10:52:40','Katja Schumacher is moving up in the women\'s race,','and she is wearing a camel bak filled with water. Now, most self-respecting road cyclists or triathletes don\'t usually sport the camel bak look, but it seems to be working well for Schumacher. She is blowing through the aid stations and not slowing down to pick up bottles. Schumacher is going back and forth on the bike with Karen Holloway. '),(5216,112,'2006-10-21 10:58:21','The Norminator is still off the front and looking strong','We have a report coming in from the front of the men\'s professional race with about 30 miles remaining. The Norminator is still off the front and looking strong, but American Chris Lieto is unwilling to let the German do what he did in 2004 and grab a huge lead going into the run. Lieto is riding by himself roughly six minutes back and looks to be the athlete most wanting to keep Stadler on a short leash. Over eight minutes back on Stadler is the chase group, containing Eneko Llanos, Faris Al-Sultan, Cameron Brown, Chris McCormack, Luke Bell, Tom Evans and Marino Von Hoenacher. If anyone hopes to win this race, they are going to have to be from this group.'),(5217,112,'2006-10-21 11:02:19','Yikes!','Two large semi trucks somehow made their way onto the highway at Kawaihi. The trucks would not get out of the way of the athletes, and Thomas Hellreigel and Luk Van Lierde had to ride off of the road onto the shoulder to get by. The spectators on the side of the road, including an old woman in a wheel chair, had to sprint to get out of the way. No word if the trucks have been removed yet.'),(5218,112,'2006-10-21 11:03:58','Michael Lovato is 14:15 back','Riding at 14:15 back all by his lonesome is Mike Lovato. The American took Ironman Arizona this year and was hoping to challenge for the win. His race is far from over, but he\'s going to have to really pull a rabbit out of his hat if he wants to pick his way to the front. See the lower panel below for a pre-race interview with Michael Lovato'),(5219,112,'2006-10-21 11:25:21','A bit of background on American Chris Lieto','who appears to be very motivated to bring back Stadler on the bike. Lieto is one of the best bikers in the biz... he rode the 2006 Tour of Utah pro cycling race, which was a major stage race part of USA Cycling\'s National Racing Calendar. Lieto finished 11th in general classification after the six stages of the race, only 5:32 back on GC winner Scott Moninger. Lieto finished ahead of such NRC big guns as Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance), Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics) and US time trial champion Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United). Lieto finished fourth place in the sixth stage of the race... a brutal climb-filled day which ended with a gruellling haul to Snowbird ski resort. Needless to say, the guy can ride a bike. '),(5220,112,'2006-10-21 11:29:00','Office Favorite','Who cares about Stadler or McCormack when the world\'s studliest sales guy, Lars Finanger, account executive for Inside Triathlon and 2006 champion of the half-iron Mighty Montauk Triathlon, is racing Kona? This year, the Norwegian powerhouse pulled out of the water in one hour and 22 seconds, a time that would have put him in not-too-shabby standings had he been racing the women’s professional event (next year, Lars). According to the 26-year-old’s roommate and best friend Fred Dreier, Finanger’s goal today is to have the fastest bike split of all the amateur athletes. Stay tuned to insidetri.com to see if this budding young groom (he’s to marry fiancée Emily Deppe tomorrow at an ungodly early hour of 10 a.m.) nails it on the second leg. '),(5221,112,'2006-10-21 11:30:55','Jones starting to lose some of her advantage','Looks like Michellie Jones is beginning to lose some of her advantage on the bike. The Aussie, who stormed to a huge lead on the way out to Hawi, no holds a slim 2:45 lead on Dede Grisbauer, winner of Ironman Canada. Belinda Granger is coming up fast too, and is a minute back on Griesbauer and is riding with Lisbeth Kristiensen of Denmark. American Joanna Zeiger is 5:20 back, riding ahead of Desiree Ficker who is at six minutes. Could one of these women take down the Aussie speedster?'),(5222,112,'2006-10-21 11:37:08','Badmann sighting','Natascha Badmann has rolled by 11 minutes behind race leader Michellie Jones of Australia. Badmann, the six-time world champion, flashed a smile as she passed, leading us to believe she might have a trick or two up her sleeve. Coming in about a minute behind Badmann were Kate Major and Lisa Bentley. Look at these two ladies to do some serious damage on the run.'),(5223,112,'2006-10-21 11:45:54','NBC Ironman schedule for December 9th','The Ironman World Championships will be shown on NBC on December 9th from 4-6pm Eastern Time. In addition to pro coverage the show will also feature: Iraq war veteran Army Captain David Rozelle who is competing as a physically challenged athlete as a right foot amputee, the second physically challenged woman to qualify and attempt to finish the Ironman, and Robyn Benicasa a female firefighter and advernture racing star. '),(5224,112,'2006-10-21 11:48:36','Darkhorse Griesbauer on the move.','Dede Griesbauer is slowly reeling in arguably the best female triathlete in the world, Michellie Jones, as she bikes her way back to town from the Hawi turnaround. So, who the hell is Griesbauer? A quick background check: The 35-year-old American athlete did her first Ironman in 1997 but took a five-year hiatus until, in 2002, she finished another one—and qualified for Kona in the process. On the fast road to success, the Boston resident decided to recruit fellow Massachusetts-ite Karen Smyers as her coach, and, within a year, was pushing back plans to have a family in order to devote her full-time attention to a career in the sport. This year, she claimed her first long-course title at Ironman UK. Known for a strong bike, Griesbauer is now less than three minutes back of Michellie as the two race back towards transition. But can she hold it together for the run? A former Division I swimmer at Stanford, Griesbauer’s weakest leg is when she’s on two legs—the run. But with strong-runner Smyers at the helm of her training, maybe Griesbauer is ready to now pull at a quick one at the race of all races in Kona'),(5225,112,'2006-10-21 11:52:55','OUCH!','we just talked with Louise Morris who is heading up the medical tent today. She said the only medical incidents they have seen today have been three people with jelly fish stings. Morris believes the culprit was a portuguese man o\' war stinger. But don\'t worry, the medics here aren\'t treating the wounds with the tried and true \"pee on the sting\" method. According to Morris, they douse the ouchies with vinegar and aminister painkillers. '),(5226,112,'2006-10-21 11:59:29','Ten minute man','Normann Stadler is flying into transition and has obviously loved the tailwind back from Hawi. His shoes are off and he is running into T2. He has a seven minute advantage on Chris Lieto, and a whopping ten minute lead on the first pack of chasers, including Faris Al-Sultan and Chris McCormack'),(5227,112,'2006-10-21 12:03:12','Normannator emerges','Stadler is running FAST out of transition. He is definitely not limping out of the tent as he heads out on the 26.2 mile run. No one is in sight yet. '),(5228,112,'2006-10-21 12:07:49','Rainy Day','Lieto has rolled into transition about seven minutes behind Normann Stadler. The rain has begun to fall here and it is surprisingly cool for Hawaii. Stadler is flying on the run and is blowing through aid stations without grabbing food. '),(5229,112,'2006-10-21 12:17:08','The players','have come and gone in transition. Macca and Cam Brown were the first to come out and are looking strong as they head out to try and chase down Stadler. Chris Lieto is inbetween Stadler and the group of chasers and apperas to be holding steady pace, but is not making much of a dent in Stadler\'s advantage. If anyone is going to run down Stadler, it is going to be either Brown or Macca. Faris Al-Sultan could, but he is looking surprisingly slow coming out of transition.\r\nBy the way, Normann Stadler has set a new bike course record with 4:19:23. Way to go, Normannator. '),(5230,112,'2006-10-21 12:23:39','Record day?','Normann\'s unofficial bike split is 4:18:23 which is a new bike record at Kona. I think he has the mild conditions to think for that. One has to wonder if more records will fall today, as the mild winds and relatively cool temperatures have dulled the pain of racing on the Big Island. '),(5232,112,'2006-10-21 12:28:06','penalty box','for Belinda Granger, who has rode her way into second place behind Michellie Jones. Dede Grisbauer is in third. When Granger comes into transition, she\'ll have to spend two minutes in the bad-boy (or girl) cooler. According to Denny Lemieux, the shell-shocked goalie from the film \"Slapshot,\" when you\'re in the penalty box... \"You feel shame.\"\r\n'),(5233,112,'2006-10-21 12:42:49','Peter the Great','we just talked to Peter Reid and his prediction is that Stadler is NOT going to hold his lead to the end. Reid, a three-time winner, thinks Normann Stadler needed at least a 15 minute lead on Chris McCormack and Cameron Brown in order to win. Of course, Stadler had a 20-minute lead on Peter the Great when he won in 2004. Reid believes Brown and McCormack will likely run down the German by race\'s end. \r\nWe\'ll see if this prediction holds true. '),(5234,112,'2006-10-21 12:52:11','Pink streak','Michellie Jones is into transition and Belinda Granger is coming in just behind her. Granger does not look happy, as she has two minutes of penalty time facing her. \r\nLooks like its up to Lisbeth Kristiensen to chase down Jones. She is only 1:25 back and looking smoth as she runs out of transition. As a race note, Kristiensen runs with a camel bak. \r\n. \r\n'),(5235,112,'2006-10-21 13:08:33','run update','Sarah Toland our running expert is out jogging the course and analyzing the strides of the top men and women. Of the men, she is most impressed with Faris Al-Sultan, who is really starting to up the pace with Cameron Brown and Chris McCormack. Apparently Brown is wearing a pretty bad grimace on his face, but is maintaining his speed. \r\nSarah said that Michellie Jones, who is clinging to a 28-second lead on Lisbeth Kristiensen, is starting to slow down, and her running style is losing effeciency. '),(5236,112,'2006-10-21 13:43:46','The sun has come out...','and the humidity is beginning to become crippling. We have run splits from mile 9, Chris McCormack is running in second at 8:57 and at 10:12 is Faris Al-Sultan. Luke Bell is at 11:17 and Eneko Llanos is running at 11:35. Cam Brown is beginning to suffer and is 12 minutes in arrears. Chris Lieto has fallen back to 13:18 minutes back and is moving very slowly, perhaps because of cramps. Cameron Widoff is the second American at 20 minutes, and Michael Lovato is 25:13 back. '),(5237,112,'2006-10-21 13:47:55','Looks like Normann Stadler is putting together a very well-rounded race.','Of course, most know Stadler because of his famously strong bike split, but today he seems to have improved in all three legs of the race. His swim was 54-minute which was good enough for 31st overall. Of course his bike was blistering, but his run appears to be on par for a win today. '),(5238,112,'2006-10-21 14:12:09','Chris McCormack is known as one of the better runners','...in the ironman community. He is the only Australian to have claimed a national championship in every distance of triathlon, from sprint to ironman. But he has been unlucky and unsuccessful in Kona. Last year he finished a best-ever sixth place and posted the fastest run split of the day. Today, however, McCormack can\'t seem to eat into Stadler\'s six-minute buffer. '),(5239,112,'2006-10-21 14:15:46','Michellie Jones has a six minute lead','on Lisbeth Kristensen in the women\'s race, and Natascha Badmann is about eight minutes back. American Desiree Ficker has run her way into fourth place and is only 8:30 behind and is closing on Badmann. Kate Major rounds out the top five at nine minutes, but she is followed very closely by Lisa Bentley who is looking extremely strong. '),(5240,112,'2006-10-21 14:39:30','Lisa Betley','is running around a 6:50-minute marathon pace--and looking like a bat out of hell. She\'s passed Natascha, who lost some time making a bathroom break. Michellie is still confident in her lead. '),(5241,112,'2006-10-21 14:40:15','Course correspondent Jimmy Archer','thinks it feels pretty comfortable out on the course. The sun keeps peaking through, but compared to the last few days, a mostly overcast day, cool breezes and lower humidity levels have made for more athlete-friendly course conditions.'),(5242,112,'2006-10-21 14:43:48','At mile 21,','Macca has now closed the margin on Stadler to 3:45. At mile 23, Macca improved on what is turning out to be an amazing marathon by cutting Stadler\'s margin to a mere 1:52. But catching Stadler on an uphill may be hard--but Macca\'s already showing better odds by running the last 10km, where most athletes usually hit the wall, with faster and faster clips. '),(5243,112,'2006-10-21 14:47:15','For trivia,','this is Bentley\'s fourth Ironman of the year. While she didn\'t win her hometown Ironman Canada this year, finishing second to Granger, if she can keep her pace on today\'s marathon, she\'ll make the Maple Leafs proud. Right now, she continues to close on Jones.'),(5244,112,'2006-10-21 14:50:26','The Tri-Dubai guys...','look a little nervous in the media center: Normann Stadler is beginning to slow and Macca is catching. The German is now only minutes from the finish line. Archer thinks it will be shoulder-to-shoulder in the last half-mile. Apparently, Archer says Stadler looks pretty tired while Macca is still the all-smiles Aussie. It could be a close one!'),(5245,112,'2006-10-21 14:55:26','Stadler is doing a 180 on the run','to turn around and see if Macca is within spitting distance. But the Aussie\'s not. He\'s got less than a mile to go and is now smiling after a second turnaround--he\'s got it, or so he thinks. '),(5246,112,'2006-10-21 14:56:38','Stadler is coming into the chute.','He\'s going to hold off Macca. '),(5247,112,'2006-10-21 14:57:48','Stadler does it!','Normann Stadler is the World Champion.'),(5248,112,'2006-10-21 14:58:00','Chris McCormack is second',''),(5249,112,'2006-10-21 15:01:22','Holy smokes!','Stadler\'s not tired. The dude just finished an Ironman but he still has energy to run the flag past the finish line. McCormack has just crossed for second, making a podium and breaking his Kona curse. Al-Sultan is still on the course, but he\'s secure in third.'),(5250,112,'2006-10-21 15:03:48','While Stadler\'s boasting...','the laurel crown and calling his peop\'s in Germany, Al-Sultan\'s hurting to come down Alii Drive. His bike split was about 10 minutes slower than his fellow countryman\'s time, a fact that hurt the 2005 champion. His arms are high coming down the drive, but he still has something left to shake his hands in thanks for a third-place crown.'),(5251,112,'2006-10-21 15:11:47','Belgium\'s Beke is now fourth','at around 8:21. Al-Sultan welcomed Beke with a large beer, who seems happy with his third place finish. Fifth place was Enico LLanos and sixth goes to Luke Bell. A podium finish for first-time Llanos is impressive while a good finish for the young Bell. '),(5254,112,'2006-10-21 15:30:00','Jones is nearing the 22-mile mark',' and running strong. Gina Kehr has passed Ficker for second while Bentely hangs in fourth, Major in fifth and Badmann in sixth.'),(5255,112,'2006-10-21 15:35:23','From the Tri-Dubai guys:','Ficker has been doing some altitude training in Boulder leading up to the big race in Kona. As far as Jones, her training target has been Hawaii and she\'s been determined to improve a less-than-par marathon in her fourth Ironman ever. She\'s had to fend off some of the best runners in the long-course sport today: Bentley, Major, Badmann, Granger and Kehr. Looks like a re-focus on run training paid off.'),(5253,112,'2006-10-21 15:26:05','For full results, leaderboard and athlete tracker','go to www.ironmanlive.com. '),(5256,112,'2006-10-21 15:54:44','Michellie Jones is starting to come down the hill','with about 1.5 mi to go. She\'s smiling.'),(5257,112,'2006-10-21 16:02:49','Michellie is raising her hands','as she enters the cinish chute. '),(5258,112,'2006-10-21 16:04:00','It\'s all smiles for Michellie Jones, the 2006 Ironman World Champion!',''),(5259,112,'2006-10-21 16:07:33','Ficker remains in second while','Bentley continues to run hard in third place. '),(5260,112,'2006-10-21 16:09:39','Desiree Ficker crosses the line in second place!',''),(5261,112,'2006-10-21 16:10:53','Lisa Bentley holds on to finish in third place.',''),(5262,112,'2006-10-21 16:15:53','Gina Kehr crosses the line in fourth place',''),(5329,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(5330,121,'2007-02-18 22:22:00','Good day...','and welcome to Stage 1 coverage of the 2007 Tour of California, a beautiful 156km stage from Sausalito to Santa Rosa, via a gorgeous ride along the Pacific Coast Highway.'),(5269,117,'2006-11-12 09:18:06','','Good morning, well actually it\'s almost afternoon! We\'ve had some technical difficulties but are ready to bring you the action and news from the course.'),(5270,117,'2006-11-12 09:31:56','Swim','Let\'s bring you up to speed on the swim. WOW. Reports from Lake Mead said the lead pack was dealing with alot of chop out there on the 2.4 mile swim. \r\n\r\nTwo swimmers led the way with Mark Warkentin (Inside-Out Sports) and Scott Kaufmann (www.athleteslawyer.com) first and second in just under 44 minutes. Folks, these guys were zig-zagging toward the swim exit, so this water was rough. \r\n'),(5271,117,'2006-11-12 09:33:54','Swimmer off course','Word from two boaters was that the fourth positioned swimmer missed the turnaround buoy and had to recircle the course. We confirmed this was R&A/FIT Multisports\'s Jonas Colting, the lightning fast Swede. Will this take them out of contention? We do know it will put him over 10 minutes off the lead swimmers pace.'),(5272,117,'2006-11-12 09:34:38','Third out of the water','Was John Kenny (Powercranks), just under two minutes off the leaders. \r\n\r\n'),(5273,117,'2006-11-12 09:37:39','Colting','Is fuming, yelling that there were no kayakers out on course near the turnaround. He is obviously peeved with his loss of time out there. He has handed his chip off to \"the Bear\" Bjorn Andersson, who will need to have the bike of his life to catch up to:\r\n\r\n1. Tyler Hamilton (www.athleteslawyer.com)\r\n2. Eric Bean (Inside-Out Sports)\r\n3. Hernan Dario (Powercranks)'),(5274,117,'2006-11-12 09:39:18','Hamilton','at the first time check at 15 miles has a 3 minute advantage over Dario and Bean, who are riding within 6 seconds of eachother.\r\n\r\nBjorn Andersson is a further 7 minutes back.'),(5275,117,'2006-11-12 09:42:01','wheel change paying off','word has it Tyler switched wheels just before the race from a Zipp Z8 wheelset to a Lightweight wheel front. This means he\'s a bit nervous of words of the strong wind out on the bike course. '),(5276,117,'2006-11-12 09:44:22','what are the pros riding?','it looks like Team CSC out there. Tyler, Bjorn, Bean, Richard Craig (Vegas Connection) are all riding Cervelo P3C\'s. The only rider to stray from this bike choice is Dario, who is riding his road bike. His team, including Powercrank\'s founder Frank Day, say his secret weapon are his new Specialized Roval wheels, recently released at Interbike. '),(5277,117,'2006-11-12 09:46:27','Bear DOWN','we got confirmed word that Bjorn Andersson is hanging on to one aerobar and his armpad. We think one of his aerobar bolts has come loose. \r\n\r\nThe good news is, he is not losing any ground. He is about to move into third place.'),(5278,117,'2006-11-12 10:07:00','Interview with Silverman\'s fastest man','Mark Warkentin (Inside-Out Sports) just spent a few minutes with us talking about the challenging swim out there. \r\n\r\nHe\'s a USC 2002 grad and is on the US Open Water swimming national team. This is a short race for him. He normally swims the 5k, 10k, and 25k swims as part of his event program. We could sure tell as he SPRINTED the final buoy distancing himself from his fell US teammate Scott Kaufmann. \r\n\r\nMark is training for 2007 World\'s which will be held next March in Melbourne, Australia. \r\n\r\nHe just finished a 10k competition down the Amazon River in Brazil.\r\n\r\nAmazingly, it was his first time in swimming in a wetsuit, and he opted to use a sleeveless that was HEAVILY greased. \r\n\r\nHe doesn\'t know much about cycling and running yet, but could see himself going LONG some day!'),(5279,117,'2006-11-12 10:10:37','Frank Day','the manager of team Powercranks just spoke to us about his rider, Hernan Dario. They had pro cyclist Magnus Backstedt lined up to race, but a last minute pull had them scrambling. Amazingly, they found Dario, a former Tour of Langkawi (Malaysia) winner, who recently finished 2nd (by one second) at the Vuelta de Guatemala. He is not a T specialized, but at only 115lbs, is right at home with all the hills on course.'),(5280,117,'2006-11-12 10:17:51','remember','if you want the most up-to-date coverage click on the \"show most recent first\" box'),(5281,117,'2006-11-12 10:18:58','Slowtwitch','Special thanks to Empfield and his forum for covering for us when connections were down. You can check in with them for a different perspective of the happenings out there on the course.'),(5282,117,'2006-11-12 10:30:48','bikers just passed aid station 7','that is the 70 mile point on the course. we just spoke to race director Frank Lowery who thinks it might have been Tyler still leading, but will call back to confirm'),(5283,117,'2006-11-12 10:55:35','76 miles','and it\'s Hamilton 12 minute ahead of Eric Bean! Bean is now riding about 1:20 ahead of Dario, with Andersson a further 6:20 down. '),(5284,117,'2006-11-12 11:02:57','85 miles into the ride...','and Tyler is still leading. Here\'s the breakdown:\r\n\r\nTyler (Athleteslawyer.com)\r\nEric Bean (Inside-Out Sports) - 11 minutes down\r\nHernan Dario (Powercranks) - 13 minutes down\r\nBjorn Andersson (R&A) - 18 minutes down'),(5285,117,'2006-11-12 11:07:01','update from Jason Goldman','Goldman is the R&A Multisports team manager and is out there on the course shedding blood to bring us the news. He said Bjorn still has his poker face and his gripping his aerobars, holding them with cupped hands from underneath the bars. This does not sound ideal by any means, but they breed \'em tough in Scandavia. '),(5286,117,'2006-11-12 11:09:24','past 90 miles','We just got a call from race director Frank Lowery and Tyler is grimacing with his classic look as he turns towards the hardest part of the course. Up ahead the riders will face a few 18% pitches before battling a six-mile stretch of 5% rolling hills. He has 11 minutes on Bean.'),(5287,117,'2006-11-12 11:21:34','25 mph for Hamilton','Our course spotter, Andy Pemberton, tells us Hamilton just passed 95 miles and is on course for a 4:42 ride. Coupled with his teammate Kaufmann\'s circa 45-minutes swim and they will need runner Ernest Kimeli to run under a 2:30 marathon to break 8 hours. Keep in mind, we don\'t know how much time they are spending in transition but all they have to do is trade timing chips from ankle to ankle. '),(5288,117,'2006-11-12 11:44:46','Franks says...','the wind is killing him. This means, there has been little wind and Tyler is flying. We\'re expecting him to arrive into T2 within the next 10 minutes. Frank is getting ready to kiss his $100k goodbye.'),(5289,117,'2006-11-12 11:46:21','Tyler\'s swimmer says...','We just talked to Scott Kaufmann, who exited the water in second today who said Tyler projected before the race he would need to enter T2 by 5:28 into the race to give Kimeli a realistic shot at breaking the 8hr mark. Folks, it looks like he might just call his shot.'),(5290,117,'2006-11-12 12:02:14','Ernest Kimeli heads out on the marathon.','With over 2 and a half hours until the 8-hour mark, Ernest Kimeli starts his portion of the race - 26.2 miles of running.\r\n'),(5291,117,'2006-11-12 12:13:31','Three bikers in','Eric Bean entered T2 over 12 minutes behind Tyler, but looks like he could ride another 112. '),(5292,117,'2006-11-12 12:14:23','Dario collapses','115-pound Dario took a beating out there. He collapsed after handing off his ankle chip.'),(5293,117,'2006-11-12 12:15:39','PENALTY??','Hamilton may have received a penalty for not dismounting his bike at the line. We are awaiting confirmation. '),(5294,117,'2006-11-12 12:17:29','Drug Testing','We have drug testing out here today with $100k on the line. Drug testers are following all relay athletes off the bike. Everyone from the winning team will also be tested. '),(5295,117,'2006-11-12 12:33:55','confirmed','Athleteslawyer.com has been issued a four-minute penalty. Kimeli is being stopped out there on the course and is serving the penalty given for Hamilton\'s dismount snafu.'),(5296,117,'2006-11-12 12:34:59','Can you blame him??','It was witnessed there were no folks telling Tyler to dismount. Can you blame him? He\'s not a triathlete. Well, it\'s been issued. '),(5297,117,'2006-11-12 12:36:16','Tyler on race intercom','He split 4:33 out there on this race course. He was hoping to be somewhere under 5 hours. He\'s been training hard preparing for January 2007 and it showed today.'),(5298,117,'2006-11-12 12:37:04','Tyler says it will be an equal split','That\'s good news for swimmer Scott Kaufmann if Kimeli can finish under 8 hrs. '),(5299,117,'2006-11-12 12:52:50','Scott Kaufmann just stopped by','and his smile was wide. His team is looking strong with Ernest Kimeli nearing the end of his first run lap. It looks like he will need to run the second half of the run in around 1 hour and 25 minutes. For a triathlete, this would be a hefty chore, but Kimeli went 1 hour and 2 minutes earlier this year at Berlin Half-Marathon.\r\n\r\n'),(5300,117,'2006-11-12 12:55:25','more on Kaufmann','Kaufmann was a 500 and 1650-meter swimmer for the University of Florida. He graduated in 2005 and threw his hat into open water swimming. He and Mark Warkentin are competitors on the circuit and will both compete at Melbourne World Championships next March. Their big race though will be next August in Bakersfield, California where they will gun for a shot at an Olympic bid in the first-ever open water swimming event. '),(5301,117,'2006-11-12 13:05:18','big money means...','With $100k on the line, Silverman race director Frank Lowery is taking money out of his pocket to ensure a clean race. It has to be noted that we have one athlete, Tyler Hamilton, who recently served a two-year drug suspension, which banned him from competing in cycling\'s international pro tour circuit. His team, www.athleteslawyer.com, is sponsored by Howard Jacobs, a lawyer who represents athletes under drug scrutiny. Jacobs\' other high-profile accounts include Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, and Floyd Landis. With that said, athletes from each leg of these relays are being followed closely by drug-testing personnal hired by Lowery.'),(5302,117,'2006-11-12 13:07:44','Kimeli just sped through the half-way point','he is flying. He ran a 1:12 first 13.1-miles. And, that includes a four minute penalty that forced him to stop running. His top marathon time is 2:11 but he only needs to run 1:27 over this last 13.1-miles to break 8 hrs. '),(5303,117,'2006-11-12 13:15:18','to put that in perspective...','this is a world-class African runner and he needs to run a half-marathon split equal to my wife\'s respectable time at Aramco Houston Half-Marathon last January. '),(5304,117,'2006-11-12 13:18:17','15 minutes have passed...','and still no sign of the second-place runner. Can Kimeli finish a full 26.2-miles by himself, never having seen a fellow competitor? '),(5305,117,'2006-11-12 13:24:50','Kimeli at mile-17','Which means he ran the last four miles in 20 minutes. The second-loop is different from the first. There are some long hills, starting with a one-mile climb out of transition. The road grade is about three or four percent.'),(5306,117,'2006-11-12 13:28:17','second place just reaches half-way point','this was the Brazilian runner, Everton Morais, from Cid Cardoso\'s team Inside-Out Sports. He ran, 1:16:50 over the first half, so we think he has conceeded to Kimeli and is now on a training run. \r\n\r\n'),(5307,117,'2006-11-12 13:29:58','6:58:45','is the current race time. And Kimeli is nearing the 20-mile marker. Can he run the next six miles in one hour?'),(5308,117,'2006-11-12 13:31:19','third place runner throiugh 13.1 miles','Mike Booth (Powercranks) is just passing through half-way with the official race clock reading 6:59:19. He is over seven minutes behind second placed Morais.'),(5309,117,'2006-11-12 13:49:27','Official word on Hamilton\'s penalty from Charlie Crawford','USAT Head Official Crawford just popped in and gave us the official ruling that was assessed on www.athleteslawyers.com. The rule, 7.1 requires athletes to enter and exit and ensure their speed is zero at a designated dismount line. \r\n\r\nWhile Hamilton is no triathlete, officials briefed riders yesterday at a pre-race meeting, warning of this rule infraction. \r\n\r\nCrawford said, \"it was reported to us by volunteers that Mr. Hamilton did not complete his bike dismount at the designated dismount line.\" \"And because race management is considered neutral, we (USAT team of officials) decided this was the appropriate call.\"\r\n\r\nWe interviewed Tyler after his ride and he said would consider racing an Ironman before he dies. It appears he has some rules to learn first. Maybe Rolf Aldag, an Ironman Lanzarote finisher, can explain a few things to him.'),(5310,117,'2006-11-12 13:58:33','first age grouper in','Erik Krenz from Phoenix, AZ is leading this race by 7 minutes. '),(5311,117,'2006-11-12 14:00:25','Krenz was not first off the bike though...','that honor went to Las Vegas resident Pierre Letourneau who entered T2 in first, but took a break for ten minutes. Of note, he left T2 with a considerable hitch in his stride, which in ultra racing is not a good sign.'),(5312,117,'2006-11-12 14:12:18','\"quote me on that,\"','said Frank Lowery, commenting that the cyclists were aided by 25 mph tailwinds during the second-half of the bike course. \"This is the toughest course in the world and under normal conditions, no one will break 8 hours.\" '),(5313,117,'2006-11-12 14:13:22','Kimeli DOWN','We just received word that Ernest Kimeli \"went down\" at mile 23. He is back up and running and is running 7-minute miles.'),(5314,117,'2006-11-12 14:16:27','17 minutes until the 8 hour mark','And Kimeli is now under three miles to go. We do not have an official word as to what happened, only that he is running at a slower pace. Did he hit the proverbial \"runner\'s wall.\"'),(5315,117,'2006-11-12 14:18:04','word from Lowery','Ernest Kimeli has NOT reached 23 miles yet. He was seen walking through the 9 and 22 mile aid station and asked for medical help to be sent. He is moving, but Everton Morais is running \"very quickly\" and is within one-half mile of Kimeli. \r\n\r\n'),(5316,117,'2006-11-12 14:19:36','11 minutes until 8 hours','word from a volunteer out on the course is that Kimeli sprained his ankle. '),(5317,117,'2006-11-12 14:20:41','frenzy at the finish line','The crowd here at the finish line is now two or three-hundred deep with folks anticipating a close finish.'),(5318,117,'2006-11-12 14:26:05','are they going to break 8 hours?','They are still two miles out and now under seven minutes on the official race clock. Taking into consideration our course spotters and race officials might possibly be off in their spotting, but back-to-back sub four-minute miles ain\'t gonna happen. '),(5319,117,'2006-11-12 14:27:35','two minutes to go and no one in site',''),(5320,117,'2006-11-12 14:32:36','8 hours has come and gone...','There is no one in site but the word on the course is these runners are still running, for the pride of finishing. It will be a close battle between Kimeli and Everton Morais, as one has slowed pace considerably and one has upped his effort.'),(5321,117,'2006-11-12 14:46:28','it\'s a war within the last .5 mile','between Morais and Kimeli...stay tuned'),(5322,117,'2006-11-12 14:48:52','and it\'s Everton Morais beating an injured Ernest Kimeli to the line',''),(5323,117,'2006-11-12 15:04:21','Kimeli showed heart out there...','We just spoke with the lead bike escort who said Kimeli was running fast through half-way before \"hitting the wall\" at the 17-mile mark. He fell into the bike escort\'s arms and did not respond and begin running for 7 to 8 minutes. '),(5324,117,'2006-11-12 15:09:28','more from the finish...','Kimeli led until 300 meters to the finish line before being passed by Morais. '),(5325,117,'2006-11-12 15:16:44','8:17:10 was the unofficial winner\'s time','for Everton Morais, who fell into manager Cid Cardoso\'s arms with his arms raised. 32 seconds later, Kimeli finished the line and collapsed into teammates Tyler Hamilton and Scott Kaufmann\'s arms.'),(5326,117,'2006-11-12 15:32:35','Patrik Tjardal finishes in third place','the third member of team Swede crossed the line in 8:39 and change. It was a rough day out there for the Swedes but now at the finish line they are more adamant than before that they will be back next year to right their wrong. They certainly could not have foreseen a 200 meter missed buoy on the swim from Colting and a broken aerobar only 10 miles into the 112-mile time trial from Andersson. It needs to be mentioned that Tjardal crossed the line hardly winded after he claimed to have gone out on a training run today. '),(5327,117,'2006-11-12 15:34:30','Mike Booth threw in fourth place...','Powercranks runner Booth just crossed in 8:55:35 to finish fourth. '),(5328,117,'2006-11-12 15:52:44','Signing off...','Thanks for joining us today. Were you as surprised with the finish of today\'s race as we were? Who could have imagined an elite African runner could not pace himself to a 2:35 marathon, but instead ran out of gas with nine miles until eureka? Let this be a lesson to all of us, that pacing is the name of the game in this cruel and unforgiving game of ultra distance racing. \r\n\r\nWe hope to confirm rumors very soon that next year\'s Silverman will be releasing an even larger prize purse. Will this bring an even deeper field of international swim, bike, and run stars? Or will this bode as a sign of hope for pure triathlon teams out there who are accostumed to long solo training and racing hours. \r\n\r\nStay tuned to www.InsideTri.com for upcoming videos from Silverman next Wednesday. \r\n\r\n'),(5331,121,'2007-02-18 22:22:36','Action begins at 11:00am PST',''),(5332,121,'2007-02-19 11:10:43','Off they go','The peloton is now rolling through the neutral zone through Sausalito. Levi Leipheimer is up front, riding casually with his full Discovery at his side. '),(5333,121,'2007-02-19 11:15:25','The road ahead','With the peloton cruising toward the edge of town, let\'s take a quick look at the road ahead. The day\'s first KOM, is the Category 4 climb up Mt. Tam, whih peaks out at the 12.7km mark. At 44.9km we\'ll see the day\'s first sprint mark at Point Reyes, followed by the day\'s second sprint at Tomales at 72.4km and the third at Bodega Bay at 96.1km. At 103.7km, we have another KOM mark at Coleman Valley and then it\'s a fast cruise into the finish in Santa Rosa at 156.4km'),(5334,121,'2007-02-19 11:18:20','Still in the neutral zone','The peloton is still ticking through the neutral zone with a nice group of fans lining the road in what has to be one of the most beautiful communities in the Bay Area. '),(5335,121,'2007-02-19 11:25:53','A long neutral zone','Jason McCartney (Discovery) took advantage of the mellow pace to stop and kiss his wife and bay... as the peloton leaves Sausalito the course winds on to the busy highway 101 and it looks like the formal start will occur once the whole thing moves back on to the quieter roads of Marin County.'),(5337,121,'2007-02-19 11:31:00','And it\'s a go....',' The flag has dropped and the pace is picking up, with the Disco\'s controlling the pace from the start. The road is beginning to tilt upwards, and the Discovery squad is keeping a tight leash on things.'),(5338,121,'2007-02-19 11:36:16','Discovery at the front','The Discovery team is still setting tempo up the climb. Leipheimer is tucked nicely in about six riders back. It\'s gotta be a pretty comfortable position when you\'re in the yellow jersey, with Ivan Basso riding as a domestique for ya.'),(5339,121,'2007-02-19 11:39:00','With about 2.5km to go','to the top of the climb up to the top of Mount Tamalpais. The crowds are pretty good and the Discovery squad is still setting a healthy pace at the front.'),(5340,121,'2007-02-19 11:40:45','A reminder,','If you have comments, questions or even complaints drop us a line at webletters@InsideInc.com and we\'ll try to answer the questions when we can.'),(5341,121,'2007-02-19 11:43:30','Nearing the top of the climb','It\'s just a Category 4 climb to the top of Mount Tamalpais, the place many call the birthplace of the Mountain Bike (although the gang from Crested Butte, Colorado, would dispute that claim).'),(5343,121,'2007-02-19 11:53:25','Credit Agricole makes a move','As the peloton is moving up to the climb, several riders have moved off the front, now with a 10-second gap.'),(5344,121,'2007-02-19 11:54:57','Up an over','A Quick Step rider, who we\'re still trying to ID, is over the top with a bit of a gap.'),(5345,121,'2007-02-19 11:56:31','Three riders off the front','Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) is one of the three. Meanwhile Michael Rogers has had a flat and is now scrambling to catch on.'),(5346,121,'2007-02-19 11:59:42','Horner','Jurgen Van de Walle (Quick Step) appears to have been the man over the top first. We\'re still trying to get a confirmation on the number, though.'),(5347,121,'2007-02-19 12:04:01','Zooooom','Zooming down the back side of Mount Tam, the leading trio have been joined by three other riders. We\'ll get ID and a time gap as soon as we get the information.\r\n'),(5348,121,'2007-02-19 12:08:35','Chris Horner','is up front in the group and cruising along with his usual maniacal grin. Also in the group is Rabobank\'s Robert Gesink, Will Frischkorn (Slipstream) Gerolsteiner\'s Oliver Zaugg... but as we\'re IDing the group, the peloton is about to hook up with these boys.'),(5349,121,'2007-02-19 12:10:41','Caught','The men in the break have been reeled back into the group.'),(5350,121,'2007-02-19 12:11:51','The pace has dropped','as several riders have stopped to answer the call of nature.'),(5351,121,'2007-02-19 12:15:52','Crash','It looks like we have Christian Vande Velde (CSC) and Omer Kem (Priority Health) touched wheels, but everyone appears to be okay. Indeed, Vande Velde used the stop as reason to take a nature break on the side of the road as he gets a new front wheel.
Meanwhile Kem, rode off for only a few meters, but he\'s had to stop for medical attention. His knee took a hit and he\'s being checked out by the doc\'.'),(5352,121,'2007-02-19 12:23:33','It\'s all mellow','at this point, folks. The pace is pretty moderate with the Point Reyes sprint still a ways down the road. Discovery is still in control at the front of the field.'),(5353,121,'2007-02-19 12:31:02','We see a quick move','Alejandro Acto (Colavita/Sutter Home) has scampered off the front. He\'s a talented rider, but no one seems all that interested in chasing him. We still need to see how long it is before the Point Reyes sprint mark. '),(5354,121,'2007-02-19 12:35:00','Today\'s weather','Man, it\'s nice today. There is a nice breeze and temperatures are in the mid-50s. The sun is out and there is little chance that the rain bothering southern California today is going to do anything up here.
Meanwhile, Slipstream is now moving to the front of the field and picking up the pace.'),(5355,121,'2007-02-19 12:43:36','Acto','Acto\'s chances seem to be fading. The Slipstream boys have stepped up the pace and they appear intent on reeling the escapee in before Point Reyes. The gap is down to about 20 seconds.'),(5356,121,'2007-02-19 12:44:00','We\'re about 1km from the sprint','Acto is trying hold this thing, but it\'s going to be tough for him to hold the small gap with a full - and motivated - team Slipstream breathing down his back.'),(5357,121,'2007-02-19 12:48:00','Caught','Acto was pulled back just about 500 meters from the line. While Slipstream did all the work, it looks like it was Discovery\'s Allan Davis who scooted across the line first and denied bonus seconds to the man from Slipstream - Jason Donald - who began the day, just behind Levi Leipheimer.
The sprint opened the door for a couple of riders to try a break, but the peloton will have none of that.'),(5358,121,'2007-02-19 12:51:51','No breaks','The pace has picked up and the peloton is sweeping up anyone who tries his hand at an escape.'),(5359,121,'2007-02-19 12:57:01','Discovery at the front','The Disco squad is reasserting its authority as we pass the 50km mark.
We\'ve received several letters, especially regarding our failed experiment yesterday. We\'re also happy to resurect the live coverage tool and we will be using this throughout the remainder of the Tour of California, here on VeloNews.com. Once we get some of our technical issues resolved, though, our feed will be integrated into the Amgen site as well.'),(5360,121,'2007-02-19 13:00:22','With Disco in control','The pace has slowed enough for the team to send Tony Cruz back for water. He\'s back up front with what looks like at least 10 bottles stuffed into his jersey. Nice work.'),(5361,121,'2007-02-19 13:06:36','With the peloton hitting the 59km mark,','the pace has mellowed considerably. Discovery has moved to the front and they don\'t seem willing to let anyone try for a stage win, especially since Leipheimer wants to stay in the yellow jersey as he rides into his home town of Santa Rosa for the second straight year.'),(5362,121,'2007-02-19 13:12:49','Old friends','We see T-Mobile\'s Michael Barry riding alongside of his old Discovery teammate, George Hincapie. '),(5363,121,'2007-02-19 13:14:51','Moderate pace','The pace is quite easy right now as the peloton works its way through the rolling terrain along the always beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. There are nice pockets of fans lining the road here.'),(5364,121,'2007-02-19 13:20:34','Discovery in control','The Discovery team is riding at the front of the peloton, with Leipheimer tucked in the group. CSC, T-Mobile and Lotto are tucked in behind the men in black-and-blue.'),(5365,121,'2007-02-19 13:34:17','Very few changes','In the situation, folks. The Discovery team is sitting at the front of the field. The pace is quite moderate. The next point of interest is the sprint mark at 72km. We may see Slipstream make another shot at grabbing a few bonus seconds for Jason Donald, now sitting in second overall, by a scant 0.8 seconds.'),(5366,121,'2007-02-19 13:37:00','Allan Davis','Discovery\'s Allan Davis takes the day\'s second sprint at Tomales, as he beat Hilton Clarke (Navigators to the line. We need to make a correction, by the way. It was Davis who took the day\'s first sprint as well.
Meanwhile we have a small group of four riders scooting off the front, but they are about to be pulled back in.'),(5367,121,'2007-02-19 13:39:01','With a small gap','of about 15 seconds, the men in front are not giving up.'),(5368,121,'2007-02-19 13:39:58','Reminder','don\'t forget to hit our live Mobile site when you\'re away from your computer. Type http://www.velonews.com/live_mobile into your mobile device browser and you can follow the action. Shoot us a note and let us know the most remote location you\'re viewing from. The most original and authentic locale will receive a VeloNews basebal cap and riding socks. '),(5369,121,'2007-02-19 13:42:12','The lead group','has been joined by Paolo Bettini and Stuart O\'Grady (CSC) and Jason McCartney.'),(5370,121,'2007-02-19 13:44:10','Bettini','Man, there is a reason this guy is world champion. He\'s driving hard in this break... but the peloton is just about to make contact.'),(5371,121,'2007-02-19 13:45:10','Caught','The men in the break have been pulled back by the peloton.'),(5372,121,'2007-02-19 13:46:43','Discovery and CSC','Have moved to the front of the field and it looks like the next opportunity will be the Bodega Bay sprint at 96.1km'),(5373,121,'2007-02-19 13:48:41','Nature calls','Leipheimer has pulled off to the side of the road and the pace has slowed, since it\'s sort of uncool to attack while the race leader is off relieving himself.'),(5374,121,'2007-02-19 14:03:00','This is a mellow part','of the day. The peloton is ambling along. Peter Hatton Colavita has scooted off the front, just stretching his legs... and maybe try for a shot at a surprise win.'),(5375,121,'2007-02-19 14:05:31','Caught','This time it\'s Liquigas and Discovery putting on the gas. No hard chase, just a concerted surge by a few of the peloton\'s stronger teams.'),(5376,121,'2007-02-19 14:10:18','Not a team to give up','Colavita has sent off another rider, this time it\'s Davide Frattini. He\'s ticking along nicely and looks like he\'s hoping to be out there for a while. He\'s already about 30 seconds off the front. Discovery is setting tempo at the front, but it\'s not a frantic pace at this point.'),(5377,121,'2007-02-19 14:15:40','Frattini','Has about one minute on the peloton, right now. He\'s cruising toward the day\'s third sprint mark - at Bodega Bay at 94km. Right after that is the Cat 3 climb up Coleman Valley road. Frattini is a strong climber, so he might do well on that, if he can hold his advantage up there.'),(5378,121,'2007-02-19 14:19:03','Frattini takes the \"sprint\"','He\'s off on his own. Oddly enough, Colavita tries to send another rider out of the field. Not a real smart move and the Disco team pulls him back right away.'),(5379,121,'2007-02-19 14:21:46','Frattini','is working his way up the rolling terrain toward the day\'s second climb, which peaks out at 103km. It\'s a Cat. 3 climb and still a long way from the finish at 156km'),(5380,121,'2007-02-19 14:24:27','Frattini','is just making his way on to the climb. The route is making a turn inland, moving away froom the coast and heading toward Santa Rosa.'),(5381,121,'2007-02-19 14:26:19','The climb up Coleman','Frattini is on the climb up toward the Cat. 3 climb up to the 827-feet-above-sea-level summit of Coleman Road.'),(5382,121,'2007-02-19 14:27:36','CSC, Disco and Lotto','Are leading the peloton and have just made the turn onto the lower slopes of the climb.'),(5383,121,'2007-02-19 14:30:58','Ahead','When the peloton reaches Santa Rosa, the peloton will be coursing through four laps of a 4.7km circuit through downtown. It\'s a tight course, reminiscent of American criteriums, which may offer a nice advantage for the domestic crew.'),(5384,121,'2007-02-19 14:32:54','Basso setting tempo in the main field','Giro d\'Italia winner Ivan Basso is setting tempo at the front of the peloton. He\'s putting a bit of the hurt on some of the field. The grade is steep - up to 10 percent at points - but Frattini is holding his own up front.'),(5385,121,'2007-02-19 14:34:00','Frattini','Takes the climb, in front of a nice crowd of fans atop the hill. Correction Frattini has been caught and Jurgen Van de Walle has led a group of four over the top. Frattini is fading back to the main field.'),(5386,121,'2007-02-19 14:39:07','Van de Walle','It looks like Jurgen Van de Walle scored at least some points on the KOM effort and that would give him the climber\'s jersey today.'),(5387,121,'2007-02-19 14:42:00','','Up front with Van de Walle are Theo Eltink (Rabobank), Adam Hansen (T-Mobile) and Thomas Peterson (Slipstream). Our video feed here in the truck does not show Frattini, so we have to question whether the Italian on Colavita actually did score the climber\'s points up Coleman. We\'re scrambling to find out.'),(5388,121,'2007-02-19 14:43:54','The Van de Walle group is in the front','Frattini appears to have been dropped before the summit. It looks like Van de Walle scored the top points and he has a good lock on the KOM jersey today.'),(5389,121,'2007-02-19 14:49:54','Time gap','The four men off the front - Jurgen Van de Walle (Quick Step), Theo Eltink (Rabobank), Adam Hansen (T-Mobile) and Thomas Peterson (Slipstream) - are working well together. The time gap is just around a minute, but the Discovery team is now driving hard at the front of the field.'),(5390,121,'2007-02-19 14:52:00','1:20','The four men off the front have a 1:20 gap on the main field. The foursome are heading into Santa Rosa and will be facing about 15km of downtown circuits. They have a long way to go, but it could be an advantage for a small group to negotiate the tight turns on the finishing circuit.'),(5391,121,'2007-02-19 14:56:11','Basso setting tempo in the main field','Super domestique Ivan Basso is doing a ton of work at the front of the main field. The Discovery team wants to negate this break, so Leipheimer will be able to hold the jersey in his home town. The four men up front are cruising through the final miles of country road on the way into Santa Rosa.'),(5392,121,'2007-02-19 14:57:32','The four leaders are working well together','We\'re waiting for a new time check.'),(5393,121,'2007-02-19 14:59:43','Discovery','The team of race leader Levi Leipheimer is not giving anything away today. Basso and Hincapie are setting tempo at the front of the field. The four men up front are still holding a 1:10 gap.'),(5394,121,'2007-02-19 15:01:27','The gap','The gap is 1:10 as the four men in the lead group are cruising along beautiful country roads on the way into town. Despite the big, big effort being put in by the Discovery team, the difference has come down only by about 10 or 15 seconds.'),(5395,121,'2007-02-19 15:04:11','Leipheimer','is tucked in nicely in the fifth position in the main field. He has four hard-working teammates pounding away at the front.
Meanwhile up front, the four men in the lead are coursing throug beautiful Sanoma County roads and speeding toward town.'),(5396,121,'2007-02-19 15:09:50','The four men in the lead','Are off the largely downhill roads and on the flats leading into town. The gap now is down to 55 seconds.'),(5397,121,'2007-02-19 15:11:41','The gap is coming down','The Discovery team is driving hard and they can see the four men in the lead, about 45 seconds up the road. Meanwhile Lotto and T-Mobile are moving up.'),(5398,121,'2007-02-19 15:13:05','Zooming past vinyards','The peloton sees their prey and the gap is now down to less than 40 seconds.'),(5399,121,'2007-02-19 15:14:13','Correction..','... that gap is at 50 seconds. Discovery is still driving hard at the front of the peloton.'),(5400,121,'2007-02-19 15:16:24','The race is','reaching the outskirts of Santa Rosa. The gap is holding at around the 45-second mark.'),(5401,121,'2007-02-19 15:18:20','The gap is dropping fast','Up in the front of the peloton, we see the Discovery team, as the T-Mobiles move up. The gap is now less than 20 seconds.'),(5402,121,'2007-02-19 15:19:53','The break is coming apart','Jurgen Van de Walle and Peterson are the only men left off the front, but the peloton is just about to make the catch.'),(5403,121,'2007-02-19 15:21:35','About to be caught','It\'s beginning to look like we\'re going to see a field sprint.'),(5404,121,'2007-02-19 15:22:31','All together now',''),(5406,121,'2007-02-19 15:24:45','Discovery in the front','but the teams with strong sprinters are moving their strong men up to drive through the day\'s final three trips around the closing circuit in downtown Santa Rosa. It\'s a tight 4.7 km route through town on a course lined by crowds of bike fans standing five and six people deep.'),(5407,121,'2007-02-19 15:28:06','Last year\'s stage','Remember this stage is nearly identical to the 1st stage of last year\'s, which was won by JJ Haedo, then a member of Toyota-United. Well, he\'s here, but he is now a member of CSC.
\r\nTake a look at the results from last year\'s Stage 1\r\n1. Juan José Haedo (Arg), Toyota-United Pro, 3:14:13\r\n2. Olaf Pollack (G), T-Mobile\r\n3. Stuart O\'Grady (Aus), CSC\r\n4. Charles Bradley Huff (USA), TIAA-CREF\r\n5. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling\r\n6. Viktor Rapinski (Blr), Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home\r\n7. René Haselbacher (A), Gerolsteiner\r\n8. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Phonak\r\n9. Antonio Cruz (USA), Toyota-United Pro\r\n10. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC\r\n11. Mike Sayers (USA), Health Net Maxxis\r\n12. Alex Candelario (USA), JBC\r\n13. Charles Dionne (CAN), Saunier Duval\r\n14. Mark McCormack (USA), Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home\r\n15. Vladimir Gusev (Rus), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling\r\n16. Kyle Wamsley (USA), Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home\r\n17. Alexandre Moos (Swi), Phonak\r\n18. Scott Davis (Aus), T-Mobile\r\n19. Greipel André (G), T-Mobile\r\n20. Hayden Roulston (NZl), Health Net Maxxis\r\n'),(5408,121,'2007-02-19 15:29:00','In town,','we\'re looking at about 14.5km to go.'),(5409,121,'2007-02-19 15:31:36','T-Mobile','is now leading the main field as the peloton has less than three trips around the finishing circuit in town. Quick Step and CSC are working their way up, too.'),(5410,121,'2007-02-19 15:33:41','Quick Step','The team of world champion Paolo Bettini is moving up to the front. The man in the rainbow jersey is looking good. We may see something special here today. T-Mobile is still up in the mix and the pace is remarkable. We have 9km to go.'),(5411,121,'2007-02-19 15:34:44','It\'s a mix of T-Mobile and Quick Step','at the front of the field. CSC is working its way up.'),(5412,121,'2007-02-19 15:36:19','Crash!','Huge crash! As the peloton made it through the start/finish area, we have had a huge pile-up about 25 riders back.'),(5413,121,'2007-02-19 15:38:12','The T-Mobiles and Quick Steps managed to avoid the mess','We\'re looking for Leipheimer\'s yellow jersey. There are only about 35 or 40 riders up front.'),(5414,121,'2007-02-19 15:40:28','Leipheimer is up','but he\'s been gapped. It\'s a big mess out there. Leipheimer is clearly showing signs of damage. His shorts are torn, so he went down for sure. He\'s chasing hard with the help of Hincapie and other men on the Discovery team. We\'re coming up on 6km to go.'),(5415,121,'2007-02-19 15:42:24','The Quick Steps','and T-Mobiles are still driving the lead group with 4.7km to go. One lap to go, folks. Leipheimer and Hincapie are chasing hard, but the lead group has a lot of power up there and there are now about 50 riders in the mix.'),(5416,121,'2007-02-19 15:43:23','The gap to the yellow jersey','At this point - with less than 3.5km to go - the gap to Leipheimer is more than 1:00'),(5417,121,'2007-02-19 15:44:20','2.5km to go','Leipheimer is chasing, as is Slipstream\'s Jason Donald. Up front, we\'re seeing a big battle forming up. Bettini is moving up with a strong lead-out.'),(5418,121,'2007-02-19 15:45:21','2km to go','We see Fred Rodriguez in the mix, Hilton Clarke is there and so is Bettini. Leipheimer is making time, but still has 40 seconds to make up.'),(5419,121,'2007-02-19 15:46:31','T-Mobile','The T-Mobile team is up front... but bamm! Jens Voigt is charging up to the front.'),(5420,121,'2007-02-19 15:48:04','Graeme Brown?',''),(5421,121,'2007-02-19 15:49:17','Graeme Brown?','Rabobank\'s Graeme Brown takes the win, edging Greg Henderson (T-Mobile).'),(5422,121,'2007-02-19 15:50:23','Leipheimer','finishes about 35 seconds back. It\'s going to be a bit before we sort out the effect today\'s tumble will have on the GC picture.\r\n'),(5423,121,'2007-02-19 15:53:05','Leipheimer','will lose the jersey, as the accident occured about 9km from the finish, well beyond the point where the effects of a crash have no impact on GC. We have to figure out who in that lead group was highest on GC.'),(5424,121,'2007-02-19 16:08:02','We\'re still sorting through the results','We know that Allan Davis took third in the sprint... but now we\'re hearing that the officials are going over the photo finish'),(5426,121,'2007-02-19 16:15:56','Folks, we are going to be here','until we get news from the results tent'),(5428,121,'2007-02-19 16:21:50','Stay tuned . . .','We\'ve sent the VeloNews.com bloodhounds out to bring back the news. So don\'t touch that dial.'),(5429,121,'2007-02-19 16:23:15','Brown confirmed as the stage winner','But who will get the jersey?'),(5430,121,'2007-02-19 16:43:50','Levi stays in yellow','It\'s been decided to neutralize the three finishing circuits, which means the man from Santa Rosa will not lose his leader\'s jersey because of a crash in his hometown. Teammate Allan Davis collects the sprinter\'s jersey, while Thomas Peterson (Slipstream-Chipotle) dons the climber\'s jersey.'),(5431,121,'2007-02-19 16:53:47','Th-th-th-that\'s all, folks','It looks like sorting out the GC is going to take a while, so we\'re going to shut it down here and refer you to the VeloNews.com homepage, where a full story, photos and results will be available shortly. Thanks for joining us today — come visit again tomorrow.'),(5436,123,'2007-02-20 10:15:45','Zabriskie','As you know by now, yesterday\'s big crash victim was CSC\'s David Zabriskie. He crashed just as the route was coursing down Coleman road. He hit his head, but word from the hospital last night is that he suffered a relatively minor concussion and he went home with his wife. He\'s out of the race, but aside from having his bell rung, he\'s okay.'),(5433,123,'2007-02-20 09:59:00','Good day folks','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the second stage of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, a 186.4km race from Santa Rosa to the state capitol building in Sacramento.'),(5434,123,'2007-02-20 10:04:46',' Today\'s route','features 2 sprint spots - at 105.8km in Winters and 130.1km in Davis. But before the peloton hits either of those, riders have to get over the Category 2 climb up the Trinity Grade (peaks at 27.7km) and a Cat. 4 at 84.7km. That climb up Trinity underscores just how subjective these ratings can be. It\'s early in the race and just about five km, but those ramps are steep. '),(5435,123,'2007-02-20 10:06:12','And they\'re off','The peloton rolled off the line about one minute ago and are roling through about five kilometers of neutral befor the formal start'),(5437,123,'2007-02-20 10:19:06','And they\'re off','The peloton has moved past the formal start. We have a small attack from the front. Omer Kem (Priority Health), David McCann(Colavita) and Christophe Laurant (Credit Agricole) have scampered off the front and trying to get a bit of a gap. Behind, Discovery is setting tempo in the front of the main group.'),(5438,123,'2007-02-20 10:25:27','The three off the front','are making their way through narrow tree-line roads on the way to the day\'s first climb, up Trinity Grade. The road up is going to shake things up, but it may be that the drop off the back of the climb could prove to be decisive. It\'s fast, steep and really narrow. Take a look at the two pictures below. We snapped those on the drive to the finish today. The photos don\'t really do justice the steepness of the grade, but the sign sure does.'),(5439,123,'2007-02-20 10:29:00','Crash','It looks like one of the Priority Health riders hit a spectator. She is still on the ground, but the riders seems okay. The crash victim has several medical staff attending to her. It looks like she will be okay.'),(5440,123,'2007-02-20 10:31:00','Today\'s weather','It was cool at the start, with most of the peloton rolling off the line with leg and arm warmers. Those may come off as the road tips upward at the 20km mark.'),(5441,123,'2007-02-20 10:33:55','The race is coursing its way down Warm Springs Road','It\'s beautiful here and these roads are in great shape. Ahead, however, the climb up Trinity Grade is quite narrow and very rough in spots.'),(5442,123,'2007-02-20 10:42:35','Yesterday\'s ruling','By now you know about the crash that happened about 9km from the finish yesterday. It took down about half the field, including race leader Levi Leipheimer, who ultimately lost about 40 seconds to the stage winners.
Upon review, race officils declared that the finishing circuit in Santa Rosa would be treated as neutral, giving everyone in the field the time (as far as the GC is concerned) they had as the first crossed into town, but before the three trips around the 4.7km circuit. The result is that Leipheimer keeps the jersey. Had the usual 3km cut-off applied, today\'s leader would be Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health).
Is it fair to apply that after-the-fact? The reaction is mixed. What\'s your feeling? Let us know by voting on the VeloNews Poll on the front page or by dropping us a note at WebLetters@InsideInc.com'),(5443,123,'2007-02-20 10:44:32','Heading on to the climb,','the three leaders are now working on to the climb. They have a four-minute lead on the field... and a steep five kilometers ahead of them.'),(5445,123,'2007-02-20 10:48:22','Laurent','is moving ahead of his two breakaway companions. He\'s not planning to ride away on his own, but the other two men are suffering on the climb. These roads are steeeeeep!'),(5446,123,'2007-02-20 10:52:32','Disco setting tempo','The peloton is moving on to the climb and the Discovery team is keep a tight leash on main group.'),(5447,123,'2007-02-20 10:57:52','Laurent','Is powering up the climb by himself. He\'s got a good rhythm going up the slope. It\'s a tough climb, but there is no one scampering out of the peloton. This climb is too early to make a big impact on the stage, but again, that descent could be... in a bad way.'),(5448,123,'2007-02-20 11:00:21','Laurent is over the top','The Credit Agricole man is at the top of the KOM. There are big crowds lining the road over the final few hundred meters. He\'s just earned 8 KOM points'),(5449,123,'2007-02-20 11:04:25','','Omer Kem (Priority Health), David McCann(Colavita) are over the top. Behind them Quick Step\'s Van de Walle and Slipstream\'s Thomas Peterson are fighting for the remaining points. This will decide who is leading in the KOM jersey race.'),(5450,123,'2007-02-20 11:05:19','Peterson wins','Peterson grabs the fourth spot in KOM points, outsprinting Van de Walle as they approach the top.'),(5451,123,'2007-02-20 11:06:40','Laurent','is taking it easy on the descent, waiting for McCann and Kem. No one wants to ride 160 km on his own especially on a windy day like this'),(5452,123,'2007-02-20 11:08:58','Time gap','Laurent is about five minutes ahead of the main field, but he\'s going very slowly... waiting for some company.'),(5453,123,'2007-02-20 11:11:05','Laurent still on his own.','But it looks like he is about to get some company. '),(5454,123,'2007-02-20 11:12:47','Omer Kem (Priority Health), David McCann(Colavita)','are moving back up and are about to join Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole). We\'ll now have three men in the front with at least a three- or four-minute gap on the field.'),(5455,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(5456,123,'2007-02-20 11:15:13','The gap','to the three leaders is now about five minutes. Meanwhile, news from the side of the road is that the spectator, who was hit by Ed King (Priority Health). No one seems the worse for wear.'),(5457,123,'2007-02-20 11:20:27','The ruling...','doesn\'t seem to be all that popular with our readers. The consensus among those of you who\'ve written in is that the rule should have been to neutralize the loops from the onset, but not after-the-fact. Odds are good, folks, that the Santa Rosa loop will be neutral - as far as GC.'),(5458,123,'2007-02-20 11:21:35','The time gap','is 4:50 as the leaders are riding along the flats - and vineyards - of Napa Valley'),(5459,123,'2007-02-20 11:29:57','Three men','The three leaders are ticking along at 4:50 ahead of the main field.
Not much happening now that the field is in the flats as well. Take a look, folks, at the phenomenal sequence of images from yesterday\'s pile-up near the end of the stage (below). Look for Danny Pate and see how he skirted the mess. Team director Jonathan Vaughters told us this morning that it \"looked like a freakin\' Jedi mind trick,\" seeing his rider work his way through the carnage without hitting the deck.'),(5460,123,'2007-02-20 11:37:09','Word from the descent','We\'ve received reports that Quick Step\'s Leonardo Scarselli crashed on the way off of Trinity. He was transported to the hospital. There were several riders also involved, including Ed King (Priority Health), who was the guy who hit the spectator earlier in the day.'),(5461,123,'2007-02-20 11:39:08','Peloton at five minutes','The Discovery team is setting tempo at the front of the field. With about 140km remaining, it doesn\'t hurt anyone worried about GC to have three escapees off the front. It won\'t take a lot of work to close that gap down if Disco gets serious aboutputting in a chase.'),(5462,123,'2007-02-20 11:42:14','Basso','We have a question from one reader asking whether Ivan Basso hurt himself in yesterday\'s crash. He is riding well, but he does have a patch of road rash on the inner portion of his right knee.'),(5463,123,'2007-02-20 11:48:17','Time check','Our latest check gives the three men off the front an advantage of 4:50. Ahead, we have another Cat. 4 climb at 80.5km.'),(5464,123,'2007-02-20 11:56:32','Poll Results','Checking the poll on the front of the VeloNews home page, a majority of you don\'t like the idea of yesterday\'s ruling, though there is a bit more sympathy out there than among those of you who have written:
Yes - It\'s only fair 121 (35.59%)
No - It shows bias 187 (55.00%)
Not sure 32 (9.41%) \r\n'),(5465,123,'2007-02-20 12:00:40','The three off the front','Omer Kem (Priority Health), David McCann(Colavita) and Christophe Laurant (Credit Agricole) are now 4:30 ahead of the field.'),(5466,123,'2007-02-20 12:09:34','Kem','Kem from Priority Health had a bad wheel change after a flat and he\'s been left behind by Laurent and McCann.'),(5467,123,'2007-02-20 12:11:41','Kem','has rejoined the two men in the lead. He had to fight for it though.'),(5468,123,'2007-02-20 12:13:44','News from Europe','A day after peace talks between the UCI and the Tour de France organization collapsed, ASO say they will conduct next month’s Paris-Nice without the official sanction of the UCI and will operate the race under the control of the French cycling federation.
In a statement released Tuesday, Amaury Sports Organization (organizers of Paris-Nice and the Tour, among other events) confirmed that it’s ready to push ahead with its events in open defiance of the UCI’s ProTour system.
“Taking the position of the UCI into consideration and seeing the threat that is weighing on the organization of the race, ASO finds itself in the obligation of taking all the necessary measures allowing to safeguard (the) event,†the statement read. “(ASO) confirms Paris-Nice will take place as planned.â€
ASO said it will operate Paris-Nice (March 11-18), the official opening race of the 2007 ProTour calendar, under the guise of the French cycling federation.
UCI president Pat McQuaid met Monday in Lyon, France, with ASO president Patrice Clerc on to try to hammer out a compromise with cycling’s major race organizers.
The talks ended unsatisfactorily for both parties and the UCI issued a terse statement Monday evening criticizing ASO’s inflexibility.
ASO shot back Tuesday in the war of press releases, saying the Clerc insisted that the entire ProTour concept needs to be reworked to create a consensus with all affected players.
“During these discussions, (Clerc) once again asked for a meeting to be organized with all the main actors of professional cycling,†the statement read. “It is … the only way to consider a solution to this serious crisis born from a bad reform that the UCI has wanted to assess despite a necessary consensus. ASO deeply regrets that its demand has been turned down by (McQuaid), who intends to make ASO the only responsible [party] of this crisis.â€
Race organizers have been unhappy with the ProTour format since its inception in late 2004. \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n'),(5469,123,'2007-02-20 12:24:28','Lunch','The peloton has passed through the feedzone. The riders are snagging lunch and the gap is holding at around 4:30. The margin appears to be closely monitored and we sure wouldn\'t lay next month\'s rent money on the chances of these guys off the front riding into Sacramento by themselves.'),(5473,123,'2007-02-20 12:35:45','The three off the front','Are over the top. Slipstream has sent Will Frischkorn off the front to help his teammate Thomas Peterson, who is leading the KOM race, and deny the last remaining point to Van de Walle.'),(5472,123,'2007-02-20 12:31:23','Working up Highway 128','The peloton is working its way up the road up 128 and to the KOM at km 85.'),(5474,123,'2007-02-20 12:36:33','Frischkorn','has grabbed the last point and Peterson will spend another day in the KOM jersey.'),(5475,123,'2007-02-20 12:37:27','The gap','The three men off the front are still 4:30 ahead.'),(5476,123,'2007-02-20 12:45:45','Landis','Last year\'s winner, Floyd Landis, is here in Sacramento at the finish line. He spoke briefly with Robbie Ventura and Joe Silva.'),(5477,123,'2007-02-20 12:57:40','Poll Update','Do you agree with the officials\' call after Stage 1 at the TOC?
Yes - It\'s only fair 150 (34.32%)
No - It shows bias 246 (56.29%)
Not sure 41 (9.38%)
total votes 437 \r\n'),(5478,123,'2007-02-20 12:59:32','The three leaders','are coming up on the day\'s first sprint mark at the town of Winters. It doesn\'t really look like they will be contesting it.'),(5479,123,'2007-02-20 13:00:50','They did contest','it, after all. Laurent has scooted off and grabbed the top spot.'),(5480,123,'2007-02-20 13:04:46','The next sprint','is at km 130. From here on out, it\'s a straight flat shot into Sacramento, with a brisk crosswind. The pace right now is very moderate. Stage races of this scale often offer time predictions as to when riders will be reaching various points along the way. Today, the race bible offers times for 38.6kph, 41.8kph and 45kph. Right now the pace is lower than the slowest on the charts, with the leaders having reached the sprint in Winters about 8:00 behind the predicted time at 38.6k'),(5481,123,'2007-02-20 13:07:04','Winters Sprint','Laurent won it, earning three points and three seconds of bonus time. McCann was second, with two and two and Kem took third, earning one point and one second.'),(5482,123,'2007-02-20 13:09:03','Discovery','is still setting Tempo at the front of the field. Leipheimer looks relaxed and is sitting back in about the sixth position.'),(5483,123,'2007-02-20 13:23:09','Mike Neel','We were a little disappointed to learn that Mike Neel, former DS of 7-Eleven, couldn\'t make it to Sacramento today. He\'s living in the boonies of Northern California and decided to spend the day skiing and trail running and otherwise enjoying the benefits of life in retirement. Neel is certainly one of the North American pioneers, and among the first Americans to race as pros in Europe. Neel is also regarded as one of the best direcotrs the U.S. has ever produced.'),(5484,123,'2007-02-20 13:26:41','The gap is down to 2:50','With moderate crosswinds, the trip across the flats is turning into a lot of work for these guys. Aside from the wind, though, the day is absolutely perfect for racing bikes.'),(5485,123,'2007-02-20 13:35:42','The three leaders','Are coming up to the day\'s second sprint and strangely enough, the cohesion of the group is coming apart.'),(5486,123,'2007-02-20 13:38:34','Laurent takes the sprint','in Davis - California\'s capital when it comes to cycling. Laurent and McCann fought it out, but the Frenchman was clearly the stronger of the two. Kem cruised through a little behind. The problem now is that McCann and Laurent are not all too happy with one another and appear to be having words as they ride - uncooperatively - down the road.'),(5487,123,'2007-02-20 13:40:01','McCann and Laurent','are ticking down the road. Maybe a bit pissed (in the American sense of the word, not the British) but now riding together. Unfortunately, Kem seems to have slipped off the back.'),(5488,123,'2007-02-20 13:44:17','Time gaps','Laurent and McCann are now just 2:25 ahead of the peloton.'),(5489,123,'2007-02-20 13:45:41','Kem is in no-man\'s-land','Poor Omer Kem, is stuck in the middle, between the two leaders and the peloton.'),(5490,123,'2007-02-20 13:48:46','Crowds','The crowds here in Sacramento are building up. Word on the street is the governor - the Arnold - may make an appearance at the finish.'),(5491,123,'2007-02-20 13:57:43','With Kem in the field','The peloton is picking up the pace. The two leaders - Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole) and David McCann (Colavita) are just around two minutes ahead of the field.\r\n\r\nCSC, Liquigas, Discovery and T-Mobile are already lining up at the front. Folks are probably a little nervous, after that nasty crash in Santa Rosa.'),(5492,123,'2007-02-20 13:59:26','Poll Update','Do you agree with the officials\' call after Stage 1 at the TOC?
\r\nYes - It\'s only fair 164 (32.03%)
\r\nNo - It shows bias 302 (58.98%)
\r\nNot sure 46 (8.98%)
\r\ntotal votes 512 \r\n'),(5493,123,'2007-02-20 14:00:50','Today\'s finish','The peloton will be coursing through three trips around a 3.3km circuit around the capitol building here in Sacramento.\r\n\r\n'),(5494,123,'2007-02-20 14:10:48','Danny Pate','Slipstream\'s Danny Pate is trying to bridge up to the two leaders.'),(5495,123,'2007-02-20 14:14:00','Pate hooks up.','We called Jonathan Vaughters - Pate\'s team director - and he says this move wasn\'t really planned.
\"Danny is an independent thinker,\" Vaughters said. \"But look, the peloton is moving along at 19 miles an hour and Danny was the world (U23) time trial champion. Who knows? It\'s sure worth a try.\"
With 30km to go, the gap is around 2:00.'),(5496,123,'2007-02-20 14:17:48','Pate is the stronger of the three','Pate is now driving hard at front. We have a correction on the time check. The three men are hyst 40 seconds ahead of the field.'),(5497,123,'2007-02-20 14:18:48','Pate','is riding off on his own. He\'s working hard and decided that it will do him no good to tow the other two - exhausted - riders.'),(5498,123,'2007-02-20 14:21:15','Pate is now 1:00','ahead of the peloton. Laurent and McCann are about 20 seconds behind him'),(5499,123,'2007-02-20 14:25:44','Pate is extending his lead','With about 20km to go, Pate has upped his advantage to 1:15, just as Laurent and McCann are about to be caught by the peloton.'),(5500,123,'2007-02-20 14:28:37','Discovery','Is at the front of the field, but they are not getting help from anyone. Pate is moving along nicely. We are hoping to get a time check, but a betting man wouldn\'t put a lot into his chances, but, you never know.'),(5501,123,'2007-02-20 14:33:05','Pate is looking comfortable,','and he\'s working his way into the outskirts of Sacramento. '),(5502,123,'2007-02-20 14:35:56','Pate is coming into town','but Pate is about to be swallowed up by the peloton. We have about 11km remaining'),(5503,123,'2007-02-20 14:37:59','The catch','is about to happen. It was a good try, but now the sprinters\' teams are lining up.'),(5504,123,'2007-02-20 14:39:16','On to the circuit...','The peloton is heading into town, crossing the big draw bridge over the Sacramento River. The whole peloton is together and there are now three laps remaining.'),(5505,123,'2007-02-20 14:40:58','Onto the first lap','The Navigators and T-Mobile teams are battling for control at the front of the field as they approach the start-finish area. Three laps to go.'),(5506,123,'2007-02-20 14:41:54','The peloton is completely strung out','single file and the speeds are very high.'),(5507,123,'2007-02-20 14:44:25','Better than yesterday','The course is wider than yesterday and there are fewer turns. Interestingly, we do not see the Discovery team up there, trying to keep Leipheimer ahead of any potential crashes. The navigators, however are driving hard at the front.\r\n'),(5508,123,'2007-02-20 14:45:37','7km to go','The Discovery boys are moving up. We can see George Hincapie and Allan Davis moving through the crowd. Also Bettini is up, sitting in a good spot.'),(5509,123,'2007-02-20 14:46:42','Two laps','Two 3km laps to go. The Nav\'s are still driving hard, but the Quick Step team of Paolo Bettini is moving up the side. T-Mobile, too.'),(5510,123,'2007-02-20 14:48:39','Davis','Discovery\'s Allan Davis - the sprint leader - is working up to the front. CSC is now working hard to set up JJ Haedo.'),(5511,123,'2007-02-20 14:49:27','CSC is timing this nicely','CSC and Quick Step are moving past the Navigators, with 4km to go.'),(5512,123,'2007-02-20 14:49:59','Health Net','is working up, setting up for Menzies.'),(5513,123,'2007-02-20 14:51:12','On these nice wide roads','There are several teams setting up as they drive into the final lap. Three kilometers to go!'),(5514,123,'2007-02-20 14:52:22','Freddie','Freddie Rodriguez has gotten a nice ride to the front on the wheel of Chris Horner, but the swarm is coming... '),(5515,123,'2007-02-20 14:53:30','The Liquigas squad is now driving at the front','but here comes Hincapie, Cruz and Davis are there, too.'),(5516,123,'2007-02-20 14:54:03','With 1km to go','We see Bobby Julich driving hard at the front.'),(5517,123,'2007-02-20 14:56:18','A big swarm','at the end. Hincapie powers into the final meters, but CSC\'s JJ Haedo comes FLYING out of nowhere.'),(5518,123,'2007-02-20 14:59:54','We\'ll get results soon','Certainly JJ Haedo (CSC) won the stage and it looks like Levi Leipheimer will be keeping the leader\'s jersey for another day.'),(5519,123,'2007-02-20 15:19:00','Haedo says he\'s relieved','to have a won a stage.
\"Yesterday was frustrating for me,\" he said. \"I am very happy to be able to win here, today. The team did very much work for me. This win is for them.\"
1. JJ Haedo (Arg), Dk
2. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas
3. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole.'),(5520,123,'2007-02-20 15:21:00','No change in GC','Levi Leipheimer continues to lead the Amgen Tour of California.'),(5521,123,'2007-02-20 15:23:03','Okay folks...','that\'s a wrap. We\'ll see you tomorrow.'),(5524,124,'2007-02-21 11:05:45','Neutral start','The peloton is off and about to ride through two laps around downtown Stockton, giving fans a good chance to see some of the world\'s best in their first big event of the year. This neutral zone is fairly long at around 10km.'),(5523,124,'2007-02-21 11:00:43','Good day','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 3rd stage of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, a beautiful 152.2km (94.6 mile) stage from Stockton to San Jose.
Today\'s stage is slatd to start at 11:00 with 10 kilometers of neutral as the peloton rides two parade laps around downtown Stockton before they hit the Zero Km mark. The day\'s first hurdle is the Category 4 climb up Patterson Pass, which peaks out at 55.3km. Today features only one bonus sprint - in Livermore at 71.2km. Then comes the day\'s big obstacle... the Cat. 1 climb up Sierra Road, a tough haul that tops out at 123.1km. It\'s a tough climb and we could see a decisive move develop on the climb, because it\'s a fast 30km to the finish after the top.\r\n'),(5525,124,'2007-02-21 11:10:00','An easy pace','Rolling through Stockton, the peloton is ambling through wide roads at an easy pace. Up front we see Ivan Basso, Levi Leipheimer, Paolo Bettini and JJ Haedo. That\'s quite a remarkable collection of riders in an American bike race, isn\'t it? '),(5526,124,'2007-02-21 11:15:25','We\'re probably 8 minutes from','the official start. The peloton is still rolling through Stockton.'),(5527,124,'2007-02-21 11:22:00','News from the ASO summit','ASO, the organizers of the Tour de France, are currently holding a summit in New York City. The TdF start in future years:
2008 Brest
2009 Monaco
2010 Germany\r\n'),(5537,124,'2007-02-21 12:01:31','Time gap','The 16 men off the front are still about 25 seconds off the front.'),(5536,124,'2007-02-21 11:57:00','The men in the break','Jurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step)
Shawn Milne (Health Net Presented By Maxxis)
Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas)
Jens Voigt (Team CSC)
Theo Eltink (Rabobank)
Bram De Groot (Rabobank)
Charly Wegelius (Liquigas)
Steven Cozza (Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle)
William Frischkorn (Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle)
Nicolar Reistad (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
Peter Hatton (Colavita Sutter Home)
Kirk O\'Bee (Health Net Presented By Maxxis)
Mads Kaggestad (Credit Agricole)
Kyle Gritters (Health Net Presented By Maxxis)
Adam Hansen (T-mobile)
and Aaron Olsen (T-mobile)'),(5528,124,'2007-02-21 11:28:28','And they\'re off!','The peloton has crossed the official start mark and we may well see some of the small, more aggressive, teams take an early dig.'),(5529,124,'2007-02-21 11:30:15','Early attack','Will Frischkorn and Alejandro Acton have gone off the front, but the peloton has reacted quickly.'),(5530,124,'2007-02-21 11:31:58','They have company','A small cadre of riders bridged up to the two men off the front, but the peloton has swept up the whole bunch. Now Colavita\'s David Frattini is trying his hand.'),(5531,124,'2007-02-21 11:33:39','All together','T-Mobile sent Michael Barry up front and the group was swept up. Lots and lots of attacks... it will continue until one of these sticks.'),(5532,124,'2007-02-21 11:38:33','Big group','Attacks continue. We have a group off the front... but the leaders include Jens Voigt and a few dangerous riders. We doubt this will stick.'),(5533,124,'2007-02-21 11:48:42','The gap is growing','We have a big group of riders off the front and the Discovery team is chasing hard.'),(5534,124,'2007-02-21 11:53:54','The gap is holding at about 30 seconds.','The big group up front is holding its own, but the pace is really high. Up front it looks like we have a strong group of 16 riders working well together and only about five Discovery riders doing the bulk of the work in the chase.'),(5538,124,'2007-02-21 12:05:38','There is some power in this break.','The men in the lead are adding to their lead. Our latest time check gives them about 1:00.'),(5539,124,'2007-02-21 12:08:55','Lotto','The Predictor-Lotto squad is lending a hand in the chase, but the bulk of the work is still doing the bulk of the chase work.'),(5540,124,'2007-02-21 12:13:28','30km','The race is at the 30km mark. The road will gradually move up over the next 15km and then the climb up to the day\'s first KOM.'),(5541,124,'2007-02-21 12:17:03','Leipheimer working the crowd','Levi Leipheimer is talking to Chris Horner, trying to get a couple more Lotto riders to lend a hand. Horner, with his usual grin, shook his head no. Leipheimer isn\'t too happy. That big, dangerous, group up front is putting pressure on the yellow jersey.'),(5542,124,'2007-02-21 12:19:25','Things are warming up','Leipheimer and several riders in the break are taking off their wind vests. The sun is making a few appearances, but for the most part it\'s a cool and cloudy day.'),(5543,124,'2007-02-21 12:20:26','Lotto has pulled out of the chase','Horner\'s guys are drifting back and leaving the chase work to the Discovery team.'),(5544,124,'2007-02-21 12:28:00','The gap','The gap is now at 1:33. Just to update folks, the men in the break are as follows:
8 Jens Voigt (CSC)
\r\n14 Bram De Groot (Rabobank)
\r\n26 Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel)
\r\n33 Hiekmann (Gerolsteiner)
\r\n46 Aaron Olsen \r\n48 Jakob Piil (T-Mobile)
\r\n66 Van De Walle (Quick Step-Innergetic)
\r\n54 Kaggestad (Crédit Agricole)
\r\n73 Da Dalto\r\n77 Wegelius\r\n78 Willems (Liquigas)
\r\n103 Gritters \r\n106 Shawn Milne \r\n107 Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis)
\r\n112 Steven Cozza (Slipstream-Chipotle)
\r\n115 Will Frischkorn (??)
\r\n137 Nick Reistad (Jelly Belly)
\r\n146 Brian Sheedy (Priority Health)
\r\n166 Mike Sayers (BMC)
\r\n'),(5547,124,'2007-02-21 12:42:00','Approaching the top of the climb','Jurgen Van de Waal will try to snag some points, but Frischkorn is there to protect the climber\'s jersey of his teammate Thomas Peterson.'),(5545,124,'2007-02-21 12:31:09','The gap','is now at 1:45. The Discovery team has been left to do all of the work. Lotto is not helping and the gap is growing. Up front, we have 16 riders, with most putting in a strong effort.'),(5546,124,'2007-02-21 12:34:02','On the climb','The leaders are at 45km and working up the slopes of the Cat.4 on Patterson Pass.'),(5548,124,'2007-02-21 12:46:45','Frischkorn takes the KOM','Van de Walle gets second for three points, which puts him into a tie for KOM points. '),(5556,124,'2007-02-21 12:59:37','Discovery under pressure','The Discovery team is under enough pressure now because they\'ve even moved Tom Danielson up to help chase. It\'s all up to Discovery at this point. No one is helping them. Meanwhile Johann Bruyneel is driving up to the break to discuss matters with Jason McCartney - the only Disco in the break.'),(5551,124,'2007-02-21 12:48:49','Up and over','The peloton is over the top of the climb, about 2:30 behind the leaders.'),(5557,124,'2007-02-21 13:06:07','Voigt gets the sprint','The leaders are coming up to the sprint point. Jens Voigt goes for it and wins the points by a big margin.
\r\nThe men in the break:
\r\nJurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step)
Shawn Milne (Health Net Presented By Maxxis)
Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas)
Jens Voigt (Team CSC)
Theo Eltink (Rabobank)
Bram De Groot (Rabobank)
Charly Wegelius (Liquigas)
Steven Cozza (Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle)
William Frischkorn (Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle)
Nicolar Reistad (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
Peter Hatton (Colavita Sutter Home)
Kirk O\'Bee (Health Net Presented By Maxxis)
Mads Kaggestad (Credit Agricole)
Kyle Gritters (Health Net Presented By Maxxis)
Adam Hansen (T-mobile)
and Aaron Olsen (T-mobile)
Jason '),(5555,124,'2007-02-21 12:52:12','CSC','Jens Voigt is smiling as the lead group is coming down Patterson Pass - at around 55km. This break is playing right into the CSC squad\'s hands. Even if it fails and they are swept up by the peloton, the team can launch its stronger climbers - Julich and possibly Vande Velde - out of the main field once they reach the day\'s big climb at 114km (peaking out at 128.7km).'),(5558,124,'2007-02-21 13:10:42','CSC','The CSC boys in the field are riding directly behind an increasingly frustrated Levi Leipheimer. The CSC team, though, looks relaxed and happy.
We got a call from VeloNews editorial director, John Wilcockson, who is up on the climb at Sierra Road. He says it\'s chilly up there, but despite the weather, the crowds are huge.'),(5559,124,'2007-02-21 13:18:09','Jason McCartney','Discovery\'s Jason McCartney is attacking out of the break on the unrated climb at around 77km. His former companions are not putting in a huge effort, and may well be content to keep him hanging out on his own out there.'),(5560,124,'2007-02-21 13:18:00','That didn\'t last','McCartney was quickly pulled back. Strange move.'),(5561,124,'2007-02-21 13:39:34','Gap','The gap is at around 5:00. The full responsibility for the chase is still on Discovery\'s shoulders and it\'s not going well for them.'),(5562,124,'2007-02-21 13:42:57','A little help','Despite the fact that Rabobank has Bram De Groot in the break, the team has moved to the front to lend the Discovery team a hand. That may be an indication that the Dutch team doesn\'t have a lot of faith in their guy\'s chances on the climb up Sierra Road.'),(5563,124,'2007-02-21 13:45:56','The chase','With a bit of pressure off of Discovery, the help from Rabobank has given the team a chance to rest and pick the pace up. We\'ll get a chance to see if the gap changes.'),(5564,124,'2007-02-21 13:46:46','Coming down','Our latest time check gives the break an advantage of 3:50.'),(5565,124,'2007-02-21 13:53:10','Shawn Milne','Tries his hand at an attack. Over the top of a little unrated climb, Milne has scampered off the front. The HealthNet man is trying to get a bit of advantage before the climb up Sierra Road.'),(5566,124,'2007-02-21 13:57:34','The field','The Slipstream team has put a rider in the front of the peloton. The men in Argyle may be deciding to protect the second-place spot on GC, now held by their guy Jason Donald. Meanwhile, Milne is leading the break by about 25 seconds and the rest of the break is holding a 3:50 lead on the main field.'),(5567,124,'2007-02-21 14:01:15','With about 45 km to go','The gap is around 3:30. The big unknown, though, is what the 10km up Sierra Road will do. For Discovery, the worst-case scenario is that Leipheimer\'s teammates have spent too much effort chasing and he may find himself quite isolated as the climbers from other teams put on the pressure.'),(5570,124,'2007-02-21 14:16:52','Thoughts from today\'s start:','Michael Rasmussen: My leg feels fine, but I’ve caught a cold and don’t feel well at all. I’ll be lucky if I finish the tour.
Jens Voigt: J.J. was so far ahead of everyone, he had time to look back and say, ‘Come on guys. Aren’t you still pedaling?’
Tom Danielson: I learned a few things on Sierra Road last year. One thing I learned is that I need to start this race with better form…. Losing Zabriskie was a bummer. He looked really fit. I don’t see any other riders being a major threat for the time trial. Honestly, the riders I expect to be best in the time trial are all on my team.
Lance Armstrong is at the race today, riding in the Discovery Channel car with director Johan Bruyneel. He didn’t make an appearance at the start – maybe he’ll say hello to the crowds at the finish.\r\n\r\nThor Hushovd: It’s early in the season. I don’t expect I’ll have the form to make it over the climb with the leaders and contest the sprint, but I’ll try.\r\n'),(5569,124,'2007-02-21 14:10:30','Milne','Is on the flats before the day\'s big climb. He\'s got about 40 seconds ahead of the other men in the break. We\'ll get a time check on the peloton ASAP.'),(5571,124,'2007-02-21 14:29:28','Oh man...','We had technical troubles and we\'re back.\r\nUp front Jens Voigt and Jason McCartney are the only men in the break that have not been passed by Levi Leipheimer.'),(5572,124,'2007-02-21 14:31:09','So with Leipheimer','We have Jason McCartney, Jens Voigt, Michael Rasmussen, Chris Horner...'),(5573,124,'2007-02-21 14:32:00','Leipheimer','is riding like a race leader. He\'s riding at the front of an elite group of five riders: Horner, Voigt, Rasmussen and McCartney.'),(5574,124,'2007-02-21 14:34:49','Correction:','Correction: The Rabobank with Leipheimer is Robert Gesink.'),(5575,124,'2007-02-21 14:36:28','The men in front','Leipheimer
Horner
Gesink
Voigt
McCartney'),(5576,124,'2007-02-21 14:38:28','At the KOM','Leipheimer leads the group over the top of the climb... now it\'s 22km down to the finish.'),(5577,124,'2007-02-21 14:41:30','The second group','A large group, with Paolo Bettini and several riders from the original break, crossed about 35 seconds back.'),(5578,124,'2007-02-21 14:44:38','The five','men up front include race leader Levi Leipheimer (Discovery); Jens Voigt (CSC); Chris Horner (Predictor Lotto); Robert Gesink (Rabobak) and Jason McCartney (Discovery)'),(5579,124,'2007-02-21 14:46:04','The chase group','is at about 1:00. There are about 15 riders in the second group chasing the five leaders.'),(5580,124,'2007-02-21 14:47:11','','The gap between the two front groups is holding at about 1:00'),(5581,124,'2007-02-21 14:50:58','The leaders','are charging down the descent of Sierra road. The gap is still holding at about 1:00. '),(5582,124,'2007-02-21 14:52:23','On the flats.','The five leaders are at the bottom of the long drop off of Sierra Road. Leipheimer is doing the bulk of the work, with McCartney lending a hand. Horner is doing his share, too.'),(5583,124,'2007-02-21 14:53:34','15km to go','The leaders are 15km from the finish.'),(5586,124,'2007-02-21 14:58:40','Leipheimer','Is driving hard at the front of the group. Our latest time check gives this lead group is still hoding at 1:00.'),(5585,124,'2007-02-21 14:55:54','Bruyneel','comes up to give Leipheimer some encouragement. Lance Armstrong is riding shotgun in the Disco car, by the way.'),(5587,124,'2007-02-21 15:01:40','9km to go','With nine kilometers to go, the men up front are driving hard. The gap is not changing and it looks like the day\'s winner is going to come from this group.'),(5588,124,'2007-02-21 15:05:14','Leipheimer riding like a race leader','Leipheimer can preserve his hold on the race lead today if he finishes third or better. If Voigt wins and gets 10 seconds of bonus time and Leipheimer is fourth or fifth, we might see a change in the leadership.'),(5589,124,'2007-02-21 15:07:00','Voigt fades back','and then attacks hard. Now we see Voigt in the lead with Leipheimer and Horner on his wheel. We have 2km to go.'),(5590,124,'2007-02-21 15:09:17','With 1km to go,','It looks like Leipheimer will hold his jersey. As the three men enter the final kilometer, Leipheimer is driving hard at the front.'),(5591,124,'2007-02-21 15:11:45','To the finish','Voigt attacks and wins!'),(5592,124,'2007-02-21 15:14:00','','1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery
3. Chris Horner (USA) Predictor Lotto
Leipheimer holds the leader\'s jersey, with Jens Voigt and Chris Horner right in there.'),(5593,126,'2007-02-22 10:01:51','Good morning . . .','. . . and welcome to our live coverage of what looks to be a very soggy Stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California.'),(5594,126,'2007-02-22 10:06:13','The word on the road . . .','. . . is \"wet.\" VeloNews.com editor Charles Pelkey reports that it\'s been raining all morning long, and the Pacific Coast Highway is slick and rockstrewn in spots as the field prepares for a 14km neutral rollout from Seaside to Carmel. Charles, renowned as a master of understatement, notes, \"It\'s gonna be an uncomfortable day on the bike.\"'),(5595,126,'2007-02-22 10:10:59','Today\'s weather report','In nearby Monterey, says the National Weather Service, we\'re talking mostly cloudy and 50, with wind out of the southeast at 9 mph. It\'s even chillier in Big Sur, which the peloton willl visit en route to San Luis Obispo, which is enjoying light rain and fog. Embrocation, anyone?'),(5596,126,'2007-02-22 10:15:35','Rock on','There\'s a lot of rockfall along the PCH, including some head-sized jumbos, according to our intrepid editor, and the state is busy scraping them off the road — using snowplows. '),(5597,126,'2007-02-22 10:19:57','Today\'s route','The peloton is looking at 213.4km (132.6 miles) of damp slogging between Seaside and San Luis Obispo, with three KOMs thrown in just to keep their minds off the squishing sounds coming from their shoes. The views are outstanding, but somehow we suspect these guys will be giving the scenery little attention today.'),(5598,126,'2007-02-22 10:24:52','Rolling through the neutral','We\'re getting close to showtime.'),(5599,126,'2007-02-22 10:27:09','While we wait . . .','. . . Taylor Tolleson (Slipstream-Chipotle), who\'s wearing the best-young-rider jersey, got himself a nice little writeup in The San Francisco Chronicle today. Says Taylor: \"I want to do what I love, and I love riding my bike.\" Wonder how much he\'s loving it today? '),(5600,126,'2007-02-22 10:33:29','It may not be raining cats and dogs . . .','. . . but the editor swears he\'s seen a few kittens and gerbils.'),(5601,126,'2007-02-22 10:36:41','By the way . . .','. . . if you\'re wondering why Tom Danielson had an especially strained look on his face in that Graham Watson photo from yesterday\'s stage report, it wasn\'t just the rigors of the Sierra Road climb. \"I picked up some kind of food poisoning yesterday,\" Danielson told senior writer Neal Rogers this morning. I just couldn\'t go. But I feel better today, and I hope to ride for Levi and show I\'m a good teammate.\"'),(5602,126,'2007-02-22 10:41:12','Bettini hopeful','Mr. Rogers also chatted up Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic), who said he\'s enjoying his visit to the United States. \"I\'m happy to be here, racing in the U.S.\" said Bettini. \"Yesterday was a good test for my legs. There are two stages left for me, and I hope to win one of them.\"'),(5603,126,'2007-02-22 10:42:08','And they\'re off','Stage 4 is under way.'),(5604,126,'2007-02-22 10:54:04','Folks the weather','is rough. We\'re not getting a video feed from the road and the news is spotty. The rain is so heavy that we may be loosing our internet conection at the finish may be going in and out all day. We will do our best to keep you apprised as things unfold. '),(5607,126,'2007-02-22 10:55:00','20km','There have been a healthy number of early forays off the front. Still now at 20km into today\'s stage the field is back together.
Meanwhile, we spoke with three-time world time trial champion Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) and he said he is looking forward to the Time Trial in Solvang, but he\'s not making predictions:
\"I’m pretty happy with my legs on Sierra Road. I couldn’t quite go with Levi and Horner, but it’s still early season.
\"Those guys are Americans, and they’re obviously motivated for this race. I haven’t spent too much time on the time trial bike in the last few months, but I’m feeling pretty good about Friday. We’ll see.\"\r\n'),(5608,126,'2007-02-22 11:20:58','Rain, rain','The rain continues to dog the coast today. Today\'s route covers what is arguably one of the most beautiful roads in the world. We covered the course today and were treated to spectactular views and our arrival was delayed when the two of us in the car opted to stop and check out the elephant seals enjoying the beach at San Simeon.'),(5609,126,'2007-02-22 11:17:00','A break','We\'re getting reports from the road again. We see HealthNet\'s Kirk O\'Bee, Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile), Alejandro Acton (Colavita Sutter Home) and Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole) are off the front at 33km.\r\n'),(5610,126,'2007-02-22 11:27:54','Still looking for a time check','We\'re still hoping get a time check, but our most recent report gave the leaders at 35 seconds.'),(5611,126,'2007-02-22 11:30:02','The leaders','Are coming up on the day\'s first sprint mark and it looks like the four men up front have some company. The sprint is at 38.5kmat Big Sur.'),(5612,126,'2007-02-22 11:31:27','Now joining the leaders','Hilton Clarke (Navigators) and two other riders - a Slipstream and a Toyota - have joined up with the leaders.'),(5613,126,'2007-02-22 11:35:29','There is a patch of blue sky out there','The rain has paused a bit. Will the weather clear today? The riders sure hope so. Up front, the leaders have come through the Big Sur sprint and now working their way up to the Cat.4 climb at 43.5km.
We\'ve ID-ed the two riders we only mentioned by team. They are Lucas Euser (Slipstream) and Sean Sullivan (Toyota). \r\n'),(5614,126,'2007-02-22 11:37:54','The men in the break','Up front, we have seven riders now 1:50 ahead of the peloton, as they near the KOM at 43km. The riders in the break are
Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile)
Alejandro Acton (Colavita)
Lucas Euser (Slipstream)
Sean Sullivan (Toyota)
Kirk O\'Bee (HealthNet)
Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)\r\n'),(5615,126,'2007-02-22 11:39:35','1km to go before the KOM','The seven men up front are heading to the KOM. Laurent is the rider to whom these points matter most, but Euser, the man from Slipstream, may go for it, too.'),(5616,126,'2007-02-22 11:40:00','Laurent goes','and Euser is on his wheel. Laurent holds him off, giving the Frenchman the lead in the climber\'s competition, bumping Euser\'s teammate Thomas Peterson There is another Cat. 4 KOM coming up at 109.2km, followed by a Cat. 3 at 115.2. If the break stays away, the Credit Ag\' rider will have a good chance to get a solid hold on the jersey'),(5617,126,'2007-02-22 11:46:55','Sun, sun','The sun is breaking out and all of the rain that troubled the stage this morning is gone and the roads are drying up.
Our latest time check gives the leaders an advantage of 2:05. With no serious GC threats in the group, Discovery will not have to chase as frantically as they did yesterday.'),(5618,126,'2007-02-22 11:53:09','Vaughters has pulled up to chat','with Euser. The Slipstream car is decorated in orange with Argyle highlights and sporting a big Chipotle burrito on the rear window.'),(5619,126,'2007-02-22 11:56:27','Fines and penalties','Yesterday, Tom Peterson (Slipstream Sports-Chipotle) was fined 50 Swiss Francs and penalized 20 seconds for extended pacing behind a team vehicle. 200 Swiss Francs for unseemly behavior (spitting at a vehicle passenger).'),(5620,126,'2007-02-22 11:59:30','The ASO/UCI war','The heat is building up in the row between cycling\'s governing body and race organizers with the UCI asking teams to boycott this year\'s Paris-Nice.
Spokesmen for several teams say UCI president Pat McQuaid has sent a letter pressuring them to skip the prestigious event due to the UCI\'s dispute with race organizer ASO, which also runs the Tour de France.
UCI rules deem that all ProTour teams must be invited to ProTour events. However, ASO refused to send an invitation to Belgian-Swedish team Unibet.com.
\"It is clear that in this situation no ProTour team can take part in Paris-Nice,\" McQuaid is said to have written in the letter.
However, it seems that the UCI will have a tough job persuading the teams to follow its dictum. The French team Cofidis already has ruled out boycotting the March 11-18 event.
General manager Eric Boyer said team management was thinking of its sponsors \"and above all for our riders, who are there to ride and certainly not to be held hostage over a conflict between the international federation and the organizers.\" \r\n'),(5621,126,'2007-02-22 12:01:11','Time gap','With the leaders now at the 60km mark, are just around 1:45 ahead of the field.'),(5622,126,'2007-02-22 12:06:43','At 62km','The seven leaders are now 2:15 ahead of the field.'),(5623,126,'2007-02-22 12:09:54','Crossing Bixby Bridge','The peloton is crossing Bixby Bridge and it seems the gap is actually at 3:00.'),(5624,126,'2007-02-22 12:11:46','Questions Comments Complaints','If you have any, drop us a not at WebLetters@InsideInc.com'),(5625,126,'2007-02-22 12:13:01','Roads','Boy the weather sure has improved since we drove it this morning. The roads are dry and we\'re even seeing shadows out there.'),(5626,126,'2007-02-22 12:17:22','The time gap','The peloton is now being led by the Discovery team, but the boys from Disco are not ripping it up like they did yesterday. The gap is now 3:20. The odds are good that they will be letting the break stay out there within a reasonable time, since there is no GC threat and it keeps things calm if there is a small group off the front.'),(5627,126,'2007-02-22 12:22:13','Rain?','While the men on the road are riding under sunny skies, there is a chance that they may be riding into rain up the road again.'),(5628,126,'2007-02-22 12:28:19','Reader Question','We received an interesting question from reader Philip Watson:
\"With all of the American race teams that we have, why is it that we only have the Discovery team races abroad?\"
Well Philip, the Discovery squad is the only U.S. team in the ProTour, but it\'s not the only U.S. team that races overseas. The Slipstream squad - managed by former Credit Agricole/U.S. Postal pro Jonathon Vaughters - will be doing the Criterium International this year and is seeking invitations to a number of spring races including Paris-Roubaix. The Navigators team is also riding a full schedule of European races this year and we will see a few other domestic teams over there at various times as well, we\'re sure.\r\n'),(5629,126,'2007-02-22 12:32:48','Disco still up front','in the main field and the break is crusing about 3:30 ahead of the field. The weather is still holding. Here at the finish, the rain has started again.'),(5630,126,'2007-02-22 12:38:18','Another question','Question: Why was Tom Peterson fined in Swiss francs during an American race? Is there a universal currency for international bike races?
Thanks,
Kathi Carlisle Fountain
Yes Kathi, there is a universal currency in cycling at the international level and it\'s the Swiss franc. With the UCI located in Lausanne, Switzerland, that\'s the currency everyone is fined in. We would personally prefer that penalties be paid in Scotch whiskey and gold Krugerrands.'),(5631,126,'2007-02-22 12:39:00','Oh lordy','what a beautiful day. The seven men up front are ticking along nicely under a sunny sky. Just a reminder. The riders in the break are
Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile)
Alejandro Acton (Colavita)
Lucas Euser (Slipstream)
Sean Sullivan (Toyota)
Kirk O\'Bee (HealthNet)
Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
Hilton Clarke (Navigators)'),(5632,126,'2007-02-22 12:44:47','At 85km','The gap is 3:05 and the peloton is being led by a fairly relaxed Discovery team. As the race comes toward the finish, it\'s likely that the work will be picked up the sprinters\' teams, who have plans on winning a stage. Discovery will simply work to maintain the gap, but it\'s not a big deal for the race leader\'s team if they don\'t catch the break.'),(5633,126,'2007-02-22 12:54:03','The rain','The leaders are moving into the rain again. Three minutes back, though, the peloton is still dry.'),(5634,126,'2007-02-22 12:57:33','The wind is picking up','The peloton is now riding in the rain... and the gap is just around 3:15.'),(5635,126,'2007-02-22 13:01:56','American teams','We got a follow-up question from reader Wesley Hodgson
This is in regards to the question from Philip... isn\'t CSC an American\r\ncompany? I thought they were based out of El Segundo, CA, but\r\nthe UCI ProTour has them listed as being Danish. I\'m confused.
Yes, Wesley, CSC is an American company, but the team is registered in Denmark and managed by Riis Racing, Bjarne Riis\'s management company, which is based in Denmark.
The peloton is now in the feedzone (95km) and the sun is out again.'),(5636,126,'2007-02-22 13:06:42','The leaders','are working their way up to the Cat. 4 climb, which peaks out at 109.2km. There are 4, 3, 2 and 1 points available for the first four spots. Then at 115.2km, there is a Cat. 3, where there are 6, 5, 4, 3 and 1 points available for the top five.'),(5637,126,'2007-02-22 13:10:41','Five kilometers','to the KOM at 109.2km'),(5638,126,'2007-02-22 13:17:23','Sun','It\'s been on-and-off for the past few kilometers, but right now both the leaders and the peloton are riding under a clear and beautiful sky as they work their way down the Pacific Coast Highway at the 106km mark. The gap is now 3:33.'),(5639,126,'2007-02-22 13:21:04','200 meters to the KOM',''),(5640,126,'2007-02-22 13:22:05','Euser and Laurent','Charge to the line and Euser gets four KOM points and Laurent gets three.'),(5641,126,'2007-02-22 13:23:01','The leaders are now at 110km','and they are heading to the climb at 115.2km'),(5642,126,'2007-02-22 13:29:00','Reader Question','Reader Ken Nelson asks: With all the excitement in yesterday\'s stage and the riders saying that it seemed like a \"real bike race\" is there any reason why the organizers don\'t consider a mountain- top finish? It would be cool if they raced in the (below snow level) and extended the tour a couple of days. Just a thought. Thanks for the great coverage. Ken.
Ken, there sure has been talk. The folks in and around Stanford keep suggesting a mountain-top finish up the road to the Lick Observatory outside of San Jose. We\'d sure love to see it.'),(5643,126,'2007-02-22 13:31:52','Heading to the KOM','Euser and Laurent are in the final 200 meters'),(5644,126,'2007-02-22 13:33:13','Laurent nails it.','The Credit Agricole man gets 6 KOM points, while Euser gets five. The leaders are now at 115.km'),(5645,126,'2007-02-22 13:36:00','The peloton','is now at the top of the second KOM and still about three minutes behind the leaders.'),(5646,126,'2007-02-22 13:42:56','Very stable','The weather is holding and so is the gap. Our leaders are at km 121 and the chase is about three minutes back.'),(5647,126,'2007-02-22 13:55:03','Euser','The gap is holding steady at 3:00. One thing to keep in mind is that one of the men in the break - Slipstream\'s Lucas Euser - is a recent graduate of Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. Maybe he\'s hoping to get a win in front of his old home town, eh? It\'s something to keep in mind.'),(5648,126,'2007-02-22 14:02:47','Heading to the sprint','The next highlight on the road will be the sprint mark at km 142.9. That will be right at the Hearst Castle road, at San Simeon.'),(5649,126,'2007-02-22 14:09:09','The peloton','Are rolling through the sprint at Hearst Castle road... ahead the seven men in the lead, cruised through here about three minutes ago. As a reminder, the leaders on the road are:
Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile)
Alejandro Acton (Colavita)
Lucas Euser (Slipstream)
Sean Sullivan (Toyota)
Kirk O\'Bee (HealthNet)
Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
Hilton Clarke (Navigators)'),(5650,126,'2007-02-22 14:13:02','For those of you following video','The video feed on the Amgen site has paused... we are working on the problem.'),(5651,126,'2007-02-22 14:19:07','Reader Question','Here\'s an interesting question from a reader. Brad Shipley asks:
How come so many of the US pros went to college first? Is it because our amateur program isn’t as far long as it needs to be and they weren’t exposed to until later on? Do you think this is hindering their development?
Well, Brad, we\'re not sure. It\'s sure not a long-run hinderance, is it? We know several riders who have started their careers a bit later, and you\'re right. Some have had a handicap... until they retire that is. Then they have a huge advantage over the field. We\'re telling our kids to go to school first. '),(5652,126,'2007-02-22 14:24:00','With 58km to go','The gap is staying fairly steady. Up front, the leaders are still ambling along, with the Discovery team leading the peloton. We\'d bet that the chase will begin in earnest within the next 30k or so, with the sprinters\' teams leading the charge.
As a reminder, the men in the break are
Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile)
Alejandro Acton (Colavita)
Lucas Euser (Slipstream)
Sean Sullivan (Toyota)
Kirk O\'Bee (HealthNet)
Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
Hilton Clarke (Navigators)'),(5655,126,'2007-02-22 14:40:44','The leaders are now','some 49km from the finish, and our recent - corrected - time check puts them at 3:30 ahead of the peloton.'),(5654,126,'2007-02-22 14:36:39','52km to go','The men in the lead are now 52km from the finish.'),(5656,126,'2007-02-22 14:42:01','3:05','The moto with marker board just came up to the break, displaying \"3:05,\" suggesting that the gap is beginning to shrink.'),(5657,126,'2007-02-22 14:47:38','Coming down','The gap is coming down. With our leaders about 42km from the finish, the gap is now just 2:35. '),(5658,126,'2007-02-22 14:49:09','Back in the peloton','The Discovery team is still leading the field. We would expect to see other teams starting to lend a hand as the finish line nears.'),(5659,126,'2007-02-22 15:00:56','The gap','The timer Moto shows the gap to be at 2:25. Up front in the peloton, Rabobank and Liquigas are driving hard. '),(5660,126,'2007-02-22 15:04:24','With 30km to go','The leaders are cruising along nicely, but there is a serious chase underway behind them. The Liquigas and Rabobank teams are now doing the bulk of the work, but Discovery is up there lending a hand.'),(5661,126,'2007-02-22 15:08:22','The gap','The seven leaders are losing time with 27.5km to go. The latest time check gives them only 1:44 ahead of the field.'),(5662,126,'2007-02-22 15:11:42','Liquigas and Rabobank','have each placed two riders at the front of the peloton. The full Discovery squad is behind them. The odds are pretty good that the men up front will be reeled in before the finish.'),(5663,126,'2007-02-22 15:14:08','The gap','is now down to 1:20, with 23km remaining.'),(5664,126,'2007-02-22 15:16:58','The peloton','is really driving hard under the leadership of Rabobank and Liquigas. The pace back in the field is considerably higher than up front in the break.'),(5665,126,'2007-02-22 15:18:26','20km to go','With 20km to go, the leaders are now just about 1:05 ahead of the field.'),(5666,126,'2007-02-22 15:23:05','The men in front','Are picking up the pace and the gap is holding'),(5667,126,'2007-02-22 15:26:19','With 14km to go','The leaders are powering toward the finish. We\'re still looking an update on the time gap. Alejandro Acton (Colavita) and Hilton Clarke (Navigators) try a dig, but the peloton is coming up fast.'),(5668,126,'2007-02-22 15:29:10','Attacks','The men up front are trying to pick up the pace and there are several attacks as the peloton comes closing in on the escapees. The gap is now 45 seconds with 10km to go.'),(5669,126,'2007-02-22 15:30:56','less than','25 seconds. The catch is about to happen folks... and long-time VeloNews update viewers know what that means.'),(5670,126,'2007-02-22 15:32:26','It\'s almost done.','Is someone going to take a final dig when the catch comes? Yup. Acton goes for it.'),(5671,126,'2007-02-22 15:32:42','It didn\'t work',''),(5672,126,'2007-02-22 15:34:42','Now T-Mobile up front','With only about 7km remaining, the peloton is driving hard, with T-Mobile up front, but now Discovery is moving up, mostly to protect Leipheimer\'s position.'),(5673,126,'2007-02-22 15:36:28','Charging into town','Freddie Rodriguez\'s Lotto squad and JJ Haedo\'s CSC team are moving up, keeping the pace high.'),(5674,126,'2007-02-22 15:37:24','Bettini is in a good spot','But Voigt takes a flyer! Is he gonna pull it off, with 2km to go?'),(5675,126,'2007-02-22 15:38:08','Nope.','Now it\'s a big CSC/Lotto train....'),(5676,126,'2007-02-22 15:38:41','Here they come.','With about 1.5km to go, it\'s still Voigt at the front.'),(5677,126,'2007-02-22 15:39:27','Voigt is an animal!','He\'s done, but what a pull.'),(5678,126,'2007-02-22 15:40:55','On the final turn','And we think Paolo Bettini gets the sprint!'),(5679,126,'2007-02-22 15:41:48','Bettini sure thinks he won it','he\'s holding up his thumb and index finger to show how close it was.'),(5680,126,'2007-02-22 15:45:22','It\'s confirmed','Bettini nudged past Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) at the line.'),(5681,127,'2007-02-23 11:24:51','Good day','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fifth stage of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, a 23.4km individual time trial around the Danish community of Solvang, California.'),(5682,127,'2007-02-23 11:30:00','Windy, windy','It\'s a cool and windy day today in Solvang. The wind isn\'t brutal, but it will affect riders\' wheel choices. It may be worth checking out what the Discovery team chooses for wheels. Remember that the Disco boys have the benefit of a very nice piece of software developed by wheel guru Steve Hed. Hed found that in certain wind conditions a full disc wheel is detriment, rather than an asset. Hed places wind monitors around various spots on the route and then plugs all of that data into his program. The software produces a recommendation so a rider picks the most efficient wheels. Recall that in 2004, Lance Armstrong opted for double tri-spokes in the final TT at the Tour de France.'),(5683,127,'2007-02-23 11:34:32','We see Michael Rasmussen on course','Not known as one of the world\'s best time trialists, Rasmussen is an early starter today because he also had a bad day on the climb on Sierra Road the other day. He\'s opted for a standard front wheel and a full-on disc in the rear.'),(5684,127,'2007-02-23 11:35:44','Give us a few minutes','We are going to step out and get some photos of riders bikes and their wheel choices. We\'re still early in the stage, so the numbers aren\'t going to be much of a factor at this point.'),(5685,127,'2007-02-23 11:51:45','Brian Sheedy','Priority Health\'s Brian Sheedy has turned in the day\'s best time so far, with a 32:26.04. That reminds us. Why don\'t we have a contest? The winner today will win a copy of VeloPress\'s \"Golden Age of Cycling.\" Send your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage and what his winning time will be. We will give a copy of that gorgeous book to the one of you is closest to the correct time. Send your picks to Rosters@InsideInc.com. If you want to make our jobs a little easier, be sure to include both the name and time in the subject line of your e-mail.'),(5686,127,'2007-02-23 11:54:18','Hushovd','Thor Hushovd is about to leave the starting gate.\r\n'),(5687,127,'2007-02-23 12:05:15','The world TT champ','Fabian Cancellera (CSC) is on the road. The rainbow skinsuit is astride his Cervelo P3, with a full disc and deep-dish front wheel (both from Zipp). Despite being down on GC, Cancellera should be one to set a good mark today, perhaps giving his CSC team its third stage win here at the Tour of California.'),(5688,127,'2007-02-23 12:12:49','Phil Zajicek','has finished in 32:50.910, which - for now - is good enough for seventh place. If you\'re curious, by the way, Rasmussen finished in 34:22.3, which is 3:25 off of the best time, so far, that of Tom Zirbel\'s 30:56.870, an impressive performance by the Priority Health man'),(5689,127,'2007-02-23 12:14:00','Top times so far','1. Tom Zirbel (USA) Priority Health 30:56.870
2. JJ Haedo (Arg) CSC, at 1:00.91
3. Mathew Hayman (Aus), Rabobank, at 1:18.83
4. Jan Grischa Niermann (G) Rabobank, at 1:22.09
5. Chris Wherry (USA) Toyota, at 1:32.38'),(5690,127,'2007-02-23 12:19:23','Cancellara','The world champion is coming is looking good out there. The winds are gusting at about 17mph, which could be decisive as the day wears on.'),(5691,127,'2007-02-23 12:21:00','Cancellara','is now 10km from the finish. He\'s flying, too. Race radio reports that he is leading at the time check, but we do not have anything to compare it with.'),(5692,127,'2007-02-23 12:25:54','Kjell Carlstrom','Kjell Carlstrom has come in with a 34:33.56 '),(5693,127,'2007-02-23 12:29:53','Basso on the road.','He\'s riding a regular spoked Bontrager front wheel and a full disc on the rear, too.
Equipped the same way, Thomas Danielson finished with a time of 31:00.430, just 3.56 seconds off of Zirbel\'s time.'),(5694,127,'2007-02-23 12:30:50','Hincapie on his way','George Hincapie is on route... and Cancellara is on his way into the finish.'),(5695,127,'2007-02-23 12:32:05','Cancellara!','Wowie...30:17.910, a full 38.96 seconds better than that of Tom Zirbel.'),(5696,127,'2007-02-23 12:34:37','Top five','1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 30:17.910
2. Tom Zirbel (USA), at 38.96
3.Tom Danielson (USA), at 42.52
4. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 42.90
5. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas, at 1:13.11'),(5697,127,'2007-02-23 12:46:30','Michael Barry','Michael Barry has finished with a time of 32:41.77'),(5698,127,'2007-02-23 12:51:16','','1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 30:17.910
2. Tom Zirbel (USA), at 38.96
3.Tom Danielson (USA), at 42.52
4. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 42.90
5.Cyril Lemoine (F) Credit Agricole, at 1:09.59'),(5699,127,'2007-02-23 12:53:16','Danny Pate','Former world\'s under-23 time trial champion, Danny Pate (Slipstream) is on his way.'),(5700,127,'2007-02-23 12:56:59','Chris Baldwin is on route','Toyota\'s Baldwin is on his way. He\'ll be chased by CSC\'s Bobby Julich.'),(5701,127,'2007-02-23 12:58:15','Basso','Basso finishes with a time of 30:43.01, good enough for second.'),(5702,127,'2007-02-23 13:00:00','Top times','1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 30:17.910
3. Ivan Basso (I), Discovery, at 25.10
3. Tom Zirbel (USA), at 38.96
4.Tom Danielson (USA), at 42.52
5. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 42.90
6.Cyril Lemoine (F) Credit Agricole, at 1:09.59'),(5703,127,'2007-02-23 13:02:00','Hinapie!','George Hincapie, finishes with a 30:20.45, just 2.63 behind Cancellara.
Standings
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 30:17.910
2. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery, at 2.63
3. Ivan Basso (I), DiscoveryC, at 25.10
4. Tom Zirbel (USA), at 38.96
5.Tom Danielson (USA), at 42.52
6. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 42.90
7.Cyril Lemoine (F) Credit Agricole, at 1:09.59'),(5704,127,'2007-02-23 13:06:39','Ben Jacques Maynes','Comes through with a time of 30:54.610... good enough for fourth.
Standings
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 30:17.910
2. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery, at 2.63
3. Ivan Basso (I), DiscoveryC, at 25.10
Ben Jacques Maynes (USA) Priority Health, at 36.70
5. Tom Zirbel (USA), at 38.96
6.Tom Danielson (USA), at 42.52
7. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 42.90
8.Cyril Lemoine (F) Credit Agricole, at 1:09.59'),(5705,127,'2007-02-23 13:13:53','Horner','Chris Horner is on the course. It should be interesting to see how the man from Bend handles today\'s wind.'),(5706,127,'2007-02-23 13:17:22','Here comes the showdown folks','Second-placed Jens Voigt has left the start house. He\'s starting 2 minutes ahead of Levi Leipheimer'),(5707,127,'2007-02-23 13:21:24','Leipheimer is on his way','The wind has picked up slightly, now 19mph. Interestingly, he\'s opted not to wear his yellow jersey - or rather a yellow skinsuit - since it probably doesn\'t have the same aero\' qualities.
Meanwhile, Leipheimer\'s teammate, Jason McCartney has just set a new top time of 30:05.140, 12 seconds better than Cancellara.'),(5708,127,'2007-02-23 13:24:06','Current Standings','
Standings
1. Jason McCartney (USA), 30:05.140
2. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, at 12.77
3. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery, at 15.40
4. Ivan Basso (I), DiscoveryC, at 37.87
5. Ben Jacques Maynes (USA) Priority Health, at 49.47
6. Tom Zirbel (USA), at 51.73
7.Tom Danielson (USA), at 55.29
8. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 55.67'),(5709,127,'2007-02-23 13:25:42','Christian Vande Velde','Finishes with a 30:37.100, good enough for fourth.'),(5710,127,'2007-02-23 13:26:00','Standings','
Standings
1. Jason McCartney (USA), 30:05.140
2. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, at 12.77
3. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery, at 15.40
4. Christian Vande Velde (USA), CSC, at 31.96
5. Ivan Basso (I), DiscoveryC, at 37.87
'),(5711,127,'2007-02-23 13:29:31','Julich','Julich finishes in fourth place with a30:22.030
Standings
1. Jason McCartney (USA), 30:05.140
2. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, at 12.77
3. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery, at 15.40
4. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 16.89.
5. Christian Vande Velde (USA), CSC, at 31.96
6. Ivan Basso (I), DiscoveryC, at 37.87
'),(5712,127,'2007-02-23 13:32:45','Stuart O\'Grady','Finishes in 30:40.390, good enough for sixth, 35.25 back.'),(5713,127,'2007-02-23 13:37:04','Michael Rogers','The three-time world time trial champion finishes in 30:55, nearly a minute down on McCartney\'s top time.'),(5714,127,'2007-02-23 13:45:25','Reports from the road','Give Leipheimer the fastest times at the time checks.
Meanwhile, Chris Horner, is heading to the finish. He gets a 31:33, giving him 22nd on the day and that means he\'s lost a GC spot to McCartney.'),(5715,127,'2007-02-23 13:47:25','Voigt','Voigt finishes with a time of 29:58.51... the best time yet!'),(5716,127,'2007-02-23 13:48:12','Still on the road','Levi Leipheimer is coming in toward the finish. '),(5720,127,'2007-02-23 14:02:06','Leipheimer keeps the jersey','Obviously, by winning the stage, Levi Leipheimer preserves his hold on the overall lead in the Tour of California. Voigt, too, holds his spot on GC, albeit now by 21 seconds, as opposed to the three-second gap by which he trailed at the start of the day. It looks like Jason McCartney, Leipheimer\'s young teammate may have moved up to third on GC.
That\'s a wrap folks. Check back in soon for a complete stage report from VeloNews Editorial director John Wilcockson. We should have complete results soon, too. Thanks for joining us today, folks and we\'ll announce a contest winner at the start of tomorrow\'s stage.'),(5718,127,'2007-02-23 13:49:19','Leipheimer takes it','29:40.44, 18 seconds better than Jens Voigt.'),(5719,127,'2007-02-23 13:56:28','Final Stage Results','
Standings
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery, 29:40.44
2. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 18.07
3. Jason McCartney (USA), 24.70
4. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, at 37.47
5. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery, at 40.10
6. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 41.59.
7. Christian Vande Velde (USA), CSC, at 56.66
8. Stuart O\'Grady (Aus), CSC, 59.95
9. Ivan Basso (I), DiscoveryC, at 1:02.57
10. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA), Priority Health, at 1:14.17'),(5721,128,'2007-02-24 10:59:40','Good day','and welcome to VeloNews.coms Live Coverage of the the sixth stage of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California.\r\n\r\nStage 6 is not only long, at 105 miles, but it features four King of the Mountain climbs, two sprints and a demanding finishing circuit in Santa Clarita. With this year\'s individual time trial being less selective than last year\'s, there could be several contenders separated by just a few seconds at this point in the race.
After a start in view of the Santa Barbara shoreline, Stage 6, which is sponsored by Health Net, will be the last chance for a solid favorite to emerge before the circuit race finale in Long Beach. Once the peloton hits Highway 150, the racers will face two KOMs before passing Lake Casitas and riding into the scenic town of Ojai for the first sprint of the day.
The third KOM will be just a few miles outside Ojai, and then the course will head downhill into Santa Paula for the second sprint of the day among fragrant citrus groves.
The day\'s final climb comes in the ominous Balcom Canyon, where in 2006,nearly 10,000 fans formed a narrow corridor for the riders. The cyclists will end the day with three circuits in Santa Clarita that finish at McBean Parkway at the Valencia Town Center. \r\n\r\n'),(5722,128,'2007-02-24 11:02:50','Waiting for the start','Today\'s start in Santa Barbara kicks of at 11:00. There will be a 5km neutral section as the peloton ambles from the beach in Santa Barbara and heads to the official start - the zero kilometer mark - on highway 192, which takes the Tour of California eastward toward today\'s finish in Santa Clarita.'),(5723,128,'2007-02-24 11:06:00','On their way','The peloton is in the neutral section and we\'ll see a mellow ride for the next 10 minutes or so. The big question today is whether CSC will take the fight down to the end or whether the team has essentially conceded overall victory to Leipheimer and the Discovery team. We will see an answer to that question very near the start on 192.'),(5724,128,'2007-02-24 11:13:59','Discovery at the front','The peloton is rolling through the neutral zone and the CSC and Discovery teams are both close to the front. The race is coming close to the start on highway 192.'),(5725,128,'2007-02-24 11:18:30','Bang!','The race has begun and the Discovery team has moved to the front and has stepped up the pace.'),(5726,128,'2007-02-24 11:23:54','Attack, attack, attack','There are several riders trying their hand at attacks. Tom Zirbel, the Priority Health rider who set and early mark in yesterday\'s time trial, has tried a couple of efforts. Now we see Tim Johnson from Health Net. He was the 1999 Bronze medal in the U23 cyclo-cross world chapionship in Poprad Slovakia. Johnson told us his mom is following the race on-line. A big shout out to Tim\'s mom from the VeloNews crew.'),(5727,128,'2007-02-24 11:26:00','Correction','Correction that\'s Shawn Milne from Health Net who is off the front and he\'s been joined Mauricio Ardilla Cano (Rabobank).'),(5728,128,'2007-02-24 11:27:27','Word from the field','We\'re getting spotty reports, but it seems that just as the Milne attack went off the front, George Hincapie went down. We believe he\'s up and has rejoined the field.'),(5729,128,'2007-02-24 11:31:44','Hincapie is back','He looks none the worse for wear. He\'s rejoined the field. As he rejoins, Jason Donald (Slipstream) jumps out of the peloton in an effort to bridge up to the two escapees. We\'re seeing a lot of activity, but nothing from the big GC threats or their teams.'),(5730,128,'2007-02-24 11:34:22','Leipheimer not happy','Leipheimer doesn\'t seem too happy with the frequent attacks - signalling \"time out\" - but the Slipstream boys don\'t seem willing to listen.'),(5731,128,'2007-02-24 11:37:54','At 16km','The two leaders are about 1:20 ahead of the field. Leipheimer has pulled off for a nature break and the peloton is riding at a moderate pace.'),(5732,128,'2007-02-24 11:39:55','With two riders up the road','Discovery seems content to amble along and let the escapekeep things calm in the main field.'),(5733,128,'2007-02-24 11:42:07','Time check','The man with the marker board has ridden up and showed a time gap of 1:30 at the 20km mark.'),(5734,128,'2007-02-24 11:45:23','Hincapie','Hincapie has slipped back to have his wrist checked by the race doctor. '),(5735,128,'2007-02-24 11:52:27','Our two leaders','Are working up to the day\'s first KOM mark, the Cat.4 at kilometer 26.3'),(5736,128,'2007-02-24 11:55:36','Cano takes the KOM','Milne comes across 10 meters back. The lead is now at 2:45. T-Mobile\'s Adam Hansen has scampered out of the main field.'),(5737,128,'2007-02-24 11:57:01','Hansen','has been joined by Slipstream\'s Peterson, Quick Step\'s Van de Walle and KOM leader Christophe Laurent. Van de Walle gets the third place KOM points and Laurent grabs the fourth.'),(5738,128,'2007-02-24 12:01:01','A split','Chrstophe Laurent (Credit Agricole), Thomas Peterson (Slipstream), Adam Hansen (T-Mobile), Jurgen Van de Walle (Quick Step) and Predictor Lotto\'s Mario Aerts have stayed away from the main field. There is no serious chase underway. The five are working nicely and could be able to catch the two men off the front.
We have still not heard a report on Hincapie.'),(5739,128,'2007-02-24 12:03:05','The two leaders','Are over the top of the second KOM at 30.7km. Indeed, Ardila has moved off on his own, crossing 50 seconds ahead of Milne. Meanwhile, the peloton is chasing back on to the group of five.'),(5740,128,'2007-02-24 12:04:31','Van de Walle','has grapped the third spot, with Christophe Laurent taking the last point. He now holds a 7-point lead over Van de Walle in the race for the KOM jersey.'),(5741,128,'2007-02-24 12:05:51','CSC','has sent a couple of its riders up to the five-man group. Depending who that is, it could prove dangerous for the Discovery team.'),(5742,128,'2007-02-24 12:07:23','Oh cool!','The folks who joined up with the five man group include Jens Voigt and Levi Leipheimer. We\'re seeing a big GC battle shaping up. Behind them, the Discovery team is bring the full peloton back into the action.'),(5743,128,'2007-02-24 12:15:19','CSC is conceding nothing','With the five man group pulled back, the CSC team has immediately launched attacks from it\'s top GC contenders. With Leipheimer and Voigt in the fold, CSC sent off Bobby Julich and then when he was caught, the Danish team sent off Stuart O\'Grady.
Take a look at the GC picture to see what CSC has in its bag of tricks:
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, 18:21:52
\r\n2. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 0:21
\r\n3. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:54
\r\n4. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 1:06
\r\n5. Stuart O\'Grady (Aus), CSC, at 1:20
\r\n6. Christian Vande Velde (USA), CSC, at 1:24
\r\n7. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, at 1:34
\r\n8. Ben Day (Aus), Navigators, at 1:38
\r\n9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, at 1:41
\r\n10. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net -Maxxis, at 1:57
\r\n\r\n'),(5744,128,'2007-02-24 12:17:10','Milne','Was pulled back a couple of kilometers back and Rabobank\'s Ardila Cano is just about 1:00 up the road.'),(5745,128,'2007-02-24 12:19:27','There are a number of attacks','As the peloton continues to drive behind Ardila Cano, there are several riders working hard to get off the front of the main field. '),(5746,128,'2007-02-24 12:20:51','Ardila Cano','Caught... by three riders, one of whom appears to be CSC\'s Stuart O\'Grady. '),(5747,128,'2007-02-24 12:23:39','The peloton','has come up one the break. The field is considerably smaller than it was at the start. We probably only have about 75 riders. Ahead, the peloton is facing the sprint mark in Ojai (50km) and the climb up to the Cat. 3 at 56.5'),(5748,128,'2007-02-24 12:26:26','Heading to the climb','Jens Voigt attacks again. He\'s got Julich and Bobby Julich moving up... and here comes Leipheimer.'),(5749,128,'2007-02-24 12:28:01','Nice day of racing folks.','There is some crazy racing going out there. No one is willing to turn this stage into a coronation. If Leipheimer wants to win the Tour, he\'s clearly having to work for it.'),(5750,128,'2007-02-24 12:29:39','Five riders off the front','There is a nice little gap. In the mix is Stuart O\'Grady, fifth at 1:20... forcing the peloton to chase.'),(5751,128,'2007-02-24 12:31:24','The front group has grown','... Chris Horner and a few others have moved up. Now the peloton has moved up, as well. No one can relax here, though.'),(5752,128,'2007-02-24 12:39:00','Van de Walle','Takes the KOM at 56.5km. It\'s a Cat. 3 climb, so he\'s closing in on the jersey. He\'s in a group off the front that includes Stuart O\'Grady... and Levi Leipheimer.'),(5753,128,'2007-02-24 12:43:18','The race is split','into two distinctly separate pelotons. The big GC riders are up front in a big group of 45 and they are about 1:30 ahead of another group of 35'),(5754,128,'2007-02-24 12:46:51','Out of the lead group.','We see two riders - a Quick Step and Predictor rider - have moved out.'),(5755,128,'2007-02-24 12:48:22','Hincapie','is in the second group. He may be hurt, but not so badly that he has had to pull out.'),(5756,128,'2007-02-24 12:49:29','Up front our two escapees','have been joined by two more riders. We\'re still trying to get IDs.'),(5757,128,'2007-02-24 12:57:07','The men in the break','Up front, the leaders are now 45 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group. Those riders include:
Stuart O\'Grady (CSC)
Mathew Hayman (Rabobank)
Josep Jufre Pou (Lotto)
Michael Rogers (T-mobile)
Bram Tankink (Quick Step)
Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step)
Enrico Gasparotto (Liquigas)
Viktar Rapinski (Navigators)
William Frischkorn (Slipstream) \r\n\r\n'),(5758,128,'2007-02-24 12:58:18','OGrady','is 1:20 down on GC and now leads the yellow jersey by 1:25 on the road.'),(5759,128,'2007-02-24 13:04:52','Discovery','Is stuck with chasing duties. The gap is closing in on 2:00.'),(5760,128,'2007-02-24 13:07:23','Hincapie is back','The U.S. champion has rejoined the yellow jersey group. He\'s looking remarkably strong.'),(5761,128,'2007-02-24 13:13:42','Balcom Canyon','The leaders are turning on to Balcolm Canyon Road. It\'s a short climb, but it\'s quite steep.'),(5762,128,'2007-02-24 13:16:48','The leaders are working their way up the climb','The road is getting steeper but the lead group is sticking together.'),(5763,128,'2007-02-24 13:18:57','1km from the top','There\'s a big party on top. The Amgen folks are having a BBQ up on top and there are quite a few people on the road. The road is quite steep here, at 13 percent. It\'s steep but short.'),(5764,128,'2007-02-24 13:19:44','This is a knee buster','Steep'),(5765,128,'2007-02-24 13:21:52','We\'ve seen it all','We know the Devil from the Tour. We now have the Specialized Angel and now there\'s a guy running along side the leaders in a Pope costume. Nice touch!
Holy.... how do they manage to rate this a Cat. 4 climb. This thing is steep!'),(5766,128,'2007-02-24 13:23:16','Up and over.','There are huge crowds on this climb. We saw the Pope and now the grim reaper is running along side the peloton.'),(5767,128,'2007-02-24 13:24:27','Crazy fan','One fan bumped into Hincapie. He was startled but he didn\'t go down.'),(5768,128,'2007-02-24 13:25:08','Danielson driving at the front','as the yellow jersey group crosses 2:17 behind the leaders.'),(5769,128,'2007-02-24 13:26:06','No more rated climbs','but there are two more unrated climbs that don\'t look all that easy.'),(5770,128,'2007-02-24 13:30:00','Time check','The time gap is 2:35. Stuart O\'Grady is now the virtual leader of the Tour of California, but there are still 75km remaining. A lot can happen and we\'re sure it will.'),(5774,128,'2007-02-24 13:59:57','Off the descent out of the Balcolm Canyon area','The leaders are still about 3:00 ahead of the Discovery led main field. There are about 60km remaining.
In the front of the yellow jersey group the bulk is being done by Hincapie, Danielson and Basso.'),(5772,128,'2007-02-24 13:46:49','Time check','The leaders are holding their own, having extended their advantage to 3:00.'),(5773,128,'2007-02-24 13:57:24','Saul Raisin','We had dinner with Credit Agricole\'s Saul Raisin last evening.
Folks, most of you know Raisin\'s story, but we were struck by just how close this young man came to dying last year after his crash at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The then-23-year-old Raisin suffered a serious brain hemorrhage and apparently came within minutes of losing his life. It\'s remarkable, especially when you consider how well he\'s doing these days. Raisin is here in California, riding the route of each stage and preparing for a return to the professional peloton next year. In the mean time, he\'s been hosting a series of fundraising rides to generate contributions to three of his favorite charities, which focus on the work to help those who have suffered serious brain injuries. Take a chance to stop in and learn more about Raisin\r\nHope'),(5775,128,'2007-02-24 14:01:37','Gap is shrinking','The man with the marker board shows a time check of 2:05. '),(5776,128,'2007-02-24 14:07:06','Julich','Rides off the front to offer a friendly reminder to the camera bike to stay far enough away from the Disco boys. We believe those gestures were a way to explain the basics of aerodynamics and how that might affect the day\'s outcome.'),(5777,128,'2007-02-24 14:10:00','O\'Grady','is driving hard at the front of the break. The time check gives the leaders 2:20. Maybe Julich was right about the effect the camera bike was having.'),(5778,128,'2007-02-24 14:14:41','50km to go','The peloton is working its way across a rough section of gravel and it appears that no one suffered any difficulty over that potentially tire-popping terrain.'),(5779,128,'2007-02-24 14:17:25','Time check','The marker board man reports the gap as 2:05'),(5780,128,'2007-02-24 14:21:55','The peloton is in single file','It\'s all Disco at the front. Right behind the leader\'s team is the CSC team. '),(5781,128,'2007-02-24 14:23:21','Time check','The Disco effort is paying off. The latest time gap is now showing as 1:50'),(5782,128,'2007-02-24 14:31:12','Can it stick?','We called Jonathon Vaughters - director of the Slipstream team. He said he\'s uncertain about ths break\'s chances, but \"it sure has been fun to watch.\"
\"We have nine strong riders up front, being chased by six strong Discovery riders. It\'s a battle of wills. It\'s been interesting to watch Discovery under that kind of pressure.\"
With CSC poised at the ready, right behind the Discovery team, Vaughters says he expects another dig by CSC if and when the catch happens.
\"They sure aren\'t giving up,\" Vaughters said. \"It\'ll be hard to pull off, but look at what and who they have there. They have Jens, Bobby... Christian. All up there and ready to give it a try.\"'),(5783,128,'2007-02-24 14:32:34','Time check','The marker board man shows a gap of 1:30'),(5784,128,'2007-02-24 14:39:52','The time check','The Discovery effort is payoff and the gap is coming down. The latest time check is 1:25'),(5785,128,'2007-02-24 14:42:16','The leaders are charging into Santa Clarita','The latest time check is still about 90 seconds. The leaders are working together, but the Disco team is pushing it hard.'),(5786,128,'2007-02-24 14:44:59','Disco gets help','HealthNet is now lending a hand in the chase.'),(5787,128,'2007-02-24 14:46:20','The gap is less than one minute','The HealthNet help has made an impact.'),(5788,128,'2007-02-24 14:48:45','In town','The leaders are in town and they have three trips around a 5.7km circuit to cover.'),(5789,128,'2007-02-24 14:50:08','The gap at the finish line','is 1:10.... and there are three laps to go.'),(5790,128,'2007-02-24 14:52:03','The men up front','are showing signs of wear, but they only have 13km to go.'),(5791,128,'2007-02-24 14:56:16','This is a strong group','The lead group is powering through the finish zone. There are now two laps to go. We\'ll get a time check in a minute.'),(5792,128,'2007-02-24 14:57:09','The gap','is around 45 seconds.'),(5793,128,'2007-02-24 15:02:08','Closing in','The peloton is driving hard and the gap is narrowing. The peloton is riding hard in single file. Up front O\'Grady is taking big pulls at the front.'),(5794,128,'2007-02-24 15:03:04','One lap to go','With one lap to go... the leaders are coming through the finish area and they have one more trip through the circuit to go.'),(5795,128,'2007-02-24 15:04:11','Oh the peloton','the peloton is through the finish line at 25 seconds.'),(5796,128,'2007-02-24 15:05:54','Disco dodges a bullet','The catch is about to happen... '),(5797,128,'2007-02-24 15:06:17','2.5km to go','The gap is less than 10 seconds.'),(5798,128,'2007-02-24 15:06:59','Stick a fork in the break',''),(5799,128,'2007-02-24 15:07:44','No we see the sprinters\' teams','lining up: T-Mobile, CSC and Credit Agricole.'),(5800,128,'2007-02-24 15:08:57','T-Mobile is in the front','Now Gerolsteiner is surging up along with HealthNet'),(5801,128,'2007-02-24 15:09:11','1km to go',''),(5802,128,'2007-02-24 15:11:00','With 500 meters to go','Three Gerolsteiner riders dive through the final turn. A big scramble... Robert Forster gets the lead out... and JJ. Haedo comes around.... and gets it! JJ. Haedo gets his second stage win of the Tour of California.
1. JJ Haedo (Arg) CSC
2. Greg Henderson (NZ) T-Mobile
3. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step.'),(5803,128,'2007-02-24 15:13:05','Little or no change in GC','Levi Leipheimer holds the lead in the Tour of California, while Jens Voigt stays in the leaders jersey'),(5804,128,'2007-02-24 15:16:14','Okay folks','That\'s a wrap. We will be here for the final stage of the Tour of California, the Long Beach Circuit Race which begins at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, February 25. Take care and \"see\" you tomorrow.'),(5805,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(5806,129,'2007-02-25 12:44:14','Good day and','welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the seventh and final stage of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, a 124.7km circuit race in Long Beach, California. Today\'s stage covers a 12km circuit along Shoreline drive in this, California\'s fifth-largest city.
If you haven\'t heard yet, the big news from yesterday\'s stage was the bad turn of events for Discovery\'s George Hincapie. It turns out that early crash was more serious than anyone - including Hincapie - realized. At the end of the stage, Hincapie discovered that he had broken his arm in the wreck... that\'s after riding hard for 100 miles Saturday.
We spoke with Discovery Director Johann Bruyneel this morning. He reports Hincapie went in for surgery this morning and it will be \"around six to eight weeks\" before the U.S. champion is ready to compete again. '),(5807,129,'2007-02-25 12:56:00','Lining up','The peloton is lining up at the start line today and we should see the start in about eight minutes. '),(5808,129,'2007-02-25 13:04:18','And they\'re off.','We\'ll see the peloton cover 10 laps of this circuit along Shoreline Drive in Long Beach, near the permanent home of the Queen Mary.'),(5809,129,'2007-02-25 13:06:53','We have an early attack','We have a group of four riders up front, but seven more chasing hard. This could be a fast day today, folks.'),(5810,129,'2007-02-25 13:10:56','Field regroups','There have already been several attacks, but the main field is remaining attentive and every one of them has been pulled back by the Discovery team.'),(5811,129,'2007-02-25 13:15:11','Another attack','The Slipstream team has sent riders off in each of these efforts.'),(5814,129,'2007-02-25 13:25:38','A small break','we have four riders - including HealthNet\'s Tim Johnson - are off the front by about 15 seconds. '),(5813,129,'2007-02-25 13:19:46','The pace remains high','There have been several attacks and we have now have a single HealthNet rider hanging off the front. We have nine laps to go.'),(5815,129,'2007-02-25 13:26:50','The group is growing','but the peloton is moving up fast. Slipstream\'s Danny Pate has bridged up to the group.'),(5816,129,'2007-02-25 13:35:00','A bit of a gap','The men off the front include Tim Johnson (USA) HealthNet
Karl Menzies (Aus) HealthNet
Adam Hansen (Aus) T-Mobile
Danny Pate (USA) Slipstream
Steven Cozza (USA) Slipstream
Sean Sullivan (Aus) Toyota
Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Priority Health
They are now about 35 seconds ahead of the main field. '),(5817,129,'2007-02-25 13:37:41','New Time Check','The moto with the marker board gives the leaders an advantage of 1:20\r\n'),(5818,129,'2007-02-25 13:49:08','The men up front','Are cruising along and cooperating for the most part. That said, Bob Stapleton came up in the T-Mobile car and shouted instructions to Adam Hansen. Right after that, Hansen soft-pedaled a little, much to the chagrin of Danny Pate.'),(5819,129,'2007-02-25 13:53:34','Seven laps to go','We\'re averaging about 15 minutes a lap and we see a time gap of around 2:35'),(5820,129,'2007-02-25 13:57:19','Clouds are parting','While today\'s stage began under cloudy skies, it\'s clearing up and it looks like the Tour of California has skirted another rain day.'),(5821,129,'2007-02-25 13:59:39','Time gap','Is holding at 2:35. As a reminder, the men off the front are:
Tim Johnson (USA) HealthNet
Karl Menzies (Aus) HealthNet
Adam Hansen (Aus) T-Mobile
Danny Pate (USA) Slipstream
Steven Cozza (USA) Slipstream
Sean Sullivan (Aus) Toyota
Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Priority Health
'),(5822,129,'2007-02-25 14:03:55','2:45','The gap is edging up, but no panic in the peloton. While Pate is the biggest GC threat in the break, he started the day in 17th at 2:31. Sure, he\'s the virtual race leader, but Discovery isn\'t too concerened.'),(5823,129,'2007-02-25 14:07:01','Across the line','So the leaders have six laps to go. We\'ll get a time check here in a few.'),(5824,129,'2007-02-25 14:10:16','The peloton','crosses through the finish line at 2:55. There are six laps to go.'),(5825,129,'2007-02-25 14:17:45','Discovery','leading the chase. There are six Discovery riders are setting tempo at the front. Leipheimer, in yellow, is slotted into the sixth spot. The team is, of course, missing big George Hincapie, who had his broken arm operated on this morning.'),(5826,129,'2007-02-25 14:20:45','BMC lending a hand','Just as we posted our last entry, the BMC team has moved up to lend a hand in the chase.
The team is, of course, the latest cycling venture of Phonak Hearing systems owner Andy Rihs. He also owns the Swiss cycling firm, BMC. He has hopes of bringing his new team back up to the ProTour level, a spot he vacated when he folded the Phonak team after the apparent positive dope test of Floyd Landis at the Tour de France.'),(5827,129,'2007-02-25 14:24:35','A little too much security','We just got a note from one of our photographers on the scene.
\"Local cops are forbidding access to the course (inside barriers) to all photographers. One just threatened to arrest me for being on the course.\"
Mmmmm.... someone should raise a question with the local promoters.'),(5828,129,'2007-02-25 14:26:58','With five laps to go','The peloton comes through at 2:50. The BMC effort is at least mitigating the impact of the break.'),(5829,129,'2007-02-25 14:36:18','The gap','is coming down a bit as more teams join in the effort. Right now it\'s 2:30.'),(5830,129,'2007-02-25 14:39:07','Johann Bruyneel.','Our man on the scene, Neal Rogers, spoke with Bruyneel before the start today.
Johann Bruyneel: \"We’ve come into this race with high ambitions. We wanted to win. We came with a strong team, and we knew that we are considered as one of the favorites. It’s a difficult situation to be in. you know that no matter what, everyone assumes that the team will do the work, the team will pick up the responsibility. I’m very happy with the way the race went until now. It’s been very hard on the team. Levi was our designated leader, and he was strong on the days he had to be strong.\"
There were three crucial days, the prologue, the stage into San Jose and the time trial, and he was there three times as one of the best or the best. The way the team has supported him was very impressive I think.
VN: It didn’t come without a cost, though?
JB: You have to make choices. Allan, for example, had to pull one day, and he’s definitely not used to that kind of work, but that’s a choice we had to make. Okay, he couldn’t make it to the time cut, but he did his job during that stage, and that was what we needed from him. [Stage 6] was a very hard stage for the team, especially because we had a crash with Tony and George. But the way they fought back, especially George with a broken arm, it was heroic. I think it shows it’s a good sign how the dynamics of the team are. Levi is the leader, but we have George, who is killing himself, we have Ivan, who has been on the front every single day. I don’t think that happens on a lot of teams. I’m very happy to see that. We made a lot of changes over the winter, and if you see how the team comes together and how they work for each other, it’s something that I am proud of, to see the team work this week.'),(5831,129,'2007-02-25 14:42:50','With four laps to go','The men in the break have an advantage of 2:10.'),(5832,129,'2007-02-25 14:45:41','Now Rabobank','is lending a hand in the chase. The odds are not good for the men in the break.'),(5833,129,'2007-02-25 14:56:26','The leaders','are coming to the finish area. We now have three laps to go.'),(5834,129,'2007-02-25 14:59:17','The gap','The peloton comes through the finish area, at 1:52. The chase is one and Disco doesn\'t even have to chase. It looks as though the Discovery chase eased up as the \"virtual\" race lead of Danny Pate evaporated.'),(5835,129,'2007-02-25 15:07:19','The advantage','is starting to drop. The seven men up front are beginning to show signs of fatigue. The gap is down to 1:25'),(5836,129,'2007-02-25 15:13:28','Two laps to go','Two laps to go... about 26km remaining. We should get a time check as the peloton begins the lap.... and it\'s 55 seconds. Ouch.'),(5837,129,'2007-02-25 15:14:33','Credit Agricole','Rabobank and BMC are doing the bulk of the work '),(5838,129,'2007-02-25 15:20:21','Johnson looks spent','The men in the break are looking tired as the peloton is closing in with just 1.5 laps to go.'),(5839,129,'2007-02-25 15:22:09','In sight','The men in the break are just ahead of the main field and we\'re going to see a number of teams lining up to set up their sprinters.'),(5840,129,'2007-02-25 15:25:41','The catch is likely','The gap is now down to 40 seconds'),(5841,129,'2007-02-25 15:28:04','Ding! Ding! Ding!','The leaders have one lap to go and the peloton is coming through at 35 or 40 seconds.'),(5842,129,'2007-02-25 15:28:46','The gap','is just 34 seconds.'),(5843,129,'2007-02-25 15:32:20','The leaders have about 9km to go','The effort of the last few hours may have been for nothing. The peloton is flying... and these boys up front look tired.'),(5844,129,'2007-02-25 15:34:06','Here they come','The peloton is coming up and Menzies is trying to get away on his own.'),(5845,129,'2007-02-25 15:34:52','The lead group is coming apart','Menzies is trying his luck and Danny Pate is hoping to bridge up.'),(5846,129,'2007-02-25 15:36:28','Hansen','Has joined Menzies at the front. The rest of the escapees are being swept up.'),(5847,129,'2007-02-25 15:37:55','CSC','is driving hard. It looks like the team expects another Haedo win. But first they have to catch Menzies and Hansen.... which is about to happen.'),(5848,129,'2007-02-25 15:38:46','Menzies on his own','He\'s drilling it.... but he can\'t do it.... can he?'),(5849,129,'2007-02-25 15:39:06','Nope','Caught. It\'s a CSC train up front.'),(5850,129,'2007-02-25 15:39:53','Hushovd and','the Credit Ag\'s are moving up, but it\'s still all CSC up front.'),(5851,129,'2007-02-25 15:40:49','Lotto','Predictor Lotto is moving up and the team of Fred Rodriquez is in the mix.'),(5852,129,'2007-02-25 15:41:28','Within the GC neutral zone','Levi Leipheimer has won the Tour, now lets see who wins the stage.'),(5853,129,'2007-02-25 15:42:32','Here comes the showdown folks','One kilometer to go... CSC still up front.'),(5854,129,'2007-02-25 15:44:06','Rabobank charges','and it looks like Haedo may be boxed in..... and it looks like Toyota\'s Dominguez!'),(5855,129,'2007-02-25 15:46:05','Ivan Dominguez (Cub), Toyota United','Wins the stage. He played that perfectly. He beats Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile)'),(5856,129,'2007-02-25 15:49:10','','1. Ivan Dominguez (Cub), Toyota United
\r\n2. Graeme Brown (NZ) Rabobank
\r\n3. Gerald Ciolek (G) T-Mobile
\r\n4. Luca Paolini (I) Liquigas
\r\n5. Robert Forster (G) Gerolsteiner
\r\n6. Thor Hushovd (N) Credit Agricole
'),(5857,129,'2007-02-25 15:58:19','Bob Roll chats up Levi','. . . who says this win is one of the most satisfying of his career. '),(5858,129,'2007-02-25 16:03:36','We\'ve just posted a photo of the finish','Man, that was a mad dash to the line.'),(5859,129,'2007-02-25 16:08:09','Th-th-that\'s all, folks','It\'s been one heck of a race, from the prologue in San Francisco to the pursuit in Long Beach, and we\'ve enjoyed every minute of it. Hope you have, too. Stay tuned for a complete race report from John Wilcockson and Neal Rogers, photos from Graham Watson and Casey Gibson, and complete results.'),(5860,132,'2007-02-27 10:57:20','Race starts in 4 months!','Stay tuned for live updates during the race...'),(5861,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(5862,134,'2007-03-12 13:07:57','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the first stage of Paris-Nice, the race to the sun.
This time last week, folks, we weren\'t even sure this race was going to happen... at least as a ProTour event. After the UCI and ASO, the promoter, agreed to terms - and sacrificed the Unibet team to the god of ongoing legal disputes - it all seems in order, for now.
Today\'s stage covers a flat, flat, flat 186 kilometers from Cloyes-sur-le-Loir to Buzançais, which barring some unforeseen event, should result in a field sprint with riders like Tom Boonen and others with a strong final kick.
Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you aRed Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(5863,134,'2007-03-12 13:12:15','Underway','The race is now at the 22km mark. We already have a small break underway, with Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis), Romain Feillu (Agritubel), Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole) and Ivan Velasco (Euskatel) launching an early attack and quickly gaining an advantage. The four have an advantage of 6:15, a gap the peloton seems happy to let them have.\r\n'),(5864,134,'2007-03-12 13:23:00','The gap','The four gents off the front are now more than 7:30 ahead of the field.
Our guy on the road today, VeloNews Euro\' correspondent Andy Hood, says conditions are ideal for bike racing, with temperatures around 57 with slight winds at around 6kph from the southeast, making it a very slight headwind today.'),(5865,134,'2007-03-12 13:29:02','The gap','Man, they are letting these guys get pretty far up the road. The four men in the lead - Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis), Romain Feillu (Agritubel), Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole) and Ivan Velasco (Euskatel) - are 10:00 ahead of the field at the 29km mark. We\'re quite certain that the leash will snap at some point soon.
If you get a chance, take a look at Andy Hood\'s story about yesterday\'s prologue time trial in which David Millar took the win. '),(5866,134,'2007-03-12 13:38:01','The escapees','appear to have reached their limit. As the gap topped 10 minutes, the peloton picked up the pace and now at 39km, the gap has been trimmed to 9:15.'),(5867,134,'2007-03-12 13:50:13','Holding','The four men in front are still holding a lead in the nine-minute range. We wouldn\'t put next month\'s rent on a wager (perhaps via Unibet.com) on these fellows\' chances of success, but you never know. Stranger things have happened.'),(5868,134,'2007-03-12 14:08:15','Still out on the flats','The four leaders have bumped their advantage to 10:30, and the pace is actually pretty zippy, with the racing having covered 41.5km over the first hour.'),(5869,134,'2007-03-12 14:26:03','At 70km','The four leaders have hit the 70km mark with an advantage of 9:30. It looks like the peloton is monitoring the gap and will likely give a serious chase as the finish approaches.'),(5870,134,'2007-03-12 14:36:08','Saul Raisin','While we were out at the Tour of California last month, we had the real pleasure of having dinner with Crédit Agricole\'s Saul Raisin, the 24-year-old American who had an all-too-close brush with death last year after he had a horrible accident at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Remarkably, he is back on his bike and riding quite well. He was out in California to test his legs and to raise awareness for those suffering with the consequences of a major brain injury.
For those of us who\'ve worked in various aspects of journalism for a couple of decades, one tends to form a rather hard shell... a veneer that some might even refer to as cynicism, although we prefer to call it hardened skepticism. That said, sitting down with this young man is truly an inspiration and we asked if he would be willing to share his experiences with our readers. We are pleased to have just posted the first of what we hope to be many diary submissions from Saul Raisin'),(5871,134,'2007-03-12 14:41:00','Coming up on the day\'s first sprint','Our four leaders are heading to the day\'s first intermediate sprint, at Contres (83km). That will be followed by the feedzone at 93.5km and a Category 3 climb at 103.5km. It\'s not a big climb, though, and shouldn\'t interfere with this quartet\'s progress, although the remaining 83km to the finish won\'t be easy for these guys as the peloton ramps it up as the sprinters\' teams start smelling blood. We\'d be willing to wager that the four leaders might make it as far as the day\'s second sprint at the outskirts of Buzancais (169km), but won\'t make it through the day\'s finishing circuit in the same town to survive to the finish at 186km.'),(5872,134,'2007-03-12 14:45:00','Sprint Results','Results-Sprint at Contres
1. Romain Feillu (Agritubel) 3 points
2. Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel) 2 points
3. Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis) 1 point '),(5873,134,'2007-03-12 14:50:31','Speeds','The race is still ticking along at about 41kph.'),(5874,134,'2007-03-12 15:02:52','Contest Reminder','Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you aRed Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(5875,134,'2007-03-12 15:12:20','On the \"climb\"','Our four leaders are on their way up the day\'s Cat. 3 climb. The gap is holding at around 9:00 and it doesn\'t look like the quartet is likely to put any more time on the main field.'),(5876,134,'2007-03-12 15:16:23','The man in yellow','David Millar (Saunier Duval) is riding comfortably in the main field today. He\'s told reporters that he really is a man on a mission, hoping to use his own doping suspension as a way to fight the drug problem in cycling.
\"I want to be an example to young people,\" he said after winning the prologue yesterday. \"I want to talk to them so they know they don\'t need syringes to win. There is so much work to do in cycling at all levels, and not just getting rid of doping.\"\r\n'),(5877,134,'2007-03-12 15:22:19','Lampre and Saunier Duval','are leading the chase and the gap is coming down, now at just 8:30.'),(5878,134,'2007-03-12 15:29:26','The chase','With about 65km remaining, the gap is down to 7:15.'),(5879,134,'2007-03-12 15:37:13','The gap','The gap is now less than 6:30, with 61km to go. It\'s Saunier Duval and Lampre up front. Interestingly, the Quick Step crew is taking it easy at the back of the field.
The Saunier Duval team is, of course, working to preserve Millar\'s hold on the yellow jersey and the Lampres all have confidence in the ability of Daniele Bennati to take the win today.'),(5880,134,'2007-03-12 15:42:34','This gap is shrinking','With 57km to go, the gap is now down to 5:45. It\'s looking certain that we\'ll see a field sprint today.'),(5881,134,'2007-03-12 15:48:00','The chase','It\'s still going fast, with Saunier Duval and Lampre sharing the load at the front. With 51km to go, the four leaders - Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis), Romain Feillu (Agritubel), Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole) and Ivan Velasco (Euskatel) - are 4:48 ahead of the field.'),(5882,134,'2007-03-12 15:58:00','With 45km remaining','The gap is 4:15. The Lampres are really putting in a big effort. Is that going to really help Bennati\'s chances if his team puts in the big pull at this point in the race? Boonen and his Quick Steps are sitting pretty in the main field. If bike racing is a sport about expending energy wisely, it looks like the former world champ\' may be playing his cards correctly today.'),(5883,134,'2007-03-12 16:05:15','The head of the peloton','Millar\'s Saunier Duval boys have eased off of the chase, leaving just one rider up front. Boonen, meanwhile, has sent up a couple of his teammates up front to lend a hand, but it still looks like the bulk of the work is being put in by Lampre.'),(5884,134,'2007-03-12 16:16:05','Puerto','As you have undoubtedly heard by now, the Spanish judge in charge of the Operacion Puerto case has formally ended the investigation, noting that no one appears to have violated Spanish law, as it existed at the time of Manolo Saiz\'s arrest.
It\'s important to remember, however, that the UCI, WADA and various national federations might still pursue the case, if it turns out that current or former riders are connected to the infamous Doctor Fuentes by DNA tests. Recall that police seized more than 200 bags of blood and those are still being held for sports-related investigations, although at this point, no criminal case will be pursued.
The great Eddy Merckx offered a keen observation this morning. \"Doping has to be fought, cheats must be unmasked, abuse should be punished but all this should remain human,\" Merckx told L\'Equipe. '),(5885,134,'2007-03-12 16:16:52','The gap','With about 36km to go, the gap is down to 3:30.'),(5886,134,'2007-03-12 16:21:51','Millar\'s Saunier Duval team','has moved a couple more of its riders up to the front of the peloton. The gap is now at 3:15, with 31km to go.'),(5887,134,'2007-03-12 16:23:04','Contest reminder','Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you aRed Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(5888,134,'2007-03-12 16:28:54','Ain\'t technology wonderful?','Ove the years of doing Live Updates here at VeloNews, we\'ve gone back-and-forth over whether to present our live updates with the most recent first... or the most recent last. If we go one way, we usually annoy about half of our readers. If we go the other way, we annoy the other half. We learned a long time ago that you can\'t please all of the people all of the time, so we\'ve left the choice up to you! Take a look at the upper right hand corner of the live update page. You can set it up to make it the way you like it. We\'re not sure if we\'ve made all of you happy, but we\'re sure happy!'),(5889,134,'2007-03-12 16:29:33','The chase','With 26km to go, the leaders are just 2:33 ahead of the field. Any bets?'),(5890,134,'2007-03-12 16:32:39','With 24km','remaining in today\'s stage, the leaders are heading to the day\'s second sprint. Are the valuable seconds of bonus time driving the Saunier Duval team? Millar may want to add a bit of a buffer to his lead today.'),(5891,134,'2007-03-12 16:39:08','With 2km to go to the sprint','It doesn\'t look like our escapees will be caught before that. The gap is around 1:50.\r\n'),(5892,134,'2007-03-12 16:44:09','Duclos-Lassalle','Herve Duclos-Lassalle takes the sprint in Buzancais, beating Laurent and Feillu. The leaders are now 15km from the finish.'),(5893,134,'2007-03-12 16:47:03','The escapees','are in sight. The leaders are 2:04 ahead of the main field, but on these long, straight roads the four can be seen by the peloton.'),(5894,134,'2007-03-12 16:47:20','Make that','1:50.'),(5895,134,'2007-03-12 16:49:25','Duclos-Lassalle','doesn\'t want to give up. He just shouted \"Allez! at his breakaway companions... with just 12km to go, a strong group could pull it off, but dang, these guys have been out there for 170km or so.'),(5896,134,'2007-03-12 16:50:54','With 10km to go','The teams are massing at the front of the peloton.'),(5897,134,'2007-03-12 16:51:43','The gap is at 1:20','With 9km to go... and the Milram team is powering at the front.'),(5898,134,'2007-03-12 16:52:47','With 8km to go','The gap is 1:10.'),(5899,134,'2007-03-12 16:53:39','No more contest entries','We\'re in the final kilometers, so we\'re no longer accepting entries. Good luck to those of you who\'ve already entered.'),(5900,134,'2007-03-12 16:54:32','Duclos-Lassalle','Attacks hard with 7km to go. He wants a win. If he pulls it off, it will be his first win as a pro.'),(5901,134,'2007-03-12 16:55:34','He\'s holding a tiny lead','With 6km to go, the gap back to chasers is about 6 seconds and 45 back to the main field.'),(5902,134,'2007-03-12 16:56:10','If you\'re a romantic','Duclos-Lassalle will pull this off, but if you\'re a realist, he\'ll be caught about 50 meters from the line.'),(5903,134,'2007-03-12 16:58:28','Duclos-Lassalle','has been caught by the three men chasing him. Behind, Lampre, QuickStep, Milram and Astana are driving hard. The gap is 25 seconds, with 4km to go.'),(5904,134,'2007-03-12 16:59:38','The peloton is','just flying, but these guys are holding their own.'),(5905,134,'2007-03-12 17:00:22','Caught!','The break is caught as the race heads into the final three kilometers.'),(5906,134,'2007-03-12 17:00:55','With two km to go','The QuickStep team is driving hard at the front, maintaining complete control over the main field.'),(5907,134,'2007-03-12 17:01:21','QuickStep in control','in the final kilometer.'),(5908,134,'2007-03-12 17:01:59','Boonen',' is trailing in a bad spot.'),(5909,134,'2007-03-12 17:03:24','500 meters to go','Boonen is coming back up.... Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r) is charging to the line and he takes the win. '),(5910,134,'2007-03-12 17:06:35','Nazon','Jean-Patrick Nazon beats Milram\'s Sebastian Siedler. It looks like Boonen lost a lot of distance as the peloton came through a nearly 180-degree turn within the final kilometer.'),(5911,134,'2007-03-12 17:07:00','Millar','It looks like Millar will hold on to his lead for another day'),(5912,135,'2007-03-13 13:12:46','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the second stage of Paris Nice, the \"Race to the Sun,\" covering 177 kilometers from Vatan to Limoges.
Today\'s route begins with about 60km of relatively flat roads, before entering a long strech of rolling terrain, with which many riders are familiar because they are often used in the Tour du Limousin. As the ride approaches Limoges, the roads will be narrow and there are a number of dicey turns near the finish, so position will be key, today, especially since this route features a nice uphill kick to the finish.\r\n\r\n'),(5913,135,'2007-03-13 13:16:02','We\'re just about','50 minutes into today\'s stage. There have been a few attacks, most notably a big 17-man break, but none have really managed to hold. The pace is quite high, at more than 50kph, so we\'re well ahead of schedule at this point of the day.'),(5914,135,'2007-03-13 13:19:05','Today\'s weather','There\'s a bit of a chill in the air today, but conditions are really quite nice for bike racing. Here at the finish in Limoges, the temperature us currently about 45 (F), but it is expected to hit just around 60. Winds here - and out on the route - are quite moderate, at around 5kph from the east-north-east.'),(5915,135,'2007-03-13 13:22:00','Contest Reminder','Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList (or click on the results link on top) and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you aRed Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(5916,135,'2007-03-13 13:33:23','The pace','The peloton is really zipping along today, having covered 52.5 kilometers in the first full hour of racing.
Cofidis\'s Stephane Auge, added three sprint points to his tally, as he beat Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) and Philippe Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux) to the line at Neullay-les-Bois, back at the 44km mark.
Auge managed to get a gap and he\'s off on a break with the other two sprint winners and Thomas Voekler, the popular French rider with Bouygues Telecom. We\'ll try to get a time split here soon, although from the looks of it, the gap isn\'t all that great. '),(5917,135,'2007-03-13 13:34:37','Today\'s withdrawal','Vicente Reynes (Caisse d’Epargne) did not start today. He\'s apparently ill, suffering some form of urinary infection.'),(5918,135,'2007-03-13 13:35:40','Auge','is apparently eager for a win today. He was a factor in that earlier 17-man break we mentioned.'),(5919,135,'2007-03-13 13:36:43','The gap','Is a little bigger than we thought. The four men off the front now have a lead of about three minutes at the 62km mark.'),(5920,135,'2007-03-13 13:45:00','Limoges','This is one of the most interesting cities in Europe, folks. It\'s been around for more than 2000 years - a far cry from, say, Long Beach, where we were just a couple of weeks ago. Limoges was established as a Roman outpost - then called Augustoritum - in 10 B.C. and there are still remnants of that first settlement here. This is also where Richard the Lionhearted died in 1199 and was something of a hub of the 100 Years War in the 14th and 15th centuries. Things are a lot more calm these days, even though there are instances of occasional sniping between the UCI and ASO. Still nothing the guys in suits do to each other can compare to the mess Edward, the Black Prince, left when he attacked and occupied the town in 1370. Whether the weapon of choice is a sword or a gaggle of lawyers, those battles are being fought elsewhere. Today, Limoges will serve as a new front for the men who battle on bikes... at least as far as Paris-Nice is concerned. This is the first time in the history of the race that it will finish in Limoges.'),(5921,135,'2007-03-13 13:50:08','The gap has extended','to more than 6:00 at km 68. Auge and Co. are hoping that this route might favor an escape. Given that former World Champion Tom Boonen is complaining of having the crud, it could be that QuickStep won\'t be lending a hand in any chase efforts today. Let\'s watch for that as an indication of how he feels.
Ahead there is another sprint mark at km 138 and, before that, three Category 3 climbs, separated by some noteworthy rolling terrain. The rated bumps in the road are the Cote du Grand Ris (at 84.5km), the climb up St. Sornin-Leulac (at 119km) and the Cote de Chateauponsac (at 131km).'),(5922,135,'2007-03-13 14:06:35','The leaders','are at 78km and have extended their lead to 6:45.'),(5923,135,'2007-03-13 14:12:06','On the climb','The leaders are on the slopes of the Cote du Grand Ris. We\'ll try to get a solid time check on the top... if the cell phones work.'),(5924,135,'2007-03-13 14:14:00','Up and over','Auge takes top points on the climb.'),(5925,135,'2007-03-13 14:21:00','It looks','like the time gap is holding around the seven-minute mark, as the peloton comes across the Cote du Grand Ris.'),(5926,135,'2007-03-13 14:27:00','Lunch','The pace eases slightly as the peloton cruises through the feedzone at 89km.'),(5927,135,'2007-03-13 14:33:43','As our leaders approach','the 100km mark, the latest time check gives them a slightly smaller advantage over the field than they had at the summit of the Cote du Grand Ris. Right now, the leaders enjoy a 5:10 advantage over the peloton.'),(5928,135,'2007-03-13 14:38:46','The chase is on','As the peloton hits 100km, the gap has been trimmed to 4:30. No bets from our corner regarding these fellas\' chances of success, but hey, what do we know? If you think they - or anyone else in the peloton - stands a chance of victory today, try your hand at prognosticatin\' and drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com. We will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.
'),(5929,135,'2007-03-13 14:43:19','Why chase now?','As the chase continues, we\'d have to guess that the peloton is simply trying to control the gap and won\'t be pulling these four in until much later in the stage. In the meantime, if you have a comment, complaint or question, drop a line to our Live Update Guy and we\'ll try to answer a few as the day goes on.'),(5930,135,'2007-03-13 14:58:00','Auge takes the day\'s second climb, too','The Cofidis man may not get a stage win today, but he\'s on his way to getting the KOM jersey, as he takes the day\'s second climb, the Cat. 3 rise at St Sornin-Leulac (119km). Meanwhile, the gap has come down to about 3:15.'),(5931,135,'2007-03-13 15:07:14','Our impact on education','Mmmmm... we just got a letter from a young fellow, we will not name - for his own good:
I would just like to thank you guys for doing this, it makes the morning go by quicker in high school. If possible i would like to send a shout out to The ISCorp junior cycling team based out of Southeastern WI. Were all hudled around our computers when we should be learning math, ohh well'),(5932,135,'2007-03-13 15:15:00','Here\'s a question of interest','Reader Anthony Accardi writes in to ask:
Any idea what discovery had stuffed up their noses during the warm up for the prologue? Looked like little tubes of rolled cotton bandages but i cant figure out why.It is cotton, Anthony. Soaked in Eucalyptus, it\'s a nice way to open up the nasal passages during cold season.'),(5933,135,'2007-03-13 15:17:00','With 46km to go','the leaders have crested the day\'s final climb. Auge didn\'t get the points at the top, though. Liquigas\'s Fischer takes it, but it looks like Auge has the jersey today.
Meanwhile we heard from a good friend, today. Many of you might recall the wonderful diaries we recieved from Iraq last year as Major Jason Bryan worked to maintain fitness by riding a beater mountainbike around the periphery of the base where he was stationed. We\'re happy to report that the good major is back home and is about to take delivery of a new Seven road bike.
I have to tell you, I think Jonathon Vaughters is spot-on with his anti-doping concept. I read the article about Slipstream-Chipotle in VN this weekend. Keeping blood profiles and monitoring anomalies for the entire team is genius. I can see the accused (Landis, Hamilton, Basso, Ullrich, etc), fighting to get on that squad… seeking shelter from doping ambiguity.Hey Major, that\'s a good idea. With a lot of wealthy CEO types riding bikes these days, they do say that cycling is the new golf, so the argyle fits right in.'),(5935,135,'2007-03-13 15:27:55','Voeckler','is going for the sprint. Auge has been dropped.'),(5936,135,'2007-03-13 15:30:00','The gap','Philippe Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux) takes the sprint.I love the argyle and can’t wait to see it on the podium. As a matter of fact, their jerseys should have a collar so I can go straight from my ride to the tee box.
BTW, FedEx will deliver my bike TODAY!
Jason
1. Philippe Gilbert (FDJ)
2. Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
3. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom)
Auge was dropped, but he has rejoined with Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) and Thomas Voekler, (Bouygues Telecom).
The gap back to the peloton is now 3:25. The chase is picking up.'),(5937,135,'2007-03-13 15:34:38','The chase','Lampre is hungry for a stage win and Saunier Duval is interested in preserving David Millar\'s hold on the yellow jersey. Those two teams have put in the biggest efforts today and the gap is now down to 3:10 with 34km to go.
We\'re also seeing the Quick Step crew moving up to the front. Maybe Boonen is feeling a little better?'),(5938,135,'2007-03-13 15:39:00','With 30km remaining','The peloton is driving hard and the gap is down to 2:20. Lampre and Saunier Duval are still sharing the bulk of the work, although Quick Step has two guys up there, too, now.\r\n'),(5939,135,'2007-03-13 15:43:29','Rolling terrain','is taking its toll on the foursome up front. They are looking a bit on the spent side, while a frisky and well-rested peloton is cruising up quickly. With 28km remaining, the gap is now down to 2:00.'),(5940,135,'2007-03-13 15:47:01','With 25km to go','The gap is 1:35. It\'s not looking good for these boys.'),(5941,135,'2007-03-13 15:49:00','23.5km','The gap is down to 1:14. We should see the team cars out of the gap soon.'),(5942,135,'2007-03-13 15:54:24','The gap is shrinking','The leaders are 21km from the finish in Lemoges and they are 1:02 ahead of the peloton.'),(5943,135,'2007-03-13 15:59:39','The final 20km','The final 20km of this stage pose something of a problem for the pure sprinters, with narrow roads and rollers. That said, it\'s not an insurmountable problem. There may be a fight for position in the closing kilometers, because anyone out of the top-20 with two or three km to go won\'t have much a shot.
With 19km to go, the team cars are now out of the gap, which is down to 50 seconds.'),(5944,135,'2007-03-13 16:02:00','17km to go','The leaders are within sight of the peloton.'),(5945,135,'2007-03-13 16:03:22','A correction','This is a note from a reader named David:
Not be a nag... the history lesson was quite nice, but being the husband of a Ph.D. student in Medieval history makes me notice these things. His name was actually Richard the Lionheart, not Lionhearted, deriving from a legend that he removed the heart of a lion through his mouth. Just a quirky detail from the past no?\r\nThanks for the correction, Dave. Live Update Guy opted for law school, where you learn nothing of value.'),(5946,135,'2007-03-13 16:05:41','Auge','Aggressive all day, the Cofidis man has droped off the group. He\'ll have to settle for the climber\'s jersey today. Not a bad prize for the effort.'),(5947,135,'2007-03-13 16:06:26','With 13km','to go, Auge is out in no-man\'s-land at 25 seconds and the other three escapees are about 45 seconds ahead of the peloton.'),(5948,135,'2007-03-13 16:07:54','BOOM!','Gilbert has blown. Voeckler and Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) are ticking up the road.'),(5949,135,'2007-03-13 16:08:57','With Voeckler driving','hard at the front, the two men up front have edged their lead up to 55 seconds again. They have 11km remaining, as Lampre steps up the chase.'),(5950,135,'2007-03-13 16:11:20','With 10km to go','Auge and Gilbert are in the peloton, while our two leaders are really putting in a big effort. Voeckler is a stud. He never gives up.'),(5951,135,'2007-03-13 16:12:40','An attack out of the field','A Predictor-Lotto rider is trying to bridge... '),(5952,135,'2007-03-13 16:14:21','It was Jurgen Van Den Broeck','but he was caught. Voeckler and Fischer are 38 seconds up, with 7km to go.'),(5953,135,'2007-03-13 16:15:34','Quick Step','is driving the chase, big time, now. With 5km to go, the gap is 35 seconds. It\'s gonna be close folks.'),(5954,135,'2007-03-13 16:16:17','Yehaw!','Voeckler and Fischer are at 4km to go. The gap is 33 seconds.'),(5955,135,'2007-03-13 16:17:15','Ahead','The two guys off the front are coursing through a 1km descent and will have a 2.5km climb to the finish. If Voeckler holds it, he will be in yellow, but...'),(5956,135,'2007-03-13 16:17:41','2.5 km','to go, the gap is 31 seconds to go.'),(5957,135,'2007-03-13 16:18:18','WOW','Voeckler is driving hard! There are 2km to go and the gap is 27 seconds.'),(5958,135,'2007-03-13 16:18:45','The chase','is hard, though. Quick Step is pouring it on.'),(5959,135,'2007-03-13 16:19:12','No cooperation up front','Voeckler is attacking with 1km to go... 18 seconds.'),(5960,135,'2007-03-13 16:19:57','Ten seconds','and Voeckler is charging through the final kilometer. They are coming up fast!'),(5961,135,'2007-03-13 16:20:04','Caught!',''),(5962,135,'2007-03-13 16:20:31','Quick Step','is sending off De Jongh'),(5963,135,'2007-03-13 16:21:25','The peloton is shattered','and it looks like Liquigas\'s Franco Pellizotti is charging out of the lead group.'),(5964,135,'2007-03-13 16:22:10','It\'s','Franco Pellizotti who takes the stage into Lemoges. Nice, nice race.... well, unless you\'re Thomas Voeckler.'),(5965,135,'2007-03-13 16:24:54','Top three','1. Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas)
Dave
The escape began quite early today - at km 2 - and the foursome bumped its lead up to 11 minutes at one point. '),(5968,136,'2007-03-14 13:42:00','Today\'s weather','remains quite nice, a fortunate contrast to past editions of Paris-Nice that have, on occasion, even featured snow. It\'s a bit cloudy out, but temperatures are in the high 50s (f) to low 60s and the winds are moderate.'),(5969,136,'2007-03-14 13:44:00','Today\'s contest','Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList (or click on the results link on top) and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(5970,136,'2007-03-14 13:48:33','Time to chase','The chase is picking up and the Liquigas team of race leader Franco Pellizotti is already trimming the escapees\' lead. It\'s now down to 8:15 at the 115km mark. We\'ll monitor the effort and, again, would probably predict a catch... maybe not as heart-breaking as that experienced yesterday by Thomas Voeckler, with 500 meters to go.
In the meantime, if you have a comment, complaint or question, drop a line to our Live Update Guy and we\'ll try to answer a few as the day goes on.'),(5971,136,'2007-03-14 13:55:46','Your photos','Just a reminder that we\'ve posted the latest VeloNews\r\nphoto contest on the site. Yup, it\'s a day or two later than usual,\r\nbut folks have been sending in quite a few submissions. Take a look. There\r\nare some terrific shots up there.'),(5972,136,'2007-03-14 13:57:23','With the green','Liquigas crew up front, the gap is coming down. The latest time check gives the escapees an advantage of 7:45 at km 120.'),(5973,136,'2007-03-14 14:09:16','A small issue','We received a letter from a reader who points out a problem he\'s encountered.
I enjoy the option of reading top to bottom or bottom up. After I am caught up I prefer to read the most current on top so I tick the check box on top.We agree Wally, and are looking into it. This is just a guess from an editor, but maybe your browser isn\'t accepting cookies. Again, that\'s just a guess, but we\'re looking into it.\r\n'),(5974,136,'2007-03-14 14:10:06','Yo-yo?','The time check at km 132 gives the leading four an advantage of 8:55.'),(5975,136,'2007-03-14 14:23:24','The KOM jersey','It looks like there\'s a good chance the Paris-Nice climber\'s jersey will change hands today. One of the men in the break - Heinrich Haussler (G), Gerolsteiner - has taken top points on each of the Category 3 climbs today, giving him a total of 12 KOM points. That compares to the 10 points currently held by the man back in the peloton wearing the KOM jersey, Stephane Auge (F), Cofidis. There is another climb ahead, the Category 2 Côte du Fangas, so Auge could conceivably make up the difference, assuming the break is caught and he handily beats Haussler on the climb. We\'re not betting on the scenario, though.'),(5976,136,'2007-03-14 14:26:41','With 73km remaining','the gap is coming down again. The four men in the lead - Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel), Alexandr Kolobnev (CSC) and Heinrich Hassler (Gerolsteiner) and Fabio Baldato (Lampre) - are now 8:10 ahead of the peloton.'),(5977,136,'2007-03-14 14:38:58','A question','Reader Dale Long writes:Why does this box get unchecked every time the page refreshes? This is extremely frustrating and should be fixed.
Thanks,
Wally
Why do you believe the teams, at least early in stage races, allow breaks to get so far ahead, then have to burn lots of matches to effect the catch? Wouldn\'t it seem to save a little more juice to keep the gap a little shorter during the race, than having to burn up the last 30 k? I know in late stages, they let breaks that won\'t affect GC go, but why so much in the first days?You\'re right Dale. Sometimes the peloton does allow a break to get away, when it poses little or no threat on GC. There are a lot of factors at play. Early on in a stage race, GC tends to be much tighter for one thing. Sprinters\' teams, too, are more likely to power the chase, since those early stages usually offer some of the best opportunities for field finishes. As for the gap that the peloton allows, it\'s all part of the chess game, we\'d guess. Certainly, with a break out front, the peloton calms down a bit and that\'s actually easier on everyone in the main field. As you saw yesterday, the calculations are pretty good these days... reflecting one technological development we\'ve bemoaned for years: the advent of race radios. The old out-of-sight-out-of-mind principle no longer applies as a director can orchestrate a catch down to the last few kilometers. In our view, it sort of takes at least some of the excitement out of the sport. Don\'t get us started on GPS.'),(5978,136,'2007-03-14 14:40:00','With 58km','remaining the gap is down to 6:45. It looks like these guys will stay away at least long enough to give Haussler the KOM jersey.'),(5979,136,'2007-03-14 14:54:11','As the leaders','head on to the day\'s final climb, the gap continues to shrink. It\'s now less than 6:00 minutes. We\'re still predicting that they\'ll see the top of the Côte du Fangas forst, but it\'ll be only a matter of time before they\'re swept up by a Liquigas-led peloton. But that\'s only a guess. Let\'s see what happens.'),(5980,136,'2007-03-14 14:57:34','With 45km remaining','the gap is down to 5:20. Back in the peloton, we see most of the work being handled by Liquigas.'),(5981,136,'2007-03-14 14:58:35','Not a brutal climb,','the Côte du Fangas only averages 4.7%, but it lasts for upwards of 8.7km.'),(5982,136,'2007-03-14 15:02:10','Reinbert Wielinga','the Dutch rider on Saunier Duval has moved out of the main field, in an attempt to up the pace. He may not bridge to the leaders, but he\'s putting the hurt on some of the sprinters in the peloton, which is probably his plan.'),(5983,136,'2007-03-14 15:03:49','With 41km to go','The leaders are approaching the top of the climb and the gap has come down to 4:10. Wielinga has managed to stretch things out in the peloton, as the pure sprinters are popping off the back.'),(5984,136,'2007-03-14 15:04:59','','Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList (or click on the results link on top) and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage. Remember we don\'t accept entries once the race has entered the final 10km.'),(5985,136,'2007-03-14 15:05:33','Haussler','nails the KOM and has a nice hold on the climber\'s jersey.'),(5986,136,'2007-03-14 15:07:00','The climb','is taking its toll on a few, including Credit Agricole\'s Pietro Caucchioli, who one would think is perfectly suited for a climb like this. He might be suffering from the crud that has been affecting riders these past few weeks.'),(5987,136,'2007-03-14 15:10:01','Wielinga','is about 25 seconds ahead of the main field and the break is another 3:40 ahead of him. After the summit, there is a bit more time on rolling terrain and then we\'ll see a long downhill to the finish.'),(5988,136,'2007-03-14 15:12:32','Through the sprint','The four leaders have passed through the sprint mark at 38km-to-go. Alexandr Kolobnev (CSC) took top points, but they weren\'t really competing for it. '),(5989,136,'2007-03-14 15:16:15','With 35km to go','The gap is now 3:30 and it\'s beginning to look like the leaders\' chances of success are evaporating quickly.'),(5990,136,'2007-03-14 15:17:46','Questions? Comments?','If you have a comment, complaint or question, drop a line to our Live Update Guy and we\'ll try to answer a few as the day goes on.
Your questions did prompt us to look into some issues with our Live Update Window, so they\'re often helpful and always welcomed.'),(5991,136,'2007-03-14 15:18:39','The peloton is','now being led by a mixture of QuickStep and Liquigas riders, as the gap shrinks.'),(5992,136,'2007-03-14 15:20:04','With 31km to go','The gap is down to 3:10.'),(5993,136,'2007-03-14 15:23:03','3:00','With 29km to go, the gap is now down to 3:00.\r\n'),(5994,136,'2007-03-14 15:28:56','Through the rollers','The leaders are cookin\' down that long downhill stretch. The peloton is about to reach the end of the rolling section as well. The gap, with 25km remaining, is down to 2:20.'),(5995,136,'2007-03-14 15:31:09','With','25km to go, the leaders have a gap of 2:34.'),(5996,136,'2007-03-14 15:33:14','The peloton','comes through the 25km to go mark 2:22 behind the leaders.'),(5997,136,'2007-03-14 15:34:50','Mostly QuickStep','at the front, with Liquigas and Milram putting a few riders into the effort. The gap is coming down and is now at 2:10.'),(5998,136,'2007-03-14 15:36:56','Less than 2:00','The four men off the front are now 1:55 ahead of the field with 18km remaining.'),(5999,136,'2007-03-14 15:40:23','Fast','The peloton is zooming down the course and the gap continues to shrink. We spotted Wielinga - the man who earlier on scampered out of the field - now spinning out as he tries to hang on to the back of the peloton.'),(6000,136,'2007-03-14 15:41:58','With the leaders','16km from the finish, they are only 1:25 ahead of the main field.'),(6001,136,'2007-03-14 15:44:11','Quick Step','Is now sending a few guys back into the peloton in order to tow Tom Boonen up front. Maybe he\'s over his cold. Let\'s see how he does. It\'s quite likely to be a field sprint, as the leaders are now just 1:10 ahead of the field.'),(6002,136,'2007-03-14 15:46:29','Less than a minute','The four men off the front, who\'ve been out there for more than 200km now, are now just 40 seconds ahead of the field with 12km to go.'),(6003,136,'2007-03-14 15:47:45','Champing at the bit','The peloton can see the escapees and the sprinters\' teams are moving into position, with 11km to go.'),(6004,136,'2007-03-14 15:48:45','With 10km to go','Alexandr Kolobnev (CSC) has put the power on and is trying to get away from the other four men in the escape.'),(6005,136,'2007-03-14 15:50:34','The other three','are just about 10 seconds back and holding a tiny lead on the peloton. They are going to be caught soon, but Kolobnev is charging hard over a little rise in the terrain. Even if he doesn\'t make it, it\'s an impressive effort. '),(6006,136,'2007-03-14 15:52:40','With 7km to go','Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel), Heinrich Hassler (Gerolsteiner) and Fabio Baldato (Lampre) are caught, while Alexandr Kolobnev (CSC) is still about 30 seconds ahead of the field... if that.'),(6007,136,'2007-03-14 15:53:57','With 5km to go','Alexandr Kolobnev (CSC) is trying hard to power his way to the finish. It\'s all downhill from here on out... can he do it?'),(6008,136,'2007-03-14 15:54:31','thirty seconds','Lampre and QuickStep are driving hard. '),(6009,136,'2007-03-14 15:55:10','Kolobnev','is 3.6km from the finish and holding a 28-second gap.'),(6010,136,'2007-03-14 15:56:02','With 2km to go','Kolobnev is holding a 20-second lead.'),(6011,136,'2007-03-14 15:56:47','Kolobnev','has 28 seconds with Astana charging'),(6012,136,'2007-03-14 15:57:01','1km to go!','He has 24 seconds'),(6013,136,'2007-03-14 15:57:26','He can see the finish','but there is a bit of a rise ahead.'),(6014,136,'2007-03-14 15:58:33','He gets the win!','213km on the attack! The peloton comes up fast but Kolobnev holds them off... as Boonen wins the field sprint. Indeed, it looks like he thought he won the stage. D\'oh!'),(6015,136,'2007-03-14 16:00:00','And that is why','headbangers make an attack that early in a stage. Every now and then, these things stick. What a beautiful effort.'),(6016,136,'2007-03-14 16:03:00','Top three','1. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus), CSC\r\n
2. Tom Boonen (B) Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:12\r\n
3. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre
And Franco Pellizotti (I) Liquigas maintains his hold on the overall standings, as prologue winner David Millar slips to third.'),(6017,136,'2007-03-14 16:05:56','Congratulations','to Tasso Varvarikos, who turned in one of only a small number of correct picks today. You will receive a Coors Classic DVD for being randomly chosen from the correct entries.
Thanks for tuning in folks and thank you for making us aware of the \"refresh\" issue on the Live Update Window. We\'ll try to get that tweaked by tomorrow\'s stage.
Th-th-th-th-that\'s all folks. See you tomorrow.'),(6018,137,'2007-03-15 12:38:00','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fourth stage of Paris-Nice. Today\'s 169.5km route is one for the climbers, with no fewer than four Category 2 climbs and a touch Cat. 1 finisher to Mende.
Today\'s climbs include the Cote de Quotidiane (at 9.5km), the Cote de Montsalvy (at 30kmt), the Cote de Biounac (at 76km) and the Cote de Chabrits (at 162 km). If those four Category 2\'s aren\'t enough to sort things out, the finishing climb up to Mende, designated as the Montee Laurent Jalabert, offers a tough Cat. 1 haul that should clear up the GC picture in the days ahead.'),(6019,137,'2007-03-15 12:44:00','The stage','has been underway for just about an hour now. As per usual, we\'ve seen several attacks, but nothing has really managed to get substantially established. The day\'s first climb - the Cote de Quotidiane - did break things apart, but the split didn\'t last.\r\n\r\nNow on the top of the Cote de Montsalvy a trio of riders - Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux), Amael Moinard (Cofidis) and Dmitry Muravyev (Astana) - crested ahead of the peloton, which hit the top just a few seconds back, led by KOM jersey holder Heinrich Haussler (Gerolsteiner) and Christian Vande Velde (CSC)... hey that\'s the first we\'ve seen from him.
That reminds us. We\'ve received several e-mails asking about the relative positions of the Americans in the peloton over the past few days. We guarantee, folks, that you\'ll see a lot more from the strong American contingent today, on a route that favors climbers with the talents of Levi Leipheimer, Bobby Julich and Tom Danielson.'),(6020,137,'2007-03-15 12:49:15','The three','are about 1 minute ahead of the peloton, which is growing in size as riders dropped on the climb rejoin the field on the long descent off of the Cote de Montsalvy.'),(6021,137,'2007-03-15 12:50:46','Questions? Comments?','If you have a comment, complaint or question, drop a line to our Live Update Guy and we\'ll try to answer a few as the day goes on.'),(6022,137,'2007-03-15 12:51:42','Today\'s contest','Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList (or click on the results link on top) and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(6023,137,'2007-03-15 13:01:57','On the long descent','the three men off the front are holding on to a relatively small lead as the race courses its way down to the valley below the Cote de Montsalvy. Ahead the day\'s first sprint at Espalion (70km), which hits right at the base of the day\'s third climb, the Cat. 2 \r\nCote de Biounac, which summits at 76km.'),(6024,137,'2007-03-15 13:03:33','Mende','is home to Credit Agricole\'s Christophe Laurent, the man who won the KOM jersey at the Tour of California last month. Maybe he\'ll be inspired to give that final climb an extra effort, eh?'),(6025,137,'2007-03-15 13:15:00','Crossing the valley','below the Cote de Montsalvy, the three leaders have upped their lead to 5:55 at km 55. The pace in the peloton has been such that virtually everyone dropped on the first two climbs has managed to rejoin. The only ones who have not are the three riders who have dropped out thus far today:
\"I think it suits well for Frank (Schleck),\" Riis said. \"He did well in a similar climb at Valencia last month and he\'s only gotten stronger. Bobby should do well as well. We\'re not discounting anything.\" '),(6036,137,'2007-03-15 14:41:00','Discovery at the front','The men putting the effort into today\'s chase may be an indication of how Leipheimer is feeling about the finish. With 55km remaining, the gap has dropped to less than 6:00.'),(6037,137,'2007-03-15 14:46:14','Naming climbs','We\'ve received a few interesting suggestions for designating domestic climbs or other geographic features, some of which we can\'t post (although the suggestion for naming the town of Needles, California, in honor of a cyclist got a laugh here, sad and cynical that it is).'),(6038,137,'2007-03-15 14:48:09','With 50km to go','The gap continues to shrink. We see a mix of teams up front now and the gap is at 5:30, well off of the 11:00 minutes these guys had at one point.'),(6039,137,'2007-03-15 14:49:24','The peloton','is winding through the beautiful village of Estables. Man, it would be a terrific place to live.'),(6040,137,'2007-03-15 14:51:54','With 45km remaining','The gap is down to 5:15. '),(6041,137,'2007-03-15 14:56:26','The chase','The three men up front - Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux), Amael Moinard (Cofidis) and Dmitry Muravyev (Astana) - are just around 5:00 ahead of the field.'),(6042,137,'2007-03-15 14:59:41','The road ahead','The Cat. 2 Cote de Chabrits is coming up at 162km and will be quickly followed by the Cat. 1 climb up the Montee Laurent Jalabert. The chase is pretty intense at this point, but to their credit, the trio up front are holding on. With 38km remaining, the gap is around 4:45.'),(6043,137,'2007-03-15 15:02:43','Weather','It\'s so nice today, we almost forgot to mention the weather. It\'s a comfy 60+ degrees today and the winds are not much of a factor. It\'s a perfect day for a bike ride, folks.'),(6044,137,'2007-03-15 15:11:30','Discovery','is putting riders into the chase again. They have to be feeling good for Contador, or Leipheimer. Contador, though, he won on the Alto de Campello climb at Tour of Valencia last month, which is almost exactly the same as this climb - short but steep - and suits Contador\'s punchy style. Others to watch are Tadej Valjavec - he was good at Valencia, too - and so was Frank Schleck at CSC. One rider you can\'t forget is Pellizotti, who won a similar stage at the Giro last year. '),(6045,137,'2007-03-15 15:13:48','And almost on cue','Liquigas moves to the front, along with Caisse d\'Epargne, and the chase is not bringing things back as quickly as some might hope. With 28km to go, the gap is around 3:45.'),(6046,137,'2007-03-15 15:20:05','With 24km to go,','the gap is now down to about 3:00, with Liquigas and Disco driving hard at the front.'),(6047,137,'2007-03-15 15:26:20','20km','to go and the gap is now 2:30.'),(6048,137,'2007-03-15 15:29:36','The chase is','going hard. One rider we\'ve spotted near the front is prologue winner David Millar. It\'s not outside of the realm of possibility that we could see the Saunier Duval man pull off a win. He\'s a real talent and that climb could suit him.'),(6049,137,'2007-03-15 13:31:00','Approaching the penultimate','climb. The three leaders are about four km from the Cote de Chabrits. Once they make it over that, it\'s going to be a four km approach to the final Cat. 1 climb up the Montee Laurent Jalabert. The gap is down to 2:00.'),(6050,137,'2007-03-15 15:33:37','With 13km remaining','The leaders are about 2km from the base of the climb and the gap is down to 1:45. Man, the peloton is moving fast.'),(6051,137,'2007-03-15 15:35:20','Discovery','as the road tips upward, the Discovery team is driving hard at the front of the peloton, hoping to split things up on the Cat. 2 Cote de Chabrits '),(6052,137,'2007-03-15 15:37:28','The incredible shrinking','peloton. The pace is high and the Disco effort is shelling riders off the back of the field and they haven\'t even reached the base of the climb.'),(6053,137,'2007-03-15 15:41:58','The gap is','less than 1:00, so we are going to see these boys caught. Meanwhile, the Discovery team effort is taking its toll on the field. We see Haussler - the KOM - fading off the back.
We\'re switching servers folks, so if you could click here, the page will refresh onto our main server. Sorry for the confusion, but we were doing a bit of maintenance this a.m.'),(6054,137,'2007-03-15 15:43:50','Over the Cote de Chabrits','Casar and Moinard crest the climb, but they\'ve lost Muravyev. Meanwhile the peloton is only 35 seconds behind.'),(6055,137,'2007-03-15 15:44:34','Muravyev','is caught.... and passed.'),(6056,137,'2007-03-15 15:45:37','The peloton','is over the top and charging after the remaining two leaders, who are 7.5km from the finish.'),(6057,137,'2007-03-15 15:48:28','The two leaders','are heading to the base of the climb. It kicks in with a 12-percent grade.'),(6058,137,'2007-03-15 15:49:12','Climbing','The peloton hits the climb about 40 seconds behind the two leaders.'),(6059,137,'2007-03-15 15:51:29','Zooooom','The attacks are going on like crazy out of the field. The two leaders are holding on, but barely. They are about to be caught. \r\n'),(6060,137,'2007-03-15 15:52:43','Caught','But there is not much distance left. There are about 20 riders left. Lampre\'s Vila Errandonea Patxi charges.'),(6061,137,'2007-03-15 15:53:30','','Vila Errandonea has been joined by Contador'),(6062,137,'2007-03-15 15:54:05','Rebellin and Schleck','have come up now, too. We have four men up front.'),(6063,137,'2007-03-15 15:55:46','Franco Pellizotti','has popped. He\'s off the back. Meanwhile, Contador is charging off the front as he hits the final kilometer.'),(6064,137,'2007-03-15 15:56:51','Contador is alone','He\'s got a nice little gap on Rebellin, as the slope eases off a bit.'),(6065,137,'2007-03-15 15:58:01','Contador','is closing in on the finish, but Rebellin is chasing hard as the slope drops to 5 percent.'),(6066,137,'2007-03-15 15:58:51','Sprint!','Rebellin is fighting hard... but Contador takes it, about two seconds ahead of the Gerolsteiner man.'),(6067,137,'2007-03-15 16:00:04','Franco Pellizotti','crosses the line behind a gaggle of climbers, and loses about 40 seconds. It looks like Davide Rebellin will take over the leader\'s jersey today.'),(6068,137,'2007-03-15 16:04:49','Top five','1. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 4:07:26
\r\n2. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 0:02
\r\n3. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, at 0:12 secs
\r\n4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 0:12
\r\n5. Tadej Valjavec (Slo), Lampre, at 0:17
'),(6069,137,'2007-03-15 16:07:42','Today\'s contest','Was won by Paul Hietala (who appears to have been checking in from work). Congratulations Paul... and we won\'t tell. Drop us a line and we\'ll arrange to get you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. '),(6070,137,'2007-03-15 16:09:09','Top ten on GC','1. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner
\r\n2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 00:06
\r\n3. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 00:23
\r\n4. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 00:31
\r\n5. Sébastien Joly (F), Francaise des Jeux, 00:32
\r\n6. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 00:35
\r\n7. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 00:42
\r\n8. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 00:42
\r\n9. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 00:43
\r\n10. Samuel Sanchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:46
\r\n'),(6071,137,'2007-03-15 16:11:45','Well that\'s a wrap','folks. Thanks for checking in and we\'ll see you tomorrow.'),(6072,140,'2007-03-16 13:05:36','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fifth stage of Paris-Nice, a hilly jaunt into Provence, one of France\'s most beautiful regions.
Today\'s stage finishes in the town of Manosque, the first time since 1973 Paris-Nice has had a stage finish here. The stage covers some rolling terrain and includes four rated climbs
We saw a 13-man group put the hammer down early on and that group has just hit the 20km mark with an advantage of about 50 seconds. That hroup includes
Johan Van Summeren (Predictor-Lotto)
Take a quick look at the composition of the initial break to calculate their chances of success:
Meanwhile Francaise des Jeux\'s Christophe Detilloux has also pulled out.'),(6085,140,'2007-03-16 13:44:00','The leaders','have an advantage of 3:30 over the main field. Meanwhile, the four guys trailing the leading seven have drifted back to the peloton, so we only have the seven leaders up ahead and no one caught in no-man\'s-land.'),(6083,140,'2007-03-16 13:39:00','Heading to the day\'s first sprint','The two groups of escapees are on their way the day\'s first sprint mark at St. Saturnin les Apt (53.5km). The one after that is at km119 in La Bastide des Jourdans.
The gaps are holding steady.
Word from the peloton is that Credit Agricole has lost two of its riders today. Both Pietro Caucchioli and Langkawi winner Anthony Charteau have pulled out since the start.'),(6089,140,'2007-03-16 14:01:44','Drop us a line','If you have a comment, complaint or question, drop a line to our Live Update Guy and we\'ll try to answer a few as the day goes on.'),(6090,140,'2007-03-16 14:03:10','On the Cote des Agnels','The leaders are on the Category 2 Cote des Agnels and we\'ll get a fresh time check at the top after both groups - the leaders and the peloton - crest the summit.'),(6091,140,'2007-03-16 14:08:00','Gerolsteiner','is driving at the front of the peloton. Ahead, the leaders have crossed over the Cote des Agnels.'),(6092,140,'2007-03-16 14:15:00','The gap at the summit','was just around 4:30.
The results from the KOM, by the way, were as follows:
\r\n1. Bert Grabsch (G), T-Mobile
2. Murilo Fischer (Brz), Liquigas
3. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC
4. Jurgen Van de Walle (B), Quick Step
5. Johan Van Summeren (B), Predictor-Lotto)'),(6093,140,'2007-03-16 14:21:00','Down, down, down','The leaders are zooming down the back side of the Cote des Agnels. Ahead, they will cross through the feedzone at 89.5km, hit a sprint at 119km and then cover some tough rolling terrain that features two rated climbs - the Cat. 3 Cote de Montfuron (at km 124) and the Cat. 3 Col de la Mort d’Imbert (at 145.5km). While that last stretch involves just two Cat. 3 climbs, the road offers quite a bit more than that with a series of significant climbs that do not offer KOM points, a characteristic common to stages in this part of France. We recall one Tour stage where we counted 14 unranked climbs here in the Massif Central, which would have ranked Cat. 4 or above anywhere else. Often, organizers simply have to pick and choose, since they simply cannot overload a single stage with too many KOM points.'),(6094,140,'2007-03-16 14:25:47','At 81km','The gap is 4:25'),(6095,140,'2007-03-16 14:32:49','Lunch','The leaders are in the feedzone, at km 89.5. We\'ll get a good time check there.'),(6096,140,'2007-03-16 14:34:00','From the looks','of our contest entries, a lot of you are betting on the chances of this break succeeding. We\'re especially seeing a lot of votes for Popovych\'s chances. Indeed, it looks like the Gerolsteiners are most worried about his presence in the break. Popo\' is a strong rider and a GC threat to Rebellin. Sure, he\'s 2:12 back, but if the break holds on to some of today\'s lead, Rebellin may be facing two threats from Discovery, since Popovych\'s teammate, Alberto Contador, sits just six seconds out of the lead.
Do you think the seven will make it? If you do - or do not - go ahead and enter today\'s contest. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(6097,140,'2007-03-16 14:42:37','The gap','at the feedzone is just around 4:15. The inevitable lunch-time slow-down may bump it up a little, but the escapees\' chances aren\'t all that great, with such a moderate advantage at this point in the stage.'),(6098,140,'2007-03-16 14:47:00','With the leaders','heading toward the day\'s second sprint, we got a call with a good time check. Our latest check gives the leaders an advantage of 4:35. The seven men up front are now at km 95.'),(6099,140,'2007-03-16 14:59:00','Our leaders','are about 10km from the day\'s second intermediate sprint, at La Bastide des Jourdans (119km) and they are still enjoying an advantage in the range of 4:30.'),(6100,140,'2007-03-16 15:08:06','Popovych','is looking fast and relaxed.'),(6101,140,'2007-03-16 15:13:09','Lampre','is moving up front to lend a hand to Gerolsteiner in the chase. The gap is dropping and the leaders are now 4:00 ahead of a field that is ramping up the chase.\r\n'),(6102,140,'2007-03-16 15:15:00','Through the sprint','and Popovych takes the \"sprint.\" The leaders are now on their way to the Cote de Montfuron. Our latest time check gives the leaders and advantage of 4:10.'),(6103,140,'2007-03-16 15:23:32','One of our most frequent questions','You might be surprised at how many people seem interested in - of all things - the white cotton they\'ve seen in riders\' noses prior to Sunday\'s prologue time trial. It\'s no biggie, folks. A lot of riders use eucalyptus-soaked cotton to open up their sinuses. It works! '),(6104,140,'2007-03-16 15:25:00','Discovery strategy.','Reader Joshua Saks writes to ask:
I\'m confused about team discos tactics and am hoping you can explain it. Originally I thought they were going to support Leipheimer in this race, then after yesterday it bacame Contador and now it looks like they are trying to propel Pop to the GC win. What is the strategy, organization, etc.?
It\'s nice out there. Sunny, very light winds and temps in the 60s.'),(6108,140,'2007-03-16 15:42:49','With 42km remaining','The gap is down to 3:00.'),(6109,140,'2007-03-16 15:46:00','Man, this is beautiful','The countryside here is just gorgeous. Folks, if you get a chance, take the time to visit France and, if you do, plan on time here in the region the race is now in. It\'s heaven on earth. Being an old hippy sort, we need to point out that one of our favorite \'60s icons - R. Crumb - lives around here, although, we haven\'t seen him. Wish we could.'),(6110,140,'2007-03-16 15:47:29','40km to go','The leaders have just passed through the 40km-to-go mark. We\'ll get a time check here soon.'),(6111,140,'2007-03-16 15:50:17','The gap is now','2:50. Lampre is doing the bulk of the work. Up front, Popovych has launched a solo attack on one of the day\'s unrated climbs.'),(6112,140,'2007-03-16 15:52:40','Popo','is ticking up the hill quite nicely. He has about 12 seconds on his most immediate chasers. '),(6113,140,'2007-03-16 15:53:14','Popovych has','20 seconds on a group of three chasers.'),(6114,140,'2007-03-16 15:55:19','Back in the field','Quick Step has now put riders into the chase. The team of Tom Boonen was not chasing because they had Van de Walle in the break. Now that Popovych is off on his own, the Belgian squad has joined the chase. Nonetheless, Popovych is putting time on the field. He\'s now 3:05 up the road.'),(6115,140,'2007-03-16 15:56:45','The chase','now includes five riders. We see Zabriskie, Grabsch.'),(6116,140,'2007-03-16 15:59:02','Popo on the go-go','Don\'t blame me for that one. That was a contribution from Andy Hood.
Popovych is flying down the descent and he has 32km to go, with a lead of 3:07 on narrow, narrow roads, that seem to favor a lone rider.'),(6117,140,'2007-03-16 16:01:50','To clarify','Popovych\'s attack came on a little riser before the Col de la Mort d’Imbert. He\'s over that, the final rated climb of the day. He has two more unrated climbs ahead. He\'s bumping his lead, and is now 3:25 ahead.'),(6118,140,'2007-03-16 16:03:10',' Levi Leipheimer','said this morning that Popovych might try something before the race arrived to Nice, and that prediction came true before sooner than anyone thought. Leipheimer said he was happy that Contador won Thursday\'s stage.
\"I have some good form after California, but I only arrived (to Europe) four days before the start of this race. We\'ll work for Alberto,\" Leipheimer told Andrew Hood before the stage start today.'),(6119,140,'2007-03-16 16:04:08','Gerolsteiner',', meanwhile, knew it had a job on its hands to day. Sport director Udo Bolts said the team will have to look for allies if it wants to hold off Discovery Channel. \"Davide is in good form, but we hope to find some friends in the peloton. Maybe Lampre or some of the French teams will help us becuase they have interests they want to defend as well.\" '),(6120,140,'2007-03-16 16:04:00','Crash!','We see a Euskaltel man down on the road. He hit the deck on the descent on these narow roads.'),(6121,140,'2007-03-16 16:07:14','24km to go','for Popovych. He has about 40 seconds on the chase group and 3:22 on the peloton.
Meanwhile, here in the Durance Valley, near Manosque, the wind is picking up a bit.
Back in the peloton, it looks like Gerolsteiner has found some friends - in form of Caisse d\'Epargne. '),(6122,140,'2007-03-16 16:08:23','Chase','has ramped up, as Lampre throws a couple of guys up there, too. The peloton seems smaller, so they have shed quite a number of riders in the chase.'),(6123,140,'2007-03-16 16:11:02','Discovery','is enjoying this one. Popovych has a 50-second lead on the chase group and 3:19 on the yellow jersey group.'),(6124,140,'2007-03-16 16:13:07','You might notice','a big loop at the end of the route today. Part of that includes the Cote de Montfuron, which offers no KOM points as it did back at km 124.'),(6125,140,'2007-03-16 16:17:10','The Euskaltel','rider who crashed was Ivan Velasco. We do not have a report on his condition.
Meanwhile Popovych is holding his own nicely. He has 19km to go and is holding a 3:19 lead over the main field and 1:12 over the immediate chase group.'),(6126,140,'2007-03-16 16:19:09','Popo\'s lead','The latest time check gives Popovych 1:40 on the chase group and 3:30 on the Rebellin group... and he has 16km left.'),(6127,140,'2007-03-16 16:22:01','Yeahwwww','That boy is flyin\' Even on the flats, Popovych is holding his own against a panic-stricken peloton, now led by Bernhard Kohl, the Gerolsteiner man who is the reigning champion of Austria.'),(6128,140,'2007-03-16 16:24:30','Popovych','is getting encouragement from Ekimov from the Disco\' team car. The gap is coming down. The Rebellin group is about to catch the Zabriskie group... and they are 2:44 behind Popovych.'),(6129,140,'2007-03-16 16:25:00','With 12km','remaining, the gap is 2:30. Lotto is now pulling... to protect Cadel Evans\' hold on sixth place, no doubt.'),(6130,140,'2007-03-16 16:26:42','Speaking of Evans','Chris Horner said he was impressed with his teammate, Cadel Evans, who finished well up Mende.
\"If he\'s that good so early in the season, he\'ll be flying at the Tour!\" Horner told Andrew Hood at the start, today.'),(6131,140,'2007-03-16 16:27:51','...and speaking of Horner','He\'s now pulling at the front.'),(6132,140,'2007-03-16 16:29:16','With 10km to go','The gap is coming down. Popovych is now 2:15 ahead of the field. He may not take the jersey, but he looks like he stands a good chance of taking the stage.'),(6133,140,'2007-03-16 16:30:50','Shelled...','Dave Zabriskie, who was caught by the peloton a bit ago, has just popped off the back of the field.'),(6134,140,'2007-03-16 16:31:47','Popo','hits the summit of the final climb. He has about 1:40 on the field, so he won\'t be in the jersey, but he looks good for a stage win.'),(6135,140,'2007-03-16 16:32:58','Peloton',' over the top... and the gap is 1:38. The weird thing is that it\'s only Predictor-Lotto working at the front.'),(6136,140,'2007-03-16 16:33:00','With 9.5km to go','Popovych is 1:30 ahead of the field.'),(6137,140,'2007-03-16 16:33:00','The gap is at 1:20','He\'s losing time on the descent of the Cote de Montfuron'),(6138,140,'2007-03-16 16:35:35','With 8km to go','Popovych is now 1:10 ahead of the field.'),(6139,140,'2007-03-16 16:36:39','The gap is 1:12','He\'s now 7km from the finish. The chase is hard and the peloton is completely strung out.'),(6140,140,'2007-03-16 16:38:13','Looking at the profile','you can see that it\'s mostly downhill in these last kilometers. There is a rise at the finish, with a bit of a hill in the final kilometer. Popovych is four kilometers from the finish and the gap is at 1:09.'),(6141,140,'2007-03-16 16:40:22','R. Crumb','We still haven\'t seen our hero cartoonist, but we did just spot Mr. Natural truckin along side the road.
Meaanwhile, Popovych is 2km from the finish and he\'s holding his lead at 1:03. Predictor-Lotto seems happy to have minimized the damage.'),(6142,140,'2007-03-16 16:41:37','The finish','In the final kilometer, Popovych is working his way up the final kilometer. We need to keep an eye on Contador, who may just try to make up his six seconds on this tough little finishing rise.'),(6143,140,'2007-03-16 16:42:27','500 meters to go','This is not an easy finish. We could see some real action when the peloton hits this stretch.'),(6144,140,'2007-03-16 16:42:51','We have a winner!',' Yaroslav Popovych takes the win!'),(6145,140,'2007-03-16 16:44:00','Here they come','Boy, the pace was high in the final kilometer... the gap was a mere 15 seconds when they hit the line. Rebellin was in the mix, so he holds his jersey, but he had to fight for it.
1. Yaroslav Popovych (Uk), Discovery Channel
2. Francisco Ventoso (Sp). Saunier Duval, at 0:14
3. Samuel Dumoulin (F), AG2R
4. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d’Espargne
5. Jerome Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom'),(6146,140,'2007-03-16 16:46:09','After all that','GC has not changed for the top-three:\r\n1. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner
2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 00:06
3. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, at 00:23\r\n'),(6147,140,'2007-03-16 16:49:10','Contest winner','Congratulations to William Frogge, the winner of today\'s contest. William was one of many who predicted that Popovych would take the stage, something we really didn\'t see as a possibility when the break went as early as it did... but predictions are just that and that\'s why they actually hold races, now isn\'t it? William, send us a note and we\'ll arrange to send you a Coors Classic DVD.'),(6148,140,'2007-03-16 16:53:02','Okay, that\'s a wrap folks','Thanks for tuning in for what turned into a terrific bike race today. Tomorrow, we start in Brignoles and, 200km later, head into the hang out of all the beautiful people, Cannes. See ya then. '),(6149,141,'2007-03-17 12:26:51','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of Stage 6 of Paris-Nice, a tough, tough 200 kilometers from Brignoles to Cannes.'),(6150,141,'2007-03-17 12:35:54','Oh what a haul','Today\'s stage kicked off at 10:00 this morning, an early start because the 200 kilometers that are being covered today are tough with climbs peppered throughout the stage. Indeed, there are nine rated climbs thrown into the mix, so the day should be interesting.
Again, we had many early attacks and a six-man break formed at about km 27. Our domestic audience should be pleased to know that included in the break are three American riders: Christian Vandevelde (CSC), Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) and Tom Danielson (Discovery). Also in the mix are Luis Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne), Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) and Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis).
The escapees are now at the 100km mark and their lead is hovering around the 2:00 mark.\r\n'),(6151,141,'2007-03-17 12:41:44','Today\'s climbs','As we said, there are nine rated climbs today. They are as follows:
\r\nThe Category 3 Cote de Real Martin (at kilometer 5)
\r\nThe Cat. 2 Cote de Taradeau (at km73.5)
\r\nThe Cat. 2 Cote des Tuillieres (at km 88)
\r\nThe Cat. 2 – Cote de Saint-Andrieux (at km 96.5)
\r\nThe Cat. 2 – Col du Defens (at km 103.5)
\r\nThe Cat. 3 – Col de St Arnoux (at km 117.5)
\r\nThe Cat. 1 – Col de Bourigaille (at km 138.5)
\r\nThe Cat. 3 – Cote de Mons (at km 143)
\r\nThe Cat. 2 – Col du Tanneron (at km 180)
\r\n
\r\nOf the men in the break, Voeckler has been focusing on gathering KOM points today, a job made easier by the volume of climbs today, and the fact that KOM jersey holder Heinrich Haussler has withdrawn.'),(6152,141,'2007-03-17 12:44:49','The attrition','Thus far today, the peloton has shrunk by 15, with several notable riders pulling out since the start. Like we said, it\'s a tough stage. Add to that, the fact that for many, Paris-Nice remains a \"training race,\" the drop-out rate is a bit higher than it would be in a mid-summer event.'),(6153,141,'2007-03-17 12:45:54','Contest Reminder','Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Take a look at today\'s Start\r\nList (or click on the results link on top) and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage. Drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(6154,141,'2007-03-17 12:46:27','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','If you have a comment, complaint or question, drop a line to our Live Update Guy and we\'ll try to answer a few as the day goes on.'),(6155,141,'2007-03-17 12:49:22','At km 112','We have 88km remaining in today\'s stage. Our leaders are working their way up the Cat. 3 Col de St Arnoux, which tops out in five kilometers. The Gerolsteiner team of race leader Davide Rebellin is giving chase and the gap is down to 1:50. The presence of Leipheimer - who started the day in 13th place, 50 seconds out of the lead - is enough to throw another scare into Rebellin. This really underscores the pool of talent riding on Disco\' at this race.'),(6156,141,'2007-03-17 12:53:22','Voeckler','takes the points atop the Col de St Arnoux, further adding to his point tally. He\'s won every climb today, with the exception of the Cote de Real Martin at kilometer five.'),(6157,141,'2007-03-17 13:00:50','The climb ahead','The Category 1 Col de Bourigaille summits 62km from the finish, so it provides ample opportunity for a dropped rider to catch back on, but those are not easy kilometers. With Discovery firing on all cylinders, it should be interesting to see how Rebellin fares against the inevitable challenge from Contador. We might well see Leipheimer and Danielson pause on that climb in hopes of setting a furious pace for Contador on the climb and putting Rebellin under immense pressure. '),(6158,141,'2007-03-17 13:03:49','Zooming','down the back side of the Col de St Arnoux, the leaders and the peloton are heading to the short stretch of the valley below and then on to a long haul up the Cat. 1 Col de Bourigaille.'),(6159,141,'2007-03-17 13:05:00','On the climb','The leaders are driving on to the Col de Bourigaille. '),(6160,141,'2007-03-17 13:07:00','And here comes','the peloton. The gap is down to 1:20. Voeckler wants to lock in the KOM, but are Leipheimer and Danielson more interested in waiting for Contador?'),(6161,141,'2007-03-17 13:10:00','Gerolsteiner setting pace on the climb','Rebellin is putting up a fight, as he and his teammates set a strong pace on the Col de Bourigaille.'),(6162,141,'2007-03-17 13:14:00','The leaders','are within 2.5km of the top. Do note that the Col de Bourigaille is quickly followed by another Cat. 3, which summits five kilometers later.'),(6163,141,'2007-03-17 13:19:00','At the top','Leipheimer, Danielson, Vande Velde, Voeckler, Chavanel and Sanchez are at the top of Col de Bourigaille. We\'re only getting spotty reports from the peloton... we\'ll get a better picture when those riders hit the summit.'),(6164,141,'2007-03-17 13:20:56','The peloton','is just around 1:35 behind the six leaders.\r\n'),(6165,141,'2007-03-17 13:24:10','While shorter','the next climb, the Cat. 3 Côte de Mons averages 7 percent for 1.8km, that compares to the 10.3km at 5.1 percent just covered on the Col de Bourrigaille. Ahead, is a loooooong descent and then one more climb, the Cat. 2 Col du Tanneron, which averages 5.3 percent for 5.8km. Then it\'s a mostly flat shot into town.'),(6166,141,'2007-03-17 13:28:20','Up and over','the Côte de Mons, the leaders are holding an advantage of 1:40 over the peloton.'),(6167,141,'2007-03-17 13:29:45','Ya know','looking at the terrain these guys just worked their way through, it\'s amazing to realize they\'ve been maintaining a steady 38kph today.'),(6168,141,'2007-03-17 13:32:49','Voeckler has a lock','As far as we can tell, Thomas Voeckler has locked up the climber\'s jersey. He has grabbed top points since this break formed today and with the earlier departure of Heinrich Haussler.'),(6169,141,'2007-03-17 13:37:20','Today\'s finish','Despite the long string of climbs today, the final 15 kilometers of today\'s stage into Cannes is dead, dead flat, meaning that the small gap these six have on the peloton is unlikely to stick. If they are caught, we could see a sprinter emerge the victor today. Of course, this edition of Paris-Nice has provided some stellar opportunities for early escapees.'),(6170,141,'2007-03-17 13:40:00','Contest Reminder','So who do you think might win today\'s stage? It\'s been a hilly stage, but the flat finish might favor a sprinter who managed to hang on over all of those climbs. Take a guess and drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.
Remember weekends offer you a better chance, because traffic is considerably lower, since our traffic peaks on weekdays, when many of you check the race on the sly from your offices (we won\'t tell, either).'),(6171,141,'2007-03-17 13:41:27','The gap','back at the summit of the Côte de Mons, by the way, was 1:52. The six riders have bumped up their advantage, albeit only slightly.'),(6172,141,'2007-03-17 13:46:28','With 49km','to go, the gap is down to 1:30.'),(6173,141,'2007-03-17 13:51:05','Interesting','composition at the front of the peloton. There is a single Euskaltel rider doing the bulk of the work at the fron and a string of Discovery riders on his wheel. We don\'t see Gerolsteiner or Rebellin up there. Up front, the six-man break is enjoying an advantage of 1:20, with 45km remaining.'),(6174,141,'2007-03-17 13:52:40','The roads','The roads here are very, very narrow and the men up front are probably not at too much of a disadvantage on this descent. '),(6175,141,'2007-03-17 13:56:24','Those poor Euskaltel boys','are stuck doing all of the chase work, as most teams seem to be banking on a sprint finish. The gap is still 1:20 with 40km remaining.'),(6176,141,'2007-03-17 13:59:19','Still','coursing down the route. Ahead, the Col du Tanneron, which is the last opportunity for the escappes to put time into the field. The gap, with 36km remaining, is now 1:13.'),(6177,141,'2007-03-17 14:01:20','The chase','is really going hard... and the peloton is splitting up on the flats here before the climb up the Col du Tanneron. '),(6178,141,'2007-03-17 14:04:41','At the sprint mark','Sylvain Chavanel gets the three seconds of bonus time, as Leipheimer comes through in second for two. Do note, that the two men are close on GC:
12. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 00:49
\r\n13. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, 00:50
and they pose something of a threat to Rebellin, but you don\'t see the race leader\'s team in the chase.\r\n'),(6179,141,'2007-03-17 14:06:27','The leaders','Sylvain Chavanel has attacked out of the lead group on the little unrated rise after the sprint mark. He has 32km to go. Good move? We\'re not too sure, but he does have a bit of a gap ont he other five.\r\n'),(6180,141,'2007-03-17 14:07:40','Zoooom','Chavanel is powering off on his own. He has 12 seconds on the others and the peloton is coming up fast.'),(6181,141,'2007-03-17 14:08:55','Chavanel','is now on the little descent just before the day\'s final rated climb. He has 20 seconds on the other five men in the break and the peloton appears to be within a minute of the pursuers.'),(6182,141,'2007-03-17 14:09:41','Liquigas','is now powering at the front of the peloton, with Francaise des Jeux and Predictor-Lotto lending a hand.'),(6183,141,'2007-03-17 14:09:00','Chavanel','is heading on to the climb and he already 45 seconds on the chasers... and the peloton is within 30 seconds of catching the five.'),(6184,141,'2007-03-17 14:14:08','Discovery','appears to have lost Matt White. He crashed about 25km back and is pulling out.'),(6185,141,'2007-03-17 14:15:29','Chavanel','is on the climb. He has 52 seconds on the chasers. Behind, Danielson is driving hard at the front of the chase group, but those guys are about to be swept up by a hard-charging peloton.'),(6186,141,'2007-03-17 14:16:07','Danielson is blown','He has been caught by the peloton.'),(6187,141,'2007-03-17 14:17:03','Sanchez and Voeckler','have moved ahead of Leipheimer and he is caught by the peloton. Ahead Chavanel is powering up the climb. He has 1:20 on the peloton.'),(6188,141,'2007-03-17 14:18:46','Correction','Leipheimer has been dropped, but he has not been caught by the peloton... although he\'s about to be. Predictor-Lotto is driving at the front, in hopes of setting up Cadel Evans for the win.'),(6189,141,'2007-03-17 14:19:05','Leipheimer and Vande Velde','are about to be caught.'),(6190,141,'2007-03-17 14:20:09','Cadel Evans is','attacking out of the field, he\'s caught and passed Vande Velde and Leipheimer. Ahead, Chavanel is ticking along about 1:00 ahead of the chase.'),(6191,141,'2007-03-17 14:21:30','Contador','gives it a dig. He is leaving Evans and Rebellin. He\'s puting on the gas and he\'s about 45 seconds behind Chavanel.'),(6192,141,'2007-03-17 14:22:37','Contador','has company, with Franck Schleck and .... oop never mind. Contador is flying.'),(6193,141,'2007-03-17 14:24:03','Contador','has caught Sanchez and ahead there is only Chavanel. Rebellin is isolated in the yellow jersey group and now Cadel Evans is attacking.'),(6194,141,'2007-03-17 14:25:57','Contador is closing in','on Chavanel as they reach the final kilometer on the climb. We now have a group of four riders - Contador, Chavanel, and two men from Caisse d\'Epargne, Sanchez and Garcia Lopez. Up and over the top, and 20km to go.... a five km descent and then 15km to the finish on flat roads.'),(6195,141,'2007-03-17 14:27:05','The peloton is shattered','behind the four leaders. It should be interesting to see what the gaps are and how big of a group puts together a chase.'),(6196,141,'2007-03-17 14:28:41','The gaps are not huge.','The leaders are flying down the descent, but the yellow jersey group - about 15 riders - is not far back.'),(6197,141,'2007-03-17 14:29:50','Time checks','The four men in the Contador group are 25 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group.'),(6198,141,'2007-03-17 14:30:54','With 16km to go','The gap is 28 seconds.'),(6199,141,'2007-03-17 14:33:01','15km to go','The leaders should be hitting the flats here soon and then they will be heading into the world-famous enclave of the rich and beautiful.\r\n'),(6200,141,'2007-03-17 14:33:00','Dicey, dicey','roads on the descent, which is an advantage of a skillful descender like Contador... but Garcia Lopez (Caisse d\'Epargne) is nervous on these roads.'),(6201,141,'2007-03-17 14:35:29','Now on the flats','The gap back to Garcia Lopez is about 15 seconds and then the yellow jersey group is about 25 seconds behind.'),(6202,141,'2007-03-17 14:36:00','Rebellin','is driving the chase. He is being forced to defend the jersey on his own.'),(6203,141,'2007-03-17 14:37:26','It\'s lonely on the top','Rebellin is stuck with the job of fighting to keep the lead. Meanwhile Sanchez has dropped back to bring back Garcia Lopez and there are now four men up front.'),(6204,141,'2007-03-17 14:38:38','Rebellin gets a bit of help','With 10km to go, the gap is 21 seconds, and a couple of riders are lending of hand. Rebellin looks pretty spent folks.'),(6205,141,'2007-03-17 14:40:01','With 8km to go','the gap has bumped up to 24 seconds.'),(6206,141,'2007-03-17 14:40:59','Contador is driving','hard. He\'s getting help from the two Caisse d\'Epargne, but Chavanel is blown. He\'s dropped.'),(6207,141,'2007-03-17 14:42:36','Sanchez and Garcia Lopez','are trying to get away, but the Discovery man is holding on. There are six kilometers to go and they have a gap of 30 seconds as Chavanel is caught.'),(6208,141,'2007-03-17 14:43:57','Five kilometers','to go, the trio up front is cooperating and they are extending the gap. It\'s now 33 seconds. The work in the peloton is back on Rebellin\'s shoulders.'),(6209,141,'2007-03-17 14:44:49','With 4.5km to go','The cooperation is coming apart. Lopez-Garcia is now attacking.'),(6210,141,'2007-03-17 14:46:00','Luis-Leon Sanchez is actually on the attack','Has ample motivation to go, since he started the day 16th at 55 seconds. Contador is chasing hard, with Lopez-Garcia on his wheel and we have 3.5km to go.'),(6211,141,'2007-03-17 14:48:00','Garcia-Lopez now attacks','Contador is on his own with 1.5km to go.'),(6212,141,'2007-03-17 14:49:30','The final kilometer','Sanchez is in the final kilometer and he has healthy 20-second gap on his teammate... and Contador is about to be caught!'),(6213,141,'2007-03-17 14:50:04','Sanchez is','closing in on the finish.'),(6214,141,'2007-03-17 14:50:12','Sanchez wins',''),(6215,141,'2007-03-17 14:51:00','Here comes the peloton','and they caught Lopez-Garcia. Sanchez gets 10 seconds bonus and finished 28 seconds ahead of the field. Rebellin pulls this one off in the final kilometer. He stays in yellow.'),(6216,141,'2007-03-17 14:54:51','It\'s been an interesting stage','and the GC picture has changed a bit, although Rebellin still leads Contador by six seconds. Quite a day, eh?\r\n'),(6217,141,'2007-03-17 14:56:21','Top five','1. Luis Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne
2. Mirco Lorenzetto (I), Milram, at 0:28
3. Jerome Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom
4. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas
5. Samuel Dumoulin (F), AG2R\r\n'),(6218,141,'2007-03-17 14:58:53','It ain\'t over yet','A look at the GC means that this race is far from over. Unlike many stage races, tomorrow\'s finale is not a coronation of the guy everyone concedes is a winner before the start. There are four categorized climbs tomorrow, including two Category 1\'s. This will be a fight to the finish.'),(6219,141,'2007-03-17 15:03:23','Big changes','Leipheimer, on the attack all day, had a bad final haul to the finish. It looks like he had some mechanical issues toward the end and never really manged to reconnect. He finished 4:28 down on the winner today.'),(6220,141,'2007-03-17 15:08:50','Congratulations','to today\'s contest winner, who asked us to keep her name anonymous, because she suspects her boss is a bike racing fan and they both might be checking in from work. '),(6221,141,'2007-03-17 15:09:08','The GC picture','Has changed a bit:
1. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner
\r\n2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 00:06
\r\n3. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 00:16
\r\n4. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 00:23
\r\n5. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 00:31
\r\n6. Sébastien Joly (F), Francaise des Jeux, 00:32
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 00:35
\r\n8. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 00:42
\r\n9. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 00:42
\r\n10. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, 00:42
\r\n'),(6222,141,'2007-03-17 15:10:19','Okay folks','that\'s a wrap! Check in with us tomorrow and we\'ll follow this thing down-to-the-wire. It\'s going to be interesting, that\'s about the only thing that\'s certain at this point. See you then!'),(6223,142,'2007-03-18 12:48:00','Good day...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the final stage of the 2007 edition of Paris-Nice. This year\'s \"race to the sun,\" has been blessed by good weather throughout and today\'s is no different. Here at the start/finish town, the temperatures are just around 62 degrees (F), with a spectacular blue sky above and coastal winds around 5mph.
As we said, today\'s stage starts and finishes in Nice, but don\'t let that fool you. This is not one of those final-day parade laps around town that characterize the last day a lot of stage races. This sucker takes full advantage of the terrain around Nice and takes the 126 survivors in the peloton away from the sunny beaches of the Rivera and into the Alpes Maritimes, the beautiful hills that make Nice such a great place for bike racers to use as a home base.
Take a look at the four climbs in today\'s stage:
That last climb tops out just 16km from the finish in Nice. Unlike yesterday\'s stage, that final 16km involves only a small stretch of flat terrain, so anyone with a significant gap might just be able to hold it to the line. That, of course is a big factor when you consider the current state of the General Classification:
1. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 26:39:39 (42.407kph)
\r\n2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 00:06
\r\n3. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 00:16
\r\n4. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 00:23
\r\n5. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 00:31
\r\n6. Sébastien Joly (F), Francaise des Jeux, 00:32
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 00:35
\r\n8. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, 00:42
\r\n9. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 00:42
\r\n10. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, 00:42
\r\nIndeed, the top 15 on GC are all within a minute of one another. It\'s something to watch for.'),(6224,142,'2007-03-18 13:00:46','Today\'s start','The peloton will be ambling along through the neutral zone for the next 15 or 20 minutes and the formal start should hit at just around 1:20 p.m. local time.'),(6225,142,'2007-03-18 13:18:09','This stage','is designed to provide plenty of opportunity for riders to put the hammer down. With just six seconds separating Rebellin and Contador, you have to expect Discovery to throw everything into this final stage.
The climbing begins from the get-go, with a steady rise up to the day\'s first intermediate sprint, which offers Contador a chance to snag a valuable three seconds of bonus time at kilometer 15 in Levens. The Cat. 2 Cote de Duranus comes after that at 25.5 km and then the big haul up the Col de la Porte. This is a short stage, but it should be packed with fun... at least for those of watching.'),(6226,142,'2007-03-18 13:19:00','And there they go','Out of the neutral zone, the peloton has been given the formal start. This should be good. There\'s already been a crash, but no one is hurt and the peloton is together again... just as the man in the polka-dot jersey, Thomas Voeckler, has scampered off the front. But it didn\'t last.'),(6227,142,'2007-03-18 13:23:30','It should be interesting','to watch for evidence of alliances in the peloton. Clearly, the Discovery team has a lot more strength than does Gerolsteiner. It might be that Rebellin\'s team has enlisted some help today.
By the way, one person who won\'t win today is Tom Boonen. The former world champion has been fighting a cold most of the week and decided to skip the start today.'),(6228,142,'2007-03-18 13:24:00','On the attack','We see 11 riders moving off the front. We see at least one Disco jersey, but we\'ll ID the group here in a sec\''),(6229,142,'2007-03-18 13:28:00','Well dang','Just as we were cobbling together the names and GC positions of the guys off the front, the were caught. Only one of them - 69. Mario Aerts (B), Predictor-Lotto, 21:39 - is still away.'),(6230,142,'2007-03-18 13:32:01','Will Contador attack?','Well, sure. As he told VeloNews\'s Andrew Hood, \"We\'ll try again today. The legs are good and today\'s profile suits me even better. We have to try because second place will be forgotten in a week or two. I want to win.\" '),(6231,142,'2007-03-18 13:33:00','Defending the jersey','Rebellin is expecting it to be a hard day. Udo Bolts, Director Sportif Gerolsteiner, told Hood today that \"When Contador attacked yesterday, Rebellin couldn\'t follow. It will be hard today for him. We are sure the Spanish riders will attack again. Davide is motivated and he\'s experienced. That could help us.\"
Meanwhile, we did mention alliances being necessary. Gerolsteiner only has four riders remaining. Team boss Hans-Michael Holzcer was seen in a huddle with an Astana director. Maybe they were chatting about the weather, huh?'),(6232,142,'2007-03-18 13:34:53','Aerts caught','and the counter-attacks continue. Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Andy Schleck (CSC) and Roman Kreuzinger (Liquigas) are now on the attack.\r\n'),(6233,142,'2007-03-18 13:36:58','Five more join in the fun','Sergio Paulinho (Discovery Channel), Francisco Perez Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne), Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux), Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), Roman Kreuzinger (Liquigas) and Dmitry Fofonov (Credit Agricole) have joined up to make it an eight-man break, as they move toward the day\'s sprint mark at km 15.'),(6234,142,'2007-03-18 13:37:54','Home base','Nice serves as a home base for many in the peloton and to underscore that, there were several rider\'s families and wives were at start - Bobby Julich, who lives in Nice, was seen hugging his two baby daugthers. Axel Merckx, who lives here as well, also had a family reunion. '),(6235,142,'2007-03-18 13:40:05','That crash','early in the stage seems to have had more serious consequences than we thought. Race radio reports that at least eight riders in the muddle decided to bag it as the pace picked up. No one is seriously hurt, but\r\n
have all pulled out of the race.\r\n'),(6236,142,'2007-03-18 13:41:18','Up front','The group is growing. The eight have now grown to 11, as Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel), Patxi Vila Errandonea (Lampre) and Stig Devolder join in.'),(6237,142,'2007-03-18 13:41:49','The gap','is up to 1:00 as the 11 escapees are now about 2km from the sprint.'),(6238,142,'2007-03-18 13:47:12','Chavanel','Moves ahead as the group approaches the sprint mark.
He\'s not necessarily aiming for those, since he doesn\'t stand much chance of taking the green jersey:
Points\r\n1. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 75 Pts.
2. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, 72 Pts.
3. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 67 Pts.
4. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 49 Pts.
5. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 49 Pts.
6. Samuel Sanchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 48 Pts.
7. Mirco Lorenzetto (I), Milram, 44 Pts.
8. Sébastien Joly (F), Francaise des Jeux, 43 Pts.
9. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 38 Pts.
10. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas, 38 Pts.
\r\n'),(6239,142,'2007-03-18 13:49:36','Chavanel','Takes the sprint and holds a small 15-second lead over the rest of the men in the group. Up next, is a short descent and then a climb up the Cote de Duranus. Now that\'s what Chavanel has in mind.
KOM1. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, 48 Pts.
2. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, 24 Pts.
3. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 20 Pts.
4. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 17 Pts.
5. Sandy Casar (F), Francaise des Jeux, 17 Pts.\r\n'),(6240,142,'2007-03-18 13:54:10','Chavanel','Has a tough road ahead, but he does stand a chance of taking the jersey from Voeckler, albeit a slight one. The Cat. 2 climb offers 7 points for the first to crest it, with points descending for the following spots 5, 3, 2, and 1. The three Cat. 1 climbs ahead offer 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
With Voeckler enjoying a 20 point lead, he has a buffer, but he still has to work to grab high positions in the climbs to preserve his hold.'),(6241,142,'2007-03-18 13:55:38','He isn\'t going to try this on his own','The cold reality of the road ahead means that Chavanel won\'t be doing this ride on his own. He waits for the 10 men in the break and will challenge Voeckler when the climbs appear. The gap to the peloton is now 1:20'),(6242,142,'2007-03-18 13:58:00','The GC threats','in the break are significant, so we doubt that we\'ll see the peloton letting them get too far up the road:
Can they hold it? Here\'s a reminder for those of you who want to do a bit of prognosticating. Check the results link on top and see who you might favor to win today\'s stage (keep in mind we\'ve seen several riders drop out today) and drop us a line at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we will randomly pick a winner from those of your who submit the correct answer and we\'ll send you a Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the subject line, which will make our jobs a little easier when things are frantic at the end of the stage.'),(6245,142,'2007-03-18 14:12:10','Voeckler','is riding on his own, up the Col de la Porte. He is putting a mark on the KOM race... and may be looking for a stage win.'),(6246,142,'2007-03-18 14:16:34','Pictures','We just wanted to direct you to the bottom of the update page. We\'re loading photos from this morning\'s start in Nice.
Meanwhile, the ever tenacious Voeckler is riding up the Col de la Porte with a 20 second advantage on his 10 chasers and 1:15 on the peloton.'),(6247,142,'2007-03-18 14:23:09','Voeckler','Is still of on his own, as he plows up the long grind to the top of the Col de la Porte. He is 22 seconds ahead of the chase group and 1:10 ahead of the peloton.'),(6248,142,'2007-03-18 14:29:37','Up, up','Voeckler is at km 44 and holding a 40-second lead on his former break-away companions. He still has about 8km of climbing ahead. In other words, he has only started on the formal part of the climb up the Col de la Porte, but, as you can see from the profile, the climb is much, much longer than the 7.2km that count.'),(6249,142,'2007-03-18 14:30:19','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','If you have a comment, complaint or question, drop a line to our Live Update Guy and we\'ll try to answer a few as the day goes on.'),(6250,142,'2007-03-18 14:39:15','Approaching','the summit, Voeckler seems to be a man on a mission. Heck, he has a lock on the climber\'s jersey now, so is he looking for a stage win?'),(6251,142,'2007-03-18 14:40:37','Meanwhile','the 10-man chase group has company. They\'ve all been pulled back by the peloton. Voeckler is near the summit and then has some time to relax... on a loooooong descent off of the Col de la Porte.'),(6252,142,'2007-03-18 14:45:28','Up and over','Voeckler is now over the top of the Col de la Porte and it looks like he\'s about 45 seconds ahead of the peloton.'),(6330,145,'2007-04-15 13:33:00','Good day...','... and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 2007 of Paris Roubaix, the 105th edition of this, the most coveted of classics.
Today\'s edition of the Hell of the North covers 259.5km, including 57.5km of cobbles, divided between 28 sections of pave\'.
The peloton left the traditional start in Compiegne today at around 11:00 - about 2.5 hours ago - as the race covered its first 98 kilometers on real roads - the asphalt stuff!
The day began with several early attacks, and we finally saw a big move at 30km, when 29 riders left the field.\r\n\r\nThe break is well represented, with riders from most teams in the mix.
'),(6254,142,'2007-03-18 14:50:00','Contador','Discovery Channel sport director Dirk Demol said Contador still has options today.
\"It\'s obvious he\'s stronger in the climbs than Rebellin, so we will try again,\" he told Andrew Hood. \"It could come down to time bonuses.\"
Demol also said Saturday\'s attack on the final climb wasn\'t planned.
\"Alberto went because he felt good. It was too bad that the two Caisse d\'Epargne riders didn\'t collaborate with us because they could have won the stage and been 2-3 in the GC. They made their decision to send Sanchez alone.\" '),(6255,142,'2007-03-18 14:55:27','Correction','The time gap is smaller than we thought. Voeckler did, indeed, nail the KOM points on top, but Tom Danielson, Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popovych and Alberto Contador (all from Disco) crested at just 17 seconds. And, yes, Davide Rebellin was right there with them.'),(6256,142,'2007-03-18 15:03:48','As Voeckler courses','down the descent on his own, the gap is now back up to about 1:00. The chase group now includes about 30 riders, with plenty Discovery riders and a somewhat isolated Rebellin.'),(6257,142,'2007-03-18 15:08:09','A long descent','The chase group is growing and the Discos are still putting the pressure on Rebellin'),(6258,142,'2007-03-18 15:10:44','With 61km','Voeckler is 1:26 up the road. Behind, it\'s a row of Discovery riders working at the front of the chase group. They aren\'t really chasing, but looking to set Contador up on the next climb. Contador and Leon Sanchez look relaxed and joking - Rebellin looks muy nervioso '),(6259,142,'2007-03-18 15:13:36','Voeckler is at 1:40 and','is working toward the day\'s next hump, the Cat. 1 La Turbie'),(6260,142,'2007-03-18 15:16:00','The peloton','continues to grow as the riders dropped on the climb rejoin. Meanwhile, the weather is changing. Clouds are building and it\'s getting cooler. There\'s a chance of showers. If it rains, the composure of the race could change dramatically because the descent off Col d\'Eze is hairy enough in the dry. Forecasters are calling for some serious weather to roll in by Monday. It looks like it could be arriving a little early. '),(6261,142,'2007-03-18 15:19:33','All Disco all the time','The peloton is led by five Discovery riders, with Contador sitting comfortably in the sixth spot. It looks like the old days at the Tour... our crew is guessing that they\'ll rev\' it up on La Turbie - they gotta put Rebellin under pressure. '),(6262,142,'2007-03-18 15:22:37','With 50km','to go, Voeckler has 1:45.
Meanwhile, we have a bit of an argument here. Some of our crew seem to predict a Discovery attack on the La Turbie, while others are saying they have no reason to hit it until the final climb up the Col d’Eze. Let\'s see who\'s right.'),(6263,142,'2007-03-18 15:24:08','With 47km to go','Voeckler looks tired, but he\'s holding his lead at 1:40.'),(6264,142,'2007-03-18 15:26:00','Voeckler is on the climb','Let\'s see if he can hold it over these next 45km. Any bets? Don\'t forget to enter today\'s contest, by droping a line to Rosters@InsideInc.com'),(6265,142,'2007-03-18 15:29:00','Discovery','setting tempo at the front and Voeckler\'s gap is shrinking. He\'s now just 1:00 ahead, with 43 to go and he is struggling. He\'s had a tough couple of days, eh?
Popovych sitting on Contador\'s wheel - maybe they\'ll try to spring him on this climb.'),(6266,142,'2007-03-18 15:33:13','Voeckler','Is still ticking along. Even if he\'s caught, he has alock on the KOM jersey.
Meanwhile, Disco\'s pace is causing several riders to be spit off the back - ping! - there goes Alexandr Kolobnev - winner of stage 3 '),(6267,142,'2007-03-18 15:34:09','Voeckler','With 40km to go, the peloton is just 35 seconds back.'),(6268,142,'2007-03-18 15:35:08','Voeckler','knows he\'s caught...'),(6269,142,'2007-03-18 15:36:39','Voeckler','is caught and the pace continues to shed riders. The yellow jersey, though, is holding on, sitting three or four bikes behind Contador.'),(6270,142,'2007-03-18 15:38:45','POP!','Voeckler has popped'),(6271,142,'2007-03-18 15:40:37','Discovery continues to lead','and the pace is putting the hurt on Rebellin\'s team. They just lost Bernhard Kohl - one of only three teammates Rebellin has here now.'),(6272,142,'2007-03-18 15:42:50','A few digs','from other riders, but Discovery is not letting anyone get away. Up front, Danielson and Leipheimer are setting a brutal pace.'),(6273,142,'2007-03-18 15:45:00','After the summit','T-Mobile\'s Marcus Burghardt has attacked and he\'s got another three riders with him. No GC threats, though.'),(6274,142,'2007-03-18 15:47:31','KOM','The attack we mentioned took place after the summit on rolling terrain. Meanwhile, the KOM points awarded at the top are:
\r\n1. Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) 10
\r\n2. Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) 8
\r\n3. Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) 6
\r\n4. Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel) 4
\r\n5. Luis Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) 3
\r\n6. Joaquim Rodriguez (Caisse d’Epargne) 2
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Predictor Lotto) 1
'),(6275,142,'2007-03-18 15:49:39','It will','all come down to the final climb, the Col d’Eze, which summits 16km from the finish. Right now, the peloton has been trimmed to about 50 riders. The Burghardt group is just 22 seconds ahead of the peloton, but they aren\'t posing much of GC threat to either Rebellin or Discovery.'),(6276,142,'2007-03-18 15:52:10','The Col d\'Eze','is a 7.6 km climb that average 6.1 percent. It\'s tough enough to be decisive, for sure. Contador still has Popovych, Danielson and Leipheimer there to set tempo on the climb. \r\n'),(6277,142,'2007-03-18 15:54:46','The men up front','are as follows:
\r\nMaxime Monfort (Cofifid)
They have a 30-second lead on the Discovery-led peloton. They are heading to the day\'s second sprint in Nice, which is important, in that it offers three seconds of bonus time, which means something in a stage race that is separated by six seconds.'),(6278,142,'2007-03-18 15:56:28','Heading into Nice','the sprint mark is coming up in Nice - where it\'s sunny! - and then the course works its way up the Col d\'Eze.'),(6279,142,'2007-03-18 15:59:50','In town','the sprint mark comes up at km 105. It looks like the four men up front will have enough of a gap to take the sprint, which means that neither of the two GC leaders will get the bonus time, making the climb just that much more decisive.'),(6280,142,'2007-03-18 16:00:40','On the climb','the leading four are on the climb and the peloton hits the slope about 30 seconds behind.'),(6281,142,'2007-03-18 16:01:21','Danielson','is driving hard at the front as they charge toward the four leaders.'),(6282,142,'2007-03-18 16:02:13','The climb is long','Leipheimer is now leading, as Danielson fades. We see David Millar dropped.'),(6283,142,'2007-03-18 16:02:46','In the lead group','Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) has attacked. '),(6284,142,'2007-03-18 16:03:16','Marcus Burghardt (T-Mobile)','is chasing as the other two have faded.'),(6285,142,'2007-03-18 16:03:32','BAMM!','There goes Contador!'),(6286,142,'2007-03-18 16:03:54','He\'s on the tough part','Dirk Demol said: \"Contador is one of the most explosive climbers in the peloton. He can quickly open a gap and he\'s strong enough to hold it.\" '),(6287,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(6288,142,'2007-03-18 16:04:23','Contador','passes Burghardt... '),(6289,142,'2007-03-18 16:05:47','Closing in on','Maxime Monfort... but the Frenchman is of little concern to the Discovery rider. He is intent on putting time on Rebellin, who simply could not respond to the attack.'),(6290,142,'2007-03-18 16:07:43','Contador','May get company. David Lopez Garcia (Caisse d\'Epargne) is chasing, but he would be an asset rather than a liability.'),(6291,142,'2007-03-18 16:08:28','Now Sanchez attacks','out of the Rebellin group... which is 23 seconds behind Contador. Rebellin is putting in a heroic effort.'),(6292,142,'2007-03-18 16:08:54','Garcia Lopez','is still not connecting with Contador.'),(6293,142,'2007-03-18 16:10:06','Tadej Valjavec','The Lampre man is now attacking out of the yellow-jersey group. It\'s a small group that includes Chris Horner and Cadel Evans.'),(6294,142,'2007-03-18 16:10:00','Valjavec','Has joined Lopez Garcia, but Contador is flying... he\'s 31 seconds ahead of they yellow jersey.'),(6295,142,'2007-03-18 16:12:21','Contador is','riding in the big ring as he approaches the summit. He\'s 22 seconds ahead of Valjavec and Lopez Garcia and 34 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group, which is being led by Chris Horner.'),(6296,142,'2007-03-18 16:13:20','Horner',' leads the group right up to Valjavec and Lopez Garcia. Horner is working like a dog to help Cadel Evans... and Rebellin is what economists like to call a \"free rider,\" in this one.'),(6297,142,'2007-03-18 16:14:04','the gap','is now 37 seconds.'),(6298,142,'2007-03-18 16:15:35','Contador is','almost at the top. We\'ll get a time check when Rebellin hits the summit.'),(6299,142,'2007-03-18 16:16:07','The gap','is 24 seconds... as Contador summits.'),(6300,142,'2007-03-18 16:17:51','It\'s 15km to the finish','and there is a 2km stretch of relatively flat terrain and then all downhill to Nice. Is Contador\'s 30-second gap enough?'),(6301,142,'2007-03-18 16:18:52','\"You get him,\"','... \"no, you get him,\" seems to be the tone in the chase group. At this point, the job has to fall on Rebellin.'),(6302,142,'2007-03-18 16:20:08','The gap','Contador is extending his lead a bit. He has 46 seconds. Rebellin is pulling the group and now Franck Schleck (CSC) is attacking out of that group.'),(6303,142,'2007-03-18 16:21:08','Contador','is a good descender and he\'s handling the final stretch quite nicely.'),(6304,142,'2007-03-18 16:22:49','35 seconds','Contador is flying, as Euskaltel\'s Samuel Sanchez chases. Rebellin is not getting any help on this one.'),(6305,142,'2007-03-18 16:24:23','Done with the tough','part of the descent, as Contador works his way on to wide roads. It\'s still downhill... but the road is nice and wide. Rebellin has fought his way up to Sanchez. The gap is now 25 seconds, with 10km to go.'),(6306,142,'2007-03-18 16:24:56','Rebellin','attacks and is chasing hard. He wants to narrow that gap. '),(6307,142,'2007-03-18 16:25:42','Ain\'t it great','that a week-long stage race comes down to the final few kilometers? This is bike racing.'),(6308,142,'2007-03-18 16:26:44','Rebellin','is with Tadej Valjavec and Franco Pellizoti.'),(6309,142,'2007-03-18 16:27:58','The gap is holding','at 25 seconds. Contador is holding on. '),(6310,142,'2007-03-18 16:28:23','Five kilometers to go','Contador has 23 seconds.'),(6311,142,'2007-03-18 16:29:37','There is a time bonus','of 10 seconds for the stage win. As the road flattens out, the gap is 21 seconds... Rebellin is forced to do the work'),(6312,142,'2007-03-18 16:29:54','Spoke too soon','Frank Schleck is taking a pull.'),(6313,142,'2007-03-18 16:30:22','18 seconds','With 3.5 km to go, the gap is just 18 seconds.'),(6314,142,'2007-03-18 16:30:58','With 3km to go','Contador is 17 seconds ahead.'),(6315,142,'2007-03-18 16:31:46','Very close','It\'s a big group chasing as Contador hits the final 2km and he will be facing a strong ocean breeze.'),(6316,142,'2007-03-18 16:32:07','With 2km to go...','17 seconds.'),(6317,142,'2007-03-18 16:32:29','One on one','Rebellin is on his own chasing!'),(6318,142,'2007-03-18 16:32:40','Contador is in the final kilometer',''),(6319,142,'2007-03-18 16:32:57','Rebellin is in the final','kilometer'),(6320,142,'2007-03-18 16:33:16','Holy @#$%!','this is something!'),(6321,142,'2007-03-18 16:33:36','Rebellin gets company','and now he\'s been attacked.'),(6322,142,'2007-03-18 16:33:50','Contador!','Contador wins it!!!'),(6323,142,'2007-03-18 16:34:01','Contador takes the jersey, too!',''),(6324,142,'2007-03-18 16:37:16','The best young','rider of Paris Nice, takes the yellow jersey in the last few kilometers of a week-long stage race, finishing 19 seconds ahead of Garcia-Lopez and the rest of the Rebellin group. Rebellin loses the jersey and holds on to second, 26 seconds behind Rebellin.'),(6325,142,'2007-03-18 16:38:06','Wow',''),(6326,142,'2007-03-18 16:42:32','Congratulations','to reader Chris Heintz, who was one of many among you to turn in his pick for Contador. We\'ll see to it, Chris, that you get a Coors Classic DVD. Thanks for including your address.'),(6327,142,'2007-03-18 16:45:28','That should convince','anyone promoting a stage race that the final stage should be more than a victory parade. Save the Champagne for after the race, eh?'),(6328,142,'2007-03-18 17:02:00','Results','Are beginning to drift in. Here are the top ten:
1. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel
\r\n2. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 00:19
\r\n3. Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 00:19
\r\n4. Samuel Sanchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:22
\r\n5. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), Credit Agricole, 00:22
\r\n6. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 00:22
\r\n7. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 00:22
\r\n8. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 00:22
\r\n9. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 00:22
\r\n10. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 00:22
Overall
1. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel
\r\n2. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 00:26
\r\n3. Sanchez Luis-Leon (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 00:42
\r\n4. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, 00:49
\r\n5. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 00:57
\r\n6. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 01:00
\r\n7. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 01:01
\r\n8. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 01:08
\r\n9. Samuel Sanchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:12
\r\n10. Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Caisse d\'Epargne, 01:22
\r\n\r\n'),(6329,142,'2007-03-18 17:03:00','Well, that\'s a wrap','Thanks for joining us this week. It\'s been an interesting race and a reminder that despite the best efforts of the suits (read ASO and the UCI), this sport can actually be a real joy to be involved with. Quite a week, eh? And to think, this race almost didn\'t happen.'),(6331,145,'2007-04-15 13:45:42','The cobbles','Just to give you a sense of what\'s ahead today, here is a list of the 57km of cobbles that will be covered today. Indeed, the leaders - now with an advantage of about 5:00 - have already worked their way through the first three sections.
The Cobbles of Roubaix
Troisvilles à Inchy | |||
Viesly à Quiévy | |||
Quiévy à Saint-Python | |||
Saint-Python | |||
Vertain à St-Martin-sur-Ecaillon | |||
Capelle-sur-Ecaillon - Le-Buat | |||
Verchain-Maugré à Quérénaing | |||
Quérénaing à Maing | |||
Maing à Monchaux-sur-Ecaillon | |||
Haveluy à Wallers | |||
Tranchée (ou Trouée) d’Arenberg | |||
Wallers à Hélesmes | |||
Hornaing à Wandignies - Hamage | |||
Warlaing à Brillon | |||
Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières | |||
Beuvry-la-Forêt à Orchies | |||
Orchies | |||
Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée | |||
Mons-en-Pévèle | |||
Mérignies à Pont-à-Marcq | |||
Pont-Thibaut à Ennevelin | |||
Templeuve - L’Epinette | |||
Templeuve - Moulin-de-Vertain | |||
Cysoing à Bourghelles | |||
Bourghelles à Wannehain | |||
Camphin-en-Pévèle | |||
Carrefour de l’Arbre | |||
Gruson | |||
Hem | |||
Roubaix | |||
Total: 52.7km |
VeloNews\'s chief executive officer (our boss of bosses), Felix Magowan is out on the course with his son Henry. Felix reports that the conditions are almost reminiscent of those present during the 1976 filming of the great film, \"A Sunday in Hell.\" Sure, it;s warm, but a guy has to breath that stuff, too. Fans lining the course are wearing dust masks, so it has to be toughon riders.'),(6333,145,'2007-04-15 15:14:08','Contact us?','If you have questions or comments, by the way, drop us a line.'),(6334,145,'2007-04-15 14:00:33','Our leaders','Have made it through the cobbles at Vertain à St-Martin-sur-Ecaillon and are enjoying a lead of 5:25. The majority of the chase work is being handled by the Lampre team of Tour of Flanders winner Alessandro Ballan. Is this one of those breaks that may actually stick? It seems difficult, if not impossible, for a team like Lampre to take on the entire burden. The tactic most certainly falls within the strategy of CSC, which has three riders in the break. One of them, Stuart O\'Grady told VeloNews\'s Andy Hood in an interview we posted yesterday that the team most certainly wants to see Fabian Cancellara repeat, but is at Roubaix with all guns firing. If the group stays away, O\'Grady is certainly a favorite, but even if they get reeled in, CSC has a lot of fire-power in the main field, including the defending champ.'),(6335,145,'2007-04-15 14:06:02','Zippy','Race radio reports that, thus far, the speed for the first three hours has averaged at around 45kph. Now that\'s fast, but we will see things slow down as the bulk of the cobbled sections remain up the road.'),(6336,145,'2007-04-15 15:31:33','Contest Reminder','Care to guess who might win today? Enter our Paris-Roubaix\r\ncontest, but remember that you get one pick and that we won\'t be accepting\r\npicks after km 250. We\'ll make a random selection from among the correct\r\nentries and award the winner a copy of \"\'06\r\nParis-Roubaix,\" the video from last year\'s race.'),(6337,145,'2007-04-15 14:13:47','Milram attack','Ralf Grabsch (Milram) has moved ahead on the cobbles of Verchain-Maugré à Quérénaing.'),(6338,145,'2007-04-15 14:19:06','Grabsch has a slight lead','of about 40 seconds, but he also has a long way to go.'),(6339,145,'2007-04-15 14:23:00','Grabsch','Riding through the cobbles at Maing à Monchaux-sur-Ecaillon (at km 144), Grabsch has bumped his lead up to one minute or so.'),(6340,145,'2007-04-15 14:31:16','Weather','While we referred to it as \"warm,\" a more apt description might be \"frickin\' HOT.\" Folks it\'s in the low 80s here and the dust is getting to be a problem. It could be that Grabsch may decide that a solo ride is an advantage, simply because he doesn\'t have to eat and breath the dust raised by the other 29 riders in the break. It makes sense, eh?'),(6341,145,'2007-04-15 14:33:32','Grabsch is heading','to the cobbles at Haveluy à Wallers (section 19 at km 155.5), a 2.5km chunk of pave\' that ends about 7km from the start of the rough roads at Arenberg.\r\n'),(6342,145,'2007-04-15 14:35:13','Concerning the heat,','several teams are taking extra precautions to combat the excessive temperatures. Team CSC sport director Scott Sunderland told VeloNews: \"We will have six cars hopping between sectors. They are usually there for wheels, but today we\'ll take extra bidons to keep the guys hydrated.\" '),(6343,145,'2007-04-15 14:37:04','Record heat?','QuickStep-Innergetic manager Patrick Lefevere told VeloNews this is the warmest Roubaix he\'s ever seen: \"This is my 37th Roubaix, and I\'ve never seen it this warm before. Making to eat and drink will be very important.\" '),(6344,145,'2007-04-15 14:38:39','Time Gaps','Grabsch has 1:15 on the others in the escape group and the peloton is 4:39 back.'),(6345,145,'2007-04-15 14:41:36','Arenberg','Perhaps because of the weather, or more likely because the police left the nearby highway exit open, (offering easy access to fans), the Arenberg forest is a mob scene! '),(6346,145,'2007-04-15 14:44:25','Grabsch','is heading to the Arenberg forest... and the crowds are massive.'),(6347,145,'2007-04-15 14:44:42','Big Maggy','Liquigas rider Magnus Backstedt said it would \"mean the world\" to him to have a strong ride today. The big Swede with cobblestone speed has had his fair share of troubles. He broke his shoulder in October while riding on the track, only to discover a melonoma on his chest. \"Thankfully, it\'s been removed and everything\'s come back negative. I have a checkup Thursday to be sure.\" To make matters even worse, his 29-year-old sister found out Friday she has breast cancer. \"I will dedicate my ride today for her.\"'),(6348,145,'2007-04-15 14:46:41','The Arenberg','Grabsch is working his way through the 2.4km of the Tranchée d’Arenberg, the most famous stretch of cobbles in this great race. The rest of the break is on the cobbles, too, about 1:15 back.'),(6349,145,'2007-04-15 14:47:47','A Roubaix first','Discovery Channel\'s Fumiyki Beppo became the first Japanese rider to ride the pave in a Paris-Roubaix. Last year, another Japanese rider - Masahiro Shinagawa - started but abandoned before the race reached the first pave sector at Troisville.'),(6350,145,'2007-04-15 14:49:05','Back in the peloton','the speed has really picked up, as they have chopped 1:00 off of the lead in the last 10km, not as much intent on chasing but jockeying for position before the Arenberg. The peloton is in the forest... and Grabsch is nearing the end.'),(6351,145,'2007-04-15 14:50:02','Crash!','There\'s a big pileup in the main field. A CSC rider - Cancellara? - had stopped for puncture - causing a major pileup in the back of the bunch '),(6352,145,'2007-04-15 14:52:31','Correction','That wasnt Cancellara. He\'s at front with Boonen - just coming off the Arenberg'),(6353,145,'2007-04-15 14:54:13','Interesting','Leon Van Bon just steered off the right side of the Arenberg. He ended up riding on the spectators\' side of the metal barriers. Meanwhile, the gap is down to 2:50.'),(6354,145,'2007-04-15 14:57:33','Grabsch is on','the cobbles of Wallers à Hélesmes (section 17 at km 170). He is just a small amount ahead of the other men in the break. Behind, a strong group that includes Backstedt, Van Petegem, Boonen and a lot of good horsepower, is moving up fast.'),(6355,145,'2007-04-15 14:59:06','Time gaps','Grabsch is 50 seconds ahead of the first chase group and 2:20 ahead of the Boonen group. We\'ll try to ID all of those riders.'),(6356,145,'2007-04-15 14:59:43','Disco','Discovery Channel Antonio Cruz is the lone American among the 187 starters. He said he was \"feeling good\" but said the team \"missed the presence of George.\"\r\n'),(6357,145,'2007-04-15 15:00:28','Hoste','is leading the Boonen group. He said he\'s out to take revenge for his narrow loss last weekend in Tour of Flanders.'),(6358,145,'2007-04-15 15:02:14','Marcus Burghardt','The T-Mobile winner of Ghent-Wevelgem is having a tough day. He crashed earlier in the day, chased like crazy, caught back on and had a flat.'),(6359,145,'2007-04-15 15:04:17','On asphalt','Grabsch is riding at an easy tempo on nice asphalt roads... but he\'s about to be gobbled up by the chase group. Behind, the Boonen group is at about 2:55, with 84km to go. Up next is the 3.7km section of cobbles at Hornaing à Wandignies - Hamage'),(6360,145,'2007-04-15 15:06:59','Grabsch has company','and Gerolsteiner\'s David Kopp counter-attacks and is now on the 3.7km section of cobbles at Hornaing à Wandignies.'),(6361,145,'2007-04-15 15:07:49','One rider to watch','Team CSC rider Lars Michaelsen signed in for his final race as a professional. The 14-year pro hangs up the cleats today.'),(6362,145,'2007-04-15 15:10:44','The Boonen group','is on the cobbles of Hornaing à Wandignies. That is a strong group that includes Tom Boonen, Peter Van Petegem, Fabian Cancellara, Leif Hoste, Magnus Backstedt, Filippo Pozzato, Vladimir Gusev, Philippe Gilbert, Juan-Antonio Flecha, Stefen Wesemann.
Up front, Kopp has been joined by Roger Hammond. \r\n'),(6363,145,'2007-04-15 15:13:13','Hammond and Kopp','are out of section 16\'s cobbles... but they are now with the rest of the escape group. Up next are the section 15 cobbles at km 184, Warlaing à Brillon.'),(6364,145,'2007-04-15 15:16:24','O\'Grady','has dropped back to the Boonen/Cancellara group. It\'s a good sign that the lead group may soon be caught and CSC director Bjarne Riis sees the race being decided by that second group. The gap is down to 1:45.'),(6365,145,'2007-04-15 15:17:51','Backstedt','has punctured. He\'s going to have a tough, tough chase, but the big man is a pro and is quite relaxed.'),(6366,145,'2007-04-15 15:18:46','Warlaing à Brillon','The leaders are on the cobbles of Warlaing à Brillon and the gap is less than 1:30.'),(6367,145,'2007-04-15 15:20:38','A very brief respite','Once the leaders are through section 15, there is a short break before the cobbles at Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières.'),(6368,145,'2007-04-15 15:27:04','Boonen\'s bike','Boonen is riding a custom-made alloy frame while Specialized builds a new\r\ncarbon-fiber frame for the star Belgian. Boonen complained of back pain\r\nearlier this season and decided he needed a different setup than his team-issue\r\nframe. Specialized quickly produced a new bike while new carbon-fiber molds\r\nare being made to accomodate his needs. Boonen promptly won the Dwars door\r\nVlaanderen racing on it for the first time. \"We want to make sure they\r\nhave what they need to win,\" said Specialized\'s Sean Sullivan. Gert Steegmans\r\nis also riding one of these custom-made steeds.\r\n
'),(6369,145,'2007-04-15 15:28:25','Cancellara','Has tried a dig with Hoste. Cancellara told journalists Saturday in a press conference, \"If I lose, it will be my own fault. When I go, I go very, very, very fast.\"
Frantic chasers ... and QuickStep shut down the move! Boonen is not gonna let that one go.'),(6370,145,'2007-04-15 15:28:50','The gap is at 1:04','with 17 riders in that powerful chase group.'),(6371,145,'2007-04-15 15:30:48','One aspect of the weather...','is that the speed is quite high. There\'s some speculation this could be the fastest Roubaix ever. That mark was set in 1964 by Peter Post with 45.129kph on a 265km course.'),(6372,145,'2007-04-15 15:31:25','Michaelsen','Team CSC\'s Lars Michaelsen is racing his last professional. He received a nice cheer at the start and ASO has a small ceremony to honor his career after the race. Michaelsen said, \"Right now I am focusing on the race. I don\'t have the energy to waste on emotions right now.\" '),(6373,145,'2007-04-15 15:32:47','With the gap coming down','there is a lot of cross-over between the two lead groups. With 65km to go, we see the gap at 45 seconds.'),(6374,145,'2007-04-15 15:35:13','on section 13','The leaders are on the 1.4km stretch of cobbles at Beuvry-la-Forêt à Orchies.'),(6375,145,'2007-04-15 15:35:48','Michaelsen','is driving at the front of the chase group. The gap is now sub-40 seconds.'),(6376,145,'2007-04-15 15:36:48','Off the cobbles','the two lead groups are now on pavement and have a 3km break before the 1.7km hunk of pave\' at Orchies.\r\n'),(6377,145,'2007-04-15 15:39:18','Disco','Discovery Channel\'s Vladimir Gusev was intense this morning, merely grunting about inquiries to his form. \"I feel good. We will try to make the race. I love the cobbles. Keep an eye on him. He\'s in the Boonen group. It looks like group off the front is sitting up to wait for the Boonen group to pull through ... and we could see a merger and acquisition here real soon.'),(6378,145,'2007-04-15 15:41:35','A reader question:','A reader named Rich asks.
Does the fact that Unibet has been ignored for most of the races this year after gaining a pro tour license lessen the value of winning the pro tour for teams or riders this year?Maybe, maybe not, Rich, but it has sure lessened the value of ProTour license, eh?\r\n \r\n'),(6379,145,'2007-04-15 15:40:00','Van Summeren','has crashed hard. He\'s up and about, but he hit the deck after touching wheels on smooth roads, proving that the cobbles aren\'t the only hazard at Paris-Roubaix.'),(6380,145,'2007-04-15 15:43:00','Zoooooom','The Boonen group is powering through the pave\' at Orchies, with Van Impe, Kopp and Pollack really driving it hard off the front of the escape group'),(6381,145,'2007-04-15 15:48:21','CSC','is looking strong. The Danish squad has five riders in the mix.'),(6382,145,'2007-04-15 15:49:10','Michaelsen','is trying to bridge up to the remnants of the break. Man, it would be cool if he won the final race of his career.'),(6383,145,'2007-04-15 15:52:31','Unity?','Roessler, Flecha, Leukemans are with Michaelsen and they are about to make the catch.'),(6384,145,'2007-04-15 15:55:00','The four chasers','have joined the 1st chase group, with the three riders up front. Added horsepower?
Defending champion Fabian Cancellara is a fan of Al Pacino and the film\r\nScarface. His Cervelo Roubaix frame had a quote from the movie emblazoned across the top tube: \'Tony M - The World is Yours\'\r\n
Say hello to his little friend.'),(6385,145,'2007-04-15 16:00:34','Van Impe, Kopp and Pollack','Are on the section 10 cobbles at Mons-en-Pévèle. A three-km stretch. Predictor Lotto is driving hard in the chase group at about 1:00 back.\r\n'),(6386,145,'2007-04-15 16:01:38','Big Maggy','In case you\'re wondering, that flat proved to be quite costly and Backstedt was never really able to pull back after the puncture.'),(6387,145,'2007-04-15 16:02:00','O\'Grady crashes','lightly, but he almost caused Cancellara to crash. He\'s back up, though and will be fine.'),(6389,145,'2007-04-15 16:07:17','Off the cobbles','The three leaders and the chase group are off the cobbles of Mons-en-Pévèle.... and heading to the short 700-meter stretch at Mérignies à Pont-à -Marcq.'),(6390,145,'2007-04-15 16:09:14','The time gaps','The trio up front are just 30 seconds ahead of the Michaelsen chase group.'),(6391,145,'2007-04-15 16:12:00','Pollack','dropped and caught and dropped. Did he have a flat? Anyway, he\'s history so we have Van Impe and Kopp leading by 32 seconds on the cobbles of Pont-Thibaut à Ennevelin. The Boonen/Cancellara group is just 1:08 back\r\n'),(6392,145,'2007-04-15 16:16:26','Disco','It looks like the Discovery team has both Gusev and Devolder in the Boonen/Cancellara group.'),(6393,145,'2007-04-15 16:19:18','Interesting','The Boonen group is being led by T-Mobile riders including Marcus Burghardt, who did manage to fight back from a crash and a flat. Impressive.'),(6394,145,'2007-04-15 16:22:08','With less than 35km remaining','the two leaders are just 25 seconds ahead of Breschel, Michaelsen, Flecha, Leukemans, Ralf Grabsch, Petito and Pollack. The Boonen/Cancellara group is another 40 seconds back.\r\n'),(6395,145,'2007-04-15 16:24:34','Boonen','is now pushing it hard. He\'s somewhat isolated. He is the lone QuickStep rider in his group, but he does have Van Impe up the road.'),(6396,145,'2007-04-15 16:26:12','At km 232','The two leaders are heading into the cobbles of Cysoing à Bourghelles. It\'s a two-part section with 1.3km and 1.1km'),(6397,145,'2007-04-15 16:27:09','Michaelsen','is really pushing it in the chase group as those riders enter the cobbles.\r\n'),(6398,145,'2007-04-15 16:28:00','Boonen','Has attacked out of the second chase group. The time gap, with 28km to go, is narrowing. The Michaelsen group is just 17 seconds behind the two leaders - Van Impe and Kopp - and then Boonen is another 45 seconds back with a small group chasing. That goup includes Fabio Baldato (Lampre), Marcus Burghardt (T-Mobile), Leif Hoste (Predictor Lotto), Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis), and Stijn Devolder (Discovery Channel).\r\n'),(6399,145,'2007-04-15 16:29:53','One rider we don\'t see','is Cancellara. He is not able to hold Boonen\'s pace.'),(6400,145,'2007-04-15 16:30:44','With 26km to go','Boonen is driving hard and he\'s being chased by Marcus Burghardt (T-Mobile). The dust is brutal.'),(6401,145,'2007-04-15 16:33:18','Out of section six','With 26km to go, Kopp and Van Impe are caught.'),(6402,145,'2007-04-15 16:36:27','O\'Grady','A big move from O\'Grady. He bridged up to the chase group and attacked when the two leaders were caught. It\'s now the Aussie off the front.\r\n\r\nDevolder is now trying bridge... as Boonen is chasing hard. All of these guys are within 40 seconds of one another.'),(6403,145,'2007-04-15 16:38:58','With 23km','to go, O\'Grady is powering off on his own. Cancellara is cooked, so Riis must have given the Aussie the green light '),(6404,145,'2007-04-15 16:40:31','The chase group','that includes Flecha, Wesseman, Michaelsen... is at 50 seconds.
Boonen is about 1:10 back from O\'Grady.'),(6405,145,'2007-04-15 16:41:29','O\'Grady','is 20km from the finish and holding a 52-second lead.'),(6406,145,'2007-04-15 16:43:00','Boonen','is riding like a mad man... he has two T-Mobiles on his wheel. '),(6407,145,'2007-04-15 16:43:58','With 17km to go','O\'Grady has 51 seconds on the Flecha group and 1:11 on Boonen.'),(6408,145,'2007-04-15 16:45:39','On the cobbles','at Carrefour de l’Arbre, O\'Grady is powering through this 2.1km stretch of cobbles.'),(6409,145,'2007-04-15 16:46:47','Flecha attacks','Flecha is charging out of the chase group. It\'s a large group - of nine - but a lot of those guys are tired and Flecha is clearly not willing to wait around for Boonen to catch on.'),(6410,145,'2007-04-15 16:48:01','This is the last','really tough stretch of pave\'. O\'Grady is pushing hard as he powers through the cobbles.'),(6411,145,'2007-04-15 16:48:33','O\'Grady','has 15km to go. He\'s on the Gruson cobbles.'),(6412,145,'2007-04-15 16:49:42','CRASH!!!!','Michaelsen has crashed.'),(6413,145,'2007-04-15 16:50:36','O\'Grady','is powering on. Michaelsen, meanwhile, is up and riding.'),(6414,145,'2007-04-15 16:51:06','Boonen is','chasing on his own. Wowie Zowie, folks.'),(6415,145,'2007-04-15 16:52:10','O\'Grady','is now 1:32 back, as the Flecha group has been trimmed to four riders. Boonen can see them... but with 13km to go, can he catch O\'Grady?'),(6416,145,'2007-04-15 16:53:14','The chase','of Flecha, Leukemans, Petito and Wesemann is 50 seconds behind O\'Grady. Boonen is another 30 seconds back.'),(6417,145,'2007-04-15 16:54:16','Trains... don\'t worry','We\'ve received many e-mails about the tracks that played such a role last year. We\'ve crossed that section without incident this year. No worries, mate.'),(6418,145,'2007-04-15 16:55:57','10km to go','O\'Grady is powering through the final haul to Roubaix.'),(6419,145,'2007-04-15 16:57:36','Interviews','Just a reminder folks, our guy Andrew Hood interviewed O\'Grady as a preview for this race... and Paulo Bettini for a world\'s preview. It might pay to talk to him before a big race, eh?\r\n'),(6420,145,'2007-04-15 16:59:12','Powering','through the cobbles at Hem, O\'Grady has 8km to go with a one-minute lead. The four chasers - Flecha, Leukemans, Petito and Wesemann - are just entering the cobbles as O\'Grady gets off. '),(6421,145,'2007-04-15 17:00:08','Boonen still','chasing... but he\'s not making much progress. It almost seems that O\'Grady has this one - barring a disaster like a flat.'),(6422,145,'2007-04-15 17:01:21','Six','kilometers to go, O\'Grady is putting his heart and soul into this final effort. He has about 1:00.'),(6423,145,'2007-04-15 17:02:40','The only','section of cobbles remaining is the little 300-meter hunk on the road to the Velodrome in Roubaix.'),(6424,145,'2007-04-15 17:03:42','Five kilometers to go','O\'Grady is still about 1:00 up on the chase group. Boonen is about to catch the chase group, but it\'s going to be hard to make up that gap in this short of a distance.'),(6425,145,'2007-04-15 17:04:47','O\'Grady','is now four kilometers from the finish and he\'s still 1:06 ahead of the chase.'),(6426,145,'2007-04-15 17:05:44','The chase group','is now 4km from the finish. Boonen is still chasing. The men in the chase group are attacking each other.'),(6427,145,'2007-04-15 17:06:03','Three kilometers','to go for O\'Grady.'),(6428,145,'2007-04-15 17:06:46','Boonen','is now just 8 seconds behind the Flecha group.'),(6429,145,'2007-04-15 17:07:19','Two kilometers to go','O\'Grady may be allowing himself to believe he can win.'),(6430,145,'2007-04-15 17:08:00','The final kilometer','O\'Grady is on his way to the velodrome!'),(6431,145,'2007-04-15 17:08:24','On the track...','holy moly....'),(6432,145,'2007-04-15 17:08:49','On the velodrome','One lap to go...'),(6433,145,'2007-04-15 17:09:45','Stuart O\'Grady','wins Paris-Roubaix, the first Australian to win the Hell of the North and the second CSC rider to win the Queen of the Classics in as many years.'),(6434,145,'2007-04-15 17:10:19','The chase group','has held off Boonen, so Flecha, Leukemans, Petito and Wesemann are fighting for the remaining two podium spots.'),(6435,145,'2007-04-15 17:10:49','Flecha second','and Wesemann third. '),(6436,145,'2007-04-15 17:11:53','42.18 kph','Not the fastest in history, but do you think O\'Grady cares?\r\n'),(6437,145,'2007-04-15 17:12:32','Wowie Zowie','That was a Hell of a race...'),(6438,145,'2007-04-15 17:14:02','Congratulations','to viewer Dan Belling, who won our contest today!'),(6439,145,'2007-04-15 17:19:55','Thank you folks','We appreciate you joining us for today\'s Live Update. Stay tuned for a complete race reporter from Andrew - the good luck charm - Hood, results and Photos from Graham Watson.'),(6440,145,'2007-04-15 17:19:48','Backstedt','finishes in a big group at about 9:00.'),(6441,147,'2007-04-16 13:08:34','Here we go','Greetings and welcome to stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. On tap is a mostly flat 98.5-mile run south from Peachtree City to Macon.'),(6442,147,'2007-04-16 13:11:23','Weather','While the road to Macon won’t pose many huge challenges for the riders, the weather certainly will. Georgia isn’t experiencing anything like what the rain-soaked folks in the northern states, but the wind here is really whipping.'),(6443,147,'2007-04-16 13:16:04','Golf Carts','Today’s stage start was in front of the Peachtree City town hall and library. Among the many services offered at the town hall is golf cart registration. Yes, Peachtree City is a planned community that was built golf cart friendly.'),(6444,147,'2007-04-16 13:23:43','Pre-race','Our man out on the course today, JoE Silva, called in with a pre-race update a few minutes ago. He spoke to Toyota-United sprinter Ivan Dominguez who said he wasn’t going to worry too much about CSC über sprinter JJ Haedo, and just race his own race. \r\n'),(6445,147,'2007-04-16 13:26:04','Early break','Austin King (Jittery Joe’s) currently off the front at 8-mile mark. Good to see the local team getting some TV time early going. Of course the domestic team is based in Athens, Georgia, making them a big fan favorite at this race.'),(6446,147,'2007-04-16 13:27:18','Reshuffle','There\'s lots of action now. King was absorbed and several othes are trying to move off the front. Everyone is gunning to make the selection of the day.'),(6447,147,'2007-04-16 13:35:11','New break','Now we have a group of five moving off the front with a 10-second gap – David McCann (Colivata), Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’s), Mauro Facci (Quick.Step), Tim Johnson (Health Net-Maxxis) and Craig Lewis (Slipstream). Let\'s see if this one sticks.'),(6448,147,'2007-04-16 13:36:04','Crowds','Lots of kids have been let out of school early to see riders off. Besides the wind, it\'s a beautiful spring day here in Georgia.'),(6449,147,'2007-04-16 13:38:03','More on the golf carts','According to a staffer at the Peachtree City town hall there are 8007 registered golf carts in the city and it costs $12 for to register them for five years. She also told us that there are several golf cart dealers in the area -- and that yes -- people do pimp out their golf carts. Stereos and four-wheeler tires are some of the common ad-ons.\r\n'),(6450,147,'2007-04-16 13:42:00','Fast Freddy','VN caught up with Predictor-Lottos\'s Freddy Rodriguez before the start. He said he was still a little jet-lagged after traveling across the Atlantic. Rodriguez was among a host of people stuck in the Brussels airport because of a strike on Friday. The Lotto speedster added that he felt like the wind would be a huge factor today. Here at the finish in Macon it is whipping with gusts upwards of 40mph.'),(6451,147,'2007-04-16 13:47:54','Big George update','Besides the much talked about return of Tyler Hamilton to the race scene, today also marks the return of Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie. Hincapie has been on the sidelines since a crash at the Tour of California. VN sat down with the Greenville, South Carolina resident yesterday and he said he was feeling better but not yet 100 percent.\r\n'),(6452,147,'2007-04-16 13:50:08','Missing the classics','Hincapie said that it was tough on him, but he did watch both the Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix on TV. He called Stuart O’Grady’s win a dream situation. “Rolling into the velodrome all by yourself is as good as it could get.â€\r\n'),(6453,147,'2007-04-16 13:51:08','All together','Looks like the escape has been absorbed and we are all together again.'),(6454,147,'2007-04-16 13:57:28','Floyd in Georgia','No word yet if Floyd Landis plans on showing up at the race yet. But the defending Tour de Georgia champ will be in Georgia this week. He\'s scheduled to appear at the Cox Communications headquarters in Atlanta on Wednesday as part of the Floyd Fairness Fund tour. Admission is $50 and will include an autograph session.'),(6457,147,'2007-04-16 14:07:24','Welcome back','The highlight from this morning’s sign-in had to be the introduction of Tyler Hamilton. This is his first UCI race in the U.S. since the 2001 San Francisco GP and he received a warm welcome from the crowd at Peachtree City. \r\n'),(6456,147,'2007-04-16 14:06:05','One away','Check that it’s Navigators Viktor Rapinski who is off alone. We are 1 hour into the race. Expected finish is at 4:50 p.m. EST'),(6458,147,'2007-04-16 14:09:15','Gap','is 2:40 for Rapinski. We\'ve been racing for 1:05 and they are flying. That wind has been mostly at the riders back\'s.'),(6459,147,'2007-04-16 14:12:19','Speed','With just over an hour of racing in the books -- the riders have covered 30.5 miles. That is moving.'),(6460,147,'2007-04-16 14:14:17','First sprint','Results from the first sprint at MM 30.5 in Zebulon are: 1. Viktor Rapinski, Navigators; 2. Emile Abraham, Priority Health; 3. Nick Reistad, USA Cycling Development\r\n'),(6461,147,'2007-04-16 14:17:55','Today’s finish in Macon','Riders will do 3 turns of a 2.55 mile circuit in downtown Macon. The loop has eight turns, but the run to the finish line is nearly two city blocks. Darg race anyone?\r\n'),(6462,147,'2007-04-16 14:20:22','Race situation','Navigators Viktor Rapinski continues to lead with a gap of 2:45.'),(6463,147,'2007-04-16 14:27:26','Action','We\'ve got a group of riders bridging across to Rapinski. We\'ll get you numbers as soon as we can.'),(6464,147,'2007-04-16 14:29:30','Correction','For any of you who read today\'s race preview, there was a little typo in the \"by the numbers\" section. The Toyota-United bus did not cost $4 million, but $250,000. Opps '),(6465,147,'2007-04-16 14:36:05','Race situation','Just got those numbers and here’s the deal. Navigators Rapinski is still out front with a 3:05 lead over the main field. In between we have five chasers. There is a group of four that includes Mike Sayers (BMC), Andrea Tonti (Quick.Step), Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff) and Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net). They are 1:05 back of Rapinski. Chasing alone is Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’s) at 1:55.\r\n'),(6466,147,'2007-04-16 14:39:41','Show him the money','Rapinksi just picked up his second intermeidate sprint of the day, but this one -- in Barnsville -- also came with a $500 bonus prime.'),(6467,147,'2007-04-16 14:41:14','Five at the front','The four chasers have caught Rapinski, so we now have five at the front with about 52 miles to go.'),(6468,147,'2007-04-16 14:43:16','Correction','Turns out it was No. 74 Ben Day and not 47 Andrea Tonti that bridged across to Rapinski -- and that means the Navvs now have two at the front of this race.'),(6469,147,'2007-04-16 14:44:15','Who’s the boss','From the outside Discovery Channel would appear to be in a quandary as to who will lead the team here in Georgia. Levi Leipheimer won the Tour of California and will be the team’s 1A choice behind Ivan Basso at the Tour de France. But this race is clearly Tom Danielson’s to lose. That was the plan at the team’s training camp in Solvang, California, and it remains the plan in Georgia.\r\n'),(6470,147,'2007-04-16 14:46:48','Gap','from the lead group of 5 and the main bunch is 5 minutes. Eventually the responsibilty to bring this back will fall primarily to CSC who brought speedster JJ Haedo over to contest the sprints. As a member of Toyota-United last year, he was the lone non-ProTour rider to win a Tour de Georgia stage. Now he\'s making ProTour money and with that will come ProTour responsibility.'),(6471,147,'2007-04-16 14:50:03','Gap','is up to 6:35. This could get interesting because the wind is at the riders\' back reducing the power of numbers somewhat. It\'s still blowing like mad at the finish in Macon. Gusts are easily reaching 45 miles an hour. It\'s that kind of wind you can literally hear.'),(6472,147,'2007-04-16 14:52:17','Shriver still in the middle','Jittery Joe\'s Matt Shriver is stil dangling solo between the lead of five and the main field.'),(6473,147,'2007-04-16 14:55:58','Gap right now is now up to...','eight minutes. Very interesting...'),(6474,147,'2007-04-16 14:59:47','Mileage','The lead group of five is 1km from the final sprint at Forsyth. That means we have 40 miles to go.'),(6475,147,'2007-04-16 15:04:30','Last sprint results','Here’s the order for the final intermediate sprint are Contrini (Tinkoff), Rapinski (Navigators) and Day (Navigators)\r\n'),(6476,147,'2007-04-16 15:12:05','Breaking down strategy','VN just spoke with Navigators team director Ed Beamon and he said the current situation was just what he was hoping for today. “We wanted to get our GC guy up the road and then see how long the ProTour teams looked at each other.†Navs rider Ben Day is that GC man, and while the Brasstown stage will be tough for the Aussie, he’s a solid time trialist. In fact he even won his country’s national TT title a few years back. Asked on the odds of this break actually staying away, Beamon was not very optimistic. “That tailwind will really benefit the bunch,†Beamon added.\r\n'),(6477,147,'2007-04-16 15:13:23','Race situation','It\'s still five off the front with a 6:50 gap to the field'),(6478,147,'2007-04-16 15:14:19','Profile','Whiile the race\'s technical bible shows a fairly flat stage, there are some decent rollers along this route. Definitely leg sapping.'),(6479,147,'2007-04-16 15:16:14','Finish circuit','There\'s also a short section of uphill on the finishing circuit that will test the fitness. It\'s not the Koppenburg, but there could be some time gaps before this thing is done.'),(6480,147,'2007-04-16 15:17:43','Shriver gulped up','Jittery Joe\'s Matt Shriver just got reeled in by the bunch -- a valiant effort but to no avail.'),(6481,147,'2007-04-16 15:19:45','Gap right now is','6:45'),(6482,147,'2007-04-16 15:26:37','Floyd\'s coming','Just got word that embattled 2006 Tour de France champ Floyd Landis will be holding a press conference on Saturday following the stage finish in Stone Mountain. He may also show up at the Brasstown stage but that\'s not confirmed yet. You\'ll remember that Landis is coming to Atlanta on Wednesday for another stop on the Floyd Fairness Fund Tour.'),(6483,147,'2007-04-16 15:27:33','Sunny Day','Navigators Ben Day was the top non-ProTour rider at this year\'s Tour of California, finishing eigth. So clearly the guys got some serious skills.'),(6484,147,'2007-04-16 15:29:33','Gap','At 67.6 miles into stage the gap is now...'),(6485,147,'2007-04-16 15:30:00','Gap is','6:10'),(6486,147,'2007-04-16 15:34:04','Macon','A little background on the stage 1 finish city. Located an hour south of Atlanta, Macon is known as the Cherry Blossom capital of the world. It’s also home to the Georgia Music and Sports Hall of Fames. Gap is steady at 6:45.\r\n'),(6487,147,'2007-04-16 15:35:19','Gap down to...','6:05'),(6488,147,'2007-04-16 15:37:01','Recap','The rider off the front are Navigators teammates Viktor Rapinski and Ben Day, Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff), Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net-Maxxis) and Mike Sayers (BMC)\r\n'),(6489,147,'2007-04-16 15:44:10','Wind shift','The course has turned some and that tailwind is now a crosswind'),(6490,147,'2007-04-16 15:49:02','Gap holding','at 6:35. The main filed has covered 70 miles, meaing 28.5 to go.'),(6491,147,'2007-04-16 15:52:48','More on George','One other interesting tidbit from VN’s talk with George Hincapie yesterday. He said that after missing all the classics, he’s thinking of taking a run at the world championship road race in Stuttgart, Germany. He’s been told that the course will be selective enough to eliminate the pure sprinters, meaning an all-rounder like George could have a shot at a medal.'),(6492,147,'2007-04-16 15:54:00','Gap falling','It\'s down to 4:50, with all the ProTour teams here -- Quick.Step, Discovery, CSC and Predictor-Lotto -- all lending at least some support to the chase.'),(6493,147,'2007-04-16 15:54:41','And','Saunier Duval. There are five ProTour teams here.'),(6494,147,'2007-04-16 15:55:48','Gap is','4:45'),(6495,147,'2007-04-16 16:02:46','Maybe baby…','VN just spoke with Navigators DS Ed Beamon again, ane he is feeling a little more optimistic about the break’s chances. He thinks they’ll need at least two minutes heading into the finishing circuit, but that as they draw closer to Macon the likelihood of help from the sprinters’ teams diminishes. “I think they’ll just leave it to Discovery to limit the damage.†The one fly in that ointment is the assistance Discovery has recently been getting from Slipstream at the front of the chase. “In my mind it doesn’t make any sense for them to be up there. Why wouldn’t you force the ProTour teams to do the work?†New gap is 3:55.\r\n'),(6496,147,'2007-04-16 16:03:46','New gap is...','3:20'),(6497,147,'2007-04-16 16:04:51','10 miles to go','This could be close'),(6498,147,'2007-04-16 16:09:23','First casualty','Rapinski has lost touch with the lead group. Day is on his own now. Crash!'),(6499,147,'2007-04-16 16:10:06','Crash!!!','No names yet -- but race radio called CSC and Priority Health. Hold please...'),(6500,147,'2007-04-16 16:10:58','Gap is at','3:00 -- no names yet on crash'),(6501,147,'2007-04-16 16:12:50','On the circuit','We are now on the circuit in Macon on the first of three laps. Gap is just under 2k between lead group of four and main field. CSC rider involved in the crash was Christian Vandevelde but he\'s back in the bunch.'),(6502,147,'2007-04-16 16:13:58','Attack','Tinkoff rider Contrini has attacked the break\r\n'),(6503,147,'2007-04-16 16:16:02','With three laps to go on the 2.55-mile circuit','Contrini is still off the front with a gap of five seconds. Meanwhile, Sayers has lost touch with the original group.'),(6504,147,'2007-04-16 16:17:26','Toyota-United','Has taken over the pace making hoping to give their man Ivan Dominguez a shot in the sprint.'),(6505,147,'2007-04-16 16:18:41','Contrini...','Now has 10 second over Day and Ollerenshaw'),(6506,147,'2007-04-16 16:19:33','Rapinkski','is back in the bunch'),(6507,147,'2007-04-16 16:21:47','2 laps to go now','gap is 2:55 with 5.1 miles to go'),(6508,147,'2007-04-16 16:23:48','Toyota United','Continues to drive the chase with some help from Slipstream. Contrini is still off the front alone. The field is at 2:20 '),(6509,147,'2007-04-16 16:25:23','Gap from','Contrini to two chasers is 25 seconds'),(6510,147,'2007-04-16 16:28:17','Contrini...','A little background on our race leader. He is a 32-year-old Italian who lives in Gardone Val Trompia. He was third in the ITT at the 2001 Italian national championships, and on the Tinkoff website it says his hobbies are wine making and skiing.\r\n'),(6511,147,'2007-04-16 16:30:27','More from Contrini','He says his dream car is an \"ecologically clean car\" and his role model in cycling is Lance Armstrong.'),(6512,147,'2007-04-16 16:31:13','1 lap to go','and it looks like this is going to stick. The officials just allowed the Tinkoff car to move up to the gap. 500 to go... '),(6513,147,'2007-04-16 16:31:50','A the winner is...','Tinkoff\'s Daniele Contrini.'),(6514,147,'2007-04-16 16:33:04','Nice start','for Tyler\'s new team. They scored a similar win with Pavel Brutt at the Tour de Langkawi back in February. Brutt dropped his chase mates with about 5km to go and won solo. Sounds familiar.'),(6515,147,'2007-04-16 16:33:00','Best line from Contrini\'s website','Question: Blonde or brunette? Answer: Both'),(6516,147,'2007-04-16 16:34:16','Still waiting','on rest of top three'),(6517,147,'2007-04-16 16:35:50','Photo','Just posted a shot of Contrini on bottom of page. Handsome fella'),(6518,147,'2007-04-16 16:36:31','rest of top 3','is Ollerenshaw and then Day'),(6519,147,'2007-04-16 16:47:57','That\'s all folks','Okay that\'s it for today. Check back to VeloNews.com soon for a full report, results and photos. And check back to live update land tomorrow when VeloNews brings you stage 2 from the 2007 Tour de Georgia. Thanks for \"watching.\"'),(6520,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(6521,146,'2007-04-17 11:26:11','Good day and welcome…','…to stage 2 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. Today’s racing features a mostly flat, 134.9-mile run north from Thomaston to Rome. This is the longest stage of this year’s seven-day tour and includes two intermediate sprints and three trips up Rome’s punchy Clocktower Hill, a category 4 ascent.\r\n'),(6522,146,'2007-04-17 11:29:48','The start','Racing commenced just after 11 a.m. EST in Thomaston. There was a 5.7-mile neutral section followed by race start proper on Old Alabama Road. No word on what caused it, but there was a crash in the neutral section involving several riders. It looks like everybody is back in the bunch but we’ll keep our eyes on things.\r\n'),(6523,146,'2007-04-17 11:36:08','Look back','Recapping yesterday’s action, it was Tinkoff’s Daniele Contrini taking a solo win after attacking out of the remnants of a long breakaway on the finishing circuit in Macon. It was a solid start for Tyler Hamilton’s new team, but could spread them a little thin in the coming days. The Italian-base team has just six riders here (eight were allowed). At the post-race press conference on Monday Hamilton explained that injuries and trying to run three separate programs caused the short fall.\r\n'),(6524,146,'2007-04-17 11:40:50','No hurry','Looks like this could be a long day. After a half hour of racing the bunch has covered about 5 miles and is currently clipping along at a brisk 12mph. If this keeps up the stage might go beyond the “slow†time estimate, which is set at 5:52.\r\n'),(6525,146,'2007-04-17 11:44:07','Sign-in','Highlights from this morning’s stage start included the mayor of Thomaston presenting Discovery rider George Hincapie with a key to the city. The mayor said the honor was in recognition of just being a true sportsman. Hincapie clearly wasn’t expecting the award and seemed caught off guard. But the New York City native has been down that road before. Remember in 2005 that Hincapie’s adopted hometown of Greenville, South Carolina had a George Hincapie day after the big man won that epic mountain stage in the Tour de France.\r\n'),(6526,146,'2007-04-17 11:45:13','Quiet time','There was also a moment of silence before the race to honor those fallen in the Virginia Tech shooting tragedy yesterday. There are no words.\r\n'),(6527,146,'2007-04-17 11:50:00','Weather','The howling winds of Monday have abated, and it’s a truly gorgeous day in Georgia. Temps in the 60s, lots of sun. Good day to be on a bike.\r\n'),(6528,146,'2007-04-17 11:55:41','The decider','While anything can happen, it’s a safe bet that today’s stage will be decided on the finishing circuit in Rome. Last year Discovery’s Yaroslav Popovych took the win in Rome after breaking clear here for a solo win. The year before that it was Gerosteiner’s Peter Wrolich winning in a sprint, and before that it was Lance Armstrong taking a surprising win on his way to the 2004 overall Tour de Georgia title.\r\n'),(6531,146,'2007-04-17 11:58:54','Movement','The pace is picking up a little now. And we\'ve had a few attempted attacks. Let\'s see if one of these sticks. It shouldn\'t be long now.'),(6532,146,'2007-04-17 12:06:54','Speed','Ok -- we just loaded some photos of the finishing circuit in Rome (see below). If you look at the circuit as having three phases, this is part one and it\'s straight, flat and wide. Part 2 includes a pair of climbs, one roller through a residential neighborhood, and one short cat. 4 up the Clocktower Hill climb. After that it\'s downhill to the finish line and then down Broad Street, where it\'s also straight, wide and flat. We\'ll post some more circuit photos in a little while. '),(6530,146,'2007-04-17 11:55:56','The circuit','The Rome circuit is a twisting 2.3-mile affair with seven turns and two climbs. Keep your eyes on the picture window below as we’ll be posting images from our lap around the circuit before the race began.\r\n'),(6533,146,'2007-04-17 12:18:27','Break time','The first move of the day to succeed has come together. The members are Glen Chadwick (Navigators), Austin King (Jittery Joe’s) and Garrett Peltonen (Priority Health). They’ve got about 1:30.\r\n'),(6534,146,'2007-04-17 12:19:16','Expanding quickly','The gap has moved up to 3 minutes very quickly. Looks like this could be our suicide move of the day.'),(6535,146,'2007-04-17 12:23:01','Roubaix repeat?','Looking over the day’s stage you can’t help but notice the number of railroad crossings. The bunch already passed on at MM 25.4, and there are five more between now and the 129th mile of this 134.9-mile stage. Let’s hope the folks from Medalist Sports have a good relationship with Union Pacific.\r\n'),(6536,146,'2007-04-17 12:34:12','More from the finishing circuit','We’ve just loaded four more pictures from the finishing circuit in Rome. You’ll see the last of the flat terrain on the Glen Milner Blvd. Section, and then the hard right-hand turn that leads to the climb up E. 3rd Ave. This isn’t anything serious – big ring for sure – but it’s going to be flat out here so it will hurt nonetheless.\r\n'),(6537,146,'2007-04-17 12:35:57','Up, up, up','Chadwick, King and Peltonen have upped their advantage to more than 5 minutes.'),(6538,146,'2007-04-17 12:40:10','Balloon','The gap is now above 7 minutes'),(6539,146,'2007-04-17 12:48:22','bigger and bigger','now we are over 8 minutes'),(6540,146,'2007-04-17 12:57:42','Defense','Back in the bunch GC leader Daniele Contrini\'s Tinkoff team is manning the front. It would be a stretch to call it a chase but they at least they\'re up there. There\'s still a long way to go, so surely they\'re content to let this move dangle. '),(6541,146,'2007-04-17 13:07:29','Gap is now...','...over 9 minutes.'),(6542,146,'2007-04-17 13:13:56','In the bunch','It’s still Tinkoff doing the pace making with a little help from Discovery. They passed through the town of Luthersville a while back and like yesterday the school children were out in force on the side of the road. That’s always one of the best sights in cycling.\r\n'),(6543,146,'2007-04-17 13:15:13','And we quote…','“Boring.†That was Toyota-United rider Chris Wherry’s assessment of the state of racing so far today, but that’s what happens when you have the race’s longest stage on a day when there is a headwind.\r\n'),(6544,146,'2007-04-17 13:18:36','Words with Health Net-Maxxis','VeloNews just got off the phone with Health Net-Maxxis team director Jeff Corbett. He said he wasn’t surprised that a break got away – and stayed away – yesterday. “We talked about that in our team meeting,†Corbett said. “When you have a tailwind like we did it’s makes the chase a lot tougher. Plus there was no single team that had the responsibility to control the race because it was the first day. It just ended up being a staring contest.â€\r\n'),(6545,146,'2007-04-17 13:23:37','More from Corbett','The Health Net boss added that if anything surprised him it was the lack of effort put forth by CSC who arguably has the fastest sprinter here in JJ Haedo. “The problem for them is that if they do all the work on stage 1, everyone will be looking for them to work the rest of the race,†he said.\r\n\r\nAs for today’s stage, Corbett figures it would take at least 8-10 riders to make something stick, and he expects things to come back together before the finish in Rome. “Then it’ll be all hell breaking loose on that circuit,†he added. “It’s always chaotic and unpredictable there. Our team’s core plan is to just stay up front and be alert. It’s the kind of stage that anyone could win.â€\r\n'),(6546,146,'2007-04-17 13:25:22','Money time','Chadwick just claimed the sprint in Newnan, which was worth $1000.'),(6547,146,'2007-04-17 13:27:00','Photo','And just to put a face with a name -- see below for a picture of Health Net\'s Corbett courtesy of the team\'s website.'),(6548,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(6549,146,'2007-04-17 13:34:54','More..','Circuit photos loading now'),(6550,146,'2007-04-17 13:41:45','Photos explained','The latest four photos below show the final stretch of the 3rd Ave. climb, a short downhill and then a long view of the Clocktower climb. Clocktower reminds one a little of the Manayunk climb at Philly – not as long, but nice and steep. Safe to say the fans here in Rome won’t be as drunk as Philly fan. The Manayunk crew are a different breed.\r\n'),(6551,146,'2007-04-17 13:46:44','Gap is now...','Last time check has the break 8:30 up on the bunch with about 75 miles to go.'),(6552,146,'2007-04-17 13:57:16','Gap...','Still holding at about 8:30 with 60 miles of racing in the books'),(6553,146,'2007-04-17 14:03:57','The tour continues','Ok -- Just loaded up pictures of the Clocktower climb -- and the Clocktower itself. There\'s lots of paint on the road and hopefully the fans will come out in force once we get near the end of the stage. '),(6554,146,'2007-04-17 14:10:05','Halfway home','Just about to the midway point of this 134.9-mile stage 2 spin. The situation remains largely the same with Glen Chadwick (Navigators), Austin King (Jittery Joe’s) and Garrett Peltonen (Priority Health) off the front, and the bunch trailing at about 8:30 and enjoying an easy, breezy day in Georgia. Of course that\'s all going to change tomorrow. Stage 3 from Rome to Chattanooga includes four rated climbs (two 4s, two 3s). The last climb comes just eight miles from the finish, so things will definitely get interesting. '),(6555,146,'2007-04-17 14:12:28','Gap...','is down to 7:50'),(6556,146,'2007-04-17 14:16:45','Coincidence?','The city of Rome resides in Floyd County. Two years ago it was Floyd Landis who won the TT that finished hear, beating Lance Armstrong in the process. Le Boss got revenge a few days later when protégé and teammate Tom Danielson took the GC away from Landis on the Brasstown Bald climb. Who could forgot Armstrong crossing the finish line at the summit, then gyrating around and pointing at his old teammate Landis.\r\n'),(6557,146,'2007-04-17 14:20:10','More Rome history','This is also the sight of two Lance Armstrong Tour de Georgia stage victories. The seven-time Tour de France winner took the road stage into Rome in 2004, then won the TT here that same day.'),(6558,146,'2007-04-17 14:25:09','Lance photos','Just posted some pictures from Armstrong\'s 2004 sprint win here in Rome. Almost seemed like it was scripted...Nah.'),(6559,146,'2007-04-17 14:25:49','Gap is','7:40'),(6560,146,'2007-04-17 14:40:11','Bzzzzzz','And now the slow reeling in begins. The gap is at 7:05 now.'),(6561,146,'2007-04-17 14:45:58','Situation','The gap is a 6:45 with 77.5 of 134.9 covered'),(6562,146,'2007-04-17 14:46:30','Corrrection','Race radio just amended the time split -- it\'s actually 6:15'),(6563,146,'2007-04-17 14:49:22','Oleg Tinkoff','During yesterday’s post-race press conference, Tyler Hamilton had this to say about Tinkoff team boss Oleg Tinkoff. “He reminds me of Thom Weisel and Andy Rhys. He has vision like those guys, thinks outside the box, and has a big heart for cycling… He called me and said he was interested in signing me. He’s not content being continental pro – he wants to be in the ProTour.â€\r\n\r\nWord is the Russian magnate is coming to the race later in the week. We’ll be sure to track him down if he does.\r\n'),(6564,146,'2007-04-17 14:50:23','A little help','Tinkoff is getting a hand from Hamilton\'s former team CSC -- and the gap is now down to 6:10.'),(6565,146,'2007-04-17 15:03:27','Gap is','now down to 5:40 with Toyota-United lending a hand in the chase'),(6566,146,'2007-04-17 15:07:14','The experts ring in','Time for some predictions. We’ve talked to the VN editors back at HQ in Boulder and here are their predictions for the stage finish in Rome. VN editor Ben Delaney is wagering a beer on CSC’s JJ Haedo, with Health Net’s Ivan Dominguez and then his teammate Karl Menzies taking second and third.\r\n'),(6567,146,'2007-04-17 15:12:58','More picks…','Senior writer Neal Rogers has covered this event multiple times. Here’s his analysis.\r\n\r\n“When Lance Armstrong won the stage in 2004, Ivan Dominguez was second and Ben Brooks (Navigators) was third, so those guys should be considered favorites. Mario Cipollini got dropped on Clocktower Hill that year. It\'s a tough climb so pure sprinters have trouble with it. In 2005, Levi Leipheimer, Tom Danielson and JJ Haedo were all top 10 on the stage. Last year it was Yaroslav Popovych, followed by Haedo, Freddy Rodriguez and Karl Menzies. I\'d say if it comes back together, guys like Dominguez, Haedo, Rodriguez and Menzies are likely to fill the podium.â€\r\n'),(6568,146,'2007-04-17 15:14:06','Crash','Levi Leipheimer and several other were involved in a crash. Looks like they\'ve chased back on, but things are definitely starting to pick up out there. BMC\'s Mike Sayers also went down. '),(6569,146,'2007-04-17 15:15:12','Gap is down','to 4:45'),(6570,146,'2007-04-17 15:16:39','Sayers out','Just got word that Mike Sayers has dropped out of the race following the crash'),(6571,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(6572,146,'2007-04-17 15:22:05','Gap is now...','4:05. '),(6573,146,'2007-04-17 15:22:55','Tinkoff losing another','Looks like a Tinkoff rider has also involved in the latest dust-up. If he drops out that would cut Tyler\'s team to five riders.'),(6574,146,'2007-04-17 15:25:53','update','with 93.5 miles covered the gap is 4:05 and exactly one mile. 41.4 miles to go.'),(6575,146,'2007-04-17 15:30:25','Gap is now','3:20'),(6576,146,'2007-04-17 15:31:00','Last of the day\'s circuit photos are up','Look below to see some nice artwork on the climb, the cleaning crew and a few different looks at the finish straight. It\'s slightly down hill and it\'s gonna be quick. Gap is holding at 3:20'),(6577,146,'2007-04-17 15:32:53','Tinkoff back on','The downed rider was Italian Ruggero Marzoli, but he just came back through the cars and is back in the bunch.'),(6578,146,'2007-04-17 15:35:00','J-Mac update','Just got word that Jason McCartney is still in the hospital in Atlanta, but is doing fine and is expected to be discharged tomorrow or the next day. Too bad. He\'s always performed really well at this race. It\'s a big blow to Discovery.'),(6579,146,'2007-04-17 15:40:58','Another pick','Esteemed VeloNews news editor Charles Pelkey just checked in with his pick, saying, “My abilities to predict the outcome of a particular event were shown to be suspect when I picked George McGoveren to win in 1972, but if you held a gun to my head, I would go with JJ Haedo.â€\r\n'),(6580,146,'2007-04-17 15:46:33','The pace...','...is starting to pick up now and the field is strung out single file. Time to go to work.'),(6581,146,'2007-04-17 15:51:05','The break','is now just 5km from the final sprint: Rockmart at MM 108.8. That will leave 26.7 miles of racing. Current gap is 3 minutes.'),(6582,146,'2007-04-17 15:54:32','gap is now','2:30'),(6583,146,'2007-04-17 15:57:52','Pace','This is turning into a very long day in the saddle. The estimated slowest time in the technical guide had the race reaching the final sprint at 3:47 p.m. EST, but they are just now getting there at 3:55. That puts today\'s finish at about 5 p.m. and means the stage will have lasted 6 hours if you include the neutral section. That\'s a haul...'),(6584,146,'2007-04-17 15:59:16','Then there were 2','Priority-Health\'s Garrett Peltonen just lost touch with King and Chadwick at the front. The gap is currently 2:30'),(6585,146,'2007-04-17 16:01:26','Time bonus breakdown','Today’s stage finish includes time bonuses: 10 seconds for first, 6 for second and 4 for third\r\n'),(6586,146,'2007-04-17 16:04:25','Peltonen fading','He\'s dropped 35 seconds off the pace of King and Chadwick'),(6587,146,'2007-04-17 16:04:53','Gap','2:50 right now'),(6588,146,'2007-04-17 16:07:24','BMC was just up for feeding','Time for one last fuel up before this thing really heats up'),(6589,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(6590,146,'2007-04-17 16:18:19','Gap','is now 2:05'),(6591,146,'2007-04-17 16:19:22','Gapping','Chadwick has pulled away from King off the front.'),(6592,146,'2007-04-17 16:21:53','Back in the field','Lotto and Toyota are doing the pace making. You know the boys from Belgium would love to propel Freddy Rodriguez across the line first here in Rome.'),(6593,146,'2007-04-17 16:22:26','Status','Chadwick alone, 20 seconds up on King, with the field at 1:50.'),(6594,146,'2007-04-17 16:24:31','See a picture...','of Glen Chadwick below.'),(6595,146,'2007-04-17 16:31:40','King is absorbed','and now it\'s just Chadwick off the front as they come roaring towards Rome. They should be on the finish circuit soon. The gap is 1:25. If you haven\'t already, check out the photos below which give a good look at the 2.3-mile finishing circuit that includes the first rated climb of this year\'s race.\r\n'),(6596,146,'2007-04-17 16:32:13','20k','to go for the field and the gap is 1:15. No more feeding.'),(6597,146,'2007-04-17 16:34:13','Gap is holding at','1:15'),(6598,146,'2007-04-17 16:35:31','The race is now entering Rome','There will be KoM points available on the first climb only. The gap is now 1 minute.'),(6599,146,'2007-04-17 16:36:44','Gap is down','to 50 seconds. No way Chadwick is going to hold on to the finish, but he will be the first man to wear the KoM jersey.'),(6600,146,'2007-04-17 16:40:13','Final picks','We had one for Dominguez and two for Haedo. Here in Rome we\'re going to take a flyer and tab former mountain biker Ryder Hesjedal in a late solo break.'),(6601,146,'2007-04-17 16:42:28','With...','5km to go the gap has come down to 30 seconds. It won\'t be long. Chadwick better hustle or he\'s going to lose that KoM jersey. Health Net is now doing some work at the front, readying to launch Hesjedal no doubt. Now the gap is 21 seconds...'),(6602,146,'2007-04-17 16:44:14','In Rome','and this thing is heating up. The field is onto the circuit now. Crowds in Rome are solid as usual. The gap is just 50 meters. No KoM for Glen.'),(6603,146,'2007-04-17 16:44:45','All together','Now it\'s time to for the counters'),(6604,146,'2007-04-17 16:45:53','Health Net','Continues to make the pace at the front. They have Karl Menzies for the sprints, and guys like Nathan O\'Neil and Hesjedal who might be able to pull off a late solo.'),(6605,146,'2007-04-17 16:46:56','1k','From the KoM. Right now they are on 3rd Ave, the shorter climb. Once to the top, it\'s a fast downhill, then a right turn and up the Clocktower. We have an attack from CSC.'),(6606,146,'2007-04-17 16:48:45','KoM goes to...','...a CSC rider we think. Field is all strung out 15 seconds from tip to tail.'),(6607,146,'2007-04-17 16:50:21','Speed','Now it\'s a fast downhill run to the finish, then a turn onto Broad Street and off for Lap 2 of 3. CSC is working at the front -- trying to set up Haedo no doubt.'),(6608,146,'2007-04-17 16:51:37','Discovery up front','The boys in blue have taken over the front.'),(6609,146,'2007-04-17 16:53:13','KoM results','1. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health), 2. Nathan O\'Neill (Health Net), 3. Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net)'),(6610,146,'2007-04-17 16:53:39','Situation','1 lap to go and it\'s all together'),(6611,146,'2007-04-17 16:54:20','Discovery still up front','It\'s all single file moving at 35mph --- Zooommmmmm'),(6612,146,'2007-04-17 16:55:47','Onto 8th Street','Still Discovery at the front -- look for the launch coming soon -- maybe Brian Vandborg. He won a stage at the Tour two years ago in Dahlonega when he was still with CSC.'),(6613,146,'2007-04-17 16:56:25','Slight advanatge for...','...CSC\'s David Zabriskie -- he has 50 meters on the final trip up the climb'),(6614,146,'2007-04-17 16:56:49','Closing down','all together again with 1km to go'),(6615,146,'2007-04-17 16:57:19','Up the Clocktower Hill','for the last time'),(6616,146,'2007-04-17 16:57:47','Another attack','It\'s Caleb Manion off the front with 25 meters'),(6617,146,'2007-04-17 16:58:08','Crash','BMC and Priority Health down on sidewalk on lefthand side'),(6618,146,'2007-04-17 16:59:12','Unofficial winner is...','...Ivan Stevic of Toyota United'),(6619,146,'2007-04-17 17:01:30','ProTour who?','Nice win for the domestic Toyota-United team. That\'s the first time a non ProTour team has won a Tour de Georgia stage that wasn\'t in Alpharetta since Cesar Grajales took the Brasstown stage in 2004. '),(6620,146,'2007-04-17 17:03:54','Still waiting on the rest of the top three','But we did get a quick word with Zabriskie who says he almost had it coming over the climb, but it was just a little too far out and the speed was too fast'),(6621,146,'2007-04-17 17:05:30','Top 3','is Stevic -- J.J. Haedo (CSC) and Freddy Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) in second and third'),(6622,146,'2007-04-17 17:15:30','That\'s all folks','We are done here in Live land but keep an eye on VeloNews.com for a full report, results and photos.'),(6632,149,'2007-04-18 13:19:44','Heading for the hills','Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 3 of this year\'s Tour De Georgia. Today\'s race takes us from the stage 2 finishing stage of Rome, GA and into Tennessee where we will end up in downtown Chattanooga. Weather today at the start was overcast, with the temps probably reaching 70 degrees F. There is a 30% chance of showers as we get towards the afternoon, but so far the skies are somewhat clear in Tennessee. We apologize for the delay in getting our coverage up and running. Technical difficulties have kept us in the dark until now.\r\n'),(6957,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(6633,149,'2007-04-18 13:25:45','Morning jitters','There was a general feeling of nervousness on the start line today as the riders puzzled over tactics. We\'ve got two Cat 3 climbs, and two Cat 4 climbs standing between the field and the finish. Toyota-United rider Chris Baldwin was particularly curious about just how hard Discovery planned on hitting the mountains.'),(6634,149,'2007-04-18 13:28:34','KOM contest','Ironically the man currently in the King of the Mountains jersey, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Prioroty Health) has no real aspirations about hanging on to that title for long. His effort yesterday at the top of the Clocktower Hill was more about helping to position their sprinter Emile Abraham for a win. Ben\'s more concerned with other goals this week, such as possibly nabbing a stage win before the whole shebgang is over.'),(6635,149,'2007-04-18 13:31:45','Choo Choo','Chattanooga, which is the fourth largest city in the state, was awarded \"Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community\" in 2003. Today\'s stage will end down by the Tennessee Riverwalk, which is a 12-mile stretch of prime bicycle path.'),(6637,149,'2007-04-18 13:38:36','Down by the river...','Check out the view to the river from today\'s finish line area in our photo section below.'),(6638,149,'2007-04-18 13:41:18','No messing','Unlike stage 2, the neutral section of the race today was only a mile in length and the peloton got down to business quickly. By 12:41, a break of 13 riders was in place that included (among others): Jeff Louder (Health Net), Ciaran Power (Navigators), Lucas Euser (Slipstream), Tyler Wren (Colavita/Sutter Home), Scott Nydam (BMC), Evan Elken (Jittery Joe\'s), and his teammate Cody Stevenson. Communications from the field are still a bit sketchy at this point.'),(6639,149,'2007-04-18 13:45:50','The need to feed','The break is apparently now up to 6:20 ahead of the field and they are within 5KM to the feed zone. We\'re starting to get a clearer picture of what\'s going on out there on the road.'),(6640,149,'2007-04-18 13:47:18','Menlo, GA','Today\'s feed zone is Menlo, GA which comes at the 57.4 mile mark on today\'s ride.'),(6641,149,'2007-04-18 13:51:41','Readying the finish','Today\'s finish takes place in the shadow of the Tennessee Aquarium. Check out a snap we took earlier below.'),(6642,149,'2007-04-18 14:02:06','Latest update','The big break is still holding a six minute plus advantage over the field, but there are several squads not represented (Toyota, Priority Health, Lotto, Tinkoff). The day\'s only sprint, which took place in Summerville, Georgia was one by Health Net Team captain Tim Johnson.'),(6643,149,'2007-04-18 14:06:51','New ride?','You\'ll notice below in our photo section the latest ride in the Jittery Joe\'s arsenal. Actually, the latest from the local Georgia squad is that their climber Cesar Grajales is still hanging tough. He had a bit of trouble sleeping last night, but with the help of some meds is soldering on. As a show of his immense dedication, he\'s even thinking of taking part in next week\'s Twilight Criterium!!'),(6644,149,'2007-04-18 14:10:54','The current vibe','No one appears to be working too hard out there today at the moment. Discovery Channel rider Janez Brajkovic is in the break, but it\'s unclear whether the team will put all of their eggs in that basket. The Slovenian wore the jersey in last year\'s Vuelta, but the rumor mill at the start says that this might be a day for big George.'),(6645,149,'2007-04-18 14:17:59','The stage of Aquarius','The Tennessee Aquarium (see latest pic below...) houses 7,000 animals and 300 species of fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. '),(6646,149,'2007-04-18 14:28:39','Health Net making the moves','Health Net are not missing any moves out there today. To add to Tim Johnson\'s sprint points today, the team can celebrate Jeff Louder winning the first KOM.'),(6647,149,'2007-04-18 14:33:12','Inside Health Net HQ','The word from inside the Health Net team car today is that they are just playing things cool for right now. Team honcho Jeff Corbett: \"We\'re just following the moves. Things are kind of sleepy out there right now, be we didn\'t want to miss out. There\'s no telling if this will stay away right now, but you never know.\"'),(6648,149,'2007-04-18 14:37:50','Whoa!','The break is now at 14:15 mins ahead of the field. Crikey!'),(6649,149,'2007-04-18 14:43:25','The deciding break?','We may not only see a stage winner from today\'s race, but maybe the overall GC winner as well considering the phenomenal gap. It\'s interesting to see Discovery possibly putting all their eggs in Janez\'s basket.'),(6650,149,'2007-04-18 14:49:54','The Janez factor','A little more info on Disco\'s Janez Brakjovic. He can time trial as well as climb, making today\'s effort potentially all the more decisive. Interesting to see him in such a strong position, since the common wisdom going into this race was that the team would ll fall in behind Tom Danielson in an effort to recapture his 2005 victory.'),(6651,149,'2007-04-18 14:52:41','Bigger and bigger','The gap continues to grow with the breakaway now a full 17:20 ahead of the main field.'),(6652,149,'2007-04-18 15:02:51','KOM counter','Health Net\'s Jeff Louder walked away with 4 KOM points for coming in first atop Fouche Gap, and another 6 points for the winning the climb up Highway 48. That puts him clearly in the jersey out on the road. The gap has now stretched up to 18:25 secs.\r\n'),(6653,149,'2007-04-18 15:04:17','Mind the gap','The breakaway is now 81 miles into today\'s stage, with the peloton behind them at the 72.5 mile mark.\r\n '),(6654,149,'2007-04-18 15:07:54','Palmares de Louder','Jeff Louder, 29 years old from Salt Lake City, was 3rd overall at last year\'s Tour of Utah and took 4th place in the 2006 Tour of Taiwain. Here in Georgia he took 36th place last year.'),(6655,149,'2007-04-18 15:15:02','23 or 25?','There\'s some debate in the field as to what gear will be optimal during tomorrow\'s time up Lookout Mountain. Some riders will be using 23\'s while other will opt for 25\'.s'),(6656,149,'2007-04-18 15:20:41','\'06 time trail','The last time the Tour visited Chattanooga was for last year\'s time trial, which was won by Floyd Landis.'),(6657,149,'2007-04-18 15:23:58','KOM #3','The breakaway should have taken the third KOM by now. Results forthcoming...\r\n'),(6658,149,'2007-04-18 15:30:18','1 KM to go','The break is currently 1KM away from the next KOM. 89.5 miles into the ride.\r\n'),(6659,149,'2007-04-18 15:34:03','KOM #3','The break has gone through the third KOM at Highway 136/157 a full 22:20 in front of the field. Results forthcoming...\r\n'),(6660,149,'2007-04-18 15:41:24','TJ gets the KOM','Race radio reports taht Tim Johnson has gotten the 3rd KOM, with his teammate jeff Louder taking third place. This still leaves Louder in the jersey for the moment.'),(6661,149,'2007-04-18 15:43:25','Break descending','The break is now descending off Hwy 136 at the 98 mile mark.'),(6662,149,'2007-04-18 15:46:59','Up the road','The breakaway is less than an hour away from the finish at this point with one more climb to go up Burkhalter Gap. There are no finishing circuits today when the riders arrive in Chattanooga. When they arrive they will have covered a little more than 118 miles.'),(6663,149,'2007-04-18 15:53:02','Makeup of the break','Now that comms from the field are solid we can give you all the names participating in the break: Tim Johnson and Jeff Louder (Health Net), Scott Nydam (BMC), Discovery riders Janez Brajkovic and Gianni Meersman, Rubens Bertogliati of the Saunier Duval squad along with teammate David Canada Gracia, CSC\'s Christian Vandevelde, Tyler Wren (Colavita/Sutter Home), Ivan Santaromita from Quick Step and his teammate Kevin Seeldrayers, and Ciaran Power of Navigators. Lucas Euser is also there from Slipstream. The lead is now over 23 minutes.'),(6664,149,'2007-04-18 15:57:06','The field...','...is now at the 90.7 mile mark.'),(6665,149,'2007-04-18 15:59:35','Johnson','Johnson is on the front now setting the pace on the break.'),(6666,149,'2007-04-18 16:00:13','The Split','The time back to the field now is holding 22:40.'),(6667,149,'2007-04-18 16:04:25','Saunier Duval taking a flyer...','It looks like the break away is through cooperating. Quickstep and Saunier Duval are opening up a bit of a gap over the remaining participants.'),(6668,149,'2007-04-18 16:10:32','Break action','The remnants of the break are launching attack after attack.\r\n'),(6669,149,'2007-04-18 16:13:09','The leader on the road is now...','David Canada Gracia of Saunier Duval. About 15 miles to go before the finish...'),(6670,149,'2007-04-18 16:15:49','12 seconds...','Two riders off the front now with a 12 second advantage. It is Rubens Bertogliati and Ivan Santaromita working furiously to get away.\r\n'),(6671,149,'2007-04-18 16:18:06','Sunday on Wednesday','Still 23 mins back to the peloton. This has been a Sunday ride for the main field for sure.'),(6672,149,'2007-04-18 16:20:28','Quickstep v. Saunier Duval','Bertogliati makes a go to leave Santaromita, but they are now back together.'),(6673,149,'2007-04-18 16:21:12','Leftovers','The remaining riders from the break are now slipping back to 15 seconds from the two leaders.'),(6674,149,'2007-04-18 16:23:43','New split','...between the leaders and what we can now call the chasing group is now 20 seconds.'),(6675,149,'2007-04-18 16:27:28','Two leaders...','...still cooperating as they head along small hills into Chattanooga.'),(6676,149,'2007-04-18 16:29:03','Less than 10KM to go...','The leaders are getting close. And now the break has all come back together! The pace is getting way ramped up as they\'re less than 10KM away.\r\n'),(6677,149,'2007-04-18 16:29:40','Louder launches!','Louder springs out of the break and they are letting him go.'),(6678,149,'2007-04-18 16:30:45','Out of the saddle...','Louder looks like he wants it all, riding out of the saddle and away from the break.'),(6679,149,'2007-04-18 16:31:16','5KM to go...','Louder\'s almost there and starting to look like a winner.'),(6680,149,'2007-04-18 16:32:15','To chase or not to chase...','The other members of the break can\'t seem to get it together to catch Louder. All that firepower will apparently go unused.'),(6681,149,'2007-04-18 16:32:47','8 secs','Louder has a clear eight seconds over the rest of the break, and growing slightly...'),(6682,149,'2007-04-18 16:33:44','3KM to go!','Louder is not giving up. He\'s going for it all.'),(6683,149,'2007-04-18 16:34:46','Scott Nydam answers','Nydam from BMC along with the Disco duo are trying to bring Louder back. And it looks like they got him.'),(6684,149,'2007-04-18 16:35:46','CSC launches!','Vandvelde has left the others behind!!\r\n'),(6685,149,'2007-04-18 16:36:07','1KM to go!','They\'re almost here. '),(6686,149,'2007-04-18 16:36:44','Louder goes again!','Louder\'s not giving up'),(6687,149,'2007-04-18 16:37:01','Here they come...','...it\'s a tussle to the line'),(6688,149,'2007-04-18 16:37:41','At the line it\'s...','Gianni Meersman for Disco!!'),(6689,149,'2007-04-18 16:38:42','The Belgian wins it!','Gianni Meersman gets possibly the biggest win of his career. He\'s the youngest rider of the race.'),(6690,149,'2007-04-18 16:39:38','Race time...','...is 4:32:17. Euser coming in now along with Tim Johnson.'),(6691,149,'2007-04-18 16:40:37','Most aggressive....','will probably go to Tim Johnson.'),(6692,149,'2007-04-18 16:41:21','Unofficially in Yellow','is Saunier Duval\'s David Canada Gracia'),(6693,149,'2007-04-18 16:44:47','Top 3','Okay, the top three for today unofficially is:\r\n\r\n1.Gianni Meersman\r\n2.David Canada Gracia\r\n3. Janez Brajkovic\r\n\r\nLouder will probably get the Mountains Jersey. That\'s all from us for today. Stay tuned at Velonews.com for our race wrap up coming soon'),(6694,156,'2007-04-19 10:49:20','Waffles & altitude','With a Waffle House truck parked just a few yards away, it would only be appropriate to say \"Howdy Y\'all\" and welcome back to live coverage of stage 4 of the 2007 Tour De Georgia on velonews.com'),(6695,156,'2007-04-19 10:53:36','Time Trialin\'','Today is the big time trial from Chickamauga up here in cloudland at Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Riders will be launched at an interval of one minute, until we get to the last 10 starters which will be separated by two minutes.'),(6696,156,'2007-04-19 10:59:08','Course info','Today\'s course is 18.9 miles/30.4 kilometers over a fairly tricky course. Elevation is almost 1800 ft up here at the finish. The riders will be going in reverse order of yesterday\'s GC results. First on the line will be Garrett Peltonen (Priority Health) who you might remember from the break in stage 2.\r\n'),(6697,156,'2007-04-19 10:59:57','1 minute to go...','Peltonen just about to go and we\'ll be underway for the day.\r\n'),(6698,156,'2007-04-19 11:03:53','See Rock City!','Today\'s finish is up by the well known tourist haunt of Rock City. Bird houses (see pic below...) with the slogan \"See Rock City\" were spread all across the U.S. The location became a huge draw as a result.'),(6699,156,'2007-04-19 11:06:32','Cloudland','From atop Lookout Mountain, you\'re supposed to be able to have a view of seven states. This is the view (pic below) from our media bunker today near the finish.'),(6700,156,'2007-04-19 11:11:00','Update','Big high school marching bands and a civil war color guard (firing cannons no less...) sent Peltonen on his way. Pretty much all riders will be using full TT bikes today. Who ever can negotiate the super technical last 5KM the best today will see a good result. The heavy hitters from the Discovery Channel (Leipheimer, Hincapie, and Danielson) were all out surveying the course just now sans helmets.'),(6701,156,'2007-04-19 11:20:02','The word on Brajkovic','Discovery rider Janez Brajkovic won the U23 World Time Trial Championships in 2004, so he\'s got a good shot for the day.\r\n'),(6702,156,'2007-04-19 11:25:24','GC going into today','1. David Canada Gracia, Saunier Duval, 13:34:21\r\n2. Rubens Bertogliati, Saunier Duval, 13:34:24\r\n3. Janez Brajkovic, Discovery Channel, 13:24:24\r\n4. Christian Vande Velde, Team CSC, 13:34:24\r\n5. Jeff Louder, Health Net Maxxis, 13:34:24\r\n6. Kevin Seeldraeyers, Quick Step-Innergetic, 13:34:24\r\n7. Scott Nydam, BMC, 13:34:44\r\n8. Lucas Euser, Team Slipstream, 13:36:43\r\n9. Timothy Johnson, Health Net Maxxis, 13:37:12\r\n10. Tyler Wren, Colavita-Sutter Home, 13:38:18\r\n\r\nSo these riders will be going in reverse order as we get to the end of the stage.'),(6703,156,'2007-04-19 11:28:28','Chickamauga','Chickamauga is known as the site of a two-day civil war battle in September 1963, and was the site of Cherokee settlements during the 1700\'s.'),(6704,156,'2007-04-19 11:34:58','O\'Neill','Health Net\'s Nathan O\'Neill is on the trainer at the moment and feeling good. He\'s set to go at 12:14. He reconned the course before his car accident that left him with 61 stitches and two grizzly scars.'),(6705,156,'2007-04-19 11:40:25','35 down...','There should be 35 riders or so on course right now. Jackson Stewart from BMC should be one of the latest riders to go. Out in Solvang during stage 5 of the Tour of California he placed 48th in that time trial. '),(6706,156,'2007-04-19 11:46:11','Fatest time so far...','Cameron Wurf (Priority Health) has the best split time out there so far. 27:16. He was once an Olympic rower.'),(6707,156,'2007-04-19 11:50:54','New best split to CSC','The Norwegian TT champ Kurt-Asle Arvesen now has the best time. 26:47 at the split. He may be drilling it in order to get Vande Velde some times to shoot for.'),(6708,156,'2007-04-19 11:53:15','Baldwin','Baldwin is now rolling. Hopefully he will have a better time of it than he did at the U.S. TT Championships in Greenville last year, where he crashed out and lost to Dave Zabriskie. Our first rider, Peltonen, is about to cross the line. '),(6709,156,'2007-04-19 11:54:48','Peltonen is in','Peltonen has crossed the line. Time forthcoming.'),(6710,156,'2007-04-19 11:56:15','Da split','The split is at the 15K to go mark. And out best time out on the road Glen Chadwick with a split of 26:29.'),(6711,156,'2007-04-19 12:02:23','Wurf is in','Cameron Wurf of Australia is in and his best split has resulted in the best time so far of 50:49.'),(6712,156,'2007-04-19 12:03:46','Bergman eclipses Wurf','Colavita\'s Adam Bergman is now in with the best time. 50:28.'),(6713,156,'2007-04-19 12:10:23','CSC now on top','Kurt-Asle Arvesen now sitting in the cat-bird seat. Time forthcoming.'),(6714,156,'2007-04-19 12:16:32','Top 3 at the moment','1. Glenn Chadwick, 48:30\r\n2. Kurt-Asle Arvesen, 48:59\r\n3. Chris Wherry, 50:07'),(6715,156,'2007-04-19 12:19:55','Tyler Hamilton','Tyler is in the start house, and...he is on the road!'),(6716,156,'2007-04-19 12:21:40','CSC back on top!','Matthew Goss now in the top spot, crossing the line at 48:09. Simoni also right now on course.'),(6717,156,'2007-04-19 12:25:14','Top 3 shifts again','Goss is still on top with a 48:04, and Ben Jacques-Maynes now in second with 48:22. Chadwick holds on for third.'),(6718,156,'2007-04-19 12:27:40','Our leader','Some quick facts on CSC\'s Matthew Goss. Pro since 2006. Previously with South Australia Ais (2006).'),(6719,156,'2007-04-19 12:29:58','White goggles good to go','George Hincapie and his fashionable white specs have just left the start house.'),(6720,156,'2007-04-19 12:30:54','Disco now on top!','Vandborg is in with a new best time of 47:11.'),(6721,156,'2007-04-19 12:34:25','Red, white and blue on the road','Zabriskie is now out on course in his US TT champion kit. Right behind the red, white and blue is Mr. Tom Danielson for Discovery.\r\n\r\nNew top 3 positions:\r\n\r\n1. Brian Vandborg, 47:11\r\n2. Timothy Duggan, 47:54\r\n3. Matthew Goss, 48:04'),(6722,156,'2007-04-19 12:42:59','Mo\' better course info','The last 4K today is tricky. Riders will be at coming into the 4K mark at 40 mph, and then there is a hard left that will force them to slow way down. Then it gets tight and windy near the line.\r\n'),(6723,156,'2007-04-19 12:49:07','Tim Johnson...','The man they call \"TJ,\" is now out on course. Tim Johnson is the Health Net captain and is riding with the most agressive rider jersey on.'),(6724,156,'2007-04-19 12:51:04','Cornu bests Millar!','Millar is across the line with a smokin 46:38, but it\'s not enough to beat Dominique Cornu who arrives with a 46:32!\r\n\r\n'),(6725,156,'2007-04-19 12:54:41','Pate at third','Danny Pate turns in a time of 46:51. Good enough for 3rd.\r\n'),(6726,156,'2007-04-19 12:56:36','Cornu background','Cornu, for those of you who don\'t know him too well, was the 2006 U23 Time Trial World Champion.'),(6727,156,'2007-04-19 12:59:56','Dauphine warm-up','Cornu is looking to use the Tour as a warm-up for the Dauphine. Levi Leipheimer now has the best time at the split (24:26) with Davey Z for CSC just behind him at 24:52.'),(6728,156,'2007-04-19 13:01:27','Nathan O\'Neill on top','Nathan O\'Neill\'s prep work has paid off getting him a finishing time of 46:09!'),(6729,156,'2007-04-19 13:03:09','Top 3 right now','1. Nathan O\'Neill\r\n2. Cornu\r\n3. Millar\r\n\r\nVande Velde is now on course for CSC. Things are getting to wind down in Chickamauga. Three to go at the start.'),(6730,156,'2007-04-19 13:05:06','Yellow Jersey on the road','Canada (pronounced \"Can-yada\") is out on course. He told us yesterday that he plans to go all out today to do what he can to defend the jersey.'),(6731,156,'2007-04-19 13:07:50','Praying Mantis','Janez Brajkovic is muscling through the stage. He\'s tucked into a praying mantis position on his TT bike ala Floyd Landis. '),(6732,156,'2007-04-19 13:09:36','49:49 For Hamilton','Tyler is in with a 49:49. '),(6733,156,'2007-04-19 13:10:50','Simoni done','Gilberto is also off course now with a time of 48:51.'),(6734,156,'2007-04-19 13:15:27','Bike gone bad','John Devine is in for the USA Development squad, bu unfortunately a bike change out on the road has damaged his changes for a decent ride. Time forthcoming.'),(6735,156,'2007-04-19 13:16:35','Levi is 1KM away from the finish','Here comes Leipheimer!'),(6736,156,'2007-04-19 13:18:19','Time for Levi','Levi is in with a new best time of 44:51'),(6737,156,'2007-04-19 13:20:26','New top 3','1. Leipheimer\r\n2. Zabriskie\r\n3. O\'Neill'),(6738,156,'2007-04-19 13:22:52','We may have a podium','With all the strong men in, we may be looking at a lock on our podium. Wind is starting to pick up out there. Not a lot of riders did not pre-ride the course, which would have helped. Chris Balwin of Toyota, said that there were too many amateur riders out on the course this morning to let him get a good preview of the crucial final four kilometers.'),(6739,156,'2007-04-19 13:23:42','19 riders to go','Out on course are 19 additional riders, including the Yellow Jersey.'),(6740,156,'2007-04-19 13:27:05','Ben Day in','Ben Day of Navigators is done with a 47:19 to his credit. Ollerenshaw of Health Net should be next. We\'ll try and run them down as we finish up one by one.'),(6741,156,'2007-04-19 13:30:29','Fast Freddie','Fast Freddie Rodriguez is in, but with he only nailed a time of 52:04. \r\n'),(6742,156,'2007-04-19 13:33:19','J.J. Haedo done...','Also in....52:52. Health Net rider Karl Menzies, VeloNews North American roadie of the year, said \"Yesterday\'s break owrked out perfectly for our team.\" They are looking to keep both Tim Johnson in the GC and maybe Louder in the top 5. Karl is looking for a stage win at some point. He was joking with some Toyota riders about getting in an early break tomorrow and nabbing a 30 min advantage for himself. :-)\r\n'),(6743,156,'2007-04-19 13:35:48','Brajkovic','Janez Brajkovic is still out on course turning over the pedals. His form looks good. His shoulders are visibly rocking - an indicator that he\'s really going for it.'),(6744,156,'2007-04-19 13:37:16','TJ with one to go.','Tim Johnson is 1km away from the finish.'),(6745,156,'2007-04-19 13:39:09','TJ done','Tim Johnson for Health Net across the line with a 49:49.'),(6746,156,'2007-04-19 13:40:19','Crosshairs','It looks like Jeff Louder has Brajkovic in his sights out on the road. Coming up behind him fast.'),(6747,156,'2007-04-19 13:45:38','Brajkovic is inside 1KM','Brajkovic is almost at the finish. '),(6748,156,'2007-04-19 13:46:34','Brajkovic done','The Disco rider is in at 47:28 which puts him in 11th place.'),(6749,156,'2007-04-19 13:47:18','Last rider is 5KM from the finish','We\'re almost done here and it looks like our 1,2,3 is a lock.'),(6750,156,'2007-04-19 13:49:38','Bertogliatti at 1KM','The Swiss rider for Saunier Duval is in sight of the finish. Vande Velde is 47:10'),(6751,156,'2007-04-19 13:50:11','Brajkovic done','...at 47:28 and is the current GC leader on the road.'),(6752,156,'2007-04-19 13:51:34','Last rider is inside the 2KM mark.','Canada is almost done. 2KM to go!'),(6753,156,'2007-04-19 13:52:23','That result is unofficial','Brajkovic is in yellow...unofficially.'),(6754,156,'2007-04-19 13:54:17','Canada at 1KM','We\'re almost done, but Canada looks to be outside the time. Leipheimer, Zabriskie, and O\'Neill it is.'),(6755,156,'2007-04-19 13:55:11','Canada done','That\'s it. It\'s over. Canada\'s time was 49:53. Brajkovic is in yellow and also gets the young rider jersey.\r\n'),(6756,156,'2007-04-19 13:59:12','Results','Stage 4 results\r\n\r\n1. Levi Leipheimer, \r\n2. David Zabriskie, \r\n3. Nathan O\'Neill\r\n\r\nGeneral Classification\r\n\r\n1. Janez Brajkovic\r\n\r\nTim Johnson gets most aggressive rider again'),(6757,156,'2007-04-19 14:12:30','That\'s a wrap!','Well we\'re done here at stage 4 of the 2007 Tour De Georgia. Tomorrow\'s stage is the infamous climb up to Brasstown Bald. We should be live and on the air just before our start time of 11:00 AM EST. Stick with us here at velonews.com for a full stage report, and thanks for tuning in.'),(6759,150,'2007-04-20 11:44:53','Altitude sickness','Welcome back to live coverage of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. We\'re here up on the roof of the Peach State...the dreaded...the painful Brasstown Bald.'),(6760,150,'2007-04-20 11:50:24','We\'re looking at...','107 miles of road between the city of Dalton, Georgia to our finish line here atop the HC climb at Brasstown. Riders got underway bang on at 11AM, and the action got going quickly. Let\'s bring you up to speed now 48 mins into today\'s effort. We\'ve just had a break of six riders get caught and now the field is altogether again. CSC is leading the peloton.'),(6761,150,'2007-04-20 11:53:32','First sprint','The first Maxxis Sprint point today took place in the town of Chatsworth. David McCann of Ireland took that prize and the $1500 that went along with it.'),(6762,150,'2007-04-20 11:54:26','KOM #1','The field which remains altogether is now on the Cat 2 up Fort Mountain at just over 19 miles into the race.'),(6763,150,'2007-04-20 11:56:03','Fort Mountain...','...rises to an elevation of 2875 feet, and the first KOM lies at the top, 23.8 miles into the stage.'),(6764,150,'2007-04-20 11:57:08','11 go!','There are a group of 11 riders getting a slight advantage (15 seconds) off the front now. But all of the attacks we\'ve seen today have been quickly neutralized.'),(6765,150,'2007-04-20 11:59:24','Tommy D','And Thomas Danielson, 10lbs lighter than he was at the Amgen Tour of California is in that 15 sec breakaway group. Despite losing his shot at the GC, don\'t discount him for the win today.'),(6766,150,'2007-04-20 12:00:09','Se~nori Simoni','Gilberto Simoni is leading the chase to the leaders who are now a full 20 secs up the road.'),(6767,150,'2007-04-20 12:02:32','16 riders in the break','The front group is growing and currently Rory Sutherland (Health Net) and Ian Mckissick (USA Dev) are trying to bride up. They made it!'),(6768,150,'2007-04-20 12:03:49','The gap','The gap between the break and field has now stretched up to 30 secs. We\'re getting close to the KOM.'),(6769,150,'2007-04-20 12:04:35','No response','The peloton so far is not respond to the break. 1KM to go to the KOM.'),(6770,150,'2007-04-20 12:06:36','Heavy Hitters','The big boys in the break include...Zabriskie, Leipheimer, Simoni, Tonti, O\'Neill, Sutherland, Zajicek, Pate, Baldwin, and the injured Jittery Joe\'s climber Cesar Grajales!'),(6771,150,'2007-04-20 12:07:14','The gap to the 18','1:05 to the field and 200 meters to the KOM.'),(6772,150,'2007-04-20 12:07:56','KOM #1','And the winner is Zajicek from Navigators!'),(6773,150,'2007-04-20 12:08:52','KOM second and third','Anthony Colby takes second, and behind him the canadian Ryder Hesjedal from Health Net.'),(6774,150,'2007-04-20 12:11:00','Colby','Colby is one of the three American riders on the Colavita-Sutter Home squad.'),(6775,150,'2007-04-20 12:13:12','Saul','Saul Raisin, local boy from Dalton, did a parade lap in his Credit Agricole kit before today\'s stage. '),(6776,150,'2007-04-20 12:16:05','Recovery','Saul\'s recovery still progressing well. Those of us who followed him up today\'s first climb a few weeks ago for his Raisin Hope charity ride can attest to his fitness. He\'s also just announced his engagement to Aleeza Zabriskie (Dave\'s younger sister...) as well. So congrats to them. More info at www.saulraisin.com'),(6777,150,'2007-04-20 12:21:40','The break has split!','On the descent off the first climb, the break has split in two.'),(6778,150,'2007-04-20 12:23:26','Lead group','The lead group now contains Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net), Phil Zajicek (Navigators), Brian Vandborg (Discovery Channel), and Ben Day (Navigators).'),(6779,150,'2007-04-20 12:24:57','8 up front','OK...there are now eight riders all together on the front and they have a gap of 4:50.'),(6780,150,'2007-04-20 12:30:24','The goal','Check out pic below of the summit. VeloNews is currently sequestered in the observation deck at the top. The riders are due to arrive just below us around 4PM EST.'),(6781,150,'2007-04-20 12:32:29','5KM to the next sprint','We are now only 5KM to the last sprint point of the day in Ellijay, GA'),(6782,150,'2007-04-20 12:35:37','Finish pic','The finish line is being set up directly beneath us at the moment. Check out our pic.'),(6783,150,'2007-04-20 12:36:28','1KM to sprint','The lead group of eight riders is 1KM to the sprint point.'),(6784,150,'2007-04-20 12:37:37','Navigators...','Navigators are currently setting the pace at the front of the break.'),(6785,150,'2007-04-20 12:40:12','And the sprint is done','Winner of the sprint was Ryder Hesjedal the Canadian on Health Net. He was followed by Ben Day of Navigators, and Mr. Danny Pate of Team Slipstream.'),(6786,150,'2007-04-20 12:45:14','VIP seating','Spectators either rode, walked or got shuttled up to the top today. But here\'s the reward for their effort (see below).'),(6787,150,'2007-04-20 12:52:39','Five minute gap','The break has over five minutes on the field. Riders are Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net), Ben Day (Navigators), Danny Pate (Team Slipstream), Michael Blaudzun (CSC), Phil Zajicek (Navigators), Anthony Colby (Colavita), Christopher Baldwin (Toyota), and Alexandre Moos (BMC).'),(6788,150,'2007-04-20 12:56:52','Race situation','The bunch is behind that break of eight riders, some five minutes and twenty seconds back. Weather out on the road is gorgeous and the terrain at the moment is pleasant rolling hills.'),(6789,150,'2007-04-20 12:59:39','Jittery & Prodir','Jittery Joe\'s and Saunier Duval are doing the work for the most part and everyone has just had their launch. Interestingly enough, Jittery Joe\'s are in their white kits today as opposed to their normal orange-based outfits. I guess this is their home team look.'),(6790,150,'2007-04-20 13:06:11','Grajales','The word from the Jittery Joe\'s hiearchy is that Cesar Grajales is feeling good today, and is keen to repeat his 2004 win over Lance Armstrong and CSC\'s Jens Voight. Right now he\'s back in the field keeping an eye no doubt on Danielson.'),(6791,150,'2007-04-20 13:11:03','Baldwin','Toyota-United\'s Chris Baldwin is up there with the leaders. You\'ll remember that he almost upset 2005 Tour de France stage winner Dave Zabriskie at the 2006 USA Cycling\r\nNational Time Trial Championships when he crashed with less than 400 meters to go. Fast enough to take second, Baldwin earned the right to represent the US at the World Road and Time Trial Championships. Baldwin’s season also included stage wins at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, San Dimas stage Race and Tour of the Gila, where he was also the overall winner.'),(6792,150,'2007-04-20 13:17:26','Brasstown champs','2004 - Cesar Grajales, Jittery Joe\'s\r\n2005 - Tom Danielson\r\n2006 - Tom Danielson'),(6793,150,'2007-04-20 13:20:10','Breakaway holds','The breakaway is cooperating nicely out there on the road. And the gap remains at 5 mins.'),(6794,150,'2007-04-20 13:27:17','Pace','The word out there is that pace is very high in the field, but the gap is still 5:10.'),(6795,150,'2007-04-20 13:28:04','58 miles gone','The break is now at the 58 mile mark.'),(6796,150,'2007-04-20 13:38:22','New gap','Gap is creeping up slightly. At 5:20 right now.'),(6797,150,'2007-04-20 13:42:53','Ryder','Ryder Hesjedal is a former mountain bike rider. You might remember him from the Olympics where he flatted out. The other day he mentioned that he would love to do three events in Beijing - road race, time trial and the mountain bike competition.'),(6798,150,'2007-04-20 13:50:56','Baldwin\'s take on the TT','Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) lives and Boulder and trains with his good friend Tyler Hamilton. Here\'s what he had to say about Brasstown:\r\n\r\n\"You really have to take a conservative approach. It’s very, very \r\nlong and very hard and it gets harder at the top. So for a guy like me – who \r\nis a bigger guy and not one of the most talented climbers, it’s better to \r\ngo into it within yourself than try to go up to your limit at the bottom. \r\n\r\nThere’s the potential to blow up and lose a lot of time. Last year, I just rode my \r\nown pace at the bottom and stayed with David Zabriskie and ended up doing a \r\npretty good time.\"\r\n\r\nHe must be pumped to be in today\'s break, which is 5:20 up the road. '),(6799,150,'2007-04-20 13:55:16','Gap is coming down','Uh-oh....it looks like the gap is coming down some. They are currently only 4:55 away from the group. '),(6800,150,'2007-04-20 13:58:17','Next KOM','The next KOM is up Wolfpen Gap. Known to locals as a real knee trembler, the peak is up at 3260 feet. \r\n\r\n71 miles into the stage now for the break and the gap appears to be falling.'),(6801,150,'2007-04-20 14:03:49','The Danielson method','We spoke to Tom Danielson a week or so ago, and his plan at the time for Brasstown was to go right from the bottom of the climb as opposed to waiting as he did when he contested the stage against Floyd last year. Being lighter and on good form will help this time around. Check out our full interview with Tommy D on our latest podcast available at:\r\n\r\nhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/VelonewsAudioPodcast\r\n\r\nNew episode with our Tour De Georgia wrap up online next Wednesday.'),(6802,150,'2007-04-20 14:05:03','74 miles gone','The gap is holding at 4:50 seconds and the riders are 74 miles into the stage. Things will start to get steep in about 14 miles or so.'),(6803,150,'2007-04-20 14:18:32','4:20 to the field','OK...it looks like they\'ve lost 30 secs to the field at this point. 80 miles covered. Rory Sutherland had a mechanical but it looks like he\'s returned to the peloton.'),(6804,150,'2007-04-20 14:21:47','Another 10','Gap now down to 4:10.'),(6805,150,'2007-04-20 14:25:36','Down down','Gap is now at 4 mins.'),(6806,150,'2007-04-20 14:29:40','The field','The peloton is right around 81 miles into the effort and 4 mins even behind the break. Jittery Joe\'s and Saunier Duval doing the work up front. Clearly Grajales has his hopes up despite his injury (separated shoulder).'),(6807,150,'2007-04-20 14:31:20','Reelin\' in the....','...gap. 3:40 to the break.'),(6808,150,'2007-04-20 14:39:45','Crowds are gathering','The climb was lined with riders and spectators as we drove....er, biked up to the top today. The PA system is cranked up here and things are hopping with the fans.'),(6809,150,'2007-04-20 14:40:23','3:30 the gap','Closer and closer. The gap is now just 3:30 now.'),(6810,150,'2007-04-20 14:44:30','5K to the KOM','Almost at Wolfpen. Things should start heating up now. '),(6811,150,'2007-04-20 14:45:25','3:35','The break only has 3:35 as we get to KOM #2'),(6812,150,'2007-04-20 14:47:03','1KM to Wolpen','Let\'s see who nabs this next prize out their on the road. Any minute now...'),(6813,150,'2007-04-20 14:48:32','Day...light','Apparently Ben Day wants the KOM....he\'s put some...er, daylight between himself and the rest of the break.\r\n'),(6814,150,'2007-04-20 14:49:58','3:15 to the field','Peloton now at 3:15 behind the break and Chris Baldwin has apparently lost contact with the break.'),(6815,150,'2007-04-20 14:52:47','Wolpen KOM','And it\'s Ryder Hesjedal with the KOM. Michael Blaudzun next and in third place it\'s Phil Zajicek. Baldwin has rejoined the break. The peloton are also over the top of Wolfpen.'),(6816,150,'2007-04-20 14:54:29','Zajicek','Phil Zajicek told VeloNews this morning that he wanted to take today\'s stage if possible. He\'s a solid climber and could very well do it.'),(6817,150,'2007-04-20 14:55:15','Moos background','Alexander Moos (BMC) has done all three grand tours and is the designated road captain for the team.'),(6818,150,'2007-04-20 14:56:54','Simoni speculation','Simoni might make a dig for it if the break does get absorbed. His team has been working alongside Jittery Joe\'s all day. He\'s also been dabbling in mountain biking as of late and wants to race in next year\'s Olympics. '),(6819,150,'2007-04-20 14:57:21','New gap','3:10 to the break.'),(6820,150,'2007-04-20 15:00:47','The word from Harm','Toyota-United\'s director Harm Jansen says it\'s up to Ivan Dominguez and Henk Vogels will be doing the work today. Vogels said that he might bring a pair of running shoes with him since it would be easier to run up Brasstown than ride.'),(6821,150,'2007-04-20 15:02:43','Flat and wide','Road is now flat and wide as the riders approach Brasstown. '),(6822,150,'2007-04-20 15:04:40','15 KM to go','The field is now just 15 KM to the finish with a gap of 2:25. They appear to be slightly ahead of schedule.'),(6823,150,'2007-04-20 15:06:23','Zajicek and Day','Navigators now doing the majority of the work in the break. Zajicek must really want this.'),(6824,150,'2007-04-20 15:07:43','Tightening up','Cars are now being ejected from the gap between the field and the break. Things are starting to tighten up. Crowds up here in cloudland are getting truly wound up.'),(6825,150,'2007-04-20 15:08:42','Disco strategy','Danielson told us this morning that while he feels he can win the stage, their priority is to defend the jersey for Brajkovic.'),(6826,150,'2007-04-20 15:10:09','Baldwin recovers!','While it seemed like Baldwin was hurting over the last KOM, he has now joined Ben Day and Phil Zajicek in a flyer off the front of the break!'),(6827,150,'2007-04-20 15:10:45','Moos on the loose','Now Moos makes a go to catch Baldwin and the two Navigators riders.'),(6828,150,'2007-04-20 15:15:27','Floyd Landis','Floyd Landis is here at the top of the Brasstown helping out the announcers and chatting with fans.'),(6829,150,'2007-04-20 15:17:31','Brasstown vet','You might remember that Floyd matched Danielson pedal stroke for pedal stroke last year to secure his overall on the GC. Main field is now just 2:25 behind the leaders.'),(6830,150,'2007-04-20 15:18:11','Moos!!','Alexander Moos has now left the two Navigators riders and Baldwin behind.'),(6831,150,'2007-04-20 15:22:04','Chasers 15 seconds back','Moos still off the front being chased by Michael Blaudzun, Ryder Hesjedal, and Anthony Colby.'),(6832,150,'2007-04-20 15:23:03','The main field','The main field has now hit the bottom of the climb up Brasstown.'),(6833,150,'2007-04-20 15:23:49','Gap of 1:55','The gap to the field has dropped now below the 2:00 minute mark.'),(6834,150,'2007-04-20 15:28:47','104.5','Race leader Brajkovic is at the 104.5 mile mark sitting on CSC\'s Christian Vande Velde\'s wheel.'),(6835,150,'2007-04-20 15:30:53','Levi is on the move','Word is that Levi is now moving through the field.'),(6836,150,'2007-04-20 15:33:17','Levi attacks','Apparently Levi has gotten past Moos!'),(6837,150,'2007-04-20 15:36:05','Levi pedaling effortlessly','Levi is looking now like he\'s going to win this thing today.'),(6838,150,'2007-04-20 15:36:59','1KM to go!!','Levi\'s got 1KM to go!'),(6839,150,'2007-04-20 15:39:23','Fans greeting Levi','Levi is being followed up the hill by fans waving American flags, The music over the PA is the epic Ride of the Valkerys. 3OO meters to the finish!'),(6840,150,'2007-04-20 15:40:46','It\'s over!',''),(6841,150,'2007-04-20 15:41:14','Levi wins!','It\'s Leipheimer!'),(6842,150,'2007-04-20 15:42:09','Brajkovic','Brajkovic and Vande Velde finish as well.'),(6843,150,'2007-04-20 15:46:01','Stage 5 top 10','1.Leipheimer\r\n2. Danielson \r\n3. Colby\r\n4. O\'Neill\r\n5. Simoni\r\n6. Moos\r\n7. Hesjedal\r\n8. Devine\r\n9. Vande Velde\r\n10. Brajkovic'),(6844,150,'2007-04-20 15:47:45','Yellow jersey','Brajkovic still holds the jersey. What a dramatic finish. We\'ll be back tomorrow with stage 6 from Lake Lanier to Stone Mountain Park. Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for a full stage report on today\'s action forthcoming.'),(6846,151,'2007-04-21 12:09:54','Welcome to Stage 6!!','Welcome to live coverage of stage 6 of the Tour De Georgia. Peloton is rolling to Stone Mountain Park just outside of Atlanta. We\'ve got 113.7 miles/182.9 kilometers of warm southern cycling on offer today. And the riders are currently running through the neutral section.\r\n'),(6847,151,'2007-04-21 12:11:25','Intermediate sprint...','...is hardly intermediate today. Just 2.9 miles after they roll out of the neutral zone, the riders will be looking at the first sprint of the day.'),(6848,151,'2007-04-21 12:14:42','$2K on the line','There\'s a preme today of $2000 for the first sprint and we already have an early attack. Talk about your motivation...'),(6849,151,'2007-04-21 12:15:58','Bike change!','One of the riders hoping for a win today is the Cuban Missile, Ivan Dominguez. He just had a bike change though. We\'ll see if he can keep it all dialed in.'),(6850,151,'2007-04-21 12:22:04','Sprint winner','We told you it wouldn\'t be long. Sprint winner is Karl Menzies of Health Net. Next was Tinkoff rider Elio Aggiano, followed by Menzies teammate and fellow Aussie Rory Sutherland. Guess the first round is on Karl tonight!'),(6851,151,'2007-04-21 12:24:09','2 riders up the road','We\'ve got two guys up the road with a 10 second gap on a group of four chasers. The leaders are David Millar of Suanier-Duval and Sergey Lagutin of Navigators.'),(6852,151,'2007-04-21 12:26:55','Yellow flats!','Race leader Janez Brajkovic flats at the 6.9 mile mark! Looks like Danielson is going back to help him. Dominguez also struggling to get back to the field after his mechanical.\r\n'),(6853,151,'2007-04-21 12:28:02','Panache','The field is showing some respect for the jersey by slowing down until Brajkovic gets it together again. Dominguez must be happy about that as well.\r\n'),(6854,151,'2007-04-21 12:28:35','Tour de Rock','Check out our pic below of the Confederate monument carved into the side of Stone Mountain.'),(6855,151,'2007-04-21 12:29:06','Back together','Disco and Dominguez back in the field. We\'re rolling again.'),(6856,151,'2007-04-21 12:30:38','Big relief','From StoneMountainpark.com: \"The largest high relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving, depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. \"Stonewall\" Jackson. The entire carved surface measures three-acres, larger than a football field. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The deepest point of the carving is at Lee\'s elbow, which is 12 feet to the mountain\'s surface.\"'),(6857,151,'2007-04-21 12:37:29','3/10ths adjustment','The course has been adjusted for some reason, but the riders have already been through that at this point. The caravan\'s mileage is now three tenths ahead of the actual course now. Gap to Lagutin and Millar is now 30 secs.'),(6858,151,'2007-04-21 12:38:19','Gap growing','The duo are now 35 secs away. Quick step is doing the work in the peloton.'),(6859,151,'2007-04-21 12:39:25','Quickstep goes!','Alessandro Proni of Quickstep tries to take a flyer. '),(6860,151,'2007-04-21 12:44:08','All about the sprinters','Today\'s profile is super flat today, which is probably welcome considering yesterday\'s Brasstown effort. It will be all about the sprinters once we get to the finish.'),(6861,151,'2007-04-21 12:49:17','Toyota-United\'s Wherry','We caught up with Chris Wherry at the finish yesterday and he said while he was disappointed that Chris Baldwin\'s effort in yesterday\'s breakaway didn\'t work out, but since the team was laying back and not contributing to the chase, they\'d hopefully be fresh for a shot at a stage win today or tomorrow.'),(6862,151,'2007-04-21 12:51:02','Shout outs','We got handed this at the line yesterday, so we thought we\'d pass it on: \"Tom, Barb, & Big John want to say \'Hi!\' to their P.C. Bike Race Team teammates.\"'),(6863,151,'2007-04-21 12:57:26','Positions','Here\'s a run down on GC as of today\'s start:\r\n\r\n1. Janez Brajkovic (Slo), Discovery Channel, 18:57:03\r\n2. Christian Vande Velde (USA), CSC, 0:12\r\n3. David Canada Gracia (Sp), Saunier Duval-Prodir, 3:04\r\n4. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi), Saunier Duval-Prodir, 3:06\r\n5. Kevin Seeldraeyers (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 4:22\r\n\r\n'),(6864,151,'2007-04-21 13:01:09','26 miles gone','Riders are approximately 26 miles into the stage (or 42km). Lagutin and Miller still away with a narrow 30 sec gap.'),(6865,151,'2007-04-21 13:08:43','Millar time...','Millar is now all alone on the front!!'),(6866,151,'2007-04-21 13:11:53','Don\'t call it a comeback...','You\'ll remember Millar and his cool, mega-visor TT helmet taking the win at the Paris-Nice prologue.'),(6867,151,'2007-04-21 13:14:30','28.3 miles gone...','We\'re 28.3 down the road at this point. The course profile consists of a lot of little ups and downs along the road. From the start up at Lake Lanier Islands to the finish here in Stone Mountain Park is an elevation drop of only 1250 feet to about just over 1000 feet.'),(6868,151,'2007-04-21 13:20:20','Big group away!','We\'ve got a bunch of riders off the front suddenly with nearly a 15-20 minute gap on the field. The escapees are in three separate clumps right now.'),(6869,151,'2007-04-21 13:22:51','20 sec gap right now','The riders off the front may get away for the moment. The field seems to be sitting up and letting them go. Names forthcoming...'),(6870,151,'2007-04-21 13:25:57','Da Break...','...is no more.'),(6871,151,'2007-04-21 13:28:36','Attack after attack','Another big group is now going. We\'ve definitely entered the attack zone. 37 mile mark.'),(6872,151,'2007-04-21 13:36:19','Mrs. D','We spoke to Tom Danielson\'s wife Kristin after the stage yesterday. Danielson is feeling good this week although he may have been a bit disappointed in not getting the stage win yesterday at Brasstown. She\'s riding mountain bikes once again for Velo Bella. You can keep up with her season at:\r\n\r\nhttp://www.tomdanielson.com/pages/kw.htm\r\n\r\nField is once again altogether.'),(6873,151,'2007-04-21 13:39:48','Jittery Joe\'s','Jittery Joe\'s aussie rider Trent Wilson told us yesterday that they went all out for their injured climber Cesar Grajales yesterday, but by the time they got him to the climb at Wolfpen Gap, they cracked. \r\n\r\nAnother group has attacked and has opened up 30 secs on the field at the moment.'),(6874,151,'2007-04-21 13:43:52','Time','Check out our pic below of the water clock. They\'ve got the new fangled stuff down by the finish. Thanks to Fred of the Timing Guys today for lending VN some tech support.'),(6875,151,'2007-04-21 13:45:42','41+ miles gone...','The race has now covered just over 41 miles so far. The feed zone is in Walton County today, and the lastest word is that the two riders have gotten away from the last attack group of 17. '),(6876,151,'2007-04-21 13:47:38','Mechanical for Moos','Alexander Moos has a mechanical. We believe it\'s not his first of the day. Still checking on that...'),(6877,151,'2007-04-21 13:48:25','Nature break','The field is now taking a nature break right around the 47 mile mark.'),(6878,151,'2007-04-21 13:51:51','Fast feed','Navigators were attempting to chase down that last break of 17 riders so as a result the pace was high and everyone missed their feed. It\'s a little chaotic out there at the moment.'),(6879,151,'2007-04-21 13:53:59','3 away...','The three riders that got away though are Glen Alan Chadwick (Navigators), Olivier Kaisen (Predictor-Lotto), and Maarten Wynants (Quickstep).'),(6880,151,'2007-04-21 13:54:18','The gap is...','...currently 35 seconds.'),(6881,151,'2007-04-21 13:57:44','Field rolling slow','Pace out there at the moment looks to be around 18mph while the peloton digest.'),(6882,151,'2007-04-21 14:04:34','Jerseys','Georgia leader\'s jersey: Janez Brajkovic, Discovery Channel\r\nKing of the Mountains: Ryder Hesjedal, Health Net\r\nSprinter\'s jersey: Daniele Contrini, Tinkoff\r\nYoung rider: Janez Brajkovic\r\nAgressive: Alexandre Moos'),(6883,151,'2007-04-21 14:05:40','6 mins gap!','The breakaway has now reached a split of over six minutes to the field.'),(6884,151,'2007-04-21 14:10:58','Chadwick','Some info on Navigator\'s rider Glen Alan Chadwick. In 2006, he won the overall mountains classification in the Tour de Toona and finished second overall in the\r\nTour of Utah. He\'s 30 years old and originally from Opunake, New Zealand.\r\n\r\n'),(6885,151,'2007-04-21 14:17:20','58 miles gone','The gap is now 5:50 secs to the three escapees.\r\n'),(6886,151,'2007-04-21 14:19:02','Sprint winner #2','Maarten Wynants for Quickstep gets the second and final sprint of the day, which took place in Summerville, GA.'),(6887,151,'2007-04-21 14:20:24','CSC and Toyota on the move','Both Team CSC and Toyota-United are leading the chase. Both have big time interests in the sprint finish today...namely the two former teammates J.J. Haedo and Ivan Dominguez respectively.'),(6888,151,'2007-04-21 14:23:45','Correction','Second intermediate sprint point took place in Social Circle, GA.'),(6889,151,'2007-04-21 14:24:15','Gap remains...','....at 5:50 seconds.'),(6890,151,'2007-04-21 14:25:49','No KOM','No KOM points out there on the course today.'),(6891,151,'2007-04-21 14:29:55','Finishing circuits','The two finishing circuits here at Stone Mountain Park are 7.7 miles long.'),(6892,151,'2007-04-21 14:31:27','Finish pic','Check out our shot below taken this morning at the finish line.'),(6893,151,'2007-04-21 14:32:21','Miles gone...','The field is now three miles behind the three riders with a gap holding at six minutes. The pace out there seems to have slackened a bit.'),(6894,151,'2007-04-21 14:35:31','Atonement','As a way of atoning for our slight to the good people of Social Circle earlier, we provide the following virtual gateway to their charming little town: www.socialcirclega.com'),(6895,151,'2007-04-21 14:38:26','Wynants','Maarten Wynants, 25, from Quickstep has been a pro since 2005. He is originally from Helchteren, Belgium. '),(6896,151,'2007-04-21 14:41:42','Olivier Kaisen...','...is our other rider in the break at the moment. Like Wynants, he\'s also been a pro since 2005. Originally from Belgium, the 24 year old rider has his own site you can check out:\r\nhttp://www.olivierkaisen.be'),(6897,151,'2007-04-21 14:42:58','The gap...','...is now down to 5:45'),(6898,151,'2007-04-21 14:43:54','Lotto car','Lotto has sent their team car up to the break to check in with Kaisen. They must be taking this at least semi-seriously.'),(6899,151,'2007-04-21 14:45:20','Bass country','Our man in the field tells us they\'ve just passed a mailbox shaped like a large mouth bass. Not that the riders had time to focus on that considering the road was fairly bumpy there for a while.'),(6900,151,'2007-04-21 14:47:44','Gap coming down...','Field is picking things up now. The gap has fallen to 5:05'),(6901,151,'2007-04-21 14:50:31','Gap now under 5 mins','We should have a new time in just a second. But it\'s dropped below 5 mins.'),(6902,151,'2007-04-21 14:50:52','4:55','Gap is official now at 4:55 back to the main field.'),(6903,151,'2007-04-21 14:52:34','Approximately...','...72 miles gone. Riders are now in Newton County. The county seat is Covington.'),(6904,151,'2007-04-21 14:53:46','Gap drops','4:45 now. Riders due at the finish sometime in the four o\'clock hour, EST.'),(6905,151,'2007-04-21 14:55:41','72 @ 78','Temperature is a comfy 72 degrees right now out there on the road and the leaders are at 78.7 miles into the stage.'),(6906,151,'2007-04-21 14:56:14','Gap holding','4:45 secs and holding steady.'),(6907,151,'2007-04-21 15:02:53','Preems','There\'s a total of $14,000 in preems for this year\'s race and nearly $150K in prize money.'),(6908,151,'2007-04-21 15:03:07','Gap down...','...to four minutes.'),(6909,151,'2007-04-21 15:06:08','Strung out','We now have essentially a very organized chase with the gap dipping below four minutes. CSC is doing the majority of the work at the front of the peloton. '),(6910,151,'2007-04-21 15:09:56','3:30 to the field','The gap is now closing in on the three minute mark. 3:30 to the field'),(6911,151,'2007-04-21 15:14:07','Navigators honcho','Navigators head honcho Ed Beamon just spoke to us from the team car. He says that the plan had been to get someone else up the road with Chadwick today if possible, since they have no one in real GC contention at this point and Chadwick isn\'t necessarily the best man for the finishing sprint. They also thought Phil Zajicek perhaps went a little too hard yesterday on the run up to Brasstown. Had he conserved just a bit more gas, he might have been able to get a top 5 placing (Zajicek finished 58th on the stage, and 8:15 back.'),(6912,151,'2007-04-21 15:15:26','Under 3 mins!','The gap is now 2:50 between the break and the field. This will be over fairly soon. '),(6913,151,'2007-04-21 15:17:56','Cesar Grajales','Grajales had to call back to the Jittery Joe\'s Mini Cooper for a rear wheel. Gap to Chadwick, Kaisen, and Wynants is holding momentarily at 2:50. They have been away since mile 47 near the feed zone.'),(6914,151,'2007-04-21 15:22:31','90 miles gone...','The leaders are just past the 90 mile mark.'),(6915,151,'2007-04-21 15:24:49','Current conditions','Riders are seeing a little bit of wind out there as they enter Dekalb county. They are racing along 2 lanes of twisty road. Just a few high clouds out there.'),(6916,151,'2007-04-21 15:27:47','The word from T-U','Toyota-United mentioned to VeloNews that Ivan Stevic, who was our stage winner in Rome, GA had a terrific climb up Brasstown yesterday. Even though he was 72nd on the stage and more than 10 mins back, the crowds greeted him with great enthusiasm. Stevic was one of the few riders seen climbing yesterday with a grin on his face. See what a stage win will do for your morale? '),(6917,151,'2007-04-21 15:29:35','Media & VIPs','The media and VIPs cars between the field and the break have just been asked to clear the gap.'),(6918,151,'2007-04-21 15:31:12','Yellow River','The field has just crossed the yellow river and are getting close to the finishing circuits here in Stone Mountain Park.'),(6919,151,'2007-04-21 15:32:10','Latest split','Only 2:10 separate the field and the break.'),(6920,151,'2007-04-21 15:36:55','Heating up','We should see things heating up now. Toyota still chasing.'),(6921,151,'2007-04-21 15:38:02','1:55 to the break','The three riders are just 1:55 in front of the field.'),(6922,151,'2007-04-21 15:40:11','25KM to go','Break is now 25km to the finish! 1:45 in front of the field.'),(6923,151,'2007-04-21 15:41:42','Field @ 98','The field is now at the 98 mile mark, 25 km to the finish. The gap is now 1:40.'),(6924,151,'2007-04-21 15:43:24','In the park','The three riders are now here in Stone Mountain.'),(6925,151,'2007-04-21 15:45:03','Field est arrive','Gap is 1:25 seconds and the field has now entered the park.'),(6926,151,'2007-04-21 15:47:08','Gap is...','...1:15'),(6927,151,'2007-04-21 15:48:29','CSC Mechanical','Matthew Harley Goss had a chain problem. He\'s back on his bike and on the move.'),(6928,151,'2007-04-21 15:48:46','The pace','CSC still setting the pace with 1:15 still the gap.'),(6929,151,'2007-04-21 15:50:27','Gap @ 1:05!','Gap is dropping rapidly. The field is coming for them!'),(6930,151,'2007-04-21 15:51:55','Eric Riggs dropped','Eric Riggs from the USA Development squad can\'t hang with the pace and is dropped from the field.'),(6931,151,'2007-04-21 15:53:21','Gap drops!','Only 55 secs!'),(6932,151,'2007-04-21 15:54:19','One lap to go!','7.7 miles left on course.'),(6933,151,'2007-04-21 15:55:12','Gap @ 35 secs','It\'s almost over now.'),(6934,151,'2007-04-21 15:56:59','Break is...','...approaching the 1K plus 1 lap mark. 25 secs ahead of the field.'),(6935,151,'2007-04-21 15:58:43','Still @ 25 secs...','The break is still only ahead by a hair. They are riding at about 37 mphs'),(6936,151,'2007-04-21 16:01:49','7 minutes to go...','...and the gap is just at 20 seconds!'),(6937,151,'2007-04-21 16:02:31','Gap @ 15 seconds!','They\'re holding on but just barely. The field has just crossed the 108.2 mile mark.'),(6938,151,'2007-04-21 16:03:38','5 secs behind...','The field is about to swallow the break, with a little less than 5 or 6 minutes to go.\r\n'),(6939,151,'2007-04-21 16:04:38','Wynants alone!','Maarten Wynants is all by himself with a 4 sec gap!'),(6940,151,'2007-04-21 16:05:37','Done!','Maarten Wynants has been caught and CSC is on the front! Look for J.J. Haedo to strike out.'),(6941,151,'2007-04-21 16:06:50','CSC drives on!','CSC is still working the front of the field. The pace is now 40mph!'),(6942,151,'2007-04-21 16:08:09','Health Net goes!','Ollerenshaw went but he was caught.'),(6943,151,'2007-04-21 16:09:17','2 miles to go','Field is spread all over the road, but the pace has now dropped down to 31 mph.'),(6944,151,'2007-04-21 16:09:31','3km to the finish!',''),(6945,151,'2007-04-21 16:10:34','T-U and Health Net','Toyota-United and Health Net now taking the front!'),(6946,151,'2007-04-21 16:11:00','Health Net trio','Three guys from Health Net on the front'),(6947,151,'2007-04-21 16:11:40','Stevic goes','Stevic has a slight advantage with Jeffry Louder.'),(6948,151,'2007-04-21 16:12:06','Disco and Quickstep...','...now in front with 1KM to go!'),(6949,151,'2007-04-21 16:12:43','Health Net, Prodir, and Disco','...all on the front!! This is it!'),(6950,151,'2007-04-21 16:13:36','Fast Freddie!','Freddie Rodriguez is the unofficial winner!'),(6951,151,'2007-04-21 16:14:24','It\'s official!','Freddie Rodriguez wins for Predictor-Lotto!'),(6952,151,'2007-04-21 16:14:38','Top 3...','...coming.'),(6953,151,'2007-04-21 16:16:44','Rodriguez....','...jumped with 200m to go. He said he spun out his 11 gear to get there, and that his computer was registering 77 kph.'),(6954,151,'2007-04-21 16:20:17','48 mph','Rodriguez was going nearly 48 miles an hour when he crossed the line. Haedo was second followed by Hincapie (!!) Wynants gets most aggressive.'),(6955,151,'2007-04-21 16:26:28','That\'s a wrap!','Well that\'s all from us here at Stone Mountain Park. It\'s been a beautiful day on the course and tomorrow looks to be the same. Join us when we cover the last stage of the 2007 Tour De Georgia from downtown Atlanta. It\'ll be a 67 mile circuit race that gets underway at 1PM EST. And don\'t forget to stay tuned for a full race report on stage 6 in just a bit here at VeloNews.com Salut!'),(6958,152,'2007-04-22 13:03:03','Hello world','Greetings and welcome to stage 7 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia, a 66.8-mile circuit race in downtown Atlanta.\r\n'),(6959,152,'2007-04-22 13:06:15','Underway','Following a rousing Jimi Hendrix inspired rendition of the National Anthem, we are underway in Atlanta. Today’s race features 9 laps around a 7.4-mile circuit that winds around the city.\r\n'),(6960,152,'2007-04-22 13:07:25','Check, check','While the 108-rider field settles in for the day’s battle, organizers are going through their standard morning radio check. Everybody appears to be here and accounted for.\r\n'),(6961,152,'2007-04-22 13:08:42','All together','With 2.5 miles covered.\r\n'),(6962,152,'2007-04-22 13:09:57','Weather','It’s a perfect Georgia spring day. Not a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the high 70s with just a light breeze. Just had our first attack – it’s a Quickstep rider – Hold for the number.\r\n'),(6963,152,'2007-04-22 13:11:14','Attacker','The man away is Swiss rider Hubert Schwab of Quickstep. The field is responding quickly. '),(6964,152,'2007-04-22 13:12:54','Bridge','Hubert Schwab has been joined by five others – hold for the numbers.\r\n'),(6965,152,'2007-04-22 13:16:26','All together','Too early for the escape. The bunch was having none of it and we are one big happy family again.'),(6966,152,'2007-04-22 13:21:57','New attack','There are seven riders off with 10-second advantage. Let\'s see if it sticks.'),(6967,152,'2007-04-22 13:28:03','Another break','There was a move of 11 that peeled off, but they’ve been caught and it’s all back together. Check out the photos below. We’ve just started loading images from the start/finish area this morning.\r\n'),(6968,152,'2007-04-22 13:30:10','Floyd is here','After holding a press conference at the end of stage 6 tomorrow, Floyd Landis is up on stage in downtown Atlanta. VeloNews spoke with attorney last night and he expressed confidence that the case would go in his client’s favor.\r\n'),(6969,152,'2007-04-22 13:32:45','New attack','It’s No. 45 Hubert Schwab again. Busy boy today. No response yet. Maybe they\'ll let him dangle for a while.\r\n'),(6970,152,'2007-04-22 13:35:58','Points battle','With the GC all but locked up by Discovery Channel’s Janez Brajkovic, the day’s most interesting battle is between Freddie Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) and J.J. Haedo (CSC). Haedo leads the stage 6 winner by just one point, meaning a stage win equals a points jersey win as well.\r\n'),(6971,152,'2007-04-22 13:39:28','Freedie sez','VeloNews caught up with Rodriguez this morning, and he had this to say about the final day of the race. “It all comes down to that last sprint. We are both counting on going for the stage win. I got second here the last time we raced this circuit. I miscalculated the finale. It’s a tough little kick in the end. It’s a little uphill but I feel good. It all depends on how everybody plays the race. I know it’s going to be really active.â€\r\n'),(6972,152,'2007-04-22 13:43:30','New attack','There\'s now a group of 22 off the front... But it\'s been caught. Very active start to this race with 19.2 miles covered. '),(6973,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(6974,152,'2007-04-22 13:51:37','Sprint No. 1','The first intermediate sprint of the day goes to Navigators Sergey Lagutin. Now a new break -- hold for the ID.'),(6975,152,'2007-04-22 13:53:57','It\'s Georgia\'s favorite son','The latest attack comes from Jittery Joe’s Cesar Grajales, who won the Brasstown stage several years back. He’s been riding this year’s race with a separated shoulder but managing a commendable 34th so far this year.'),(6976,152,'2007-04-22 14:01:23','New photos','Check out the picture of Levi Leipheimer’s parents. Mom designed the T-shirts using a similar design to the Discovery Channel jerseys. There is a break of three that has 45 seconds. It’s Grajales, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health) and Kirk O\'Bee (Health Net-Maxxis). We are on the fourth of nine laps here in downtown Atlanta – 27.3 miles into the 66.8-mile stage.\r\n'),(6977,152,'2007-04-22 14:03:03','Gap is','up to 1:05. Looks like this might stick for a bit. But don\'t get any ideas. This stage has bunch sprint written all over it. It should be a great battle with J.J. Haedo, Freddie Rodriguez and Ivan Dominguez the men to watch. We are just about to the finish of lap 4, leaving five 7.4-mile circuits to go.'),(6978,152,'2007-04-22 14:04:31','Working well','Radio tour reports cooperation in the break. The gap is 1:10.'),(6979,152,'2007-04-22 14:08:12','Now we have','five laps to go. The break is still away and working well together. Feeding is open and the wind has picked up a little. The flags flying outside the \"Live Update\" headquarters are fluttering steadily in the wind.'),(6980,152,'2007-04-22 14:11:33','The gap','is now 1:40. Just loaded a new photo showing the crowd at the start. Not what it was during the Lance days, but still a good crowd on hand for this perfect day for a bike race.'),(6981,152,'2007-04-22 14:15:39','A little news about the GC leader','VeloNews spoke to Discovery team boss Johan Bruyneel this morning. He said he considers Janez Brajkovic one of the biggest young talents in the world and that he’s focusing on the Vuelta this year. You’ll remember that Brajkovic wasn’t even supposed to be at this race, but when he got sick earlier in the month, the team juggled its roster sending Jose Rubiera to a stage race in Spain and bringing the young Slovenian to America.\r\n'),(6982,152,'2007-04-22 14:17:06','Brajkovic','The 23-year-old has had success at this race in the past, taking the Best Young Rider jersey a year ago. Now he’ll have a shiny yellow one to add to his collection. The gap is now 1:35.\r\n'),(6983,152,'2007-04-22 14:21:42','Ivan update','It’s been a bumpy seven days for Toyota-United sprint ace Ivan Dominguez. He had a spat with his team director on stage 1 when a breakaway stayed away, eliminating him from any chance of a sprint win. Then yesterday, Dominguez underwent 4 bike changes while trying to sort out an unidentified mechanical issue. Dominguez actually rides a Fuji TT model frame because he prefers its stiffness. Look for the Cuban Missile to be very much in the mix today. This course suits him and you know he’s desperate for a win.\r\n'),(6984,152,'2007-04-22 14:22:41','The break','It’s still Grajales, Jacques-Maynes and O\'Bee off the front with a 1:45 advantage.\r\n'),(6985,152,'2007-04-22 14:23:52','With four laps to go','the gap is 1:40'),(6986,152,'2007-04-22 14:24:32','O\'Bee takes','the sprint points. '),(6987,152,'2007-04-22 14:32:37','Update','The gap is holding steady at 1:45. Check out some more photos below. This time it’s a little bike porn. Just had a rear wheel call for Jacques-Maynes. That will probably send him back to the field.'),(6988,152,'2007-04-22 14:33:16','The finish','Today\'s race will conclude around 3:30 today -- that\'s one hour from now.'),(6989,152,'2007-04-22 14:37:45','Toyota-United','Ivan Dominguez\'s squad is moving to the front. There\'s still a ways to go but best to get the troops ready for the work to come.'),(6990,152,'2007-04-22 14:39:34','And then there was...','Two. Jacques-Maynes is back in the bunch leaving just O\'Bee and Grajales off the front.'),(6991,152,'2007-04-22 14:40:26','Winding down','There are now just three 7.4-mile laps left in the stage -- and the 2007 Tour de Georgia.'),(6992,152,'2007-04-22 14:42:06','Mechanical explained – sort of','This was Toyota-United team director Harm Jansen’s explanation of what was wrong with Dominguez’s bike yesterday (the Cuban changed four times). \r\n\r\n“There was a mechanical. We are not quite sure what caused it. It compounded into two mechanicals. I don’t know. I don’t want to speak for the mechanics but he had to get off his bike. We changed the bike and then we changed the bike again. We put him on his second bike, then back on his first bike. There was something wrong with it.â€\r\n'),(6993,152,'2007-04-22 14:43:56','Scary moment','Yellow jersey holder Janez Brajkovic just had a rear wheel change. Teammate Brian Vandborg gave him his wheel and now Leipheimer, Danielson and Hincapie all dropped back to bring him back. He’s now safely back in the bunch. \r\n'),(6994,152,'2007-04-22 14:46:01','Points on line','There are intermediate sprint points on the line at the end of this lap, and with just two riders away the winner out of the field will pick up a point. That means Rodriguez and Haedo may go for it, being that they are separated by a single point. The gap is 1:30.\r\n'),(6995,152,'2007-04-22 14:46:51','The gap is now','1:25'),(6996,152,'2007-04-22 14:52:52','Finish points breakdown','Here’s a look at the points awarded for the stage in order of placing: First – 15, second – 12, third – 10, then 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Obviously if Haedo or Rodriguez wins the stage they win the points jersey too. But second and third place will be just as important if someone else grabs today’s winner’s bouquet. It should also be noted that Tinkoff’s Daniele Contrini is third in the points chase, three back of Haedo. He’s not a sprinter like the other two, but maybe he’ll try to launch a late solo like he did for his stage 1 win in Macon.\r\n'),(6997,152,'2007-04-22 14:53:41','The gap is now','an even minute with two laps and a little more to go'),(6998,152,'2007-04-22 14:56:25','There are now','two laps to go -- CSC and Toyota-United are driving the chase. Gap is below a minute now. It won\'t be long.'),(6999,152,'2007-04-22 14:57:49','Working','Also Lotto has entered the chase. '),(7000,152,'2007-04-22 14:59:21','Sprint results','The final intermediate sprint was won by Grajales with O\'Bee next. Lotto\'s Geert Steurs jumped out of the bunch to grab that final point. Good way to protect teammate Rodriguez. The points jersey all comes down to the finish. Good stuff. '),(7001,152,'2007-04-22 15:00:07','Last time gap','reported was 55 seconds. The ctach will likely come on this lap or early on in the final turn.'),(7002,152,'2007-04-22 15:03:56','The gap','now 45 seconds'),(7003,152,'2007-04-22 15:05:50','Most aggressive rider','They’ve just announced that Glen Chadwick will be awarded the race’s overall Most Aggressive Rider jersey. Check out the photo below of the Aussie-Kiwi getting interview this morning.\r\n'),(7004,152,'2007-04-22 15:07:22','Now just','30 second between O\'Bee and Grajales and a hard charging bunch'),(7005,152,'2007-04-22 15:10:28','The real GC','While Brajkovic will take home the winner’s check, anyone who’s watched this race knows that Levi Leipheimer was the strongest rider here in Georgia. He took two stage wins (time trial and Brasstown), and were in not for the 29:07-minute gap that was rolled up on stage 3, he would have won the race too. Behind Leipheimer would have been teammate Tom Danielson, fourth in the TT and second on Brasstown, with Aussie Nathan O’Neill third after finishing third in the TT and fourth on Brasstown.\r\n'),(7006,152,'2007-04-22 15:11:49','The gap','is down to 25 seconds as we approach the end of lap 8. From there we will see one to go. Game on.'),(7007,152,'2007-04-22 15:12:35','The gap is now','10 seconds -- and we are on the bell lap -- get excited!'),(7008,152,'2007-04-22 15:13:34','Attack','We have three riders taking a flyer -- Danielson, Millar and Tim Johnson. They are chasing O\'Bee and Grajales.'),(7009,152,'2007-04-22 15:14:03','Update','Chase has caught break and now we have five off the front with less than a lap to go.'),(7010,152,'2007-04-22 15:15:03','One more','Slipstream\'s Timmy Duggan has joined the break that includes Danielson and Millar. That\'s six off the front with 10 seconds on the field.'),(7012,152,'2007-04-22 15:15:44','The gap','to the group of six is 10 seconds.'),(7013,152,'2007-04-22 15:16:29','They\'ve just cleared the course','ordering all media and VIP cars to adavnce to the finish. Here they come...'),(7014,152,'2007-04-22 15:17:57','The group of six','are hammering hard maintaining their 10 second gap.'),(7015,152,'2007-04-22 15:19:21','Update','The group off the front includes Danielson, Millar, Tim Johnson, O\'Bee, Grajales and Duggan. They still have 10 seconds. CSC and Toyota are chasing hard.'),(7016,152,'2007-04-22 15:19:53','Closing down','It\'s just 150 meters now. Danielson is setting the pace for the break.'),(7017,152,'2007-04-22 15:20:27','All together now','That\'s it for that move.'),(7018,152,'2007-04-22 15:21:23','Points Jersey','Remember that JJ Haedo and Freddie Rodriguez are just one-point apart in the points standings, so if either win stage 7 they\'ll get the jersey too.'),(7019,152,'2007-04-22 15:22:09','End game','The field is spread across the road. Here they come.'),(7020,152,'2007-04-22 15:22:46','New attack','Five with a slight gap -- waiting on IDs.'),(7021,152,'2007-04-22 15:23:26','Off the front','Five off the front -- with 3k to go. '),(7022,152,'2007-04-22 15:24:15','Left hand turn onto...','...5th street. it\'s all together.'),(7023,152,'2007-04-22 15:24:58','Service call','For Toyota United. They had a rider crash. No ID yet.'),(7024,152,'2007-04-22 15:25:27','Rear wheel call for...','Slipstream\'s Lucas Euser.'),(7025,152,'2007-04-22 15:25:48','Still no word...','on the crash.'),(7026,152,'2007-04-22 15:26:12','500 meters to go...','and the winner is.'),(7027,152,'2007-04-22 15:26:42','The sprint is all over the road','...JJ Haedo is called the winner'),(7028,152,'2007-04-22 15:27:22','Points Jersey','Goes to Haedo as well.'),(7029,152,'2007-04-22 15:28:26','Haedo repeat','The Argentinian also won the final stage of this race last year when it was held on a circuit in nearby Alpharetta.'),(7030,152,'2007-04-22 15:29:19','Second place...','...goes to Rodriguez. He\'ll be disappointed but it\'s a decent result considering he\'s been sick for most of the last month.'),(7031,152,'2007-04-22 15:30:35','Rest of top 5','went like this. 3. Sergey Lagutin (Navigators); 4. Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United); 5. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel).'),(7032,152,'2007-04-22 15:33:25','That\'s all folks','Okay faithful fans, that\'s it for Live Coverage of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for a full accounting of the day\'s events, plus photos and results. We\'ll also try to get a word with GC winner Janez Brajkovic, who is the third Discovery/US Postal rider to win this event in the last five years following Lance Armstrong (2004) and Tom Danielson (2005). Bye now...'),(7033,158,'2007-05-05 21:02:00','101 ready for the curtain to fall','Welcome, everyone, to Inside Triathlon\'s live coverage of the inaugural Tri One O One Series. We\'re here live in tropical Bradenton, Florida, in anticipation of triathlon history.\r\n\r\n
The interactive map to the right shows the swim in red, the bike in blue, and the run in green. Check out the profiles via the links under the course maps - though it\'s no surprise to see flat, flat, flat.\r\n\r\n
Join us tomorrow morning at 6:30am for a full day of coverage, as we christen the 101 series.'),(7034,158,'2007-05-06 06:42:02','Race day is here','Good morning, folks, and welcome to Inside Triathlon\'s live coverage of the first ever Triathlon 101 event. We\'re here in steamy Bradenton, Florida to bring you all the action as it unfolds.'),(7035,158,'2007-05-06 06:43:16','Last-minute preparations concluding','The atmosphere is relaxed as the athletes wipe sleep from their eyes and prepare for 101 miles of competition. As we speak, the pre-race meeting is going on, and 15 minutes from now a mass start will kick off the race.'),(7036,158,'2007-05-06 06:44:32','Weather','The wind is calm, the dark sky is clear, and temperatures mild this morning on the banks of the mighty Manatee. Look for heat and humidity to rule the day - yesterday the mercury topped out at 90 degrees F.'),(7037,158,'2007-05-06 06:45:56','Skeeters','You know it\'s tropical Florida - we\'re getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes. Don\'t forget - most of Florida is a swamp.'),(7038,158,'2007-05-06 06:46:42','Transition area is closed','All of the athletes are making their way down to the swim start.'),(7039,158,'2007-05-06 06:47:51','The swim','As we have an intimate affair on our hands this morning, all swimmers will start together in the first (and only) wave. There\'s not a ripple to be found on the glass-smooth surface of the Manatee River, our swim venue. Competitor will complete three triangular loops before hitting dry land.'),(7040,158,'2007-05-06 06:53:21','A bit about the series','Triathlon 101 is new this year - four races across North America, starting today. The others are Clear Lake, Calif. (June), Halifax, Nova Scotia (September), and the Woodlands, Texas (November) for the championship. The series aims to present an alternative to athletes who consider the half-iron distance (70 miles) too short and the full distance (140 miles) too long.'),(7041,158,'2007-05-06 06:55:29','Stacked pro field','Due to a $50,000 carrot, some of the world\'s finest pros are here to contest the race. On the women\'s side, favorites include Leanda Cave, Bella Comerford, Hillary Biscay, Lisbeth Kristensen, and Nina Kraft. More about them as the day goes on...'),(7042,158,'2007-05-06 06:57:00','The pro men','For the men, look for Jonas Colting, Marino Vanhoenacker, Petr Vabrousek and Andrew Johns to be in the thick of it. Up-and-coming Nathan Kortuem, from Colorado Springs, could also make things interesting.'),(7043,158,'2007-05-06 06:59:47','The pool is closed','Athletes are being asked to leave the water. We\'re minutes away from the swim start.'),(7044,158,'2007-05-06 07:19:36','They\'re off','At exactly 7:11 am the horn sounded for the start of today\'s race - a start that, due to logistical concerns and local issues, appeared questionable as late as last week.'),(7045,158,'2007-05-06 07:20:54','Swim course change','Only a few days ago the decision was made to change the swim from 2 to 3 laps. In speaking with Scott Erdman, one of the race organizers, we learned that shallow areas and sensitive sea creatures on the bottom prompted the change.'),(7046,158,'2007-05-06 07:22:19','The third leg','Our leaders - currently numbering six strong - have made the final turn on the first loop. They\'re now swimming against the river\'s current, which can be strong.'),(7047,158,'2007-05-06 07:23:03','Two off the front','Two of the pro men have opened a gap off the front, with four others following at about 5 meters. We\'ll try to get some names for you.'),(7048,158,'2007-05-06 07:26:43','Our lead men...','...are actually women! The front pair are Ashley Carusone and Bella Comerford, and they\'re pulling away through the first lap.'),(7049,158,'2007-05-06 07:27:25','The leader','At the front is Ashley Carusone, a 22-year-old local Floridian. She\'s a senior at the University of Florida. Go Gators!'),(7050,158,'2007-05-06 07:28:53','Some notable absentees','Two of the favorites, Andrew Johns and Lisbeth Kristensen, have not made the start. Going into the water, we counted around 110 in the field (including the pros).'),(7051,158,'2007-05-06 07:30:24','No wetsuits today','It\'s too warm in the water. And as the blaze-orange sun rises in the east, it\'s going to quickly become warm out of the water, too.'),(7052,158,'2007-05-06 07:39:11','Lap 2 complete','Ashley Carusone continues to lead the swim. Just before the conclusion of lap 2, she caught the tail of the field.'),(7053,158,'2007-05-06 07:40:29','More about Ashley','Ashley\'s family is here - mom, dad, and four siblings. She\'s a 4-time All American, has won the overall in the sprint at the Chicago Triathlon the past four years, and is double majoring in sports management and athletic training.'),(7054,158,'2007-05-06 07:41:35','Bejing for Ashley?','According to her dad, Ashley has her sites set on Beijing 2008 - but not in triathlon. She was seeded 3rd at Olympic Trials in 2004, but had an off-meet. Her best events are the 400 IM and 200 butterfly - though she\'s holding her own this morning using freestyle.'),(7055,158,'2007-05-06 07:42:18','Top 3','The front end of the swim features our local here, Ashley, followed closely by two others. We haven\'t been able to ID them yet, but second looks to be male and third female - a gender uprising.'),(7056,158,'2007-05-06 07:45:39','Swim finish','The leaders are coming to shore. We\'ll try to get you some names.'),(7057,158,'2007-05-06 07:54:07','Now things get interesting','First out of the water was an amateur and female - Ashley Carusone. She had about twenty meters on Leanda Cave and Stephen Bayliss.'),(7058,158,'2007-05-06 07:55:00','Colting is sixth','Jonas Colting, one of the favorites for the men, emerged in sixth - and fourth male, following Nathan Kortuem, Paul Ambrose, and Stephen Bayliss. Bayliss is a Brit who\'s been training in Malaysia for the past three months - good prep for the heat of Florida.'),(7059,158,'2007-05-06 07:56:12','The women','Following uber-swimmer Carusone, second female out of the drink was world champion Leanda Cave. Third was Nina Kraft, on her way back following a positive drug test for EPO.'),(7060,158,'2007-05-06 07:57:22','Carusone is going for her pro card','This is our leader\'s first race at this distance - and an attempt to gain her pro card. She\'s been prohibited by the NCAA\'s eligibility rules until now, but as a graduating senior Ashley now has the chance to earn some dinero.'),(7061,158,'2007-05-06 07:59:03','Onward: the bike','Bella Comerford, former winner of Ironman Florida, just popped out of the Manatee River. Ahead of her, athletes are streaming onto the bike course for the first of 6 laps - and up-and-back circuit mainly on route 64.'),(7062,158,'2007-05-06 08:01:56','The Tech Nexis','We\'re broadcasting live out of room 129 of the Holiday Inn, this weekend\'s host hotel. Room 129 has been transformed into the hub of communications for the race - there are cables, cords, computers, and boxes everywhere.\r\n\r\n
The entire course is blanketed with timing communications, allowing us to receive splits in real-time. Athletes can also see their progress - there\'s a giant screen on the bike course that updates as the athletes pass.'),(7063,158,'2007-05-06 08:05:30','Men\'s update','Two women may have beaten him out of the water, but Stephen Bayliss was first out of transition. He\'s followed by Nathan Kortuem, Aussie Paul Ambrose, and Jonas Colting of Sweden.'),(7064,158,'2007-05-06 08:10:07','Out on the course','Colting and Vanhoenacker are making themselves known early.'),(7065,158,'2007-05-06 08:16:26','Swimmers completing their turns','The course is evenly spaced now, with athletes around the perimeter. One advantage of a 110-person field: lots of open water.'),(7066,158,'2007-05-06 08:18:15','The sun is up, the heat is on','It\'s warming up already. Heat is going to be a factor today.'),(7067,158,'2007-05-06 08:31:42','Kortuem up front','Nathan Kortuem, a relative youngster, has made his way to the front of the bike. We\'re still early - only half a lap into the 6-lap bike - but Nathan has some good history in his legs. He came off the wheels first at Clearwater 70.3 in November, just down the road from Bradenton.'),(7068,158,'2007-05-06 08:33:31','Final swimmer','The last of the green caps (they were all in green caps) is passing the final buoy on the swim. The sun is up and temps are climbing - look out.'),(7069,158,'2007-05-06 08:34:18','Dolphin sighting','A friendly dolphin just popped up in the middle of the swim course.'),(7070,158,'2007-05-06 08:35:20','Deadline is 7:11 pm','Tri 101 races come with a 12-hour cutoff. That means the course closes at the stroke of 7:11 this evening.'),(7071,158,'2007-05-06 08:36:27','Cave in front','Leanda Cave has taken the lead for the women. Ashley Carusone, our leader out of the swim, and Nina Kraft are within sight of each other in second and third.'),(7072,158,'2007-05-06 08:38:45','Bayliss first for the men','Turns ou Stephen Bayliss is out in front for the men. Kortuem is actually in third, with Aussie Paul Ambrose sandwiched between them. Colting is further back in fifth.'),(7073,158,'2007-05-06 08:39:32','Cave extending','Cave\'s lead is swelling to near 2 minutes. Age-grouper Carusone is holding her own in third.'),(7074,158,'2007-05-06 08:41:25','Wayward cyclists','Some of the cyclists mistakenly took a right when they should have gone left, ending up at transition prematurely. They\'re heading back out there now.'),(7075,158,'2007-05-06 08:45:00','The race outside the race','A group of recreational cyclists just passed along the riverfront. One wonders why they didn\'t enter the race?'),(7076,158,'2007-05-06 08:47:08','108 out','Nearly the entire field has exited the swim.'),(7077,158,'2007-05-06 08:48:09','Background on Kortuem','The fastest man out of the water used to be a collegiate hockey player in Minnesota before turning in his blades for a pair of goggles. He is also married to top US draft-legal woman, Sarah Haskins.'),(7078,158,'2007-05-06 08:50:01','Ten minutes until swim close','There\'s one swimmer remaining. It\'s going to be close.'),(7079,158,'2007-05-06 08:52:41','Bayliss not wasting any time','The speedster from England is still in front on the bike - and pulling away slowly. Following at around a minute are David Thompson, Ambrose, Van Hoenacker, Colting and Kortuem. All are professionals.'),(7080,158,'2007-05-06 08:53:00','Good weekend for Sweden?','Colting\'s friend, Bjorn Andersson, took the win yesterday at Wildflower. Amid brutal conditions, the big Swede thundered through in 4:07 - including a course record 2:15 on the bike.'),(7081,158,'2007-05-06 08:56:09','Final swimmer: C. Frances Rodgers','The swim is in the books. Rodgers came ashore in 1:42, well before the course cut-off. All swimmers are onto their bikes safely.'),(7082,158,'2007-05-06 08:59:38','A little on Cave','Leanda Cave, our current leader for the women, is a former world champion. She won the ITU World Championship in 2002 in Cancun, Mexico, a year after winning the under-23 European Championship.'),(7083,158,'2007-05-06 09:05:00','Crash!','A blue sedan has hit Ashley Carusone on the bike course. It happened at an intersection during the second lap, as Ashley was heading back into town. Disoriented and bloody, we\'re not sure if she was able to continue. We\'ll keep you posted.'),(7084,158,'2007-05-06 09:06:23','More on Cave','Leanda Cave has made San Francisco her training base recently. She\'s qualified for Ironman Hawaii in October, but bridging to the distance gradually with today\'s race. According to her website, the long course \"scares the hell out of me!\"'),(7085,158,'2007-05-06 09:08:14','The women','Carusone was leading some big names at the time of her crash. Ahead of favorites like Bella Comerford and Hillary Biscay, Carusone was in third at the time, behind race leader Cave and Nina Kraft (2:25 down).'),(7086,158,'2007-05-06 09:10:11','Thompson bridges up','David Thompson, of St. Paul, Minn., has made the leap to Stephen Bayliss at the front. Colting, Van Hoenacker, and Ambrose are in the chase group.'),(7087,158,'2007-05-06 09:11:42','Why six laps?','The bike course changed significantly over the past two weeks, as local officials tightened things up due to the small field of athletes. Permits were not even issued for the race until last week\'s city council meeting here in Bradenton, when the powers-that-be voted unanimously to allow the race to happen.'),(7088,158,'2007-05-06 09:12:44','Shots from Timothy','Inside Tri\'s veteran photojournalist Timothy Carlson is out on the course taking snaps. We\'ll get them up as soon as we can.'),(7089,158,'2007-05-06 09:14:57','Bonness picking them off','Legendary triathlete Joe Bonness, a local Floridian, is picking off the women in front of him. He\'s got his sights set on Hillary Biscay as they head onto the third of six laps.'),(7090,158,'2007-05-06 09:16:14','Lots going on in Florida','It\'s a big time of year \'round these parts, with St. Anthony\'s last weekend and St. Croix this weekend. That might partially explain why the turnout here is small.'),(7091,158,'2007-05-06 09:18:25','Big pot of gold at the end','For the male and female pro winners, a $10,000 check is waiting at the finish line.'),(7092,158,'2007-05-06 09:20:21','Bayliss dropping','Or maybe Van Hoenacker is taking the bull by the horns. Whatever the reason, Thompson is now alone in front of the men\'s race, with Marino about 50 seconds back. Colting and Ambrose are steady in fourth and fifth, respectively.'),(7093,158,'2007-05-06 09:24:11','A little respect','Marino Vanhoenacker is starting to get the attention he deserves as one of the world\'s finest long course triathletes. In 2001 he completed his first Ironman, coming in 5th at Ironman Florida. Four years later, he won that same race - his first win as a pro. Win #2 came shortly thereafter, at IM Austria in 2006, and this past October he finished 6th at IM Hawaii.'),(7094,158,'2007-05-06 09:25:00','More on Vanhoenacker','Just two days ago Vanhoenacker was involved in a bike crash while preparing for today\'s race. Knee, hips, ankles, elbow... are were battered. But he\'s showing no signs of it today.'),(7095,158,'2007-05-06 09:38:10','Vanhoenacker and Cave tearing it up','Vanhoenacker is about to take the lead; he\'s got Thompson in his crosshairs after a scorching third lap. Cave continues to blister the bike, but from the front - she\'s now got more than three minutes in hand over Kraft.'),(7096,158,'2007-05-06 09:41:42','Vabrousek continues the insanity','In the field today is Petr Vabrousek of the Czech Republic. It\'s only May, and he\'s already completed Ironman Malysia, Ironman South Africa, and Ironman Arizona, along with a few other races.'),(7097,158,'2007-05-06 09:43:21','Finisher shirts','The finish line is being readied - it\'s never too early. The finish arch is a gigantic \"O\" (as in Tri One O One) that runners will run through, and just beyond it the finisher shirts are being laid out.'),(7098,158,'2007-05-06 09:49:20','Holloway moving up','American Karen Holloway has caught Nina Kraft. Both are a shade over 3 minutes down on Cave.'),(7099,158,'2007-05-06 10:00:00','Carusone out','Sadly, our first swimmer out of the water is now out of the race. Ashley Carusone, aiming for her pro card, was hit by a car and taken away on a stretcher. We hope she is all right.'),(7100,158,'2007-05-06 10:00:21','New pictures','Check them out below, from Don Karle.'),(7101,158,'2007-05-06 10:03:55','Speaking of crashes...','Our bike leader, David Thompson, had a run-in with an 18-wheeler back in Minnesota during prep for St. Anthony\'s. Today\'s flat course will help, as he can rest on the aerobars and not jar the body over any hills.'),(7102,158,'2007-05-06 10:21:26','Onto lap 5','Vanhoenaker and Thompson continue to lead the men, as does Cave on the women\'s side.'),(7103,158,'2007-05-06 10:22:40','Up and down','Ted Aas, another Swede, is moving up while Bayliss moves down. Kortuem is also losing some ground to the leaders.'),(7104,158,'2007-05-06 10:26:43','More photos','Straight off the course, Timothy Carlson brings us some fantastic shots. Included are swim star Ashley Carusone and her crash on the bike, and early leaders. Check them out below.'),(7105,158,'2007-05-06 10:32:23','Course gaffs continue','Jordan Rapp has become disqualified from the race due to a wrong turn in one of the initial laps.'),(7106,158,'2007-05-06 10:34:01','Thompson throwing down','David Thompson, after losing his early lead to Vanhoenaker, has reasserted himself to the tune of a swelling cushion. He\'s got over 1:30 on the Belgian, with Ambrose and Colting over four minutes back.'),(7107,158,'2007-05-06 10:45:28','Thompson on the last lap','We\'re nearing the end of the bike, with David Thompson storming away from the field. He\'s got nearly two minutes in hand over Colting.\r\n\r\n
Cave, meanwhile, is maintaining her cushion over Holloway and Kraft.'),(7108,158,'2007-05-06 10:54:23','Top men and women on the final lap','The finish of the bike is at hand for race leaders David Thompson and Leanda Cave. Both continue to extend their leads, though further back there\'s been some shifting.'),(7109,158,'2007-05-06 10:57:19','Leader into T2','David Thompson has completed the bike at 3:45 official race time. That\'s cumulative swim and bike.'),(7110,158,'2007-05-06 11:01:30','Marino in at 3:30','Vanhoenaker has entered T2. That puts him about 3:30 down from Thompson.'),(7111,158,'2007-05-06 11:08:23','Ambrose and Colting','Paul Ambrose was third in off the bike, followed quickly by Jonas Colting.'),(7112,158,'2007-05-06 11:09:47','It\'s hot','As could be expected, it\'s getting warm in the kitchen. The sun is out, the wind is naught.'),(7113,158,'2007-05-06 11:15:07','Vanhoenaker 5:00 down','...as he passes through the finish area for the first time today.'),(7114,158,'2007-05-06 11:15:36','Vabrousek into T2','...on the heels of completing a marathon last weekend.'),(7115,158,'2007-05-06 11:19:18','Paul Ambrose holding down third','He\'s 4:20 behind Vanhoenaker, who trails our leader, Chris Thompson, by a further 5 minutes. 50 seconds behind Ambrose is Kortuem, who took a wrong turn (briefly) when passing the finish line.'),(7116,158,'2007-05-06 11:21:53','Bonness off the bike','Joe Bonness just entered T2, 14 minutes back of our leader. He\'s in the thick of the pro males.'),(7117,158,'2007-05-06 11:23:00','Cave into T2','Leanda Cave leads the women into T2. Race time is 4:12 from the start.'),(7118,158,'2007-05-06 11:25:18','First pro race','Richard Armstrong, in his virgin pro race, is into T2 just ahead of Margas Tamm of Estonia.'),(7119,158,'2007-05-06 11:26:03','Colting is out','Jonas Colting just removed himself from the race. \"It\'s too hot,\" he told race officials.'),(7120,158,'2007-05-06 11:27:09','Holloway is off the bike','Karen Holloway is into T2, 3:30 back of Cave.'),(7121,158,'2007-05-06 11:28:00','More on Colting','He said he didn\'t take in enough fluids on the bike. Colting was in fifth when he pulled the plug, running alongside Ted Aas.'),(7122,158,'2007-05-06 11:29:10','Kraft is in','1:40 back of Holloway and 5:10 behind our leader, Leanda Cave.'),(7123,158,'2007-05-06 11:33:26','Hillary Biscay','...enters T2 9:50 behind Cave. She\'s in fourth, 4:00 behind third-place Kraft - but has the home-field advantage over the German.'),(7124,158,'2007-05-06 11:35:20','Thompson through one lap','Our male leader, David Thompson, has come through the finish area for the first time. He\'s got two more loops and a comfortable lead. He looked hot and sweaty but hey, aren\'t we all.'),(7125,158,'2007-05-06 11:37:11','Soft ocean breezes','Just in time for the run, a west wind has picked up on the course. If nothing else it will cool off the athletes.'),(7126,158,'2007-05-06 11:37:00','Bella Comerford is in','The Scot is into T2 and readying for the run, well back of the leader Cave. She\'s holding down sixth place.'),(7127,158,'2007-05-06 11:41:00','Cave running away','Her lead had swelled to 4:50 after the initial mini-loop to the east of the finish line. Kraft is a further 1:10 down, but looking much more spritely than Holloway.'),(7128,158,'2007-05-06 11:44:00','Marino comes through','At the end of his first loop, Vanhoenaker is now 8:20 back of Thompson. Our leader\'s nickname is now thompson\'s gazelle, for all you wildlife afficionados out there.'),(7129,158,'2007-05-06 11:47:50','The scene at the finish','The music is blaring, but the rest of life is calm here by the finish line. The occassional pitter-patter of athlete footsteps can be heard, and the frantic preparations of the yellow-clad volunteers can be seen.'),(7130,158,'2007-05-06 11:49:00','After the first lap for the men','David Thompson\r\n
Vanhonenaker 7:50\r\n
Kortuem 11:00\r\n
Bayliss 11:20\r\n
Ambrose 11:45\r\n
Aas 13:10'),(7131,158,'2007-05-06 11:52:38','For the women...','Tereze Macel just came through 14:50 back of Cave, and 8:50 back of third-place Kraft. Following her and within sight was Bella Comerford, just ten seconds behind Macel. A catch may be imminent.'),(7132,158,'2007-05-06 11:55:22','To recap:','Cave\r\n
Holloway at 4:50\r\n
Kraft at 6:00\r\n
Macel at 14:50\r\n
Comerford at 15:00'),(7133,158,'2007-05-06 12:01:16','Bayliss moving up','It apears our swim star, Stephen Bayliss, is moving up the run. He\'s now in a surprising second place, 7:10 behind Thompson. Behind him are Vanhoenaker (9:40 down) and Kortuem (11:10 back).'),(7134,158,'2007-05-06 12:03:38','The press','The local TV cameras are setting up near the finish line. '),(7135,158,'2007-05-06 12:11:00','Photos of the run','We\'ve got more photos below, coming from the run course and compliments of Don Karle. You can see the heat taking its toll.'),(7136,158,'2007-05-06 12:12:00','Kraft takes over second','Just ahead of Joe Bonness, Nina Kraft has completed one lap of the run in second place, 7:10 behind Leanda Cave. She has passed Karen Holloway.'),(7137,158,'2007-05-06 12:15:06','Holloway fading','Karen Holloway, after a fine performance on the bike, is looking a little worse for wear. She\'s still in third, 9:15 behind Cave and 2:05 behind Kraft.'),(7138,158,'2007-05-06 12:16:30','Thompson with one to go','David Thompson continues to look strong. He just came through lap 2 of the run, at 5:03 race time. He\'s going to be under six hours without a problem. Unless he runs into a problem.'),(7139,158,'2007-05-06 12:19:09','Biscay into fourth','Hillary Biscay, using short steps and with head down, has taken over fourth for the women at the conclusion of the first lap. She\'s 4:05 behind Holloway and 13:20 back of leader Leanda Cave.'),(7140,158,'2007-05-06 12:21:33','A pair of A\'s','Paul Ambrose and Ted Aas are running in fifth and sixth for the men. They don\'t look like they\'re having fun.'),(7141,158,'2007-05-06 12:22:53','Bella\'s done...','...with her first lap. She\'s 4:10 behind Biscay, 17:30 behind the leader.'),(7142,158,'2007-05-06 12:24:00','Age groupers unite','The 10k run course is starting to fill with age-groupers on a beautiful day in Bradenton. Runners continue to be fooled by the finish line flow, with several trying to hit the finish chute early before being directed back onto the course.'),(7143,158,'2007-05-06 12:24:53','Kraft','Still 7:20 down from Cave.'),(7144,158,'2007-05-06 12:30:52','Gonna be a footrace','...for second place. David Thompson continues his commanding performance, leading Stephen Bayliss by 10:10. In third is Nathan Kortuem, then Paul Ambrose and Marino Vanhoenaker. To recap:\r\n\r\nThompson 00:54\r\n
Bayliss 10:10\r\n
Kortuem 11:00\r\n
Ambrose 11:55\r\n
Vanhoenaker 14:05 '),(7145,158,'2007-05-06 12:31:54','The women as we stand:','Cave 2:30\r\n
Kraft at 7:20\r\n
Holloway at 11:00\r\n
Biscay at 14:00'),(7146,158,'2007-05-06 12:33:51','Tereza Macel...','...just walked past the finish area. She\'s not looking good.'),(7147,158,'2007-05-06 12:37:43','Comerford','...is 2:20 back of a walking Macel. Will she make the catch? It looks likely.'),(7148,158,'2007-05-06 12:41:37','Thompson holding steady','He\'s got 11:40 on Kortuem. Nathan\'s wife, Sarah Haskins, just got fourth today at the ITU World Cup in Lison, Portugal. Following Nathan was Paul Ambrose at 12:30. Either something happened to Bayliss or we missed him. Gosh darnit.'),(7149,158,'2007-05-06 12:44:00','Vanhoenaker','...is not made for this heat. He\'s now 16:20 behind Thompson. Speaking of whom, we\'re minutes away from his victory dance.'),(7150,158,'2007-05-06 12:47:07','All is ready','Finisher medals are out, the press is assembled, finish tape is strung. All we need is a winner.'),(7151,158,'2007-05-06 12:48:04','The 30k walk','Athletes by the dozen are starting to walk out there. I don\'t blame them.'),(7152,158,'2007-05-06 12:49:02','Two down, one to go','Leanda Cave has finished the second of three laps. She\'s looking calm and in control.'),(7153,158,'2007-05-06 12:51:48','2k to go','David Thompson is about to take the finest win of his young career. He\'s 2k from the finish and no one is anywhere near him. The question at the start of the day - whether the winner would break 6 hours - is about to be answered with an emphatic \"yes.\"'),(7154,158,'2007-05-06 12:54:47','Livin La Vida Loca','...is playing on the sound system. The finish line crowd - two cameramen, three photographers, four volunteers, a confused-looking tourist, and one cop chatting up the cute TV personality - are ready for a winner.'),(7155,158,'2007-05-06 12:56:03','Heard from one spectator...','...to a passing runner: \"You were running faster before.\" Ouch.'),(7156,158,'2007-05-06 12:57:05','The women','Nina Kraft continues to lose ground to Leanda Cave. The gap is up to 7:50.'),(7157,158,'2007-05-06 12:57:40','Here he comes','David Thompson takes the first win of Tri One O in a total time of 5:45:45.'),(7158,158,'2007-05-06 12:58:42','Whoa baby','He\'s not doing so well. Thompson is escorted immediately to the medical tent. He\'s pouring water continuously on his head and there\'s a towel draped across his hunched shoulders.'),(7159,158,'2007-05-06 13:00:49','The question of distance','This series trumpeted the distance as a nice compromise between the annhilation of ironman and the speed of the half-iron. Will these athletes be ready to race again in a few weeks? The heat and humidity might play a role in the answer.'),(7160,158,'2007-05-06 13:03:00','The fastest swimmer is all right','Ashley Carusone, our winner out of the water this morning, just walked past. She suffered a crash on the bike, but appears to be ok. She\'s got a large bandage on her chin (due to a broken jaw) and another on her right forearm. We\'re glad to see her \"upright and ambulatory,\" as the legendary announcer Jerry McNeil would say.'),(7161,158,'2007-05-06 13:05:40','Into third place','Hillary Biscay has moved into third for the women. She\'s exactly 15 minutes back of our leader, Leanda Cave, and 6:10 behind Kraft. She\'s moving forward slowly... will there be enough real estate to take down the German?'),(7162,158,'2007-05-06 13:07:17','Second place','With a strong performance all day today, Stephen Bayliss comes across the line second. His final time of 5:54:38 was almost nine minutes behind Thompson.'),(7163,158,'2007-05-06 13:08:11','A bit perkier','Bayliss looked a little fresher than Thompson, leaping across the line and nearly clicking his heels. But he still headed for the medical tent.'),(7164,158,'2007-05-06 13:09:46','Big day for the Kortuem family','Nathan Kortuem has taken third, in 5:56:58. Remember, his wife, Sarah Haskins, took fourth today in Lisbon at the ITU World Cup.'),(7165,158,'2007-05-06 13:10:17','Good thing it\'s a small field','Nathan also headed for the medical tent. Perhaps that\'s where the post-race party will be held.'),(7166,158,'2007-05-06 13:10:49','Bikinis at the finish line','The Florida scenery is coming out. Getting hard to concentrate.'),(7167,158,'2007-05-06 13:12:11','Final man under 6 hours','Paul Ambrose missed the podium, be he didn\'t miss the chance to dip under the 6-hour barrier. He\'s done in 5:59:48, a fourth-place effort.'),(7168,158,'2007-05-06 13:14:10','More on the women','Bella Comerford is in fourth place, 9:30 behind Biscay. That puts her 24:30 behind the day\'s ace, Leanda Cave.'),(7169,158,'2007-05-06 13:20:11','Cave staying at arm\'s length','Nina Kraft can\'t seem to make up any ground. She remains just over 7 minutes behind the world champion.'),(7170,158,'2007-05-06 13:30:00','Made of steel','Petr Vabrousek came through in 6:11:47. Consider this: he\'s already done four ironmans this year, including fourth place finishes at Arizona and South Africa. And last weekend he took 24th at a marathon in Vienna - in 2:33. Taking eighth today after flying in from the Czech Republic earlier this week, he says he needed a few more days to get used to the heat.'),(7171,158,'2007-05-06 13:35:00','More on the men','Vanhoenaker took fifth today, in 6:03. The decisive moment, according to both Marino and the winner, David Thompson, came on the fourth lap of the bike. Thompson put down a surge and Vanhoenaker couldn\'t respond.'),(7172,158,'2007-05-06 13:36:00','Cave takes the win','With an impressive win in the heat, Leanda Cave becomes the first female champion of One O One. Her final time of 6:23:35 is an impressive one.'),(7173,158,'2007-05-06 13:44:38','Kraft finds her way to second','The gap stayed steady for most of the run, and in the end Nina Kraft came across second with a final time of 6:30:40.'),(7174,158,'2007-05-06 13:45:37','Battle scene','The grassy area in front of the Holiday Inn is littered with tired bodies, bags of ice, and drenched towels. Everyone\'s looking for a spot of shade.'),(7175,158,'2007-05-06 13:53:02','There\'s your podium','Hillary Biscay completes a fantastic run with a third-place finish in 6:38:35. She\'s all smiles at the finish line, and one of the few not to head immediately for the medical tent.'),(7176,158,'2007-05-06 13:54:44','Kraft ready for more','Nina Kraft expressed contentment with her performance today. After a DNF in Malaysia, in similarly stifling conditions, she ran from third to second by the end of today\'s third discipline, passing Holloway on the way. Next up? She\'ll be making a start at Ironman Brazil in a few weeks.'),(7177,158,'2007-05-06 13:55:54','At least 10 casualties','We knew it would be hot, but the DNF\'s are surprisingly small - so far. Only ten timing chips have been turned in as yet.'),(7178,158,'2007-05-06 13:56:59','Holloway toughs it out','After a quick bike, Karen Holloway surrendered third to Nina Kraft but maintained fourth at the line for a finish time of 6:42:15.'),(7179,158,'2007-05-06 14:24:50','More photos','Photos are now being posted from the run and finish. Check out Timothy Carlson\'s work below.'),(7180,158,'2007-05-06 14:37:28','Amateurs coming','More amateurs are coming across the line, one by one. The wind has picked up, lending a cooling hand to the finishers.'),(7181,158,'2007-05-06 14:42:48','Reflections...','I will save the reflections for Timothy Carlson\'s post-race piece. He\'s dusting off the laptop as we speak. Tune in to InsideTri.com for a comprehensive post-race article this evening.'),(7182,158,'2007-05-06 14:45:36','But I will say this','Every race is different, every venue different. What went well here, and what went poorly, could have happened at any race. There were mistakes and there were triumphs - and certainly more the latter than the former. Athletes spoke to being \"coddled\" like they\'ve not been before - which is par for the course for HFP\'s team.\r\n\r\n
There were obstacles to overcome in Bradenton. The city did not embrace the race - indeed, proved hostile at various points in time. This race may be back, or it may not be, but the fundamental concept is a sound one - a distance athletes can complete without selling the farm to do so.'),(7183,158,'2007-05-06 14:47:00','It\'s just the beginning','This was the first of four races this year, and the first year. The events will improve and the numbers will increase. Inside Tri will be at all of them, with live coverage and photos and videos.\r\n\r\n
I\'ll see you again at The Woodlands in November. Between now and then I have three races to direct. I\'m looking forward to it.\r\n\r\n
Good day.'),(7184,159,'2007-05-12 15:31:40','Good day and','welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia. The Giro kicks off this year with a an interesting 25.6km team time trial from the Caprera and Maddelena islands off the sparkling coast of Italy\'s Sardinia island'),(7185,159,'2007-05-12 15:33:38','Today\'s weather','It\'s sunny, warm - temps in low 80s, but feels hotter than that ... staying in the shade is key.
Riders are facing brisk northwesterly winds, with gusts up to 40mph, especially on the exposed part of the route.
Over the past days, several riders have complained of the dangers of the course.
“It’s a terrible course. It’s the most dangerous thing they could do. Maybe there are two kilometers that are flat, the rest is just up and down,†said Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie. “With nine guys, it will be hard to keep it together. It’s crazy. We rode it three times. It’s super windy. It’s really scary. I don’t get scared much on the bike, but riding around yesterday on the course, it was really scary.â€\r\n'),(7186,159,'2007-05-12 15:36:00','Lotto','The Predictor-Lotto team of Robbie McEwen is on route and we\'ll see how things go for these guys, today.'),(7187,159,'2007-05-12 15:41:28','Euskaltel','The Euskaltel team is now in the start house. We\'ll start getting split times here in a bit.\r\n'),(7188,159,'2007-05-12 15:47:00','CSC','Is now on route. These guys won the TTT last year and they have to be considered to be a favorite today. (Of course, they had Ivan Basso on the team last year, too.) The CSC boys have opted for full-on time trial bikes with disk wheels, as opposed to the road bikes with spoked wheels. It\'s a strategic choice, keeping the wind and narrow roads in mind.'),(7189,159,'2007-05-12 15:51:26','CSC','appears to have made a good equipment choice. So far, the team of world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara and U.S. TT champ\' David Zabriskie is ticking along very nicely.'),(7190,159,'2007-05-12 15:55:00','Start order:','Here is the start order for today\'s stage:\r\n
We apologize for our spotty reports. We\'re having a few minor difficulties, including spotty cell coverage on the islands here.'),(7194,159,'2007-05-12 16:15:37','CSC','Has broken apart. It looks like the team is going to allow the five strongest on the squad head to the finish on their own... it\'s a bit of a risky strategy, considering that they may have no one on reserve if someone has a flat over these final kilometers.'),(7195,159,'2007-05-12 16:21:30','CSC','Crosses with Cancellara leading the way... and they have the new best time of 34:07\r\nThe top three as of now:
\r\n1. CSC- 34:07
2. Predictor Lotto - 35:06
3. Gerolsteiner - 35:10
Back at the start, we have Panaria in the gate.'),(7196,159,'2007-05-12 16:21:55','Wind','Discovery Channel PR man PJ Rabice said: \"The course without wind wouldn\'t be that hard, but it\'s blowing hard throughout the entire route. It\'s either head or crosswinds almost the entire way.\" '),(7197,159,'2007-05-12 16:24:19','Crowds','The crowds today are concentrated at the finish area. It was logistically quite impossible for anyone to get to the start.\r\n'),(7198,159,'2007-05-12 16:27:21','Milram hits the line','with the day\'s fourth fastest at 35:11.
Today\'s finish is sketchy - with lfour or five swinging turns into the final straight. It cost Euskaltel earlier, as one of their remaining five riders slipped off the pace in the final stretch... costing the team quite a bit of time.\r\n\r\n'),(7199,159,'2007-05-12 16:30:38','Davide Rebellin','said he was pretty happy with the stage today.
\"Things went pretty well,\" he said. \"There are a lot of curves on the course and the wind is strong. Things went pertty well for the team. We said at the start we\'d like to be in the top 5. We\'ll see how things go in the first week. I\'d like to try to win a stage.\"'),(7200,159,'2007-05-12 16:31:28','Rabobank charges','to the line.... and finishes with a 35:23. Not bad. It\'s still good enough for fifth.'),(7201,159,'2007-05-12 16:32:53','Simoni','and the Saunier Duval team are now on the final climb. That puts them about 5 minutes from the finish. '),(7202,159,'2007-05-12 16:36:15','Saunier Duval','comes through in 35:03. Simoni should be happy with that. '),(7203,159,'2007-05-12 16:41:30','Cancellara','At this point Fabian Cancellara is in the virtual maglia rosa, holding a healthy a slight advantage over four of his teammates and a healthy 56-second lead over riders from Saunier Duval. That result, however is not cast in stone and there are some heavy favorites still to come. Among them, Discovery Channel should be one of the favorites - they rode the course three times Friday and once more on Saturday morning. '),(7204,159,'2007-05-12 16:41:00','Here\'s an odd bit of news','We\'ve had the first withdrawl from the Giro. Francaise des Jeux\'s Carlos de la Cruz appears to have broken his foot... at the team presentation on the aircraft carrier the other day.'),(7205,159,'2007-05-12 16:51:00','Top five','1. CSC - 34:08
2. Saunier Duval, at 0:55
3. Predictor-Lotto, at 0:58
4. Gerolsteiner, at 1:02
Rabobank, at 1:16'),(7206,159,'2007-05-12 16:57:33','35:39 for Panaria','Not in the hunt, but this isn\'t exactly the team\'s specialty.'),(7207,159,'2007-05-12 17:00:15','Discovery about to start','As Lampre heads to the finish.'),(7208,159,'2007-05-12 17:01:07','Lampre','comes in at 34:17. Not the top spot, but good enough for second and it should make their GC man - Damiano Cunego - happy.'),(7209,159,'2007-05-12 17:02:06','Top three','1. CSC, 34:08
2. Lampre, 34:17
3. Acqua & Sapone 34:38'),(7210,159,'2007-05-12 17:06:25','Tinkoff','the Tinkoff team has come in with a time of 34:42, good enough for fourth.'),(7211,159,'2007-05-12 17:08:21','Pat McQuaid','Met with the media here at the Giro today. The UCI president said that he remains opposed to cutting Ivan Basso a break, after last year\'s winner confessed to an involvement in Operacion Puerto.
Our man, Andrew Hood, was there. Take a moment to\r\nread his story.'),(7212,159,'2007-05-12 17:15:24','Astana','The team of two-time Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli sets a new top time of 33:47. Nice work.'),(7213,159,'2007-05-12 17:17:32','News from Bolivia','Chris Hoy has missed setting a new world record in the kilometer today. He is a bit jet-lagged and we expect he\'ll be trying. Hoy notched up a 59.173 short of the world best mark of 58.875.'),(7214,159,'2007-05-12 17:21:39','Cofidis','comes in to the finish. The French team comes through with a time of 35:16. That puts them in around 12th place.'),(7215,159,'2007-05-12 17:26:31','Matt White dropped','The Discovery team has lost Matt White. That knocks the Disco squad to five riders. No room for error now.'),(7216,159,'2007-05-12 17:31:00','Top three','1. Astana - 33:47
2. CSC, at 0:29
3. Lampre, at 0:49'),(7217,159,'2007-05-12 17:38:48','News from the course','It looks like Liquigas is setting a blistering pace out there, setting the fastest time at the second time check. Discovery, meanwhile, is holding its own, despite being reduced to five riders.'),(7218,159,'2007-05-12 17:39:48','Popovych has crashed','Discovery team leader Popovych has crashed on the descent. '),(7219,159,'2007-05-12 17:41:01','34:27','Popovych caught back on and the team still finishes with a time of 34:27.'),(7220,159,'2007-05-12 17:43:55','Liquigas moves toward the finish','It could be close.'),(7221,159,'2007-05-12 17:45:00','Enrico Gasparotto leads the','Liquigas team through, with a time of 33:35, a new best time. He may be the man in the pink jersey. We have to bet that Di Luca isn\'t happy with that one.'),(7222,159,'2007-05-12 17:47:39','Francaise des Jeux','the only team on the road, we have to predict that Enrico Gasparotto of Liquigas will lead the Giro after the first stage.'),(7223,159,'2007-05-12 17:50:33','FDJ still on the road','and the team has passed the time of Liquigas, so Enrico Gasparotto has the jersey.'),(7224,159,'2007-05-12 17:53:00','FDJ finishes','well outside of the top-ten.
The stage has been won by the Liquigas team with an unofficial time of 33:38, ahead of Astana\'s time of 33:51. '),(7225,159,'2007-05-12 18:01:19','Well, that\'s a wrap folks.','Thanks for joining us today and we\'ll be back tomorrow with Live Coverage from stage 2.'),(7226,160,'2007-05-13 14:25:46','Good day and welcome...','... to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the second stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia.
This is a spectacular day with a 205km race from Tempio Pausania to Bosa. The course opens with a mostly flat push west along the wind-swept dunes between Castelsardo and \r\nPorto Torres before dipping south toward the walled city of Alghero. The hilly second half of the route sees the Giro\'s first rated climb with the Cat. 2 Villanova Monteleone climb at 156.8km, though there \r\nare several unrated hills in the final 50km that could split the bunch before arriving into Bosa along Sardinia\'s spectacular west coast. '),(7227,160,'2007-05-13 14:26:32','Michael Barry','T-Mobile\'s Michael Barry didn\'t start today, but we don\'t have any information as to why. We\'ll try to get word as soon as possible.'),(7228,160,'2007-05-13 14:31:33','Early action','The attacks began from the gun today, with several early efforts quickly countered as the peloton did the usual calculus, guaging the threat posed by various combinations of escapees.
Finally, by kilometer 9 or 10, we saw a small group of five slip off the front and now, at km 80, the escape group has about 5:40 on the main field.
The men in the escape are:\r\n
Hi,\r\nThat\'s got to be tough. We wish him - and the rest of the family - a speedy recovery.\r\n'),(7233,160,'2007-05-13 15:06:04','Photos below','Take a gander and check out some of Andrew Hood\'s pictures of today\'s route. It\'s a beautiful place.'),(7234,160,'2007-05-13 15:08:21','At 120km','The five leaders\' advantage has dipped below five minutes. They are now 4:50 up on the main field. The leash will get yanked back over the next 80 or 90k, so we may well see a field sprint today.'),(7235,160,'2007-05-13 15:10:55','The sprinters','If it does come down to a field sprint, we may see a well-contested charge to the line. Petacchi is here, McEwen is here... and J.J. Haedo may hope to impress at his first Giro.
Yeah, I didn\'t start. I have been sick for a couple of days and last night I had a fever all night-it was hard enough getting out of bed so racing was out of question. Dede and Liam are sick as well so I guess it is some kind of virus.
Cheers
Michael
Speaking of Petacchi, we\'ve had a lot of questions about his plans for July this year. Well, he says \"I have a lot of motivation to race the Tour this year. I have won in Milan and I have won in Madrid, but I have yet to win on the Champs Elysees. I will also fight for the green jersey in the Tour. This is my main goal for the 2007 season. I hope to come out of the Giro stronger than when I started and enter the Tour closer to the Petacchi that the world has become accostomed to seeing.\"\r\n'),(7236,160,'2007-05-13 15:12:41','McEwen','says he loves riding at the Giro:
\"I\'d rather be here than at some race like the Four Days of Dunkirk or Cataluyna. It\'s a good race, even though this year there are only a few real stages good for the sprinters,\" McEwen told VeloNews.com\'s Andrew Hood. \"I missed almost a month of racing because I crashed in Milan-San Remo and hurt my back. I am feeling better now. I would be happy with one victory here.\" '),(7237,160,'2007-05-13 15:14:10','Haedo?','J Haedo is another rider who will be looking to spar in the sprints. The Argentine ace has already won five races in his European debut. \"I won\'t have a big train like Petacchi or some of the others, but the team will watch out for me without spending too much energy. I have Michael Blaudzun who will guide me in the final kilometers, then I can do the sprint on my own. I am looking forward to sprinting here, but I also need to be patient. This is my first big tour. I am not intimidated. Everyone is beatable.\"'),(7238,160,'2007-05-13 15:15:53','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Drop us a line.\r\nIt\'s a moderately inactive stage, right now, so we\'ll try to address some\r\nof the questions you have.'),(7239,160,'2007-05-13 15:20:17','If Petacchi wins today...','It will mark a return to form after his disastrous crash early in last year\'s Giro that left his kneecap shattered. \"I want to return to be at the level the world is used to seeing from me. I now realize I made a mistake last year by trying to force my comeback and I paid for it. I am feeling stronger now than I was at Milan-San Remo. I think we can expect to win a stage at this Giro.\" '),(7240,160,'2007-05-13 15:23:00','The crowds are','quite large as the five-man breakaway rolls through Alghero, a beautiful fortified city along the western coast. We have a photo of town below.
The city was a Spanish enclave during the four centuries the kings of Aragon controlled Sardinia from the 15th to 18th centuries. Some residents still speak Catalan.'),(7241,160,'2007-05-13 15:27:09','Another withdrawl','Gerolsteiner\'s Volker Ordowski has pulled out. Meanwhile, the gap has dropped to 4:20 as the leaders work their way on to the climb.'),(7242,160,'2007-05-13 15:30:05','Looking ahead to the finish','If the day ends in a sprint, reigning world champion Paolo Bettini will also be in the mix for the sprints. \"Il Grillo\" is hoping to bounce into at least one stage win and plans on racing the entire Giro - he\'s won two points jerseys at the Giro - but still hasn\'t decided about the Tour de France.'),(7243,160,'2007-05-13 15:39:00','As the peloton works its way','up the day\'s big climb, the Liquigas team is in command at the front and setting a good tempo for the man in the maglia rosa, Enrico Gasparotto.'),(7244,160,'2007-05-13 15:42:43','The gap','The escapees - Simone Masciarelli (Acqua e Sapone), Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff), Frédéric Bessy (Cofidis), Arnaud Labbe (Bouygues Télécom) and Mauro Facci (Quick Step) - are now just 3:45 ahead of the peloton.
We see Dave Zabriskie hanging off back of peloton - dumping water over his head, as the peloton heads up the first major climb of the 2007 Giro.'),(7245,160,'2007-05-13 15:46:47','As the leaders','approach the top of the climb, the gap has shrunk to 3:20.'),(7246,160,'2007-05-13 15:56:19','Bettini','was off the back for a bit, visiting his team car, but he\'s back in the field. He\'s looking good, by the way.
Up front the group has lost Arnaud Labbe (Bouygues Télécom). We need to correct our comment that the leaders are near the top. They still have a bit to go and the gap is now down to 3:08.\r\n'),(7247,160,'2007-05-13 15:56:50','Arnaud Labbe','is trailing the four leaders by about 30 seconds.'),(7248,160,'2007-05-13 16:00:11','Di Luca','While Danilo Di Luca isn\'t in the maglia rosa he is clearly in the role of a protected rider, as the entire Liquigas team is setting tempo for him.'),(7249,160,'2007-05-13 16:08:30','The men up front','Are finally nearing the GPM (KOM) spot on the route. These fellas look wasted, but Tinkoff\'s Brutt has enough energy to launch a sprint for the points (and Euros) that accompany the honor of taking the climb.'),(7250,160,'2007-05-13 16:09:23','Brutt','Will have the climber\'s jersey today.
Labbe, meanwhile, is coming across about 30 seconds back.'),(7251,160,'2007-05-13 16:10:55','The peloton','Is coming up on the KOM. We should get a good time gap here.'),(7252,160,'2007-05-13 16:11:40','2:40','With Liquigas leading the way, the peloton crests the KOM at 2:40.'),(7253,160,'2007-05-13 16:16:00','With about 45km remaining','the leaders\' advantage continues to drop. The are now 2:35 ahead of the main field. Take a look at the profile above. As you can see, it\'s not an easy road, even though the remaining climbs are unrated. Still, we\'d have to put our money on a field sprint.'),(7254,160,'2007-05-13 16:18:00','Crash!','Matt White (Discovery) and T-Mobile\'s Adam Hansen were among several involved in a crash... it seems everyone is up and running at this point, though.'),(7255,160,'2007-05-13 16:26:05','Time gaps','The lead group is now down to three riders, with Labbe and Simone Masciarelli (Acqua e Sapone) trailing Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff), Frédéric Bessy (Cofidis) and Mauro Facci (Quick Step). The time gaps, though, are not huge, with Masciarelli trailing by about 35 seconds, Labbe another 30 back and the peloton closing in... about 2:15 behind the leaders.\r\n'),(7256,160,'2007-05-13 16:26:30','Popo?','Yaroslav Popovych is \"feeling a little banged up, but he\'s okay,\" said Disco team spokesman PJ Rabice.
Popovych has some minor scrapes on his elbow and a banged up back following his spill in the final km or so in Saturday\'s TT '),(7257,160,'2007-05-13 16:28:19','2:13','The three leaders are but 2:13 aheadof the main field, with Masciarelli and Labbe in no-man\'s land.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile\'s Hansen has caught back on to the field after his crash. White, we believe, is back, too.
37km to go.'),(7258,160,'2007-05-13 16:32:15','A reader question:','Reader Chris F. asks about the Intergiro competition. We were confused by the thing when we first encountered the concept, but it\'s actually pretty simple. There is an arbitrary mark on route each day. They essentially treat it like a finish line and take times and \"finishing\" order at that mark every day. Then they calculate a separate GC for that and award the InterGiro leader\'s jersey based on that intermediate GC.'),(7259,160,'2007-05-13 16:34:33','Astana','Astana team manager Marc Biver just told VeloNews he was \"surprised how well we rode in the TTT. We knew Paolo was strong, but the young Kazakh riders are good and so is Mazzoleni. We were expecting to be in the top five. What\'s most important is the time differences. We are in a good position compared to some of the others. Paolo has no pressure here at the Giro, either from us or from himself. He says he\'s feeling strong and maybe he can finish on the podium in Milan.\"
Biver also confirmed that Mazzoleni and Savoldelli will both be riding the Tour de France to help team captains Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Klöden. '),(7260,160,'2007-05-13 16:38:31','The three leaders','are now just 2:00 ahead of the peloton, with 30km remaining.'),(7261,160,'2007-05-13 16:40:55','Tougher than you think','The final climbs is harder than it looks on paper - there\'s at least 2km at 6% about 7km from finish ... sure to bust up the peloton '),(7262,160,'2007-05-13 16:42:40','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Drop us a line.\r\nIt\'s a moderately inactive stage, right now, so we\'ll try to address some\r\nof the questions you have.'),(7263,160,'2007-05-13 16:44:54','The gap is shrinking','the three leaders are now just 1:30 ahead of the field. We may see the team cars being pulled here soon.'),(7264,160,'2007-05-13 16:47:24','Another crash','Quite a number of riders have crashed with about 23km to go. Euskaltel\'s Aketza Pena is stuck waiting for a bike. '),(7265,160,'2007-05-13 16:47:53','The three leaders','are just 1:10 ahead of the peloton.'),(7266,160,'2007-05-13 16:48:54','The gap is now','so small that the team cars are being pulled from the gap, with 20km to go.'),(7269,160,'2007-05-13 16:53:54','Brutt has','20 seconds on the two chasers and the peloton is another 40 seconds back. He\'s riding quite nicely... especially considering that he\'s been out there for 180km today.'),(7268,160,'2007-05-13 16:50:56','Ahead','it looks like it\'s going to be a touchy and technical final five kilometers into town.
Meanwhile, Brutt takes off his own as the peloton has narrowed the gap to less than a minute.'),(7270,160,'2007-05-13 16:57:10','Time gaps','The two chasers are 10 seconds behind Brutt and the peloton is another 38 seconds back, with 15km remaining.'),(7271,160,'2007-05-13 16:59:07','In case you\'re wondering','the big sprinters - like Petacchi, Hushovd, McEwen and Haedo - are still in the field and the gap is coming down. Be sure to enter your picks for the day.'),(7272,160,'2007-05-13 17:00:16','With 14km','to go, Predictor-Lotto is driving at the front of the peloton. Brutt is holding his own, but the sprinters\' teams are ready to pounce.'),(7273,160,'2007-05-13 17:05:03','The peloton','is sweeping through Bosa before heading up that final short climb. Brutt is hanging on, but the pace is picking up. Almost on cue, Sella attacks on the little climb. '),(7274,160,'2007-05-13 17:06:01','Sella scoots','on the climb, the only real opportunity for a climber like him to score a win today.'),(7275,160,'2007-05-13 17:08:10','Sella catches','Brutt, but there are some real powerhouse riders behind. Pablo Lastras just bolted out. Lastras powers right past the two leaders.'),(7276,160,'2007-05-13 17:09:00','With 7km to go','The Quick Step squad of Bettini is putting on a big effort.'),(7277,160,'2007-05-13 17:09:22','Lastras','is flying down the descent'),(7278,160,'2007-05-13 17:10:36','The peloton','has pulled in everyone but Lastras... he has about 10 seconds, but this is a very technical stretch.'),(7279,160,'2007-05-13 17:10:59','He\'s caught.','We\'ll see a field sprint, as we have 5km to go.'),(7280,160,'2007-05-13 17:11:57','Liquigas','is moving to the front, not only to protect Gasparratto, but to help set-up Di Luca'),(7281,160,'2007-05-13 17:13:16','There\'s been a big split','in the field, but we see the sprinters of note are in the front group. Petacchi is working his way through the field. He\'s not in a great position, but he\'s got 4km to go.'),(7282,160,'2007-05-13 17:13:59','Milram','is up front, now. Petacchi has done his job... and lookie there... Robbie McEwen has glued himself to the Italian\'s wheel.\r\n'),(7283,160,'2007-05-13 17:14:57','Milram is','driving hard at the front of the field with 2km to go. It\'s a very technical approach and hard to set up a train.'),(7284,160,'2007-05-13 17:15:34','The charge','as things sort themselves out... 1km to go. Petacchi still has a few riders... '),(7285,160,'2007-05-13 17:15:49','McEwen and Bettini','have latched on....'),(7286,160,'2007-05-13 17:16:23','Into the final corner','Milram gets Petacchi through the final turn...'),(7287,160,'2007-05-13 17:16:00','...but','Bettini and McEwen are there, too! Bettini? No... it\'s McEwen, Bettini and then Petacchi. Robbie \"the Rocket\" McEwen scores a win.'),(7288,160,'2007-05-13 17:18:01','Our attention','was glued to the front of the field, but there were several riders caught up in a crash in the final kilometer.'),(7289,160,'2007-05-13 17:32:32','It looks like Di Luca','managed to score the leader\'s jersey today. Maybe he made certain that his teammate stayed a few seconds behind at the finish.'),(7290,160,'2007-05-13 17:34:10','Chris Hoy','It looks like Chris Hoy missed setting the world Kilo record again today. He got a lot closer though, riding a 58.880-second kilometer, narrowly missing the record, which remains 58.875.'),(7291,160,'2007-05-13 17:42:47','Congratulations','to Ryotaro Kinno for being randomly selected from today\'s correct entries. Send us your address and we\'ll send your prize.'),(7292,161,'2007-05-14 13:43:25','Good day and welcome...','... to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the third stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia.
Today\'s stage features a 181 kilometer ride from Barumini to Cagliari, the final day of the Giro\'s time on the island of Sardinia. Take a look at today\'s profile and you may agree that this looks like a perfect day for the sprinters. Aside from the the opening climb (unrated), it\'s a fairly flat shot to the finish.'),(7293,161,'2007-05-14 13:50:52','Today\'s contest','So, if you agree that this one will end in a field sprint, you might want to have a look at John Wilcockson\'s take on the \"the biggest sprinting talents in the field.\"
Then send us your best guess as to who might win today\'s stage and we\'ll randomly chose a single winner from among\r\nthe correct choices submitted. Send your pick to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand, if you\'re selected, we\'ll send you a copy of our Coors Classic DVD.'),(7294,161,'2007-05-14 13:52:54','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','As things get rolling today, it may be a bit on the slow side, so if you\'re keeping track of things and have a question, a comment, a gripe, go ahead and drop us a line. We\'ll try to answer some of the questions directly or right here in the live update.'),(7295,161,'2007-05-14 14:01:00','On the road','Things got rolling at 1:00 p.m. today. We saw an early attack form between kilometer 4 and 6. Right now, we have a group of five riders off the front. At 40km the escapees have already have and advantage of around 5:00.
The men in the break are:
Meanwhile the other big story we\'ll be covering today is the opening of the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing. We\'ll have VeloNews.com\'s Jason Sumner in Malibu for that one. He\'ll be there along with attorney Antonio Gallegos, who will be providing some insight as to the intricacies of the arbitration procedure.'),(7298,161,'2007-05-14 14:23:36','Photos','We just posted some pictures from today\'s start. Just scroll down below.'),(7299,161,'2007-05-14 14:25:00','Out on the flats','the opening hump has taken no casualties and, aside from a small unrated climb at Castladas at km 117, it\'s a flat ride to the finish. We\'re still predicting a field sprint, but we\'ve been surprised before.'),(7301,161,'2007-05-14 15:07:42','Di Luca','We\'ve had several questions regarding the change in the maglia rosa yesterday. As Wes asks, \"If Gasparotto and Di Luca finished with the same time yesterday, why does Di Luca wear the pink jersey?\"\r\n\r\nGasparotto was actually delayed by the crash in the final 1300 meters. While he was credited with the same finishing time as Di Luca - because of the 3km rule - they remained tied for time on GC and the tie-breaker is then calculated by finishing order. Gasparotto finished first on Saturday and 43rd on Sunday. Di Luca, meanwhile, came in second on Saturday and 12th on Sunday, hence the change.'),(7302,161,'2007-05-14 15:10:17','George Hincapie','We caught up with Hincapie before the start of the stage. He said his 10th place in Sunday\'s stage doesn\'t represent a rebirth of his sprinting ways. \"It was more just being at the front and staying out of trouble. That finish was crazy yesterday, with the climb, the fast descent and then two hard turns in the final kilometer. I figured it would be dangerous, so I was just at the front to stay out of it trouble.\"
He called that one right.'),(7303,161,'2007-05-14 15:12:18','Zabriskie','As we reported yesterday, Dave Zabriskie was hanging off the back of the field dousing himself with water. This morning, he said he\'s \"feeling good, but we\'ll just take it day by day for the GC. I am climbing better than ever, but I won\'t know how I can do until later in the race. I know I can finish three-week stage races, but I have no pressure.\" '),(7304,161,'2007-05-14 15:13:27','The leaders are','nearing the feedzone at 93km and are holding a lead that we believe remains in the range of 7:00. '),(7305,161,'2007-05-14 15:14:47','Thor','Credit Agricole\'s Thor Hushovd said he was suffering early in Sunday\'s stage and knew he wouldn\'t be a factor in the final. \"I haven\'t raced a lot recently because I\'ve been sick and I\'ve missed some racing. I knew on the first climb I wasn\'t going to be there for the final. I don\'t expect much from today either because I need to work back into the race. There are others who are faster than me right now.\" '),(7306,161,'2007-05-14 15:16:20','Latest time check','from race radio, gives the leaders an advantage of 6:25. It looks as though the peloton will be monitoring this one closely. We doubt we\'ll see any surprise victory by an escape group.'),(7307,161,'2007-05-14 15:21:53','Contest reminder','You might want to have a look at John Wilcockson\'s take on the \"the biggest sprinting talents in the field.\"
Then send us your best guess as to who might win today\'s stage and we\'ll randomly chose a single winner from among\r\nthe correct choices submitted. Send your pick to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand, if you\'re selected, we\'ll send you a copy of our Coors Classic DVD.
Since we\'re picking from among the correct entries, there is no advantage in getting your pick in early, but you can\'t enter after the 10km-to-go mark, so don\'t forget that rule.'),(7308,161,'2007-05-14 15:22:23','Edged at the line...','...Paolo Bettini said he was disappointed he couldn\'t finish off the sprint Sunday. \"It was a good chance for me because some of the big sprinters were missing. McEwen was too strong, but maybe I waited too long to start my sprint.\" '),(7309,161,'2007-05-14 15:24:00','At 100km','The peloton is cruising along with Lampre and Rabobank setting tempo at the front. Ahead, our five leaders are holding a 6:15 advantage.
As a reminder, the escapees are:\r\n
At the start this morning, VeloNews\'s Andrew Hood spoke with Saunier Duval\'s Iban Mayo, who said he\'s here to help team captain Gilberto Simoni: \"The Giro is always a fight between the Italians. We will all work for Gilberto because he\'s proven he can win here. I\'m a little short of form, but I hope by the final week in the hard stages I can be near my best.\" '),(7312,161,'2007-05-14 15:48:32','Big crowds','at the finish today. The current \"crisis\" in cycling doesn\'t seem to have taken the wind from the fans\' sails. The roads along the route, however, only have a few fans, which is due in no small part to the largely rural nature of the island of Sardinia. It looks like a terrific place to live, by the way. '),(7313,161,'2007-05-14 16:05:41','Liquigas','Is still sharing the work load with Rabobank and Lampre at the front of the field. We haven\'t had a time check for a while, but will get one posted as soon as we hear.'),(7314,161,'2007-05-14 16:06:51','The lead group','has come apart.'),(7315,161,'2007-05-14 16:09:00','The times have really come down','We have two members of the break - Visconti and Ignatiev - who have moved ahead of the other three. They have about a minute while the peloton is moving up quickly.'),(7316,161,'2007-05-14 16:12:00','The two leaders','are at km 124 and are about 1:00 ahead of Buffaz and Aggiano. The peloton is 5:38 behind the two men in the lead.'),(7317,161,'2007-05-14 16:20:00','Visconti and Ignatiev','have crossed through the Garibaldi sprint. Time gaps are coming down, but it\'s still around 5:15 to the two leaders, with the other three men of the original break being pulled back by the field.'),(7318,161,'2007-05-14 16:22:45','The peloton','cross through the Garibaldi sprint at 5:17, which is a good time check.'),(7319,161,'2007-05-14 16:24:00','Visconti and Ignatiev','Are working well together. It\'s interesting to see just how quickly the other three gave up the ghost and just waited for the peloton to catch them. It\'s a good move, since they can cruise to the finish, sitting comfortably in the main field.'),(7320,161,'2007-05-14 16:28:46','With less than 40km to go','We have to expect the peloton will be ramping it up and cutting into the two leaders\' advantage. At this point, the gap is down to 5:00.'),(7321,161,'2007-05-14 16:34:36','It\'s a beautiful day','although quite warm, with temperatures in the upper 80s (F). The crowds are really swelling at the finish and it\'s pretty clear that most are looking forward to a field sprint into town. If we\'re going to see one, the peloton is really going to have to ramp it up soon.'),(7322,161,'2007-05-14 16:37:00','Visconti and Ignatiev','have just passed through the 35km to go mark. We\'ll get a good time check. Our latest gives them 4:38.'),(7323,161,'2007-05-14 16:39:22','Liquigas','has peeled off the front of the peloton, leaving the work to the sprinters\' teams, like Milram and Predictor-Lotto.'),(7324,161,'2007-05-14 16:41:37','The peloton','hits the 35km to go mark at 4:27. Hey, these guys might be able to pull this one off.'),(7325,161,'2007-05-14 16:47:19','With 30km to go','Ignatiev and Visconti are cooperating. The had been attacking one another, but they may understand that they really do stand a chance here. We\'ll get a time check when the peloton hits 30km. At that point we\'ll have a better idea of the two leaders\' chances. Ignatiev is a former under-23 world TT champion, and those talents may come in handy.'),(7326,161,'2007-05-14 16:50:26','At 30km','The peloton comes through at 3:39, so it\'s going to be tight.'),(7327,161,'2007-05-14 16:52:13','Our two leaders','Have just passed under the 25km-to-go-banner.'),(7328,161,'2007-05-14 16:54:21','Milram, Lotto','and Liquigas, again. The gap is coming down, too. The main field hits the 25km to go mark at 3:08. '),(7329,161,'2007-05-14 16:57:59','The two leaders','have 20km to go. To their disadvantage is that the remaining stretch to the finish covers some wide and flat roads, meaning that the peloton has an advantage over two, relatively tired, guys off the front.'),(7330,161,'2007-05-14 16:59:38','The peloton','hits the 20km to go mark at 2:44.'),(7331,161,'2007-05-14 17:03:12','The peloton','has really picked up the pace. The only question now is whether the effort began a little too late. Up front, it\'s Milram, Predictor-Lotto and Liquigas. Liquigas\'s motivation is largely to protect the jersey... so all they need is to make sure the gap is much more than a minute.'),(7332,161,'2007-05-14 17:04:53','15km to go','The two leaders are 15km from the finish and the latest time check gives them a 2:00 lead.'),(7333,161,'2007-05-14 17:07:04','The peloton','has cut the lead to 1:44, pulling back a full minute over the last five kilometers. More teams are moving up to lend a hand, including J.J. Haedo\'s CSC squad.'),(7336,161,'2007-05-14 17:10:53','Up front','The two leaders are working well together and holding a lead of 1:18 at 10km'),(7335,161,'2007-05-14 17:08:16','Time gap','is down to 1:22'),(7337,161,'2007-05-14 17:12:14','The peloton','comes through the 10km to go mark at 1:05.'),(7338,161,'2007-05-14 17:13:20','Oh this is going to be tight','The two men up front are within sight of the peloton.'),(7339,161,'2007-05-14 17:14:05','Time gap','is now 58 seconds with 8km to go for the two leaders.'),(7340,161,'2007-05-14 17:14:42','The peloton','smells blood. We\'re not putting any money on these two hanging on.'),(7341,161,'2007-05-14 17:15:48','53 seconds','at 7km to go. Di Luca\'s hold on the jersey is safe for now.'),(7342,161,'2007-05-14 17:16:36','With 6km to go','The two leaders are 42 seconds ahead of the field.'),(7343,161,'2007-05-14 17:17:33','With 5km to go','Ignatiev looks spent... but he\'s still trying to put in an effort. 34 seconds.'),(7344,161,'2007-05-14 17:19:03','Jockeying for position','the only hope these two have is if the big teams start worrying more about each other than the escapees. We see a lot of the teams trying to work their way into proper position as they head into the final few kilometers.'),(7345,161,'2007-05-14 17:19:29','Ignatiev','surrenders.... he\'s caught. '),(7346,161,'2007-05-14 17:20:32','It\'s over','We have three km to go and we\'re seeing a counter attack from Quick Step\'s Tosatto.'),(7347,161,'2007-05-14 17:20:57','Tosatto','has three or four seconds.'),(7348,161,'2007-05-14 17:21:16','With 2.5km to go','Tosatto is caught.'),(7349,161,'2007-05-14 17:22:21','CSC is moving up','It looks like CSC is hoping for a Haedo win today. He was dropped on the climb yesterday, so we\'ll see him in the mix today.'),(7350,161,'2007-05-14 17:22:43','One kilometer to go','CHHHHARRRRGE!'),(7351,161,'2007-05-14 17:23:23','Milram leads into the final kilometer','And wow.... Roche goes off the front.'),(7352,161,'2007-05-14 17:23:39','A crash','There has been a crash in the field'),(7353,161,'2007-05-14 17:23:55','Petacchi launches!',''),(7354,161,'2007-05-14 17:24:03','Petacchi!',''),(7355,161,'2007-05-14 17:25:10','Petacchi gets his win','Back at the crash, it was Thor Hushovd who crashed, just as his teammate Nicholas Roche charged off the front.\r\n'),(7356,161,'2007-05-14 17:27:02','Petacchi had to work for that one','Wow... He\'s an emotional wreck. Petacchi is now unable to speak to reporters. He\'s leaning over his bars and crying with joy.'),(7358,161,'2007-05-14 17:28:37','Finally able to speak','Petacchi characterizes this as the most important career. He\'s dedicating the win to those teammates who stood by him after that awful crash in - of all things - stage 3 of last year\'s Giro.'),(7359,161,'2007-05-14 17:31:00','Stage Results','1. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Milram
2. Robert Forster (A), Gerolsteiner
3. Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg), Panaria\r\n
Danilo Di Luca will hand his leader\'s jersey back to Gasparrato.'),(7360,162,'2007-05-16 13:31:57','Good day and welcome...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fourth stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a 153-kilometer race from from Salerno to a mountain-top finish at Montevergine di Mercogliano.
Today\'s stage is highlighted by a Category 3 climb at Picco St. Angelo (at 51km) and a difficult 17 kilometer climb to the finish at 153km. No, we can be pretty sure that this will not be a day that features sprinters like Robbie McEwen, Thor Hushovd or the resurgent Alessandro Petacchi.
You will have to look through the list of overall contenders if you want to predict who might finish on top of the heap today.'),(7361,162,'2007-05-16 13:37:00','Today\'s contest','Once you\'ve looked through the list of contenders or picked your favorite from the overall standings, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
'),(7362,162,'2007-05-16 13:38:26','Underway','the peloton is on route and now at the 11km mark.'),(7363,162,'2007-05-16 13:40:11','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop us a line.\r\n\r\n'),(7364,162,'2007-05-16 13:41:06','At 17km','the peloton is intact.'),(7365,162,'2007-05-16 13:47:10','Back to talking about bike','racing. Boy, we got a lot of mail yesterday, complaining about how we had skipped coverage of yesterday\'s stage, in favor of coverage of the Floyd Landis at Pepperdine Law School in Malibu, California.Don\'t worry folks. Yesterday was a long, long transfer. There was no stage. Our crew was making the transition from Sardinia to the mainland. Meanwhile, we do have Jason Sumner covering the Landis hearing, but our priority has been and will be making certain that you know what\'s happening in Italy, too.'),(7366,162,'2007-05-16 13:53:44','Liquigas','Is setting tempo at the front of the field. We\'ve still not had any reports of attacks, but our race radio reception is spotty at this point.'),(7367,162,'2007-05-16 14:03:41','The mood','Lyle in Doha, Qatar, writes in to ask what the mood is on the side of the road among fans, with two big doping cases - involving the winners of last year\'s Giro and Tour - now underway.
What is the mood at the roadside? Are the fans holding up \"Free Basso!\" signs or are they holding up \"Just say no to EPO!\" signs?Or are they like me. Just happy to have some bike racing to distract me from all that other stuff…\r\nYou know Lyle, the mood is about the same as we\'ve seen at past Giri and Tours. We\'ll see a sign now and then, or a comment painted on the road, but for the most part, people are out to enjoy the racing. We found that to be the case, even during the 1998 Tour, which almost came apart at the seams from the Festina scandal. At some point, it seems, people just let their love of the sport shine through... '),(7368,162,'2007-05-16 14:06:56','At 26km','The peloton is still together and the pace is quite moderate today, as riders get back into the rhythm of a grand tour. A lot of riders actually dislike \"rest days,\" especially those which involve a long transfer. It may take a bit before we see big attacks.
We expect something might develop on the Cat. 3 Picco S. Angelo, which starts in about 15km.'),(7369,162,'2007-05-16 14:12:43','With 120km remaining','in today\'s stage, the peloton is still is riding as one.'),(7370,162,'2007-05-16 14:19:10','Zzzzzz','The \"tempo\" for the first hour today was a maudlin 29.3kph. Even we could maintain that pace!'),(7371,162,'2007-05-16 14:30:07','No need for speed','The reason behind the pace today is that many riders expressed concern about the narrow roads - with big, big drop-offs - over the early part of the stage.
\"None of us are willing to risk our lives or careers on a stage like this,\" said Alessandro Petacchi, who should know dicey roads in Giro stages.'),(7372,162,'2007-05-16 14:34:00','And there we go','We have a three man break, now at km 38. The escapees include Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff), who holds the climber\'s jersey. He wants the points on today\'s Cat.3 climb.'),(7373,162,'2007-05-16 14:42:00','The men in the break:','Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, who is 92nd on GC at 2:38
Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 85th at 2:17and
Pavel Brutt (Rus), Tinkoff, 31st at 1:04
The three have worked quickly to build a gap and on the climb up to the summit, they have a 3:00 lead.\r\n\r\n'),(7374,162,'2007-05-16 14:46:52','Brutt','looks set to snag KOM points atop the climb to Picco St. Angelo (at 51km).'),(7375,162,'2007-05-16 14:55:00','Up and over','Brutt did, indeed, get the KOM points atop the climb at Picco St. Angelo. He crossed ahead of Irizar and Krivstov'),(7380,162,'2007-05-16 15:23:31','Our three escapees','are cooperating and doing their best to build up that lead as they head to the day\'s final climb. We\'ll get a time check here soon.'),(7376,162,'2007-05-16 14:56:00','Questions? Comments? Gripes? - and a contest reminder.','Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop us a line.
Once you\'ve looked through the list of contenders or picked your favorite from the overall standings, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
'),(7377,162,'2007-05-16 14:59:26','The peloton','crests the climb 4:40 behind the three leaders.'),(7378,162,'2007-05-16 15:05:00','Fast descent','The leaders are zooming down the back side of Picco St. Angelo and holding an advantage of around 5:00.'),(7379,162,'2007-05-16 15:14:00','Already in Sorrento','the pace has seriously picked up since the roads have improved.'),(7381,162,'2007-05-16 15:29:45','Saunier Duval','and Liquigas are setting tempo at the front. Today\'s finale\' may favor a talent like Danilo DiLuca, but Simoni is an aggressive rider and may do well on the long climb. Di Luca has won here before... as has Lampre\'s Damiano Cunego.'),(7382,162,'2007-05-16 15:30:46','Time gap','at 81km the leaders are 4:32 ahead of the peloton.'),(7383,162,'2007-05-16 15:31:38','Predictions?','Emanuele Sella (Panaria-Navigare) said he expects a fairly big group to arrive at the finish: \"It could be a good finish for Di Luca or Cunego. I can imagine that a pretty big group will arrive together, maybe 8-10 riders. Don\'t forget Garzelli.\" '),(7384,162,'2007-05-16 15:33:21','One rider','who says he\'s not expecting too much today is Paolo Bettini (QuickStep-Innergetic). He said it cold be a little too steep for him today: \"If I can stay with the climbers, I will try to win the stage. Maybe it\'s too hard for me. It depends on the pace.\" '),(7385,162,'2007-05-16 15:35:24','With 70km','remaining for our three leaders, they enjoy an advantage of 4:33.'),(7386,162,'2007-05-16 15:37:07','A crash','in the main field. We see a Gerolsteiner rider - Tim Klinger? - hit the tarmac on the way down a small descent.'),(7387,162,'2007-05-16 15:38:02','It was Klinger','He\'s up and riding... and there is another minor crash in the field. It\'s starting to rain and that may be a contributing factor.'),(7388,162,'2007-05-16 15:39:14','And another crash','Wow... three crashes within a kilometer. These are all slow-speed crashes - which tend to hurt more than the fast ones.'),(7389,162,'2007-05-16 15:41:47','Regrouping','The peloton has slowed as the the crash victims are given an opportunity to catch back on. The roads are slick and in pretty poor condition. We imagine that Petacchi is feeling a bit nervous here, since it was a rainy day on crappy roads that caused him to crash and break his patella last year in the Giro.'),(7390,162,'2007-05-16 15:42:37','Other concerns, too','The AIGCP has sent out a letter of protest, saying RCS should \"pay more attention when planning\" lengthy transfers. Apparently there were some logistical issues bringing the Giro from Sardinia.'),(7391,162,'2007-05-16 15:43:44','Di Luca','said he is not sure how today\'s stage will shake out.\"We\'ll see how it goes today. It\'s hard to gauge how the legs will respond in the first mountain climb of any big tour. I\'m expecting a rather large group to the finish.\" Di Luca won at Montevergine in 2001. '),(7392,162,'2007-05-16 15:44:45','Another crash!','It looks like half the peloton is down.'),(7393,162,'2007-05-16 15:45:59','Very slick','and it looks like a lot of people are having a tough time getting up. Lordy, that was one of the biggest crashes we\'ve ever seen.'),(7394,162,'2007-05-16 15:47:01','Wow','Both the world champion and the maglia rosa hit the deck in this one.\r\n\r\nThe boys in the break, meanwhile, have clear sailing.'),(7395,162,'2007-05-16 15:49:16','Bettini and','Gasparrato are on their bikes. The Liquigas and Quick Step teams are helping their riders back, but man that was a mess. From the looks of it, it may have been Gasparatto who was the first to go down.'),(7396,162,'2007-05-16 15:52:35','The gap','after all of those crashes, the gap to the leaders has grown to 5:53.'),(7397,162,'2007-05-16 15:54:37','Quick Step','is working like crazy to bring Bettini back up to the peloton. The whole team is back there and they\'re chasing like crazy, hoping to pull their team leader back into contention.'),(7398,162,'2007-05-16 15:59:40','Interesting','A lot of you seem to think that the crashes were decisive enough to change the dynamic of the stage today. We\'ve suddenly had a surge in contest entries for Pavel Brutt and others in the break. The gap is up to 6:00.'),(7399,162,'2007-05-16 16:00:52','Bettini doesn\'t','look too happy. He\'s favoring his wrist and getting checked by his team car.'),(7400,162,'2007-05-16 16:06:00','Gasparotto at the doctor\'s car','the crash has really messed things up today. Bettini, too, is still off the back and he\'s not looking too good.'),(7401,162,'2007-05-16 16:07:15','The gap is now at','6:24... with 45km to go for the three leaders.'),(7402,162,'2007-05-16 16:09:00','Bettini','is looking bad. He may not be able to continue. He\'s conferring with the team car... some of his teammates are heading back to the peloton without him.'),(7403,162,'2007-05-16 16:14:33','Bettini','is at the medical car. He seems also to be having problems with his ribs.'),(7404,162,'2007-05-16 16:19:28','He\'s going back','Bettini and several other crash victims are now back in the peloton.
He\'s tough, but we can\'t imagine that he\'ll be mixing it up today.'),(7405,162,'2007-05-16 16:20:32','The gap','is coming down a bit. The leaders are now 4:50 ahead of the field, with 40km to go. The last 17km is the climb, mind you.'),(7406,162,'2007-05-16 16:21:27','The peloton','is still being led by Saunier Duval. Simoni has to be considered a favorite for a win today.'),(7407,162,'2007-05-16 16:22:33','Contest reminder','Once you\'ve looked through the list of contenders or picked your favorite from the overall standings, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop us a line.'),(7408,162,'2007-05-16 16:23:57','In case you\'re wondering','Petacchi managed to avoid the carnage today. So did George Hincapie, who broke his wrist in a relatively slow-speed crash at the Tour of California.'),(7409,162,'2007-05-16 16:25:33','The sun','is back out. That was a passing rain storm, but it did damage. We may still get rain at the finish. It\'s cloudy, for sure.'),(7410,162,'2007-05-16 16:28:06','The escapees are at km 118','so with 35km to go, they are on up an unrated climb before a quick dip to the base of the final climb.'),(7411,162,'2007-05-16 16:30:28','Di Luca','who also seemed to avoid the wreck today, is at his team car, talking tactics.'),(7412,162,'2007-05-16 16:33:00','holy hematoma, Batman','The video is now showing Joan Horrach (Caisse d\'Epargne) at the doctor\'s car. He has a massive baseball-sized bruise on his upper thigh'),(7413,162,'2007-05-16 16:36:27','The escapees','Are 32kmn from the finish, and the gap is now 3:55'),(7414,162,'2007-05-16 16:39:35','With 30km to go','We should get a good time check. Back in the field, the peloton is being led by Saunier Duval'),(7415,162,'2007-05-16 16:43:00','The gap at 30km','is down to 3:26. CSC is now lending a hand, as well as Garzelli\'s Aqua e Sapone team.'),(7416,162,'2007-05-16 16:45:08','The leaders','Are now 25km from the finish and they will be starting in on the official part of the climb here in a few kilometers.'),(7417,162,'2007-05-16 16:46:50','Hey, there\'s a familiar face','Dave Zabriskie is working at the front of the peloton.'),(7419,162,'2007-05-16 16:48:33','at 25km to go','the peloton is 3:08 behind the leaders.'),(7420,162,'2007-05-16 16:54:36','Another crash','Wow... no major damage, but we see Klinger down again as, well as Axel Merckx (T-Mobile). Benoit Joachim went down, Merckx throws his bike down in disgust. Nicholas Roche also crashed. Meanwhile, the leaders are moving toward the climb. With 20km to go, they have a lead of 2:49.'),(7421,162,'2007-05-16 16:55:51','Savoldelli','is moving up in the peloton. He and the Astana team are finally showing their collective faces at the front of the field.'),(7422,162,'2007-05-16 16:58:31','On the climb','The three men off the front are on the climb... it\'s a long haul and a 2:00-something lead may not be enough to hold off an aggressive group. The climb is steady, with tough sections, but it averages only about 5.6% '),(7423,162,'2007-05-16 17:01:13','Acqua e Sapone','is now at the front of the main field driving hard. Sure they\'re a continental team but they do have Garzelli - a former Giro winner - in their ranks.
The three leaders are 15km from the finish and Brutt attacks out of the lead group. The gap, however, is just over 2:00 back.'),(7424,162,'2007-05-16 17:04:58','Nice','We see Bettini moving up in the peloton. One rider who won\'t be winning today is Rasmussen. He\'s already been spit off the back of the peloton.'),(7425,162,'2007-05-16 17:05:40','Brutt','Is off on his own... it doesn\'t look like he has enough of a gap, though. '),(7426,162,'2007-05-16 17:08:52','Gasparotto is struggling','He\'s well off the pace and his run in pink is going to an end. Meanwhile, his teammates are driving the pace at the front of the peloton. Di Luca wants this one... but he has a lot of dangerous company, including Cunego, Garzelli, Savoldelli... and a very tenacious Paolo Bettini.'),(7427,162,'2007-05-16 17:10:51','11.5km','to the finish. The Liquigas team is driving hard at the front. '),(7428,162,'2007-05-16 17:11:27','The three escapees','are back together as a group, with 10km to go. The gap is down to 1:30.'),(7429,162,'2007-05-16 17:12:54','55 seconds','The trio up front are now less than a minute back. Liquigas is driving at the front of the field... a peloton now trimmed down to about 60 riders.'),(7430,162,'2007-05-16 17:15:42',' Perez Cuapio','Hey, there\'s a great climber scampering out of the main group. Ahead, Brutt and Krivstov have dropped Irizar Aranburu.'),(7431,162,'2007-05-16 17:17:08','Perez Cuapio','is chasing, but this isn\'t the sort of steep, painful haul that favors his talents, is it? Steve Zampieri (Cofidis) is chasing out of bunch. '),(7432,162,'2007-05-16 17:19:31','Perez Cuapio','has caught and passed Brutt and Krivstov. Now Zampieri... and now Dario Cioni (Predictor Lotto) is chasing. That has now pulled a bunch of talent out of the main field.'),(7433,162,'2007-05-16 17:19:59','Sella','is there with about half dozen ... as Cuapio is alone off front with 5.6km to go '),(7434,162,'2007-05-16 17:22:04','The peloton','is driving hard and the the chase is on.'),(7435,162,'2007-05-16 17:23:18',' Perez Cuapio','has 22 seconds on the main bunc, with Piepoli and Sella at the front of the peloton. All the major players still there'),(7436,162,'2007-05-16 17:25:11','With 4.5km to go','Cuapio is being chased by a big group of 50...'),(7437,162,'2007-05-16 17:26:25','14 seconds','He\'s likely to be caught with about 4km to go. It\'s going to be wild when he is caught, that\'s for sure.'),(7438,162,'2007-05-16 17:27:11','Bettini','is suffering, and he\'s not likely to contest. It\'s remarkable, though, that he\'s fought as hard as he did.'),(7439,162,'2007-05-16 17:30:15','Cuapio holding on','Nibali is now leading the way for Liquigas, dressed in white for best young rider. With 2km to go the gap is 15 seconds.'),(7440,162,'2007-05-16 17:31:31','With 1.5km to go','Caupio is still leading. Nibali is still leading the charge.'),(7441,162,'2007-05-16 17:32:02','With less than a kilometer','Caupio is going to make it... NO, he\'s not!'),(7442,162,'2007-05-16 17:32:31','He\'s caught','It\'s going to be a bunch sprint at the top of a Cat 1 climb.'),(7443,162,'2007-05-16 17:33:00','Zabriskie','and Schleck are there for CSC. Di Luca for Liquigas, Ricco for Saunier Duval... and Di Luca wins! '),(7444,162,'2007-05-16 17:33:47','Savoldelli','comes across 43 seconds back. Di Luca has made his mark on this stage, for sure.'),(7445,162,'2007-05-16 17:34:08','Di Luca has the jersey back','and the stage win.'),(7446,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(7447,163,'2007-05-17 13:27:34','Good day and welcome...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the fifth stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a 173-kilometer ride from Teano to Frascati. The undulating stage pushes north along the interior toward Rome and hits a Category 3 climb with 18km to go.
It\'s going to be a closer, but the sprinters are likely to try to bring this one down to a mass gallop, because they\'ll soon be running out of chances.
If he\'s recovered, this might be a good stage for a rider with the talents of a Paolo Bettini. \r\n\r\n'),(7448,163,'2007-05-17 13:32:47','The peloton','rolled out of Teano at around 1:05 today and the first 20 or so minutes have been ridden at a moderate pace.
There were 190 riders in the field at the start. Joan Horrach (Caisse d\'Epargne) didn\'t start today. As we noted yesterday, he had an ugly, ugly injury to his right thigh, a result of that massive, slow-speed pile-up that took out about half of the peloton.'),(7449,163,'2007-05-17 13:39:45','An attack','by two riders, including another foray by Tinkoff. Russian Mikhail Ignatiev has joined up with Mickael Buffaz (Cofidis). They now have about 1:20 on the main field. Tinkoff has sent a rider off the front in every road stage so far in this Giro. It\'s a Russian/Italian continental team, with higher aspirations. The team did have a GC hope in Tyler Hamilton, but the American was left off of the roster because of a persistent allegation that he was among those implicated in Operacion Puerto.'),(7450,163,'2007-05-17 13:44:00','Today\'s contest','Once you\'ve picked your favorite from the overall standings, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
'),(7451,163,'2007-05-17 13:54:31','The two escapees','have an advantage of 2:30 and it looks like they\'re allowed to scoot away... for a while at least.'),(7452,163,'2007-05-17 13:56:07','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Drop us a line. We\'ll try to answer as many questions as we can, either directly or through our update window.'),(7453,163,'2007-05-17 14:06:56','At 40km','The two leaders are now 5:20 up the road. The Liquigas team is doing tempo duty at the front of the field, although neither man in the break poses much of a threat on GC. Ignatiev is 114th overall, 11:06 out of first and Buffaz is sitting in 145th place at 17:35.We have to assume that the Liquigas team is simply monitoring the gap and the real work will come from the sprinters\' teams over the last half of the stage.'),(7454,163,'2007-05-17 14:16:33','The pace','is considerably higher than that of yesterday\'s opening hour (29kph). The two escapees covered 45.13km in the first hour today. The peloton is now about 5:30 behind. We may see the leash hitting its limit here, soon.'),(7455,163,'2007-05-17 14:21:18','Sproing','The gap is coming down, just a bit. It\'s now 5:14. The gap may well hold at that. Having two riders off the front is good for everyone. The teams in the break get the attention - which Tinkoff clearly wants - and having a break up the road keeps things mellow in the peloton. The bummer these days is that race radios make it a scientific and predictable excercise. It\'s a rare break that ever gets that out-of-sight-out-of-mind benefit anymore.'),(7462,163,'2007-05-17 15:11:56','At km 85','the gap is holding at around 4:10.\r\n'),(7463,163,'2007-05-17 15:22:50','Our leaders','seem likely to make it to the day\'s sprint point at 97km or the feedzone at 110, but the sprinters\' teams will likely want to reel them in before the Cat. 3 climb that summits at 157km.'),(7464,163,'2007-05-17 15:24:08','The gap is','holding at 4:15 as the riders hit the 90km mark.'),(7465,163,'2007-05-17 15:32:20','The peloton','hits the sprint mark at 97km, exactly 4:00 behind the two escapees.'),(7466,163,'2007-05-17 15:34:00','One possible outcome:','Watch for Thor Hushovd to win today if it comes down to a sprint. Today is Norway\'s National Day (celebrating its independence from Denmark) and Big Thor was spotted wearing socks with the Norwegian flag. Hushovd said he\'s feeling better despite crashing hard in Monday\'s finale into Cagliare. '),(7457,163,'2007-05-17 14:35:15','The gap','With the two leaders at 65km, the gap was at 5:08... and holding.'),(7458,163,'2007-05-17 14:46:52','The gap','is coming down... by quite a bit, too. The leaders are 4:00 ahead of the main field at the 68km mark.'),(7459,163,'2007-05-17 14:51:10','The last time','the Giro finished in Frascati was 1998, when the stage - which featured a finish similar today\'s route - was won by Mario Cipollini'),(7460,163,'2007-05-17 14:58:28','An interesting question','from our friend Lyle, in Doha, Qtar. He asks who holds the record for the longest run in the maglia rosa in a single Giro. Most recently, that honor belongs to Gianni Bugno, who led the 1990 Giro d\'Italia from start to finish, winning three stages along the way. The great Eddy Merckx did the same thing in 1973.'),(7461,163,'2007-05-17 15:04:53','Another interesting question','Dana writes to ask:
Hi!\r\nWe agree, Dana, that it seems counter-intuitive, but unless you hit something - like traffic barriers or other riders - in a high-speed crash, you tend to slide when you hit the tarmac. Slow-speed crashes tend to result in more blunt force injuries - like Horrach\'s thigh injury - and a lot of broken bones. Of course, when you slide, you get that lovely road rash.'),(7467,163,'2007-05-17 15:35:00','Dave Z','Dave Zabriskie said he was satisfied with how Tuesday\'s summit finish went: \"It wasn\'t that fast until the final 2km, then it was just suffering to stay on the wheel. We did okay. Andy (Schleck) was fourth and I was 10th. I felt good on the climb, so that\'s a good sign.\"
You mentioned yesterday that often the crashes that happen at lower speeds can sometimes hurt more than higher speed crashes. (Your words: These are all slow-speed crashes - which tend to hurt more than the fast ones.) Why is that?
Zabriskie also said he just missed crashing in the massive pileup midway through Wednesday\'s stage: \"I\'ve never seen anything like that. Riders were falling like dominos and the entire road was blocked. I was skidding to try to avoid plowing into them. I felt like I was riding my Snowbike, the way my back wheel was fishtailing. It took me two minutes to pick through all the bikes.\" '),(7468,163,'2007-05-17 15:40:26','More on Horrach','Joan Horrach didn\'t start for Caisse d\'Epargne after doctors treated the baseball-size hematoma on right thigh: \"Doctors opened up the hematoma to clear out the blood. It was already coagulating and could have been dangerous. They had to open it up again this morning to clear more fluid. It\'s too bad because he was in good shape.\" '),(7469,163,'2007-05-17 15:42:00','Today\'s weather','It\'s overcast today and the course is heading into a slight head/crosswind. It\'s warm and almost kind of muggy. Here at the finish there are huge crowds and the whole town looks to be dressed in pink.'),(7470,163,'2007-05-17 15:43:05','Bettini','looks to be riding comfortably today. He was banged up yesterday, but it looks like there was no lasting damage.'),(7471,163,'2007-05-17 15:43:58','Lotto and Milram','are now sharing the work at the front of the peloton.'),(7472,163,'2007-05-17 15:47:07','As the two escapees','approach the feedzone, our latest time check gives them an advantage of 3:36'),(7473,163,'2007-05-17 15:48:14','With Milram and Predictor','sharing duties, the gap is coming down quickly. At 111km, the two leaders are 3:25 ahead of the peloton.'),(7474,163,'2007-05-17 15:54:19','Contest reminder','Once you\'ve picked your favorite from the overall standings, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
\r\n\r\nComments? Questions? Complaints? Drop us a line. We\'ll try to answer as many questions as we can, either directly or through our update window.'),(7475,163,'2007-05-17 16:04:11','With 60km to go','the two leaders are on the small unrated climb after the feedzone. Ignatiev has ridden ahead of Buffaz. Is that a smart move? Not with the peloton now just 3:00 back. '),(7476,163,'2007-05-17 16:07:47','Ignatiev','hits the top of that climb with 30 seconds on Buffaz.'),(7477,163,'2007-05-17 16:14:01','with 50km to go','Ignatiev is ticking along on his own. He\'s about 40 seconds ahead of Buffaz, but the peloton - led by Milram, Predictor-Lotto and Liquigas - is coming up fast. The gap is 2:45. Anyone willing to bet the rent on this guy\'s chances?'),(7478,163,'2007-05-17 16:26:00','At the 40km mark','Ignatiev is holding a lead of 2:38. Buffaz, meanwhile, gave up the ghost and he\'s back in the field. So we have the former world U23 time trial champion heading down the road on his own... but for how long?'),(7479,163,'2007-05-17 16:33:00','With 35km to go','for the peloton, the gap is down to 1:42. Milram and Predictor are still setting tempo at the front of the field.'),(7480,163,'2007-05-17 16:38:56','tick, tick, tick','Ignatiev is at the 30km mark and the peloton is only about 1:15 back.'),(7481,163,'2007-05-17 16:41:09','Less than 1:00','Ignatiev has less than a minute on the field.'),(7482,163,'2007-05-17 16:48:19','So, the odds are','pretty good that Ignatiev isn\'t going to be today\'s stage winner. The peloton, under the guidance of the Milram and Predictor teams, is just 35 seconds behind, with 25km to go.'),(7483,163,'2007-05-17 16:53:51','They can see him','and he can probably see the inevitable.'),(7484,163,'2007-05-17 16:56:08','Caught','As T-Mobile\'s Frantisek Rabon scampers past the Russian, with 20km to go. The terrain is tipping up, as it courses up the day\'s sole climb - a Category 3 - which tops out in four kilometers.'),(7485,163,'2007-05-17 16:59:15',' Rabon has company','He\'s the whole peloton. They\'re all together, but there are riders taking digs now and then.'),(7486,163,'2007-05-17 17:00:44','Another attack from Tinkoff',' Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez has charged out of the field. He has Emmanuel Sella (Panaria) for company as the two work their way through the final kilometer of the climb.'),(7487,163,'2007-05-17 17:03:00','Voeckler has joined','just as the peloton moves up fast, so Sella springs ahead... but he\'s caught by T-Mobile\'s Bernucci. Sella hangs on to take the points.'),(7488,163,'2007-05-17 17:05:05','With 15km to go','Bernucci and Sella have about 15 seconds on the peloton.'),(7489,163,'2007-05-17 17:10:22','Swept up and','now we see Matt White (Discovery) off the front with Salvatore Commesso (Tinkoff) and one other rider we\'ve yet to ID'),(7490,163,'2007-05-17 17:10:38','They\'re caught',''),(7491,163,'2007-05-17 17:10:48','Looking ahead to the finish','The final 5km are rather complicated, with a \'S\' turn at just before 4km to go. There\'s another sharp right turn at just under 3km to go that could disrupt Milram\'s train. Two more sweeping turns in kilometer two before a potentially tricky finish that features a tight chicane and a gently rising finish into the hilltop town at Frascati.'),(7492,163,'2007-05-17 17:12:02','10km to go','Milram and Lotto have eased off, and now Acqua e Sapone are moving up to the front. It really could be a good day for Garzelli. He\'s a good sprinter, a solid climber and an excellent bike handler.'),(7493,163,'2007-05-17 17:15:37','Fast','The pace is really high as the peloton comes into the final 6km.'),(7494,163,'2007-05-17 17:16:16','With 5km to go','Milram is moving back up to the front and setting up the finish train.'),(7495,163,'2007-05-17 17:16:50','We see Haedo','moving up, with 4km to go.'),(7496,163,'2007-05-17 17:18:16','Another Tinkoff attack','Feisty fellers, ain\'t they? Elio Aggiano goes for it.'),(7497,163,'2007-05-17 17:19:10','Aggiano','Has his head buried. He\'s making a big bid for the win.'),(7498,163,'2007-05-17 17:20:05','Milram is driving hard','but Elio Aggiano is holding them off.'),(7499,163,'2007-05-17 17:20:29','1km to go','Aggiano ... is still out there.'),(7500,163,'2007-05-17 17:20:50','Caught',''),(7501,163,'2007-05-17 17:21:31','Milram gives a big lead-out','and...Forster! Gerolsteiner\'s Robert Forster.'),(7502,163,'2007-05-17 17:23:48','Very technical','finish and both Petacchi and McEwen were boxed in and unable to go for it today. That\'s not to denigrate Forster\'s work. He rode beautifully through those last turns.\r\n'),(7503,163,'2007-05-17 17:26:00','Corrected Stage Results','1. Robert Forster (G), GerolsteinerThere is no change in GC that we can see. Danilo Di Luca keeps the maglia rosa.'),(7504,164,'2007-05-18 13:52:03','Good day and welcome...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the sixth stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a tough, tough 177-kilometer ride from Tivoli to Spoleto. Today\'s stage follows a route that includes three ranked climbs, starting with a Category 1 ascent of the Monte Terminillo, which summits at the 94-kilometer mark. Then comes the Cat. 3 Forca Capistrello, which peaks out at 131km and the day closes off with the Cat. 2 Forca di Cerro. At that point, though, there will still be 17 kilometers of - mostly downhill racing - to the finish into Spoleto. So maybe, just maybe, there will be a few tenacious sprinters able to fight back for the finish.\r\n'),(7505,164,'2007-05-18 13:56:42','Today\'s stage','the peloton rolled out of Tivoli today at 12:30, with 188 riders heading out on to the road. Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole) did not start today. He crashed in Thursday\'s stage and was too beat up to remain in the Giro.
It\'s very breezy today, kicking up all kinds of dust and pollen. Any riders with allergies are going to be suffering. High clouds building up on the climbs, could see a spot of rain later.
We saw a few early forays off the front, including one group of 11 that included Paolo Bettini, but they were reeled back into the main field. Right now - at kilometer 60, we have Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez of the Tinkoff team (who else?) off the front.'),(7506,164,'2007-05-18 13:57:02','The jersey','Race leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) said he expects a breakaway to make it to the finish today. That seems to indicate \"The Killer\" would be content to let the jersey slip away to a non-threatening rider for a few days. '),(7507,164,'2007-05-18 13:58:30','Serrano','He never got too far off the front. Thus far, no breakaways have made it to the arrival to fight for the spoils. Tinkoff has been the most aggressive team in the bunch, putting riders into breakaways in four of the four days that have seen escape attempts. '),(7508,164,'2007-05-18 14:02:52','Another attack','We have of four riders trying to get off the front of the peloton. We need to ID these fellas.'),(7509,164,'2007-05-18 14:08:26','Our escapees','
As you see, none of the men in the group is an immediate threat on GC. The highest ranked in the group is T-Mobile\'s Pinotti, who sits in 44th place at 3:11.'),(7511,164,'2007-05-18 14:10:45','The escapees','Have just 50 seconds on the peloton at the 67km sprint mark. The big climb up Monte Terminillo is ahead.
As you see, none of the men in the group is an immediate threat on GC. The highest ranked in the group is T-Mobile\'s Pinotti, who sits in 44th place at 3:11.'),(7512,164,'2007-05-18 14:11:30','Rivalry?','The Italians are also trying to build up a Simoni-Ricco rivalry, a la Cunego-Simoni at Lampre a few years ago. Ricco shrugged off suggestions that there\'s a rift: \"This is my first Giro and Gilberto is our team leader. He\'s like a teacher to me. I\'m learning a lot from him. Maybe I can try to win a stage but we will ride for Gilberto in the final week.\" '),(7513,164,'2007-05-18 14:11:44','Di Luca','Di Luca also said: \"I am in better shape than I was in 2005. I am thinner and stronger and more confident as well. I owe it to my team to win the Giro this year.\" '),(7514,164,'2007-05-18 14:13:33','Today\'s contest','Once you\'ve picked your favorite from the overall standings (there\'s a link above), go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
'),(7515,164,'2007-05-18 14:14:00','Correction','The escape group has actually stayed ahead. We had a communication mix-up. The escapees are now 2:30 ahead of the peloton and working their way up the climb.'),(7516,164,'2007-05-18 14:18:00','Local rider','Panaria\'s Fortunato Baliani hails from nearby Trevi.'),(7517,164,'2007-05-18 14:20:17','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(7518,164,'2007-05-18 14:21:00','Spoleto','Robbie McEwen won the last time the Giro finished in Spoleto in 2004, but that stage came up the valley rather than through today\'s mountainous route. The only other stage finish here was in 1977 when Mario Beccia won.'),(7519,164,'2007-05-18 14:24:23','On the climb','This is a long, long climb. The Category 1 haul to the summit at 94km. The leaders are just about 18km from the top and have an advantage of 4:30 over the peloton. Meaning Mr. Pinotti is now the \"virtual leader\" of the Giro. Let\'s see how long that lasts.'),(7520,164,'2007-05-18 14:28:00','Van Bon','Leon van Bon has pulled out of the race. We\'re down to 187 riders in the Giro.'),(7521,164,'2007-05-18 14:38:44','With 12','kilometers of climbing left, the lead group is holding an advantage of 4:11.'),(7522,164,'2007-05-18 14:41:21','A name we haven\'t seen for a while','Italian racer Filippo Simeoni was back in the news. The 35-year-old rider appeared on Italian television at the end of Thursday\'s stage and talked about his testimony during the doping trial of Italian doctor Michele Ferrari continues to haunt him. \"My testimony cost me a lot in my career. I only did what I had to do. I gave evidence in a trial, but I paid a high price for it. The thing that hurts the most is that I am not able to find a place on a ProTour team.\"At 35, I would like to end my career with dignity.\" '),(7523,164,'2007-05-18 14:52:16','With 9','kilometers to go on the climb, our leaders are now 5:21 ahead of the peloton.'),(7524,164,'2007-05-18 14:52:00','Contest reminder','Once you\'ve picked your favorite from the overall standings (there\'s a link above), go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the Subject Line of your e-mail. We try to read them all, but it helps us make certain we put all of the correct entries into the pool.
'),(7525,164,'2007-05-18 15:02:08','Still climbing','Our leaders are now 5:45 ahead of the peloton. As a reminder, they are:Back in the peloton, Di Luca is wearing a pink long-sleeved jersey - only an Italian could wear pink anything and still look that cool. \r\n'),(7526,164,'2007-05-18 15:04:36','With 2.5km to go','to the summit, the five leaders are working their way through the upper slopes of the climb.
Back in the field... well, off the back of the field, we see Paolo Bettini. He\'s going to have a big job chasing back on, and we may not have him on our list today.'),(7527,164,'2007-05-18 15:07:16','Your picks?','Our guy Andrew Hood has picked Saunier Duval\'s Riccardo Ricco\' and VN.com editor Charles Pelkey is picking Stefano Garzelli of Acqua & Sapone for the stage win today.
We can\'t win the contest, however, so once you\'ve picked your favorite, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries. Be sure to include the name of your pick in the Subject Line of your e-mail. We try to read them all, but it helps us make certain we put all of the correct entries into the pool.
'),(7533,164,'2007-05-18 15:29:00','6:18','The peloton is 6:18 behind our leaders. By the way, folks, we still see snow lining parts of the road here. No, it\'s not fresh snow, but this 1800 meter peak is high enough to still have a bit of the white stuff out there near the top.'),(7529,164,'2007-05-18 15:11:09','The gap to the peloton','is around 6:00 at this point. We\'ll get a better time check at the summit.'),(7530,164,'2007-05-18 15:11:33','Dave Z','It will be interesting to see how Andy Schleck and Dave Zabriskie can hold up today. They\'re both sitting in the top 10 and motivated to try to make a good showing in the GC.Zabriskie told VeloNews he\'s down to a trim 140 pounds and anxious to try to make a a run for an overall placement, but without any pressure to fix a specific target. '),(7531,164,'2007-05-18 15:13:00','YOW!','Daniele Contrini almost went over the side of the road. It would have been a long fall, too.'),(7532,164,'2007-05-18 15:21:28','Correction','We reported that our leaders had crested the summit. We were wrong. There was a small false flat and descent before the crest of this 21km 6.6% climb. NOW they\'re over. We\'ll get a time check when the peloton hits hit.'),(7534,164,'2007-05-18 15:32:36','The leaders are now 75km',' from the finish and facing two more rated climbs. Up next, comes the Cat. 3 Forca Capistrello, which peaks out at 131km and the day closes off with the Cat. 2 Forca di Cerro. At that point, though, there will still be 17 kilometers of - mostly downhill racing - to the finish into Spoleto. Di Luca said yesterday that this stage may provide a big opportunity for an escape group. Will these guys make it?'),(7535,164,'2007-05-18 15:34:11','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','If you have any questions about the Giro, or comments about our coverage Drop us a line. We\'ll try to answer a few of those questions here in the update and even try to answer a few via e-mail, if we get the time.'),(7536,164,'2007-05-18 15:37:10','The peloton','has taken back 30 seconds on the descent. The main group is 5:48 behind our lead group of five.'),(7537,164,'2007-05-18 15:44:10','Di Luca told Italian TV:','\"I don\'t think stage will be for the favorites because the last climb is too far from the finish. The next big stage is the climbing finish in (stage 10).\" '),(7538,164,'2007-05-18 15:44:33','Cunego also told Italian TV:','\"This stage isn\'t going to decide anything among the favorites, but we\'ll be able to see who\'s riding well and who\'s not. I think it will be a good stage for a breakaway.\" '),(7539,164,'2007-05-18 15:46:48','Bettini','if you\'re wondering, he\'s in the main group. The leaders are coming through Leonessa, which looks like a nice place to write a novel ... or at least drink lots of red wine.'),(7540,164,'2007-05-18 15:51:00','At km 120','The leaders have hit the 120km mark and are now working their way up the day\'s second rated climb. The gap has jumped back up to 7:20.'),(7541,164,'2007-05-18 16:00:42','Of the men in the group','the one who appears to be suffering the most is Tinkoff\'s Contrini, but he\'s still with the break as they near the summit of the Cat. 3 climb.
Back in the peloton, the Liquigas team is setting tempo at the front, but DiLuca and crew seems relaxed and probably willing to let the jersey go. The gap is now 7:55.'),(7542,164,'2007-05-18 16:17:00','Up and over','the Cat. 3 Forca Capistrello, the leaders\' advantage looks to be up in the 8:00 range. They have 50km to go and an uninterested Liquigas team setting tempo at the front of the peloton. These guys could make.
Meanwhile, we see George Hincapie floating in middle of pack with his U.S. jersey ... Hincapie says he\'s here at the Giro to \"put in some racing miles\" and maybe go for a stage win if it\'s in the cards. The main goal for the Big Hink is to use the Giro to get ready for the Tour.'),(7543,164,'2007-05-18 16:11:00','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','If you have any questions about the Giro, or comments about our coverage Drop us a line. We have updated the contact address, because we had some issues with the other. We\'ll try to answer a few of those questions here in the update and even try to answer a few via e-mail, if we get the time.'),(7544,164,'2007-05-18 16:15:17','Reader question','We got a note from Frank, who writes
I enjoy following the Giro on VeloNews. Will VeloNews use this same format to cover the Tour de France?Yes Frank, we\'ve gotten used to the tool we\'re using. It gives us a lot of flexibility, including a simple text feed that you can read on your mobile. \r\n'),(7545,164,'2007-05-18 16:16:03','Liquigas','is upping the pace... by a bit. The gap is coming down, but not by much. As the peloton hits the top of the Cat. 3, the gap is now 7:22.'),(7546,164,'2007-05-18 16:19:29','Fat Singers','We got a note from Peter who asks:
Where is the fat lady this year in your updates? Tested positive? Fired? Are you guys getting too politcally correct?Actually, Peter, you might recall that was a Fat Guy, a product of the pen of the ever-politically-incorrect Patrick O\'Grady. He\'ll be back. We promise.\r\n'),(7547,164,'2007-05-18 16:26:25','The peloton','is now 6:40 behind the leaders.'),(7548,164,'2007-05-18 16:28:50','The leaders are','40km from the finish and holding on to a healthy 6:40 gap. They\'ve got a good shot at pulling this thing off.'),(7549,164,'2007-05-18 16:32:47','Aaron Olson','We have a question from reader Paul asking about Aaron Olson at T-Mobile.
what can you tell us about Aaron Olson? new name to me....Well, he was here in Europe racing for the US-U23 program and then got his big break last year when he was signed by Saunier Duval. He raced - and finished - the Giro last year and signed with T-Mobile this year. He told our European correspondent, Andrew Hood, \"My goal this year is like last year, to make it to Milan. Anything else would be a bonus.\"\r\n'),(7550,164,'2007-05-18 16:39:18','Landis/LeMond question','We\'ve had many, many questions about the story from Malibu yesterday. One topic in particular has gnerated a lot of mail. We reported yesterday that Floyd Landis\'s former business manager could be facing felony witness tampering charges after making what could be seen as a threatening phone call to Greg LeMond. Several of you have written to ask if that charge could apply to an arbitration case. According to our consulting attorney Antonio Gallegos, there could be charges:
I did some quick research. The California Penal Code says that it is illegal to attempt to prevent or dissuade a witness from testifying at any trial, proceeding or inquiry authorized by law. The California Civil Procedure Code recognizes the right of parties to submit their disputes to binding arbitration and California courts will enforce judgments and rulings from arbitration proceedings. I have not researched any judicial decisions on this issue, but it seems clear that an arbitration like the Landis hearing, being conducted under the jurisdiction of the American Arbitration Association, is \"authorized by law.\" So the witness-tampering statute likely applies.Well there you go. Anyway back to bike racing. Our leaders are now 30km from the finish. The peloton is at 35km to go. The gap is now at 6:44.'),(7551,164,'2007-05-18 16:46:00','Just a reminder','of who is in the break:
With 25km to go, the gap is still in the 6:40 range.'),(7552,164,'2007-05-18 16:47:29','The gap is going up','by a bit. Our latest time check gives the escapees an advantage of 7:12. The break is almost exactly five kilometers ahead of the peloton.'),(7553,164,'2007-05-18 16:53:00','It\'s becoming clear','that the men in the break will be taking the stage. If Laverde snags the points on top of the climb... he\'ll have moved into the lead on KOM points. It looks like T-Mobile\'s Pinotti will be wearing the Maglia Rosa today. They will only have 16km of mostly downhill to go. '),(7554,164,'2007-05-18 16:59:00','Pinotti','driving at the front with Laverde off the front. They have a gap at the front of the break, with between and 36 seconds on the other men in the break.'),(7555,164,'2007-05-18 17:03:26','With 18 km to go,','the two leaders are closing in on the top of the climb. Laverde will have the KOM jersey, even if he takes second. Pinotti has his eye on another jersey, though. He is now nearly 7:00 ahead of the peloton and will be the overall race leader if he finishes 3:11 up the road.'),(7556,164,'2007-05-18 17:06:08','The two leaders crest the climb','and are 32 seconds ahead of Kern and Schwab. Contrini is blown... and working his way up the climb.'),(7557,164,'2007-05-18 17:06:35','15km to go','for the leading duo of Laverde and Pinotti.'),(7558,164,'2007-05-18 17:08:54','Pinotti','is quite cautious on the downhill. He descends, as our old racing buddies used to say of us \"like a married guy.\" Of course, Laverde crew up in Colombia, so he\'s used to going downhill.'),(7559,164,'2007-05-18 17:10:19','A shout out to a friend','We\'ve received a coule of e-mails from Cees Beers, our buddy the super hi-tech wheel builder. Good to hear you\'re still out there Cees. And, no, we haven\'t seen Andy Hampsten here.'),(7560,164,'2007-05-18 17:11:32','Laverde','has moved ahead of Pinotti and he got that gap on the descent.'),(7561,164,'2007-05-18 17:12:14','Back together','and the two leaders have 10km to go.'),(7562,164,'2007-05-18 17:13:20','The gap','The peloton crested the climb at 7:14. So, this stage is a lock for someone in the break, with the likely winner either Pinotti or Laverde.'),(7563,164,'2007-05-18 17:14:18','Christophe Kern and Hubert Schwab','trail the two leaders by 37 seconds.'),(7564,164,'2007-05-18 17:15:55','Eight kilometers to go','for the two leaders. They are on a relatively flat stretch. There is a bit of an uphill kicker at the end, which may favor Laverde.'),(7565,164,'2007-05-18 17:17:16','With 6.5km to go','The gap between the two leaders and the two chasers is now 38 seconds.'),(7566,164,'2007-05-18 17:19:42','With five kilometers to go','The two leaders have upped their gap to 40 seconds and are charging to the finish. The peloton is still about 7:00 back.'),(7567,164,'2007-05-18 17:20:39','With four kilometers','the two chasers are 41 seconds back and the peloton is kicking it up a bit, having trimmed the gap to 6:33'),(7568,164,'2007-05-18 17:22:37','Correction','that gap is actually still 7:23 back to the peloton.'),(7569,164,'2007-05-18 17:24:08','Hitting the final climb','With one kilometer to go. Laverde is sitting on Pinotti\'s wheel'),(7570,164,'2007-05-18 17:24:28','With 500 meters','Laverde is playing his cards well.'),(7571,164,'2007-05-18 17:27:00','Pinotti nods','to Laverde. The Panaria comes around, but Pinotti isn\'t making a sprint of it. Laverde wins, but Pinotti is very, very likely to get the maglia rosa. Kern and Schwab come through at 1:30'),(7572,164,'2007-05-18 17:29:37','Contrini comes through at','3:46. That elapsed time also means that Pinotti is in the leader\'s jersey.'),(7573,164,'2007-05-18 17:44:40','Congratulations','to Chris Fauske, winner of today\'s \"Pick the winner\" contest.'),(7574,165,'2007-05-19 13:41:42','Good day and welcome...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the longest stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a 254-kilometer ride from Spoleto to Scarperia. The day is punctuated by a single Categoryu 3 climb that crests 55km from the finish, so the odds are good that the sprinters are going to rule the day... unless they let an escape stay away, as was the case in yesterday\'s stage.'),(7575,165,'2007-05-19 13:52:54','Today\'s break','Today\'s escape formed early, at the nine kilometer mark, when Rubens Bertogliati (Saunier Duval) who is 118th on GC at 23:32; Benat Albizuri Aransolo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 113th at, 22:00; Fabien Patanchon (Francaise des Jeux), 121st at 23:41 and, for the sixth day of six mass-start events, the daily requirement of Tinkoff, with Elio Aggiano, who is 183rd at 46:32.
The leaders have been off the front for hours already (yeah, we admit we opted to start a little later than usual today), and have reached the 130km mark. The foursome managed to bump their lead up to 11 minutes. T-Mobile has little reason to put in too big of a chase, since none of these fellas poses too much of a threat, unless they expect to finish at least 22 minutes up on the main field. Instead, Marco Pinotti\'s crew spent the early part of the day setting a moderate tempo at the front of the peloton and just a few kilometers back, the teams of riders like Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) and Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) are putting in an effort and the gap is starting to shrink.\r\n'),(7576,165,'2007-05-19 13:58:56','\"Rubens who?\"','That was a question a lot of asked at the 2002 Tour de France. Some of you might remember Rubens Bertogliati from his short run in \r\nthe maillot jaune that year. He did it winning\r\na strange opening stage in the Tour that year and wresting the jersey from prologue winner Lance Armstrong.'),(7577,165,'2007-05-19 14:03:09','The chase is on','The gap is coming down very quickly. The leaders hit the Garibaldi sprint at the 138km mark with an advantage of 8:30. That\'s down by 3:00 minutes over just the last half-hour of racing.'),(7578,165,'2007-05-19 14:05:30','Today\'s contest','Once you\'ve decided whether this day will see an escape succeed or end in a mass sprint, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
'),(7579,165,'2007-05-19 14:08:00','The leaders','are now at 145km and still have another 40km to go before the start of the Category 3 climb up the Vallco Croce a Mori. It\'s a 13km climb, but rises at a moderate 4.5%. As we said earlier, it tops out a full 55km from the finish, so the odds are good - especially with the sprinters\' teams now giving serious chase - that we\'ll see a sprint today.'),(7580,165,'2007-05-19 14:12:48','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','If you have any questions about the Giro, or comments about our coverage, we\'ll try to answer them here in the Live Update or even personally if time permits. Go ahead and drop us a line. \r\n'),(7581,165,'2007-05-19 14:21:58','The chase','is sort of serious at this point. The gap at 157km is now down to 6:45. Teams like Milram and Predictor are probably inclined to pull the gap down to less than 5:00 by the time the escape reaches the climb. None of these guys is a particularly spectacular climber, so they won\'t be gaining much on the ascent. There is some benefit in keeping the day\'s escape off the front in that it tends to have a calming effect on the rest of the peloton. You generally see very few attacks coming out of the field when there is a break up the road. So, while race radios tend to suck the \"romance\" out of racing, they do make the hunt-and-catch a lot more precise.'),(7582,165,'2007-05-19 14:35:27','At km 165','the gap is down to 5:40. The chase is really quite effective at this point.'),(7583,165,'2007-05-19 14:46:38','With 75km to go','the leaders will be approaching the base of the climb in about 5km. The gap is just around 5:15.'),(7584,165,'2007-05-19 14:51:36','Today\'s finish','The finish is spectacular on the Mugello race track. It should be an amazing final sprint. Already several thousand fans are packed into the grandstands. And even the journalists are happy, in their air-conditioned press room. '),(7585,165,'2007-05-19 14:52:16','Petacchi','As we noted, this is the Giro\'s longest stage and everyone is expecting a sprint, including Alessandro Petacchi: \"We will work to try to make it a sprint and I hope we can get some help from the other teams. There are not many stages for sprints this Giro, so we want to see a sprint today.\" '),(7586,165,'2007-05-19 14:53:54','The weather','is gorgeous today, by the way. It is a wonderful spring Tuscan afternoon, warm sun, high clouds, light breeze - perfect day for a bike race (and some chianti, too). '),(7587,165,'2007-05-19 14:55:00','Nearing the base of the climb','our escapees have that five minute-gap we talked about. The chase is now steady, but not as hard as it was just 30km ago. '),(7588,165,'2007-05-19 15:09:59','On the climb','the leaders are losing their advantage. They\'ve been out there for 180km and the gap is now less than 4:00, with about 10km to go to the summit.'),(7589,165,'2007-05-19 15:13:15','Marco Pinotti','was all smiles at the start this morning and he was mobbed by journalists and fans alike: \"I am enjoying this moment in the maglia rosa. It\'s a dream come true for any cyclist. We hope to defend the jersey, at least for today.\" '),(7590,165,'2007-05-19 15:17:13','','Aaron Olson also expressed his satisfaction for his T-Mobile teammate: \"We rode together last year at Saunier Duval. He\'s a great guy and everyone likes him. We only have six riders left, perhaps the smallest team in the Giro right now. We will do everything we can to defend the jersey. We don\'t know for how long.\" '),(7591,165,'2007-05-19 15:24:00','Quick Step','the team of Paolo Bettini is taking on the bulk of the chase work on the slopes of the day\'s sole climb. The leaders are cresting the climb with only a small gap.'),(7592,165,'2007-05-19 15:26:00','The gap','is down to ... down to... well, down to not much. Aggiano is back in the field, so we\'re only looking at three riders up front.\r\n'),(7593,165,'2007-05-19 15:32:39','The gap','is down to 48 seconds. Quick Step is flying. Is Bettini really recovered?'),(7594,165,'2007-05-19 15:39:04','With 40km','to go, the three leaders are just 15 seconds ahead of the peloton. We\'re still trying to see if the big sprinters - McEwen and Petacchi in particular - are still in the peloton. Dumping those guys may have been Quick Step\'s hope, although withthis much distance remaining, it\'s not going to be too hard for them to catch on again.'),(7595,165,'2007-05-19 15:41:00','Caught','The party\'s over.37km to go.'),(7596,165,'2007-05-19 15:53:25','Petacchi','And other sprinters were off the back over the top, but they\'ve all caught back. Hushovd, just now caught back on. Is the Quick Step strategy going to tire those fellas out?'),(7597,165,'2007-05-19 15:57:16','With 28km to go','The peloton is driving fast, with Quick Step at the front. he entire QuickStep team is driving the group - with Bettini on the wheel. T-Mobile is right behind them. '),(7598,165,'2007-05-19 15:58:13','There is a second group','chasing hard. It looks like JJ Haedo (CSC) is in that group, about 45 seconds. back, with 25km to go.'),(7599,165,'2007-05-19 16:01:23','Wait a sec...','That second group also contains Napolitano and three teammates of Petacchi. The Quick Step strategy is really disrupting things for the big sprinters.'),(7600,165,'2007-05-19 16:04:54','With 20km to go','The Quick Steps are still driving hard at the front. The sprinters\' chase group is making up a little time, but these boys may be spent by the time they hit the race track in Scarperia. This is a big, big gamble for Quick Step, though. The team is putting in a lot of work. With McEwen and Petacchi in the front group, they are riding in the \"cat bird\" seat.'),(7601,165,'2007-05-19 16:05:43','Contact','The Haedo, Hushovd group has rejoined the peloton. It may ease up a bit now, as Quick Step leaves the other teams to do some of the work now.'),(7602,165,'2007-05-19 16:07:26','Contest reminder','Go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries. We\'ll stop accepting entries in about 10km.'),(7603,165,'2007-05-19 16:08:16','These closing kilometers','look flat on the profile, but here are some small hills - undulations if you will. It\'s certainly not flat. '),(7604,165,'2007-05-19 16:08:46','Pinotti looking smooth in pink jersey','Quick Step is still driving at the front. '),(7605,165,'2007-05-19 16:09:44','Dave Z','Has flatted. That\'s not a good spot for that, but he\'s chasing back on after a quick wheel change.'),(7606,165,'2007-05-19 16:11:19','With 15km to go','the peloton is roaring toward the finish. This is gonna be a good one.'),(7607,165,'2007-05-19 16:13:30','Matt White','puts in a dig, but he\'s not getting off too far.'),(7608,165,'2007-05-19 16:17:00','With 10km','to go, the peloton is still flying.'),(7609,165,'2007-05-19 16:15:00','Whitey','is caught. We see Cioni at the front for Predictor-Lotto.'),(7610,165,'2007-05-19 16:17:11','QuickStep still driving the group','the speed is quite high. Lotto is putting a couple of riders in the mix, hoping to keep the pace high enough to keep attacks under control.'),(7611,165,'2007-05-19 16:18:00','Ahead','The peloton will be hitting the Autodromo del Mugello and doing one 5km lap through there. It\'s going to be very fast out there. Moto GP stops here every year on the 500cc circuit. We\'re not sure if these these motors are that big, though.'),(7612,165,'2007-05-19 16:20:10','Before the curcuit','the course rolls through Scarperia with a rising climb then a fast drop onto the track, so watch for attacks. '),(7613,165,'2007-05-19 16:21:26','No more entries','We stop accepting contest entries with 10km to go. At this point, the QuickStep team is driving hard with 7.5km to go.'),(7614,165,'2007-05-19 16:21:54','Milram','is now moving up, massing on the wheels of the Quick Step team.'),(7615,165,'2007-05-19 16:22:00','The pace','is still really high and mostly under the efforts of Quick Step. 65kph!'),(7616,165,'2007-05-19 16:22:56','On the track, so 4.9km to go',''),(7617,165,'2007-05-19 16:23:39','Quick Step','still on the front. The Milram boys seem to be enjoying the ride.'),(7618,165,'2007-05-19 16:25:04','With 4km to go','Quick Step has pulled off most of its riders. Milram is up there. The track is wide open ... no one can complain of a dangerous finish today.'),(7619,165,'2007-05-19 16:26:01','There','are a few hills on this circuit. It\'s no Laguna Seca, but it does pose something of a challenge to riders who\'ve already put in 250km'),(7620,165,'2007-05-19 16:26:36','Milram','is at the front and Bettini is now sitting on Petacchi\'s wheel.'),(7621,165,'2007-05-19 16:27:10','Wide roads','and the peloton is 10 riders wide... and flying.'),(7622,165,'2007-05-19 16:27:32','A slight rise','Tinkoff\'s Comesso attacks on hill! '),(7623,165,'2007-05-19 16:28:07','He\'s getting','a bit of a gap, with FDJeux giving a chase.'),(7624,165,'2007-05-19 16:29:05','Comesso','is holding his gap... it\'s small, but he may have made the move. He has 1km to go.'),(7625,165,'2007-05-19 16:29:42','Now','Comesso caught and Cancellera goes! '),(7626,165,'2007-05-19 16:30:01','He\'s caught','and... Milram winds it up'),(7627,165,'2007-05-19 16:30:28','Petacchi','Bettini on his wheel, and Hushovd... charge!'),(7628,165,'2007-05-19 16:30:37','Petacchi wins!',''),(7629,165,'2007-05-19 16:31:47','Alessandro Petacchi','takes the stage, his second of the Giro.'),(7630,166,'2007-05-20 13:46:20','Good day and welcome...','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 8th stage of the 90th edition of the Giro d\'Italia. Today\'s stage offers a mixed bag over the course of 200 kilometers from Barberino di Mugello to Fiorano Modensee. The opening half of the stage covers some pretty hilly territory, but the pan-flat closing 80km offers the sprinting talent in the peloton a good chance not only to catch up with any early breaks, it leaves ample time to set up for what could be a frantic charge to the finish.
Once you\'ve decided whether this day will see an escape succeed or end in a mass sprint, go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
'),(7631,166,'2007-05-20 13:51:38','The day\'s first','obstacle, the Category 2 Passo della Futa did leave some of the sprinters - Robbie McEwen and Alessandro Petacchi in particular - struggling. They crested more than a minute behind the peloton.By the 35 kilometer mark, we saw a big group form up, among them is most notably Dario Cioni (Predictor Lotto), who began the day in 30th place at 6:34 behind race leader Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile).'),(7632,166,'2007-05-20 13:55:00','At 66km','The lead group of 21 riders is enjoying an advantage of 4:15 on the peloton. We\'re still trying to find out whether Petacchi, McEwen and the rest of the fast-twitch crowd have made it back to the gruppo maglia rosa, but we\'ve not seen where they are yet.'),(7633,166,'2007-05-20 13:59:58','Ahead','The race is now heading back up hill on the way to a the Category 3 Sestola, which crests at the 100km mark. Between here and there, the terrain is moderately hilly, with the formal climb kicking in at 93km and then averaging about 6 percent until the summit. After that, it\'s downhill for quite a haul and then a straight, flat run into the finish. It would take something of a Herculian effort for a break to fend off a hard-charging peloton, but we need to ID the escapees to make a guess as to whether they stand a chance of making it.'),(7634,166,'2007-05-20 14:05:26','At km 75','The gap is right around the five minute mark.'),(7635,166,'2007-05-20 14:20:04','At 80km','the 21 leaders are ticking along, holding on to an advantage that is holding between 4:30 and 5:00.'),(7636,166,'2007-05-20 14:26:00','McEwen','You may want to hold your bets on Robbie the Rocket today. He\'s about 10:00 off the back. We need to confirm where Petacchi is right now, though. Up front, though, there is apparently a rainbow jersey in the front group. Bettini tried getting into a big break two days ago, but it didn\'t get anywhere. He\'s really hoping for a stage win and appears recovered from the bruising he got the other day in the ugly mid-race pile-up.'),(7637,166,'2007-05-20 14:31:17','At 85km','the Cioni/Bettini group is 4:25 ahead of the peloton.'),(7638,166,'2007-05-20 14:34:15','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Drop us a line.'),(7639,166,'2007-05-20 14:42:00','On the climb','the leaders are on the slopes of the Cat. 3 Sestola. The gap is holding at around 4:30. The big question is whether these fellas will have enough of a gap - and enough horsepower - to hold off the main field over the long haul to the finish.'),(7640,166,'2007-05-20 14:51:31','It\'s a combination',' of T-Mobile and Saunier Duval leading the chase out of the peloton. The gap is back in the 5:00 range.'),(7641,166,'2007-05-20 14:52:28','Over the top','The leaders are over the Cat. 3 Sestola.'),(7642,166,'2007-05-20 15:02:10','The peloton','crosses the summit of the Sestola at 6:40. From here on out, it\'s gonna be a drag race to the finish.'),(7643,166,'2007-05-20 15:08:55','McEwen and Petacchi','are in a group that crested the climb about 2:00 behind the gruppo maglia rosa. That\'s a gap they can cover.'),(7644,166,'2007-05-20 15:17:27','With 77km','remaining the Bettini group is 6:45 ahead of the peloton. The McEwen group is within 1:15 of the peloton, so they may catch back. Then we\'re going to see a big race to the finish between the two main groups. 21 riders in the Bettini group may be enough to hold it, too. '),(7645,166,'2007-05-20 15:23:00','The Bettini group','is now 73km from the finish. The gap is at 6:21. At this point, the virtual maglia rosa belongs to Andrea Noe (Liquigas), who is in the escape group and started fifth at 4:47 back.
It\'s very warm again today - some high clouds but sticking hot, into low 90s - great day to get sweaty.'),(7646,166,'2007-05-20 15:26:51','Stars-and-stripes','Another unique jersey in the break is the U.S. champion\'s jersey of George Hincapie (Discovery).'),(7647,166,'2007-05-20 15:29:00','Who\'s out there?','Thanks to Andrew Hood, we have the ID\'s of the men in the break:
Well, he did make it today. We also spied Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff) doing short sprints to warm up his legs ... and you know those (as team owner Oleg Tinkov calls them) \"beautiful young Russian guys\" were going to be in the break. '),(7651,166,'2007-05-20 15:40:29','Tinkoff','The Russian/Italian squad has been in every single break this Giro. Ignatiev and Brutt have already been in two each. It\'s a tenacious team, even without bringing its GC hopes to the race.'),(7649,166,'2007-05-20 15:35:58','Haedo','We asked JJ Haedo (CSC) how Saturday\'s stage went: \"I didn\'t have the legs to make the sprint. I said at the beginning of the Giro that I have to be patient. I am not feeling so bad.\" '),(7650,166,'2007-05-20 15:37:11','With a well-represented break','The chasing duties are falling to T-Mobile for now. They may get help from key teams not in the break, namely Petacchi\'s Milram and Simoni\'s Saunier Duval squad'),(7652,166,'2007-05-20 15:43:08','Leaders','Are at the 145km mark, so they have 55km to go. The gap is holding at 6:36. We may have to start picking favorites out of the break for a choice of stage winner. The T-Mobiles may be content with keeping the gap down to a point that Pinotti holds the jersey.\r\n'),(7653,166,'2007-05-20 15:51:00','At km 152 - 6:15','The leaders are really co-operating. Up front, we have 21 guys working in a very, very nice pace line. With that level of coordination, a break has a HUGE advantage over a peloton, no matter how big it is. You don\'t see that level of cooperation in the peloton. Usually, the work falls to just a few riders on a few key teams, so 21 riders working well together should be able to fend off a peloton led just by one or two teams.
Again, the men in the break are:
In 1949 the great Enzo Ferrari said that America had produced \"only one real sports car.\" Of what vehicle did he speak? Drop us a line.'),(7663,166,'2007-05-20 16:21:38','20km to go',''),(7664,166,'2007-05-20 16:22:38','The gap','is down to 4:50. Still, that\'s a lot to make up over 20km.'),(7665,166,'2007-05-20 16:23:00','Steven Turner wins!','Enzo said the U.S. Army Jeep was - to that point, at least - the only real sports car American had ever produced.'),(7666,166,'2007-05-20 16:25:39','Robbie','the rocket has fizzled for the day. The McEwen group is 23 minutes back - the estimated cut time today will be around 29mins - so they gotta be careful, but they have some wiggle room. '),(7667,166,'2007-05-20 16:29:58','13 kilometers to go','The leaders are still a healthy 4:35 up on the peloton. It looks like the T-Mobiles may preserve the jersey, but there\'s no way that the break will get caught at this point.'),(7668,166,'2007-05-20 16:32:35','T-Mobile','has lowered the gap to the point that Pinotti will probably keep his jersey.'),(7669,166,'2007-05-20 16:33:42','10km to go','The leaders are driving hard and are within 10km of the finish. We\'ll see some jockeying here in a bit, but the group is cooperating still.'),(7670,166,'2007-05-20 16:36:31','With this group','having worked as hard as it has, there are a lot of guys in the group with expectations of winning. Bettini has to be a favorite, but he\'s the sole Quick Step in the group.'),(7671,166,'2007-05-20 16:37:20','The peloton','Hits the 10km mark at 4:01'),(7672,166,'2007-05-20 16:38:11','The men in the break:','
It should go without saying that you are limited to one entry per day.'),(7694,167,'2007-05-21 14:31:00','Maybe they\'re stopping for','espresso and biscotti. The pace is still quite low. While cycling most certainly has it high points, those memorable instances of drama that we speak about for years on end, there are those moments that can best be described as... well, we were once rebuked for using the word \'boring,\' so we\'ll opt for ... uhhhh.... uneventful?
Anyway, long-time Live Update readers will recall that at times like this we resort to the Daily Diversion, which often involves a call for the products of your creativity. We\'re going to go to an old standby today and resort to the Haiku contest.
Haiku? For those who don\'t recall the art form, Wikipedia\r\nhas a nice primer on the old minimalist form of Japanese poetry. Bottom\r\nline for us is that we want poems in the 5-7-5 pattern that have something\r\nto do with current events in the world of competitive cycling. We\'ll post\r\na few of the better ones and let readers vote for your favorites. write\r\nthem and send them folks.
Of course all of that will stop if we get some action on the road.'),(7695,167,'2007-05-21 14:34:20','Best name in the peloton','Tom writes in and asks which name is the \"best\" in the peloton. There have been some great ones, although we were always partial to old Marco Velo, for some reason.'),(7696,167,'2007-05-21 14:38:01','At 42km','The pace continues to be somewhat on the relaxing side.'),(7697,167,'2007-05-21 14:51:00','Voeckler','We got a question about Thomas Voeckler, from a reader wondering about his absence. Yes, Voeckler is out of the Giro. He pulled out in advance of yesterday\'s stage suffering from knee problems caused by injuries he suffered in crashes earlier in the tour.
Big hill to start offPhilip Briere \r\n'),(7698,167,'2007-05-21 14:56:09','At 50km','At 50km, the peloton remains as one with itself.'),(7699,167,'2007-05-21 15:06:17','After two hours of saddle time','The peloton has covered 54km.
Salt bed flat-like finale
Sprinters rule the day
Uh-oh, Pereiro,Scott Sturdivant\r\n'),(7700,167,'2007-05-21 15:10:28','From Oregon','
Now they want *your* DNA!
Wim will win Le Tour.
it\'s six a.m. hereClint Harris
wife and puppy sleeping hard.
\r\nwaiting for action
Aren\'t we all Clint?
Meanwhile the peloton is about 10km from the top of the Passo del Cerrreto. We might guess that KOM leader Laverde will jump out of the field to snag a few more points.\r\n'),(7701,167,'2007-05-21 15:21:21','Lots of friendly','Chitchat in the peloton. It\'s a beautiful day and tactically, it make little sense to put the pedal to the metal as it were, so why not enjoy the day?
puerto rats scrambleBrian Daniels\r\n'),(7702,167,'2007-05-21 15:27:14','Approaching the top of the climb','but the pace is holding steady.
as justice wields her sword
a new day dawns
Today’s stage pickAndrew Rothstein'),(7703,167,'2007-05-21 15:32:41','On the climb','the peloton is still about 2km from the summit.
Rainbow jersey win
Send poster quick
Basso no for GiroGerard White'),(7704,167,'2007-05-21 15:34:00','Laverde','is moving to the front of the peloton. Not many will chase.
Simoni will miss him, not
He rode like E.T.
up, up, over the top!Well, no dots at the Giro, but... we\'ll take it anyway.'),(7705,167,'2007-05-21 15:36:00','An Attack!','Tinkoff\'s Aggiano puts the hammer down. Brutt, too. But Laverde catches both and snags the climbers points.'),(7706,167,'2007-05-21 15:43:37','Points','On top of the climb:
add more dots on his jersey!
go, Laverde, go!
The peloton is over 36 seconds later.
My butt is still soreDr. Chuck Roberts'),(7707,167,'2007-05-21 15:47:12','Look at the profile','We have just under 100km remaining and it\'s down hill for the next 20 or so kilometers and then dead flat to the finish. We have a small group off the front, now. Not the climbers, the went back, but a group that includes Brutt from Tinkoff. Man, those guys just never give up. The gap is a mere 26 seconds, though and the peloton is charging.'),(7708,167,'2007-05-21 15:51:47','The break','now has 40 seconds. Brutt, however, has dropped back with a mechanical. This marks the first time since the Giro began that we have a break that doesn\'t include a Tinkoff rider.'),(7709,167,'2007-05-21 15:55:06','Who is in the break?','
My legs feel like leaden weights
I want to ride more.
Well, just as we wrote that, Crosbie took a turn a little wide and rode off the road. He may be chasing.
Monday morning drag,Jurgen Schroeder '),(7710,167,'2007-05-21 15:55:00','T-Mobile','Is at the front... chasing the group. Crosbie has rejoined.
paperwork beckons, piled high,
my head in Italy
Another attack it, must be TinkoffAnthony Talentino'),(7711,167,'2007-05-21 15:59:05','Latest gap','The four escapees have 45 seconds on the peloton.
\r\nTo bad Hamilton had to get off,
The bike that is
The gap increasesScotteeg (San Diego)'),(7712,167,'2007-05-21 16:00:13','Okay','We have some racing... so save your Haiku for later. Thank you for all of the submissions. We\'ll try to run some more when things ease up... today or in another stage.'),(7713,167,'2007-05-21 16:03:00','Today\'s finish',' The stage finishes just down the road from Petacchi\'s hometown of La Spezia, so you know the Milram train will be on the rails today ... Petacchi didn\'t say much before the start: \"We hope to find some friends to make it a sprint. A victory would be a nice way to arrive in my home region.\"
the distance is a abit great
A \'bridge\' too far now.
Will the sprinters fight this one out? You decide... and once you do go ahead and send\r\nin your best guess as to who will win today\'s stage. We\'ll send\r\nyou a special edition Giro d\'Italia poster, if you\'re e-mail is randomly picked from among the day\'s correct entries.
It should go without saying that you are limited to one entry per day'),(7714,167,'2007-05-21 16:06:06','One guy to consider','Robert Forster said he tried to save his legs in Sunday\'s hard stage: \"It was very difficult yesterday and I wanted to save as much strength as possible, but it was very fast all day. It will be hard to beat Petacchi today because he comes from this place. I will have two riders to help me today (Fothen and Krauss) so maybe I can make my own train.\" '),(7715,167,'2007-05-21 16:07:45','T-Mobile',' Marco Pinotti thanked his team for the hard work in Sunday\'s stage: \"This maglia rosa is really for them. They gave their hearts to keep me in the leader\'s jersey. I know it will be complicated to keep the jersey on Tuesday, but I will fight all the way.\" '),(7716,167,'2007-05-21 16:08:22','The Gap is now at 1:50','The foursome off the front is being given a bit of leeway... but we doubt it will be too much. '),(7717,167,'2007-05-21 16:08:48','T-Mobile\'s','Aaron Olson said he\'s having a hard time in the big climbs, but hoped to be there today to help the team. \"I got dropped on the first climb (Sunday). It was just too fast for me. I never do well having the climbs come so early. I wasn\'t there to help Marco, but it was another great day for the team. I hope to be able to contribute today.\"
Olson also said he\'s feeling better from some of the asthma problems: \"The legs feel great, it\'s just that I cannot breath.\" '),(7718,167,'2007-05-21 16:09:39','Speaking of Sprinters...','Cipo\' is in da haus!! The Lion King has come into the press room at the finish.'),(7719,167,'2007-05-21 16:15:00','With 73km','to go, our lead group of four has an advantange that has bumped up over 2:00. Up in front of the peloton, we see Olson up there with two Milrams.'),(7720,167,'2007-05-21 16:20:27','A touch too much....','...uhhh natural testosterone? Pedro Horrillo and Nicolas Crosbie almost went to blows this morning near the chaos of the signin podium. Crosbie locked handlebars with Horrillo and almost knocked him over. Horrillo was quickly in the Frenchman\'s face and the pair had to be separated to avoid a fight.
Crosbie is obviously using that anger to drive into the breakaway today. '),(7721,167,'2007-05-21 16:25:02','Three minutes','The four men in the lead now have an advantage of thee minutes over the peloton, which is still being driven by a combination of T-Mobile and Milram.'),(7722,167,'2007-05-21 16:29:55','With 65km to go','the gap is now at 2:35.'),(7723,167,'2007-05-21 16:31:34','','Paolo Savoldelli said tomorrow\'s stage will be decisive: \"It\'s a long stage and the climb is hard. Riders are starting to get tired. I think some riders will lose a lot of time. For me, the favorites for the stage are Ricco and Cunego.\" '),(7724,167,'2007-05-21 16:38:23','The boys in the break','have 2:02... and once the road hits the coast, there\'s a fairly brisk cross-headwind that will make it even more complicated for these four renegades to make it to the line. '),(7725,167,'2007-05-21 16:40:34','Crash!','In the peloton... Euskaltel\'s Ivan Velasco hit the deck, hitting some traffic furniture in a roundabout. He\'s up and riding, though.'),(7726,167,'2007-05-21 16:46:03','Dave Zabriskie','told us this morning that he\'s cautiously optimistic about Tuesday\'s stage: \"If I am good I\'d like to be able to finish with the front group. It\'s a long stage and it will be hard. The legs are feeling good. We\'ll see how it goes.\" '),(7727,167,'2007-05-21 16:46:29','JJ',' CSC sport director Alain Gallopin said Argentine sprinter JJ Haedo is suffering on the climbs and doesn\'t expect him to finish the Giro. It looks like Haedo is in the bunch and will be bumping shoulders with Petacchi and Co. today. '),(7728,167,'2007-05-21 16:48:38','The Peloton','Is still being led by a Milran/T-Mobile combo.
Charlie Weglius said Liquigas captain Danilo Di Luca is: \"stronger than ever. When you see your captain riding like that, you give even more. We\'ve already obtained some results (TTT win and pink jersey) so we can ride the Giro with less pressure and just think about trying to win.\" '),(7729,167,'2007-05-21 16:50:08','With 40km to go','the gap is right around 2:00.'),(7730,167,'2007-05-21 17:02:53','The gap is coming down','Our leaders are just 1:48 ahead of the peloton\r\n'),(7731,167,'2007-05-21 17:07:00','Iban Mayo','said he\'s \"tranquilo\" so far in the Giro and patiently waiting for the mountains: \"We will be working for Simoni. I am here to help and get ready for the Tour.\"
One thing\'s certain - Mayo looks a tad overweight and he will need to shed some kilos before he\'s at his fighting weight come July. '),(7732,167,'2007-05-21 17:15:46','With 30km','the gap is 2:14.'),(7733,167,'2007-05-21 17:18:00','Thor Hushovd','also sounded confident: \"I was second the other day and if the stage was another five meters long, I would have won. My legs feel better every day so let\'s see today.\" '),(7734,167,'2007-05-21 17:19:59','The gap is 1:47',''),(7735,167,'2007-05-21 17:22:44','With 25km','to go, the leaders are still about 1:40 ahead of the peloton, but Milram is massing.'),(7736,167,'2007-05-21 17:31:51','The chase','We see two Milrams still leading the chase with five T-Mobile\'s lineup behind and the gap is now less than 1:00'),(7737,167,'2007-05-21 17:33:00','With less than 15km to go','the leaders are very likely to be caught here, quite soon.
Kurt-Asle Arvesen was happy at the start. A small gaggle of Norwegian \'tifosi\' showed up to cheer him on: \"It was nice to win. We have that in the pocket now, so let\'s see how far Andy (Schleck) and Dave (Zabriskie) can go.\" '),(7738,167,'2007-05-21 17:34:59','','Arvesen said he hoped his win would help raise his profile in his native Norway: \"Thor (Hushovd) usually gets most of the attention. That\'s normal because he\'s a sprinter and he wins more often. I\'ve kind of raced in his shadow.\" '),(7739,167,'2007-05-21 17:36:15','Ignatiev and Rovny','have jumped out of the pack. Those are a pair of those \"beautiful young Russian guys\" that have so enamoured Tinkoff patron, Oleg Tinkov '),(7740,167,'2007-05-21 17:37:17','Now the Milrams are moving to the front','the speed is now up to 61kph'),(7741,167,'2007-05-21 17:39:03','The gap is coming down','The two Tinkoffs are still a bit off the front of the group. Rovny is the youngest rider in the peloton. He and his teammate are 20 seconds ahead of the bunch and 30 seconds off of the four escapees.'),(7742,167,'2007-05-21 17:39:47','With 11km','to go. The Tinkoffs are still chasing... and holding off the peloton.'),(7743,167,'2007-05-21 17:40:47','Petacchi','looks relaxed in the main field. He\'s confident that the six riders ahead will be pulled back in time.'),(7744,167,'2007-05-21 17:42:53','The two Russians','have eased off... they are admitting that they won\'t make it up to the break.'),(7745,167,'2007-05-21 17:43:53','With 8km','the gap is shutting down. The two Russians are still up there... but '),(7746,167,'2007-05-21 17:45:42','Lot\'s of movement','in the peloton. The Milrams are in the front, but there are a lot of teams fighting for position. The Russians are in the peloton again and the four-man break is not going to hold the gap.'),(7747,167,'2007-05-21 17:46:00','The catch','there are 6km to go. Hey, we see Garzelli up there. The 2000 Giro winner is a good sprinter in his own right, but is this day for him? We doubt it.'),(7748,167,'2007-05-21 17:47:40','One turn','and then we see a 5k drag to the finish.'),(7749,167,'2007-05-21 17:48:16','Sweeping through the right hander','We see only one Milram for Petacchi '),(7750,167,'2007-05-21 17:48:49','Garzelli','Garzelli in front but riders moving up, we see Cioni '),(7751,167,'2007-05-21 17:49:06','Cioni tries','a dig, but he\'s pulled in.'),(7752,167,'2007-05-21 17:49:40','McEwen','is up there... holy!
There are cars parked on the course and Hushovd almost hit one.'),(7753,167,'2007-05-21 17:50:16','Milram','has three riders up front.... a train and another right next to it. Quick Step is driving hard for Bettini.'),(7754,167,'2007-05-21 17:50:32','We don\'t see','JJ Haedo.'),(7755,167,'2007-05-21 17:51:13','Gerolsteiner','is coming up for Forster. Milram has been \"derailed.\"'),(7756,167,'2007-05-21 17:51:41','Quick Step','is driving at the front. Milram may be holding back until the finish'),(7757,167,'2007-05-21 17:51:57','','Napolitano on Petacchi\'s wheel, with Bettini behind him '),(7758,167,'2007-05-21 17:52:11','One kilometer to go',''),(7759,167,'2007-05-21 17:52:26','Tinkoff','is setting up for Commesso'),(7760,167,'2007-05-21 17:52:37','Huge dash!',''),(7761,167,'2007-05-21 17:52:52','Dean is leading out','for Hushovd.'),(7762,167,'2007-05-21 17:52:59','Petacchi goes',''),(7763,167,'2007-05-21 17:53:40','He has company','McEwen is in there... Napolitano...'),(7764,167,'2007-05-21 17:54:00','It\'s Napalitano...','We think Napalitano takes it in a drag race to the line with McEwen and Petacchi. There was a crash in the field, but we see only one Bouyges rider involved.'),(7765,167,'2007-05-21 17:55:00','Stage results','\r\nNapolitano wins; McEwen second - Petacchi third '),(7766,168,'2007-05-22 13:34:36','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 10th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a grueling 250km, three-climb run from Camaiore to the summit finish at Santuario Nostra Signora della Guardia. \r\n\r\nIt’s the Giro’s second-longest stage with an up-and-down profile that leaves little room for recovery. The summit finish at Nostra Signora – which climbs 8.8km at eight percent – is much harder than what the peloton saw in stage four at Montevergine.\r\n'),(7767,168,'2007-05-22 13:50:24','Today\'s stage','has been underway for nearly 3 hours, with 180 riders leaving the start today, with Alberto Ongarato (Milram) pulling out of the Giro.
As to be expected we\'ve seen several attacks throughout the opening hour.
After a series of attacks, the day\'s first real break formed at 55km, and that group is composed of
At 135km, the leaders are just now working their way up the 16.5km Category 2 Passo del Biscia and have a lead approaching five minutes.\r\n'),(7768,168,'2007-05-22 13:52:51','Abandons','It\'s a tough stage today and several riders have opted to call it a race. Among them sprinters J.J. Haedo (CSC) and Greg Henderson (T-Mobile). Also out of the Giro is Bouygues Telecom\'s Yohann Gene. '),(7769,168,'2007-05-22 13:53:58','McEwen','is having a tough time on today\'s climb. He\'s trailing the main field by several minutes.'),(7770,168,'2007-05-22 13:56:35','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Drop us a line.'),(7771,168,'2007-05-22 14:02:37','Hincapie','Has been aggressive this Giro. He was in the big, big 21-man break with Paolo Bettini on Sunday. Though a long-time Tour de France veteran, this is Hincapie\'s first Giro and he says he\'s enjoying the style of racing. '),(7772,168,'2007-05-22 14:05:54','Pictures','We\'re adding some photos at the bottom of the viewer, so scroll down for a look.'),(7773,168,'2007-05-22 14:11:03','Today\'s weather','It\'s another spectacular day, but it was downright hot-n-stinky at the start already in the morning. It is going to be very hot on way up the final climb.'),(7774,168,'2007-05-22 14:14:46','On the way down','The leaders are working their way down the Passo del Biscia and the peloton crested at 4:48 back. Ahead, we have an unrated climb that summits at 184km, a 4.3km Category 3 climb at Campi at, which crests at 223km and then a small break before the Category 2 climb to the finish. That\'s a nearly 9km climb that averages 8% with some painfully steep ramps along the way.'),(7775,168,'2007-05-22 14:15:00','\'Chicken*\' speaks','Michael Rasmussen said it\'s not a good stage for him: \"It\'s too early in the race and there are too many guys with fresh legs. I will try something later in the Giro. I am feeling better and better.\"
*His old mountain-bike racing nickname. '),(7776,168,'2007-05-22 14:16:44','Today\'s route','is spectacular as it pushes west along the Italian Riviera. The start this morning in the Medieval town of Camaiore drew big crowds. Renowned opera singer Andrea Bocelli was the big star to show up. Ex-U23 world champ Francisco Chicchi, who lives in the region, was also on hand. '),(7777,168,'2007-05-22 14:17:55','CSC\'s take',' CSC sport director Alain Gallopin said he thought today\'s stage would be decisive: \"It\'s a long stage. It\'s hot and the guys are getting tired. The final climb is very steep and I think there will be some big names who won\'t be there. I think this stage is more decisive than the stage to Briancon.\" '),(7778,168,'2007-05-22 14:19:17','Leaving Petacchi country','After rolling out of Camaiore, the course pushed north along the wide open beaches at Marina di Massa - already packed with early holidaymakers.
Then the course rolled through Petacchi\'s hometown at La Spezia where big crowds turned out to cheer on the peloton. '),(7779,168,'2007-05-22 14:20:45','Our latest time check','gives the escapees an advantage of just 4:00. As much as we don\'t want to, we\'d have to put the odds as pretty low for these fellas\' chances of holding off the peloton.'),(7780,168,'2007-05-22 14:21:36','The route','The road also hit the wonderful country around Cinque Terre before turning inland to the rough country near the Passo di Biscia, which the race just passed over.'),(7781,168,'2007-05-22 14:23:56','At km 160','The gap is 3:55.'),(7782,168,'2007-05-22 14:26:13','One climber to watch today','We also caught up with Julio Perez Cuapio ahead of start. The Mexican climber said he\'ll try for a win today.
\"It\'s a steep climb and one that fits my characterstics because the favorites will be watching each other. Maybe I can get away. It almost worked on Montevergine. I want to win a stage.\" '),(7783,168,'2007-05-22 14:33:11','At km 165','The tine gap has bumped up to 4:20.
After the Biscia climb, the route dips back down to the Italian Riv and passes Rapello and Santa Margherita Ligure, just down the road from posh Portofino - home of the rich and discreet in summer. '),(7784,168,'2007-05-22 14:35:13','','There are already several thousand fans packing the summit at Nostra Signora.
Some of the signs by fans were pretty funny. One we especially liked was: \"Shut up Simoni, and push the pedals.\"
Another good one: \"More sport, less drugs = more women\" '),(7785,168,'2007-05-22 14:36:00','The closer','The climb will definitely fracture the leaders. Kilometers 1-3km average 9% with a steep ramp at 12 percent. It \"eases up\" through the fifth kilometer with \"only\" 7.9%.
The final 3km averages 9.1% with the final 200 meters at 14 percent ... so we should see some grinta out there today.'),(7786,168,'2007-05-22 14:39:56','A moment in doping history','And just a reminder for all you history buffs out there: Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary that Spanish police arrested Manolo Saiz, Eufemiano Fuentes and three others in a little scandal called Operacion Puerto. We\'re sure happy the sport has managed to clean up since then.'),(7787,168,'2007-05-22 14:47:14','Where will the jersey end up today?','Race leader Marco Pinotti was all smiles at the start: \"I don\'t know if I will be wearing the pink jersey tomorrow. I am going to give it all today. There are others who are close to me now who can take it away. I had hoped to keep the jersey until the climbing time trial, but that doesn\'t look possible now.\" '),(7788,168,'2007-05-22 14:50:30','The gap is holding at','4:20 as the leaders work their way across the flats to that unrated climb at 190km before the Cat. 3 climb at Campi at 222km.'),(7789,168,'2007-05-22 14:50:49','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Drop us a line.'),(7790,168,'2007-05-22 14:52:49','The leaders','are pushing back down to the Mediterranean Coast. They\'re driving past a string of quaint villages toward Rapallo.
Hincapie wants to make the most of his Giro - he\'s expected to pull out in the coming days for a planned start at the Dauphine Libere. '),(7791,168,'2007-05-22 14:55:21','The men in the break:','
'),(7792,168,'2007-05-22 15:03:43','Hincapie','Big George is looking strong in the breakaway. They might need quite a bit more than four minutes head start to hold off the Italian climbers. The gap is now just 3:54 with Liquigas taking pulls at front. '),(7793,168,'2007-05-22 15:06:23','The gap','The leaders are ripping through some beautiful seaside town - now in Rapallo - bellisimo!, but at km 188 the gap is down to 3:21 '),(7794,168,'2007-05-22 15:13:17','The gap is coming down','Our leaders are 3:10 ahead of the peloton. Di Luca seems primed to recapture the jersey today.'),(7795,168,'2007-05-22 15:14:54','Lampre','and Liquigas are handling the chase duties'),(7796,168,'2007-05-22 15:19:00','The gap','is now down to 3:05, with just around 50km to go. Danilo Di Luca told Italian TV: \"For sure it\'s going to be an important stage today. I don\'t know if the Giro will be decided today. We could see some tired legs.\" '),(7797,168,'2007-05-22 15:23:26','Remarkably','the most common question we\'ve gotten today is about Hincapie\'s head. Yeah, folks, he shaved off his hair just around the time both the temperatures and humidity hit the 90s. Can\'t really blame him, eh?'),(7798,168,'2007-05-22 15:28:19','Beautiful territory','But it\'s hot. Hincapie has been dropping back to his team car for lots of water today.'),(7799,168,'2007-05-22 15:29:00','Riccardo Ricco','told Italian TV: \"The last few kilometers are very hard. Now it\'s time to start our Giro. Simoni is very strong. Everything for Gibo.\"
We\'ll wait and see if Ricco pulls a \"Cunego\" and betrays Simoni later in the race. '),(7800,168,'2007-05-22 15:32:14','The chase','in the peloton is being led by two riders each from T-Mobile and Liquigas with an occasional appearance by the Lampre squad.'),(7801,168,'2007-05-22 15:32:37','The gap is holding at','3:05.'),(7802,168,'2007-05-22 15:38:46','After five hours','of saddle time, the gap is at 3:00 and the leaders are at around 204km'),(7803,168,'2007-05-22 15:40:48','At 207km','the gap is now 2:54.'),(7804,168,'2007-05-22 15:42:47','Tighter than we thought','The peloton hits the 207km mark just 2:30 behind the leaders.'),(7805,168,'2007-05-22 15:45:29','With 40km remaining','We\'ll try to get a fresh time gap.'),(7806,168,'2007-05-22 15:47:00','The peloton','hits the 40km-to-go-mark at 2:36'),(7807,168,'2007-05-22 15:49:46','Rasmussen','By the way, the old mountain-bike racer will be back on fat\r\ntires next summer, at\r\nleast for the Olympics.'),(7808,168,'2007-05-22 15:52:10','The','gap is coming down fast. The leaders are 35km from the finish and the gap is at 2:20.'),(7809,168,'2007-05-22 15:54:37','The peloton','hits the 35km mark 2:06 behind the leaders. There is an interesting celebrity at the finish here. Fausto Coppi Jr. is walking around near the line. Kind of like being the son of Joe DiMaggio '),(7810,168,'2007-05-22 15:57:30','So we have 2.5 Colombians','in the break, with Ardila, Parra and Hincapie, whose parents are from Colombia. His father raced in Colombia back in the day.'),(7811,168,'2007-05-22 15:58:00','The gap','is down to 1:50. Colombians or not, we won\'t see them leading on the final climb. The leaders are just now entering that Category 3 climb, that crests at 222... and so is the peloton.'),(7812,168,'2007-05-22 16:00:01','The leaders','are 30km from the finish. We\'ll get a fresh time check soon.'),(7813,168,'2007-05-22 16:00:47','Sprinters','Among some of the riders getting dropped out of the main bunch is Petacchi.. like he is worried.'),(7814,168,'2007-05-22 16:01:29','Hincapie flats','Bad timing with the gap that small. He\'s lost contact with the group and is chasing as the peloton bears down, just 55 seconds back.'),(7815,168,'2007-05-22 16:04:09','The lead group','has split, with Losada, Parra and Baliarino alone off front. Race leader Pinotti is with the main group - but in the back of pack. '),(7816,168,'2007-05-22 16:08:23','It looks like Hincapie','is fighting his way back to the leaders... and the gap back to the peloton is back up to 1:14. Back in the peloton, Tiralongo is setting pace for Lampre '),(7817,168,'2007-05-22 16:09:13','Up and over','Baliani leads way over Cat. 3 climb with GH in fourth position '),(7818,168,'2007-05-22 16:10:20','The peloton','crests at 1:10... they have swept up Ardila.'),(7819,168,'2007-05-22 16:11:00','The lead group of four','have passed through the 25km to go mark. Hubert Dupont (AG2r) has been pulled in.\r\n'),(7820,168,'2007-05-22 16:12:02','The men in the break:','
'),(7821,168,'2007-05-22 16:14:10','It\'s going to be tough','The leaders are at km 234 ad the gap is just 1:20. The Hincapie group has about five km to go before the final climb... and it\'s gonna be a bear.'),(7822,168,'2007-05-22 16:18:06','The gap','is 1:13, with Lampre driving at the front of the peloton.'),(7823,168,'2007-05-22 16:19:34','DuPont','We were wrong. He hasn\'t been caught. He\'s out there in no-man\'s-land, though.'),(7824,168,'2007-05-22 16:21:02','And there we go','The Hincapie group is coming up on the base of the climb. he peloton has definitely split - we\'re waiting to hear which names are in the second group. Up front, we see five Lampres driving the front - who says Cunego doesn\'t want to win today? The gap is dfown to 54 seconds.'),(7825,168,'2007-05-22 16:22:35','Pinotti','is trailing that main group a bit. He\'s not going to be among the leaders at the top. The Hincapie quartet is now 15km from the finish. The terrain will be tipping upward here in abit.'),(7826,168,'2007-05-22 16:23:15','The peloton hits','15km-to-go 59 seconds behind the leaders.'),(7827,168,'2007-05-22 16:25:15','Puncture','Simoni has flatted. What a bad time to flat - just as the bunch is revving up for the climb \r\n'),(7828,168,'2007-05-22 16:25:44','Chasing','The Saunier Duvals are pulling back to help him weave through the team cars '),(7829,168,'2007-05-22 16:26:22','','There are big crowds lining the route as Hincapie group barrel toward the base of the climb... and the gap is at 1:00.'),(7830,168,'2007-05-22 16:26:42','Simoni is back','with the bunch.'),(7831,168,'2007-05-22 16:29:39','Lampre and Astana','Are driving hard at the front of the peloton. The teams of Cunego and Savoldelli are hoping to set up their GC men. Simoni is up there now, too. The Hincapie group is now less than 10km from the finish.'),(7832,168,'2007-05-22 16:29:56','The gap','at the 10km mark is 1:09.'),(7833,168,'2007-05-22 16:32:59','On the climb','this bottom part averages around 9%. The big teams are really driving the peloton, though, with Charlie Wegelius leading peloton for Liquigas '),(7834,168,'2007-05-22 16:33:54','Up front','Losada is leading the Hincapie group ... with Parra attacking out of group. '),(7835,168,'2007-05-22 16:35:03','Parra','is a strong climb. He\'s being chased by Hincapie, but the peloton is coming up fast. We\'d have to wager that all four will be pulled back before the 5km to go mark.'),(7836,168,'2007-05-22 16:36:26','Parra','has about 30 seconds on the remnants of the break, but Hincapie is closing in on him. Nice work. Back in the peloton, Spezialetti is driving at the front for Liquigas. Pinotti, Rebellin, Bettini are all being dropped.'),(7837,168,'2007-05-22 16:37:02','Hincapie makes contact','with Parra.'),(7838,168,'2007-05-22 16:38:05','Parra goes again','Hincapie is drifting about 12 seconds back. His jersey is unzipped. The peloton is just around 20 seconds back.'),(7839,168,'2007-05-22 16:39:21','Hincapie is caught','and Di Luca attacks.'),(7840,168,'2007-05-22 16:40:32','Parra is off the front','and Di Luca is chasing hard. Parra will be caught, we\'re sure. The big question is whether Di Luca will be allowed to go on his own by the rest of the fav\'s.'),(7841,168,'2007-05-22 16:41:25','With 5km to go','Di Luca has caught Parra... but Lampre is chasing hard.'),(7842,168,'2007-05-22 16:42:17','With Di Luca','and Parra up the road, the chase group is 20 seconds back and they\'re down to about 15 riders. '),(7843,168,'2007-05-22 16:42:53','Piepoli','counter attacks as the DiLuca/Parra duo is caught.'),(7844,168,'2007-05-22 16:43:54','Piepoli',' is riding ahead with Savoldelli, Simoni, Ricco and Cunego there with Di Luca and Parra. The CSC we see is Schleck. No sign of Zabriskie.'),(7845,168,'2007-05-22 16:45:11','Pinotti','is holding his own at 1:05 back. Impressive. Ricco is floating in the group with Mazzoleni, Savoldelli, Cunego, Schleck, Simoni...'),(7846,168,'2007-05-22 16:45:45','Three km','to go... Piepoli has a 30-meter gap and Schleck attacks out of the group.'),(7847,168,'2007-05-22 16:46:00','',' Andy Schleck attacked and closing in on Piepoli'),(7848,168,'2007-05-22 16:47:50','Time gap','Piepoli is holding 12 seconds on Schleck and Sella... correction. Sella has dropped Sella, with 2.5km to go.'),(7849,168,'2007-05-22 16:48:40','Schleck','This is the 21-year-old riding in his firsst grand tour ... they say he\'s better than older brother Frank (who won Alpe d\'Huez and Amstel Gold Race in 06) '),(7850,168,'2007-05-22 16:49:27','Di Luca','again charges out of the elite group. Ricco follows. Now Simoni, too.'),(7851,168,'2007-05-22 16:50:02','What a finishing stretch','1.6km for Piepoli, Schleck is 5sec back ... chasing are Di Luca, Simoni, Ricco '),(7852,168,'2007-05-22 16:50:21','Simoni attacks','With 1.4km to go.'),(7853,168,'2007-05-22 16:51:51','Piepoli','is still up front, with 1km to go. He is being chased by Di Luca and Schleck.'),(7854,168,'2007-05-22 16:52:21','Chasing','Cunego, Savoldelli, Andrea Noe (looking for maglia rosa) '),(7855,168,'2007-05-22 16:52:38','','Simoni zeroing in on Di Luca, Schleck '),(7856,168,'2007-05-22 16:53:05','Piepoli','is still holding his own, fighting through the tough, tough, section on top.'),(7857,168,'2007-05-22 16:53:30','Piepoli','is 200 meters from the line. He\'s going to win.'),(7858,168,'2007-05-22 16:54:24','Di Luca has dropped Schleck','Piepoli wins... and Di Luca looks like he will take second. '),(7859,168,'2007-05-22 16:55:29','Di Luca comes in','second and Schleck in for third, with Simoni right there.'),(7860,168,'2007-05-22 16:59:14','Noe','moves into the leaders jersey, the third Liquigas rider to wear the maglia rosa, not bad for a 38-year-old rider.'),(7861,169,'2007-05-23 13:34:00','Good day and welcome...','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 11th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a mostly flat 198 ride from Serravalle Scrivia to Pinerolo.
We say mostly flat, since there are three unrated climbs on the way, cresting at 35km, 85km and 94km. There is also a slight rise before a long downhill stretch to today\'s finish. While none of these holds a Giro climber\'s ranking, that last climb may prove to be decisive, giving an opportunity to a rider with a desire to slip away in the final kilometers.'),(7862,169,'2007-05-23 13:39:00','The peloton','left Serravalle Scrivia a bit after noon today. 171 riders left, with Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) opted to take a pass on the start today.
The pace has been moderate - 30kph for the first hour - but there have been a few attacks off the front.
The sole success is Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis) who is off in his own, hitting the 50km mark with a gap of around 3:00. If he pulls this off, he gets to ride for 148 more kilometers on his own. '),(7863,169,'2007-05-23 13:44:15','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Questions? Comments? Drop us a note.\r\nWe\'ll try to answer some of your questions either directly or in our Live\r\nUpdate Window, time permitting.'),(7864,169,'2007-05-23 13:48:12','Buffaz','certainly poses no threat to Andrea Noe\'s hold on the overall lead. The Cofidis rider started the day in 142nd place, 58:39 behind the overall leader. That means that the Liquigas team will do very little to chase this break down. Instead, the bulk of the work will fall to the teams of those hoping to win a stage, like Alessandro Petacchi\'s Milram team, Paolo Bettini\'s Quick Step squad, or the Predictor-Lotto team of Robbie McEwen.'),(7865,169,'2007-05-23 13:48:45','Buffaz','at 55km, the French rider has upped his lead to 4:30.'),(7866,169,'2007-05-23 13:52:41','Mickaël Buffaz','has been in other breaks in this Giro. He just celebrated his 28th birthday on Monday. He\'s been a pro\' since 2003, when he rode for the old Jean Delatour team. Since then, he\'s been a member of Ragt (2004), Agributel (2005-06) and he just signed on with Cofidis this year.'),(7867,169,'2007-05-23 13:56:27','They\'re giving him','a long leash today. Buffaz is working hard to build up his lead. At 60km, he is now 5:30 ahead of the peloton.'),(7868,169,'2007-05-23 14:06:51','It\'s still','very slow today. The average speed for these past two hours has only been around 32kph.'),(7869,169,'2007-05-23 14:16:00','and','it looks like we found the end of Buffaz\'s leash. He topped out at 5:30 and the tempo in the peloton finally picked up and he\'s now at 5:10 at 70km.'),(7870,169,'2007-05-23 14:23:00','Daily diversion','Okay, it\'s flat. It\'s slow... and we have to admit that this is one of\r\nthose stages that just begs for a Daily Diversion. We did Haiku the other day. Today it\'s a more common form of verse, the limerick. You know, the old humorous form of the poem, that strictly adheres to a strict meter... you know, \"there once was a man from Nantucket...\" but, keep it on the subject of cycling, keep it clean and then send\r\nit in. We\'ll post some of the best until the action picks up later\r\nin the stage.'),(7871,169,'2007-05-23 14:25:00','At 77km','the gap was measured at 4:45. The leash tightens.'),(7872,169,'2007-05-23 14:33:26','Today\'s contest','We haven\'t forgotten the contest folks. Send us your best guess as to who\r\nmight win today\'s stage and we\'ll randomly chose a single winner from among\r\nthe correct choices submitted. Send your pick to Rosters@InsideInc.com\r\nand, if you\'re selected, we\'ll send you a copy of our Coors Classic DVD and a copy of our newest book from VeloPress \"Gracie Goat\'s Big Bike Race,\" written by Erin Mirabella and illustrated by Lisa Horstman. We picked that as an added prize today, just to make you aware that we\'ve a new children\'s book. My seven-year-old daughter, Annika, loved it, so if you have kids or friends with kids, keep it mind. (It\'s better than letting them read about Operacion Puerto.)'),(7873,169,'2007-05-23 14:48:34','At 81km','the gap is right at 5:00, just long enough to make him feel like he\'s getting somewhere, but well within the peloton\'s ability to reel him back within a few dozen kilometers.
While en route to the city of PineroloBruce Williams
The race was going quite slow-oA solo went forth
On the road to the North
Hoping the group would not follow
Grand Tours used to be quite the venueBrett
When drugs weren\'t right there on the menu
But now at great cost
The riders are lost
And the sport is, too sadly, all fuboo \r\n
Brett had to make up a word for that one. He describes \"fuboo\" as a variant of the old military acronym \"FUBAR,\" which we decline define.'),(7875,169,'2007-05-23 15:19:00','At 100km,','the lone escapee has extended his lead to 7:25. Indeed, at one point, he upped his advantage to 8:20.
There once was a cycler in ItalySara'),(7876,169,'2007-05-23 15:26:00','Zoom',' At 105km, Buffaz has his advantage trimmed by 1:30. He\'s 5:55 ahead of the field.
Who cycled his backside quite pitif\'ly
When along came a peloton
Which passed him and left \'im
Spitting him out from behind unceremoneously \r\n
Basso and Ullrich have faded.Jennifer J'),(7877,169,'2007-05-23 15:31:04','Our stage thus far:','
Prevalence of dope has me jaded.
You take it and win.
Lemond swears it’s a sin.
Have to say he’s got me persuaded.
A young rider named Mickaël BuffazDJ\r\n'),(7878,169,'2007-05-23 15:38:27','Buffaz','Is heading down the road and looking pretty good, considering he\'s been out there for quite some time. His gap is right around 5:00. We should see the sprinters\' teams ramp it up here in a bit, since tomorrow marks the start of a new phase of the Giro. Indeed, we may well see some of the fast-twitch boys cut out after today\'s stage.'),(7879,169,'2007-05-23 15:42:56','An ode to another stage','in another grand tour:\r\n
Started this stage with pizzazz
they\'ll soon pick up the pace
And finally chase
When they\'re tired of watching his azz…
There once was a man named ZabriskieJason B
His escape from the peloton was risky
They said he would fade
But in front\'s where he stayed
Then toasted the win with some whiskey
We remember that day in the 2004 Vuelta. It was terrific and started him on a unique run. He not only is the only American to have won stages in all three grand tours, but he did it in three successive tours, winning stages in the following year\'s Giro and Tour. Thanks for the reminder Jason.'),(7880,169,'2007-05-23 15:44:56','Limericks','Okay, my mailbox is full.... we\'ll try to roll a few more out, but we\'re getting to the point where the chase should pick up here soon. Thanks for your submissions, folks. They are terrific.'),(7881,169,'2007-05-23 15:52:56','Buffaz','is holding a lead of around 5:00. The pace is still a maudlin 32kph.
By the way, you might note how Buffaz rates on the Giro\'s tally of kilometers on attack.
They keep track of it via the Trofeo Fuga Gilera. At the start of the day, this is how that contest stood:
\r\n1. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), Tinkoff, 314 kilometers.
\r\n2. Elio Aggiano (I), Tinkoff, 304 km.
\r\n3. Pavel Brutt (Rus), Tinkoff, 303 km.
\r\n4. Bessy Frédéric (F), Cofidis, 268 km.
\r\n5. Simone Masciarelli (I), Acqua & Sapone, 240 km.
\r\n6. Mickael Buffaz (F), Cofidis, 218 km.
\r\n7. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi), Saunier Duval, 206 km.
\r\n8. Fabien Patanchon (F), Francaise des Jeux, 206 km.
\r\n9. Mauro Facci (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 174 km.
\r\n10. Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col), Cofidis, 173 km.
'),(7882,169,'2007-05-23 15:57:16','At km 120','The gap is at 6:05. \r\n'),(7883,169,'2007-05-23 16:04:41','With 70km remaining','Buffaz\'s lead has bumped up to 7:00. '),(7884,169,'2007-05-23 16:15:05','Touring','the pace is still holding at around 32kph. There is now \"chase\" to speak of, but we\'re still betting that once the sprinters\' teams smell the finish line ahead, the pace will pick up. Until then, the peloton seems content to let this go, for a while. Indeed, Buffaz has extended it to 9:15... and Lampre moves to the front.'),(7885,169,'2007-05-23 16:20:59','The pace','is picking up. There are a few teams moving up to the front of the peloton. The gap is now coming down a bit, at 8:30 now.'),(7886,169,'2007-05-23 16:22:36','Buffaz','has a flat... he makes the change and rolls off.'),(7887,169,'2007-05-23 16:23:58','With 56km to go','Buffaz is still holding on to a substantial lead, but we are still putting our money on the peloton catching him before the finish. '),(7888,169,'2007-05-23 16:27:53','The chase','is on. The gap has been trimmed back to 6:15.'),(7889,169,'2007-05-23 16:34:13','Strange','The gap is actually growing again. Buffaz is up to 6:55.'),(7890,169,'2007-05-23 16:43:00','With 47km','to go, the gap is at 6:15. It sould be easier to catch a lone rider than it might a big group, but these fellas will have to pick it up soon.'),(7891,169,'2007-05-23 16:46:14','The gap','is starting to tumble. Buffaz is now 5:35 ahead of the peloton. Lampre is pulling at the front of the peloton.'),(7892,169,'2007-05-23 16:53:04','The rain jackets','are coming out. It\'s raining a little bit. It\'s been cloudy all day. Buffaz is 40km from the finish and holding a lead of 5:22. Mmmmm... We still have to bet on his being caught. It would be cool if he pulled it off, though.'),(7893,169,'2007-05-23 16:55:23','Gerolsteiner','Gerolsteiner will keep is directeur sportif despite his confession of doping when he was a rider with the old Telekom team.
Christian Henn joined former Telekom teammate Bert Dietz in admitting taking the blood booster EPO when they both rode for Telekom in the 1990s. The team is now known as T-Mobile and Henn is now the director of Gerolsteiner, here at the Giro.\r\n'),(7894,169,'2007-05-23 16:59:09','With 38 km','to go, Buffaz has a gap of 4:50.'),(7895,169,'2007-05-23 17:01:00','The pace in the peloton','is picking up significantly. Buffaz is just 4:10 ahead. It looks more and more likely that he will be caught. '),(7896,169,'2007-05-23 17:05:16','The finish','Assuming the sprinters\' teams keep this up and pull back the Cofidis rider off the front, there is another opportunity for a risk-taker to snag a stage win. There\'s a bit of a rise before the course hits town and then it\'s a straight-downhill shot to the finish. '),(7897,169,'2007-05-23 17:05:37','With 35km','to go, the gap is 3:40.'),(7898,169,'2007-05-23 17:08:35','At the front','We see sprinters\' teams doing all of the work. Lampre, Milram and Predictor-Lotto are all putting riders into the mix. The gap is down to 3:25.'),(7899,169,'2007-05-23 17:10:26','With 29km to go','Buffaz is now just 2:35 ahead of the field. '),(7900,169,'2007-05-23 17:13:26','Tick, tick, tick','Buffaz is 27km from the finish and the gap is 2:22.'),(7901,169,'2007-05-23 17:14:22','2:14','Our latest time check gives Buffaz just 2:14.'),(7902,169,'2007-05-23 17:15:58','The speedsters','Are simply setting tempo at the front. It\'s not that tough to reel in a lone rider who has been out for this long. The gap is 1:48.'),(7903,169,'2007-05-23 17:18:27','With 23.5km to go,','the gap is at 1:33.'),(7904,169,'2007-05-23 17:19:36','Rabobank',' is lending a hand in the chase. Up front we see Rabobank, Lampre, Milram and Predictor-Lotto sharing the work.'),(7905,169,'2007-05-23 17:21:50','It\'s still early','but there are a lot of teams putting riders up front. Credit Agricole\'s Julian Dean is moving up, for Hushovd.
Buffaz, meanwhile, understands that he is about to be caught. He\'s 1:10 ahead of the field. They can see him now.'),(7906,169,'2007-05-23 17:22:15','22km to go','the gap is now at 1:05.\r\n'),(7907,169,'2007-05-23 17:23:38','With 20km to go','The Frenchman\'s advantage is now such that the team cars are being pulled out of the gap.'),(7908,169,'2007-05-23 17:29:24','Within sight','Buffaz is looking back and he sees the inevitable.\r\n'),(7909,169,'2007-05-23 17:29:49','With 16km to go','Buffaz is a mere 20 seconds ahead of the peloton.'),(7910,169,'2007-05-23 17:30:41','With 15km to go','the catch is about to come up here.\r\n'),(7911,169,'2007-05-23 17:33:12','Buffaz','The party\'s over.
The rain, that has been threatening for the last hour, is starting. It\'s not a hard rain that\'s gonna fall, but it\'s forcing more riders to slip on their jackets.'),(7912,169,'2007-05-23 17:34:32','Teams are moving','up front... We should see some serious jockeying for position coming up here in the final kilometers.'),(7913,169,'2007-05-23 17:35:48','Lampre and Milram','are driving at the front of the peloton.'),(7914,169,'2007-05-23 17:36:43','The pace','may be high enough right now to let someone slip away. Keep an eye open on that little rise near the finish.'),(7915,169,'2007-05-23 17:39:00','Eight kilometers','to go.'),(7916,169,'2007-05-23 17:39:41','The pace is quite high','which makes up for the 30kph of the first three or four hours of the day. Milram is hovering up there... but not really driving it hard.'),(7917,169,'2007-05-23 17:40:00','Noe','the man in the maglia rosa is holding near the front, mostly just in an attempt to stay out of trouble.'),(7918,169,'2007-05-23 17:41:00','The Milram and Predictor','teams are up front. Paolo Bettini\'s Quick Step boys are moving up.\r\n'),(7919,169,'2007-05-23 17:42:00','We see','Hincapie... and the Acqua a Sapone team is up there, too.'),(7920,169,'2007-05-23 17:43:00','Still lots of movement','at the front of the field. We see the Credit Agricole\'s - Roche and Dean - moving up to get Hushovd delivered to the line. '),(7921,169,'2007-05-23 17:45:00','With 5km to go','Napolitano is coming up and moving on to Petacchi\'s wheel... or fighting for it. That scrappy little character - McEwen - is already there.'),(7922,169,'2007-05-23 17:46:00','With four km','to go, Milram and Gerolsteiner are at the fore'),(7923,169,'2007-05-23 17:47:08','Quick Step','is massing at the front. Is that a move to launch Bettini at 3km? '),(7924,169,'2007-05-23 17:47:40','The road narrows','and there are several turns for the next kilometer.'),(7925,169,'2007-05-23 17:48:19','On the little','rise... Ignatiev - Tinkoff - has tried to go. No luck.'),(7926,169,'2007-05-23 17:49:14','Bettini is moving up','But Milram is patrolling the front of the peloton. McEwen has Petacchi\'s wheel. Napolitano is on McEwen\'s wheel.'),(7927,169,'2007-05-23 17:49:44','Up the rise','it\'s not proving decisive.'),(7928,169,'2007-05-23 17:49:52','1km to go',''),(7929,169,'2007-05-23 17:50:19','Milram','is driving hard.... Dean charges, but he doesn\'t have Hushovd on his wheel.'),(7930,169,'2007-05-23 17:50:41','Petacchi goes!','Bettini is on his wheel.... drag race and a crash.'),(7931,169,'2007-05-23 17:51:32','Noe','was in the crash... and we think Petacchi got it.
Bettini went down too... Popovych went down, too
Ouch.'),(7932,169,'2007-05-23 17:51:42','Bettini is okay',''),(7933,169,'2007-05-23 17:51:58','Noe is fine...','... but banged up.'),(7934,169,'2007-05-23 17:53:00','Petacchi','Petacchi gets the victory... it was a photo finish.'),(7935,169,'2007-05-23 17:55:05','Oh...','we\'re going to get some ugly crash photos today. There is always a gaggle of photographers at the finishline - including our guy Graham - and they are in prime spot to have captured some of this mess.'),(7936,169,'2007-05-23 17:57:37','Results','1. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Milram
2. Gabriele Balducci (I), Acqua & Sapone
3. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Predictor-Lotto'),(7937,169,'2007-05-23 18:06:56','Okay folks','that\'s a wrap. We have to get busy with a race report and results. We\'ll announce a winner of today\'s contest at the start of tomorrow\'s stage, but if you won, we\'ll drop you an e-mail today.'),(7938,170,'2007-05-24 13:18:29','Good day and welcome','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 12th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a brutally difficult 173 race from Scalenghe to Briançon, in France.
This stage features a long, long climb up to the 2744-meter Colle dell\'Agnello, the Cima Coppi - the highest point of the Giro.'),(7939,170,'2007-05-24 13:23:13','Today\'s stage','began just around an hour ago - actually at 12:25 p.m. - with 167 riders heading off on a pleasant ride to France. Opting out of the day\'s pleasantries, however, were Euskaltel\'s Aitor Hernandez, Discovery\'s George Hincapie, Predictor-Lotto\'s Robbie McEwen and Gerolsteiner\'s Robert Forster... a sure sign today won\'t be contested by the sprinters.'),(7940,170,'2007-05-24 13:25:23','Today\'s break','Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) and Yoann Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom) took an early flyer at kilometer 14. At 37km, the two French riders are 6:15 ahead of the peloton. '),(7941,170,'2007-05-24 13:29:05','That gap','is actually bigger than we thought. The two men off the front are at km39 and are 8:30 ahead of the field.'),(7942,170,'2007-05-24 13:38:28','The speed today','is quite a bit higher than the 29kph of yesterday\'s opening hour. The two men off the front - now 9:15 ahead of the field - covered 46.1 kilometers over the course of the first hour'),(7943,170,'2007-05-24 13:46:00','Today\'s contest.','Will these fellas stay away from the main field? They might. They are at 55 km and already 11:40 ahead of the field. Hands down, one of these boys will win the Cima Coppi, the highest spot of the Giro.
If you think they will hold on - or not - let us know who you think might win.
We have a new prize today. We\'re sure you\'ve heard about the new\r\nbio-pic of Graeme Obree. That film is, of course, based on the VeloPress\r\nbook, The\r\nFlying Scotsman. We\'ll give a copy to one of you, if you send\r\nyour pick of today\'s stage winner. We\'ll then pick from among the correct\r\nentries and award one copy of Obree\'s book. The rest of you... well, take\r\na look. It\'s worth buying, if you don\'t win.'),(7944,170,'2007-05-24 13:54:43','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Questions? Comments? Drop us a note. No Limericks or Haiku today, but we will try to field a few interesting questions if time permits.'),(7945,170,'2007-05-24 14:02:30','This is one of those','breaks that no one seems willing or able to chase. The two leaders are moving toward the long haul up the Colle dell\'Agnello and have an advantage of 14:11.'),(7946,170,'2007-05-24 14:06:00','The road ahead','After that relatively flat opening 60km, the two leaders now face the mighty Colle dell\'Agnello, climbing for almost 40km, with the final 9km averaging a daunting 10 percent. At 9101 feet, this is the highest point of the race, where the Cima Coppi prize is awarded. The narrow road then plunges into France to tackle the mythic Col d\'Izoard before the 163km stage finishes on a steep hill in Briançon. '),(7947,170,'2007-05-24 14:09:01','Yowzahhh','The two leaders are working their way up the lower slopes of the Colle dell\'Agnello and hold an 18-minute lead over the peloton. '),(7948,170,'2007-05-24 14:14:05','Reader Question:','Todd Lee from Dublin, Ohio asks
Any word on why he dropped out? It’s sad to see him leave the tour after following his two breakaway attempts.Hincapie simply rode this Giro - his first - for training for the big race in July. Hincapie really has had to work, since the broken wrist knocked him off the bike for weeks. He\'s heading home to Spain and then focusing on riding in the Dauphiné Libéré, before hitting the Tour de France.'),(7949,170,'2007-05-24 14:22:02','finally','the gap is coming down... but only a bit. The two leaders - Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) and Yoann Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom) - are on the Colle dell\'Agnello and their advantage is down to 16:30. It\'s substantial and maybe even enough to get them over the top of the climb, but you have to wonder about their chances of holding off some of the biggies all the way to Briancon.'),(7950,170,'2007-05-24 14:41:32','Popovych','We\'ve had several questions about Discovery\'s Yaroslav Popovych. Yes, he did crash at the line yesterday, but he didn\'t hurt himself too badly. He was actually a bit more banged up during the early days of the Giro when he decked it during the team time trial on Sardinia. Man, that seems a long time ago...'),(7951,170,'2007-05-24 14:46:01','At 80km','the leaders are maintaining a nice 16-minute advantage. '),(7952,170,'2007-05-24 14:58:03','The leaders','still have about 10 kilometers of climbing and are holding on to a 15-minute lead. It looks like they have the Cima Coppi in the bag. The stage? We still have our doubts.'),(7953,170,'2007-05-24 15:14:00','Still climbing','Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) and Yoann Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom) are working up the climb. It\'s taking its toll on Riblon. Behind them, the peloton is being led by Saunier Duval. The peloton is climbing, but not at a frantic pace, as evidenced by the fact that the gap is still quite high.'),(7954,170,'2007-05-24 15:16:26','It looks like','Le Boulanger will take the Cima Coppi prize. He\'s about 30 seconds ahead of Riblon.'),(7955,170,'2007-05-24 15:18:00','Moving out of the peloton','Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Cofidis) is riding away from the peloton. The Colombian won\'t be able to get to far. He\'s not a huge GC threat, but at 33rd at 8:16 means he won\'t be given a lot of room.'),(7956,170,'2007-05-24 15:20:18','Le Boulanger','has a 1:30 gap on Riblon and 13:40 on an increasingly randy peloton.'),(7957,170,'2007-05-24 15:22:53','Le Boulanger','is nearing the summit. He\'ll get double climber\'s points and some healthy jing for taking the Cima Coppi, but he\'s looking spent. It\'s tough on these 10-percent slopes... that just don\'t seem to stop.'),(7958,170,'2007-05-24 15:25:18','In the peloton','the Saunier Duvals are driving hard at the front. The group - sans the maglia rosa - has been trimmed to about 20 riders. Savoldelli is not in the group. Popovych, Simoni, Piepoli, Garzelli... they\'re all there.'),(7959,170,'2007-05-24 15:30:30','Even Ricco','the super-duper young star on Saunier Duval is trailing now. He set a strong pace on the lower slopes of the climb. Up ahead, Simoni and Piepoli are setting tempo with Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana) as more and more riders slip back.'),(7960,170,'2007-05-24 15:32:32','Le Boulanger','Is closing in on the top... behind him the peloton is shattered with groups of two, three and four riders just trying to keep the elite Simoni group - of about 15 - within sight.'),(7961,170,'2007-05-24 15:34:14','We also','see Andy Schleck (CSC) in that group led by Simoni and Piepoli. Danilo Di Luca is also among that cadre of elites working up the climb.'),(7962,170,'2007-05-24 15:37:23','He\'s over','Le Boulanger gets the prize.
nowcrossing the summit. (We were confused by a rare false flat). The Simoni group is within 2km of the summit and the gap is considerably lower than the advantage he had going on to the climb.'),(7966,170,'2007-05-24 15:45:09','Ricco','is recovering. He is coming up the climb quite nicely again. He may be able to regroup before the Col d\'Izoard. '),(7967,170,'2007-05-24 15:45:54','Riblon','crests the climb and the Piepoli group is closing in.'),(7968,170,'2007-05-24 15:47:05','Garzelli','is fighting his way back to the five riders in the Simoni group - Di Luca, Schleck, Piepoli, Simoni and Mazzoleni.'),(7969,170,'2007-05-24 15:48:00','Up and over','The Simoni group has hit the summit... 5:58 behind Le Boulanger. We can expect some regrouping on the descent, as Garzelli and Ricco and several others are within a minute or so. But then the question arises who will be able to hang on the 14-percent slopes of the next climb.'),(7970,170,'2007-05-24 15:52:18','Savoldelli','crests... but he\'s already 3:27 behind the Simoni group. It looks like Astana\'s hopes will have to pinned on Mazzoleni.'),(7971,170,'2007-05-24 15:55:50','This should be fun','watching Savoldelli rocket down the back side of the climb. il Falco is easily the world\'s best descender... he\'ll need it today, too.'),(7972,170,'2007-05-24 15:56:39','Garzelli','has reattached with the Simoni group.'),(7973,170,'2007-05-24 15:54:00','Crash','We see Wim Vanhuffel (Predictor-Lotto) and another rider from Caisse d\'Epargne hit the deck on a turn... both seem to be okay, though.'),(7974,170,'2007-05-24 16:00:00','Ivan Ramiro Parra','the Cofidis rider who jumped out of the peloton earlier on the climb is chasing hard and close to making contact with the Simoni group. Ricco, too, is chasing hard. He\'s with Rasmussen (Rabobank). Oh lordy, it\'s beautiful on the French side of the climb.'),(7975,170,'2007-05-24 16:02:40','Up front','We have Le Boulanger and then a serious group that includes Simoni, Mazzoleni, Piepoli, Cunego, Di Luca, Schleck and Garzelli coming up on him.'),(7976,170,'2007-05-24 16:04:16','The Caisse d\'Epargne rider','in the crash was David Arroyo. He and Wim Vanhuffel are up and riding.'),(7977,170,'2007-05-24 16:05:05','Hey!','Alessandro Petacchi is in a group that just crested the climb. Unlike some of his closest competitors, it looks like he wants to ride all the way to Milan and keep the points jersey.'),(7978,170,'2007-05-24 16:06:54','Arroyo and Vanhuffel','have managed to latch on to Ricco and Rasmussen.'),(7979,170,'2007-05-24 16:10:00','40km to go','Riblon and Le Boulanger have individually and separately passed through the 40km to go mark and so has an elite chase group that includes Cunego, Garzelli, DiLuca, Mazzoleni, Piepoli, Simoni and Schleck.
Chasing them on his own is Ivan Ramiro Parra. Word is that Popovych is in a group that includes Dave Zabriskie (CSC) about 1:30 down on the Simoni group.'),(7980,170,'2007-05-24 16:11:57','Piepoli','Man... that guy\'s a stud. He won the stage on Tuesday and is working like a dog for Simoni. He\'s still pounding away at the front of that Simoni group.'),(7981,170,'2007-05-24 16:15:03','Le Boulanger','is still about 5:30 ahead of the Simoni group with Riblon in the middle.'),(7982,170,'2007-05-24 16:16:00','Behind','gruppo Simoni Ivan Ramiro Parra is about 1:00 back and then the Ricco, Arroyo, Rasmussen and Vanhuffel chase another minute back. We are trying to get a gap on the other big names, like Savoldelli and Popovych and more. '),(7985,170,'2007-05-24 16:20:10','With 33km to go','Le Boulanger is on the lower slopes of the l\'Izoard'),(7984,170,'2007-05-24 16:19:15','Gaps','the picture is confusing with so many groups spread out along the road, but we have Le Boulanger in the lead, chased by Riblon at 3:00 or so. Then comes the Simoni group at 4:30 and then Pinto at 5:20'),(7986,170,'2007-05-24 16:20:58','Riblon','Has been caught by the Simoni group.'),(7987,170,'2007-05-24 16:23:12','Simoni','takes a dig at the base of the Izoard... He\'s broken the group a bit and just testing.'),(7988,170,'2007-05-24 16:25:00','The Simoni dig','has already taken its toll. Garzelli was dropped. Di Luca was dropped. Mazzoleni was dropped. Cunego was dropped. They all fought back on, but Simoni is clearly the strongest in this bunch. Schleck, quite impressively, held his own.'),(7989,170,'2007-05-24 16:27:12','Piepoli','is back in the front. and driving hard. The Frenchman Riblon has been dropped.'),(7990,170,'2007-05-24 16:28:38','Other groups','Emmanuele Sella and Popovych are in a group about three minutes behind the Simoni group. Le Boulanger is at the 30km to go mark.'),(7991,170,'2007-05-24 16:30:03','Le Boulanger','has 3:00 on the Simoni group... with Piepoli STILL driving the pace.'),(7992,170,'2007-05-24 16:31:23','Garzelli in difficulty','He\'s trailing by a bit.'),(7993,170,'2007-05-24 16:33:06','At the 30km mark','Andrea Noe - the overall race leader - is at 7:45.'),(7994,170,'2007-05-24 16:34:00','Finally','After driving up and over the Colle dell\'Agnello and the early part of the Izoard, Piepoli has finally blown. It\'s one of those impressive performances you have to admire.'),(7995,170,'2007-05-24 16:35:00','Simoni attacks','Cunego responds.... and the others in the group catch up. We have Simoni, Cunego, Mazzoleni, Di Luca and Schleck.'),(7996,170,'2007-05-24 16:37:02','There he goes again','Simoni goes... '),(7997,170,'2007-05-24 16:37:00','Di Luca responds','and the group is back together again. Man, these guys are lucky this isn\'t a mountain-top finish. They get a chance to recover on the drop to Briancon...'),(7998,170,'2007-05-24 16:41:02','Di Luca has','chatted a bit with Simoni. Garzelli is trailing the group and trying to catch back on. With an explosive rider like Simoni in the group, smart riders will have to settle in and work up the climb at their own pace and not try to respond to Simoni\'s constant attacks. Simoni, however, may settle down after the last two digs.'),(7999,170,'2007-05-24 16:43:33','A good group','Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre), Ricco and Popovych among others are coming up the climb. They are about 2:30 behind the Simoni group.'),(8000,170,'2007-05-24 16:44:29','25km','Le Boulanger is 25km from the finish and we see the Simoni group closing in.'),(8001,170,'2007-05-24 16:45:14','Simoni again','Di Luca stays on, Schleck and Mazzoleni, too... but Cunego is dropped.'),(8002,170,'2007-05-24 16:46:01','Bruseghin','is driving hard at the front of the chase group. '),(8003,170,'2007-05-24 16:46:57','Le Boulanger','is caught. Simoni, Di Luca, Mazzoleni and Schleck have caught and passed the day\'s early escapee.'),(8004,170,'2007-05-24 16:49:24','The Bruseghin','group is about 2:00 behind. Having started the day in second on GC at 1:08, he stands a good chance of getting the jersey.'),(8005,170,'2007-05-24 16:49:00','Flyin\'','the lead group of four - Simoni, Di Luca, Mazzoleni and Schleck - are rocketing up this epic climb. Cunego is trailing by about 10 seconds. Painfully close. '),(8006,170,'2007-05-24 16:51:46','Cunego','has made it back... impressive.'),(8007,170,'2007-05-24 16:53:11','It\'s been raining','on and off... it may be slippery on the way down to Briancon.'),(8008,170,'2007-05-24 16:53:00','Simoni and Co.','Now five again, now that Cunego has rejoined, are in the final kilometer of the climb.'),(8009,170,'2007-05-24 16:54:00','Di Luca!','attacks and Simon was caught off-guard.'),(8010,170,'2007-05-24 16:54:57','Di Luca has a gap',''),(8011,170,'2007-05-24 16:55:45','Simoni','has to chase, but Di Luca has a nice gap. Cunego has been dropped.'),(8012,170,'2007-05-24 16:56:25','Over the top','Di Luca has 10 seconds on Simoni and 15 on Cunego... Di Luca is a solid descender.'),(8013,170,'2007-05-24 16:57:15','Garzelli','is coming through the final kilometer...and crosses 1:41 behind Di Luca.'),(8014,170,'2007-05-24 16:58:17','20km','the leaders are through the 20km-to-go-mark... but on this descent that should zip by quickly.'),(8015,170,'2007-05-24 16:59:51','It\'s not all downhill','do recall that there is a little kicker at the end of the race. It\'s a tough little stretch. Di Luca is charging down the descent and probably has that last stretch in mind, since one would assume it would favor a rider of Simoni\'s talents.'),(8016,170,'2007-05-24 17:00:20','The Bruseghin','group, by the way, hit the summit at 2:38.'),(8017,170,'2007-05-24 17:02:00','Savoldelli hits the summit','at 5:42. Stick a fork in \'im... he\'s cooked.'),(8018,170,'2007-05-24 17:03:05','15km to go','the leaders are flying down the hill. Simoni and Co. have caught Di Luca.'),(8019,170,'2007-05-24 17:04:40','So we have','a five-man group of Simoni, Di Luca, Schleck, Mazzoleni and Cunego with a nice 1:00 gap on Garzelli and then it\'s another 2:30 to the next group. This stage will be decided by these five.'),(8020,170,'2007-05-24 17:07:36','10km to go','We have about 7km of descent left and then a bit of flat and a 1.5km climb to the finish. That hits some steep sections, too.'),(8021,170,'2007-05-24 17:09:00','Le Boulanger','Has caught on with Garzelli. They are 1:54 behind the Simoni group. The Bruseghin group is another minute back. We can count these guys out for the stage. The question is whether Bruseghin can pull enough time back to get the jersey. '),(8022,170,'2007-05-24 17:11:38','Mazzoleni surges','but the others respond. It\'s a still group of five.'),(8023,170,'2007-05-24 17:12:16','five kilometers',''),(8024,170,'2007-05-24 17:14:06','Still descending','it should level out soon. It\'s still a group of five at the front.'),(8025,170,'2007-05-24 17:14:37','The five leaders','have 2:00 advantage over Garzelli and Le Boulanger.'),(8026,170,'2007-05-24 17:15:29','It\'s leveling off','The leaders are in town. Bruseghin is back at 2:40.'),(8027,170,'2007-05-24 17:16:11','On the final climb','Simoni is at the front, but the others are up there with him.'),(8028,170,'2007-05-24 17:16:48','One kilometer to go','It\'s still five men up front, but this little sucker hits 10-percent in a bit.'),(8029,170,'2007-05-24 17:17:15','Di Luca attacks',''),(8030,170,'2007-05-24 17:17:41','Schleck','responds... Simoni chasing hard. The others are dropped.'),(8031,170,'2007-05-24 17:17:00','Di Luca is','still leading. Schleck on his wheel and Simoni closing.'),(8032,170,'2007-05-24 17:18:45','Schleck fades',''),(8033,170,'2007-05-24 17:18:00','Simoni chasing hard...','closing in.'),(8034,170,'2007-05-24 17:19:00','Di Luca gets it','Simoni second
Schleck third'),(8035,170,'2007-05-24 17:22:51','The gaps','Di Luca not only wins the stage, he gets the jersey. What a day!'),(8036,170,'2007-05-24 17:24:40','Oh man...','there will be riders drifting in for quite a time now. Popovych is among the day\'s victims. He\'s well off of the pace. Savoldelli finishes more than five minutes down.'),(8037,170,'2007-05-24 17:26:10','Di Luca','leads the Giro and we\'re going to get to see an epic battle in coming days between the Liquigas leader and Saunier Duval\'s Gilberto Simoni.'),(8038,170,'2007-05-24 17:27:16','','1. Di Luca
2. Simoni
3. Schleck
4. Mazzoleni
5. Cunego'),(8039,170,'2007-05-24 17:28:57','Zabriskie','did well on the first climb today, but he\'s finished 9:00 back.'),(8040,170,'2007-05-24 17:29:25','Noe and Bettini','cross the line at 9:40'),(8041,170,'2007-05-24 17:54:47','Today\'s contest','was won by Jeff Toonstra. A lot of you picked Di Luca, by the way. Good call. We had our money on Simoni.
Anyway, that\'s a wrap folks. Thanks for tuning in today.'),(8042,171,'2007-05-25 15:11:29','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live coverage of the 13th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, 13-kilometer uphill individual time trial from Biella to Santuario Di Oropa.
It will be some time before the biggies hit the starting line (hence the later-than-usual kick-off for our coverage).'),(8043,171,'2007-05-25 15:20:46','Top times','We\'ve seen 60 riders finish thus far today and the top times so far are1. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 31:12
\r\n2. Christophe Kern (F), Credit Agricole, 31:41
\r\n3. Alessandro Vanotti (I), Liquigas, 31:55
\r\n4. Ivan Rovny (Rus), TCS, 31:59
\r\n5. Gorazd Stangelj (SLO), Lampre, 32:01
\r\n6. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 32:22
\r\n7. Dario Andriotto (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 32:31
\r\n8. Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus), Rabobank, 32:56
\r\n9. Aliaksandr Usau (Blr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 32:58
\r\n10. Julian Dean (NZl), Credit Agricole, 32:59
\r\n11. Alessandro Cortinovis (I), Milram, 33:03
\r\n12. Maximilian Ariel Maximilian (ARG), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 33:08
\r\n13. Lloyd Mondory (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 33:08
\r\n14. Assan Bazayev (Kaz), Astana, 33:10
\r\n15. Matteo Bono (I), Lampre, 33:11
\r\n'),(8044,171,'2007-05-25 15:21:59','American Aaron Olson',' - who had the distinction of being the Lantern Rouge and the first starter today, finished with a time of 33:54.'),(8045,171,'2007-05-25 15:25:30','Not starting','Discovery\'s Popovych is not going to start today. He said he has been suffering from knee problems. Mexican super climber Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Ceramica Panaria) is on route. He may be one to watch. '),(8046,171,'2007-05-25 15:31:11','Petacchi','Points leader Alessandro Petacchi finished a while ago - quite some time, actually - and he turned in a respectable 33:33. He looks like he\'s aiming for a Milan finish, a week from Sunday and, if he does, he\'s on track to win the points jersey, since his closest competitior, Robbie McEwen pulled out before the big mountain stage.'),(8047,171,'2007-05-25 15:35:25','Place your bets. Place your bets','So who do you think might win this one? Go ahead and send\r\nin the name of the rider you believe will win today and we\'ll make\r\na random pick from among all of the correct entries. Our randomly selected\r\nwinner will receive a copy of \"The\r\nGolden Age of Cycling,\" one of the most beatiful books we\'ve ever produced\r\nhere at VeloNews.'),(8048,171,'2007-05-25 15:36:20','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop us\r\na line.'),(8049,171,'2007-05-25 15:38:08','Michael Rasmussen','must not be too worried about this stage. He\'s finished with a 32:24, only good enough for 12 on the day, trailing Visconti by 1:12.'),(8050,171,'2007-05-25 15:43:22','Top times','With 81 finishers, the current top times:1. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 31:12
\r\n2. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 31:20
\r\n3. Christophe Kern (F), Credit Agricole, 31:41
\r\n4. Alessandro Vanotti (I), Liquigas, 31:55
\r\n5. Ivan Rovny (Rus), TCS, 31:59
\r\n6. Gorazd Stangelj (SLO), Lampre, 32:01
\r\n7. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 32:13
\r\n8. Andrea Pagoto (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 32:17
\r\n9. Nicolas Crosbie (F), Bouygues Telecom, 32:17
\r\n10. Jurgen Van De Walle (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 32:21
\r\n11. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 32:22
\r\n12. Giuseppe Palumbo (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 32:23
\r\n13. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 32:24
\r\n14. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 32:27
\r\n15. Dario Andriotto (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 32:31
\r\n'),(8051,171,'2007-05-25 15:45:10','Perez Cuapio','is setting a fast pace on the course. He\'s set a top time at the 8km mark with an 8:38.'),(8052,171,'2007-05-25 15:53:18','Perez Cuapio','Yowzahhhh... new top time of 29:38.'),(8053,171,'2007-05-25 15:56:11','Dave Z','The U.S. time trial champion David Zabriskie (CSC) is on course and climbing nicely. We\'ll try to get time checks along the way.'),(8054,171,'2007-05-25 15:57:20','Equipment choice','Zabriskie, like most riders today, is using a road bike. He\'s using clip-ons and deep-section carbon wheels.'),(8055,171,'2007-05-25 16:01:00','Zabriskie','has tied Perez Cuapio\'s time at the first time check. Impressive. Zabriskie won a time trial in the 2005 Giro... but that was a relatively flat stage.'),(8056,171,'2007-05-25 16:04:00','Zabriskie','is struggling on the steep parts, but that said, he\'s about to catch his 2-minute man...Francis Mourey (Francaise des Jeux), having already passed his one-minute man, Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole).'),(8057,171,'2007-05-25 16:09:39','Wegelius','Charlie Wegelius coming through with the a good time without even trying to win at 31:02 for the third-fastest time. Wegelius said, \"We\'re all working for Danilo now - we believe he can win the Giro.\" '),(8058,171,'2007-05-25 16:10:02','Zabriskie sets a new mark','Zabriskie has fastest time by 16 seconds at 10.4km'),(8059,171,'2007-05-25 16:11:27','Top times','With 110 riders across the line, here are the top times.
1. Perez Cuapio Julio Alberto (MEX), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 29:38
\r\n2. Marco Marzano (I), Lampre, 30:29
\r\n3. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 31:12
\r\n4. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 31:20
\r\n5. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 31:25
\r\n6. Aketza Pena Iza (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 31:27
\r\n7. Vladimir Miholjevic (CRO), Liquigas, 31:36
\r\n8. Jussi Veikkanen (FIN), Francaise des Jeux, 31:38
\r\n9. Arvesen Kurt-Asle (Nor), CSC, 31:38
\r\n10. Christophe Riblon (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 31:40
\r\n11. Christophe Kern (F), Credit Agricole, 31:41
\r\n12. Francesco Bellotti (I), Credit Agricole, 31:43
\r\n13. Fortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 31:50
\r\n14. Alessandro Vanotti (I), Liquigas, 31:55
\r\n15. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz), Astana, 31:59
\r\n16. Ivan Rovny (Rus), TCS, 31:59
\r\n17. Gorazd Stangelj (SLO), Lampre, 32:01
\r\n18. Koos Moerenhout (Nl), Rabobank, 32:04
\r\n19. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 32:13
\r\n20. Rubiera Vigil José Luis (Sp), Discovery Channel, 32:13
\r\n'),(8060,171,'2007-05-25 16:14:31','Zabriskie','is heading to the finish.'),(8061,171,'2007-05-25 16:16:42','A new mark','Zabriskie finishes with 29:14, a new mark.... but down the hill, Piepoli (Saunier Duval) just beat Zabriskie\'s time at 10.4k by four seconds.'),(8062,171,'2007-05-25 16:19:42','Piepoli','is heading through the final kilometers and setting a great tempo. The tireless domestique may establish a new mark.'),(8063,171,'2007-05-25 16:22:56','Piepoli','the first rider to break 29 minutes, a 28:56 and 18 seconds faster than Zabriskie... and that\'s after yesterday\'s spectacular effort.'),(8064,171,'2007-05-25 16:25:07','Top 20 - so far','1. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 28:56
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 29:14
\r\n3. Perez Cuapio Julio Alberto (MEX), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 29:38
\r\n4. Branislau Samoilau (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 29:38
\r\n5. Marco Marzano (I), Lampre, 30:29
\r\n6. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 30:57
\r\n7. Charles Wegelius (GB), Liquigas, 31:02
\r\n8. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol), Lampre, 31:08
\r\n9. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 31:12
\r\n10. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, 31:19
\r\n11. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 31:20
\r\n12. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 31:25
\r\n13. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 31:25
\r\n14. Aketza Pena Iza (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 31:27
\r\n15. Massimo Codol (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 31:28
\r\n16. Vladimir Miholjevic (CRO), Liquigas, 31:36
\r\n17. Amael Moinard (F), Cofidis, 31:37
\r\n18. Jussi Veikkanen (FIN), Francaise des Jeux, 31:38
\r\n19. Arvesen Kurt-Asle (Nor), CSC, 31:38
\r\n'),(8065,171,'2007-05-25 16:25:29','Simoni','on the road. '),(8066,171,'2007-05-25 16:34:15','Simoni is flyin','We\'ll be getting time checks soon. Andy Schleck - the top young rider - is on route.'),(8067,171,'2007-05-25 16:35:03','Petrov','has hit the first time check 15 seconds faster than Zabriskie/Perez Cuapio'),(8068,171,'2007-05-25 16:38:42','Bjarne Riis','has held a press conferences in Denmark, in response to a recent spate of Telekom confessions. Riis has admitted that he did use EPO at times in his career. Now there\'s a shocker.'),(8069,171,'2007-05-25 16:41:21','Ricco','fading a bit. He started out strong, but he\'s getting a little over-heated.'),(8070,171,'2007-05-25 16:42:28','Savoldelli','crosses witht he seventh fastest of the day so far... 1:45 off the pace.'),(8071,171,'2007-05-25 16:44:34','Noe is','fifth best. Not bad for the grumpy old man of the peloton... a reason we like him, by the way. We have to root for our own kind, don\'t ya know?'),(8072,171,'2007-05-25 16:45:12','Garzelli','finishes with a 29:24, third best of the day. Wowie.'),(8073,171,'2007-05-25 16:47:11','All of the biggies','from yesterday\'s stage are out there - Simoni, DiLuca, Cunego, Schleck.'),(8074,171,'2007-05-25 16:48:38','Ricco','finishes with the 11th best time so far.'),(8075,171,'2007-05-25 16:50:26','Top 20 - so far','1. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 28:56
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 29:14
\r\n3. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 29:17
\r\n4. Stefano Garzelli (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 29:24
\r\n5. Perez Cuapio Julio Alberto (MEX), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 29:38
\r\n6. Branislau Samoilau (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 29:38
\r\n7. Andrea Noe\' (I), Liquigas, 30:16
\r\n8. Marco Marzano (I), Lampre, 30:29
\r\n9. Parra Pinto Ivan Ramiro (Col), Cofidis, 30:36
\r\n10. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 30:41
\r\n11. Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz), Astana, 30:41
\r\n12. Riccardo Ricco\' (I), Saunier Duval, 30:46
\r\n13. Paolo Tiralongo (I), Lampre, 30:55
\r\n14. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 30:57
\r\n15. Charles Wegelius (GB), Liquigas, 31:02
\r\n16. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile, 31:05
\r\n17. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol), Lampre, 31:08
\r\n18. Domenico Pozzovivo (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 31:10
\r\n19. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 31:12
\r\n20. Andrey Mizourov (Kaz), Astana, 31:15
\r\n'),(8076,171,'2007-05-25 16:55:59','Simoni','man, he faded... he\'s finished with the ninth best time of the day... at 1:05.'),(8077,171,'2007-05-25 16:57:22','Bjarne Riis\'s statement','After the long run of confessions concerning the Telekom team in the 1990s, I have decided to give a statement about my involvement.
I have decided this for two reasons.
First of all, I\'m doing this to keep the focus on the work we are doing today that keeps cycling in the right perspective. The massive steps we have taken to fight doping and the ways in which we have secured that the team rests on the right and proper foundations.
I think if we are to talk about doping, we should talk about what to do now and not about the mistakes in the past. The recent developments in Germany have taken the balance out of this and therefore I want to set the record straight. And I want to do this, because the future of cycling needs the right focus.
Second of all, I\'m doing this to get rid of the endless discussions about things that are truly in the past and that I personally have put behind a long time ago. I don\'t want my personal past to overshadow that work and brilliant effort that Team CSC is doing today. We are the number one team in the world for the second year running and I want my riders and sponsors to be proud of that. They work, within the rules, with passion, professionalism and commitment and I want them to keep on doing that. When I was a rider in the 1990s, I worked extremely hard to get my results. I worked extremely hard, day in day out and I sacrificed a lot just even to be part of the best. In that time, the perspective on doping and preparation was wrong and misguided.
That also means that I did things that I shouldn\'t have and I have regretted that ever since. Those were mistakes that I take the full responsibility for and I don\'t have anyone to blame but myself. We all make mistakes and I think my biggest mistake was to let my ambition get the better of me. That I have had to deal with a long time ago and I am glad to say that I am a lot wiser now. Both in my personal and in my professional life.
I don\'t want the mistakes of my personal past to stand in the way of the work we are doing today. I did what it took to compete at the highest level back then, and it\'s a deep satisfaction for me that those days are long gone and the sport has moved in the right direction. If that wasn\'t the case, I wouldn\'t be here today.
I have learned from my past – for better and for worse. The experience and wisdom I have gained informed my decision to come back to cycling and has energized me to create the best team in the world. '),(8078,171,'2007-05-25 16:58:36','Top-20 for now','1. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 28:56
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 29:14
\r\n3. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 29:17
\r\n4. Stefano Garzelli (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 29:24
\r\n5. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, 29:26
\r\n6. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 29:28
\r\n7. Perez Cuapio Julio Alberto (MEX), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 29:38
\r\n8. Branislau Samoilau (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 29:38
\r\n9. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 30:01
\r\n10. Andrea Noe\' (I), Liquigas, 30:16
\r\n11. Marco Marzano (I), Lampre, 30:29
\r\n12. Parra Pinto Ivan Ramiro (Col), Cofidis, 30:36
\r\n13. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 30:41
\r\n14. Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz), Astana, 30:41
\r\n15. Riccardo Ricco\' (I), Saunier Duval, 30:46
\r\n16. Paolo Tiralongo (I), Lampre, 30:55
\r\n17. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 30:57
\r\n18. Charles Wegelius (GB), Liquigas, 31:02
\r\n19. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile, 31:05
\r\n20. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol), Lampre, 31:08
\r\n'),(8079,171,'2007-05-25 17:00:44','Di Luca','is flyin\' toward the finish. At this point, he may not only keep the jersey, but win another stage.'),(8080,171,'2007-05-25 17:03:22','Schleck','comes across 39 seconds back... 8th best for the day, so far.'),(8081,171,'2007-05-25 17:05:57','Top-10, so far','1. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 28:56
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 29:14
\r\n3. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 29:17
\r\n4. Stefano Garzelli (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 29:24
\r\n5. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, 29:26
\r\n6. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 29:28
\r\n7. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 29:33
\r\n8. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 29:35
\r\n9. Perez Cuapio Julio Alberto (MEX), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 29:38
\r\n10. Branislau Samoilau (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 29:38
\r\n'),(8082,171,'2007-05-25 17:07:21','A new top time','Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) beats Piepoli\'s time by 1 second.'),(8083,171,'2007-05-25 17:09:22','Di Luca finishes third','with a 29:03... Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) is the stage winner, but Di Luca has really put time into his closest rivals.\r\n'),(8084,171,'2007-05-25 17:11:56','Top 10','1. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, at 12.6km in 28:55 (26.144kph)
\r\n2. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, at 0:01
\r\n3. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, at 0:08
\r\n4. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, at 0:19
\r\n5. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, at 0:22
\r\n6. Stefano Garzelli (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, at 0:29
\r\n7. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, at 0:31
\r\n8. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, at 0:33
\r\n9. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 0:38
\r\n10. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, at 0:40
\r\n'),(8085,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(8086,172,'2007-05-26 13:54:09','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 14th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia. It\'s a tough ride that starts and finishes at roughly the same 300-meter altitude, it\'s just that there are two big obstacles along the way, in the form of the 1985-meter, Category 1, Passo di San Marco and the Cat. 2, 984-meter La Trinita Dossena.
The opening kilometers are quite flat until that first climb.
The peloton left Cantu today at around 12:15, with 157 riders still in the Giro. The pace has been reasonably high at 44kph and several forays off the front, but as of yet, no one has established a significant gap and at the 72km mark the peloton is speeding along as one.'),(8087,172,'2007-05-26 14:05:46','Today\'s contest','Once you decide who might be a good choice for a stage win today, go ahead\r\nand send in your pick.\r\nWe\'ll randomly select one entry from among all of the correct entries and\r\naward\r\na really cool poster from the Horton Collection.\r\n
The first of the great Italian “campionissimoâ€, Constante Girardengo\r\nwas Italy’s dominant road rider from 1913 through the 1920s. He was the\r\nItalian national champion an unprecedented nine times, with a string of\r\nseven consecutive victories. This poster wonderfully captures the emotion\r\nof this great rider. The elegant Italian national champion jersey, short\r\nlegged shorts, and simple bicycle harken back to a romantic time in cycling’s\r\nhistory.\r\n
\r\n
'),(8088,172,'2007-05-26 14:12:00','At 83km','We\'ve seen a number of riders pull out of the Giro already, before today\'s climb. Do recall folks, that the Giro doesn\'t do hors categorie, so Category 1 is as tough as it gets. This would very likely qualify as an HC climb at the Tour, for example, so you really can\'t blame Brian Vandborg (Discovery), Fabio Sabatini (Milram) and Jurgen van der Walle (Quick Step) for deciding that there might be someting they\'d rather be doing today.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, Sven Krauss (G), Gerolsteiner, has moved off the front and has a lead of about 1:35. He\'ll be starting that lovely climb here in about three k, too.'),(8089,172,'2007-05-26 14:15:44','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Go ahead and drop\r\nus a line.'),(8090,172,'2007-05-26 14:21:00','On the climb','Krauss is on the climb and the peloton works its way onto the lower slopes as well. He has about 1:40 and already we\'re seeing Saunier Duval\'s Leonardo Piepoli, Olivier Bonnaire (Bouygues Telecom) and Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria) in front of the peloton, setting a tough pace. Is there an alliance of teams and riders trying to break Di Luca? This is the place to take him on, that\'s for sure. Sella, for example, is just 3:53 off on GC. That seems like a lot, but if you blow on a climb like this, you can lose a lot more time than that.'),(8091,172,'2007-05-26 14:23:34','Krauss','Less than 2km into the climb and the Gerolsteiner rider has already lost a chunk of his lead. He\'s just 45 seconds up on the peloton... as sprinters and others are getting dropped off the back already.'),(8092,172,'2007-05-26 14:29:00','Krauss has company','Several riders have made contact with Krauss. Di Luca is in a group trailing the leaders by about 35 seconds. There\'s no reason for the Maglia Rosa to panic and, if he\'s smart - and he is - he\'ll ride his own race up this 26-kilometer climb. This climb averages 6.6 percent, but has ramps that hit 12 percent at points.\r\n'),(8093,172,'2007-05-26 14:39:13','Today\'s poll','If you\'re looking for something to distract your attention for a minute, go ahead and go to our front page and vote in our latest VeloNews poll. We\'re asking whether Bjarne Riis should return the yellow jersey from the 1996 Tour de France.
By the way, take a look at the top 10 from that year and tell us just who actually does deserve that jersey:
1. Bjarne Riis (Dk) Telekom, 95:57:16
2. Jan Ullrich (G), Telekom, 1:41
3. Richard Virenque (F), Festina, at 4:37\r\n 4. Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Festina, at 5:53
5. Peter Luttenberger (A), Carrera, at 7:07
6. Luc Leblanc (F), Polti, at 10:03
7. Piotr Ugrumov (Rus), Roslotto, at 10:04
8. Fernando Escartin (Sp), Kelme, at 10:26
9. Abraham Olano (Sp) Mapei, at 11:00
10. Tony Rominger (Swi) Mapei, at 11:53\r\n'),(8094,172,'2007-05-26 14:42:00','Current situation','We have a group that includes Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Sp), Discovery Channel, Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, Hubert Schwab (Swi), Quick Step-Innergetic, Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile), Kurt Arvesen (CSC), Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) and Sylvester Szmyd (Lampre), Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria) at the front leading by about 1:30. Krauss has been caught by the escape group and the peloton and is now trailing a bit.'),(8095,172,'2007-05-26 14:46:00','At 97km','the Bettini group has 1:50 on the Di Luca group.'),(8096,172,'2007-05-26 14:49:47','Newer time check','The gap is up to 2:12.'),(8097,172,'2007-05-26 14:52:09','The leaders','Are now coming up at the 100km mark and they now have an advantage of 2:40.'),(8098,172,'2007-05-26 15:01:09','With 10km of climbing remaining','the Bettini group is 2:55 ahead of the maglia rosa group.'),(8099,172,'2007-05-26 15:05:19','Reader comment','Matt writes:
You are going to have to go much deeper than the top 10 to find a deserving winner who was clean.We won\'t go that far... but we won\'t necessarily disagree either, Matt. Anyway you look at it, it\'s sad. The only bright light is that this may help clean things up in the sport once and for all.'),(8100,172,'2007-05-26 15:11:00','Leaders','are now 5km from the summit. Their lead has been trimmed to 2:04'),(8101,172,'2007-05-26 15:18:10','With 3km','of climbing remaining. The gap is 1:43.'),(8102,172,'2007-05-26 15:22:44','Nearing the top','the lead group is breaking up. Surprisingly, Mayo is having problems. Not the remarkable climber he used to be.'),(8103,172,'2007-05-26 15:26:39','The Liquigas crew','is pushing the tempo in the peloton. Di Luca is tucked in safely behind a cadre of his team riders and the gap is only about 1:30, as the leaders crest the summit of the climb. Back with Di Luca is Simoni, Garzelli, Savoldelli...'),(8104,172,'2007-05-26 15:28:54','The peloton','is over the top and the gap and is not that big. We\'d wager that the group comes back together.'),(8105,172,'2007-05-26 15:34:19','Mazzoleni','and Savoldelli are descending like crazy and are getting a bit of a gap on the Di Luca group.'),(8106,172,'2007-05-26 15:38:55','No way','is the peloton going to let Mazzoleni get too far up the road. He\'s only 3:53 down on GC. Savoldelli is already more than 9:00 down, but he\'s out there helping his teammate.'),(8107,172,'2007-05-26 15:43:35','Franco Pellizotti','has joined up with the Mazzoleni/Savoldelli combo. As a member of Liquigas, he\'s up there to keep an eye on things. He sure won\'t be helping.'),(8108,172,'2007-05-26 15:45:12','The leaders','have regrouped. They crested the summit separated by 40 seconds or so, but the whole bunch of \'em are back together.'),(8109,172,'2007-05-26 15:51:00','','Our leaders are 2:00 ahead of the Di Luca group. We see Garzelli and Simoni now joining up with Salvoldelli and Mazzoleni... that\'s formidable.
Up front
Comments? Questions? Go ahead and drop\r\nus a line.'),(8125,172,'2007-05-26 16:31:00','The lead group','is flying down the climb. '),(8126,172,'2007-05-26 16:30:00','THere\'s been a crash','Tinkoff\'s Petrov has hit the deck and signficantly, he has caused Schleck to lose contact with the Di Luca group.'),(8127,172,'2007-05-26 16:34:49','Pellizzotti','is up front of the Di Luca group. He\'s now leading and gapping his teammates on this part, too.'),(8128,172,'2007-05-26 16:36:25','With 30km to go','the lead group is being driven by Savoldelli, who is heading to his hometown of Bergamo. '),(8129,172,'2007-05-26 16:37:35','Di Luca','may be getting worried here. He\'s not gaining time'),(8130,172,'2007-05-26 16:39:00','Schleck back','with Cunego and Di Luca.... Petrov, too.'),(8131,172,'2007-05-26 16:40:32','With 25km','to go. The lead group is now on the flats.'),(8132,172,'2007-05-26 16:41:50','The gap','is still 1:02. That\'s pretty good, since it was Savoldelli driving the front. The cool thing is that the lead group and the maglia rosa group are about the same size. This is going to be a drag race.'),(8133,172,'2007-05-26 16:46:48','The gap','is now at 1:08, with 21km to go.\r\n'),(8134,172,'2007-05-26 16:48:39','This is cool','Lampre and Liquigas are working together beautifully. The team time trial is our favorite event and it\'s especially cool to see two teams working together like that.'),(8135,172,'2007-05-26 16:49:12','The gap','with 19km to go is under a minute now.'),(8136,172,'2007-05-26 16:50:00','Today\'s winner?','Who knows? It may be interesting, since Bettini may well be suited for a finish like today\'s, but Simoni may be motivated to get the critical bonus seconds.'),(8137,172,'2007-05-26 16:51:24','With 18km to go','the gap is 1:05'),(8138,172,'2007-05-26 16:53:07','This is so impressive','Two groups working together, drag-racing through the final kilometers of a tough, tough stage. Screw the radios... Hi-zoot technology doesn\'t make a difference today.'),(8139,172,'2007-05-26 16:55:08','That gap','is holding. With 14km to go, the leaders are 1:11 up the road.'),(8140,172,'2007-05-26 16:58:07','Lampre','has more to lose and they know it. '),(8141,172,'2007-05-26 16:58:52','10km to go','we should get a good time check here.'),(8142,172,'2007-05-26 16:59:55','The gap','is now down to 51 seconds at 10km to go.'),(8143,172,'2007-05-26 17:01:30','Bettini','is working like a dog. You have to admire him for sticking with these guys on the climb.'),(8144,172,'2007-05-26 17:02:00','50 seconds','with 7km to go.\r\n'),(8145,172,'2007-05-26 17:04:54','Up front','Savoldelli, Mazzoleni, Bettini, Simoni, Baliana, Parra, Garzelli... under 5km to go. Now it\'s a tricky finish.'),(8146,172,'2007-05-26 17:05:28','Mazzoleni and Savoldelli','know these roads because both men are from Bergamo...'),(8147,172,'2007-05-26 17:05:44','the gap','at the 5km mark is at 50 seconds.'),(8148,172,'2007-05-26 17:06:46','The leaders','are coming through a steep cobbled section... Garzelli, Simoni and Bettini are putting in a gap.'),(8149,172,'2007-05-26 17:07:34','Garzelli fades a bit','Bettini, two. Simoni is working these guys over.'),(8150,172,'2007-05-26 17:07:57','Di Luca','jumps out of the chase group.'),(8151,172,'2007-05-26 17:08:48','Simoni','is leading Garzelli by about 10 bike lengths and Bettini another chunk behind. The homeboys may not make a win here today.'),(8152,172,'2007-05-26 17:10:01','This finish','is even tougher and trickier than the ride into Briancon. The two Astanas - the boys from Bergamo - have caught on to Bettini and Garzelli. Simoni is 16 seconds up the road.'),(8153,172,'2007-05-26 17:10:27','With 1km to go','Simoni is still leading, but they are closing.'),(8154,172,'2007-05-26 17:10:57','Garzelli Chasing!',''),(8155,172,'2007-05-26 17:11:13','Garzelli closing!',''),(8156,172,'2007-05-26 17:11:26','Bettini charging...',''),(8157,172,'2007-05-26 17:11:50','Garzelli takes it!','Garzelli, Simoni, Bettini.... now watch the clock!'),(8158,172,'2007-05-26 17:12:00','Di Luca comes in','38 seconds later, with Ricco, Cunego and Brusheghin... he\'s limited his damage and it made for a helluva stage, eh? Simoni actually earned a 12-second bonus for second place... so he\'s knocked off 50 seconds on GC'),(8159,172,'2007-05-26 17:14:14','What a terrific finish','We are especially pleased, because Garzelli happens to be among our favorites... but we hadn\'t picked him for the win.'),(8160,173,'2007-05-27 13:56:02','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 15th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a tough, tough, tough 184-kilometer haul from Trento to the mountain-top finish at Tre Cime de Lavaredo.
This is one that favors the top climbing talent in the main field.
Take a look folks. The day is punctuated by some very difficult climbs today:
The first of the great Italian “campionissimoâ€, Constante Girardengo\r\nwas Italy’s dominant road rider from 1913 through the 1920s. He was the\r\nItalian national champion an unprecedented nine times, with a string of\r\nseven consecutive victories. This poster wonderfully captures the emotion\r\nof this great rider. The elegant Italian national champion jersey, short\r\nlegged shorts, and simple bicycle harken back to a romantic time in cycling’s\r\nhistory.\r\n
\r\n
'),(8164,173,'2007-05-27 14:11:31','An abandon','Serguei Yakovlev (Astana) has pulled out of the Giro.
The lead group - somewhat fractured - is on the way down the Pellegrino. Saunier Duval\'s Ricco and Piepoli have joined Perez Cuapio from Panaria and Parra from Cofidis in a chase. They are making a solid attempt to bridge. Meanwhile Di Luca is staying with his biggest challengers, Simoni, Cunego, Schleck...'),(8165,173,'2007-05-27 14:15:25','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(8166,173,'2007-05-27 14:22:23','That little','Piepoli group is closing in on the break. That\'s a serious addition of horsepower. Are he and Ricco being sent up to drive a later effort by Simoni?
Meanwhile, we got a note from a good friend and VeloNews contributor, Chris Milliman, who writes:
Hey CP,Nahhh, Chris, we can\'t do that.\r\n\r\n'),(8167,173,'2007-05-27 14:31:00','At KM 120','The shrinking lead group of 5 is now 4:27 ahead of the Di Luca group. The Piepoli group, however, is closing in fast on the leaders. Up next, the Category 1 Passo Giau, which gains 922 meters over 9.8km, averaging 9.4 percent with a maximum grade of 14 percent.\r\n'),(8168,173,'2007-05-27 14:36:24','','Up front, we have
How about some love for Aaron Olson? He\'s riding his 2nd Giro, finished last year\'s in service of Simoni with Saunier, and has the unceremonious lanterne rouge (or whatever it is in Italiano) at the moment. Anyway, AO is a great guy, 100% committed to racing clean and a serious workhorse. So let\'s hear it.
Later,
CM
With Ricco and Piepoli closing in, which means that Simoni will have three teammates up the road. We\'re betting on some fireworks, folks.\r\n\r\n'),(8169,173,'2007-05-27 14:46:57','Merger','So, the Piepoli group has connected with the Bettini group. We have a handful of riders between the break and the maglia rosa group, which is now at 4:30.'),(8170,173,'2007-05-27 14:55:00','The merger','has involved considerably more riders than we thought. This who we have in the mix:
Up front, the Piepoli group is losing some of its company...'),(8177,173,'2007-05-27 15:18:45','Garzelli','is having some difficulty on the climb.'),(8178,173,'2007-05-27 15:20:07','Up front','While Piepoli and company aren\'t setting a tough pace, it is steady and they are dropping riders left and right. '),(8179,173,'2007-05-27 15:20:56','Up front','Ricco, Piepoli, Parra and Perez Caupio... that\'s it.'),(8180,173,'2007-05-27 15:24:10','Commesso, Bettini and Olson','are caught by the Simoni/Di Luca group. That group is down to about a dozen riders.... the usual suspects on a climbing stage: Sella, Simoni, Di Luca etc.'),(8181,173,'2007-05-27 15:26:00','The gap back to the jersey','to the jersey is around 2:50. There are four leaders - Perez Cuapio, Parra, Piepoli and Ricco. There are many riders spread out on the route.'),(8182,173,'2007-05-27 15:29:00','About half-way','up the climb. Our four leaders are about six kilometers into the Passo Giau.'),(8183,173,'2007-05-27 15:31:00','That was terrific!','The four leaders just passed our man Didi Senft (the devil) and Perez grabbed the devil\'s trident and poked in Piepoli\'s direction... and then handed it back to Didi. We know Didi - a delightful guy - and we know that made his year.\r\n'),(8184,173,'2007-05-27 15:35:48','Di Luca is the one','setting the pace at the front of a very small group. They\'ve shelled Savoldelli (who will catch on the descent). In there is Simoni, of course, who is sitting in and maybe waiting for another opportunity to attack. '),(8185,173,'2007-05-27 15:38:09','Di Luca is driving','and the gap is 2:45. He could be riding himself into trouble. He\'s isolated in the group, but he\'s riding up to two strong Saunier Duvals ahead. He has Schleck (CSC) and Simoni to contend with, too.'),(8186,173,'2007-05-27 15:38:58','Di Luca is catching','and passing many remnants of the original break. The gap to the leading four is 2:35.'),(8187,173,'2007-05-27 15:39:58','Contest','Once you decide who might be a good choice for a stage win today, go ahead\r\nand send in your pick.\r\nWe\'ll randomly select one entry from among all of the correct entries and\r\naward\r\na really cool poster from the Horton Collection.\r\n
The first of the great Italian “campionissimoâ€, Constante Girardengo\r\nwas Italy’s dominant road rider from 1913 through the 1920s. He was the\r\nItalian national champion an unprecedented nine times, with a string of\r\nseven consecutive victories. This poster wonderfully captures the emotion\r\nof this great rider. The elegant Italian national champion jersey, short\r\nlegged shorts, and simple bicycle harken back to a romantic time in cycling’s\r\nhistory.\r\n
\r\n
'),(8188,173,'2007-05-27 15:42:18','Zabel','Team Milram announced today that it will issue a decision regarding the future of Erik Zabel who was among those who confessed to having doped back in the 1990s while he was on Telekom. Folks, we have to hope that they let him ride and close out his career with a modicum of dignity. Canning him will do a lot of damage in that it will do little to encourage other riders to open up in the future.'),(8189,173,'2007-05-27 15:41:00','Up an over...','The leaders are on their way down the Passo Giau.'),(8190,173,'2007-05-27 15:47:14','Rain...','it\'s beginning to sprinkle a bit out there. The biggies are over the top, too, now... Savoldelli didn\'t lose too much time on the limb and the way that guy descends - somewhat akin to a rock - he should catch Di Luca and Co.'),(8191,173,'2007-05-27 15:52:00','The road is a bit','wet. With the climbers points atop the Passo Giau, Piepoli has moved past Di Luca, on KOM points. Since Di Luca is in the pink jersey, Piepoli is already wearing the jersey anyway.
Garzelli lost a lot of time on the climb, folks. Yesterday\'s stage winner crested the summit 7:25 behind the leaders. Bruseghin - the man second on GC - lost 4:35. He may be the reason Di Luca is pushing as hard as he is. Brushegin is having difficulty in the mountains, but he is a helluva time trialist.'),(8192,173,'2007-05-27 15:56:09','With 30km to go','The four leaders are holding a 2:30 advantage over the group of Di Luca.'),(8193,173,'2007-05-27 15:58:34','Big crowds','on the finishing climb today. The leaders are just about to start on the \"little\" Cat. 2 hump that precedes the final Cat. 1.'),(8194,173,'2007-05-27 15:59:41','Di Luca and Co.','Have pulled back Rasmussen and Baliani. From the other side, Savoldelli managed to make contact.'),(8195,173,'2007-05-27 16:02:08','We have three leaders','On the climb. Piepoli, Ricco and Perez Cuapio. Parra-Pinto has been dropped on the descent and is trailing by ... well, not by all that much. He just came back.'),(8196,173,'2007-05-27 16:03:51','A little dig','from Savoldelli and Mazzoleni. Baliani and Rasmussen follow... but Di Luca and Simoni aren\'t wasting time or energy chasing these guys.'),(8197,173,'2007-05-27 16:08:13','20km from the finish','our four leaders are 20km from the finish.'),(8198,173,'2007-05-27 16:10:58','Mazzoleni','has hit the 20km mark 1:50 behind the four leaders. His pace is such that Savoldelli and Rasmussen have been gapped.'),(8199,173,'2007-05-27 16:11:48','The Di Luca group','comes through 20km to go at 3:08...'),(8200,173,'2007-05-27 16:14:00','Arroyo','tries to pick up the pace, since Mazzoleni is pretty close to him on GC. So, too, Schleck is a little concerned about his hold on the best young rider competition. He needs to chase Ricco if he wants to preserve his hold.'),(8201,173,'2007-05-27 16:14:54','Today\'s final climb','Today\'s stage finishes on the Category 1 Tre Cime Di Lavaredo, a 7.2km climb that gains 547 meters, for an average grade of 7.6 percent with a max of 18 percent.'),(8202,173,'2007-05-27 16:16:39','Di Luca','is looking a little nervous. '),(8203,173,'2007-05-27 16:18:43','The gap to the leaders','is growing. Our last time check puts the Di Luca group at 3:29 behind the four leaders. Mazolleni is already within 1:10 of the four leaders.'),(8204,173,'2007-05-27 16:22:08','This is a chess game','in the Di Luca group. They have slowed... Mazzoleni - who started the day in 9th at 3:15 - is beginning to threaten a lot of these guys in the Di Luca group. Arroyo - seventh at 2:51 - is the one who is most nervous in this gang.'),(8205,173,'2007-05-27 16:24:09','Savoldelli','is back in the Di Luca group. He must have been used to launch his teammate. Rasmussen is up ahead.'),(8206,173,'2007-05-27 16:24:00','15km to go','the four leaders are nearing the top of the Cat. 2. Passo Tre Croci '),(8207,173,'2007-05-27 16:26:44','Mazzoleni','is at 15km to go, one minute behind the four leaders.'),(8208,173,'2007-05-27 16:28:02','Rasmussen hits','15km at 2:32... and the Di Luca group at 3:38.... 2:28 behind Mazzoleni. This is interesting.'),(8209,173,'2007-05-27 16:30:50','The leaders','Are over the top of the climb. The leading four are flying down the col, some rain starting to spit. The big drama waits for the final climb.'),(8210,173,'2007-05-27 16:32:17','','It will be interesting to see how Di Luca can handle the attacks, considering he\'s isolated without teammates.
Piepoli and Ricco have put on arm warmers, while Cuapio and Parra have not - must be that warm Latin blood '),(8211,173,'2007-05-27 16:33:36','','Schleck continues to amaze - 21 years old in first grand tour and he looks cool like a rider 10 yrs older. He continues to say his only goal is to defend the white jersey, but he\'ll easily be end up on the podium if he doesn\'t crack'),(8212,173,'2007-05-27 16:34:45','The gruppo maglia rosa','is 4:00 behind the four leaders and 3:10 behind Mazzoleni. That\'s getting to be a dangerous gap to Ricco for the overall GC '),(8213,173,'2007-05-27 16:36:53','The gap is growing, too...','The 10km to go mark... and the gap is 4:35.'),(8214,173,'2007-05-27 16:38:29','Ricco','Ricco rolling down his arm warmers to get ready to attack - and he\'s revving it up at the base of the final climb ... and there he goes. Piepoli leaving it to Parra and Cuapio to chase.\r\n'),(8215,173,'2007-05-27 16:38:59','Rain','It\'s cloudy, but not raining too hard. Fans have umbrellas, but not a downpour '),(8216,173,'2007-05-27 16:39:00','Ricco','Is ticking up the climb through big crowds. The Italians love the Giro party, regardless of the doping scandals overwhelming the sport ... and really, don\'t we all? '),(8217,173,'2007-05-27 16:41:25','Di Luca','the Di Luca group is just barely reaching the lower slopes of the climb. '),(8218,173,'2007-05-27 16:42:38','Ricco fades','And Peipoli is moving to the front. Perez Cuapio is on his wheel. Di Luca leading the maglia rosa grouo \r\n'),(8219,173,'2007-05-27 16:45:03','The climb','the tough part is still ahead... the leaders have just crested that little bump... before the really tough part. 3.6km to go'),(8220,173,'2007-05-27 16:45:00','Di Luca group','The Di Luca group is down to six: Di Luca, Simoni, Schleck, Cunego and (we think) Petrov and Savoldelli.'),(8221,173,'2007-05-27 16:46:12','The lead four...','are on the steep. Everyone out of saddle in leading four, except Ricco.'),(8222,173,'2007-05-27 16:46:00','Mazzoleni','trails by 1:15... and 4:52 to Di Luca!'),(8223,173,'2007-05-27 16:48:00','Ricco punches it again','He\'s caught...Perez Cuapio keeping Ricco on a short leash - the leading four are still together '),(8224,173,'2007-05-27 16:50:00','Ricco is 4:50','down on GC... and only a few seconds out of being the top young rider in the Giro. Schleck needs to worry.
Down the hill, Cunego is making a charge, with Di Luca, Schleck and Simoni following ... Arroyo and Savoldelli getting dropped '),(8225,173,'2007-05-27 16:51:59','Big attack','Cunego goes again ... Di Luca marking his wheel, with Schleck and Simoni following '),(8226,173,'2007-05-27 16:52:24','Chicken run...','Rasmussen getting caught by maglia rosa group ... '),(8227,173,'2007-05-27 16:53:06','Mazzoleni','is fading.... he looks tired. And now, Di Luca attacks the lead group! '),(8228,173,'2007-05-27 16:53:20','','Schleck is chasing, Simoni counters, Cunego dropped! '),(8229,173,'2007-05-27 16:53:44','Schleck fades','... Simoni passes the young rider.'),(8230,173,'2007-05-27 16:54:14','Simoni latches..','... on to Di Luca. Schleck is shelled.'),(8231,173,'2007-05-27 16:55:15','The four leaders','are 1.5km from the finish.'),(8232,173,'2007-05-27 16:56:09','Di Luca is moving ahead..','... Simoni is struggling to close a 10-meter gap. Cunego and Schleck have been spit out back by Di Luca\'s acceleration.'),(8233,173,'2007-05-27 16:56:30','Ricco attacks with','1.1 km to go... Parra counters'),(8234,173,'2007-05-27 16:56:45','Di Luca distancing Simoni',''),(8235,173,'2007-05-27 16:57:13','In the final km','Perez Cuapio has lost contact in final kilometer, leaving Piepoli, Ricco and Parra to fight for stage '),(8236,173,'2007-05-27 16:57:30','Di Luca has','left Simoni....'),(8237,173,'2007-05-27 16:57:57','Up front','Piepoli has rejoined the two leaders.'),(8238,173,'2007-05-27 16:58:09','Mazzoleni in the final km....',''),(8239,173,'2007-05-27 16:58:28','Saunier Duval','Parra is gonna be outgunned by the SD gang '),(8240,173,'2007-05-27 16:59:21','Piepoli attacks at 340 meters','to go....'),(8241,173,'2007-05-27 16:59:32','Parra fades',''),(8242,173,'2007-05-27 16:59:54','Ricco and','Piepoli will go one-two'),(8243,173,'2007-05-27 17:00:17','Steep with a headwind','this is a long haul to the finish.'),(8244,173,'2007-05-27 17:00:38','100 meters to go','....'),(8245,173,'2007-05-27 17:00:57','Ricco gets it','Piepoli second... Parra third...'),(8246,173,'2007-05-27 17:01:33','Mazzoleni','is in the final 300 meters, but Perez Cuapio gets fourth.'),(8247,173,'2007-05-27 17:02:11','Mazzoleni gets fifth','at 1:29'),(8248,173,'2007-05-27 17:02:36','Di Luca','is in the final 300 meters! He will keep the jersey.'),(8249,173,'2007-05-27 17:03:36','Di Luca takes sixth','at 2:53
Cunego is coming up to Simoni - no sign of Schleck.'),(8250,173,'2007-05-27 17:04:38','Simoni','at 3:29 and Cunego at 3:39 and Schleck at 3:52.'),(8251,173,'2007-05-27 17:05:00','It looks likes','Schleck has kept the young rider\'s jersey and his GC spot relative to Simoni and Cunego. Mazzoleni, by the way, looks like he moved up on GC... up to second according to our math.'),(8252,173,'2007-05-27 17:07:36','Wowie...','that was exciting... Congratulations to Michael Levin who won ourcontest today.\r\n'),(8253,173,'2007-05-27 17:08:31','Okay','that\'s a wrap folks. Check back soon for results, photos and a complete race report. Heck of a day, eh?'),(8254,174,'2007-05-29 14:05:00','Good day and welcome','and welcome to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 16th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a 189-kilometer race from Agordo in the Dolomites of Itay, acoss the border into Austria. This is one of Europe\'s most beauitful regions with spectacular mountains... which always makes for spectacular racing, but with yesterday\'s rest day and tomorrow\'s big climbing stage, we won\'t necessarily be expecting a lot of GC action today.'),(8255,174,'2007-05-29 14:12:00','Todays start','the peloton, now down to 143 riders, rolled our Agordo at noon. The pace has been quite moderate, with the peloton cresting the Category Passo Campolongo relatively intact. There have been no attacks.'),(8256,174,'2007-05-29 14:16:00','Today\'s contest','Once you\'ve decided who you expect will win today\'s stage - a big contender?\r\nAn escape artist? A sprinter?! - drop\r\nus a line and let us know. If you\'re right, we\'ll add your selection\r\nto those correct entries and randomly select a daily winner.
If you are selected, we\'ll send you a copy of our DVD, \"The\r\nQuest\" a documentary film about the 2003 Giro.\r\n
'),(8257,174,'2007-05-29 14:19:55','Zabel','Erik Zabel’s tearful confession that he doped in the 1990s won’t end his career as a professional racer.
\r\nZabel’s Milram team announced Tuesday that the German sprinter will keep his place on the ProTour team for the remainder of the 2007 season despite shocking admissions last week that he used the banned blood-booster EPO in the 1990s.
Frankly folks, we\'re pleased to hear that. Riders ought not be punished for their honesty, especially the confession that occurs without (judicial) prompting.'),(8258,174,'2007-05-29 14:21:54','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? Let us know by dropping\r\nus a line.'),(8259,174,'2007-05-29 14:25:56','The peloton','is still riding as one, coursing down the backside of the Passo di Campolongo and heading toward Austria. We always like this part of Italy, because... well, the mountains are nice, but for us it\'s also quite nice because well, the Live Update Guy doesn\'t speak Italian, but he does speak German and this is just like being home. It\'s terrific here. Some communities feel like you\'re in Germany even, with Bavarian flags hanging from buildings. '),(8260,174,'2007-05-29 14:39:00','At 72km','The peloton continues to ride together at one with itself, crusing along at an average speed of 25kph since the start.. although that is picking up here on the descent.'),(8261,174,'2007-05-29 14:51:22','An easy pace','\"Rest\" days do require a bit of recovery time. Riders often complain about the forced down-time since it disrupts the rhythm of daily racing. Before 1998, most grand tours had a single rest day, but the Festina scandal prompted the UCI to require two, as an \"anti-doping\" measure, reasoning that more rest would present fewer physical demands on riders, who then would be less inclined to dope.
You can look back over the past eight seasons and conclude how immensely effective that policy has been.'),(8262,174,'2007-05-29 15:05:26','An incredible effort by the peloton','... because it takes real talent to go this slow without tipping over.'),(8263,174,'2007-05-29 15:16:35','Average speed','over three hours of \"racing\" today has been at 28.9kph. The peloton is approaching the 95km mark at this point.'),(8264,174,'2007-05-29 15:23:23','Commets?','Comments? Questions? Complaints? We\'ve had a few comments arrive in the contest mailbox. That\'s different than the comment line, so if you have a question or a comment, let us know by dropping\r\nus a line to this address instead.'),(8265,174,'2007-05-29 15:43:24','This one is a \"Sleeper\"','One of our favorite Woody Allen flicks, but not a way to run a bike race.'),(8266,174,'2007-05-29 15:47:22','Daily Diversion','We\'ve done Haiku. We\'ve done Limericks... so today, we\'re asking you to submit your favorite cycling-related joke. (And, no, Frank Vandenbroucke doesn\'t count). Send it on and we\'ll post some of our favorites (with appropriate credit, of course).'),(8267,174,'2007-05-29 15:52:04','Post Rest day','recovery, the prospect of tomorrow\'s killer stage up to the brutal Monte Zoncolan and a steady rain have conspired to keep this day\'s pace remarkably slow. The only excitement of the day is that we just spotted Paolo Bettini skillfully remove a plastic bag from his wheel without stopping.'),(8268,174,'2007-05-29 15:56:33','At km 112','The Liquigas team is setting tempo up in front of the peloton. The rest of the group is trailing along. The pace is picking up a bit and we may see an attack on that little series of hills near the finish. There are three climbs, with only one ranked: The Category 3 climb at Bannberg, which tops out 27km from the finish. '),(8269,174,'2007-05-29 16:00:00','A classic joke','Reader Ed Van Rens sends in an old favorite. It\'s worth repeating, for sure
So these three cyclists go out for a late fall training ride. They\'re hammering along when suddenly they hit a spot of black ice and fly off a cliff. When the first cyclist opens his eyes, an angel is standing before him.'),(8270,174,'2007-05-29 16:05:00','Attack!!!','Attack! Benoit Joachim (Lux), Astana and Laurent Mangel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance have jumped off the front. They have 20 seconds on the field and a small chase group is forming up, too.'),(8271,174,'2007-05-29 16:10:00','Across the border.','The race is now in Austria... it doesn\'t appear that anyone is being stopped by customs, which is a perfect seque for Beth Lock\'s joke submission:\"Who do you wish to be?\" asks the angel.
\"Huh?\" says the cyclist.
\"Look, you rode well and lived well. When you get to heaven you can choose to transform yourself into any rider who ever lived.\"
Just then a racer in wool shorts and short-sleeved jersey whooshes by on a green bike. \"Hey!\" says the cyclist. \"That\'s...\"
\"...One of your friends\", says the angel, \"He chose to be Fausto Coppi. So who do you wish to be?\"
At that moment The Cannibal rips by them. \"Awww man,\" says the cyclist. \"My other friend already took Eddy, didn\'t he?\"
\"Oh, no,\" says the angel. \"Your other friend lived. That\'s just God. He wishes he was Eddy Merckx.\"
A cyclist was stopped by customs.'),(8272,174,'2007-05-29 16:17:43','The escapees','Are just ahead of a 13-man chase group. We see Julian Dean in that group. '),(8273,174,'2007-05-29 16:20:23','In the peloton','there appears to be little or no interest in mounting a big chase. The Liquigas boys are setting tempo at the front, but the pace back there is pretty relaxed. '),(8274,174,'2007-05-29 16:24:54','At 138km','the lead group is now composed of 13 riders. They only have about 20 seconds on the peloton.'),(8275,174,'2007-05-29 16:25:47','Jokes','We\'ve gotten several, but we have to hold off posting now that things have picked up. We\'ll sort through them and offer some in the early portion of tomorrow\'s coverage.'),(8276,174,'2007-05-29 16:31:06','The leaders -','- and the peloton are on the series of climbs that mark the next few kilometers.'),(8277,174,'2007-05-29 16:35:00','Bettini','makes a quick bike switch. He has to be frustrated in this Giro. He\'s really been trying to win a stage and has missed out.\"What\'s in the bags?\", asked the officer, pointing to his panniers.
\"Sand,\" said the cyclist.
\"Let me take a look\", said the cop. The Cyclist did as he was told, emptied the bags, and proving they contained nothing but sand, refilled the bags, and continued across the border.
A week later, the same thing happened, and continued every week for a year, until one day the cyclist with the sand bags failed to appear.
A few months later, the cop saw the cyclist living it up downtown. \"You sure had us foxed\", said the cop. \"We knew you were smuggling something across the border. I won\'t say a word - but what was it you were smuggling?
\"Bicycles!\"\r\n
The leaders are breaking up. These hills really have broken things up, both up front and in the peloton.'),(8278,174,'2007-05-29 16:36:00','The lead group','has been trimmed to three riders.... we see Laurent Mangel (Ag2r Prévoyance) of the original break and Pietro Caucchioli (Crédit Agricole) and Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Tinkoff).'),(8279,174,'2007-05-29 16:38:15','Chasing','Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) is chasing. In back, the Liquigas team is setting tempo at the front of the peloton.'),(8280,174,'2007-05-29 16:41:44','Unrated','Doesn\'t mean easy. This first climb has ramps that reach 16 percent. Two riders have now joined up with the three leaders.'),(8281,174,'2007-05-29 16:43:36','Up front:','We have Laurent Mangel (Ag2r Prévoyance), Pietro Caucchioli (Crédit Agricole), Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Tinkoff), José Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel) and Lorenzo Bernucci (T-Mobile) with Stefano Garzelli closing in.'),(8282,174,'2007-05-29 16:44:33','Lorenzo Bernucci','Has been dropped. Garzelli is still a ways back, but the gap to the peloton is now 2:13 back.'),(8283,174,'2007-05-29 16:45:40','To underscore','just how tough this little unrated climb is, we see Garzelli really struggling on this climb.'),(8284,174,'2007-05-29 16:51:30','40km','Laurent Mangel (Ag2r Prévoyance), Pietro Caucchioli (Crédit Agricole), Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Tinkoff), José Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel) lead a small group that includes Joachim, Lastras, Garzelli and Dean by about 25 seconds. The peloton, meanwhile, is back at around 2:30.'),(8285,174,'2007-05-29 16:51:32','40km','Laurent Mangel (Ag2r Prévoyance), Pietro Caucchioli (Crédit Agricole), Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Tinkoff), José Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel) lead a small group that includes Joachim, Lastras, Garzelli and Dean by about 25 seconds. The peloton, meanwhile, is back at around 2:30.'),(8286,174,'2007-05-29 16:53:30','Garzelli','The Garzelli group has made contact with the four leaders. There are still about 10km of hilly roads here, but if this group remains intact, you have to keep Julian Dean in mind as a favorite for a sprint.'),(8287,174,'2007-05-29 16:57:48','35km','To go... there is a chase group about 20 seconds back and the peloton is more than 2:20 back.'),(8288,174,'2007-05-29 16:59:35','Garzelli','attacks on the descent. He has that nice little Cat. 3 ahead... and will use that to put more time on the others in the break. Meanwhile, the peloton hits the 35km mark at 3:22.'),(8289,174,'2007-05-29 17:03:51','Garzelli','Is on the climb... but he\'s not getting enough of an advantage on the climb to hold off a strong chase on the flats. With 30km to go, he only has 16 seconds on the other men in the break'),(8290,174,'2007-05-29 17:06:05','Dean is dropped.','Julian Dean has been dropped by that little group chasing Garzelli. \r\n'),(8291,174,'2007-05-29 17:09:08','Garzelli','is riding right on the rivet. He\'s really driving it and adding to his advantage.'),(8292,174,'2007-05-29 17:11:45','Garzelli','crests the Cat. 3 climb with a 45-second advantage over the chase group. Ahead, he gets a long descent - about 9km - and then 16km of flats. Can he hold these guys off?'),(8293,174,'2007-05-29 17:12:03','Dean','hits the summit at 1:22.'),(8294,174,'2007-05-29 17:13:58','Garzelli','is doing a good job on the descent, but he\'s showing a bit of caution, given that there was a rain storm a bit ago.'),(8295,174,'2007-05-29 17:16:47','Well,','we know some people aren\'t chasing. The peloton hits the summit of the Cat. 3 5:59 behind Garzelli.'),(8296,174,'2007-05-29 17:17:00','Garzelli is 19km from the finish.','He\'s still descending and the roads are really wide here... he\'s flyin\' but the guys behind him aren\'t losing any time on him here.'),(8297,174,'2007-05-29 17:20:08','On the flats.','Today\'s closer is a 16km lap around Lienz. The roads are dry and Garzelli has passed through the start-finish area. The chase group is at 45 seconds.'),(8298,174,'2007-05-29 17:21:46','15km','to go. Garzelli is holding a 44 second advantage.'),(8299,174,'2007-05-29 17:23:06','There is a second chase','group is out there. It\'s composed of many of the men of that original break, but they\'re at 2:32... so not a factor. THe peloton is at 6:36.'),(8300,174,'2007-05-29 17:24:00','The gap','is at 41 seconds, with Garzelli leading a group of Laurent Mangel (Ag2r Prévoyance), Pietro Caucchioli (Crédit Agricole), Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Tinkoff) and José Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel) '),(8301,174,'2007-05-29 17:28:08','With 10km to go','Garzelli is 37 seconds ahead of the chase group.'),(8302,174,'2007-05-29 17:31:00','35 seconds','Garzelli is 7.5 km from the finish and holding a 35-second lead over the chase group of five. The second chase group is at 2:35 and the peloton is in another time zone.'),(8303,174,'2007-05-29 17:31:26','With 7km','to go, the gap is 33 seconds'),(8304,174,'2007-05-29 17:32:20','Lastras',' is too fast for these guys... there was a big gap last time he pulled through.'),(8305,174,'2007-05-29 17:32:48','With 6km to go','The gap is 31 seconds.'),(8306,174,'2007-05-29 17:34:53','The chasers','Are beginning to worry about each other.... Garzelli hits 5km to go and the chase group is 34 seconds back. Lastras tries a dig and heas off on his own.'),(8307,174,'2007-05-29 17:36:39','Garzelli looks like','he may be able to pull this one off. He\'s 4km fromt he finish and the Lastras dig easn\'t successful and it seems to have damaged the alliance back there. The gap is holding at 34 seconds.'),(8308,174,'2007-05-29 17:37:47','2.5km to go','and Garzelli is holding at 33 seconds. He can\'t be accused of getting a boost from the TV moto this time.'),(8309,174,'2007-05-29 17:38:09','40 seconds','with 2km to go. He\'s putting time on these guys.'),(8310,174,'2007-05-29 17:39:05','The chase has sputtered','Now the five chasers know what\'s up... '),(8311,174,'2007-05-29 17:39:47','Garzelli is heading home','He\'s in the final kilometer.'),(8312,174,'2007-05-29 17:40:00','Steffano Garzelli','wins his second stage win of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia. A great ride by one of our favorite riders in the peloton. '),(8313,174,'2007-05-29 17:41:00','Let\'s see','who emerges out of the chase group. Mongel, the man who initiated the day\'s original break gets second.
With Garzelli starting the day more than 20 minutes down on GC, the peloton\'s arrival more than seven minutes back won\'t really affect the overall, but we always like to see this guy win.'),(8314,174,'2007-05-29 17:46:36','Today\'s contest','was won by David Rairdan. We\'ve sent you a note, David. Congratulations.'),(8315,174,'2007-05-29 17:47:24','Okay folks','that\'s a wrap. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to tune in tomorrow. We\'re expecting a beautiful stage tomorrow.'),(8316,175,'2007-05-30 13:02:01','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 17th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a short, but brutal ride from Lienz, Austria, back into Italy with a spectacular finish atop Monte Zoncolan, often described as the hardest road in Europe. As feared as the mythical climbs of the Angliru, Mortirolo and L\'Alpe d\'Huez, the 10.1 kilometer Zoncolan gains 1203 meters for an average grade of 11.9 percent, with sections in excess of 20 percent. \r\n'),(8317,175,'2007-05-30 13:13:33','Today\'s weather','The weather in Lienz today is mostly cloudy and cool with temperature of 12°C. Winds 21km NNW. Humidity will be 78% and a 40% chance of rain. The weather atop Zoncolan, too, is cloudy, with a threat of rain. It\'s chilly but it\'s not raining at this point.\r\n'),(8318,175,'2007-05-30 13:12:00','And they\'re off','The peloton has rolled out of Lienz, with 142 riders. One rider who arrived here yesterday is not there today. Aketza Pena Iza (Euskaltel-Euskadi), could not start because he is sick...\r\nsick over being suspended for a doping positive at the Tour of Trentino.'),(8319,175,'2007-05-30 13:36:23','Rollin\' rollin\' rollin\'','The peloton is at the 18km mark. At this point, the group is intact... perhaps folks are thinking of the road ahead. Up there we have the Category 2 climb up the Monte Croce di Comelico at km55.9. There is another Cat. 2 at Tualis at km116 and then the finishing climb up the Category 1 climb up Monte Zoncolan. Please recall that at the Giro, Cat. 1 is as high as it gets, folks. There is no hors categorie or its equivalent at this race. If this were at the Tour de France, it would easily qualify as an HC climb.'),(8320,175,'2007-05-30 13:45:47','We have an attack','There are 12 riders off the front of the peloton. We are working to ID the escapees.'),(8321,175,'2007-05-30 13:57:00','The attackers have worked','like dogs and have built up a nice lead of 2:30, at 35km. We don\'t have all of the IDs yet, but we\'d be surprised if there were any GC threats in that bunch.
Decide who you think will win today\'s stage and then send that choice\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com. We\r\nwill randomly select a single winner from among the correct submissions.'),(8323,175,'2007-05-30 14:07:18','Comments?','Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(8324,175,'2007-05-30 14:10:00','The gap','at 41km is around 3:00. The Liquigas and Saunier Duval teams - those of Di Luca and Simoni - are setting tempo at the front of the field. Race radio is reporting that Paolo Bettini is in the group. We\'ll get more IDs, but Bettini deserves a pat on the back for his tenacity.'),(8325,175,'2007-05-30 14:15:15','The road','The leaders are on the Monte Croce di Comelico and holding a lead still around 3:00'),(8326,175,'2007-05-30 14:24:44','Gear selection','There are several riders who\'ve slapped triples on today. Even the maglia rosa has opted for 34X29... that\'s the sort of gearing you\'d put on a mountain bike. We\'ve had MTB doubles on some of our cross-country bikes and that\'s about the gear choice, too. Again, this is a Category 1 climb only because the Giro doesn\'t use the hors categorie designation.'),(8327,175,'2007-05-30 14:30:13','Up an over...','the leaders are working their way down the back side of the Monte Croce di Comelico and it will be another 60km before they hit a rated climb, although there is another bump in the road at km 89.'),(8328,175,'2007-05-30 14:32:37','Weather at the finish','It\'s clearing up a bit. It\'s still cloudy, but we do have some sun sightings.'),(8329,175,'2007-05-30 14:41:28','Time gaps','The escapees have upped their advantage to 5:15.'),(8330,175,'2007-05-30 14:45:53','Our leaders','are at 66km and the gap is dropping. It\'s now down around 4:40'),(8331,175,'2007-05-30 14:47:27','Contest Reminder','In honor of today\'s climbing stage, we\'re offering a copy of Owen Mulholland\'s\r\n\"Uphill\r\nBattle-cycling\'s great climbers\" as the prize for today\'s contest.\r\n
Decide who you think will win today\'s stage and then send that choice\r\nto Rosters@InsideInc.com. We\r\nwill randomly select a single winner from among the correct submissions.'),(8332,175,'2007-05-30 14:47:48','Questions? Comments? Gripes?','Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(8333,175,'2007-05-30 14:54:19','At 73km','the leaders are 4:42 ahead of the peloton. Saunier Duval and Liquigas are sharing the work in the main field.'),(8334,175,'2007-05-30 15:00:00','Your choices and our bet','Looking at your contest entries, folks, they seem to be pretty much divided between Simoni, Cunego and Schleck. Mmmmm.... we can\'t disagree, but we\'re gonna be something of the contrarian and bet on Perez Cuapio. For sure, he hasn\'t shown the flashes of brilliance that he did back when he made his Giro debut, but this is one of those climbs that might just suit a rider of his talents. We are, by the way, not all that good at predicting things, so don\'t put to much stock in that choice.'),(8335,175,'2007-05-30 15:07:58','The gap is holding','between 4:45 and 5:00. The work back in the peloton is still being handled by Liquigas and Saunier Duval.'),(8336,175,'2007-05-30 15:10:19','At 83km','The leaders are working their way up the unranked climb that peaks out at 93km. There is also a intermediate sprint at 89km, but there won\'t be a lot of competion for that.
Huge crowds at the finish by the way, today. These folks know where the big show is gonna be.'),(8337,175,'2007-05-30 15:15:32','Up front','
The Mazzoleni upward trajectory continues - he has gone from 21st in stage 10 at 5:51 back to second at 1:51 back'),(8343,175,'2007-05-30 15:58:03','The peloton','The peloton is shrinking on this climb as Liquigas and Saunier Duval set a tough pace at the front of the lead group, now down to about 40 riders '),(8344,175,'2007-05-30 15:58:11','','It will be interesting to see how Andy Schleck can hold up - looks like there\'s only one other CSC jersey in this group right now. He\'s 3rd overall and holds the best young rider\'s jersey less than 50 seconds ahead of Riccardo Ricco. '),(8345,175,'2007-05-30 16:01:09','With 23km remaining,','the leaders are holding on to a 4:30 advantage over the main field.'),(8346,175,'2007-05-30 16:01:47','Di Luca on Eddy M','Di Luca will be looking to put some distance between himself and Mazzoleni. \"I would like to gain more time on him because he can be dangerous in the time trial on Saturday,\" Di Luca said. \"If he\'s within two minutes, that\'s too close.\"'),(8347,175,'2007-05-30 16:03:15','Attack','There has been an attack out of the break. Cioni, Baliani and Codol are moving ahead of the break.'),(8348,175,'2007-05-30 16:04:07','20km to go',''),(8349,175,'2007-05-30 16:04:44','Data point','Five out of the past six winners held the maglia rosa in stage 16 to go on to win the overall title. The exception was in 2002 when Cadel Evans held the maglia rosa, but late collapsed on Passo Noe to open the door for Paolo Savoldelli to claim outright victory. '),(8350,175,'2007-05-30 16:08:10','back in the field','The Saunier Duval team has Ricco, Piepoli and Simoni in the gruppo maglia rosa'),(8351,175,'2007-05-30 16:09:41','15km to go.','The leaders are coming down the final drop before the big climb.'),(8352,175,'2007-05-30 16:12:11','The Cioni break','has been pulled back. The men in the original break are now heading for that killer final 10km.'),(8353,175,'2007-05-30 16:12:41','Commesso','has had a mechanical. He\'s back.'),(8354,175,'2007-05-30 16:14:54','Rock and roll','The leaders are on the climb'),(8355,175,'2007-05-30 16:15:00','We need to get a time gap','The Zoncolan is rated as the steepest climb in Europe, behind the Mortirolo, Finestre and Angliru. The 10.1 kilometer Zoncolan gains 1203 meters for an average grade of 11.9 percent, with sections in excess of 20 percent. \r\n'),(8356,175,'2007-05-30 16:16:47','The maglia rosa','group is at 4:00.'),(8357,175,'2007-05-30 16:17:44','Up north in Bavaria','Andre Schulze (Wiesenhof) beat Stuart O\'Grady in the frist stage at Bayern Rundfarht with Erik Zabel taking fourth '),(8358,175,'2007-05-30 16:18:38','With 9m to go','9km for front group, with Ardila leading the way. The Liquigas team is charging into the climb, with four Liquigas riders still there.'),(8359,175,'2007-05-30 16:20:04','Team cars','Are peeling off. They aren\'t allowed on this climb. The gap back to the maglia rosa group is at 4:00 at the 10km banner.'),(8360,175,'2007-05-30 16:21:00','Mayo','Mayo surges to front - Iban better cut back on the tapas before the Tour. Mayo, though, means that there are four SD\'s in the mix.
Cioni setting pace in front group with 8km to go - a former mountain biker, he could do well with this gearing.'),(8361,175,'2007-05-30 16:22:54','Didi','Didi the devil is out there... he lives for days like this.'),(8362,175,'2007-05-30 16:23:14','Simoni','is starting to show his face on the right side of the maglia rosa group.'),(8363,175,'2007-05-30 16:24:18','Cioni','is driving hard at the front group. The lead group has seriously fractured.'),(8364,175,'2007-05-30 16:24:54','Mayo','is up front with Piepoli and Ricco and Simoni coming on up.'),(8365,175,'2007-05-30 16:25:00','The maglia rosa group.','Just picked up Markel Irizar (Euskaltel) from the break. Savoldelli pulling Mazzoleni to the fast reducing bunch with -8km for the leaders ... Cioni is now 3:20 ahead '),(8366,175,'2007-05-30 16:26:18','','Pellizotti now at front, with Savoldelli, Mazzoli, Cunego in front of Di Luca and Ricco, Piepoli still there for Simoni '),(8367,175,'2007-05-30 16:26:36','Chicken','Rasmussen is there - maybe hoping to make a run for the stage win '),(8368,175,'2007-05-30 16:26:53','Cioni','is alone.'),(8369,175,'2007-05-30 16:27:45','Mazzoleni','is losing contact.'),(8370,175,'2007-05-30 16:28:31','Simoni','Simoni accelerates, with Di Luca, Schleck, Ricco and Cunego ... Piepoli and Perez Cuapio trying to stay close '),(8371,175,'2007-05-30 16:29:21','Perez Cuapio','is losing contact now (so much for our pick). Mazzoleni has blown - if Schleck stays put, he\'ll move into second '),(8372,175,'2007-05-30 16:30:43','Simoni','is driving at the front. He and the riders with him are pulling back several riders from the break. Simoni, Di Luca, Cunego, Piepoli and Schleck are now at front ...Ricco is dropped.'),(8373,175,'2007-05-30 16:32:33','','The men in the gruppo maglia rosa: Simoni, Piepoli, Di Luca, Cunego, and Schleck. He\'s impressive - hanging with the big boys - he turns 22 a week after the Giro ends '),(8374,175,'2007-05-30 16:33:19','Simoni','is upping the pace.... he\'s got a gap. Cunego is leading the chase. Up front, Cioni has 2:35'),(8375,175,'2007-05-30 16:34:38','Simoni','is ticking up the climb like a machine, the gap is maybe 15 seconds, but Di Luca has been dropped from that chase group.'),(8376,175,'2007-05-30 16:36:05','Simoni','is adding to his lead... but he did start the day at 3:19 down on GC. Simoni reeling in Ardila from the break with Schleck, Cunego and Piepoli chasing and with Di Luca about 10m back.'),(8377,175,'2007-05-30 16:36:19','','Piepoli is marking Schleck\'s wheel, with Cunego losing contact! '),(8378,175,'2007-05-30 16:36:38','Di Luca','is losing ground.'),(8379,175,'2007-05-30 16:37:38','Cioni','is five km fromt he finish. He has about 2:00 on Simoni'),(8380,175,'2007-05-30 16:38:00','Schleck','is closing in on Simoni... and Piepoli moving up on the young CSC man\'s wheel. Cunego is maybe 15 seconds back and Di Luca another 10 behind that.'),(8381,175,'2007-05-30 16:39:29','Simoni','and Schleck are within five km of the finish and less than two minutes behind Cioni.'),(8382,175,'2007-05-30 16:40:08','Schleck','Simoni and Piepoli are together... and 1:38 back from Cioni.'),(8383,175,'2007-05-30 16:40:36','Di Luca','trailing Simoni by 40 seconds.'),(8384,175,'2007-05-30 16:41:47','','No fences here, so fans are trying to push up the riders. Di Luca just called off someone, riders in the laughing group might not be so insistent \r\n
Cunego is suffering between the Gibo group with Di Luca measuring his efforts behind '),(8385,175,'2007-05-30 16:43:37','Simoni','gets Baliani....Schleck is setting tempo with Simoni and Piepoli on his wheel. At the end of yesterday\'s stage, Schleck said: \"The legs have been good so far in all the summit finishes, so I hope I have one more good day in my legs.\"
Bettini - another remnant of the break - is caught.'),(8386,175,'2007-05-30 16:44:31','Piepoli','setting tempo now. Cioni is noticeably slower than the elite climbers in pursuit.'),(8387,175,'2007-05-30 16:45:08','Cioni','is only 40 seconds ahead of the Simoni group.'),(8388,175,'2007-05-30 16:45:52','','Schleck is bound to stay in white for best young rider\'s jersey - back in Giro for first time since 1994 when Evgeni Berzin won it.
Cunego is about 20sec back, Di Luca about 30sec back of the Gibo group '),(8389,175,'2007-05-30 16:46:20','Cobol','one of the men in the break, has fought back to Cioni...'),(8390,175,'2007-05-30 16:46:54','Piepoli','is driving hard at the front. Di Luca has fought his way back to Cunego.'),(8391,175,'2007-05-30 16:47:00','Codol','is now moving ahead of Cioni. Does he have the gas to fight this all the way to the finish?'),(8392,175,'2007-05-30 16:47:58','Closing in','Piepoli, Schleck, Simoni - in that order - pulling close with 3km remaining.'),(8393,175,'2007-05-30 16:48:35','Cunego','and Di Luca are together.'),(8394,175,'2007-05-30 16:49:00','Cioni','was almost doing a track stand... ouch. Caught and passsed by the Gibo\' group.'),(8395,175,'2007-05-30 16:50:00','Coming up on Codol','Simoni, Piepoli and Schleck are about to reel in Cobol.'),(8396,175,'2007-05-30 16:52:03','Finally','the riders are entering a portion that has dufus barriers on both sides of the road.'),(8397,175,'2007-05-30 16:52:58','Codol','caught'),(8398,175,'2007-05-30 16:53:54','Piepoli','driving hard.... He, Simoni and Schleck are in the lead, with Codol hanging on.'),(8399,175,'2007-05-30 16:54:20','Schleck','Schleck said he lacks the finishing punch to try to sprint to victory, so he said he would try to attack from afar to solo in for a win ... '),(8400,175,'2007-05-30 16:54:47','Codol','dropped.'),(8401,175,'2007-05-30 16:55:15','The leading trio are heading','to the final kilometer. '),(8402,175,'2007-05-30 16:55:00','Di Luca','is only 16 seconds back. The leaders are pushing through a narrow, dark tunnel ... with Piepoli leading the way and now on the final kilometer.\r\n'),(8403,175,'2007-05-30 16:56:55','The top of the mountain','The summit is covered with people... all of whom walked up here, because there were no cars permitted.'),(8404,175,'2007-05-30 16:57:43','500 meters','They used soldiers to hold back the crowds.'),(8405,175,'2007-05-30 16:58:18','Schleck is dropped','as Piepoli and Simoni hit it on the 16% slope.'),(8406,175,'2007-05-30 16:58:41','Piepoli','hands this one to the boss man... Simoni wins it.'),(8407,175,'2007-05-30 16:58:55','Schleck finishes third','at 0:05'),(8408,175,'2007-05-30 16:59:26','Di Luca','at 31 seconds
Cunego at 35
Codol at 58 seconds.'),(8409,175,'2007-05-30 17:00:34','Bruseghin','Remember him? He\'s in at 1:58 and we\'re still waiting for Mazzoleni.'),(8410,175,'2007-05-30 17:00:48','Mazzoleni','comes in at 2:25.'),(8411,175,'2007-05-30 17:01:16','GC','Even if you factor in the time bonuses shouldn\'t be enough to bounce Simoni ahead of Schleck in the GC. Schleck moves into second on GC'),(8412,175,'2007-05-30 17:02:02','Bettini','Comes in at 2:34 or so. Bit bad. Our quick math shows that Mazzoleni is now 5th on GC.,'),(8413,175,'2007-05-30 17:02:36','Garzelli','comes in at 3:42'),(8414,175,'2007-05-30 17:06:43','GC','Di Luca
2. Schleck at 2:24
3. Simoni, at 2:28
4. Cunego, at 3:29'),(8415,175,'2007-05-30 17:11:03','Okay folks','that\'s a wrap. Thanks for tuning in, today.'),(8416,176,'2007-05-31 14:01:00','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 18th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a flat 203-kilometer ride from Udine to Riese Pio X.
Today\'s stage began at around 12:30 and there were several attacks from the gun, but it wasn\'t until km 35 that a group of seven riders managed to slip away. That group is now at 75km and holds a 2:15 lead over the main field.'),(8417,176,'2007-05-31 14:09:42','The men in the break','Here is a list of the men in the break (along with their positions on GC)
\"Bjarne Riis has admitted to being doped. We therefore consider that his performance was faked,\" said Sporten Else Trangbaek, president of the commission that elects sports stars to the list. \"And for that reason he cannot be among the greatest sportsmen.\"
It really shouldn\'t come as a big surprise, since Riis was specifically cold-shouldered a few years back when the Queen of Denmark specifically did not invite him to a presentation honoring the country\'s greatest sports heroes.
We sure do hope this latest round of admissions and heightened scrutiny will once and for all clean the sport up. We were naive enough to think that the 1998 Festina scandal was going to be enough to remind riders that the risks exceeded the potential benefits.... so, we\'ll hold off making brash and hopeful predictions for this round.'),(8422,176,'2007-05-31 14:33:54','Two hours of saddle time','and the pace has been quite high. Indeed, over this last hour, the escapees covered 47.05km. Right now the break only has an advantage of about 1:45, so we\'re not expecting too much from these guys. The problem Quick Step and Milram have, however, is that if they pull these fellers in too quickly, it\'ll encourage another attack. It may be that knowing that they might ease off over the next few kilometers and we might just see that gap stretch out a bit. Let\'s see.'),(8423,176,'2007-05-31 14:35:56','At 93km','the gap is just around 1:40.'),(8424,176,'2007-05-31 14:37:11','Questions?','Questions? Comments? Wanna tell us how off-the-mark we are? Go ahead, drop\r\nus a line!'),(8425,176,'2007-05-31 14:53:51','Lunch','The leaders are heading toward the feedzone. We\'ll get a good time check there, we\'re sure'),(8426,176,'2007-05-31 15:03:00','Time check','Our latest time check puts the men in the lead at 2:30. '),(8427,176,'2007-05-31 15:12:54','Schleck','Seems destined to get the best young rider\'s jersey for this Giro. He solidifies his grasp on the jersey yesterday, finishing right behind Simoni and Piepoli, on a day that Ricco faded. He now leads the whte jersey race by 2:55.'),(8428,176,'2007-05-31 15:17:30','Milram','and Liquigas have upped the pace and the gap is at 1:42'),(8429,176,'2007-05-31 15:22:36','Reader Question','Jesse Bump writes to ask an interesting question:
Would you be willing to comment briefly on some of the look and feel\r\ndifferences between the Giro and the Tour? I saw Hincapie\'s comparison\r\na couple weeks ago and am looking for more.Personally, Jesse, as reporters most of the folks I travel with enjoy the Giro more, simply because it\'s more relaxed. The Tour is wonderful and you will see that same festival atmosphere throughout France in July, but there is so much pressure on the riders, so much attention and so much money at stake, it isn\'t quite the same atmosphere behind the scenes. The Giro, though, has a much mellower environment and the Vuelta is our personal fav\'.'),(8430,176,'2007-05-31 15:23:56','Little headway','At 135km the break is still hovering around 1:45 ahead of the field.'),(8431,176,'2007-05-31 15:31:19','Reader question','Scott McGhee writes in to ask about the fact that several riders have negative numbers on the Points tally. Odd as it seems, the Giro sometimes deducts points as a penalty for a particular infraction. When that occurs to riders who don\'t have many points to begin with, you see that.'),(8432,176,'2007-05-31 15:33:39','1:44','The leash is short today.\r\nThe peloton is leaving these guys out there, but they aren\'t letting them too far up the road. Tired from yesterday\'s climb, maybe the teams prefer a steady ride, rather than ramping it up for the last 60 or so kilometers.'),(8433,176,'2007-05-31 15:37:41','A reminder','of who is up there:For the past three years I\'ve been lucky enough to live in Florence and\r\nI\'ve caught six Giro stages in person and almost all the others on RAI\r\nand your live update. The Giro amounts to a public festival in every\r\ntown it passes. Folks of all ages get out and participate. It\'s so\r\nfriendly and so representative that it restores a little faith in\r\nhumanity. Does the tour feel like that?
The gap is holding at 1:45.\r\n'),(8434,176,'2007-05-31 15:39:12','In the peloton','the Liquigas team is doing its duty as the maglia rosa squad, but the Milram, Saunier Duval and Quick Step teams have riders up there, too.'),(8435,176,'2007-05-31 15:45:30','Reader comment','Mark Crosby writes
I am extremely impressed by Alessandro\'s mid-pack finish yesterday and continued march to Milan. Much more impressive than the sprinters who quit before the mountains.We agree Mark, Petacchi\'s return is impressive enough, but finishing a mere 11:00 down yesterday was quite good. He\'s aiming for the points jersey, of course, but he would love to win another stage today.'),(8436,176,'2007-05-31 15:48:00','The gap','is now at 1:35, with 47km remaining.'),(8437,176,'2007-05-31 15:55:30','Comments?','Questions? Comments? Go ahead, drop\r\nus a line!'),(8438,176,'2007-05-31 16:01:00','SRAM','We\'ve had several notes pointing out this year\'s successful debut of the SRAM gruppo. With Piepoli, Ricco and Simoni each winning at the Giro, that\'s a pretty nice introduction for an American-made group in the ProTour, eh?
We like the group and we even have something of an affinity for the folks at SRAM. SRAM\'s minister of propaganda - or whatever they call PR flacks these days - used to work with us as an ad salesman at VeloNews. A big shout out to our friend, Mr. Zellman.'),(8439,176,'2007-05-31 16:03:00','At km 161','the time gap is inching toward 2:00. The Milram, Saunier Duval and Quick Step teams are all lending a hand.'),(8440,176,'2007-05-31 16:09:39','With 40km to go','our leaders are 1:36 ahead of the peloton.'),(8441,176,'2007-05-31 16:12:59','The gap','is shrinking. The leaders are 1:20 ahead of the peloton.'),(8442,176,'2007-05-31 16:14:50','With 36km','remaining, the gap is 1:11.'),(8443,176,'2007-05-31 16:20:38','Today\'s finish','involves two trips around a 16km finishing circuit. It\'s still pan flat, though.
The break has come apart with just four riders in the lead.'),(8444,176,'2007-05-31 16:23:19','So three riders -','Ignatiev, Horrillo and Vila are back in the field. The others are hanging out there about 50 seconds ahead of the field.'),(8445,176,'2007-05-31 16:24:49','It\'s a mix','up front in the peloton. Milram is doing a bunch of the work, but Credit Agricole, Saunier Duval, Euskaltel... all have someone up front.'),(8446,176,'2007-05-31 16:25:39','With','25km to go, the leaders are 1:02 ahead of the peloton'),(8447,176,'2007-05-31 16:28:53','The four remaining escapees','Here is a list of the men in the break (along with their positions on GC)\r\n
As expected Paolo Bettini has put in a dig a ways back, but he was swept up as well. Man, your heart has to go out to the guy. We like him a lot and it\'s been painful to watch him try and win at least one stage this year.'),(8470,177,'2007-06-01 14:05:21','Schleck flats','The Giro\'s best young rider has flatted. He\'s already back, though, brought up with the aid of his remaining teammates, including American David Zabriskie, who is going to be finishing in Milan on Sunday. He stands a good chance, too, of scoring a stage win in tomorrow\'s time trial.'),(8471,177,'2007-06-01 14:11:57','Today\'s contest','Today\'s contest is probably going to be determined by whether this or another escape attempt succeeds or if the sprinters\' teams manage to control the field up to the finish. Your call. Send\r\nin your pick for today\'s stage winner. We\'ll make a random selection from among the correct entries and we\'ll send the winner a poster featuring a stellar Graham Watson shot from the 2005 Giro. Indeed, that very shot of the peloton heading up the Stelvio in 2005 is so impressive, it\'s what we have hanging behind the reception desk at VeloNews world headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. That stage was famous for the spectacular collapse of Ivan Basso, who seemed on track to win the Giro that year, but suffered from food poisoning that day and was forced to stop several times on the climb, suffering from gastrointestinal problems. We\'re sure he\'d take those disruptions over his current problems in a New York minute, though.'),(8472,177,'2007-06-01 14:13:13','Comments?','Questions? Comments? Drop us a line.'),(8473,177,'2007-06-01 14:14:08','Bettini','flats. He is in the group again, though.'),(8474,177,'2007-06-01 14:25:14','At 82km','there are still riders attempting to scamper off the front, but not many folks within the peloton seemingly willing to let them get away with it. Up ahead, there may be a sorting out of the main field on the slopes of the Category 1 Pian delle Fugazze. It\'s an 11.4-kilometer climb that tops out at 101km at an altitude of 1162 meters, averaging 7.2 percent.\r\n'),(8475,177,'2007-06-01 14:37:00','Heading toward the climb','the peloton is intact at this point.'),(8476,177,'2007-06-01 14:41:21','At the front','it\'s the Liquigas team setting tempo on the climb. They aren\'t going to let anyone slip away to threaten what appears to be Di Luca\'s solid grip on the maglia rosa.'),(8477,177,'2007-06-01 14:44:53','Testing, testing, testing','Authorities from the Italian Olympic committee took blood and urine samples from leading riders at the Giro d’Italia following Wednesday’s epic climbing stage to Monte Zoncolan. Among those tested were race leader Danilo Di Luca, stage-winner Gilberto Simoni, Riccardo Riccò and Eddy Mazzoleni.
The tests came as Italians authorities, led by anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri, continue to investigate a possible doping ring dubbed “Oil for Drugs†which some Italian cyclists have been linked.
“I don’t feel targeted by these tests. Torri does his work and I do mine. I have nothing to hide,†Di Luca told journalists at the Giro. “I submitted to these tests, even if the UCI and WADA already do them. They took longer than normal and after a hard stage like Zoncolan I didn’t even sit down to eat until 10:30 p.m. My lawyer has already worked to clear the situation.â€\r\n \r\n'),(8478,177,'2007-06-01 14:53:52','At 95km','the Liquigas team is keeping everyone in line. With 6km of climbing, we might see Saunier Duval\'s Leonardo Piepoli try to nail the points on the climb, but we expect that we won\'t see too much else going on on this climb.'),(8479,177,'2007-06-01 14:56:51','With four km','of climbing the peloton remains together.'),(8480,177,'2007-06-01 14:59:36','The climber\'s jersey','At this point, Mr. Piepoli is a lock for the KOM jersey, so if he does go for it today, it\'s largely symbolic... but we still figure he will.1. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 73 Pts.
\r\n2. Fortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 46 Pts.
\r\n3. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 45 Pts.
\r\n4. Riccardo Ricco\' (I), Saunier Duval, 36 Pts.
\r\n5. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 31 Pts.
\r\n6. Yoann Le Boulanger (F), Bouygues Telecom, 24 Pts.
\r\n7. Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Col), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 23 Pts.
\r\n8. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 20 Pts.
\r\n9. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 15 Pts.
\r\n10. Christophe Riblon (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 15 Pts.
\r\n'),(8481,177,'2007-06-01 15:03:00','Now how\'s that','for a message? Di Luca - of all people - attacks on the climb.'),(8482,177,'2007-06-01 15:03:00','All together','with Piepoli up front. He will be going for those points, for sure.'),(8483,177,'2007-06-01 15:06:00','Back in the back','of the field, Petacchi and Bettini are forming the \'laughing group,\' because up front, we see an elite cadre of riders - Di Luca, Savoldelli, Cunego, Mazzoleni, Piepoli, Rasmussen....'),(8484,177,'2007-06-01 15:09:00','Mazzoleni','makes a stab... but is caught.'),(8485,177,'2007-06-01 15:10:00','The Di Luca group','is over the top.'),(8486,177,'2007-06-01 15:22:37','On the way down','the gruppo maglia rosa is about a minute ahead of the rest of the field. If these guys want, they have the horsepower to hold them off, but what\'s the point? Schleck and Simoni are in the mix.'),(8487,177,'2007-06-01 15:29:59','These guys up front','are not messing around. There have been several attacks off the front of the lead group. Simoni knows that this is his last chance to move up the GC. He\'s sent Mayo up the road... and now Acqua & Sapone\'s Garzelli is chasing. '),(8488,177,'2007-06-01 14:30:00','Weather','it\'s raining today. So roads could be slick on the descent.'),(8489,177,'2007-06-01 15:35:00','The situation on the road','We have Mayo off the front with Rasmussen, Petrov, Visconti, Losada, Pozzovivo and Garzelli. The maglia rosa group is at 45 seconds.'),(8490,177,'2007-06-01 15:39:37','Flyin','Wet roads don\'t seem to concern these guys. The speed is high, especially for these conditions.'),(8491,177,'2007-06-01 15:42:00','The men in the lead','and their positions on GC:
There is a group of five riders, that includes Cioni about 23 seconds back and the gruppo maglia rosa about 2:40 back. That shows that the Liquigas team is not too concerned with the escapees and putting more stock into being careful on wet roads.'),(8495,177,'2007-06-01 15:56:43','Rain is easing up','a bit. The Lampre and Liquigas teams are now sharing the work at the front of the field. The roads are still very wet.'),(8496,177,'2007-06-01 16:00:18','Wowie','The time gap back to DiLuca is now 4:23. Mayo and Losada have about 25 seconds on the chase group.'),(8497,177,'2007-06-01 16:03:10','With 40km to go,','the road ahead is not easy. It\'s a long climb up to the Cat. 3 Passo Ballino. The gap back to Di Luca is holding about 4:05.'),(8498,177,'2007-06-01 16:06:59','That Cioni group','includes
They are stuck at around 2:00.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n'),(8499,177,'2007-06-01 16:08:10','The Mayo pair','still lead the Rasmussen group by 20 seconds. The Cioni group is at 2:00 and the gruppo maglia rosa is at 3:55.'),(8500,177,'2007-06-01 16:08:33','Contest Reminder','Today\'s contest is probably going to be determined by whether this or another escape attempt succeeds or if the sprinters\' teams manage to control the field up to the finish. Your call. Send\r\nin your pick for today\'s stage winner. We\'ll make a random selection from among the correct entries and we\'ll send the winner a poster featuring a stellar Graham Watson shot from the 2005 Giro. Indeed, that very shot of the peloton heading up the Stelvio in 2005 is so impressive, it\'s what we have hanging behind the reception desk at VeloNews world headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. That stage was famous for the spectacular collapse of Ivan Basso, who seemed on track to win the Giro that year, but suffered from food poisoning that day and was forced to stop several times on the climb, suffering from gastrointestinal problems. We\'re sure he\'d take those disruptions over his current problems in a New York minute, though.'),(8501,177,'2007-06-01 16:11:13','Raining again','the break from the downpour was brief... it\'s sloppy out there, with anyone drafting getting a shower of spray from the wheel ahead. Remember how slippery the paint is in conditions like this. Riders sure do...'),(8502,177,'2007-06-01 16:14:00','Lampre?','One reader asks. With a rider in the lead group and Vila in that Cioni group, why is Lampre chasing with Liquigas from the maglia rosa group?
We\'d guess that it\'s because Petrov is in the group way up front. The Tinkoff rider is in 8th place and just 10:25 out of the lead. He could extend his lead over Bruseghin - who hopes to move up in tomorrow\'s TT - and even threaten Cunego\'s fourth place.'),(8503,177,'2007-06-01 16:16:34','With 30km to go','Mayo and Losada still have 21 seconds on the Rasmussen group.
The Cioni group is drifting back to the gruppo maglia rosa, which is at 3:50. '),(8504,177,'2007-06-01 16:17:03','The leaders','are heading onto the lower slopes of the climb.'),(8505,177,'2007-06-01 16:18:45','Questions?','Questions? Comments? Drop us a line.'),(8506,177,'2007-06-01 16:19:23','Yuck','It doesn\'t look too comfortable out there for these fellas. The rain is really picking up.'),(8507,177,'2007-06-01 16:23:24','Time gaps','The two leaders are 30 seconds ahead of the Rasmussen/Garzelli group and the Di Luca group - which is growing as riders dropped on the climb rejoin - is at 3:20. The Cioni group is only 40 seconds ahead of the Di Luca group.'),(8508,177,'2007-06-01 16:24:32','On the climb','the Mayo/Losada duo have extended their lead to 43 seconds.'),(8509,177,'2007-06-01 16:28:44','Ticking along','Losada and Mayo are cruising up the climb. The peloton has crossed through the 25km to go mark some 3:56 behind the two leaders.'),(8510,177,'2007-06-01 16:29:59','The two men up front','are now 56 seconds ahead of the Petrov/Garzelli chase.'),(8511,177,'2007-06-01 16:34:07','Nice part of Italy','The Italian bicycle industry is solidly established in this part of the world, folks. We used to do those great \"Made in Italy\" specials for VeloNews and it seems that about 90 percent of our stories were written within 50km of today\'s route. '),(8512,177,'2007-06-01 16:36:39','The Cioni group','is about to be pulled into the Maglia Rosa group.
Up front, Mayo and Losada are 20km from the finish.'),(8513,177,'2007-06-01 16:41:07','Mayo and Losada','are holding a 45 second lead over the Petrov/Garzelli group and 3:25 on the gruppo maglia rosa. '),(8514,177,'2007-06-01 16:41:51','Mayo takes a dig','he has attacked Losada, trying to get some time on the final parts of the climb.'),(8515,177,'2007-06-01 16:44:29','The chasers','have upped the pace and may close in on Losada. They have dropped Garzelli.'),(8516,177,'2007-06-01 16:45:23','Losada','is caught by the Petrov foursome. Mayo is about 50 seconds up the road.'),(8517,177,'2007-06-01 16:46:48','The situation on the road','We have Iban Mayo leading a group of five riders that includes:We have:
'),(8518,177,'2007-06-01 16:48:36','Rasmussen','attacks out of the chase group. He\'s not exactly known for his abilities as a road descender, so if he wants to get Mayo, he\'ll have to do it on the final portions of the climb.'),(8519,177,'2007-06-01 16:50:05','Mayo','is at the top of the Cat. 3 climb.'),(8520,177,'2007-06-01 16:50:38','Rasmussen crosses over','41 seconds back.'),(8521,177,'2007-06-01 16:51:09','The Petrov chase','group has pulled back Rasmussen.'),(8522,177,'2007-06-01 16:52:24','Weeeeeeee!','on the descent Rasmussen is having a tough time hanging with the other three. The gap to Mayo is 38 seconds.'),(8523,177,'2007-06-01 16:53:00','Rain','rain is not letting up. There are lots of umbrellas lining the finish area today.'),(8524,177,'2007-06-01 16:56:15','Zabel','Confession may be good for the soul, but it doesn\'t seem to be too bad for the legs, either. Erik Zabel won again in Bavaria today. He\'s now won twice since confessing to having dabled in dope in the \'90s.'),(8525,177,'2007-06-01 16:57:03','Mayo','is still 45 seconds ahead of the chase. '),(8526,177,'2007-06-01 16:59:34','Time gaps','Mayo is 35 seconds ahead of Petrov and Visconti, while Marzano and Rasmussen trail by another 15.'),(8527,177,'2007-06-01 17:00:40','The Di Luca group','is about 3:00 minutes behind all of the action off the front of the bike race.'),(8528,177,'2007-06-01 17:01:36','Petrov','and Visconti are 30 seconds behind Mayo with 8km remaining.'),(8529,177,'2007-06-01 17:04:30','Yeeeehaw','Mayo is driving hard and diving through turns in a fashion that\'s making us nervous. He\'s now 33 seconds ahead of Visconti, who appears to have dropped Petrov.'),(8530,177,'2007-06-01 17:05:00','Two km','to go'),(8531,177,'2007-06-01 17:05:42','Oh man...','Hairpin turns and Mayo is charging through the final 1500 meters.'),(8532,177,'2007-06-01 17:06:02','One kilometer to go','Mayo has 38 seconds on Visconti.'),(8533,177,'2007-06-01 17:06:32','Lots of turns','and that makes us nervous... but it looks like he\'s got it.'),(8534,177,'2007-06-01 17:07:36','Mayo wins!','Iban Mayo celebrates his victory, the fourth stage win by Saunier Duval in this Giro.'),(8535,177,'2007-06-01 17:08:00','Visconti',' comes in second.'),(8536,177,'2007-06-01 17:08:46','Marzano','third, Rasmussen fourth and Petrov fifth.... all at about 1:08.'),(8537,177,'2007-06-01 17:09:16','The peloton is','heading into town... but carefully. These roads are wet.'),(8538,177,'2007-06-01 17:10:46','The peloton','comes through at around 3:10... with a few inspired riders scampering off ahead.'),(8539,177,'2007-06-01 17:11:59','Today\'s contest','was won by Greg Herman. Congratulations, Greg.'),(8540,177,'2007-06-01 17:14:00','That\'s a wrap folks.','Thanks for joining us today and be sure to join us for tomorrow\'s time trial. Because it\'s a time trial our start will be an hour later than the usual 8:00 a.m. (EDT) kick-off.'),(8541,178,'2007-06-02 14:58:29','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 20th stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, 43 kilometer individual time trial from Bardolino to the finish outside the Arena di Verona.
As is always the case riders start in reverse order of their standings on General Classification, so we\'ve already seen quite a number of riders cover the course. At this point, Mikhail Ignatiev (Tinkoff) has turned in a solid 54:21, so he sits atop the leaderboard. American Aaron Olson (T-Mobile) is 9th, with a 58:08. It\'s still early folks, so we should see a lot of changes to come.'),(8542,178,'2007-06-02 15:06:53','Top ten at the finish','As we said, this situation will be changing for much of the day. Here are the current top-ten, with 45 riders across the line in Verona.
1. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 0:00
\r\n2. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 0:20
\r\n3. Dario Andriotto (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 0:53
\r\n4. Enrico Gasparotto (I), Liquigas, 1:40
\r\n5. Steven Cummings (GB), Discovery Channel, 2:00
\r\n6. Benoit Joachim (Lux), Astana, 2:13
\r\n7. Leonardo Scarselli (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 2:23
\r\n8. Aliaksandr Usau (Blr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 2:26
\r\n9. Christophe Kern (F), Credit Agricole, 2:42
\r\n10. Matthew White (Aus), Discovery Channel, 3:03
\r\n'),(8543,178,'2007-06-02 15:12:00','Zabriskie','CSC\'s Dave Zabriskie is on the road and has matched Ignatiev\'s 15:04 at the 10.3km time check.
Top-10 at checkpoint No.1
1. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 15:04
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 0:00
\r\n3. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 0:28
\r\n4. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 0:29
\r\n5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 0:30
\r\n6. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 0:33
\r\n7. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 0:35
\r\n8. Daniele Contrini (I), TCS, 0:47
\r\n9. Dario Andriotto (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 0:49
\r\n10. Pavel Padrnos (Cz), Discovery Channel, 0:49
\r\n'),(8544,178,'2007-06-02 15:16:11','Zabriskie','We\'re waiting to see how Zabriskie - who began the day in 67th at 1:50:50 - does at time check No.2 at the 20.8km mark.'),(8545,178,'2007-06-02 15:21:00','Picking up the pace','Zabriskie has set a new mark at 20.8km, covering the distance in 26:32, a full 49 seconds faster than Credit Agricole\'s Lazlo Bodrogi and 50 seconds faster than Ignatiev.
Top-10 at time check No. 2
1. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 26:32
\r\n2. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 0:49
\r\n3. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 0:50
\r\n4. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 0:53
\r\n5. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:05
\r\n6. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 1:06
\r\n7. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 1:15
\r\n8. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:19
\r\n9. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:33
\r\n10. Pavel Padrnos (Cz), Discovery Channel, 1:40
'),(8546,178,'2007-06-02 15:24:00','Current top ten at the finish','1. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 53:28
\r\n2. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 0:53
\r\n3. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 1:13
\r\n4. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 1:21
\r\n5. Dario Andriotto (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 1:46
\r\n6. Enrico Gasparotto (I), Liquigas, 2:33
\r\n7. Jurgen Van Goolen (B), Discovery Channel, 2:39
\r\n8. Daniele Contrini (I), TCS, 2:48
\r\n9. Steven Cummings (GB), Discovery Channel, 2:53
\r\n10. Benoit Joachim (Lux), Astana, 3:06
\r\n'),(8547,178,'2007-06-02 15:34:00','At KM 29.75','Zabriskie is still on pace to set a new best time at time check No. 3:
1. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 37:54
\r\n2. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 0:47
\r\n3. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:10
\r\n4. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 1:15
\r\n5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 1:29
\r\n6. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 1:33
\r\n7. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 1:39
\r\n8. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:47
\r\n9. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:52
\r\n10. Pavel Padrnos (Cz), Discovery Channel, 2:03
\r\n'),(8548,178,'2007-06-02 15:38:23','Comments?','Comments? Questions? Gripes? Drop\r\nus a line.'),(8549,178,'2007-06-02 15:47:37','New mark','David Zabriskie finishes with a 52:58, 30 seconds up on Bodrogi.'),(8550,178,'2007-06-02 15:48:51','Current top ten at the finish','1. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 52:58
\r\n2. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 0:30
\r\n3. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 1:23
\r\n4. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:40
\r\n5. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 1:43
\r\n6. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 1:51
\r\n7. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 1:51
\r\n8. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 2:11
\r\n9. Dario Andriotto (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 2:16
\r\n10. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 2:22
\r\n'),(8551,178,'2007-06-02 15:51:00','Zabriskie','remains the only American to have won stages in all three grand tours and did so in three successive tours, starting with a stage in the 2004 Vuelta - an epic solo from km 1 - followed by a time trial win in the 2005 Giro d\'Italia and the prologue at that year\'s Tour.'),(8552,178,'2007-06-02 15:59:22','Ullrich','International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said today that Jan Ullrich might be stripped of the two Olympic medals - a gold in the road race and silver in the TT - he won in 2000 in Sydney.
\"We will investigate the revelations that have been made by riders from Telekom, because several of them took part in the Olympic Games,\" said Rogge.
Interesting.'),(8553,178,'2007-06-02 16:06:00','No changes','at any of the time checks. Zabriskie continues to sit in the hot seat and it\'s likely to be some time before a serious challenge is mounted against the American\'s top mark. Among the ones to watch will be Marzio Bruseghin from Lampre. He\'s the Italian national time trial champion and scored an impressive - and somewhat surprising - win in the Stage 13 TT, which was touted as a hill climb.'),(8554,178,'2007-06-02 16:21:24','Weather','It\'s been raining all day, so while it\'s miserable, we don\'t see the weather to affect riders\' relative performances... although it will prompt some riders to play it safe through the turns.'),(8555,178,'2007-06-02 16:23:25','No changes','Paolo Savoldelli is working his way to the first time check, but at this point there are no changes in the standings at any of the time checks today.'),(8556,178,'2007-06-02 16:28:45','Marzio Bruseghin','is on the road, so we\'ll see if Italy\'s national TT champ mounts a significant challenge to Zabriskie\'s current lead.'),(8557,178,'2007-06-02 16:30:33','Savoldelli','has hit the first time check 10 seconds faster than Zabriskie. We\'ll have to keep track of this guy.'),(8558,178,'2007-06-02 16:33:26','Bettini','finishes well down in 82nd place.'),(8559,178,'2007-06-02 16:38:40','Bruseghin','comes through the first time check 8 seconds slower than Savoldelli... and 2 seconds faster than Zabriskie.'),(8560,178,'2007-06-02 16:41:08','Time Check No. 2','Savoldelli hits the intermediate check point No. 2 at 26:23 and that\'s 9 seconds faster than Zabriskie.'),(8561,178,'2007-06-02 16:45:36','Evgeni Petrov','has hit the first time check with a time of 15:22, seventh best on the day. Back at the start, Andy Schleck is now on the road. Up next, is race leader Danilo Di Luca.'),(8562,178,'2007-06-02 16:47:30','Di Luca','is the last rider out of the gate. We\'ll be tracking his progress for sure.'),(8563,178,'2007-06-02 16:51:04','Savoldelli still fastest.','The two-time Giro winner hits the third time check with a time of 37:27, significantly better than Zabriskie\'s 37:54.'),(8564,178,'2007-06-02 16:56:00','Di Luca','is riding very well. We doubt he\'s losing much time, if any to Schleck.
Simoni, meanwhile, had the 13th fastest at the first check point.'),(8565,178,'2007-06-02 17:00:03','Schleck','hits time check No. 1 with the seventh fastest, 15:34. He\'s not losing time to Simoni.... but Simoni is losing time to Mazzoleni.'),(8566,178,'2007-06-02 17:03:00','Final top 10 at Time Check No. 1','This should be a good indicator:
1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 14:54
\r\n2. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 0:08
\r\n3. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 0:10
\r\n4. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 0:10
\r\n5. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 0:12
\r\n6. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 0:14
\r\n7. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 0:16
\r\n8. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 0:19
\r\n9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 0:27
\r\n10. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 0:28
\r\n'),(8568,178,'2007-06-02 17:05:15','Savoldelli','Comes in to the finish with a time of 52:22, 38 seconds faster than Zabriskie and the Astana rider is now the top mark. He may well be the stage winner.'),(8569,178,'2007-06-02 17:06:48','Di Luca is flying','he\'s riding very well. He\'s got seven seconds on Schleck and he\'s seems on his way to locking up the Giro d\'Italia for this year.'),(8570,178,'2007-06-02 17:09:02','Garzelli','Finishes with a 57:26... not fast.'),(8571,178,'2007-06-02 17:10:48','Mazzoleni','is riding very, very well and it looks like he is poised to bump Gilberto Simoni off of the podium.'),(8573,178,'2007-06-02 17:13:52','Bruseghin','Finishes with a time of 53:36, the fourth fastest of the day and 1:16 down on Savoldelli.'),(8574,178,'2007-06-02 17:17:36','Final top 20 at Time Check No. 2','1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 26:23
\r\n2. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 0:09
\r\n3. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 0:14
\r\n4. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 0:25
\r\n5. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 0:33
\r\n6. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 0:38
\r\n7. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 0:39
\r\n8. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 0:46
\r\n9. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 0:58
\r\n10. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, 0:59
\r\n11. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 0:59
\r\n12. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 1:02
\r\n13. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 1:03
\r\n14. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:14
\r\n15. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 1:15
\r\n16. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 1:15
\r\n17. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 1:24
\r\n18. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:28
\r\n19. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile, 1:28
\r\n20. David Dario Cioni (I), Predictor-Lotto, 1:29
\r\n'),(8575,178,'2007-06-02 17:20:00','Schleck','is making up a little bit of time on Di Luca, but he\'s certainly not on pace to take the full 2:24. Simoni, meanwhile is losing more than enough time to Mazzoleni to lose his spot on the podium'),(8576,178,'2007-06-02 17:21:11','At the third time check','Simoni has lost 1:23 to Mazzoleni and if that\'s the gap, he will bumped off of the podium.'),(8577,178,'2007-06-02 17:28:08','Mazzoleni','comes into the finish. He won\'t beat his teammate, Savoldelli, but he gets 52:56...pushing David Zabriskie into third.'),(8578,178,'2007-06-02 17:28:44','Cunego','has to get 53:16 to stay ahead of Mazzoleni.'),(8579,178,'2007-06-02 17:30:05','Final top 15 at time check No.3','1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 37:27
\r\n2. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 37:47
\r\n3. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 37:54
\r\n4. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 38:13
\r\n5. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 38:21
\r\n6. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 38:33
\r\n7. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 38:35
\r\n8. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 38:41
\r\n9. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 38:41
\r\n10. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, 38:55
\r\n11. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 39:01
\r\n12. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 39:04
\r\n13. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 39:09
\r\n14. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 39:13
\r\n15. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 39:23
\r\n'),(8580,178,'2007-06-02 17:30:52','Sun is out','The roads are drying off, which may let the final few riders to pump it up a bit over the final few kilometers.'),(8581,178,'2007-06-02 17:33:53','Cunego','finishes with a time of 54:37. He loses his fourth place spot to Mazzoleni. Simoni still has to finish, but it looks like Mazolleni has vaulted past him as well, for third overall.'),(8582,178,'2007-06-02 17:35:44','Tick, tick','Simoni is heading to the finish, but he\'s already lost his spot on the podium to Mazzoleni.'),(8583,178,'2007-06-02 17:37:21','Simoni','manages to hold on to fourth. Cunego will be fifth on GC from the looks of it.'),(8584,178,'2007-06-02 17:38:18','Schleck finishes with','a 53:48 and he manages to preserve his spot on the podium. 21 years old and second in his first Giro d\'Italia. How cool is that?'),(8585,178,'2007-06-02 17:39:21','Di Luca','is the only rider left. He\'s heading toward the finish.'),(8586,178,'2007-06-02 17:41:41','Di Luca finishes','with a 54:17, good enough for 8th place on the day, but more than enough to keep the Giro.'),(8587,178,'2007-06-02 17:43:41','Top 20','1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 52:20
\r\n2. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 52:56
\r\n3. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 52:58
\r\n4. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, 53:28
\r\n5. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 53:36
\r\n6. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 53:48
\r\n7. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 54:04
\r\n8. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 54:17
\r\n9. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus), TCS, 54:21
\r\n10. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 54:22
\r\n11. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, 54:31
\r\n12. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 54:37
\r\n13. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 54:38
\r\n14. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Saunier Duval, 54:41
\r\n15. Andrei Kunitski (Blr), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 54:49
\r\n16. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Predictor-Lotto, 54:49
\r\n17. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 55:04
\r\n18. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 55:09
\r\n19. Dario Andriotto (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil, 55:14
\r\n20. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 55:20
\r\n'),(8588,178,'2007-06-02 17:45:15','Paolo Savoldelli','wins the stage, but his teammate, Eddy Mazzoleni, scores a big win with his second place finish. He moves past Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego and into third place in the overall standings.'),(8589,179,'2007-06-03 14:23:49','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the 21st and final stage of the 2007 Giro d\'Italia, a 185-kilometer ride from Vestone to Milan.
It\'s a largely flat and often celebratory ride to a wonderful finishing circuit contested in front of huge crowds in the grand city that serves as the \"capital\" of Northern Italy.'),(8590,179,'2007-06-03 14:28:47','Today\'s weather','It\'s been rainy for the past few days and today is no different. Temperatures are mild, around the mid-70s and humidity is quite high at 85%. There is a 40% chance of rain today.'),(8591,179,'2007-06-03 14:34:11','Today\'s stage','began at two hours ago, with 141 riders heading out from Vestone on the way to Milan. In other words, no one pulled out overnight. Really, would you, at this point?
There have been several attacks out of the field over the first 55km today, but they have been countered by vigilant Milram and Quick Step teams. It\'s not a heavy pace, by the way... with an average speed of 26.5kph.'),(8592,179,'2007-06-03 14:42:59','','Comments? Questions? Drop us a note.'),(8594,179,'2007-06-03 14:53:57','A Limerick','We didn\'t ask for them today, but Lise in Denmark sent this one in:
A guy on a bike named Andy,'),(8595,179,'2007-06-03 15:03:33','At the 73km mark','the peloton is riding as one... at one with itself, so to speak.'),(8596,179,'2007-06-03 15:09:13','Among the finishers today','There are several riders who deserve special recognition for riding all the way to Milan, today. Top among them in our book is Alessandro Petacchi, who has a lock on the points jersey, whether he wins here or not, today. Also T-Mobile\'s Aaron Olson is a few hours away from finishing his Giro. Also American David Zabriskie, who came close to winning yesterday\'s stage. He\'s already won stages in all three grand tours, but it still would have been nice for him to get another, we\'re sure. We certainly were cheering for him. Nope, it\'s not fervent nationalism on our part, we just like the guy\'s take on the world.
was certainly not a dandy,
he worked his way up,
yes right to the top,
a fellow like him is so handy!
Also in the peloton, today, is world champion Paolo Bettini, who has motored on despite weeks of frustration. Personally, if we are cheering for anyone to win in Milan today, it has to be him. He\'s tried harder than anyone out there.'),(8597,179,'2007-06-03 15:26:45','Not much to report','slow pace, tired riders, the prospect of a few days off have all conspired to keep these opening hours to be deemed rather uneventful. at 90km the peloton is all together. Is anyone surprised?
To keep ourselves entertained, we\'ll open the door to a broad spectrum of reader submissions: jokes (cycling related only); Limericks and Haiku. Have at it and we\'ll post a selection of what we deem to be the best. Yes, we know, it sounds heavy handed, but what the heck.'),(8598,179,'2007-06-03 15:39:45','The pace','has picked up to 30kph. Di Luca\'s celebration continues with the obligatory toast with Prosecco. If tradition holds, the peloton will be led into Milan by the Liquigas boys and then all hell will break lose as some riders try to sneak off and deny the sprinters their day in the limelight.'),(8599,179,'2007-06-03 15:48:00','This reminds us','A few years back - it was 2000, we think - covering the final stage in Milan, when Garzelli won, we were wandering through the streets to watch the final stage when the peloton flew past and one rider on the old Fassa Bortolo team pulled up with a mechanical of sorts. At the speed the peloton was flying the team mechanic opted to make a bike switch rather than a repair and leaned the bad bike on the barrier and ran back with a replacement. Just as he turned around, a crafty spectator decided that the damaged bike was free for the taking, leaned over the metal barrier and began a sprint that would have made Cipollini tired. I don\'t think they caught the guy, either, even though there were probably 20 or 30 other spectators trying to catch him.'),(8600,179,'2007-06-03 15:53:54','Ahead','speaking of the finishing circuit, today, it\'s 10 laps around a five-kilometer loop. If you want to see the shape of today\'s finishing circuit, go ahead and use the zoom feature on the map over there to the right.'),(8601,179,'2007-06-03 16:12:00','Think about next year','Giro organizers have just announced that the 2008 Giro d\'Italia will begin in Palermo, in Sicily. It will be a few months before the specific route is unveiled, but we now know the location of the start (so we can try to buy cheap tickets for one thing). The odds are good that it will end right here in Milan, again. The last time the Giro kicked off in Palermo, by the way, was in 1986 when Urs Freuler won the prologue.'),(8602,179,'2007-06-03 16:23:24','The weather','fortunately the day has been highlighted largely by threats of rain, but the weather is holding for now. The peloton is ticking along with Milram keeping guard at the front. We\'re still cheering for Bettini today. He derserves a stage, eh?'),(8603,179,'2007-06-03 16:37:21','No pink bling','the Liquigas team isn\'t overdoing the whole rosa thing as they ride to Milan. The whole team - including Di Luca - are on their regular bikes, but they do have pink bar tape. Personally, we appreciate it.'),(8604,179,'2007-06-03 16:41:38','Big big crowds','As the peloton is heading into the outskirts of Milan, there are HUGE crowds lining the streets along the finishing circuit.'),(8605,179,'2007-06-03 16:43:28','Liquigas','is now up front as the peloton rides through the streets of Milan, heading on to the final circuit in a few kilometers.\r\n'),(8606,179,'2007-06-03 16:45:23','on the closing circuit','the peloton is now on the first lap of 10 trips around the finishing circuit.'),(8607,179,'2007-06-03 16:48:19','A final Limerick','Mark Otewalt has the distinction of submitting the last Limerick we\'re posting this Giro - since the race is winding down and we have to do more reports than at those slow times. Thanks Mark.
A confession by a sprinter named Zabel'),(8608,179,'2007-06-03 16:50:07','Liquigas','the Liquigas team is still leading the peloton. We\'re assuming that they get the honor of tripping around one lap at the front before we see attacks form... there are traditions to uphold, after all.'),(8609,179,'2007-06-03 16:55:49','Still Liquigas','at the front as the peloton nears the end of the first lap. Nine laps to go.'),(8610,179,'2007-06-03 17:03:48','Liquigas leads','through another lap. Eight laps to go.... we expect that to change here soon... but dang, it has to be cool parading through town as the team of the winner.'),(8611,179,'2007-06-03 17:08:34','The team','Reader Ken Bloesch writes to remind us
Has started a heck of a squabble
Is he a sinner or saint?
Either he\'s guilty or he aint
But he\'s certainly less of a role model
Danilo Di Luca rode like a determined man throughout the 2007 Giro. He is a deserving champion. The Liquigas team deserves credit for their performance during the team time trial. They were not high on the list of favorites to win the stage. However, they displayed the teamwork and tenacity needed to finish on top.We couldn\'t agree more, Ken. These guys all did a terrific job throughout the Giro this year.'),(8612,179,'2007-06-03 17:15:01','Still mellow','The Liquigas team is still at the front with Di Luca really enjoying his time in the limelight. He\'s waving to folks along the way... At the back, we see Paolo Bettini hovering at the end of the peloton, chatting with teammates.'),(8613,179,'2007-06-03 17:20:12','Bettini','with a big smile on his face he\'s working his way up to the front of the peloton. With five laps - and about 25km - to go, we may finally see a bit of attacking.'),(8614,179,'2007-06-03 17:24:39','Tinkoff','Who else? We see a Tinkoff rider scampering off the front.'),(8617,179,'2007-06-03 17:30:44','Ignatiev','has 17 seconds on the peloton. Any bets on how long he\'ll last?'),(8618,179,'2007-06-03 17:32:30','The peloton','is still being led by the Liquigas team, which seems odd to us, since the sprinters\' teams are probably more eager to win the stage than is Liquigas. There 18km to go.'),(8616,179,'2007-06-03 17:27:15','Now the speed is picking up','With Ignatiev from Tinkoff riding ahead of the field, the pace has really picked up. He\'s being chased by Euskaltel\'s Irizar.'),(8619,179,'2007-06-03 17:35:07','Ignatiev','is still holding on to a 15-second lead.'),(8620,179,'2007-06-03 17:36:33','With three laps to go','Ignatiev is being chased by Disco\'s Steve Cummings, but he\'s about to be caught, so the Russian remains the only rider off the front of the field.'),(8621,179,'2007-06-03 17:37:37','Cummings','is caught. Ignatiev is still out there.'),(8622,179,'2007-06-03 17:39:00','With 13km','remaining, Ignatiev is still 17 seconds ahead of the peloton.'),(8623,179,'2007-06-03 17:40:49','The pace','riders are coursing through this final circuit at about 49kph\r\n'),(8624,179,'2007-06-03 17:43:01','Two laps to go','with less than 10km to go, Ignatiev - who has won the prize for spending the most time on the attack for the entirety of the Giro - is still 16 seconds off the front.'),(8625,179,'2007-06-03 17:44:29','Ignatiev','The peloton is coming up fast on the Russian. There are a lot of Milram riders massing at the front of the peloton.'),(8626,179,'2007-06-03 17:45:00','He\'s caught.',''),(8627,179,'2007-06-03 17:46:32','Liquigas','at the front of the field again, there\'s quite a bit of scrambling for position in the main field. Bettini is working his way up. We\'re hoping he does it.'),(8628,179,'2007-06-03 17:47:54','One lap to go','The Giro d\'Italia is on the final lap through Milan.'),(8629,179,'2007-06-03 17:48:58','Liquigas still at the front','Milram is moving up the side, with four kilometers to go.'),(8630,179,'2007-06-03 17:49:50','Bettini','is working his way up toward Petacchi\'s wheel.'),(8631,179,'2007-06-03 17:51:10','Milram','is now driving at the front. Petacchi, in the points jersey, is in the prime spot, Bettini is on his wheel and Richeze is on Bettini\'s.'),(8632,179,'2007-06-03 17:52:13','We see','Julian Dean in there, but Bettini is staying glued to Petacchi\'s wheel.'),(8633,179,'2007-06-03 17:52:34','1km to go',''),(8634,179,'2007-06-03 17:53:41','Milram','It\'s all Milram leading through the final kilometer. Zannini goes, Petacchi charges off.... and it\'s not even a contest!'),(8635,179,'2007-06-03 17:54:44','Petacchi','just rockets to the finish... by six or seven bike lengths. Wow. Five stage wins in the Giro. Nice!'),(8636,179,'2007-06-03 17:56:13','Nice!','Danilo Di Luca, of course, wins the Giro d\'Italia. Alessandro Petacchi takes his fifth stage of this grand tour, so we can finally dispense with the references to his injury last year. He\'s back... no duh.'),(8637,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(8638,183,'2007-06-10 16:45:37','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live Coverage of the prologue time trial at the 2007 edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.
Today\'s stage is a flat, 4.2-kilometer individual race against the clock in the streets of Grenoble, home of the 1968 Winter Olympics.'),(8639,183,'2007-06-10 16:50:00','Today\'s weather','It\'s quite warm, but rainy in Gronoble today. That could prove to be a factor, since this course has to negotiate just one wet hairpin turn, some riders - particularly the big GC riders - may opt for caution over glory. It is, afterall, just 4.2km out of a week of racing.'),(8640,183,'2007-06-10 17:02:09','Top time','With only about 60 or so riders having covered the route, it\'s going to be a while before we see how the day shakes out. At this point, though, it\'s Bouygues Telecom\'s Stef Clement who has covered the route in the best time, with a 4:57.11'),(8641,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','',''),(8646,185,'2007-06-11 14:01:54','Good day and welcome','to VeloNews.com\'s Live coverage of the first stage of the 2007 edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, France\'s traditional pre-Tour prep\' race that attracts a good share of the favorites for July\'s big event.
Today\'s stage is a 219-kilometer ride from Grenoble to Roanne, that promoters say is the Dauphiné\'s only real opportunity for the sprinters in the peloton.'),(8647,185,'2007-06-11 14:06:00','Today\'s stage','began a bit before 11 this morning, with all riders on the roster participating in today\'s stage. We saw a few early digs by riders, but it wasn\'t until about kilometer 30 that Rémi Pauriol (Crédit Agricole) and Nicolas Portal (Caisse d\'Epargne) moved ahead of the field and got a break to stick. At the 110km mark, the two escapees had a 5:30 lead on the main field, after bumping their advantage to as much as 8:15.... but then the peloton was forced to stop for a train (shades of Paris-Roubaix 2006) and the advantage is up to 9:25 at 120km.'),(8648,185,'2007-06-11 14:13:00','Today\'s contest','If you have an idea of who might win today\'s stage, send\r\nus your pick. If you\'re correct, we\'ll add your choice to others and\r\nrandomly pick a winner, who will receive a copy of VeloPress\'s newest publication,\r\n\"Gracie\r\nGoat\'s Big Bike Race,\" a book you might want to share with a young\r\nperson in your life. Annika - the seven-year-old daughter of our Live Update\r\nGuy - loves Gracie Goat and has a better grasp of riding and racing because\r\nof it. Yup, we\'re using the book as a propaganda tool, folks. We would\r\nreally like to get kids interested in the sport... and the doping stories\r\nwe end up running so often just isn\'t doing it. (Well, d\'uhhhh)\r\n
\r\n