Posted on 07/04/2006 9:35:36 PM PDT by nutmeg
Stage 4 - Wednesday, July 5: Huy (Belgium) - Saint-Quentin, 215 km
Course: This stage, 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. It traces some of the roads of the Mur's classic, 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. The final two hours will 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.
History: St. Quentin has only once hosted the Tour, in 1938, when it was the finish of a 42km time trial from Laon, sandwiched between two road stages on the penultimate day! The TT winner was Belgian Félicien Vervaecke, who would finish second overall to Gino Bartali in Paris 24 hours later.
Favorites: This stage should produce a fascinating battle between breakaways and the sprinters' teams on the small roads of the last two hours. The late-stage stretch of wide roads, small hills and a probable head wind will condemn the break and lead to a sprint that favors McEwen over Boonen and Hushovd.
8:30am - 11:30am ET
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Apparently, Stuart O'Grady will be riding today... with a broken back!
Aussie Iron Man :-)
Yes, I was just about to post a short article about Stuart O'Grady...
CONVERSION:
215 kilometers = 134 miles
~ Blue Jays ~
Thank you so much for maintaining the TDF list & posting these threads!
Stage 3 cut right though the middle of, and Stage 4 skirts to the north of, the area of the Ardennes where the Battle of the Ardennes, as the US Army officially calls it, but more popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge took place in December 1944 - January, 1945. This area was also the site of The Battle of the Ardennes in WWI, and the Battle of France in WWII, and suffered horrendous devastation and civilian casualties as well.
Perhaps a moment of silence for the men, and women, who fought & died there to preserve the Freedoms that you & I have today?
A moment of silence would be appropriate.
BTW: That is something I appreciate in following the tour: all the landscapes they ride through. Everytime they ride to Poitiers I cannot help, but think of Charles Martel.
Tomorrow, they ride to Caen where William the Conquerer was buried, and harsh battles took place in the battle for Normandy in 1944.
Cheers.
Once again, here are the standings heading into today's stage:
Maillot Jaune (Overall Leader)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 101 BOONEN Tom QSI BEL
2 026 ROGERS Michael TMO AUS 00' 01"
3 003 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 00' 05"
4 118 HUSHOVD Thor C.A NOR 00' 07"
5 009 SAVOLDELLI Paolo DSC ITA 00' 15"
6 083 BENNATI Daniele LAM ITA 00' 15"
7 071 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 00' 16"
8 096 KARPETS Vladimir CEI RUS 00' 17"
9 023 HONCHAR Serhiy TMO UKR 00' 17"
10 024 KESSLER Matthias TMO GER 00' 17"
11 061 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 00' 20"
12 031 MOREAU Christophe A2R FRA 00' 20"
13 146 MILLAR David SDV GBR 00' 21"
14 027 SINKEWITZ Patrik TMO GER 00' 23"
15 018 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 00' 23"
16 021 KLÖDEN Andréas TMO GER 00' 24"
17 042 FOTHEN Marcus GST GER 00' 25"
18 035 DESSEL Cyril A2R FRA 00' 25"
19 011 JULICH Bobby CSC USA 00' 25"
20 025 MAZZOLENI Eddy TMO ITA 00' 26"
Maillot Vert (Sprint Points)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Points
1 101 BOONEN Tom QSI BEL 67
2 083 BENNATI Daniele LAM ITA 66
3 065 MC EWEN Robbie DVL AUS 65
4 118 HUSHOVD Thor C.A NOR 62
5 181 ZABEL Erik MRM GER 59
6 168 PAOLINI Luca LIQ ITA 57
7 056 FREIRE Oscar RAB ESP 54
8 013 O’GRADY Stuart CSC AUS 43
9 026 ROGERS Michael TMO AUS 36
10 153 EISEL Bernhard FDJ AUT 36
11 133 CASPER Jimmy COF FRA 35
12 048 WROLICH Peter GST AUT 31
13 003 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 28
14 125 ISASI Inaki EUS ESP 28
15 024 KESSLER Matthias TMO GER 25
16 149 VENTOSO Francisco SDV ESP 24
17 094 GALVEZ Isaac CEI ESP 20
18 154 GILBERT Philippe FDJ BEL 19
19 143 DE LA FUENTE David SDV ESP 18
20 025 MAZZOLENI Eddy TMO ITA 17
Maillot Blanc (Overall Leader under 25)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 042 FOTHEN Marcus GST GER
2 159 VAUGRENARD Benoît FDJ FRA 00' 03"
3 154 GILBERT Philippe FDJ BEL 00' 11"
4 157 LÖVKVIST Thomas FDJ SWE 00' 17"
5 153 EISEL Bernhard FDJ AUT 00' 20"
6 147 RICCO Riccardo SDV ITA 00' 23"
7 106 RUJANO José QSI VEN 00' 25"
8 081 CUNEGO Damiano LAM ITA 00' 35"
9 184 GRIVKO Andriy MRM UKR 00' 35"
10 185 IGLINSKIY Maxim MRM KAZ 00' 51"
11 195 GONZALO RAMIREZ Eduardo AGR ESP 00' 52"
12 059 WEENING Pieter RAB NED 00' 55"
13 194 DUENAS NEVADO Moises AGR ESP 00' 58"
14 186 KNEES Christian MRM GER 01' 00"
15 179 SPRICK Matthieu BTL FRA 01' 33"
16 127 LOPEZ GARCIA David EUS ESP 01' 52"
17 149 VENTOSO Francisco SDV ESP 01' 55"
18 057 POSTHUMA Joost RAB NED 05' 41"
19 069 VANSUMMEREN Johan DVL BEL 10' 08"
20 143 DE LA FUENTE David SDV ESP 12' 10"
Nombres Jaune (Best Team: Top 3 Time for each stage)
Pos. Team Gaps
1 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM
2 TEAM CSC 00' 01"
3 T-MOBILE TEAM 00' 02"
4 CAISSE D’EPARGNE-ILLES BALEARS 00' 07"
5 GEROLSTEINER 00' 18"
6 PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS 00' 26"
7 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 00' 37"
8 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 00' 42"
9 RABOBANK 00' 42"
10 CREDIT AGRICOLE 00' 43"
11 AG2R PREVOYANCE 00' 44"
12 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 00' 51"
13 BOUYGUES TELECOM 01' 10"
14 DAVITAMON - LOTTO 01' 12"
15 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 01' 15"
16 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 01' 27"
17 TEAM MILRAM 01' 28"
18 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 01' 40"
19 LIQUIGAS 01' 56"
20 AGRITUBEL 01' 59"
Nombres rouge (Most Combative)
#32 ARRIETA Jose Luis (A2R,ESP) will wear the red numbers today.
And, including the two climbs today, here is the result after Stage 3:
Maillot à Pois Rouges (King of the Mountains)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Points
1 177 PINEAU Jérôme BTL FRA 21
2 143 DE LA FUENTE David SDV ESP 17
3 047 WEGMANN Fabian GST GER 14
4 124 HERNANDEZ Aitor EUS ESP 10
5 123 ETXEBARRIA Unai EUS VEN 7
6 032 ARRIETA Jose Luis A2R ESP 6
6 196 LAURENT Christophe AGR FRA 6
6 017 VOIGT Jens CSC GER 6
9 176 LEFEVRE Laurent BTL FRA 5
9 176 LEFEVRE Laurent BTL FRA 5
11 024 KESSLER Matthias TMO GER 4
12 154 GILBERT Philippe FDJ BEL 3
13 052 BOOGERD Michael RAB NED 2
13 179 SPRICK Matthieu BTL FRA 2
13 004 MARTINEZ Egoi DSC ESP 2
16 101 BOONEN Tom QSI BEL 1
16 174 FEDRIGO Pierrick BTL FRA 1
16 193 COUTOULY Cédric AGR FRA 1
Good Morning! Thanks for the chart. Forgive my ignorance, but can you or someone else explain why Laurent LeFevre holds both the 9 & 10 places in the King of the Mtns ranking? I am woefully out of the loop when it comes to some of the finer points of scoring in the TdF.
Yes, that was a clerical error on my part.
Here are the corrected standings:
Maillot à Pois Rouges (King of the Mountains)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Points
1 177 PINEAU Jérôme BTL FRA 21
2 143 DE LA FUENTE David SDV ESP 17
3 047 WEGMANN Fabian GST GER 14
4 124 HERNANDEZ Aitor EUS ESP 10
5 123 ETXEBARRIA Unai EUS VEN 7
6 032 ARRIETA Jose Luis A2R ESP 6
6 196 LAURENT Christophe AGR FRA 6
6 017 VOIGT Jens CSC GER 6
9 176 LEFEVRE Laurent BTL FRA 5
10 024 KESSLER Matthias TMO GER 4
11 154 GILBERT Philippe FDJ BEL 3
12 052 BOOGERD Michael RAB NED 2
12 179 SPRICK Matthieu BTL FRA 2
12 004 MARTINEZ Egoi DSC ESP 2
15 101 BOONEN Tom QSI BEL 1
15 174 FEDRIGO Pierrick BTL FRA 1
15 193 COUTOULY Cédric AGR FRA 1
Oops, Ya beat me to it with the correction. THANKS!
Since last year's start was a real time trial and not a prologue, this did not happen last year. After the first stage, only four riders were within a minute of Zabriskie (Armstrong, Hincapie, Vinokourov, and Bodrogi).
Perhaps in the 2004 tour? After the prologue and before the team time trial?
Yes, I just checked. There were over 80 riders within a minute of the overall lead following Stage 3 in 2004. However, after the Stage 4 TTT, this was no longer the case.
With no TTT this year, expect the results to be close until the Stage 7 individual TT.
McEwen again!Not as many wipeouts today, thank heavens.See yall tomorrow!
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