Tour de France: Stage 10 Live Thread (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)

Course: 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 Marie-Blanque, another 40km along the way, is shorter but even steeper, and could easily spring a breakaway group.

History: There have been more than 50 stage finishes at Pau, but the only similar stages coming from the Atlantic coast were in the mid-1980s. The closest to this one was from Bayonne to Pau in 1987, when the very tough Burdincurutcheta climb preceded the Soudet and Marie-Blanque. That stage saw a four-man break go clear of a 34-strong lead group on the last climb, with Dutchman Erik Breukink winning the stage ahead of Frenchman Jean-François Bernard and Colombians Pablo Wilches and Lucho Herrera, 3:45 ahead of the next group. Bernard and Herrera went on to finish that Tour in the top five. Last year. Oscar Pereiro won the stage into Pau from a small breakaway group started by Cadel Evans on the Col d'Aubisque.

Favorites: The two main climbs will definitely break up the race, but a large group is likely to arrive in Pau to contest the stage win. The most likely stage winner is a climber not yet in contention, perhaps Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital), who is a great sprinter in a small group.

Standings prior to Stage 10:

Maillot jaune (Best overall)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 023 HONCHAR Serhiy TMO UKR
2 071 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 01' 00"
3 026 ROGERS Michael TMO AUS 01' 08"
4 027 SINKEWITZ Patrik TMO GER 01' 45"
5 021 KLÖDEN Andréas TMO GER 01' 50"
6 096 KARPETS Vladimir CEI RUS 01' 52"
7 061 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 01' 52"
8 018 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 01' 53"
9 042 FOTHEN Marcus GST GER 02' 03"
10 031 MOREAU Christophe A2R FRA 02' 07"
11 009 SAVOLDELLI Paolo DSC ITA 02' 10"
12 051 MENCHOV Denis RAB RUS 02' 13"
13 025 MAZZOLENI Eddy TMO ITA 02' 14"
14 024 KESSLER Matthias TMO GER 02' 16"
15 044 LANG Sebastian GST GER 02' 22"
16 014 SASTRE Carlos CSC ESP 02' 27"
17 003 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 02' 30"
18 097 PEREIRO SIO Oscar CEI ESP 02' 57"
19 157 LÖVKVIST Thomas FDJ SWE 03' 01"
20 178 ROUS Didier BTL FRA 03' 15"
21 101 BOONEN Tom QSI BEL 03' 15"
22 016 VANDEVELDE Christian CSC USA 03' 25"
23 007 POPOVYCH Yaroslav DSC UKR 03' 27"
24 146 MILLAR David SDV GBR 03' 38"
25 033 ASTARLOZA Mikel A2R ESP 03' 46"
26 008 RUBIERA José Luis DSC ESP 03' 47"
30 134 CHAVANEL Sylvain COF FRA 03' 56"
32 001 AZEVEDO José DSC POR 04' 09"
33 151 CASAR Sandy FDJ FRA 04' 20"
36 004 MARTINEZ Egoi DSC ESP 04' 33"
38 006 PADRNOS Pavel DSC CZE 04' 42"
44 159 VAUGRENARD Benoît FDJ FRA 05' 10"
53 065 MC EWEN Robbie DVL AUS 05' 50"
61 121 MAYO Iban EUS ESP 06' 24"
68 056 FREIRE Oscar RAB ESP 06' 38"
72 041 LEIPHEIMER Levi GST USA 06' 43"
74 181 ZABEL Erik MRM GER 06' 50"
78 002 EKIMOV Viatceslav DSC RUS 07' 18"
79 118 HUSHOVD Thor C.A NOR 07' 21"
80 005 NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin DSC ESP 07' 24"
84 058 RASMUSSEN Mickael RAB DEN 07' 40"
100 083 BENNATI Daniele LAM ITA 08' 42"
117 017 VOIGT Jens CSC GER 11' 34"
121 064 HORNER Christopher DVL USA 12' 19"
153 013 O’GRADY Stuart CSC AUS 19' 52"
161 133 CASPER Jimmy COF FRA 32' 30"

Maillot vert (Points Competition)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Points
1 065 MC EWEN Robbie DVL AUS 211
2 101 BOONEN Tom QSI BEL 188
3 056 FREIRE Oscar RAB ESP 181
4 083 BENNATI Daniele LAM ITA 151
5 181 ZABEL Erik MRM GER 141
6 118 HUSHOVD Thor C.A NOR 134
7 153 EISEL Bernhard FDJ AUT 127
8 168 PAOLINI Luca LIQ ITA 126
9 043 KOPP David GST GER 94
10 149 VENTOSO Francisco SDV ESP 93
11 133 CASPER Jimmy COF FRA 91
12 125 ISASI Inaki EUS ESP 87
13 094 GALVEZ Isaac CEI ESP 80
14 026 ROGERS Michael TMO AUS 59
15 136 MORENI Cristian COF ITA 58
16 003 HINCAPIE George DSC USA 46
17 013 O’GRADY Stuart CSC AUS 43
18 067 STEEGMANS Gert DVL BEL 42
19 173 BROCHARD Laurent BTL FRA 40
20 034 CALZATI Sylvain A2R FRA 39

Maillot à Pois Rouges (King of the Mountains)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Points
1 177 PINEAU Jérôme BTL FRA 28
2 143 DE LA FUENTE David SDV ESP 17
3 047 WEGMANN Fabian GST GER 15
4 034 CALZATI Sylvain A2R FRA 13
5 124 HERNANDEZ Aitor EUS ESP 10
6 188 SCHRÖDER Björn MRM GER 9
7 123 ETXEBARRIA Unai EUS VEN 7
8 024 KESSLER Matthias TMO GER 6
9 032 ARRIETA Jose Luis A2R ESP 6
10 196 LAURENT Christophe AGR FRA 6
11 036 DUMOULIN Samuel A2R FRA 6
12 017 VOIGT Jens CSC GER 6
13 176 LEFEVRE Laurent BTL FRA 5
14 062 AERTS Mario DVL BEL 5
15 022 GUERINI Giuseppe TMO ITA 4
16 154 GILBERT Philippe FDJ BEL 3
17 127 LOPEZ GARCIA David EUS ESP 3
18 018 ZABRISKIE David CSC USA 3
19 174 FEDRIGO Pierrick BTL FRA 3
20 116 HALGAND Patrice C.A FRA 3

Maillot Blanc (Best Overall under 25)
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 042 FOTHEN Marcus GST GER
2 157 LÖVKVIST Thomas FDJ SWE 00' 58"
3 184 GRIVKO Andriy MRM UKR 01' 55"
4 159 VAUGRENARD Benoît FDJ FRA 03' 07"
5 147 RICCO Riccardo SDV ITA 03' 22"
6 106 RUJANO José QSI VEN 03' 23"
7 186 KNEES Christian MRM GER 04' 12"
8 185 IGLINSKIY Maxim MRM KAZ 04' 24"
9 081 CUNEGO Damiano LAM ITA 05' 03"
10 149 VENTOSO Francisco SDV ESP 05' 12"
11 057 POSTHUMA Joost RAB NED 05' 44"
12 194 DUENAS NEVADO Moises AGR ESP 06' 02"
13 153 EISEL Bernhard FDJ AUT 06' 16"
14 154 GILBERT Philippe FDJ BEL 06' 29"
15 059 WEENING Pieter RAB NED 06' 57"
16 179 SPRICK Matthieu BTL FRA 07' 14"
17 195 GONZALO RAMIREZ Eduardo AGR ESP 07' 23"
18 127 LOPEZ GARCIA David EUS ESP 09' 13"
19 167 MUGERLI Matej LIQ SLO 17' 27"
20 069 VANSUMMEREN Johan DVL BEL 19' 27"

Nombres jaune (Best overall team - top 3 riders each stage)
Pos. Team Gaps
1 T-MOBILE TEAM
2 PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS 03' 09"
3 GEROLSTEINER 03' 56"
4 TEAM CSC 04' 18"
5 AG2R PREVOYANCE 04' 28"
6 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 04' 29"
7 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 05' 36"
8 CAISSE D’EPARGNE-ILLES BALEARS 06' 00"
9 RABOBANK 06' 27"
10 BOUYGUES TELECOM 09' 19"
11 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 09' 20"
12 DAVITAMON - LOTTO 09' 20"
13 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 09' 28"
14 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 10' 59"
15 TEAM MILRAM 11' 17"
16 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 13' 14"
17 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 13' 30"
18 LIQUIGAS 13' 35"
19 CREDIT AGRICOLE 16' 26"
20 AGRITUBEL 16' 58"

Nombres rouge (Most Combative on Stage 9)
#186 KNEES Christian MRM GER

Here is how the KOTM Points will work today, for those who are interested.

Col d'Osquich
Troisième Catégorie Climb, 6 km à 5.3%
First rider over the summit: 4 points
Second: 3 points
Third: 2 points
Fourth: 1 point

Col de Soudet
Hors Catégorie (Beyond Category) Climb, 14 km à 7.3%
First rider over summit: 20 points
Second: 18 points
Third: 16 points
Fourth: 14 points
Fifth: 12 points
Sixth: 10 points
Seventh: 8 points
Eighth: 7 points
Ninth: 6 points
Tenth: 5 points

Col de Marie-Blanque
Première Catégorie Climb, 9.9 km à 7.7%
If the final climb of a stage is graded HC, 1, or 2, points are doubled.
First rider over summit: 30 points
Second: 26 points
Third: 22 points
Fourth: 18 points
Fifth: 16 points
Sixth: 14 points
Seventh: 12 points
Eighth: 10 points

And the same ol' 6, 4, and 2 point sprints, the same sprint points at the finish, and the same ol 6/4/2 second time bonuses and 20/12/8 second time bonuses at the finish.

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