Tour de France: Stage 15 Live Thread (Tuesday, July 18, 2006) L'Alpe d'Huez!

VeloNews.com ^ | July 18, 2006 | VeloNews.com

[BaBaStooey]

The leaders have reached Bourg-d'Oisans. IT BEGINS!

[Eurotwit]

I think Voigt has been in a crash, but he seems to have caught up with the lead group again.

[BaBaStooey]

L'Alpe D'Huez will blow the peloton up. The question is, who will be with the GC contenders' group at the line? Who will be unable to stay in that group?

The GC will not stay the same. It may not change much between the main contenders, but something will happen. It always does.

[BaBaStooey]

Vila just took off at the base of l'Alpe D'Huez. Chavanel is in pursuit. Zabriskie (who did well to stay with them all day today) just dropped out of the group.

[BaBaStooey]

The moves are going to come to quick and too frantically for me to be able to keep up. This is fricken awesome.

[green iguana]

The GC will not stay the same. It may not change much between the main contenders, but something will happen. It always does.

And there's no chance Pereiro will stay in yellow...

[BaBaStooey]

Hincapie disappeared. Where did he go?

[Steve_Seattle]

"Looks like Voigt has been in a crash."

A guy in my office crashed his bike the other day in a Seattle to Portland ride; I don't know if it's a race or a tour. Broke his shoulder, will be out a few weeks. My brother in law was also in that same event, and a guy crashed in front of him crossing railroad tracks and was almost killed - totally smashed his face. I think some of these weekend warriors may have been watching too much TDF coverage. The guy in my office was downed by a friend who was slipstreaming him and clipped has back wheel.

[leilani]

Ayeeee! Chou-chou's chain, c'est tout, totallement termine. C'est bien fini, mon petit jouet.

[Eurotwit]

And has Landis raced ahead of Menchov?

[BaBaStooey]

The peloton has just reached the base of the climb. We will see what happens there.

[green iguana]

I think he's in-between w/ Zabriskie et al...

[green iguana]

16:09 CEST
Perdiguero hammers the peloton, leaving Landis, Kessler, Kloden and Evans. The yellow jersey is dropped.

16:10 CEST 175km/12km to go
Now Schleck and Cunego lead the race, with Lobato and Mazzoleni chasing at 5 seconds, then Arroyo and De la Fuente.

In the favourites' group, Menchov has caught Landis, Kloden, and Kessler. Boogerd is coming up with Leipheimer, but Sastre is further back.

[Eurotwit]

Looks like there is a group of Landis, Kloden and Evans with Menchov!! and Rasmussen in trouble.

[BaBaStooey]

2 guys in the lead group now: Schleck and Cunego.

2 guys chasing: Mazzoleni and Lobato.

Then Arroyo..

10 guys chasing behind them: Hincapie, Voigt, Zabriskie, Arrieta, Merckx, Vila, Landaluze, Chavanel, De la Fuente, Garzelli.

Kloden Kessler, Menchov, Evans, and Landis just broke free of the peloton.

[af_vet_rr]

yea, I'm not much into bike racing and since it has France in the title that makes me even more uninterested... :)

You have to admit, it's fun watching Americans dominate the biggest event in France.

I've been to a few TdF's in person, it's something else.

[BaBaStooey]

Groupe Landis is now down to three....Kloden, Evans, and Landis!

[Ready4Freddy]

16:10 - Front Of Peloton...

Kessler, Kloden, Menchov, Landis and Evans are leading the pursuit of the stage leaders. The yellow jersey has been dropped...

[Eurotwit]

Also Menchov and Rasmussen dropped now.

[af_vet_rr]

Discovery rider Egoi Martinez crashed on the descent.

Is he the one that somebody said could be reckless at times? Not that being on the edge in sports is a bad thing, but when you are doing 40+ mph on a steep hill with nothing between you and the pavement but a little bit of lycra/spandex....