Posted on 07/19/2006 9:15:41 PM PDT by nutmeg
Stage 17: St. Jean de Maurienne to Morzine-Avoriaz -200.5km
Course: 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.
History: Morzine has seen 13 finishes of the Tour, including that one six years ago, which was the last time the ultra-steep Joux-Plane was climbed in the Tour. The only Tour winner to win a stage into Morzine was Pantani, who scored a solo victory here in 1997, the year before he won the Tour. Morzine's mountaintop neighbor, Avoriaz, has seen stage wins by two other Tour champions, Lucien Van Impe and Bernard Hinault.
Favorites: If riders are still battling for podium spots, then the Joux-Plane climb and descent suits Leipheimer and Landis. But it's more likely that a long-distance break will succeed, giving a rider like Michael Rasmussen a chance to win the stage and the King of the Mountains competition.
Graphics by CyclingNews.com
Sastre in at 5:41 (unofficial)
Wow! Perreio stays in yellow by 2 sec!
37.15 kmh = 23.08 mph. That's cooking
OLN / Phil
" Most exciting finish in years"
Bob Roll better give Floyd his due, baby!
There's a happy Amber! :-D
Bet it happens this year too. Top 3 will probably be w/in 60 sec going into Sunday. It may come down to strength of team after all... Maybe that's what Floyd has been saving them for. ;-)
Phil
"A day of redemption (for Landis)
He's proved his point
He can still win the tour"
Any bets that Landis gets today's "combatitivity" award? :)
Hooooolyyyyyyy Shiite!!!!!!!
Perriro in at 7:15 (unofficial)
I was gonna tell the first person who said that (Pereiro in yellow) not to tell you, because it'd just give you ulcers, but you beat everybody else to it!
1 097 PEREIRO SIO Oscar CEI ESP 2 014 SASTRE Carlos CSC ESP 00' 12" 3 071 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 00' 30" 4 021 KLÖDEN Andréas TMO GER 02' 29" 5 061 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 03' 08"
The GC:
Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 097 PEREIRO SIO Oscar CEI ESP
2 014 SASTRE Carlos CSC ESP 00' 12"
3 071 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 00' 30"
4 021 KLÖDEN Andréas TMO GER 02' 29"
5 061 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 03' 08"
6 051 MENCHOV Denis RAB RUS 04' 14"
7 035 DESSEL Cyril A2R FRA 04' 24"
8 031 MOREAU Christophe A2R FRA 05' 45"
9 129 ZUBELDIA Haimar EUS ESP 08' 16"
1 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 5.23.36 2 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 5.40 3 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 5.57 4 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 6.40 5 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 7.08 6 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 7 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 9 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 7.20
General classification after stage 17
1 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 2 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 0.11 3 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 0.31
I think we may be racing to Paris this year unless Floyd blows away the TT!
UN-FRICKIN'BELIEVABLE!!!!!
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