Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Sprinters Take 9th Stage Of Tour

With 3.5 kilometers left in the 9th stage of the Tour de France, the Peloton caught the last of the breakaway riders, setting up the sprinters for a dash to the finish line. Oscar Freire [Spain] won the stage, finishing only centimeters ahead of Robbie McEwen [Australia]. Erik Zabel [Germany] finished third and Tom Boonen [Belgium] finished fourth. Here are the current standings for the sprinter's Green Jersey:

1. McEwen [Australia-Lotto]..........211 points
2. Boonen [Belgium-Quickstep]..........188 points
3. Freire [Spain-Rabobank]..........181 points
4. Bennati [Italy-Lampre]..........151 points
5. Zabel [Germany-Milram]..........141 points

The overall team standings did not change. T-mobile still has a 3:09 minute lead on the rest of the field. Discovery is still in sixth place.

The overall individual standings did not change change either, since everyone in the Peloton got the same time as the winner because they finished as a group. But the waiting is now over. The first mountain stage is raced tomorrow from Cambo-les-Bains to Pau. This is a 190.5 kilometer [119 mile] ride into the Pyrenees, and has at least one Catagory 1 climb. This should help to seperate the contenders from the also-rans. I expect the overall standings will look quite different tomorrow.

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