Time Trial Shuffles Tour Standings

As expected, most of the sprinters dropped out of sight, and the real contenders began to come forward in the 7th stage of the Tour de France. This stage was a 52 kilometer [32.5 mile] time trial over flat terrain, with the riders starting two minutes apart and racing against the clock. Serhiy Honchar [Ukraine] had a great ride today, finishing over a minute ahead of the other riders. His ride was good enough to get him the Yellow Jersey. Floyd Landis [USA] finished second even though his bike broke down on the course,and he lost 15-20 seconds while changing bikes. Also riding well and finishing third was Sebastian Lang [Germany].

American Bobby Julich crashed on the course. He was injured and is now out of this year's Tour. Here are the current overall standings after 7 stages:

1. Honchar [Ukraine]
2. Landis [USA]..........1:00
3. Rogers [Australia]..........1:08
4. Sinkewitz [Germany]..........1:45
5. Fothen [Germany]..........1:50
6. Kloden [Germany]..........1:50
7. Karpets [Russia]..........1:52
8. Evans [Australia]..........1:52
9. Menchov [Russia]..........2:00
10. Zabriskie [USA]..........2:03
11. Kessler [Germany]..........2:03

13. Savoldelli [Italy-Discovery]..........2:10
17. Hincapie [USA-Discovery]..........2:30
21. Boonen [Belgium]..........3:15
22. Vandevelde [USA]..........3:25
23. Popovych [Ukraine-Discovery]..........3:27
24. Rubiera [Spain-Discovery]..........3:34
33. Azevedo [Portugal-Discovery]..........4:09
36. Martinez [Spain-Discovery]..........4:33
37. Padrnos [Czech-Discovery]..........4:42
57. McEwen [Australia]..........6:02
62. Leipheimer [USA]..........6:17
74. Freire [Spain]..........6:58
80. Ekimov [Russia-Discovery]..........7:18
82. Hushovd [Norway]..........7:21
84. Gonzalez [Spain-Discovery]..........7:24
126. Horner [USA]..........12:19

Jobby Julich [USA]..........out of race
Freddie Rodriguez [USA]..........out of race

Discovery team did not have a great day, and dropped in the team standings:

1. T-mobile
2. Phonak..........3:09
3. Gerolsteiner..........3:56
4. CSC..........4:18
5. Discovery..........4:29
6. Francaise Des Jeux..........5:36

Tomorrow we return to racing a long flat stage. It is a 181 kilometer [about 112 mile] leg starting in Saint-Meen-le-Grand and ending in Lorient. This will probably be another race for the sprinters. I doubt if the overall standings will change much until the race gets to the mountains in a few days.