Around 4,708 kilometers of this year's Tour de France have now been completed and stage 8 has given us a good idea of who this year's contenders for the overall win really are. Stage 7's Yellow Jersey winner, Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), expended too much energy in winning that stage and was not able to keep up with the race's stronger riders on the two category 1 climbs. He finished about eleven and a half minutes behind the leaders and has now dropped into 32nd place.
Lance Armstrong, USA (Radio Shack) also had a very bad day. After being involved in three separate crashes (third crash pictured), he was unable to recover and finished with about the same time as Chavanel. That probably ends his chances of an eighth Tour win as he dropped into 39th place overall and over thirteen minutes out of the lead. It is expected that he will now ride for his teammate and fellow American, Levi Leipheimer, who had a very good ride. Leipheimer finished with the strongest riders of the day and has shot up into eighth place overall. He is now in contention for a podium finish in Paris.
The rider of the day was Luxembourg's Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) who had enough energy left after a very difficult climb to sprint for the stage win. He won the stage by edging out Spanish rider Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) who finished in second place. Third place was taken by Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Rabobank). The Yellow Jersey now goes to Australian Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) who finished ten seconds behind the stage winner.
The riders will now get a well deserved day off on Monday before heading into an even more difficult day of climbing on Tuesday. Tuesday's stage 9 will be a 204.5 kilometer ride from Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The stage starts with an easy category 4 climb. But then it gets hard in a hurry with a category 1 climb followed by a category 2 climb and another category 1 climb. The race finishes with a climb so difficult that it cannot be rated. Once again, it will be a day for only the very strongest climbers.
Here are the current standings:
YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)
1. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)
2. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Saxo Bank).....0' 20"
3. Alberto Contador, Spain (Astana).....1' 01"
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium (Omega-Lotto).....1' 03"
5. Denis Menchov, Russia (Rabobank).....1' 10"
6. Ryder Hesjedal, Canada (Garmin-Transitions).....1' 11"
7. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic (Liquigas-Doimo).....1' 45"
8. Levi Leipheimer, USA (Radio Shack).....2' 14"
9. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi).....2' 15"
10. Michael Rogers, Australia (HTC-Columbia).....2' 31"
23. Christopher Horner, USA (Radio Shack).....6' 33"
39. Lance Armstrong, USA, (Radio Shack).....13' 26"
GREEN JERSEY (Sprinters)
1. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Cervelo).....118 pts
2. Alessandro Petacchi, Italy (Lampre-Farnese).....114 pts
3. Robbie McEwen, Australia (Katusha).....105 pts
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain (Caisse D'Epargne).....92 pts
5. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (HTC-Columbia).....85 pts
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norway (Sky Pro).....82 pts
7. Sebastien Turgot, France (Bouygues Telecom).....79 pts
8. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Sky Pro).....74 pts
9. Gerald Ciolek, Germany (Milram).....71 pts
10. Sylvain Chavanel, France (Quick Step).....69 pts
POLKA DOT JERSEY (Climbers)
1. Jerome Pineau, France (Quick Step).....44 pts
2. Sylvain Chavanel, France (Quick Step).....36 pts
3. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Saxo Bank).....30 pts
4. Mathieu Perget, France (Caisse D'Epargne).....28 pts
5. Rafael Valls Ferri, Spain (Footon-Servetto).....27 pts
6. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi).....26 pts
7. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Rabobank).....22 pts
8. Thomas Voeckler, France (Bouygues Telecom).....21 pts
9. Ruben Perez Moreno, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi).....20 pts
10. Mario Aerts, Belgium (Omega-Lotto).....19 pts
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Rabobank
2. Astana
3. Radio Shack
4. Caisse D'Epargne
5. AG2R La Mondiale
6. Liquigas-Doimo
7. HTC-Columbia
8. BMC Racing
9. Cofidis
10. Omega-Lotto
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