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95th Tour de France

Stage 18 - Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Etienne - 196.5 km (122.0 mi)

24 July 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Columbia, rivaled only by Team CSC as the cycling team with the greatest success in this year's Tour de France, struck lightning again. Sure, Mark Cavendish is no longer lining up in the sprint finishes, gone home to prepare for the Olympics in Beijing on the horizon. Kim Kirchen no longer holds the yellow jersey, and indeed looks too far out of the hunt to reclaim it at 8:35 behind Carlos Sastre. This team knows success, certainly, but it also knows adversity. Born of the ashes of the T-Mobile team, Columbia was without a team sponsor in the weeks leading up to the 2008 Tour. Known as High Road, the name given the team by manager Bob Stapleton, the squad won eleventh-hour funding from Columbia, the outdoor-gear company, just before the start of the Tour in Brittany. Despite all these obstacles -- or perhaps because of the strength borne of adversity -- the team once again was able to capture a stage victory, this time due to the legs and the smarts of Marcus Burghardt, who outkicked breakaway companion Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) into Saint-Etienne.

 

The breakaways started early in the stage as 150 riders remained out of the 180 who started the race. The peloton rolled westward out of the Alps, the Tour saying goodbye to the mountains yet again. Now all that stood in the way of Paris was two largely-simple stages and the penultimate time trial. As the breakaways ran up the road only to be reeled back in by the charging peloton, the lead group of seven -- Marcus Burghardt (Columbia), Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), Freddy Bichot (Agritubel), Bjorn Schroder (Milram), Stephane Auge (Cofidis) and Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) -- went through the first intermediate sprint point in Grenoble about a minute ahead of the field, with Bichot taking the victory at the line ahead of Schroder and Auge.

 

Soon, though, the breakaway was back, reintegrated into the larger pack. The first hour passed, the riders having covered 55.7 kilometers... making this first hour of racing the fastest hour raced yet in the 2008 Tour. Carlos Barredo broke free from the peloton in advance of the third-category Col de Parmenie; Burghardt charged out again to try to bridge the gap, with opening-week maillot jaune Romain Feillu (Agritubel) making the move as well. Feillu was soon dropped on the climb, and Barredo passed over the summit only ten seconds ahead of Burghardt. The two joined forces on the descent and neither would see the peloton again today.

 

After passing through the feed zone, the field stabilized into four distinct groups on the road. The two leaders held a 4:15 gap on three chasers -- Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) and the ever-diligent Feillu. Further back, the peloton was ten minutes behind the two breakaway leaders, while Damiano Cunego suffered twenty-two minutes behind the leaders on the road. Cunego, the winner of the 2006 Tour best young rider's white jersey as well as the general classification of the 2004 Giro d'Italia, was suffering after a crash earlier in the stage. Nursed back by his teammates, Cunego barely crossed the line within the time limit.

 

With Barredo and Burghardt comfortably in the lead over the second-category Croix de Montvieux as they neared Saint-Etienne, the two began to play games to try to shake the other and ride in solo for the victory. The fourth-category Cote de Sorbiers afforded little opportunity at the end of the stage. Barredo made several moves, including an acceleration while Burghardt was trying to zip his jersey, but could not break clear of the German. Burghardt, too, tried to shake Barredo but to no avail. The final kilometers were a chess match between the two breakaway riders, each desperately seeking a stage victory. Barredo drafted Burghardt through the final kilometer, and looked in good position for the victory. But with just over 200 meters left to the line, Burghardt put in an acceleration which the Spaniard could not match, and Columbia came up victorious yet again.

 

The peloton came through seven minutes later. Unthreatened by the riders up the road, the Tour saw a relatively easy day for a change. Tomorrow should hold much of the same, with everyone's mind firmly on the Saturday time trial which affords the last real opportunity to shake up the general classification...

 

 

 

Results - Stage 18

 

STAGE WINNERS

1. Marcus Burghardt (GER) Columbia -- 4.30.21 (43.61 km/h)
2. Carlos Barredo (ESP) Quick Step
3. Romain Feillu (FRA) Agritubel -- +3.33
4. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA) Credit Agricole
5. Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (ESP) Euskaltel-Euskadi -- +3.35
6. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) Cofidis -- +6.39
7. Cyril Dessel (FRA) AG2R La Mondiale
8. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Liquigas
9. Leif Hoste (BEL) Silence-Lotto
10. Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Carlos Sastre (ESP) Team CSC -- 79.16.14
2. Frank Schleck (LUX) Team CSC -- +1.24
3. Bernhard Kohl (AUT) Gerolsteiner -- +1.33
4. Cadel Evans (AUS) Silence-Lotto -- +1.34
5. Denis Menchov (RUS) Rabobank -- +2.39
6. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Chipotle -- +4.41
7. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne -- +5.35
8. Samuel Sanchez (ESP) Euskatel-Euskadi -- +5.52
9. Tadej Valjavec (SLO) AG2R La Mondiale -- +8.10
10. Vladimir Efimkin (RUS) AG2R La Mondiale -- +8.24

POINTS CLASSIFICATION

1. Oscar Freire (ESP) Rabobank -- 229 pts
2. Thor Hushovd (NOR) Credit Agricole -- 180
3. Erik Zabel (GER) Milram -- 176
4. Kim Kirchen (LUX) Columbia -- 145
5. Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis -- 144
6. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne -- 123
7. Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld -- 115
8. Romain Feillu (FRA) Agritubel -- 114
9. Robbie McEwen (AUS) Silence-Lotto -- 105
10. Cadel Evans (AUS) Silence-Lotto -- 93
    

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

1. Bernhard Kohl (AUT) Gerolsteiner -- 125 pts
2. Carlos Sastre (ESP) Team CSC -- 80
   
3. Frank Schleck (LUX) Team CSC -- 80
4. Thomas Voeckler (FRA) Bouygues Telecom -- 65
5. John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Barloworld -- 61
6. Sebastian Lang (GER) Gerolsteiner -- 60
7. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne -- 58
8. Stefan Schumacher (GER) Gerolsteiner -- 54
9. Remy di Gregorio (FRA) Francaise des Jeux -- 52
   
10. Egoi Martinez (ESP) Euskatel-Euskadi -- 50
    
    

BEST YOUNG RIDER

1. Andy Schleck (LUX) Team CSC -- 79.26.18
2. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Liquigas -- +1.58
3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) Liquigas -- +15.35
4. Maxime Monfort (BEL) Cofidis -- +24.44
5. Eduardo Gonzalo (ESP) Agritubel -- +1.04.47
6. Thomas Lovkvist (SWE) Columbia -- +1.15.28
7. John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Barloworld -- +1.20.09
8. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA) Francaise des Jeux -- +1.21.23
9. Peter Velits (SVK) Milram -- +1.37.17
10. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne -- +1.43.46

TEAM CLASSIFICATION

1. Team CSC -- 237.42.06
2. AG2R-La Mondiale -- +9.27
3. Rabobank -- +1.01.17
4. Euskaltel-Euskadi -- +1.07.57
5. Caisse d'Epargne -- +1.11.56
6. Silence-Lotto -- +1.13.29
7. Lampre -- +1.18.16
8. Columbia -- +1.23.09
9. Credit Agricole -- +1.25.27
10. Gerolsteiner -- +1.29.14
    

 

 

Tomorrow: Stage 19 - Roanne to Montlucon (165.5 km)

The last chance for a team without a stage to send a rider up the road in search of a win before the time trial, this stage will either favor a breakaway yet again or could also possibly set up for the sprinters to have one last showdown before the Champs-Elysses. With so few opportunities so far -- and most having been taken by the now-departed Mark Cavendish -- the sprinters will likely have their teams at the forefront trying to drive the peloton toward a sprint finish. The undulating terrain should not be enough to keep a breakaway away until the end...