Boasson Hegen Pipped By Kittel in Nuits St George

Marcel Kittel was over the moon as he claimed his third stage victory in the 104th Tour de France in Nuits-Saint-Georges, the wine growing town after which the St George crater has been named on the moon. It was a very tight bunch sprint finish in Burgundy as photo-finish was necessary to determine that the German has beaten Edvald Boasson Hagen. Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey.

193 riders started stage 7 in Troyes. Maxime Bouet (Fortuneo-Oscaro) attacked from the gun to give birth to a four-man breakaway with Manuele Mori (UAE Team Emirates), Yohann Gène (Direct Energie) and Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac). It didn't take a long time for the peloton to get organized with three domestiques setting the pace: Olivier Le Gac (FDJ), Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal) and Julien Vermote (Quick-Step Floors), at the service of sprinters Arnaud Démare, André Greipel and Marcel Kittel respectively. They were followed by the whole Team Sky wearing the yellow helmets of the leaders of the teams' classification and protecting race leader Chris Froome. As the maximum time gap was 3.40 at km 30, the escapees quickly understood their chances of success were minimal.

The race situation remained stable until the race reached the vineyards of Burgundy with 50km to go. The undulating and curvy terrain, as well as some wind with many changes of direction, inclined the peloton to speed up. Their deficit went below one minute within 40km to go. But they waited for the right moment to catch the four breakaway riders and no attempt to split up the bunch was reported. The leading quartet surrendered with 6km to go.

The FDJ team of green jersey holder Arnaud Démare was very visible in the run in but Dimension Data caught the right moment for South African champion Reinardt Janse van Rensburg to lead Edvald Boasson Hagen out. The Norwegian was close to claim his third Tour de France stage victory after he did so in Lisieux and Pinerolo in 2011 but the photo-finish eventually designated Marcel Kittel who himself didn't know if he had won or not. But it was his third success in this Tour de France and his twelfth one since he first started in 2012. He equals Erik Zabel to become the most successful German stage winner ever at the Grande Boucle.

#kittel #letour

Kittel Powers to Stage 6 Victory

Already winner of the first sprint of this Tour de France in Liege, Marcel Kittel repeated the feat in stage 6 to make it two in Troyes. Yet it was a very different scenario this time as the German, perfectly led-out by his team, surged in the last 150 metres to outpower green jersey holder Arnaud Demare of France (FDJ) and fellow-German Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), who were battling it out near the fences and had to settle for podium places. Alexander Krirstoff (Katusha) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) finished at the foot of the podium at the end of this long hot 216-km ride from Vesoul. 

The day's break took shape from the gun when Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie) attacked, followed by Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE) and Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), already in the leading group on the road to Longwy. The gap quickly increased and reached four minutes after 30 km and never went over 4:15. Teams Quick Step, Lotto-Soudal and FDJ made sure that the gap never went over three minutes and kept the break under control. They even eased up a little after the feed zone in Chaumont (Km 106) for fear of bridging the gap too early. 

Quemeneur snatched one point in the 4th category cote de Langres (km 69) while Backaert sprinted for the day's bonus prize in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, home of general De Gaulle. Arnaud Demare outsprinted the peloton to strengthen his green jersey ahead of Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal). On the second climb of the day, Côte de la colline Sainte-Germaine (4th cat, km 154), Quemeneur grabbed another point. France's Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo) briefly attempted to join the leading trio but gave up after 15 km. 

In the last 30 km, the tempo raised and the leading trio maintained 1:30 over the main pack. But it was a lost cause and with 13 km left, as Julien Vermote (Quick Step), Tiago Machado (Katusha) and Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal) led the chase, the gap quickly diminished. Influential in the breakaway group, Vegard Stake Laengen was awarded the prize as the most aggressive rider of the day. The sprint was far less eventful than the previous one in Vittel even if Demare and Greipel were involved in a fierce battle near the fences. But while they were losing their momentum, Kittel produce his last gasp effort to earn his 11th stage victory on the Tour de France and challenge Demare in the race for the green jersey.

#Tdf2017

Mark Cavendish Calls for Calm

Mark Cavendish has hit out at the “vile and threatening” abuse he has received on social media in the wake of the collision with Peter Sagan that ended both riders’ Tour de France.

Cavendish was forced to abandon the Tour with a broken shoulder suffered in the incident that resulted in Sagan’s disqualification, and says the hurtful messages he and his family have received since must stop.

“Everybody is entitled to their opinions”, Cavendish said in a video message posted on Twitter. “But please note it is a sport. Vile and threatening comments on social media to myself and my family isn’t deserved. I’d ask you all to respect that and please not send threatening or abusive language to myself and my family.”

Cavendish sad he has sorted things out with Sagan, the reigning world champion, and the Briton believes he is being targeted partly because of his behaviour during his younger years.

“I’m paying now as a 32-year-old for the attitude I had as a kid,” he said. “Unfortunately, this will never leave me and I’ll always deal with the brunt of people’s personal opinions.

“I’ve missed the race that I’ve built my career around. Unfortunately these things happen in cycling, especially in the chaotic finale of the sprint, but there’s no hard feelings between Peter and I. We are friends, he apologised after and called me in the evening as well. That’s a measure of the man he is.”

#letour #Peteosagan

Demare Wins Stage Four in Vittel

Arnaud Démare stormed to victory in stage 4 of the 104th Tour de France as he fended off Peter Sagan and Alexander Kristoff in a bunch gallop in Vittel. Two crashes in the last kilometer prevented some sprinters from contesting the victory. Geraint Thomas retained the yellow jersey for the fourth consecutive day ahead of the first summit finish at La Planche des belles filles.

195 riders took the start of stage 4 in Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxemburg. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) attacked from the gun and there was no reaction from the peloton. He got a 13.15 advantage at km 59 before Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Julien Vermote (Quick-Step Floors) started setting the pace of the peloton after leaving the Team Sky of race leader Geraint Thomas regulating a slow tempo for the first hour of racing.

French teams FDJ with Arthur Vichot and Cofidis with Nicolas Edet, racing for their respective sprinter Arnaud Démare and Nacer Bouhanni, helped the two Belgian squads from half way into the stage. The gap was down to six minutes with 90km to go. At the intermediate sprint of Goviller with 50km to go, the deficit of the peloton was 2.40 and the fastest man was Démare who outsprinted Peter Sagan, André Greipel and Marcel Kittel. Van Keirsbulck's advantage was down to two minutes when he scored the only King of the Mountains up for grabs at the col des Trois-Fontaines 37km away from the finish in Vittel. Nathan Brown (Cannondale-Drapac) remained in the polka dot jersey, becoming the first American to do so since Greg LeMond (in 1986), Tejay van Garderen (in 2011) and Taylor Phinney (yesterday) lost it after one day.

Van Keirsbulck was reined with 16.5km to go after 191 kilometers of a solo breakaway. He received the price of the most aggressive rider of the day. A crash with one kilometer to go stopped Marcel Kittel. Démare made the right move to overtake Alexander Kristoff while Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish clashed and the Brit went down heavily. Démare is the first Frenchman to win a bunch sprint of the Tour de France since Jimmy Casper in Strasbourg in 2006. The last French stage winner wearing the blue-white-red jersey of French champion was Thomas Voeckler in Bagnères-de-Luchon in 2010 Luchon. 

Démare also took the green jersey, which no Frenchman did since Sylvain Chavanel, also in 2010. Geraint Thomas came home safely to retain the yellow jersey.

Grand Depart in Duesseldorf

Düsseldorf is to host the Grand Départ of the 2017 Tour de France. The city council voted 40-39 in favour of applying last month after London withdrew for cost reasons.

It will be the first time for 30 years Germany has hosted the Grand Départ, since West Berlin in 1987.

It will be the fourth time in the race’s century-old history that cycling’s showpiece starts in Germany. The 2016 tour starts in La Manche in northern France on 2 July.

Related articles

• Tour de France organisers ASO to withdraw from UCI's calendar
• Tour organisers drop cycling calendar
• Tour organizers pulling races from UCI circuit in 2017
• Diary December 7, 1940
• Tour-de-France-winning Team Sky deliver Christmas message
• Martinelli says change of role at Astana was his idea

Froome Blood to be Saved

Chris Froome’s blood and urine samples from the 2015 Tour de France along with those from the other top five finishers will be kept for 10 years in case retrospective analysis is required, cycling’s world governing body has announced.

The 30-year-old Kenya-born Briton’s performance in winning a second Tour title was subject to innuendo and allegation, all unsubstantiated.

The sport has a troubled history and the authorities are keen to guard against drug cheats if technology develops with the UCI, the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) and French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) announcing on Friday that samples from the top five finishers at Grand Tours will be stored for a decade.

“The UCI, the CADF and the AFLD have agreed to keep the samples for potential retrospective analyses in the future,” a statement read.

“As for all Grands Tours, all the collected samples concerning the best five riders in the general classification will be kept for 10 years for potential retrospective analyses.”

A total of 656 anti-doping controls - 482 were blood tests and 174 urine tests - were carried out during the race, which began in Utrecht on 4 July and finished in Paris on 26 July, with Team Sky’s Froome in the race winner’s yellow jersey ahead of Colombia’s Nairo Quintana and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde.

The blood tests were analysed in relation to the biological passport, which may indicate use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Froome’s critics pointed to power data as evidence of malpractice, but he was tested repeatedly while in the race leader’s yellow jersey and targeted testing was in place. Froome and Team Sky have repeatedly and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

The CADF director Dr Francesca Rossi said “the targeted control strategy was discussed daily taking into account the performance of riders and other data”.

Rossi added: “We strengthened our strategy of targeted controls thanks to the use of information provided by numerous sources and to the support of an intelligence coordinator.”

The UCI president Brian Cookson said: “We can be confident of the robustness of our programme.”

Katusha’s Italian rider Luca Paolini was expelled from the race after testing positive for cocaine, a recreational drug.

Related articles

• Record season of cycling on British Eurosport as Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d'Italia grow
• Vuelta a España: Alejandro Valverde wins fourth stage in uphill struggle
• Doubts persist over Quintana's future in the Vuelta a Espana
• Cycling-Road-Vuelta a Espana classification after stage 9
• Team Sky's Chris Froome stays seventh at Vuelta a Espana
• Colombian Johan Chaves reclaims lead in stage 6 of Vuelta out of Cordoba

Ivan Basso Gets All Clear

Two-time Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso, who withdrew from this year’s Tour de France after revealing he had testicular cancer, has been given the all-clear following treatment, his Tinkoff-Saxo team has said.

The 37-year-old Italian felt pain in his left testicle after crashing in the fifth stage of the Tour and tests later showed he had a small tumour. Basso had surgery in Milan.

“Fabulous news on @ivanbasso! 

Results from final controls show no need for extra treatment. The dark period that started at @letour is over,” Tinkoff-Saxo posted on Twitter.

Basso finished third and second overall in the 2004 and 2005 Tour de France but has won the Giro – his only grand tour titles – thanks to impressive climbing performances.

His career, however, was stained with a two-year ban for his implication in the Operation Puerto blood-doping scandal.

Basso admitted to “attempted doping” in 2007 and was hit by a backdated suspension. He won the Giro in 2010, less than two years after his comeback, to add to his 2006 success.

Related articles

• Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso cleared after cancer scare
• Kiryienka wins world men's time-trial crown, Aussie Dennis suffers puncture
• Vasil Kiryienka takes time trial gold as Tony Martin's run ends
• Kiryienka Wins Time Trial
• Vasil Kiryienka takes time trial gold as Tony Martin's run ends
• A 34-year-old Belarusian cyclist becomes the fastest time trialist on the planet, and officials checked his bike for a motor

Froome Set for Second Tour Title

Photo EPA

Chris Froome is set to become the first Briton to win the Tour de France twice after surviving a thrilling attack by Nairo Quintana on Alpe d'Huez.

Team Sky's Froome, 30, led Quintana by two minutes 38 seconds before the penultimate stage but the Colombian rode clear with 9km remaining.

Froome, champion in 2013, responded to limit his losses to just 80 seconds as France's Thibaut Pinot won the stage.

His 72-second lead will not be challenged on Sunday's finale in Paris.

The short 21st stage, which culminates in several laps around the centre of Paris, is largely ceremonial for the yellow jersey, however the stage is expected to end in a bunch sprint with Mark Cavendish chasing a fifth victory on the Champs-Elysees.

That meant Saturday's 110.5km route from Modane was billed as the decider between Froome and his rival Quintana, who had cut the gap by 32 seconds on the previous day's racing.

Quintana is regarded as an expert climber in the mountains, and while Froome clung on to his rival on the first ascent up Col de la Croix de Fer, the Movistar rider proved to have the edge when it came to the arduous 13.9km trek to the top of Alpe d'Huez.

Tour de France overall standings

Chris Froome Team Sky/Britain 81hrs 56mins 33secs

Nairo Quintana Movistar/Colombia +1min 12secs

Alejandro Valverde Movistar/Spain +5mins 25secs

Vincenzo Nibali Astana/Italy +8mins 36secs

Alberto Contador Tinkoff-Saxo/Spain +9mins 48secs

But Quintana will once again finish runner-up to Froome, as he did two years ago, although this is set to be the smallest winning margin since Carlos Sastre beat Cadel Evans by 58 seconds in 2008.

"It's hard to say if this was harder than 2013, but every day was flat out," said Froome, who is one of only two Britons to have won the Tour, along with Sir Bradley Wiggins.

"Next year I'll come back and renew the rivalry with Nairo. He's a great prospect, has a bright future, a great talent who races correctly, making his race at the right moment."

Related articles

• Chris Froome criticises Vincenzo Nibali for 'unsportsmanlike' overtaking move
• Froome poised to win Tour after Quintana attack
• Froome's lead cut by Quintana
• Chris Froome's Tour de France triumph ends the worst ordeal an athlete can suffer
• Chris Froome defence hold firm in the face of attacks
• Cycling-Froome poised to win Tour, Pinot triumphs on Alpe d'Huez

Tony Gallopin to Stage 11 Victory

Getty Images

Tony Gallopin, of Lotto-Belisol, won stage 11 of the Tour de France from Besancon to Oyonnax.

Gallopin broke away with about 1.5km to go and stayed clear with German John Degenkolb claiming second place in a sprint ahead of Italian Matteo Trentin.

The top of the general classification leaderboard remained unchanged.

Astana's Vincenzo Nibali keeps the yellow jersey as the overall leader - two minutes and 23 seconds ahead of Team Sky's Richie Porte.

Garmin-Sharp team leader Andrew Talansky, who won the Criterium du Dauphine last month and had been considered an outside contender for the Tour before its start, came close to being eliminated however.

The American, suffering with an injured back, was left behind by the peloton with about 80km to go and stopped by the roadside for several minutes to discuss the possibility of abandoning with Garmin-Sharp manager Robbie Hunter.

Talansky continued in tears and, encouraged by shouts from the team car and spectators, completed the rest of 187.5km (116.5 miles) alone, finishing inside the time limit, but 32 minutes and five seconds after the victorious Gallopin.

He is now more than 47 minutes adrift of Nibali overall.

Cannondale's Peter Sagan had seemed well set as the day's racing reached its final kilometres, but a stage win, to add to his huge lead in the green jersey standings, continues to elude the Slovakian.

After a game attack by Irish Tinkoff-Saxo rider Nicolas Roche had been swallowed up, Sagan was in a three-man group that caught leader Gallopin with less than five kilometres to go.

Stage 11 result

1. Tony Gallopin (France / Lotto-Belisol) 4:25:45

2. John Degenkolb (Germany / Giant) same time

3. Matteo Trentin (Italy / Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)

4. Daniele Bennati (Italy / Tinkoff - Saxo)

5. Simon Gerrans (Australia / Orica)

6. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spain / Movistar)

7. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium / BMC Racing)

8. Samuel Dumoulin (France / AG2R)

9. Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Cannondale)

10. Kevin Reza (France / Europcar)

General classification after stage 11

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) 46:59:23

2. Richie Porte (Aus/Team Sky) +2mins 23secs

3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +2mins 47secs

4. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +3mins 01secs

5. Tony Gallopin (Fra/Lotto-Belisol) +3mins 12secs

6. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/FDJ) +3mins 47secs

7. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC) +3mins 56secs

8. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra/AG2R) +3mins 57secs

9. Bauke Mollema (Ned/Belkin) +4mins 8secs

10. Jurgen van den Broeck (Bel/Lotto-Belisol) +4mins 18secs

Related articles

• Matteo Trentin congratulates Peter Sagan on winning stage seven of Tour de France before realising HE had actually won sprint
• Tour stage 7: Trentin the Nancy boy as Sagan's second again
• Trentin pips Sagan in seventh stage
• Nibali Takes Stage 10 of Tour de France, Retakes Yellow Jersey
• Misery for Sagan as Trentin wins stage
• More crashes as Vincenzo Nibali holds Tour de France lead

Hesjedahl Admits Past Doping

Getty Images

Ryder Hesjedal, winner of the 2012 Giro d'Italia, has admitted doping "more than 10 years ago".

The 32-year-old Garmin-Sharp rider responded to allegations by Dane Michael Rasmussen, who said earlier that he taught Hesjedal how to take the banned blood-booster EPO in 2003.

Rasmussen was at Rabobank at the time, while Hesjedal was a mountain bike rider in their development team.

"More than a decade ago I chose the wrong path," said Hesjedal.

"Even though those mistakes happened more than 10 years ago, and they were short-lived, it does not change the fact I made them and I have lived with that and been sorry for it ever since.

"I believe that being truthful will help the sport continue to move forward, and over a year ago when I was contacted by anti-doping authorities, I was open and honest about my past."

Hesjedal was one of several riders and managers called to testify by theUS Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) in the case against Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping.

Hesjedal was one of Armstrong's team-mates at U.S. Postal and Discovery Channel in 2004 and 2005.

However, he is confident the sport is now on the right path and his current team are backing their rider.

"As we have previously stated, our expectation is that anyone in our organisation contacted by any anti-doping authority must be open and honest with that authority," said a Garmin statement.

"Ryder is no exception and a year ago when he was contacted he cooperated fully and truthfully testified to Usada and CCES (Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport).

"For this reason and because of our desire for 100% truth and reconciliation in the sport of cycling, we support him."

Rasmussen admitted earlier this year that he had doped throughout his 12-year professional career, from 1998 to 2010.

Related articles

• Giro winner Hesjedal admits doping
• Hesjedal admits doping, says it was 'short lived' and more than ten years ago
• Should Ryder Hesjedal be punished for his doping past?
• USADA acknowledges Hesjedal was interviewed about past doping, had admitted using banned substances
• Cyclist Ryder Hesjedal admits to doping after Rasmussen revelations
• Tour de France winner finished? Far Froome it

2014 Tour Route Announced

The 2014 Tour de France will include five mountain finishes and one individual time-trial.

The 101st Tour starts in Leeds on 5 July, 2014, one of two stages in Yorkshire, before the riders race from Cambridge to London prior to the French stages.

Chris Froome is worried about crashes and mechanical problems on cobbles - and there will be nine sections of them on stage five in northern France.

The British defending champion said the surface has an "unknown factor".

"A mechanical problem in the wrong moment of the race when things are kicking off could lead to you losing the Tour," the 28-year-old Team Sky rider told Cycling News prior to Wednesday's announcement.

"I'm not a big fan of that. Someone shouldn't lose the Tour due to a mechanical fault."

Froome followed first British winner Sir Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 champion, with a peerless climbing performance and three stage wins to claim the yellow jersey this year.

It will be the fourth time the race has visited the UK and the first time since 2007, when a Westminster prologue was followed by a stage through Kent. Previous visits came in 1974 and 1994.

The opening stage to Harrogate is expected to end in a sprint, giving Mark Cavendish - who has 25 stage wins in the Tour - the chance to take the race leader's yellow jersey in his mother's home town.

The second, hilly stage is from York to Sheffield and could open up gaps in the general classification standings, before another stage expected to end in a sprint, from Cambridge to The Mall in central London.

Related articles

• Tour de France route to be announced
• Tour de France 2014: Chris Froome's fears realised as race hits the cobbles
• 2014 Tour de France has a bit of everything
• Froome fears more cobble carnage
• Yorkshire Tour de France route 2014: Huddersfield, Holmfirth and Elland on Le Tour - see the route map here
• Kittel wins Tour stage; Froome keeps lead