Thursday, July 08, 2010

Tour de France Stages 1 through 5 recaps:

Tour de France Stages 1 through 5 recaps
http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news/
Team RadioShack: Recap: Tour de France Stage 5:

Pressure to Perform
Posted by Cathy Mehl | 12:35:00 PM PDT July 8, 201

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_pressure-perform/#ixzz0t7yjWH3m

Tour de France
Stage 5: Épernay - Montargis, 185 km/116.3mi
By Cathy Mehl

Order has been restored to the universe – Mark Cavendish has won his first stage at the 2010 Tour de France. Taking much heat and criticism from the press for lack of results in this year’s race, the 25-year old sprinter set things right on Thursday by earning his 11th career Tour stage win. Unable to hold back his emotions on the podium, Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) was finally able to let go of the tension and enjoy his moment in the sun. And sunny it was with temperatures soaring into the mid-90’s for much of the day as the race continues to head southeast toward the Alps.
Second place went to Germany’s Gerald Ciolek (Milram) more than a bike length behind Cavendish. In third was Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky. There were no changes on the classification with Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) taking his 21st career yellow jersey. The Shack’s Lance Armstrong remains the best-placed team rider in 18th place.

~~~~~~~~

Team RadioShack: Recap: Tour de France Stage 4.

A Rolling 'Rest' Day
Posted by Cathy Mehl | 12:29:00 PM PDT July 7, 2010

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_a-rolling-rest-day/#ixzz0t7nT9JoT

Tour de France
Stage 4: Cambrai to Reims, 153.5km/95mi
By Cathy Mehl

No stage is easy in the Tour de France, but today’s shorter stage was a welcome relief from the stress of the previous two days. On the first pure sprinter’s stage the fast men of the sport barged and battled for position to get to the tape first. HTC-Columbia put their men on the front and seized control to stretch out the peloton on the city streets of Reims, but their man Mark Cavendish waited too long to begin his sprint when Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) came along the barriers to claim his165th career and second stage in this year’s Tour. Second place went to Julian Dean (Garmin) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) took third. There was no change overall with Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) holding tight to the maillot jaune with 23 seconds over Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and thirty-nine seconds to world champion Cadel Evans (BMC). Team RadioShack’s best-placed rider remains Lance Armstrong in 18th place at 2:30 behind Cancellara.
Speaking about yesterday’s tough day in the saddle, Team Manager Johan Bruyneel commented, “We had Klodi with a broken wheel just before section 4. We had the stop in the peloton because of Frank Schleck’s crash. Then Lance and Levi both punctured. From then on there was nothing we could do anymore. We are all disappointed for the loss of two minutes to Andy (Schleck), 50-seconds to (Alberto) Contador and a bit more on the other favorites. It’s two-and-a-half weeks to go. What happened to us can happen to somebody else tomorrow.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Team RadioShack: Recap: Tour de France Stage 3

'Some Days You're the Nail'

Posted by Cathy Mehl | 01:04:00 PM PDT July 6, 2010

Tour de France

Stage 3: Wanze to Arenberg – Porte Du Hainaut, 213km/132mi

By Cathy Mehl

The long-anticipated stage on the cobbles of northern France finally arrived on Tuesday’s stage three. Tackling seven sectors of pavé totaling 13.2km of bone-jarring cobblestones, the peloton of 191 riders took their chances on the famed roads used in the one-day classic Paris-Roubaix. Some won…some lost. Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong punctured at just the wrong time and lost contact with his working group. Teammate Yaroslav Popovych was there to help Armstrong get back into the action before Lance went solo to bridge a gap and rejoin a chasing group. But the 7-time Tour winner lost time on the stage and slipped out of the top ten.

“Like you see a lot of times in these races it’s a question of luck, good or bad, technical issues, flat tires and crashes. And we saw all of the above,” said Armstrong to the press after he finished the stage. “Frank Schleck crashed and that split the group and then I got a flat and was behind.” Asked about putting the cobble sections into a grand tour course, Lance answered, “Going in I thought it was a good idea to have this stage and I’m not going to change my mind. I think it was a dynamic stage. You can say it was a disadvantage to the climbers but look who was in the front today, a great team that rode a great race today. I think there is a place for that in this race.”

~~~~~~~~~

Team RadioShack: Recap: Tour de France Stage 2:

Slip Sliding Away

Posted by Cathy Mehl | 12:16:00 PM PDT July 5, 2010

Tour de France

Stage2: Brussels to Spa, 201km/125mi

By Cathy Mehl

In another crash-filled stage at the 97th Tour de France, a new race leader emerged after a successful daylong break put Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) on the top step of the podium. Although the biggest group of riders rolled in under soft-pedaling conditions to protest the unsafe conditions of the stage, the yellow jersey was awarded to Chavanel who know holds a massive 2:57 gap to former leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank.). Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong remains the best-placed rider in fifth place with Levi Leipheimer just beind in 8th.

“It’s like there was something on the road. We just couldn’t stay on our bikes," said Lance after the stage. "I’ve never seen anything like that. Then as we would get back up and going we’d pass other guys who had gone down so it was a bit surreal. I’ve got some good abrasions but it was more of a slide. It was so slippery that you would just slide. There wasn’t much impact. I feel ok." Asked if he was re-thinking his return to cycling, Lance answered with "Moments like today I wonder why I came off the beach." Regarding today's route he said, "These hills in the Ardennes are legendary. It was just bad luck. It was pretty even in that just about everybody crashed so everybody will be a little banged up tomorrow.” Lance has a wound on his hip and elbow which shouldn't cause him too much difficulty in the days to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Team RadioShack: Recap: Tour de France Stage 1:

Fireworks in France on the 4th of July

Posted by Cathy Mehl | 12:33:00 PM PDT July 4, 2010

Tour de France

Stage 1: Rotterdam to Brussels, 223km/139mi

By Cathy Mehl

With fans in the USA celebrating Independence Day over hamburgers and fireworks, cycling fans around the world were tuned in to another type of pyrotechnics in the first road stage of Le Tour. It was a nervous peloton that raced into Brussels on Sunday’s stage 1 for the 97th Tour de France and unfortunately many of them hit the deck in a massive pile-up that took out not only men sprinting for the finish but overall contenders too. While chaos ensued behind, Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi ramped up his speed, stayed clear of the others and claimed his 5th Tour de France stage victory and 164th career win. Just behind for second and third were Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) and Thor Hushovd (Cervelo).

Asked post-stage to comment on the crash-filled day, Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong described it as “Total mayhem, definitely in the finish. It was a typical first stage. Everyone wants to be in the front. There were nervous crashes; a dog caused a crash for some of our guys. Millions and millions of people on the road is a blessing and a curse. It’s so great to have so many supporters but it makes the guys super nervous. The guys are always dodging people.” He continued with, “And on these tight roads you saw in the final it shouldn’t be any surprise that there would be some crashes there. Everybody is okay (on Team RadioShack). It just shows you how crazy it’s going to be on Tuesday. You saw the nerves today. We’ll have the same situation on very small roads. The nerves and intensity will be high,” he concluded, referring to Stage 3’s visit to the cobbles.