Finally the Festival of the favourite rider (or team) that wins the stage in which he's the favourite seems to have come to an end.Yesterday's favourite was Cavendish,but the Englishman with the frog kit didn't win.And that's already a news.
So,yesterday stage arrived in Perpignan (last year I passed 3 weeks between Canet en Rousillon and La Grande Motte,something tells me that I've chosen the wrong year to go there...) and started in Cap d'Adge.
So,yesterday stage arrived in Perpignan (last year I passed 3 weeks between Canet en Rousillon and La Grande Motte,something tells me that I've chosen the wrong year to go there...) and started in Cap d'Adge.
After few kms,Voeckler,Sapa,Hutarovich,Geslin,Timmers and Ignatiev formed a breakaway.It seemed to be a hopeless breakaway,especially when,with about 30 kms to go,the advantadge of the 6 men on the peloton was of just 40 seconds.But then things changed and the advantadge of the 6 men surprisingly started to increase.With 6 kms to go,Ignatiev attacked and Sapa got dropped.The Russian attacked again with 5 kms to go and this time Geslin was the one who lost contact from the other riders.The next to attack was Voeckler,that managed to cross the finish-line all alone.Second came Ignatiev,who managed to cross the finish-line few tenths of second before of Cavendish and the rest of the peloton. 
After the stage,Voeckler said,"I didn't calculate any of this at all.I thought that it was impossible that we'd keep our advantage,because we only had 50 seconds left with 35 kilometres to go.I told myself,even if we get through,there are two riders from the same team,one of which (Hutarovich) is really fast in the sprint.But once I got the gap,I went flat out,and when I got under the flamme rouge and still had 10 seconds, I started to believe it."
The funny thing was that yesterday was the 8th of July,and that on the 8th of July 2004 Voeckler managed to wear the yellow jersey at le Tour for the first time in his life."I didn't think once about the fact that it was today,"the Frenchman said."I was told after the finish line. ìThis morning,we only celebrated Jean-René's birthday...but I didn't win for him today! Of course,I'm happy I won because the future of the team is not really safe, so this victory means a lot to us.If it can help the team to continue its adventure, then that's perfect.I remember five years ago, we got another sponsor after my ride in yellow,too".
The day didn't go well for poor Robert Gesink.He fell during a descent and,although he broke his left wrist in the crash,managed to cross the finish-line with 9 minutes of delay from Voeckler. :(
The yellow jersey remained on Cancellara's shoulders.For infos about los Schlecks,see next post.
After the stage,Voeckler said,"I didn't calculate any of this at all.I thought that it was impossible that we'd keep our advantage,because we only had 50 seconds left with 35 kilometres to go.I told myself,even if we get through,there are two riders from the same team,one of which (Hutarovich) is really fast in the sprint.But once I got the gap,I went flat out,and when I got under the flamme rouge and still had 10 seconds, I started to believe it."The funny thing was that yesterday was the 8th of July,and that on the 8th of July 2004 Voeckler managed to wear the yellow jersey at le Tour for the first time in his life."I didn't think once about the fact that it was today,"the Frenchman said."I was told after the finish line. ìThis morning,we only celebrated Jean-René's birthday...but I didn't win for him today! Of course,I'm happy I won because the future of the team is not really safe, so this victory means a lot to us.If it can help the team to continue its adventure, then that's perfect.I remember five years ago, we got another sponsor after my ride in yellow,too".
The day didn't go well for poor Robert Gesink.He fell during a descent and,although he broke his left wrist in the crash,managed to cross the finish-line with 9 minutes of delay from Voeckler. :(
The yellow jersey remained on Cancellara's shoulders.For infos about los Schlecks,see next post. (Photos:Afp,Luc Claessen)
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