[N8 v2.0]

:23 p.m. - Man, Vino' is looking good. He's less than three kilometers from the top and holding a three-minute lead on the Armstrong group.

We've had a few questions that we'd like to answer.
A lot of you have asked why riders are no longer removing helmets on the climbs to mountain-top finishes. That rule has been dumped. You have to wear a helmet all the time now.

4:27 p.m. - Vino is on the last kilometer of the climb. He then has a long descent to the finish in Briançon.

4:28 p.m. - Vino is working his way through massive crowds on the final meters of the climb

 

[DRB]

Strong riders all...

You gotta figure that with that many Discovery riders left that they haven't really pushed the pace.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Vino is over the top...

 

[Hawkeye]

Officer 1 "Maybe we should search that car."

Officer 2 "It doesn't say Discovery on the side they should be OK"

 

[DRB]

40 km ALEXANDRE VINOKOUROV HITS THE GALIBIER SUMMIT SOLO, the Kazak rider tucking and gunning into the descent... There's still a long 40 km to ride, but the day's climbing is done. It's all downhill or flatlands to the finish in Briancon...

16:32 CEST
Botero comes over at 41 seconds, not giving up. Rasmussen will be next, as he has a nice little gap over the bunch.

 

[DRB]

16:33 CEST 134km/39km to go
If Rasmussen can descend faster than the group, he might even take the maillot jaune today - he started the day just 38 seconds behind, and he'd get an 8 second bonus for 3rd. That's a big if - Armstrong won't let the jersey go that easily.

 

[N8 v2.0]

16:33 CEST 134km/39km to go
If Rasmussen can descend faster than the group, he might even take the maillot jaune today - he started the day just 38 seconds behind, and he'd get an 8 second bonus for 3rd. That's a big if - Armstrong won't let the jersey go that easily.

I can't help but cheer for the 1999 World MTB Champion...

 

[DRB]

16:34 CEST 136km/37km to go
Rasmussen is third over at 2'23, as Moreau sprints for the fourth place points at 2'40, closely followed by Azevedo and the rest of the Armstrong group.

Vino is now on the descent. Botero goes downhill a bit better than Vino, so he could catch him for the win.

Kloden's group with Rogers, Guerini, Zandio, and Kasheckhin, comes over at 3'12.

 

[DRB]

16:38 CEST 140km/33km to go
Botero is just 17 seconds behind Vino, and should catch him soon.

Rasmussen has been caught by the Armstrong group. Valverde is off the back of it, but is chasing on now. The roads are dry.

 

[N8 v2.0]

So is it gonna be Botero and Vino at the finish?

 

[DRB]

So is it gonna be Botero and Vino at the finish?

If they stay together then Vino has to have the advantage. BUT if Botero sticks it on the descent, then.....

If they start screwing around their 2'30" advantage will get whittled away quite a bit. Especially if Discovery continues to drive the group.

 

[DRB]

16:55 CEST
Vino's timing transponder has come loose and is banging against the spokes a bit. That ain't going to help...

16:56 CEST
The T-Mobile car snips the time transponder off, so Vino is now in Stealth Mode.

 

[DRB]

16:59 CEST 165km/8km to go
A big group, but it might not be the main sprinters' bus, is now at the top of the Galibier, well over 20 minutes down.

The maillot jaune is now 1'52 behind Vino and Botero with less than 9 km to go.

17:01 CEST 166km/7km to go
It's a bit of a crosswind as the two leaders motor towards the finish, Vino still shaking his legs, which probably feel like jelly now. Does he have enough to outsprint Botero?

1'51...

 

[Westy]

From the course profile it looks like the finish is a short climb, should make for an interesting finish.

 

[DRB]

17:05 CEST 170.5km/2.5km to go
They reach three km to go and keep working. 1'35 to Armstrong and co. There won't be big GC gains today.

17:06 CEST 171km/2km to go
Botero now does a long turn - his turns have been longer than Vino's. But they're still cooperating well.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Vino Wins!!!!

 

[DRB]

17:07 CEST
Botero looks back at Vino, who is not going to come through. No way.

17:08 CEST
Botero slows a bit, but not too much. Vino gets ready to jump. 500m to go.

17:08 CEST
They both get out of the saddle and watch each other. 300m.

17:08 CEST
They sprint, with Vino jumping first and powering away from Botero for the stage win!! Finally! He does it! He is very very happy.

17:10 CEST 173km/0km to go
Hincapie leads out Popovch and Armstrong for third, but it's Moreau who takes it from Julich, Mazzoleni, and Evans. No bonus for Armstrong.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Team Discovery finishes 1'35" behind leaders...

 

[DRB]

Team Discovery finishes 1'52" behind leaders...

1'14"

So with the 20sec bonus, Vino gets back 1'34" of his 5'18" lost yesterday.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Thanks for the correction...

 

[DRB]

Provisional

1 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 4.47.38
2 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems
3 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 1.14
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
5 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
6 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner
9 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
10 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner

General classification after stage 11

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 41.59.57
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.38
3 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.40
4 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.42
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 3.16
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 3.58
7 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.47
8 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 4.00
9 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.02
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.16

 

[DRB]

General classification after stage 11

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 41.59.57
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.38
3 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.34
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.40
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 3.16
6 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.47
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 3.58
8 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 4.00
9 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.02
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.16

Revised for time bonuses earned.

 

[trailblazer]

Vino rules. I hope he has some gas left for the biggest climb comming up.

Rassmussen is my dark horse pick yo. :

 

[The Toninator]

General classification after stage 11

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 41.59.57
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.38
3 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.34
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.40
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 3.16
6 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.47
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 3.58
8 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 4.00
9 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.02
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.16

Revised for time bonuses earned.

not great but looking good for my pics

1. France Armstrong (ie Lance Francestrong)
2. Ivan Basso
3. Alexander Vinokourov
4. Jan Ullrich
5. Christophe Moreau
6. Floyd Landis
7. Levi Leipeimer
*8. Carlos Sastre
*9. Jose Azevedo

 

[The Toninator]

d'oh Jens Voigt (G), CSC didnt make the time cut

 

[golgiaparatus]

LOL... Just read this on Velonews...

Lance on Vino's victory and postal not chasing him down.

"If his objective was to win the stage, then mission accomplished. If the objective was to blow up the Discovery team, then mission not accomplished,"

You know lance might have been thinking that T-Mobile would throw someone at him. He took it calmly, good show.

http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/details/articles/8482.0.html

 

[PsychO!1]

Vino rules. I hope he has some gas left for the biggest climb comming up.

Rassmussen is my dark horse pick yo. :

I give Vino a thumbs up for riding with gusto and taking the stage victory, especially after yesterday stage.....but in the the big picture, he put out a HUGE effort today only to gain 1:34.
I think he'll pay for it in the pyranees.

 

[DRB]

LOL... Just read this on Velonews...

Lance on Vino's victory and postal not chasing him down.

"If his objective was to win the stage, then mission accomplished. If the objective was to blow up the Discovery team, then mission not accomplished,"

You know lance might have been thinking that T-Mobile would throw someone at him. He took it calmly, good show.

More from Lance

On Wednesday his Discovery Channel team worked well throughout the day to limit Vinokourov's lead.

For Armstrong, it had been a relatively good day in the saddle.

"Yesterday was critical for us, but today was much less selective. The team controlled more or less everything today. They were super," said Armstrong who denied that Vinokourov's attack had left them worried.

"He definitely wasn't our concern, today. Our main concern was keeping the team together. He's what, six minutes or he was at six minutes - but we can't go chasing everybody who's at five or six minutes behind us. We have to prioritise, and he wasn't on our list of priorities.

"We let him out there, but we kept the team together, controlled the tempo, and controlled the pace."

At no point did Vino get any sort of lead that Discovery couldn't have wiped out at will on those climbs today.

 

[chicodude]

General classification after stage 11

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 41.59.57
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.38
3 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.34
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.40
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 3.16
6 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.47
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 3.58
8 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 4.00
9 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.02
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.16

Revised for time bonuses earned.

My picks

Armstrong
Basso
Ullrich
Leipheimer
Kloden
Mayo
Heras



Eh.......

 

[COmtbiker12]

What I really want is for Rasmussen to finish top 10 overall. He's an excellent rider and its amazing how relaxed he was looking yesterday and today just hangin out wth lance.i

 

[DRB]

General classification after stage 11

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 41.59.57
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.38
3 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.34
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.40
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 3.16
6 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.47
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 3.58
8 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 4.00
9 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.02
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.16

Revised for time bonuses earned.

O'Grady - pointy guy
Rasmussen - Dots
Valverde - youngster

armstrong
basso
ullrich
botero
mancebo
azevedo
Leipheimer

All mine are in the top 10 except azevedo. And I'm not complaining about 3 of 6 with Rasmussen and Moreau in there. Who would have saw that coming?

 

[The Toninator]

O'Grady - pointy guy
Rasmussen - Dots
Valverde - youngster

armstrong
basso
ullrich
botero
mancebo
azevedo
Leipheimer

All mine are in the top 10 except azevedo. And I'm not complaining about 3 of 6 with Rasmussen and Moreau in there. Who would have saw that coming?

hahahhahah moreau has been top 10 for the like last 4 years.

 

[DRB]

hahahhahah I have no idea what I am talking about.

12th in 2004
8th in 2003
DNF in 2002
DNF in 2001
4th in 2000
12th in 1999


What was that you were saying?

 

[The Toninator]

12th in 2004
8th in 2003
DNF in 2002
DNF in 2001
4th in 2000
12th in 1999


What was that you were saying?

ok so it wasnt in a row and there are 2 12's but still it's not as far fetched as you made it out to be. like rasmussen...