[N8 v2.0]

14 H 05 - A Wet Stage Today
Rain is falling on the peloton early in today's stage. Lance Armstrong stated that his US Postal team would not defend the yellow jersey so early in this year's Tour and, at this stage, it seems possible that the overall lead will change. The five riders at the front are racing hard to increase their advantage (which is now 9'15") while the peloton is content to roll along in the poor conditions for the stage from Amiens to Chartres.


14 H 11 - Lead Up To 10'55"
The advantage of the five-man escape group on the peloton is now 10'55". This check was taken as the peloton passed the 50km mark.

14 H 13 - Correction Of Sprint Results
The official announcement of the 1st sprint has just come over race radio. The points in Beauvais was actually won by Stuart O'Grady not Magnus Backstedt as reported in a previous flash. Sorry for any confusion caused.



I'll be in a meeting for a while this morning so if one of ya's could take over posting the Posties duties............

 

[RideND]

14 H 15 - Rain Easing...
After a wet start to the 5th stage, the rain has stopped falling on the peloton.

14 H 17 - Lead Continues To Grow
After going on the attack at the 16km mark, Sandy Casar (FDJ), Jakob Piil (CSC), Stuart O'Grady (COF), Thomas Voeckler (BLB) and Magnus Backstedt (ALB) are now well clear of the peloton.
The latest check has the five escapees 11'35" ahead of main pack.

14 H 20 - Peloton In Beauvais
At the site of the 1st intermediate sprint the peloton's deficit to the five leaders is 12'04".

 

[RideND]

14 H 23 - US Postal Leading The Peloton
The peloton isn't exactly chasing the five-man escape group which is now 12'05" ahead. The US Postal team has been at the front of the main pack since Sandy Casar instigated the escape at the 16km mark.

 

[RideND]

14 H 27 - 1km To Climb...
The five leaders are now less than 1,000m from the top of the only categorized climb of the stage. The Mont des Fourches is a 1.8km rise that has an average gradient of 4.3% and peaks at the 70km mark.

14 H 28 - Lead Up To 13'20"
The five escapees are now 13'20" ahead of the peloton.

14 H 30 - Results Of Mont de Fourches
The points at the top of the only climb today were won by:
1. Sandy Casar (FDJ) 3pts
2. Thomas Voeckler (BLB) 2pts
3. Magnus Backstedt (ALB) 1pt

14 H 32 - Yellow Jersey Covered Up By Rain Jacket
Lance Armstrong is riding behind his Postal team-mates at the front of the peloton. Although Lance began the stage dressed in the yellow jersey (and a yellow vest over the top), this coveted shirt is now covered by a black rain jacket.

 

[RideND]

14 H 37 - Advantage Over 14 Minutes
The five-man escape group are now 14'30" ahead of the peloton. Rain is falling on the roads between Amiens and Chartres and it appears that it could be a similar scene to the eighth stage of the 2001 Tour when a group of 14 riders put over half an hour into the peloton by the finish in Pontarlier. That day was a very wet stage that included Stuart O'Grady (who ended the day by claiming the yellow jersey).
Today, however, the best-placed rider in the escape group is Thomas Voeckler.

14 H 38 - 120km To Go
The leading quintet has 120km to race. All five are cooperating in the pace-setting duties and their advantage on the peloton is now at 14'30".

14 H 43 - Peloton On Mont des Fourches
The peloton is at the summit of the only categorized climb of the stage. The deficit to the five leaders is 14'35".

 

[douglas]

2:38 p.m. - At 80km, the lead group of five is now 14:25 ahead of the main field.


shouldnt the peloton worry bout that much of a gap?

 

[Westy]

Jakob Piil is a badass, isn't this his 3rd or fourth breakaway?

 

[RideND]

I know there is a LONG way to go but I dont know if this group will be caught.

 

[RideND]

Jakob Piil is a badass, isn't this his 3rd or fourth breakaway?

I believe he has broke away in every stage so far. He is gonna struggle in the mountains.

 

[Westy]

2:38 p.m. - At 80km, the lead group of five is now 14:25 ahead of the main field.


shouldnt the peloton worry bout that much of a gap?

None of the guys on the breakaway pose a great threat in the long run. If it was Heras or Hamilton out there, you could be damn sure T-mobile and postal would be chasing them down.

 

[douglas]

yellow jersey / break away / Voeckler is the highest placed at 3:00

 

[RideND]

14 H 47 - 115km To Go
The leaders have just passed through Chaumont-en-Vexin at the 85km mark. Their attack began after 16km of racing and they have another 115km to race. At the moment their lead on the peloton which continues to be led by the US Postal team is 14'35".

14 H 48 - Average Speed For 2nd Hour
The average speed for the 2nd hour in stage five is 41.1km/h. The average for the first two hours is 42.4km/h.

14 H 53 - Quickstep Come To Front Of Peloton
Servais Knaven and Davide Bramati of the Quickstep team have come to the front of the peloton. It appears that the chase of the five escapees has begun. Other team cooperating with the Quickstep pair are Lotto and Gerolsteiner.
The main pack is now 15'48" behind the group of O'Grady, Backstedt, Voeckler, Casar & Piil.

 

[RideND]

Wow, they just put another minute and 15 seconds on them. Those leaders must be riding well together.

 

[splat]

shouldnt the peloton worry bout that much of a gap?

The only one who might be a concern to the GC would be Shaun O'Grady, all the rest are no long term threat.

 

[RideND]

I feel sorry for all you 's that have to work right now. Live coverage just started on OLN. I will still keep you posted until N8 returns though.

 

[RideND]

14 H 58 - Pace Of The Peloton Picks Up...
The pace of the chase how now picked up. With riders from Gerolsteiner, Lotto and Quickstep now swapping off the main pack is moving along at about 60km/h.
The first to suffer before of the increase in pace is Brad McGee. He is now off the back of the peloton.

15 H 01 - Escapees In Feedzone
Sandy Casar (FDJ), Jakob Piil (CSC), Stuart O'Grady (COF), Thomas Voeckler (BLB) and Magnus Backstedt (ALB) are now in the feedzone at the 90km mark.

 

[RideND]

15 H 02 - Lead Up To 15'30"
With the peloton at the 84km its deficit to the five escapees is 15'30".

15 H 04 - Fassa Bortolo Also At Front Of Peloton
The Fassa Bortolo boys are now also contributing to the pacesetting duties at the head of the peloton. The other teams involved are Gerolsteiner, Lotto and Quickstep.

15 H 06 - Casar Lives In Mantes-La-Jolie...
One of the riders in today's escape group, Sandy Casar, lives in one of the towns that stage five passes through. Mantes-la-Jolie is where the FDJeux rider is from. The town is at the 125.5km mark of today's stage.

 

[RideND]

15 H 08 - Three Riders Dropped
Celestino, McGee and Montgomery have been dropped because of the rapid pace of the peloton which is now being led riders from the Fassa Bortolo, Gerolsteiner, Quickstep and Lotto teams.

15 H 10 - Bunch Has Split Into Three Groups
The peloton has split into three distinct groups. A group of about 30 riders is about 100 meters behind the main pack.

15 H 12 - Zabel In 2nd Group
The second peloton includes four Cofidis riders, McGee, Montgomery and Zabel... they are about 200 meters behind the yellow jersey's group.

 

[RideND]

15 H 13 - 1st Peloton 15'20" Behind Five Escapees
The leaders are at the 101km mark. Sandy Casar (FDJ), Jakob Piil (CSC), Stuart O'Grady (COF), Thomas Voeckler (BLB) and Magnus Backstedt (ALB) have an advantage of 15'20" on first peloton which includes all the main overall contenders.

15 H 14 - Peloton In Feedzone
The peloton is at the 90km mark. The feedzone is proving to be a help for the riders who were part of the second peloton. Only about 100m separate the two pelotons.

15 H 16 - McGee In Real Trouble
The second peloton is about to catch the yellow jersey's group. But two riders continue to suffer at the back of the stage. They are Maryan Hary and Brad McGee.

 

[RideND]

15 H 17 - Five Escapees Still Over 15 Minutes Ahead
Sandy Casar (FDJ), Jakob Piil (CSC), Stuart O'Grady (COF), Thomas Voeckler (BLB) and Magnus Backstedt (ALB) are still at the front of the stage. Their advantage on the peloton is about 15'05".

15 H 17 - Two Pelotons Merge
The two main group have merged again. Zabel et al are now back with the yellow jersey's pack. At the back of the stage, however, are two riders: McGee and Hary.

 

[RideND]

15 H 22 - 95km To Go
The leading five are now about 95km from the finish in Chartres. O'Grady, Piil, Voeckler, Casar and Backstedt are 15'05" ahead of the peloton.

15 H 23 - Cipollini Dropped
Mario Cipollini has been dropped because of the rapid pace being set at the front of the peloton by riders from the Fassa Bortolo, Lotto and Quickstep teams.

15 H 26 - Peloton Splits Into Three Group
The pace of the main peloton is causing all sorts of havoc. There are are three pelotons separated by about 100 meter each. Servais Knaven is one of the riders insisting on setting a rapid pace at the front of the premier group.

 

[RideND]

15 H 27 - Dry Roads For Now
The rain has stopped falling for the time being. After a wet start to the stage, the peloton is now racing along on a dry surface but it is still a very overcast day and it seems rain could start falling again any minute now.

15 H 28 - Big Fall In Peloton!
There has been a big fall at the head of the peloton. We await the names of the riders involved but it seems that there have been some US Postal riders involved. As well as some from Rabobank and Fassa Bortolo.

 

[RideND]

15 H 30 - Four Riders From US Postal Caught In Fall
Michael Boogerd and possibly Petacchi have been caught in the fall. There are also apparently four Posties involved, but Lance is still on his bike and riding in near the head of the peloton.

15 H 30 - Heras In The Fall
Roberto Heras is another rider involved in the fall. It seems that he's back on his bike and racing to rejoin the peloton which has eased off the pace and appears to be waiting for the fallen riders.

 

[RideND]

15 H 31 - Beltran One Of The Posties
Beltran is one of the Postal riders who was caught in the fall. He is now riding with the race doctor and getting treatment on his left arm.

15 H 32 - Peloton Waiting For Fallen Riders
After motoring along at a rapid pace for the past 15 minutes, the peloton has now eased off the gas a little and is waiting for the riders who were caught up in the fall.
The five escapees are now 15'05" ahead of the main pack.

15 H 35 - Petacchi Racing Again
Alessandro Petacchi is now near the back of the main peloton. He was one of the riders involved in the fall as the bunch exited Magny-en-Vexin.

15 H 37 - Vicioso Has Facial Injuries
Race radio has reported that Angel Vicioso has suffered facial injuries in the crash a few minutes ago. Further details of the injuries are not yet available.

15 H 37 - Lead Up To 15'33"
The five riders at the front of the stage have pushed their advantage up to 15'33".

 

[RideND]

15 H 39 - Rubiera Receives Medical Treatment
Jose Luis Rubiera is now with the race doctor. It seems that the Spaniard is one of the riders who was caught in the fall at the 102km mark.

15 H 41 - US Postal Now Leading Peloton
The US Postal team is now at the front of the peloton. The pace of this pack has eased considerably since the crash.

15 H 42 - Heavy Rain Again...
Rain is now pouring down on the peloton. Most of the riders involved in the crash have rejoined the peloton but it has taken some time for guys like Petacchi and Boogerd to catch up.

15 H 43 - 80km To Go For Five Leaders...
The five escapees are now 16'11" ahead of the peloton. Sandy Casar (FDJ), Jakob Piil (CSC), Stuart O'Grady (COF), Thomas Voeckler (BLB) and Magnus Backstedt (ALB) have 80km to race in stage five.

 

[RideND]

15 H 48 - Average Speed For 3rd Hour
The average speed of the 3rd hour of racing in stage five is 38.5km/h. The average speed for the first three hours combined is 41.1km/h.

15 H 50 - McGee Still Well Behind The Peloton
Brad McGee is the only rider who hasn't been able to rejoin the main peloton after the crash at the 102km mark. The FDJeux rider is now about two minutes behind the peloton that is being led by the US Postal team.

15 H 53 - Peloton In Drocourt
The peloton is now at the 114.5km mark of the stage. As this group rides through Drocourt, its deficit to the leading quintet is 16'52" ahead of the peloton.

15 H 56 - Sun Now Shining On Peloton
The peloton continues to be led by riders from the US Postal Service team. It seems that Beltran and Rubiera have recovered from their falls as they're now back up front setting the pace for their team leader, Lance Armstrong. The rain has stopped (again) but it's unlikely to hold off if the early phaze of the day is any indication.

15 H 58 - McGee Abandons
The director of the FDJ team, Marc Madiot, has just reported that Brad McGee has abandoned the Tour de France. The winner of the prologue last year has been suffering bad back pain in the early phaze of this year's race.

 

[RideND]

16 H 00 - Seven Australians Now In The Tour
The retirement of Brad McGee has dropped the number of Australian riders in the race to seven. There were to be 10 Aussies in the Tour this year, but Matt White crashed out only hours before the prologue.
Since then, both Nick Gates and Brad McGee has abandoned...

16 H 02 - Punctrure For Cipollini
Mario Cipollini has just punctured. He has a new wheel and is back on the bike and chasing the peloton.

16 H 03 - Leading Quintet 17'20" Ahead
The advantage of Sandy Casar (FDJ), Jakob Piil (CSC), Stuart O'Grady (COF), Thomas Voeckler (BLB) and Magnus Backstedt (ALB) has grown to 17'20". These riders escaped the peloton at the 16km mark.

 

[douglas]

5:13 p.m. - The leaders are now 23km from the finish and the Postal team is maintaining the gap at around 15:15.

5:18 p.m. - There has been another crash in the main field. Both the Green jersey (Robbie McEwen) and the Polka dot jersey (Paolo Bettini) have hit the deck.

5:27 p.m. - The leaders are now 16km from the finish. The gap remains at 14:41.

5:29 p.m. - Well, if we had to pick a winner today, we would probably predict O'Grady, who is amped to take the Green Jersey at some point in the Tour. With strong winds at the finish, Backstedt will be least affected, but the big boy will be offering one helluva draft for anyone who grabs his wheel.

 

[N8 v2.0]

17 H 51 - 5 In Lead Group Now...
Backstedt and Casar have rejoined their day-long companions. Five riders will now fight it out for the stage win...

 

[N8 v2.0]

17 H 53 - O'Grady Wins The Stage!
Stuart O'Grady first won a stage of the Tour de France in 1998. Today he has outsprinted Jakob Piil and Sandy Casar to win again.

 

[N8 v2.0]

17 H 56 - Voeckler Will Inherit The Yellow Jersey...
The peloton is yet to finish, but Thomas Voeckler can start to make his way to the presentation podium... he will replace his French champion's jersey with a yellow one for stage six. He began the day in 59th place overall, three minutes behind Armstrong.

 

[N8 v2.0]

18 H 04 - T-Mobile Leading Peloton To Finish
The peloton is now in the final kilometer of the stage. The T-Mobile squad is at the head of affairs, but the green jersey of McEwen is also near the front. Expect a battle royale for sixth place between Zabel, Hushovd and McEwen.

 

[N8 v2.0]

18 H 06 - Peloton Home 12'36" Behind O'Grady
The peloton has been led across the line by McEwen, Hushovd and Casper. The deficit to the stage winner was 12'36".

 

[COmtbiker12]

Did you guys see that huge crash in the middle of the peloton about half an hour ago? Was definitely a pretty good finish on Voeckler, O'Grady, Pill and the others up there.