New scandal rocks Tour de France 2008

July 17, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
8 Comments

tour_de_france_logo.jpgAfter losing a couple of individual riders who returned positive drug tests in this year’s Tour de France, the race has been rocked with the withdrawal of the entire Saunier Duval-Scott team.

Until the start of today’s 12th stage Riccardo Ricco held both the white and the polka dot jerseys. Today it seems his two stage wins in this year’s event, stages 6 and 9, can be explained by his positive tests for the performance enhancing EPO. Ricco has now been taken into police custody.

It’s being reported that one of the climber’s urine samples collected by the French Anti-Doping Agency AFLD showed traces of a third generation EPO called CERA (Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator).

Team mate Juan Jose Cobo Acebo was one place higher in the general classification than Ricco with the Saunier Duval-Scott team mates in 8th and 9th places respectively.

Leonardo Piepoli, another member of the team, crossed the line in first place on the grueling 10th stage, finishing at the top of Hautacam. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo was a close second on the day giving Saunier Duval-Scott a coveted one two finish on one of the most prestigious stages of any Tour de France.

The decision to withdraw the entire team became clear after the team failed to sign in for the start of the day’s racing.

At the time of their withdrawal the team was also wearing the yellow numbers of the best team in the race.



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It was all yellow

July 15, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

tour_de_france_logo.jpgCadel Evans has gone into the first rest day of the 2008 Tour de France wearing yellow … by just one second.

The Australian rode an amazing stage in the mountains on a day when both the previous yellow jersey, Kim Kirchen, and the second favourite for the tour, Alejandro Valverde, cracked in the mountains and lost time to the Australian. Valverde has now slipped back to 14th place.

Of course the race is a long way from over and with eleven stages still to come, Cadel will have a big job ahead of him defending the yellow jersey.

One of the biggest stories to come out of the tenth stage was the strength of Team CSC who controlled the mountains and put many riders into trouble with their pace. CSC rider Frank Shleck was only a second away from wearing yellow with a tremendous ride up Hautacam.

Out of the eleven remaining stages there are five flat stages, five mountain stages and an individual time trial.

The race is a long way from over but it’s great to see Cadel in yellow.

Below are the top ten places overall from the official Tour De France website.

1. EVANS Cadel 1 SILENCE – LOTTO 42h 29′ 09″
2. SCHLECK Frank 17 TEAM CSC SAXO BANK 42h 29′ 10″ + 00′ 01″
3. VANDEVELDE Christian 191 GARMIN CHIPOTLE 42h 29′ 47″ + 00′ 38″
4. KOHL Bernhard 115 GEROLSTEINER 42h 29′ 55″ + 00′ 46″
5. MENCHOV Denis 131 RABOBANK 42h 30′ 06″ + 00′ 57″
6. SASTRE Carlos 11 TEAM CSC SAXO BANK 42h 30′ 37″ + 01′ 28″
7. KIRCHEN Kim 41 TEAM COLUMBIA 42h 31′ 05″ + 01′ 56″
8. COBO ACEBO Juan Jose 173 SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT 42h 31′ 19″ + 02′ 10″
9. RICCO Riccardo 171 SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT 42h 31′ 38″ + 02′ 29″
10. EFIMKIN Vladimir 104 AG2R-LA MONDIALE 42h 31′ 41″ + 02′ 32″

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cadel lose the winner’s jersey for a few days at some stage but if that hapopens, his time trialling skills should see him return to the number one position on the day before Paris in the 53 km time trial.



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Need . More . Coffee

July 11, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

I must admit that I’m feeling a little weary today. I was up late again last night watching the latest stage in the tour.

Cadel Evans moved up to second overall in the Tour de France in stage 6, the first of the mountain stages, and with some more ‘medium’ mountains in today’s stage we could have an Aussie in yellow by this time tomorrow.

So it’s more medium mountains today before another day on the flat then two days of high mountains. After all that, and ten days straight racing, the riders are given their first rest day for the 2008 Tour de France on Tuesday.

By then I reckon they’ll all be ready for a little rest. I know I will.



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Tour 2008 Continues

July 8, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

After three days of racing the 2008 Tour de France is just getting started.

The official Tour de France 2008 website has all the details and standings for all riders but here’s how things stand for the top ten riders at the moment.

1. FEILLU Romain 124 AGRITUBEL 13h 27′ 05″
2. LONGO BORGHINI Paolo 59 BARLOWORLD 13h 27′ 40″ + 00′ 35″
3. FRISCHKORN William 194 GARMIN CHIPOTLE 13h 28′ 47″ + 01′ 42″
4. VALVERDE Alejandro 31 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 13h 28′ 50″ + 01′ 45″
5. KIRCHEN Kim 41 TEAM COLUMBIA 13h 28′ 51″ + 01′ 46″
6. FREIRE Oscar 133 RABOBANK 13h 28′ 51″ + 01′ 46″
7. PINEAU Jérôme 145 BOUYGUES TELECOM 13h 28′ 51″ + 01′ 46″
8. MILLAR David 198 GARMIN CHIPOTLE 13h 28′ 51″ + 01′ 46″
9. EVANS Cadel 1 SILENCE – LOTTO 13h 28′ 51″ + 01′ 46″
10. POZZATO Filippo 61 LIQUIGAS 13h 28′ 51″ + 01′ 46″

I’ve enjoyed seeing all the colour and the tactics over the past few days. Tour de France time is one of my favourite times of the year. It does mean late nights and mornings that come around far too soon but I’m enjoying watching the TV coverage half a world away in Perth, Western Australia.

The fun really begins with today’s stage.

Stage four is a 29.5 km time trial so we should start to see the main contenders come out to play. Although it’s only a short time trial I’m hoping to see Australia’s Cadel Evans put in a good performance to set himself up for greater things later in the three week event. It’s claimed that one of his main rivals, Alejandro Valverde, has been brushing up on his time trialling techniques.

Cadel’s strengths are in time trialling and his climbing ability so it’ll be interesting to see at least one of those strengths on display in today’s stage.



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