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Thomas Voeckler Was First Over Every Pass and Won Stage 16. Wiggins Keeps the Yellow on His Back - Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Thomas Voeckler of Team Europcar, climbs away from all the other top riders in the Pyrennes to win stage 16 of the 2012 Tour de France. Out of the saddle, over the pedals, Voeckler also danced away with the polka-dot-jersey again. On his eleventh year as a professional racer, Voeckler has won numerous stages in the Tour de France and has held the maillot blanc (youngest rider) and the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) for consecutive stages in the Tour over the last 10 years. Voeckler likes to dance on his bike and he likes to win. With one day of climbing in the four days left in the Tour, Voeckler will have competition. In Stage 17, the first climb in the Alpine Mountains has been part of the course since 1971-- the Col de Menté. This will be followed by the Col des Ares and the Port de Balès.

Stage 16 was 197 kilometers with four grueling climbs that split the field into pieces. The day started fast. The riders are now fighting for positions turning on the ruthless speed before going into the climbs. 22 kilometers from the start, a 38 man break formed with top riders such as Hincapie, Voeckler, and Cummings, but no Bradley Wiggins. At the base of Aubisque, climb one, the break gained a lead of 3’4” ahead of the peloton. By the time the field reached the climb they were 5’45” back from the brave lead group. Team SKY kept the pace up at the front of the main field so no dangerous gap opened. 5km from the top of the Tourmalet, climb two, the only ones in the escape group, Voeckler and Feillu, were on their own at the front. Cadel Evans, last year’s maillot jaune winner, stayed with the yellow jersey group until the third climb, Col d'Aspin, where he cracked. On the decent, Evans teammates brought him back to the yellow jersey group. Evans then lost contact with the yellow jersey 5km from the top of the Peyrsourde. He was demoted from 4^th overall to 7^th overall with no possibility of finishing in the yellow.

Early on the final climb, the top two lead riders, Voeckler and Feillu, had a lead of 1'00” on four riders: Voigt, Vinokourov, Izaguirre and Sorensen. The remaining main field was 9’2” back. With 22 kilometers to go, Voeckler attacked Feillu and danced away with a top climber’s legs. Voeckler was first over every pass and won the final finish 1’40” in front of Sorenson. The climbs split the top ten riders who finished broken into pieces, times in between distant. This is what the Tour de France does to the best cyclists in the world.

Wiggins finished 12^th place but kept his yellow jersey comfortably on his back.

July 17, 2012: 2012 Tour de France - Stage 16: Pau - Bagnères-de-Luchon (197 km):
1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 05:35:02
2 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:01:40
3 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:03:22
4 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
5 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:03:58
6 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:04:18
7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 0:06:08
8 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre - ISD
9 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team
10 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:06:11

Overall 2012 Tour de France rankings after stage 16:
1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 74:15:32
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:02:05
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:23
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:05:46
5 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 0:07:13
6 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:07:55
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:08:06
8 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:09:09
9 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:10:10
10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:11:43

Tags: 2012 Tour De France Stage 16 Results, Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar, Team Radio Shack

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Pierre Rolland Takes Stage 11 Win, with Wiggins Showing Suffering on the Final Climb While Still Keeping the Yellow with More of A Lead - Thursday, July 12, 2012

Europcar's second consecutive stage win at the Tour de France was taken by Pierre Rolland who rode away alone 10 km from the top of a mountain at La Toussuire. Never looking back, Rolland finished 55 seconds in front of Thibault Pinot (FDJ-Big Mat) with Christopher Froome (Sky) riding on his wheel and taking third. Froome also rode into 2^nd overall in the general classification. Bradley Wiggins held onto Fromme’s wheel who was told 500 meters from the finish to take off with Rolland for the win. Even though 57 seconds back from the win, Wiggins maintained his yellow jersey with Christopher Fromme, his own SKY teammate 2’7” behind. Team Sky is dominating the mountains of the France.

Cadel Evans (BMC) took on the ascent of the Col de Croix de Fer, but couldn't get away. On the final climb, he paid for the effort and fell in the overall rankings to 4^th which is 3’19” down from the lead.

The mountains on the course of Stage 11 rippled the pack into singles, doubles and small groups. The climbs went over col de la Madeleine (2,000m high at 40km), then col de la Croix de Fer (2,067m high at 93km), category-two col du Molland (1,638m at 113km) and the finishing climb to La Toussuire (category-one, at the end of the 148km stage). These are the days when the real racing takes place. We see which riders have the legs and lungs. The top riders are also willing to both cause and take the suffering until the finish line, then show up the next day and do it again.

Stage 11 Results:

RANK	RIDER	NO.	TEAM	TIMES	GAP
1.	ROLLAND Pierre	29	TEAM EUROPCAR	04h 43′ 54”
2.	PINOT Thibaut	146	FDJ-BIGMAT	04h 44′ 49”	+ 00′ 55”
3.	FROOME Christopher	105	SKY PROCYCLING	04h 44′ 49”	+ 00′ 55”
4.	VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen	111	LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM	04h 44′ 51”	+ 00′ 57”
5.	NIBALI Vincenzo	51	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	04h 44′ 51”	+ 00′ 57”
6.	WIGGINS Bradley	101	SKY PROCYCLING	04h 44′ 51”	+ 00′ 57”
7.	SORENSEN Chris Anker	178	TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK	04h 45′ 02”	+ 01′ 08”
8.	BRAJKOVIC Janez	181	ASTANA PRO TEAM	04h 45′ 52”	+ 01′ 58”
9.	KIRYIENKA Vasili	167	MOVISTAR TEAM	04h 46′ 07”	+ 02′ 13”
10.	SCHLECK Frank	11	RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	04h 46′ 17”	+ 02′ 23”

General Classification After Stage 11:

RANK	RIDER	NO.	TEAM	TIMES	GAP
1.	WIGGINS Bradley	101	SKY PROCYCLING	48h 43′ 53”
2.	FROOME Christopher	105	SKY PROCYCLING	48h 45′ 58”	+ 02′ 05”
3.	NIBALI Vincenzo	51	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	48h 46′ 16”	+ 02′ 23”
4.	EVANS Cadel	1	BMC RACING TEAM	48h 47′ 12”	+ 03′ 19”
5.	VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen	111	LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM	48h 48′ 41”	+ 04′ 48”
6.	ZUBELDIA Haimar	19	RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	48h 50′ 08”	+ 06′ 15”
7.	VAN GARDEREN Tejay	9	BMC RACING TEAM	48h 50′ 50”	+ 06′ 57”
8.	BRAJKOVIC Janez	181	ASTANA PRO TEAM	48h 51′ 23”	+ 07′ 30”
9.	ROLLAND Pierre	29	TEAM EUROPCAR	48h 52′ 24”	+ 08′ 31”
10.	PINOT Thibaut	146	FDJ-BIGMAT	48h 52′ 44”	+ 08′ 51”

Tags: 2012 Tour De France Stage 11 results, Pierre Rolland, Pinot Thibaut, Team Europcar, Louis Garneau

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Thomas Voeckler wins Stage 10 of the Tour de France in the Alps - Thursday, July 12, 2012

Riding into the Alps in Stage 10 of the Tour, Bradley Wiggins defended his yellow jersey. With Sky Team mate’s support, Wiggins rode through the 194.5-km ride from Macon to Bellegarde sur Valserine and retained his lead of one minute 53 seconds over defending champion Cadel Evans of Australia. Thomas Voeckler of Team Europcar rode away on the final kilometer to finish 3 seconds in front of Michele Scarponi of Lampre-ISD.

(Thomas Voelker)

In the opening hour, two dozen riders broke away and from this group a five-man group split off. Thomas Voeckler of Team Europcar, the 33 year old on his 10^th Tour de France, made his move 1.5 km from the finish line. The break chased, but Voeckler held them off. Michele Scarponi of Lampre-ISD finished 3 seconds back and Jens Voigt of Radio Shack-Nissan trailed 7 seconds back.

(Bradley Wiggins)

Voeckler finished top 4 overall in the 2011 Tour de France, but this year he is out of this type of finisheven though he led over the first 'hors categorie' climb of the 99th Tour - the Col du Grand Colombier. He now has taken the lead of the climbing classification. Voted the most aggressive rider of the 10th stage, his 10^th year in the Tour de France lead him to make the right move at the right time to win this finish in Bellegarde sur Valserine.

Stage 10 Results

1. Thomas Voeckler, France, Team Europcar, 4 hours, 46 minutes, 26 seconds.

2. Michele Scarponi, Italy, Lampre-ISD, 3 seconds behind.

3. Jens Voigt, Germany, RadioShack-Nissan, :07.

4. Luis Leon Sanchez, Spain, Rabobank, :23.

5. Dries Devenyns, Belgium, Omega Pharma-QuickStep, :30.

6. Sandy Casar, France, FDJ-Big Mat, 2:44.

7. Egoi Martinez, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, same time.

8. Pierre Rolland, France, Team Europcar, same time.

9. Jurgen Van den Broeck, Belgium, Lotto Belisol, same time.

10. Dmitriy Fofonov, Kazakhstan, Astana, 2:52.

11. Thibaut Pinot, France, FDJ-Big Mat, 3:16.

12. Cadel Evans, Australia, BMC Racing, same time.

13. Bradley Wiggins, Britain, Sky Procycling, same time.

14. Nicolas Roche, Ireland, France, AG2R La Mondiale, same time.

15. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas-Cannondale, same time.

16. Denis Menchov, Russia, Katusha, same time.

17. Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Movistar, same time.

18. Chris Froome, Britain, Sky Procycling, same time.

Tags: 2012 Tour De France stage 10 results, Thomas Voelker, Louis Garneau, Team Europcar, Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky

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