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Critérium du Dauphiné 2010: Stage 7

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Good morning and welcome to the live coverage from the final stage of the 2010 Criterium du Dauphine. Today's leg is a 148km leg from Allevard-les-Bains to Sallanches, the location of Bernard Hinault's only world road championship in 1980. The stage finishes with an 11km circuit in Sallanches to be covered five times, with a leg-stinging climb of the 9.2 percent Côte de Domancy each lap.

Bernard Hinault negotiated that climb 20 times on the world championship circuit in 1980, putting his rivals to the sword there and soloing to a memorable victory.
 

Yesterday's stage of the race was a real battle, with attacks being fired off from bottom to top of Alpe d'Huez. Try as he did, Tour de France champion Alberto Contador couldn't shake off race leader Janez Brajkovic, and had to wait for the final sprint to win the stage. He didn't get any time back on his rival, yet said afterwards that he was content with the showing. He described his form as 'far from excellent' and, providing he can hit top form in time for the Tour de France, that must be worrying for his rivals.

The other question is, has Brajkovic peaked for this race? Or is he scheduled to ride the Tour, and has he got more to give? If so, he should be one of the big players. He notched up some very strong results earlier in his career but until now, hasn't developed as fast as was expected. He really has been impressive in this race, though.

Team-mate Haimar Zubeldia broke his wrist recently, and so he could be drafted in as a replacement (that's if he wasn't scheduled all along).

Some of Brajkovic's team-mates took part in the prologue of the Tour de Suisse yesterday. Here's how they got on, relative to some other riders: 

On that basis, Brajkovic has currently the best form of the riders. One rider who was somewhat off the pace yesterday on Alpe d'Huez was Denis Menchov. He lost nine and a half minutes, but his Rabobank team played down any panic.

To today's stage - here are the climbs:

Just two kilometres after the start today, eight riders went clear. They were: Maarten Tajallingii (Rabobank), Christophe Brandt (Omega Pharma Lotto), Christian Meier (Garmin Transitions), Kevin De Weert (Quick Step), Stephane Augé, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Dominik Roels (Milram) and Alan Perez (Euskaltel).

At kilometre 13 their advantage had risen to 1'40; they continue onwards, seeking to build more time.

The gap was 3'40 19 kilometres after the start but under the impetus of Team Sky, it had falled by a minute five kilometres later. That seems like an extraordinary drop, so perhaps the first time check was inaccurate.
 

119km remaining from 148km

Let's have a peek at yesterday's stage result again, shall we?

Horner and Van Garderen were solid in tenth and eleventh, the latter continuing to have an excellent race. He's just 21 years of age and is a big, big talent.

As a result of his solid performance, he is third overall in the race, 2'41 behind Brajkovic. Even he probably didn't expect to be in that position with one stage to go.

Contador is a minute faster in second place. He might have a go today, but it would be a massive turnaround if Brajkovic were to lose significant time. We can't really see that happening, to be honest.

109km remaining from 148km

Rabobank's Paul Martens has left hospital after his bad fall on day one of this race. "That's one smalls step for mankind, but a big step for me" he twittered.

The points classification is rather more close that the overall standings. Brajkovic holds a four point lead over Alberto Contador, while Team Sky's Geraint Thomas is third, twenty points back. He might be aiming to chase some today - there's intermediate sprints at Praz sur Arly, 74.5 km into the stage, and at the second passage over the finish line in Sallanches. That comes 103.5 kilometres after the start, and 44.5 from the end. Of course, more points will be up for grabs there.

The leaders are now on the Cote des Rafforts, the day's first climb. It's a second category ascent and could well spell Game Over for the break, which was just 45" clear at the last time check. 

On the early part of the climb, Roels, Brandt and Augé were dropped. Dumoulin and Meier were next to let go, leaving Tjallingii, De Weert and Perez up front. Perez is doing most of the work.

92km remaining from 148km

Aside from the points classification, the KOM ranking will also be decided today. The leader of that is looking fairly secure, though, unless Brajkovic and Contador go a-hunting. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel Euskadi) is 22 and 23 points ahead respectively.

Rohregger and Lefèvre were caught and seven others have set off in pursuit of the three leaders. The chasers are Francisco Perget (Caisse d’Epargne), Egor Silin (Katusha), Ivan Santaromita (Liquigas), Christophe Le Mével (Française des Jeux), Sébastien Minard (Cofidis), Laurent Lefèvre (BBox Bouygues Telecom) and Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Footon Servetto). The peloton is not far behind, though…

Maarten Tajallingii (Rabobank), Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) and Alan Perez (Euskaltel) have been joined by those seven chasers, Francisco Perget (Caisse d’Epargne), Egor Silin (Katusha), Ivan Santaromita (Liquigas), Christophe Le Mével (Française des Jeux), Sébastien Minard (Cofidis), Laurent Lefèvre (BBox Bouygues Telecom) and Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Footon Servetto).

86km remaining from 148km

Mario Aerts (Omega Pharma Lotto), Christian Knees (Milram), Inaki Isasi (Euskaltel Euskadi) and David Millar (Garmin Transitions) have clipped away from the peloton and joined up. That means there's 17 riders in the front group.

82km remaining from 148km

It's a little wet at the finish, but out on the course the riders are in dry conditions. Tjallingii won the intermediate sprint at Praz-sur-Arly (km 74.5), beating Cataldo and Knees there.

70km remaining from 148km

55km remaining from 148km

By the time the peloton crossed the start/finish line, they had brought back a further five seconds of the lead. That still put the leaders two minutes ahead. It's not a huge lead, and so the front group is going to have to work harder if they will stand any chance of staying clear.

49km remaining from 148km

By the way, French TT champion Jean-Christophe Péraud (Omega Pharma-Lotto) could lose out on the chance to defend his title due to blood poisoning. He crashed twice in the Dauphine and is still in hospital. You can read more about that here.

The seventeen leaders crossed the start/finish line for the second time but soon afterwards, Knees suffered a puncture. He's currently twenty seconds behind the others and chasing hard. Meanwhile riders from the Ag2r la Mondiale team have been leading the chase behind; they were 1'10 back at the line.

38km remaining from 148km

35km remaining from 148km

The rain is now falling and the roads are wet...that'll make things more stressful for the riders.

The front group is splitting up as they head over the start/finish line once again. The rain is really falling heavily now... A few minutes earlier, Le Mével beat Pauriol, Boasson Hagen and Duran to the top of the climb, netting top KOM points.

Maillot jaune Brajkovic is being guided along by his RadioShack team-mates while Contador, in green, has his Astana companions close by. It's still Ag2r doing the work, though.

Going over the line the last time, Silin, Le Mével, Boasson Hagen, Pauriol and Duran were slightly ahead.

27km remaining from 148km

Minard tries to slip clear but Le Mevel brings him back... He leads up the climb, with Duran glued to his wheel.

David Millar has been caught and dropped by the peloton.

Ouch...Pauriol fell on the descent...looks like he ended up against a barrier on the side of the road. He's trying to get his bike sorted out so he can continue.

This break is broken into several pieces....very tough finishing circuit. Ag2r La Mondiale still lead the peloton. The gap was approximately 1'38 to the leaders.

20km remaining from 148km

18km remaining from 148km

Boasson Hagen would love to become world champion; maybe he'll take the victory today on this former championship circuit. The gap now is still over a minute and a half, and it's looking less likely that the peloton can catch these riders...

Several of the riders who were in the breakaway are now being caught by the peloton..up front, there's still five leaders: Boasson Hagen, Le Mevel, Silin, Duran and Santaromita

Anders Lund (Saxo Bank) now clips away from the peloton...he's got a gap, and is moving along quickly. He is cheered along by the crowd, which his helping keep the riders' spirits up on this damp day. Up front, EBH goes through, taking over from Le Mevel.

16km remaining from 148km

Still Ag2r driving it on - they've done a lot of work today. Up front, the leaders are on the descent and are well spread out. That's no harm, given the wet conditions....it looks pretty slippery out there.

The peloton was 1'10 back at the top of the climb...just one more ascention to go. Hard to see them coming back now, unless some other teams get involved. The five riders are back together now, with Duran having been reeled in. 

They cross the start/finish line for the penultimate time...EBH leads them over the line...will he be first in 11 kilometres?

If it comes down to a sprint, he'll certainly be one of the fastest; the others will try to get away from him before then. However the peloton is now just 50" back...they are getting closer...

9km remaining from 148km

To recap, the leaders are: Egor Silin (Katusha), Ivan Santaromita (Liquigas), Christophe Le Mével (Française des Jeux), Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Footon Servetto) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky). They are now just 36" ahead!

8km remaining from 148km

Duran leads again, stretching it out...he must be feeling good...

EBH goes!

He's got a gap...behind, several attacks are being fired off from the peloton. Have they left it too late? 

Boasson Hagen has a nice lead, and is working hard to extend it...Duran is chasing with Silin, Le Mevel is in trouble...

Astana now leads the peloton, but the bunch is still 35" back. Now world under 23 champion Roman Sicard goes! The Euskaltel Euskadi rider has been pretty active in this race.

He joins up with Dutch champion Koos Morenhout (Rabobank) and pushes on...he's very aggressive, towing the Dutchman along.

However Jerome Coppel is bringing the bunch back up to them. Geraint Thomas is at the back of the bunch, suffering, while his Team Sky team-mate Boasson Hagen is clear, alone, and racing towards the finish.

5km remaining from 148km

Le Mevel and Silin are chasing hard behind, their faces a picture of pain. Sicard's about to be caught...

EBH is being chased hard by Duran, who isn't that far off. We'd still put our hard-earned cash on Boasson Hagen, though - he's a very strong rider and wants a result to make up for his tough spring.

EBH needs to make sure he stays rubber side down on the descent...it's wet, so no crazy risks...

2km remaining from 148km

1km remaining from 148km

He's riding in to what will be a well-deserved win. Arms aloft, smile beaming, he crosses the line.

Duran comes in for second, then Silin and Le Mevel... Behind, the peloton has split into pieces on that last ascent...

Brajkovic and Contador both finished together, so the Slovenian wins the race overall. He's delighted and is all smiles at the finish, being congratulated by team-mates and others.

So Boasson Hagen has overcome the Achilles Heel of his spring which was, incidentally, his Achilles Heel. We guess that seals his place in the Team Sky lineup for the Tour (not that there was much doubt once he was over his injury). Wiggins is also another sure bet for the team; Geraint Thomas has surely also earned his place.

Boasson Hagen was 27 seconds clear of Duran, with Silin and Le Meven 32 and 34 seconds back. Van Garderen and Alberto Contador took fifth and sixth, 40 seconds back, and so the latter should win the points classification as well as his two stages.

This is the provisional top 5 (subject to verification):

EBH said that he decided this morning to try to do everything to win the stage. "It's a hard circuit so it's really nice to win here," he said. "I felt good today."

Brajkovic was delighted with his win, and what is the biggest victory of his career thus far. "We were a little bit lucky the break got away. We had everything under control. Alberto decided not to attack today, I guess he didn't want to risk crashing on the downhill so it was perfect for us. this is the biggest success of my career. The guys did an awesome job this week, they were just great."

We'll get some brief results up now, with full results and a report to follow shortly. That was a very good day's racing - thanks for reading, folks!

[16:03:13] Sue George: Top 10 for live and brief report:

Brief Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team3:39:43
2Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Footon-Servetto0:00:27
3Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha0:00:32
4Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française Des Jeux0:00:34
5Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia0:00:40
6Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) AstanaRow 5 - Cell 2
7Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 6 - Cell 2
8Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 7 - Cell 2
9Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - SojasunRow 8 - Cell 2
10Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioshackRow 9 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Final general classification
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack28:06:28
2Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana0:01:41
3Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia0:02:41
4Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto0:03:46
5Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun0:04:17
6Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom0:04:23
7Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 6 - Cell 2
8Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom0:06:16
9Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack0:06:20
10Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo0:06:57

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