Garmin-Cervelo wins team time trial
Hushovd takes over yellow jersey
Never have four seconds been so crucial to the happiness a team. For Garmin-Cervélo, during a year in which criticism and intrigue has plagued the American squad, its win in the Tour de France team time trial is like gold dust, sprinkled from the skies above Les Essarts.
The US team saved one of its best performances for the Tour, beating BMC by four seconds after 23km of super fast racing, allowing Hushovd to pull on the yellow jersey by a mere 47 hundredths of a second ahead of Cadel Evans (BMC). And Jonathan Vaughters’ crew did it the hard way, setting the fastest time of 24:48.10 after being one of early runners on a course that was not overly challenging but found some of the big teams wanting when the moment mattered.
Those teams included HTC-Highroad, highly fancied before today’s start, Leopard-Trek, RadioShack and Saxo Bank, with all four finishing close but failing to fully fire on the big stage. Consequently Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins and BMC captain Cadel Evans will benefit from the changes in the general classification. The Australian is now third overall, just one second behind Garmin-Cervélo duo Thor Hushovd and David Millar. Wiggins is further back but only at four seconds.
“This is a great day. We did a really good team effort. Everything worked perfectly,” Hushovd said.
“Every rider gave 100 percent for the team. It’s incredible. When I look back to 10 years ago when I won the same TTT, it’s crazy. It’s an incredible day for me and the team. I’m proud to wear the rainbow jersey at the Tour de France but to pull on yellow is incredible for me.”
Evans is tantalizingly close to the yellow jersey but remained upbeat, knowing he has gained more precious seconds on his overall Tour rivals.
“The first goal was not to lose any time and the second was to see if we could gain any time,” said Evans after the finish. “The fact that we were there in the running to nearly win the team time trial was really something. It was a faint hope but it was also a realistic one.”
He wasn’t making bold predictions about his chances of a stint in the yellow jersey, preferring to concentrate on Monday’s stage, which is one for the sprinters. “We’re going to have a look at today, have an analysis of everything and get through tomorrow without any problems,” he said.
Instead it was Hushovd thinking about the overall ascendancy, swapping his rainbow stripes for the yellow jersey. Having taken third on Saturday’s stage, just six seconds behind winner Philippe Gilbert, Hushovd found today’s labours fruitful and can now enjoy another stint in the race lead to go with the maillot jaune he garnered in the 2006 Tour by winning the prologue in Strasbourg. Hushovd has come under fire this season for a lack of winning performances as world champion but a stage victory in the recent Tour de Suisse and a start in the yellow jersey tomorrow will go some way to making amends.
Garmin-Cervelo team manager Jonathan Vaughters was ecstatic about his team finally winning the team time trial, the stage he loves the most and won himself in 2001.
"I think I just made a fool of myself but I can't say I care. This has been a long time coming,” he said. “We've fought hard and we've always done it as a team. For our first win to be as a team, it's phenomenal.”
"We don't have the biggest budget or the biggest staff, but we have the most passion. Today it came together. We put out a plan that got us to the line the fastest. The amount of sacrifice the guys had to do to get it done is amazing. I'm very proud of our guys."
Contador under pressure
Whilst Garmin-Cervélo can celebrate, one man sure to be under pressure is Alberto Contador. The defending champion lost more valuable time in the test against the clock with Saxo Bank-Sungard finishing eighth – 28 seconds behind the stage winners, giving the Spaniard more than a sour French public reception to consider.
Saxo Bank was the first team off and set a good but not spectacular time. Soon after, it was time for the eventual winners to lay down a time in pursuit of the stage victory.
Going through all intermediate splits the fastest, a smooth, consistent performance from Garmin-Cervelo ensured the American team set a time that would ultimately prove hard to overcome.
That first intermediate check was safe until Team Sky’s men set a time of 9:02 for the opening nine kilometres, although they couldn’t match Garmin-Cervélo’s second intermediate split, sitting four seconds behind after 18.5km and seven men with which to ride to the finish. They were down to five by the line, the quintet recorded the second best time to that point of 24:52. Close but quite fast enough.
Disaster struck HTC-Highroad early in its ride, with the experienced Austrian Bernhard Eisel coming down in the first corner – the team's misfortune was reflected in a first split of 9:11. Meanwhile, RadioShack also recorded an opening intermediate split of 9:11 but was 10 seconds down on Garmin’s time by the finish – not bad for overall favourites Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Klöden, Janez Brajkovic and Chris Horner – but not good enough for a stage win.
Soon after, and with Mark Cavendish charging down the final 300 metres, HTC-highroad recovered well to take third on the line with a time of 24:53. It would eventually be good enough for fifth, after the arrival of Leopard-Trek and BMC Racing.
The latter of those two squads, boasting green jersey Evans and experienced heads such as George Hincapie and Marcus Burghardt, set the third fastest first intermediate with 9:04, demonstrating that this American squad has come with serious intentions to put Evans into the overall ascendancy during this Tour de France.
Leopard-Trek took third on the line from HTC-Highroad by mere hundredths of a second, with time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara towing his men through the 23km to ensure the Schleck brothers wouldn’t lose too much time overall. It was enough to keep the Luxembourg team in fourth by day’s end and a solid performance, despite missing the stage victory by five seconds.
Soon after Evans, Hincapie & Co almost stole the show with a stunning finale to finish just four seconds behind Garmin-Cervélo. Whilst the team had dodged a bullet with a seemingly awkward middle sector of the course, the final kilometres were ridden strongly and like fellow GC contender Wiggins had done before him, Evans pulled his charges along in stunning fashion.
Nevertheless, nobody could match Garmin-Cervélo’s superiority and for the man who wears the rainbow jersey, tomorrow will be all about another colour – yellow.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Team Garmin - Cervelo | 0:24:48 |
2 | BMC Racing Team | 0:00:04 |
3 | Sky Procycling | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Team Leopard-Trek | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | HTC - Highroad | 0:00:05 |
6 | Team Radioshack | 0:00:10 |
7 | Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:12 |
8 | Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:00:28 |
9 | Pro Team Astana | 0:00:32 |
10 | Omega Pharma - Lotto | 0:00:39 |
11 | FDJ | 0:00:46 |
12 | Team Europcar | 0:00:50 |
13 | AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:53 |
14 | Quick Step Cycling Team | 0:00:56 |
15 | Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:57 |
16 | Saur-Sojasun | 0:01:02 |
17 | Lampre - Isd | 0:01:04 |
18 | Katusha Team | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Movistar Team | 0:01:09 |
20 | Vacansoleil-Dcm | 0:01:15 |
21 | Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne | 0:01:20 |
22 | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 0:01:22 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 5:06:25 |
2 | David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:01 |
4 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:00:04 |
5 | Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard Trek | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad | 0:00:05 |
15 | Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) HTC-Highroad | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) HTC-Highroad | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) HTC-Highroad | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team RadioShack | 0:00:10 |
21 | Christopher Horner (USA) Team RadioShack | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:00:11 |
25 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:12 |
26 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team RadioShack | 0:00:23 |
27 | Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana | 0:00:32 |
28 | Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00:33 |
31 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00:39 |
32 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
34 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | André Greipel (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Gianni Meersman (Bel) FDJ | 0:00:46 |
37 | William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:00:50 |
39 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:53 |
42 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:00:56 |
43 | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:57 |
47 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:01:01 |
50 | Jérémie Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun | 0:01:02 |
51 | Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:01:04 |
53 | Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre - ISD | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha Team | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre - ISD | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Katusha Team | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
57 | Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
58 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:09 |
59 | José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:01:14 |
62 | Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:15 |
63 | Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:01:17 |
64 | Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team | 0:01:18 |
65 | Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | 0:01:20 |
67 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha Team | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:23 |
71 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) HTC-Highroad | 0:01:24 |
72 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:01:26 |
73 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek | 0:01:35 |
75 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:01:42 |
76 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team | 0:01:45 |
77 | Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:01:49 |
78 | Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Leopard Trek | 0:01:53 |
80 | Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:01:55 |
81 | Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack | 0:01:59 |
82 | Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | 0:02:00 |
84 | Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:02:01 |
85 | Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:02:06 |
86 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:02:10 |
87 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:02:11 |
88 | Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:02:17 |
89 | Richie Porte (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
90 | Yuriy Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team | 0:02:18 |
91 | Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katusha Team | 0:02:20 |
92 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana | 0:02:21 |
93 | Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:23 |
94 | Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:02:29 |
95 | Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
96 | Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team RadioShack | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
97 | Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:31 |
98 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
99 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | 0:02:32 |
100 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling | 0:02:34 |
101 | Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ | 0:02:35 |
102 | Mickaël Delage (Fra) FDJ | Row 101 - Cell 2 |
103 | Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
104 | Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:02:36 |
105 | Anthony Charteau (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:02:39 |
106 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
107 | Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
108 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:02:42 |
109 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 108 - Cell 2 |
110 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:44 |
111 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:02:47 |
112 | Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun | 0:02:51 |
113 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Pro Team Astana | Row 112 - Cell 2 |
114 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Procycling | 0:02:53 |
115 | Danny Pate (USA) HTC-Highroad | 0:02:54 |
116 | Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:02:55 |
117 | Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:02:58 |
118 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 117 - Cell 2 |
119 | Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team | Row 118 - Cell 2 |
120 | David Zabriskie (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:03:00 |
121 | Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:03:04 |
122 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | Row 121 - Cell 2 |
123 | Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | 0:03:09 |
124 | Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | Row 123 - Cell 2 |
125 | David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | Row 124 - Cell 2 |
126 | Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:03:11 |
127 | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 126 - Cell 2 |
128 | Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:03:12 |
129 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 128 - Cell 2 |
130 | Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 129 - Cell 2 |
131 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ | 0:03:13 |
132 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:03:19 |
133 | Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:03:20 |
134 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ | 0:03:21 |
135 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:23 |
136 | Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:03:27 |
137 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team | 0:03:28 |
138 | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:03:31 |
139 | Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD | Row 138 - Cell 2 |
140 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | Row 139 - Cell 2 |
141 | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:03:33 |
142 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:03:34 |
143 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | Row 142 - Cell 2 |
144 | Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team | 0:03:38 |
145 | David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:03:39 |
146 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Pro Team Astana | 0:03:45 |
147 | Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:03:50 |
148 | Brian Vandborg (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard | Row 147 - Cell 2 |
149 | Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:03:52 |
150 | Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team | Row 149 - Cell 2 |
151 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:03:56 |
152 | Frederik Willems (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:04:01 |
153 | Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling | 0:04:07 |
154 | Jens Voigt (Ger) Leopard Trek | 0:04:20 |
155 | Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:04:21 |
156 | Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | Row 155 - Cell 2 |
157 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:04:23 |
158 | Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur - Sojasun | 0:04:24 |
159 | Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Pro Team Astana | 0:04:30 |
160 |