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Tour de France Stage 8 Report
July 6, Stage 8: Castres – Ax 3 Domaines 195km
Tour de France: Froome claims first mountain scalp on Ax-3 Domaines
Article Content from www.cyclingnews.com Report By: Susan Westemever Published: July 4
Video Recap from www.cycling.tv
Sky rider takes over the race lead in Pyrenees
Chris Froome put his stamp on the Tour de France, claiming the win in the first high mountain stage of this year’s race. He soloed to finish at Ax 3 Domaines after a five kilometer solo flight to claim not only the stage but also the leader’s yellow jersey. It was a double win for Team Sky, as Richie Porte finished second at 50 seconds, with Alejandro Valverde taking third at 1:08.
Most of the other favourites suffered and showed weaknesses on the climb in high summer temperatures. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was the best of the bunch, with Belkin’s Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam putting in surprisingly strong performances, but Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, and Cadel Evans all lost much time.
“I couldn’t be happier,” said Froome after the stage. “It has been a nervous week leading up to this.” He thanked his teammates and said that he wanted to win today “to pay them back.”
Froome now leads the race by nearly minute over Porte, with Valverde third at 1:25 down. Mollema and Ten Dam jumped to fourth and fifth, with Kreuziger one spot ahead of his captain in sixth, both with a time of 1:51. Former race leader Daryl Impey lost 7:50 and dropped out contention in 31st place overall.
It was an impressive show by Froome, who along with Porte, appeared not to struggle at all on the closing climb, when compared to the rest of the field. One by one, Froome’s rivals dropped back, but the two Sky riders pedaled along easily and quickly.
Contador lost a surprising 1:45, with Schleck at 3:34 down and Evans losing more than four minutes. It was a brutal shake-up of the GC and the favourites on only the first real climbing test.
How it unfolded
It was a hot and sunny day for the opening mountain stage beginning in Castres. Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) attacked just as the flag was dropped for the stages’s sharp start, and was soon joined by Jean-Marc Marino (Sojasun), Christophe Riblon (AG2R) and Rudy Molard (Cofidis). Their gap soon jumped to nine minutes on the flattish opening two-thirds of the stage.
The only interesting happening in the early part of the stage came at the day’s only intermediate sprint at km 119.5. The four escapees took the top points but there was quite the sprint out of the field. Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) took the honours of fifth place, followed by green jersey Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).
That sprint seemed to mark the beginning of the serious racing. Sky moved up towards the front for Froome, as did Belkin for Bauke Mollema and Saxo-Tinkoff for Contador. The gap started to come down as they all started up the gradual ascent towards the race’s first hors categorie climb, the Col de Pailhères.
With just under 50km to go, the gap at the two minute mark and the actual ascent still to come, Hoogerland attacked out of the lead group – but without success.
The foursome had only a 1:06 lead when the climb officially started, and almost immediately Riblon attacked in hopes of repeating his success of the last time the Tour de France used this route for a stage finish in 2010. Hoogerland and Marino gave chase, while Molard was not up to the challenge. The Frenchman quickly built up a lead over his former escape companions, while at the other end of things, the sprinters and other non-climbers quickly started forming the gruppetto.
Robert Gesink of Belkin was the first to attack out of the peloton. He quickly pulled away, as the three former escapees faded back into the field. Inevitably, the next to attack was Thomas Voeckler of Europcar.
Many big names were dropped, including Damiano Cunego (Lampre Merida). The group got smaller and smaller, with yellow jersey Daryl Impey struggling to hang on to the end of the field. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was the next to launch an acceleration, and he soon caught Voeckler, who was struggling, and left him behind.
Quintana moved easily up to Gesink, and soon dropped the Dutchman. With 34 km to go, he also caught Riblon, but by this time the chase group, which contained about 30 riders, was only some 45 seconds back.
That wasn’t enough for Quintana, who continued to ride smoothly and easily, and dropped Riblon. Former mountains classification leader Pierre Rolland (Europcar) was the next to attack out of the field, and was soon followed by Igor Anton (Euskaltel). Rolland passed Riblon before the mountain ranking, as did Anton, and eventually, the chase group.
Meanwhile, Quintana, who had been given the OK by team captain Alejandro Valverde to keep going, was one of the few who looked comfortable on the climb.
Froome, Cadel Evans (BMC), Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff), and Andy Schleck (RadioShack-Leopard) were amongst those still in the first chase group, while Tejay van Garderen (BMC) was dropped surprisingly early.
The passage was lined with fans all the way to the top, and Quintana crossed over with a 27 second gap over Riblon. Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel) was the next, a few seconds ahead of the chase group at 55 seconds.
Quintana lost time on the descent, perhaps looking to make it up again on the closing climb. There was no chance to catch one’s breath, as that next climb started again almost immediately. In fact, Rolland caught him at the bottom, with the Froome group only 22 seconds back. but the Colombian again pulled away on the closing climb. Evans, Schleck, Dan Martin and Andrew Talansky (Garmin Sharp) were the next victims, both riding alone and being dropped.
That left about 10 riders in the Froome group with some 6.5km to go, including Froome, Contador and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana). But the Dane was one of the next to be dropped, along with Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
Five riders – Froome, Valverde, Contador, Porte and Kreuziger – were left. Contador was difficulty keeping up with the Sky train, which not so slowly had rolled its way up to Quintana.
The Colombian was caught with 5 km to go, as Contador, Kreuziger and Valverde dropped back. That was the cue for Froome to attack, and away he went. Quintana tried to hold on to his wheel, but soon dropped back to Porte.
Evans was going backwards, passed by rider after rider. Up front, Valverde had fought his way up, giving Porte the impulse to take off. Contador still had Kreuziger with him, but their gap to Froome was getting larger and larger.
With 2 km to go, Froome continued on alone, pushing hard to build up as much of a lead as possible, knowing that his rivals were weakening. Porte rode happily behind him, looking back occasionally to make sure the was still ahead of the others.
Contador had many problems, falling further and further back, but Froome just flew along, with plenty of time for a joyous celebration at the finish.
| Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling | 32:15:55 | |
| 2 | Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling | 0:00:51 | |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:25 | |
| 4 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:44 | |
| 5 | Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:50 | |
| 6 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:01:51 | |
| 7 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | ||
| 8 | Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team | 0:02:02 | |
| 9 | Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha | 0:02:31 | |
| 10 | Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:02:40 | |
| 11 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team | 0:02:45 | |
| 12 | Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp | 0:02:48 | |
| 13 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp | ||
| 14 | Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:02:55 | |
| 15 | Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:03:06 | |
| 16 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:03:25 | |
| 17 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | 0:03:27 | |
| 18 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:29 | |
| 19 | Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack Leopard | 0:03:30 | |
| 20 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:35 | |
| 21 | Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard | 0:04:00 | |
| 22 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:04:10 | |
| 23 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 0:04:36 | |
| 24 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha | ||
| 25 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:04:57 | |
| 26 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05:09 | |
| 27 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack Leopard | 0:05:26 | |
| 28 | Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida | 0:06:20 | |
| 29 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:06:39 | |
| 30 | Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar | 0:07:40 | |
| 31 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:07:42 | |
| 32 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:07:48 | |
| 33 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard | 0:07:55 | |
| 34 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard | 0:08:15 | |
| 35 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp | 0:08:29 | |
| 36 | Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha | 0:08:40 | |
| 37 | Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team | 0:08:49 | |
| 38 | Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:09:11 | |
| 39 | Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida | 0:09:19 | |
| 40 | Maxime Mederel (Fra) Sojasun | 0:09:39 | |
| 41 | Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:09:45 | |
| 42 | Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:09:53 | |
| 43 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:10:30 | |
| 44 | Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:12:38 | |
| 45 | Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team | 0:15:00 | |
| 46 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:15:43 | |
| 47 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Sojasun | 0:15:48 | |
| 48 | Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:16:41 | |
| 49 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:16:50 | |
| 50 | Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:17:35 | |
| 51 | Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp | 0:18:01 | |
| 52 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:18:21 | |
| 53 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:19:00 | |
| 54 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard | 0:23:15 | |
| 55 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:23:29 | |
| 56 | Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:23:46 | |
| 57 | Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:24:02 | |
| 58 | Julien El Fares (Fra) Sojasun | 0:24:32 | |
| 59 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:25:03 | |
| 60 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:27:01 | |
| 61 | Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha | 0:27:43 | |
| 62 | Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:28:06 | |
| 63 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:28:07 | |
| 64 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:28:31 | |
| 65 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling | 0:28:57 | |
| 66 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:28:59 | |
| 67 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge | ||
| 68 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 0:29:25 | |
| 69 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:29:27 | |
| 70 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:29:38 | |
| 71 | Laurent Didier (Lux) RadioShack Leopard | 0:29:44 | |
| 72 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:30:06 | |
| 73 | Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:30:29 | |
| 74 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:31:39 | |
| 75 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar | 0:32:51 | |
| 76 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:33:06 | |
| 77 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | 0:33:21 | |
| 78 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:34:00 | |
| 79 | Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:34:31 | |
| 80 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:35:21 | |
| 81 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:37:24 | |
| 82 | Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack Leopard | 0:37:42 | |
| 83 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:37:53 | |
| 84 | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:38:36 | |
| 85 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | 0:38:46 | |
| 86 | Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha | 0:38:50 | |
| 87 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:39:22 | |
| 88 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:40:01 | |
| 89 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:40:06 | |
| 90 | David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp | 0:40:11 | |
| 91 | Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:41:29 | |
| 92 | Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:42:37 | |
| 93 | Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:43:28 | |
| 94 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol | 0:44:09 | |
| 95 | Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Sky Procycling | 0:44:32 | |
| 96 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:44:49 | |
| 97 | Julien Simon (Fra) Sojasun | 0:45:02 | |
| 98 | Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:45:26 | |
| 99 | Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:45:46 | |
| 100 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 0:46:27 | |
| 101 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:46:35 | |
| 102 | Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:46:40 | |
| 103 | Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:47:00 | |
| 104 | Brice Feillu (Fra) Sojasun | 0:47:37 | |
| 105 | Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling | 0:48:11 | |
| 106 | Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Sojasun | 0:49:16 | |
| 107 | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:49:28 | |
| 108 | Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:50:36 | |
| 109 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Sojasun | 0:50:45 | |
| 110 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:51:10 | |
| 111 | Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack Leopard | 0:51:52 | |
| 112 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:51:56 | |
| 113 | Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:52:01 | |
| 114 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:52:56 | |
| 115 | Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha | 0:53:23 | |
| 116 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha | 0:53:38 | |
| 117 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | 0:55:35 | |
| 118 | Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:55:37 | |
| 119 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:55:43 | |
| 120 | Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:56:31 | |
| 121 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp | 0:58:32 | |
| 122 | Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:58:52 | |
| 123 | Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Sojasun | 1:00:01 | |
| 124 | David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling | 1:01:08 | |
| 125 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr | 1:01:09 | |
| 126 | Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 1:01:23 | |
| 127 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Sojasun | 1:01:36 | |
| 128 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 1:02:19 | |
| 129 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 1:02:38 | |
| 130 | Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 1:03:13 | |
| 131 | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol | 1:04:17 | |
| 132 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 1:04:34 | |
| 133 | José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team | 1:05:41 | |
| 134 | Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 1:05:43 | |
| 135 | Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 1:07:06 | |
| 136 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 1:07:10 | |
| 137 | André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol | 1:08:22 | |
| 138 | David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar | 1:09:20 | |
| 139 | Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 1:09:30 | |
| 140 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha | 1:10:15 | |
| 141 | Boy van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 1:10:31 | |
| 142 | Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 1:11:04 | |
| 143 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | 1:11:39 | |
| 144 | Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 1:11:44 | |
| 145 | Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | 1:11:49 | |
| 146 | Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr | 1:12:43 | |
| 147 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 1:12:50 | |
| 148 | Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 1:13:05 | |
| 149 | Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol | 1:13:30 | |
| 150 | Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 1:13:37 | |
| 151 | Brian Vandborg (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 1:13:50 | |
| 152 | Danny van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 1:14:05 | |
| 153 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol | ||
| 154 | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 1:14:14 | |
| 155 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 1:15:00 | |
| 156 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 1:16:44 | |
| 157 | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 1:16:48 | |
| 158 | Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar | 1:16:59 | |
| 159 | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 1:17:10 | |
| 160 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin Sharp | 1:17:34 | |
| 161 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 1:17:39 | |
| 162 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team | 1:19:09 | |
| 163 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 1:20:54 | |
| 164 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 1:21:01 | |
| 165 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | ||
| 166 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp | 1:21:59 | |
| 167 | Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 1:22:08 | |
| 168 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling | 1:22:16 | |
| 169 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 1:22:24 | |
| 170 | Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha | 1:22:32 | |
| 171 | William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr | ||
| 172 | Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | 1:23:44 | |
| 173 | Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 1:24:43 | |
| 174 | Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | 1:24:44 | |
| 175 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | 1:25:30 | |
| 176 | Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 1:25:31 | |
| 177 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 1:25:37 | |
| 178 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 1:26:06 | |
| 179 | Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEdge | 1:26:33 | |
| 180 | Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar | 1:26:36 | |
| 181 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar | 1:28:08 | |
| 182 | Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 1:28:34 | |
| 183 | Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 1:28:48 | |
| 184 | Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 1:28:49 | |
| 185 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling | 1:29:03 | |
| 186 | Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 1:31:41 | |
| 187 | Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | 1:32:18 |
