2012 Le Tour – Stage 9

Arc-et-Senans / Besançon (26 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Thibaut Pinot, the youngest competitor this year, put the French back in Le Tour yesterday chasing down Fredrik Kessiakoff who led a solo breakaway for much of the latter part of the stage and holding off a pack of GC contenters at the finish for the victory.

Samuel Sanchez had to withdraw with a broken hand after an early crash, joined on the day by Johannes Frohlinger and Gorka Verdugo.

Another one of those Individual Time Trials that I hate.  I really dig the Team Trials because of the teamwork, the Individual ones are boring which is why they don’t have Rally Racing on TV even though it is in fact bloodier than Turn Left.  Likewise you can see this very year how 10 seconds picked up after 4 miles has stood up for 8 days.

Really Evans needs to put on a show and it may net just a second or 2, but this and getting away on a climb (or avoiding an accident) are the only ways to make time directly against your opponent, everything else being absorbed into Same Time black hole.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is a rest day, but they will have a recap show.  I’ll be attempting to detangle the stage winner predictions and clear up my dvr as well as put together the Master GC List for the first third of the tour.  Expect a diary before the Rest Day Recap at 8 pm and midnight tomorrow.

General Classification

Place Rider Team Time/Delta
1 WIGGINS Bradley SKY PROCYCLING 38:17:56
2 EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM +00:10
3 NIBALI Vincenzo LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +00:16
4 MENCHOV Denis KATUSHA TEAM +00:54
5 ZUBELDIA Haimar RADIOSHACK-NISSAN +00:59
6 FROOME Christopher SKY PROCYCLING +01:32
7 MONFORT Maxime RADIOSHACK-NISSAN +02:08
8 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM +02:11
9 ROCHE Nicolas AG2R LA MONDIALE +02:21
10 TAARAMAE Rein COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +02:27

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, midnight, 8 and 11:30 am and 3 pm tomorrow.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

Pretty tables-

Points

Place Rider Team Points
1 SAGAN Peter LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 217
2 GOSS Matthew Harley ORICA GREENEDGE 185
3 GREIPEL André LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 172
4 CAVENDISH Mark SKY PROCYCLING 129
5 PETACCHI Alessandro LAMPRE – ISD 109
6 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY PROCYCLING 95
7 VEELERS Tom TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO 76
8 CANCELLARA Fabian RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 74
9 EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM 72
10 VAN HUMMEL Kenny Robert VACANSOLEIL-DCM 69
11 HAEDO Juan Jose TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 68
12 WIGGINS Bradley SKY PROCYCLING 58
13 RENSHAW Mark RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 55
14 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE 53
15 FROOME Christopher SKY PROCYCLING 48
16 NIBALI Vincenzo LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 47
17 MOLLEMA Bauke RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 47
18 PINOT Thibaut FDJ-BIGMAT 45
19 HUTAROVICH Yauheni FDJ-BIGMAT 45
20 LANCASTER Brett Daniel ORICA GREENEDGE 41
21 MORKOV Michael TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 40
22 VELITS Peter OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 36
23 URTASUN PEREZ Pablo EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 34
24 GILBERT Philippe BMC RACING TEAM 33
25 GENE Yohann TEAM EUROPCAR 32
26 GALLOPIN Tony RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 32
27 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 32
28 HINAULT Sébastien AG2R LA MONDIALE 32
29 BOECKMANS Kris VACANSOLEIL-DCM 31
30 HENDERSON Gregory LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 30
31 DUMOULIN Samuel COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 30
32 LADAGNOUS Matthieu FDJ-BIGMAT 29
33 KERN Christophe TEAM EUROPCAR 28
34 MENCHOV Denis KATUSHA TEAM 28
35 KESSIAKOFF Fredrik ASTANA PRO TEAM 25
36 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 25
37 PEREZ MORENO Ruben EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 25
38 ZUBELDIA Haimar RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 24
39 MONCOUTIE David COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 24
40 ROCHE Nicolas AG2R LA MONDIALE 23
41 CHAVANEL Sylvain OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 23
42 FOFONOV Dmitriy ASTANA PRO TEAM 23
43 ARASHIRO Yukiya TEAM EUROPCAR 22
44 SIMON Julien SAUR-SOJASUN 21
45 GAUTIER Cyril TEAM EUROPCAR 20
46 MINARD Sébastien AG2R LA MONDIALE 20
47 KROON Karsten TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 20
48 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM 20
49 CANTWELL Jonathan TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 20
50 GESINK Robert RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 18
51 BERNAUDEAU Giovanni TEAM EUROPCAR 17
52 ROUX Anthony FDJ-BIGMAT 17
53 TAARAMAE Rein COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 17
54 SORENSEN Chris Anker TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 17
55 ROY Jérémy FDJ-BIGMAT 17
56 ZABRISKIE David GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 17
57 GRIVKO Andriy ASTANA PRO TEAM 17
58 MARTIN Daniel GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 16
59 PAOLINI Luca KATUSHA TEAM 16
60 TEN DAM Laurens RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 15
61 ZINGLE Romain COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 15
62 EDET Nicolas COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 15
63 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 15
64 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM 13
65 ROLLAND Pierre TEAM EUROPCAR 13
66 MALACARNE Davide TEAM EUROPCAR 13
67 GHYSELINCK Jan COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 13
68 SCHLECK Frank RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 12
69 DEVENYNS Dries OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 12
70 GRETSCH Patrick TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO 12
71 FARRAR Tyler GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 12
72 BRAJKOVIC Janez ASTANA PRO TEAM 11
73 DE WEERT Kevin OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 11
74 BOUET Maxime AG2R LA MONDIALE 11
75 RIBLON Christophe AG2R LA MONDIALE 11
76 KISERLOVSKI Robert ASTANA PRO TEAM 10
77 VELITS Martin OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 10
78 MONFORT Maxime RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 9
79 BOZIC Borut ASTANA PRO TEAM 8
80 ROELANDTS Jurgen LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 8
81 CURVERS Roy TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO 8
82 COOKE Baden ORICA GREENEDGE 7
83 HORNER Christopher RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 6
84 GERRANS Simon ORICA GREENEDGE 6
85 O’GRADY Stuart ORICA GREENEDGE 5
86 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC RACING TEAM 5
87 KLÖDEN Andréas RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 4
88 KRUIJSWIJK Steven RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 4
89 PORTE Richie SKY PROCYCLING 4
90 KUCHYNSKI Aliaksandr KATUSHA TEAM 4
91 ROGERS Michael SKY PROCYCLING 3
92 HONDO Danilo LAMPRE – ISD 3
93 POPOVYCH Yaroslav RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 3
94 KADRI Blel AG2R LA MONDIALE 3
95 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 2
96 MARTINEZ Egoi EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 2
97 DI GREGORIO Rémy COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 2
98 HOOGERLAND Johnny VACANSOLEIL-DCM 2
99 EISEL Bernhard SKY PROCYCLING 2
100 CASAR Sandy FDJ-BIGMAT 1
101 NERZ Dominik LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 1
102 BAK Lars LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 1
103 SORENSEN Nicki TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 1
104 KRIVTSOV Yuriy LAMPRE – ISD 1

Team

Place Team Time/Delta
1 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 114:56:52
2 SKY PROCYCLING +02:51
3 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +10:06
4 KATUSHA TEAM +10:40
5 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP +13:07
6 COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +15:38
7 BMC RACING TEAM +16:17
8 MOVISTAR TEAM +16:53
9 ASTANA PRO TEAM +18:57
10 AG2R LA MONDIALE +19:05
11 FDJ-BIGMAT +21:38
12 TEAM EUROPCAR +22:13
13 LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM +27:27
14 EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI +28:58
15 VACANSOLEIL-DCM +33:05
16 SAUR-SOJASUN +34:47
17 TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK +35:45
18 LAMPRE – ISD +38:33
19 ORICA GREENEDGE +38:39
20 RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM +38:47
21 GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA +01:17:13
22 TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO +01:33:24

Hill Climbing

Place Rider Team Points
1 KESSIAKOFF Fredrik ASTANA PRO TEAM 21
2 FROOME Christopher SKY PROCYCLING 20
3 EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM 18
4 PINOT Thibaut FDJ-BIGMAT 16
5 WIGGINS Bradley SKY PROCYCLING 12
6 MORKOV Michael TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 9
7 NIBALI Vincenzo LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 9
8 GALLOPIN Tony RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 9
9 SORENSEN Chris Anker TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 8
10 ROY Jérémy FDJ-BIGMAT 5
11 KADRI Blel AG2R LA MONDIALE 5
12 MONCOUTIE David COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 5
13 VOIGT Jens RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 4
14 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 4
15 TAARAMAE Rein COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 4
16 BASSO Ivan LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 2
17 SAGAN Peter LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 2
18 ZUBELDIA Haimar RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 2
19 KERN Christophe TEAM EUROPCAR 2
20 HOOGERLAND Johnny VACANSOLEIL-DCM 2
21 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 2
22 ZABRISKIE David GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 1
23 URTASUN PEREZ Pablo EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 1
24 TEN DAM Laurens RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 1
25 KRUIJSWIJK Steven RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 1
26 MINARD Sébastien AG2R LA MONDIALE 1

Youth

Place Rider Team Time/Delta
1 TAARAMAE Rein COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 38:20:23
2 GALLOPIN Tony RADIOSHACK-NISSAN +00:46
3 PINOT Thibaut FDJ-BIGMAT +01:14
4 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM +01:41
5 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI +03:38
6 MALACARNE Davide TEAM EUROPCAR +13:24
7 SAGAN Peter LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +16:43
8 VALLS FERRI Rafael VACANSOLEIL-DCM +18:47
9 VICHOT Arthur FDJ-BIGMAT +18:58
10 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY PROCYCLING +19:31
11 KRUIJSWIJK Steven RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM +20:44
12 GAUTIER Cyril TEAM EUROPCAR +26:14
13 NERZ Dominik LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +29:53
14 BOECKMANS Kris VACANSOLEIL-DCM +32:34
15 ZINGLE Romain COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +35:41
16 GOSS Matthew Harley ORICA GREENEDGE +40:05
17 EDET Nicolas COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +42:50
18 GRETSCH Patrick TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO +51:09
19 ROUX Anthony FDJ-BIGMAT +51:51
20 GHYSELINCK Jan COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +01:00:32

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  1. Arc-et-Senans

    • Stage town on 1 previous occasion

    • 1,500 inhabitants

    • commune of Doubs

    Arc-et-Senans was chosen by Louis XV to house the Royal Saltworks in 1771, but it waited until 1996 to see the Tour’s peloton. It was during a stage which set off from there, in Doubs, which finished in Aix-les-Bains. A novice called Michael Boogerd was the winner and this was the first of two victories in the Tour de France for the Dutch rider.

    The [Saline Royale (Royal Saltworks) is a historical building at Arc-et-Senans in the department of Doubs, eastern France. It is next to the Forest of Chaux and about 35 kilometers from Besançon. The architect was Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806), a prominent Parisian architect of the time. The work is an important example of an early Enlightenment project in which the architect based his design on a philosophy that favored arranging buildings according to a rational geometry and a hierarchical relation between the parts of the project.

    The Institut Claude-Nicolas Ledoux has taken on the task of conservator and is managing the site as a monument. UNESCO added the “Salines Royales” to its List of World Heritage Sites in 1982.

    Today, the site is mostly open to the public. It includes, in the building the coopers used, displays by the Ledoux Museum of other futuristic projects that were never built. Also, the salt production buildings house temporary exhibitions.

    The train line from Besançon to Bourg-en-Bresse passes just next to the salt works. The station for Arc-et-Senans is only a few dozen meters from the site.

    Besançon

    • Stage town on 18 previous occasions

    • 123,000 inhabitants

    • Prefecture of Doubs

    The prefecture city of Doubs was already on the 1905 Tour map, which makes it the oldest city associated with the race, after Paris, on the 2012 route. The first finish in Besançon is one of the race’s historical stages as the riders, who had set off from Nancy, went over the Ballon of Alsace, a difficulty which symbolized the future ascents in the mountains, for the first time. In 2009, Russia’s Sergei Ivanov was the winner there, by shaking off the other breakaway riders not long before the citadel came into sight. And on the subject of time-trials, Lance Armstrong won the last one organised in Besançon in 2004.

    Besançon is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Once proclaimed first green city of France, it has been labeled a ‘Town of Art and History’ since 1986, and has been on the UNESCO world heritage list since 2008. [..]

    The city is first recorded in 58 BC as Vesontio in the Book I of Julius Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico. The etymology of Vesontio is uncertain. The most common explanation is that the name is of Celtic origin, derivated from wes, meaning ‘mountain’. During the 4th century, the letter B took the place of the V, and the city name changed to Besontio or Bisontion and then underwent several transformation to become Besançon in 1243.  [..]

    The city has one of the most beautiful historic centers of any major town in France. A broad horse-shoe of the river Doubs, “la Boucle”, encircles the old town, while Vauban’s imposing Citadelle blocks off the neck. The historic center presents a remarkable ensemble of classic stone buildings, some dating back to the Middle Ages and others to the Spanish Renaissance. Among the most visited historic monuments are:

        * several Roman remains,

        * the 16th century Palais Granvelle,

        * Vauban’s citadel (Citadel of Besançon)

        * the Cathedral of St. Jean,

        * several Spanish Renaissance-style buildings

        * the Église de la Madeleine, and

        * the river frontage.

    The Roman remains consist primarily of the Porte Noire, a 2nd century CE triumphal arch at the foot of the hill on which the citadel stands, and the Square Castan, a semi-circular amphitheater. The Porte Noire may commemorate the victories of Marcus Aurelius over the Germans in 167 CE. It was partly rebuilt in 1820.

    From 1534 to 1540, Cardinal Granvelle, chancellor to the Habsburg emperor Charles V, built the Palais Granvelle, in the heart of the town. It consists of arcades that surround an interior court, and is the most interesting of the secular buildings. The Palais contains a set of seven wool and silk blend tapestries from Bruges that were woven circa 1635 and that celebrate seven milestones in Charles V’s life. These tapestries remained in Spain until 1888, when they were transferred to France. In 1950 they were transferred to the Palais .

    UNESCO added the citadel, the city walls and Fort Griffon to its list of World Heritage Sites in 2008, as part of the “Fortifications of Vauban” group. Some older military architecture has also survived. There is a cylindrical, 15th century tower near the Porte Notre-Dame, the southern gate of the city. The Porte Rivotte, a 16th century gate, has two round towers. The citadel houses the Museum of the French Resistance and Deportation.

    The Cathedral, which dates largely from the 12th century though construction continued into the 14th century, contains the most remarkable of the city’s masterpieces, a massive Virgin and saints altarpiece by the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Bartolomeo. It also houses a noteworthy 19th century astronomical clock. The Cathedral has two apses, with the eastern apse and the tower dating from the reign of Louis XV.

    Attractive quays border the old city, and in places there are shady promenades. On the right bank there is a bathing establishment in the Mouillere quarter that draws its water from the saline springs of Miserey-Salines.

  2. It’s essentially all about the individual which, in a a way, gives the “lesser” team members a chance to show their stuff. And a couple of them did today.

    The Top Five in Stage Nine

    1. Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Sky 51min 24sec

    2. Chris Froome (GBR) Sky +35sec

    3. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) RNT +57sec

    4. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC +1min 06sec

    5. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) OPQ +1min 24sec

    The Top Five on General Classification

    1. Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Sky 39hr 09min 20sec

    2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC +1min 53sec

    3. Chris Froome (GBR) SKY +2min 07sec

    4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) LIQ +2min 23sec

    5. Denis Menchov (Rus) KAT +3min 02sec

    Wiggens extended his lead to retain the Yellow jersey and that will change over the next 11 stages. He has now held the lead for three consecutive days, the first Brit to ever do so.

    The White jersey honors changed hands, going to Tejay van Garderen (USA) Team BMC.

  3. … that if Evans was within 30″ of Wiggins, I would be a very pleased Cadel Evans fond, and if he was over 1’30” behind, I would be in a glum mood. So officially color me a sourpuss after today’s result.

    Basically 2mins behind (2′) cannot be collected by a handful of attacks on the line, such as on mountain top finishes. It cannot be expected to be collected on attacks on the last climb of the day.

    So Evans of BMC, together with Nibali of Liquigas, have to decide whether they are willing to be aggressive in an effort to break team Sky and leave Wiggins stranded on an important final climb.

    In a way, BMC and Liquigas are de facto allies, since both have a Sky rival occupying a Paris Podium step that they want to occupy ~ Wiggins in Yellow for Evans, who had finished second several times before winning last year and is not likely to be “defending” second this year, in what is possibly his last year in the Tour ~ and Fromme in 3rd for Nibali.

    So, which stage to look to see whether that de facto partnership attacking Wiggins on an early climb is going to happen?

    Not Wednesday: the Gran Columbiere is a monster of a climb, but the Cat2 before it is not a strong platform to attack to break away from Team Sky.

    Thursday could offer that, with an HC climb early, an HC climb in the middle, and a Cat1 to finish.

    Friday doesn’t look like it, as the two Cat1 are early in the stage, giving the advantage to Sky to peg back an attack in the long run to the Cat3 near the end. Next Saturday is a sprinter’s stage as they bridge from the Alps to the Pyrenees. Sunday is 2 Cat1’s in the second half and a long descent toward the finish ~ Nibali is an excellent descender and Evans a good one, so if they could launch a successful attack up the first, they might be able to extend their lead in the first descent, and then its a matter of whether they could break Sky on the second. But I doubt the climbs are both grippy enough to grab minutes rather than seconds from that. And next Monday is not a climbers stage, its a hilly stage ~ I’d expect that is a likely stage for a breakaway to succeed on the road, even though the sprinters teams would dearly love for it to be a bunch sprint finish.

    If they are going to do it on a stage ending in a descent, Wednesday of the last week is a prospect, two Beyond Category climbs early, then two Cat1 climbs and a finish after the descent.

    But if the attempt is made to do it on an uphill finish, Thursday on the last week is the day, with a Beyond Category climb finishing 30km from the finish, and after the descent a Cat1 climb moutaintop finish. Friday is a Sprinters stage and Saturday is the final Time Trial.

    So, it looks better than 50:50 odds that Bradley Wiggins has won the Tour, but if something is going to happen to change that, look out Thursday this week, and Wednesday and Thursday next week.

     

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