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Thor thunders to sixth tour stage win
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by kferaday | July 6, 2008 at 12:00 pm
187 views | 7 Recommendations | 2 comments
Thor Hushovd showed he is likely the favourite for the green jersey this year with a clear win in Saint Brieuc. With only a handful of stages to show their wares the sprinters were expected to be front and center. But it wasn't as easy as it might have been as the peloton misjudged the strength of the breakaway comprised of four Frenchmen -- Thomas Voeckler, Sylvain Chavenal, Chrisophe Moreau and David Le Lay.
Moreau did a huge turn at the front in the final hill before the relatively flat finale in an attempt to hold off the peloton. Sylvain Chavenal, France's newest cycling heartthrob, surely had French housewives atwitter as he launched an attack and held of the charging peloton for a while but the catch was inevitable. Unfortunately, Philippe Gilbert, who was holding the green jersey crashed and so wasn't a factor in the final sprint. With tomorrow being another day for the sprinters before Teusday's time trial look for another fast and furious finish.
Garmin Chipotel Update: DS Jonathan Vaughters has been giving some live twitter updates. He was concerned about the winds but content that his leaders Christian Vande Velde, Ryder Hesjedal and David Millar finished with the main group. Millar is now only 1 second behind Valverde which might set him up for a yellow jersey if he rides well on Teusday.
Tipped by some as the likely top contender for the maillot vert this year, Thor Hushovd showed he is certainly in the right kind of form with a powerful sprint victory into Saint Brieuc. The Crédit Agricole rider jumped hard and held off the other riders in the uphill rise to the line, nabbing his sixth career stage win in the race and driving the Norwegian supporters crazy.
"It was a really hard sprint, with the wind in the finale and in the climbs, but I knew it was a sprint that fits me well," he said after the podium presentation. "My team-mates did a good job again, and especially Mark Renshaw. He was awesome until with 200 metres to go and then it was just up to me to do a sprint. Today everything worked out 100 percent."
Hushovd timed his gallop to perfection even though new points leader Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia) was the quickest in the final 100 metres. He finished a close second and might well have taken the stage had the line been a little further away.
"I was held up by a crash and had to come from behind. I fell short, but it is okay," he stated. The Luxembourg rider took over at the top of the points classification from race leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), who himself sprinted home in twelfth place and maintained his one second lead in the general classification.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 13:33 on July 6th, 2008
kferaday, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 17:11 on July 6th, 2008
kferaday, I like this story. It's good stuff. The Tour is three weeks of gripping entertainment. Now that there is more emphasis on clean riders, I'm hoping it's also reality.