Tour de France Stage 14 Sergui Ivanov Crosses Line First

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Le parcours 2009 : découvrez l'étape 14

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sourced by Edmund Jenks

Sergui Ivanov(Katusha) rode to victory today, crossing the finish line first.  He was part of a big breakaway that rode in front from the 24 km mark.  At one point, the breakaway rode 8 minutes ahead of the peloton.  Nicolas Roche(AG2R) crossed second and Hayden Roulston(Cervelo) crossed third.

The Green Jersey remains on the back of Thor Hushovd(Cervelo).  A tight sprint at the end it came down to Mark Cavendish(Columbia).  Mark Cavendish was awarded no points in the sprint because of irregularities at the last second.

George Hincapie(Columbia) was part of the breakaway.  He needed to gain 5 minutes 25 seconds on the race time to capture the yellow jersey.  For much of the race it seemed that he would pull it off but it was not to be.  The peloton came in just a hair under the time needed to keep Rinaldo Nocentini(AG2R) in the yellow jersey.  George Hincapie is now in second place in the Tour. At the end of nearly two weeks of racing, seconds separate first from fourth place.

New Standings:

1. Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R)

2. George Hincapie(Columbia)

3. Alberto Contador(Astana)

4. Lance Armstrong(Astana)

Jens Voigt(Saxo Bank) lost his chance to finish with the breakaway group when he had a flat and lost 5 minutes in the fumble to change a tire.  Tom Boonan's(Quickstep) bad luck this Tour continued with a flat 15 km from the finish.  He finished with the peloton.

The spectators have added a new dimension to the Tour this year.  Some young people(already arrested) shot at the riders yesterday with air rifles, hitting one in the finger and another's bike.  Simon Spilak(Lampre) finished yesterday outside of the time limit but was allowed to remain in the race because his delay was caused by crowds on the road.

Levi Leipheimer(Astana) has had surgery on his wrist and is out for the season.

Stage 15 is mountainous Pontarlier to Verbier, a distance of 207 km.