2012 Men's ITT World Championships: 58 Riders Battle for the Rainbow

Tony Martin will roll down the ramp at 3:24pm today with 57 riders having gone before him. Second last in the order is the recent Vuelta a España champion Alberto Contador who was the 2009 Spanish ITT Champion. Martin's teammate on Omega Pharma-Quick Step Sylvain Chavanel will be riding in the French colours and may just challenge the reigning champion for the rainbow stripes. 

Current Race Leaders and Results: Aug 20th-25th

Vuelta de España 
18th August-9th September 

Stage 1 (TTT): Movistar 18:51
                                Omega Pharma-Quick Step +10
                                Rabobank +10 

Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar)  18:51

Stage 2: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano)  4:38:40

                  Alan Davis (Orica-GreenEdge) st
                  Ben Swift (Team Sky) st 
Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) 4:57:31 

Stage 3: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 3:49:37
                 Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) st
                 Chris Froome (Team Sky) st 
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 8:46:56  

Stage 4: Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) 4:30:26
                Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)+02
                Assan Bazayev (Astana) +22
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 13:18:45

Stage 5: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 4:10:37
                  Danielle Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan) st
                  Gianni Meersman (Lotto-Belisol) st
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 17:29:22

Stage 6: Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 4:35:22
                 Chris Froome (Sky) +5
                 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +10
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 22:04:32

Stage 7: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 3:48:30
                  Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) st
                  Allan Davis (Orica-GreenEdge) st
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 25:53:04

Stage 8: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 4:06:39
                  Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) st
                  Alberto Cntador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) st
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 29:59:35

Stage 9: Philippe Gilbert (BMC) 4:45: 28
                  Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) st
                 Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) +7                  
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 24:44:55

USA Pro Cycling Challenge
August 20th -26th

Stage 1: Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 4:42:48 
                 Alessandro Bazzana (Team Type 1-Sanofi) st
                 Damiano Caruso (BMC) st

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 4:42:48 

Stage 2: Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 3:52:24
                 Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) st
                 Ivan Rovny +6
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 8:35:12

Stage 3: Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) 5:02:06
                  Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale) +02
                 Jakob Fugsang  (RadioShack-Nissan) st
Christian Vande Velde 13:37:20

Stage 4: Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 3:54:00
                 Andreas Kloden (RadioShack-Nissan) +2:58
                 Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) st
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 17:34:18

Stage 5: Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 3:58:27
                 Taylor Phinney (BMC) st
                 Alessandro Bazzana (Team Type 1-Sanofi) st
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 21:32:45

Stage 6: Rory Sutherland (United Healthcare) 4:06:12         
                  Fabio Aru (Astana) +20
                  Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) +26
Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 25:39:50

Stage 7: Taylor Phinney (BMC) 17:25
                  Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) +10
                  Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) +19
Overall GC: Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) 25:57:34
points classification: Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 33 points
mountains classification: Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 55 points                  
team classification: RadioShack-Nissan 77:52:16

Tour of Denmark

August 22nd-27th

Stage 1: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 4:55:06

                 Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) st

                 Theo Bos (Rabobank) st  
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 4:55:06

Stage 2: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 5:12:22
                  Michael Van Staeyen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) st
                  Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) st
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 10:07:08

Stage 3: Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) 4:43:01
                  Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank) st
                  Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp) st
Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) 14:50:19

Stage 4: Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 2:02:35
                  Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) st
                  Theo Bos (Rabobank) st
Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) 16:52:54

Stage 5: Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 16:36
                 Geraint Thomas (Sky) +18
                 Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +21
Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 17:09:51

Stage 6: Mark Cavendish (Sky) 3:31:56
                  Matteo Pelucchi (Europcar) st
                  Andre Greipel (Lotto-Bellisol) st
Final GC: Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 20:41:47
points classification: Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 44 points
mountains classifiction: Nikola Aistrup (Concordia Forsikring-Himmerland) 84 points
young rider: Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank) 20:42:18

Tour du Poitou Charentes

August 21st-25th

Stage 1: Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 4:41:54

                 Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) st

                 Evaldas Siskevicius (La Pomme Marseille) st

Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 4:41:54

Stage 2: Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 5:08:53

                 Adrien Petit (Cofidis) st

                 Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) st

Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 9:50:27

Stage 3: Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack-Nissan) 2:14:37

                 Dennis Flahaut (Roubaix Lille Metropole) st

                 Maxime Le Montagner (Veranda Rideau-Super U) st

Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 12:05:04

Stage 4: Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 26:30

                 Jeremy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) +09

                 Lazlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1-Sanofi) +17

Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 12:31:54

Stage 5: Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) 4:05:19
                 Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) st
                 Marco Haller (Katusha) st

Overall GC: Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 16:37:13
Points Classification: Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 50 points
Mountains Classification: Gaylord Cumont (Veranda Rideau-Super U) 26 points
Young Rider:Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 16:37:13
Team Classification: Movistar 49:53:53

Remaining Races in the 2012 Season

14th August: Clàssica San Sebastian (Spain)
-Tre Valli Varesine (Italy)
14th-17th August: Tour of Limousin (France) stage race
15th August: Coppa Ugo Agostoni (Italy)
15th-26th August: Volta a Portugal (Portugal)  stage race 
16th August: Coppa Bernochi (Italy)
-GP Capodarco (Italy)
17th August: Dutch Food Valley Classic (Netherlands)
18th August: Trofeo Melinda (Italy)
18th August-9th September: Vuelta de España (Spain)  stage race 
19th August: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Germany)
19th August: Chateauroux Classic (France)
20th-26th August: USA Procycling Challenge (USA)  stage race 
21st August: GP Stad Zottegem (Belgium)
21st-24th August: Tour du Poitou-Charentes (France)  stage race 
22nd August: Druivenkoers Overijse (Belgium)
22nd- 26th August: Danmark Rundt (Denmark)
23rd August: GP Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese (Italy)
25th August: Giro del Vento (Italy)
26th August: Schaal Sels (Belgium)
26th August: GP Ouest-France (France)
27th August: -1st September: Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda (Italy)  stage race 
31st August- 1st September: World Ports Cycling Classic (Belgium/Netherlands)  stage race 

Current Race Leaders and Results: August 13th

Eneco Tour 6th-12th August 

Stage One: Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano)
Stage Two (TTT): Orica-GreenEdge
Stage Three: Theo Bos (Rabobank)
Stage Four: Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano)
Stage Five: Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack-Nissan)
Stage Six: Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge)
Stage Seven: Allessandro Ballan (BMC)
GC: Lars Boom (Rabobank) Overall winner of the 2012 Eneco Tour

Tour of Utah 7th-12th August 

Stage One: Rory Sutherland (Unitedhealthcare)
Stage Two (TTT): Garmin-Sharp
Stage Three: Michael Matthews (Rabobank)
Stage Four: Jacobe Keough (Unitedhealthcare)
Stage Five: Johann Tschopp (BMC)
Stage Six: Levi Leiphiemer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
GC: Johann Tschopp (BMC) Overall Winner of the 2012 Tour of Utah

Tour de L’Ain 7th-11th August 

Stage One: Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Two a: Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Two b (TTT): Omega Pharma- Quick Step
Stage Three: Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Andrew Talanksy (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Five: Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat)
GC: Andrew Talanksy (Garmin-Sharp) Winner of the 2012 Tour de L'Ain

Note: Current GC leaders in italics

Gold Medallists in the Olympic Individual Time Trial-Women

1996: Zulfiya Zabirova (Russia)
2000: Leontien van Moorsel (Netherlands)
2004: Leontien van Moorsel (Netherlands)
2008: Kristin Armstrong (USA)
2012: Kristin Armstrong (USA) 

Gold Medallists in the Olympic Individual Time Trial

1996: Miguel Indurain (Spain) 5x Tour winner, 2x Giro winner, ITT World Champion
2000: Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov (Russia)
2004: Tyler Hamilton (USA)
2008: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) 4x ITT World Champion
2012: Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) 

TDF: Standings after Stage 16

With one final mountain to come the GC classification looks like it will be won by a British rider for the first time. Bradley Wiggins has shown his superiority in the ITT over his rivals who will need to attack in Stage 17 for one final shot at yellow in Paris. For Cadel Evans the Tour defence is over and he may be given a chance to join a breakaway and gain a stage win but at only eight minutes he may still be seen as a threat. Chris Froome will be kept on a leash and will only protect Wiggins and he should be rewarded by a podium finish in Paris for doing so. Vincenzo Nibali will need to gain at least three minutes on Wiggins before the ITT and to do so in one stage looks unlikely considering he hasn’t been able to take significant time off Wiggins so far.

There may be a minor shake up of the GC but it seems the top ten is to be settled in the Stage 19 ITT to Chartes. Wiggins looks like he’ll hold onto yellow after first pulling it on after Stage 7. There may be a final attack by the mountain climbers to shore up a top ten position before the ITT but it appears that there may be too much to lose by doing so and so instead they will look to limit their losses against the clock in Stage 19.

With the final big climbing classification points on offer tonight Thomas Voeckler and Fredrik Kessiakoff who are only separated by four points will be chasing all 52 points that are on offer. There are 6 points on offer during the stage 19 ITT but these two would be keen to wrap up the classification in the Pyrenees. The first of these riders to summit Port de Balés could wrap up the classification with the points on offer at this HC climb. Otherwise the other four categorised climbs with points on offer could witness a strategic battle between these two for the maillot pois.

In the points classification it is looking likely that Peter Sagan will win the green jersey in his debut Tour. There are still two flat stages on offer but as Sagan as been either winning or contending the sprints it appears unlikely that he will pass that jersey onto either André Greipel or Matt Goss who both sit over 100 points in arrears to the Slovakian in the classification.

The white jersey is now a battle between Tejay van Garderen and Thibaut Pinot. Van Garderen holds a healthy 3:48” lead over the French rider and van Garderen should be riding into Paris in white. Van Garderen and Pinot are the two stand out young riders in 2012 as the closet rider to these two sits over 45 minutes behind the BMC rider is Steven Kruijswijk.

The most combative rider classification now has two riders who have both won the award on two occasions in 2012. A combative ride in Stage 17 by either Thomas Voeckler or Michael Mørkøv could settle the classification by Paris.

RadioShack-Nissan holds a commanding 17:15” lead in the team classification over Sky and are all but assured of a podium appearance in Paris. Only Team Sky can really threaten their chances but unless a calamitous final four stages awaits the leaders they should roll into Paris with yellow numbers on their backs.

There are still minor alterations that await in each of the classifications but it appears that the current leaders in the classifications will be the winners. The final ITT looks like it will settle any last gaps in these classifications besides the mountains classification. The points classification should be settled by Stage 19 or if not it will be settled in the final sprint along the Champs-Élysées.

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 74:15:32
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:05”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:23”
4th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:46”
5th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +7:13”
6th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +7:55”
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) +8:06”
8th Janez Brajkovic (Astana) +9:09”
9th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) +10:10”
10th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +11:43”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 356 points
2nd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 254 points
3rd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 203 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 130 points
5th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 127 points
6th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 109 points
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) 100 points
8th Chris Froome (Sky) 91 points
9th Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 88 points
10th Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 84 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 107 points

2nd Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 103 points
3rd Chris Anker Sørenson 77 points
4th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 55 points
5th Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) 38 points
6th Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) 34 points
7th Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) 33 points
8th Chris Froome (Team Sky) 32 points
9th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 32 points
10th Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 31 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 74:23:27”
2nd Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +3:48”
3rd Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +45:26”
4th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +52:39”
5th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +54:43”
6th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +1:01:56”
7th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +1:01:32”
8th David Malacarne (Europcar) +1:18:57”
9th Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) +1:19:10”
10th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) +1:26:02”

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 222:58:15
2nd Team Sky +17:18”
3rd Astana +28:53”
4th BMC +29:13”
5th Europcar +50:03”
6th Liquigas-Cannondale +56:34”
7th Movistar +59:56”
8th FDJ-BigMat +1:01:22”
9th Katusha +1:01:31”
10th Omega Pharma-Quick Step + 1:20:04”

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)
Stage Nine: Not Awarded
Stage Ten: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)
Stage 11: Pierre Rolland (Europcar)
Stage 12: Robert Kiserlovski (Astana)
Stage 13: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 14: Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
Stage 15: Nicki Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 16: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)

Why Support Wiggo?

Bradley Wiggins is on the cusp of an unprecedented achievement in the world of cycling. Wiggins is a proven multiple Olympic and world champion gold medal winning cyclist but in the last year has proven himself to be a Grand Tour GC contender. His third placing at the 2011 Vuelta de España was a sign of what Wiggins is capable of as well as a validation of fourth place in the 2009 Tour. After crashing out during Stage Seven of last year’s Tour with a broken collarbone, Wiggins has been working hard on returning to the Tour and taking home yellow. 2012 appears to to be year of the self confessed mod whose Tour it is to lose.

Stage 11: Albertville to La Toussuire-Les-Sybelles 148km

During Stage 11 the Tour will ascend four categorised climbs of which two are hors catergorie or HC. The first of the HC climbs is the imposing Col de la Madeleine which is a 25.3km climb that reaches to 2000 meters and has an average gradient of 6.2% when approached from the north. On several sections that climb averages up to 9.5% gradient and will surely test the GC men early on. While for the sprinters it will be the beginning of a day that will they will dread but keep Paris in mind to get through the pain. The climb up the Madeleine begins after only 14.5kms on what looks certain to be a day on which Vincenzo Nibali and Cadel Evans really test the strength of Team Sky and the resolve of Wiggins.

The last time the Col de la Madeleine featured at the Tour was in 2010 when the French rider Anthony Charteau was the first over the summit on Stage Nine. Charteau went onto win the climbers classification that year and his teammate Thomas Voeckler, who will be wearing the maillot pois in today’s stage, may just emulate his countryman and try to increase his lead in that classification. In the 2010 Tour, Evans was wearing yellow on the Madeleine suffering the effects of a crash on the previous stage in which he fractured his left elbow. Evans was dropped and his Tour was over. Once again the Madeleine will be crucial to the overall hopes of Evans but with three more climbs in the stage alone, it won't be the last roll of the dice for the BMC rider.

Col de la Madeleine 2000m - (25.3km @ 6.2%)

©ASO

The next climb the peloton will encounter comes after 70kms of racing with the Madeleine said ‘au revoir‘to once again. With Madeleine gone, the race flattens out all too quickly for some with the days sprints points on offer. There is an intermediate sprint point at the base of the Col de la Croix de Fer at 70kms into the stage. From there the sprinters will suffer until the finish at La Toussuire. This HC Mountain is only 22.4kms in length but has an average gradient of 6.9% and its summit is 2,067 meters. The first rider to crest the Col de la Croix de Fer will be awarded the Souvenir Henri Desgrange as the Croix de Fer is the highest point of the 2012 Tour. The award is a tribute to the founder of the race and is awarded to the rider who is first over the highest point of the Tour as well as €5000. The last time this HC climb was included in the Tour was during Stage 17 of the 2008 Tour which finished at Alpe d’Huez. The winner of the Souvenir Henri Desgrange that year was Peter Velits. Once the riders crest the second HC climb of the stage they will descend to Les Chambons and from there, they will begin to climb again.

Col de la Croix Fer 2067m (22.4km @ 6.9%)

©ASO 

The Cat 2 climb Col du Mollard will seem to be a minor blemish after the first two climbs and is a little bump on the descent from the Croix de Fer to Saint Jean-De-Maurienne which is 604m above sea level and hosts the depart of Stage 12. The final climb of the day is the 18km climb up the Cat 1 La Toussuire and will be the first alpine summit of the 2012 Tour. The climb is just 67m higher than the Col du Mollard but its average gradient of 6.1% is actually lesser than the 6.8% of the Mollard. This will be the second appearance of La Toussuire in the Tour after it debuted in the 2006 Tour. Michael Rasmussen won that day over Carlos Sastre on a stage that also rode over the Col de la Croix de Fer and Col du Mollard. Floyd Landis looked to have thrown away any attempt at the overall as he finished 23rd on the stage and dropped out of the top ten. Óscar Pereiro rode himself into yellow after finishing third in the stage, just two seconds ahead of Cadel Evans and all but secured yellow. The Climb has appeared in the Critérium de Dauphiné twice since then and the last time the Dauphiné went up La Toussuire, Bradley Wiggins was also in yellow, as he will be today.

                          

Col du Mollard 1638m (5.7km @ 6.8%)

©ASO 

La Toussuire 1705m (18km @ 6.1%)

©ASO 

Wiggins may concede yellow today knowing he has the superior the ITT among the top ten which would also see him skip the yellow jersey press conferences. Wiggins is growing into the role of wearing the yellow jersey along with the pressure and responsibilities that come with it. However he has broken the record for most consecutive days spent in yellow by a British rider and is second in British riders to have worn yellow and equal 113th overall with four days in the jersey. It is still a long way to Paris and handing the jersey over to Froome may just help Wiggins recharge mid-Tour and enable him to come out and attack his rivals In the Pyrenees to ensure that heading into the Stage 19 ITT he is holding a substantial time gap over them. This way, Sky is still in charge of yellow and Froome gets a chance to audition himself for a future, or alternative, GC winner for Sky.

At only 148kms the stage looks likely to be explosive. The Tour director Christian Prudhomme has begun to favour the shorter alpine stages in which the GC men are forced to come out an attack with such stages no longer characterised by 200kms of rolling terrain before one final massive climb. Of the 148kms, the four categorised climbs together will equate to 71.4km which will certainly test the legs of the peloton. After the ascent of the Mollard there could be a new virtual leader on the road who will go on to put real time into Wiggins up La Toussuire. This may end up being Froome if Sky allows him to make his own attacks which could also alleviate any pressure from Wiggins. Either way there will be attacks or breakaway attempts in a stage that promises fireworks and GC shakeup that the 2012 Tour is yet to really experience.

Stage Profile

Stage and mountain profiles all courtesy of ASO at letour.fr

TDF: Standings after Stage Nine ITT

The first rest day of the 2012 Tour de France is upon us and wearing yellow is the Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins will be the centre of attention on a day that is usually for the benefit of the press. The story of the day continues to be the blistering ITT stage win by Wiggins in which he put some serious distance between himself and his rivals. He is now in a position in which he can afford to ride defensively and simply follow the wheels of his rivals and till the Tour.

Leading the other classifications is three time stage winner Peter Sagan in green, American Tejay van Garderen in white and Fredrik Kessiakoff in the maillot pois. In the team classification, RadioShack-Nissan leads Sky by over a minute and will be wearing yellow helmets on Stage 10 as leaders of that classification.

Overall classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 39:09:20
2nd Cadel Evans (BMC) +1:53”
3rd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:07”
4th Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:23”
5th Dennis Menchov (Katusha) +3:02”
6th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +3:19”
7th Maxime Monfort (RadioShack-Nissan) +4:23”
8th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +5:14”
9th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:20”
10th Nicolas Roche (AG2R-La Mondiale) +5:29”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 217 points
2nd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 185 points
3rd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 172 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 129 points
5th Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) 109 points
6th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 95 points
7th Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) 89 points
8th Cadel Evans (BMC) 82 points
9th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 78 points
10th Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) 76 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 21 points 

2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) 20 points
3rd Cadel Evans (BMC) 18 points
4th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 16 points
5th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 12 points
6th Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 9 points
7th Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) 9 points
8th Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) 9 points
9th Chris Anker Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 4 points
10th Jérémy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) 5 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 39:14:34”
2nd Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +42”
3rd Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) +45”
4th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +3:39”
5th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +5:11”  
6th David Malacarne (Europcar) +13:55”
7th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +18:15”
8th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +18:54”
9th Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) +19:33”
10th Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +20:34”

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 117:36:25
2nd Team Sky +1:25”
3rd Omega Pharma-Quick Step +13:25”
4th Liquigas-Cannondale +16:06”
5th Katusha +16:23”
6th BMC +17:32”
7th Movistar +22:39”
8th Astana +22:47”
9th AG2R-La Mondiale +24:28”
10th FDJ-BigMat +26:52”

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)
Stage Nine: Not Awarded

Recent Grand Tour ITT Results

With an increased number of time trial kilometres in the 2012 Tour de France compared to recent editions the GC candidates will need to have two good ITTs to stand atop the podium in Paris. The tables below are the finishing positions of the current top four riders on the GC at Grand Tours since 2007. These four riders appear to the fighting to the podium but after the 41.5km stage to Besançon the GC will be shuffled. This time the picture of who the overall candidates are will look a little clearer.

In 2011 Cadel Evans won the Tour following his Stage 20 heroics in the 42.5km ITT around Grenoble. On that day Evans finished second to Tony Martin who would go onto to claim his maiden world champion ITT and after two second places at the Tour won his maiden yellow jersey. What was more important than his finishing position on Stage 20 was that Evans had began the day 57 seconds in arrears to Andy Schleck but finished the stage 1:34 ahead of him and won the Tour by doing so. Evans won an ITT stage at the 2007 Tour after initially finishing second behind Alexander Vinokourov who won the Stage 13 time trial around Albi but later testing positive for doping. Bradley Wiggins finished one minute behind Evans in that stage but admittedly he was not as focused on the road as he is now. Evans will be looking to ride the last ITT of the 2012 in yellow and take the jersey on his shoulders all the way to Paris.

Wiggins has already won four ITT stages this season and will begin the Stage Nine time trial a slight favourite ahead of his GC rivals. Wiggins has shown that he the legs to go with the best climbers after his stage race wins this year but the ITT is where Wiggins will want to put serious time into his rivals. If Wiggins has to only follow his rivals in the mountains the Tour is most certainly his. However if he needs to make up time and attack his rivals in the mountains his tilt at the overall looks less likely. Wiggins and Evans are the two favourites for the overall in 2012 partly due to the high number of ITT kms. Evans is no slouch in the ITT and his time trial win at the Critérium International earlier this season will be a mental boost for the Australian. Depending on the results on the ITT Wiggins may intentionally lose yellow and want to stay out of the leader’s jersey until Stage 19.Wiggins appears at unease having to front the media for every day he is yellow and surrendering the jersey may actually be beneficial to his chances for the win. Without the pressure of yellow, Wiggins may be more relaxed and able to launch attacks without the full attention of the peloton.

At the 2008 Tour de France Carlos Sastre was in yellow heading into the final ITT which was a 53km race from Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond but seemed destined to concede yellow to Evans. Evans had begun the Tour as a favourite and was wearing the number one bib on his back after Alberto Contador and his team Astana were not invited to the race following Vinokourov‘s positive test for blood doping. Without the Spaniard to whom Evans had lost the Tour by only 23 seconds to the previous year, the Silence-Lotto rider was a clear favourite for the overall and the Tour would be his to lose. Evans did lose the 2008 and his failure to catch Sastre on the final ITT was his undoing. Now with a one-one record in terms of final ITTs and the maillot jaune, Evans will be confident of making that record two-one in terms of Tour wins. Evans spent several days in yellow with a slender one lead over Franck Schleck in 2008 and as the outright favourite appeared to be seriously affected by this attention. Evans lost the yellow jersey after Stage 15 into Prato Nevoso to Schleck and slipped to third overall. Team CSC held onto yellow after this with the jersey changing hands to Sastre following his win at Alpe d’Huez on Stage 17 and Evans remained on the back foot watching his Tour dreams ride away. Sastre rode the ITT of his life to finish 12th on the stage to lose only 29 seconds to Evans. Evans managed to take back some time on Sastre on the final stage but it was not enough and for the second year running lost the Tour by under a minute. The demons of the 2008 ITT were exorcised in 2011 and Evans may be hoping to have the GC all but sown up by Stage 19.

Evans will be hoping that he will be in yellow during the Stage 20 ITT to Chartres and will have done enough throughout the race to hold a substantial lead over Wiggins. Evans showed during yesterday’s stage that he will attack where ever possible and claw back his current 10 second deficient to the Team Sky rider. Evans will have allies in the GC men who are not so strong in the ITT’s and will be looking to take time off Wiggins in the Alps and Pyrenees. Nibali and Menchov are both reasonable time trials but cannot count on taking time off Wiggins or Evans in them. They will need to attack in the mountains and at any opportunity that arises.

As the tables below show the current top four on the GC have all had impressive ITT results across the three weeks of the three Grand Tours. All have won an ITT stage at a Grand Tour and it appears quite possible that one of the four will win either tomorrow’s stage or Stage 19. The biggest threat from non-GC candidates looks like it will come from Fabian Cancellara as current ITT world champion Tony Martin is nursing several injuries. David Millar from Garmin-Sharp could be considered a dark horse for the stage win as could Rabobank’s Spanish national time trial champion Luis León Sanchez. However with the ITT looking to be decisive in the configuration of the overall, these riders may be pushed down the order by the GC men really wanting to gain some time over their rivals. There are several national ITT champions in the 2012 peloton but with the possibility of yellow after the conclusion of Stage 10, that may prove to be a bigger motivating factor than a stage win would be for the national champions.

Evans, Menchov, Nibali and Wiggins ITT performances at Grand Tours 2007-2012

Evans	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	-	-	3rd (Stage 1), 2nd (Stage 16), 4th (Stage 21)	-
Tour de France	1st (Stage 13), 2nd (Stage 19)	4th (Stage 4), 7th (Stage 20),  50th (Stage 20)	5th  (Stage 1), 12th (Stage 18)	166th (Stage 19)	2nd (Stage 20)
Vuelta de España	11th (Stage 8)	-	10th (Stage 4), 3rd (Stage 20)	-	-

Wiggins	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	157th (Stage 10), 4th (Stage 21)	7th, (Stage 12), 2nd (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 1), 67th 2nd (Stage 16), 7th (Stage 21)	-
Tour de France	4th (Stage 13), (Stage 19)	-	3rd (Stage 1), 6th (Stage 18)	9th (Stage 19)	WD
Vuelta de España	-	-	-	-	3rd (Stage 10)

Nibali	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	24th (Stage 13), 7th (Stage 20)	7th (Stage 10), 44th (Stage 21)	-	11th (Stage 1), 4th 2nd (Stage 16), 5th (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 16)
Tour de France		10th (Stage 4), 6th (Stage 20)	9th  (Stage 1), 26th (Stage 18)	-	-
Vuelta de España		-	-	15nd (Stage 17)	15th (Stage 10)

Menchov	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	6th (Stage 10), 25th (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 12),  10th  (Stage 21)	-	6th (Stage 16)
Tour de France	21st (Stage 13)	6th (Stage Four)	53rd (Stage 1), 17th (Stage 18)	11th (Stage 19)	-
Vuelta de España	4th (Stage 8)	-	-	2nd (Stage 17)	13th (Stage 10)

Note: Only ITT stages are considered, no Prologue results have been listed. None of these riders competed in the 2012 Giro d’Italia, therefore the 2012 Tour de France will be their first Grand Tour for the year.