BiciRace.com :: Tour de France

2005 Tour de France, Rest Day 1

Tour de France, France

Rest Day 1, Grenoble

11 July

Stages 1 to 9, A Review

Stage List, Photos

Americano Zabriskie In Maillot Jaune After Stage Win

Zabriskie in Yellow, photo: CyclingTime.com

In Stage 1 of the 92nd Tour de France, the Americano Zabriskie struck again. David Zabriskie (Team CSC) finished the fastest, coming in first in the 19K TT. Zabriskie has won a stage in the Vuelta a España (2004), Giro d'Italia and now the Tour, making it three stage wins in a row.

It was an interesting first week for Team CSC. They rode to loosely protect the lead of Zabriskie, who kept the jersey until the team TT. The team also looked to the sprinter's teams for help controlling affairs.

Boonen is Terrorized Western France

McEwen and Boonen, photo: Quick-Step

In Stage 2, Tom Boonen ran wild. The Quick-Step rider terrorized the sprinters in the closing kilometers. His team, along with FDJ and Davitamon-Lotto, was instrumental in bringing back the day long four-man escape.

It was a long way from the Belgian's beginning with US Postal, in the Armstrong fold. In the last two years, Boonen, after joining a proper Belgian team, has achieved super-star status. Last year it was 20 wins, and this year he is on form with his Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders wins. His thunderstorm continued into Tours.

Boonen Continued Terror in Tours

Boonen Wins In Green, photo: CyclingTime.com

Stage 3 of the Tour de France and Tom Boonen continued his terror in Tours. On the Avenue du Grammont, 2900 meters straight into Tours, the Quick-Step rider again struck fear into the hearts of the Aussies and Austrians. It was masterful sprinting after the peloton sucked up a day-long 3-man break. Boonen was beaming with confidence after the race and sent some choice words to Alessandro Petacchi, who is not at the Tour. "The Worlds [in Madrid] is a race of one day, the Tour is the Worlds that is hard for three weeks ... He prefers the Worlds, but it is here that you battle, and here you delight, and here that you become number one in the world." Boonen was having a great time and it showed with a second win.

One Man's Pain is Another Man's Glory (for the 67th time)

Armstrong in Yellow, photo: CyclingTime.com

The Discovery Channel team smashed all previous team time trial records in stage 4 of the Tour de France. By edging out Team CSC, the team put Lance Armstrong in the maillot jaune. For the Disco cowboy it was his 67th yellow jersey. Not a bad run for the cowboy, and he hopes to add more to this tally.

Team CSC took David Zabriskie straight to the local hospital after the finish of stage 4 of the 92 Tour de France. Zabriskie, who took a tumble in the closing kilometer of the team TT, was in bad spirits. The crash was a terrible blow to Team CSC's stage victory chances. The team managed a strong second place and also won the hearts of the tifosi with their fight. It was fortunate that Zabriskie did not take out any other riders. It was a tough ending to il Americano's time in yellow.

Robbie McEwen Got Revenge with Stage Victory

McEwen Over Boonen, photo: CyclingTime.com

In stage 5 of the 92nd Tour de France Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) got his revenge. The Aussie, after relegation two days previously, out-gunned Tom Boonen (Quick-Step). The two went head to head and it was McEwen that just edged the big Belgian by half a wheel.

McJet is always capable of pulling off spectacular sprints in the dodgiest of circumstances. He has gained many fans with his no-holds-barred sprinting style. For a more in-depth look read The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap: Grit and Nerve in Dodgy Conditions.

Cement Boys Mix a Win and Vino Turns On The Heat

Lorenzo Bernucci In Rain, photo: CyclingTime.com

Stage 6 of the 2005 Tour de France was a ball-buster. The rain and wind turned a flat sprinters affair into an attack-fest. After 199K from Troyes to Nancy, it was Lorenzo Bernucci (Fassa Bortolo) who came out on top. Poor Christophe Mengin (Française des Jeux), who had been in a break for most of the day, took a spill as Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile) and Bernucci were on the hunt. Vino had to slow up but the Italian made it through and on to his first professional victory. Bravo Bernucci!

The tifosi went nuts with excitement. Vino did not win but he put time on the Disco Cowboy, not a huge amount, but enough to make the 6X champion worry. (For more details on Vino's heroics, read the Dust Devil's Daily Wrap: The Stone Cold Assassin Strikes!) He finished seven seconds ahead of the other GC favorites and improved to third overall. Team CSC's David Zabriskie lost almost eight minutes during stage 6. The American did not crash and is still suffering from his crash during the team TT.

Aussie Doubled Up in Chaotic Finish

McEwen Sprints Out of Chaos, photo: CyclingTime.com

Australian champion Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) notched a second victory in the 92nd Tour de France. Stage 7 finished in Germany on wet roads, but with a straight finish. The Aussie took out the win over big Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Bernhard Eisel (Française Des Jeux) in a chaotic bunch finish.

It was a sprint finale that was marred by a crash. In the mix and fighting for position, the peloton faded right. Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros-Würth) followed and clipped Isaac Gálvez (Illes Balears). Both Isaac and Angelo Furlan (Domina Vacanze) hit the deck and the peloton scrabbled around them. Davis was later relegated for what the race jury considered irregular sprinting. BiciRace.com had an interview with Allan Davis earlier this year, have a read.

Super Armstrong, Was Not So Super

Ullrich Leads, photo: T-Mobile

Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel) limited the losses and held his own in stage 8. Armstrong explained, "A long stage, many attacks since from the start, a fast pace. Something did not function on the last climb. It is necessary so to rethink our [Discovery Channel] position in race. There were 35 of us in the end and none of my squad."

A breakaway had yet to be successful in the Tour de France. That all changed in stage 8. Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) and Pieter Weening (Rabobank) bombed into the streets of Gérardmer taking turns on the front. Klöden was thinking of the 20 second time bonus on offer, while 24 year old Weening was thinking only of stage glory. It came down to a two man sprint which Weening was able to edge out by the narrowest of margins.

For a more in-depth look read The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap: The Cowboy holds off the Posse.

Rabobank Makes It Two, Voigt In Yellow

Rasmussen Winning Ride, photo: CyclingTime.com

In Stage 9, Danish rider, Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) carved his name in the annals of Danish cycling becoming one of handful of Danes to win a stage in the Tour de France. Resplendent in the climber's polka dot jersey, the thin figure of Michael Rasmussen was the first to cross the line in Mulhouse. It made two stage victories in a row for the boys in orange and blue. Coming in 3 minutes behind Rasmussen, but 3 minutes ahead of Armstrong (Discovery Channel), was Jens Voigt (Team CSC). Everyone's favorite German had enough time to take the maillot jaune from Armstrong.

GC after stage 9: (see full listing)
32:18'23" , 46.22 K/h
1.50
2.18
2.43
3.20
3.25
3.44
3.54

4.05
4.08

4.31
4.32
4.36
4.49
4.53
5.01
5.12
5.16

5.20
Seguros-Würth
5.42
5.47
5.51
5.57
6.02
6.21
6.22
6.24
6.25
6.26

6.28
Seguros-Würth 6.29

6.30
6.31
6.56

Points
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step 133
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 128
3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis 109
4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 96
5 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 75
6 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze 73
7 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 70
8 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux 69
9 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Lampre-Caffita 60
10 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 60

Mountains
1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 88
2 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 40
3 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 37
4 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 34
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 20
6 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 20
7 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 18
8 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 18
9 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak 17
10 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 17

Young rider
1 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears 32:22'54"
2 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 0.01
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears 1.11
4 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 1.20
5 Andrei Kashechkin (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 1.53
6 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 2.25
7 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick-Step 3.34
8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3.58
9 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Domina Vacanze 4.05
10 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 6.10

Teams
1 Team CSC 94:39'52"
2 Rabobank 2.35
3 T-Mobile 4.50
4 Discovery Channel 4.58
5 Phonak 6.02
6 Liberty Seguros-Würth 6.22
7 Crédit Agricole 7.57
8 Illes Balears 8.16
9 Fassa Bortolo 8.24
10 Gerolsteiner 10.13
11 Liquigas-Bianchi 11.48
12 Saunier Duval-Prodir 13.30
13 Bouygues Telecom 14.13
14 Française Des Jeux 14.32
15 Euskaltel-Euskadi 16.03
16 Lampre-Caffita 16.12
17 Ag2R Prévoyance 17.38
18 Cofidis 17.48
19 Davitamon-Lotto 17.51
20 Quick-Step 25.54
21 Domina Vacanze 32.41