Tour De France Stage 16 Results (win for Mikel Astarloza)
Mikel Astarloza was the winner of stage 16 of the Tour de France but the gut-busting ride by Lance Armstrong to stay in touch with yellow jersey wearer and Astana team mate Alberto Contador was the biggest of the day’s results.
The breakaway in the first ten kilometres of the 159km stage 16 from Martigny to Bourg-Saint-Maurice contained more than twenty riders, building a lead around two minutes. Italian Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas and Russian Vladimir Karpets of Team Katusha then jumped the breakaway, cresting the Great Saint Bernard Pass – the first of two huge climbs – 2:03 ahead of the rest of the leading pack and around five minutes ahead of the peloton.
Pellizotti and Karpets were caught by the breakaway group with 60km left to ride and the Little Saint Bernard Pass between them and the finish line. Pellizotti then kicked ahead again with Belgian Jurgen Van Den Broeck of Silence-Lotto, later joined by Frenchman Amael Moinard of Cofidis and Spaniard Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel-Euskadi, and it was this foursome which eventually contested the stage win, with Astarloza coming out in front.
Meanwhile, back in the peloton the Schleck brothers, Frank and Andy, lead an attack with yellow jersey wearer Alberto Contador joining them, with Lance Armstrong and Cadel Evans among the contenders who didn’t immediately respond.
However, in the biggest move of the day, Armstrong then took it upon himself to bridge the significant gap between the main peloton and the Contador group, bringing back memories of his seven straight Tour de France wins with an impressive riding performance.
Stage 16 results
1 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 159km in 4.14.20
2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 6 seconds behind
3 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
4 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto
6 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
Top 20 of general classification after stage 16
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 67:33:15
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 1:37
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 1:46
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2:17
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 2:26
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 2:51
7 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 3:09
8 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3:25
9 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 3:52
10 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 3:59
11 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 4:38
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 4:40
13 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 5:05
14 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 5:26
15 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 5:40
16 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 5:56
17 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 7:23
18 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 8:23
19 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 9:14
20 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 10:00
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Tour de France stage 15 results
Spaniard Alberto Contador has won stage 15 of the Tour de France and now wears the yellow jersey, one minute and 37 seconds ahead of Astana team mate Lance Armstrong in second.
The usual breakaway in the 207.5km stage 15 from Pontarlier to Verbier came in dribs and drabs, started by Frenchman David Moncoutié of the Cofidis team after 42km, joined by Italian Franco Pellizotti of Team Liquigas, then six others, then another four, then another three for a total of 15.
One of the three in that last mini-group was Spaniard Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel, who was the virtual leader on the course when the breakaway’s time gap rose almost a minute above his three-minute deficit to yellow jersey wearer Rinaldo Nocentini.
Team Astana gradually drew the gap back and the breakaway was caught with six kilometres to go, which was the signal for Frank Schleck and then Contador to attack.
Surprisingly, Lance Armstrong did not respond to Contador, and was content to sit behind Andreas Kloden and eventually lose 94 seconds on his Astana team mate, possibly consigning him to second fiddle in Astana for the rest of the tour.
Stage 15 results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 5:03:58
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:43 behind
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 1:03
4 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 1:06
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 1:26
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 1:29
9 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 1:35
10 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 1:55
General classification
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 63:17:56
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 1:37 behind
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 1:46
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2:17
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 2:26
6 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 2:30
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 2:51
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 3:07
9 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 3:09
10 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3:25
11 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam 3:52
12 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 3:59
13 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC 4:05
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto 4:27
15 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia – HTC 4:38
16 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 4:40
17 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC 5:05
18 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 5:27
19 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 5:37
20 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha 5:56
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