Tony Martin wins Tour of Beijing as Steven Cummings wins final sprint stage

Posted on October 13, 2012 by adminsports

Martin defends Tour of Beijing title as Briton Cummings wins final stage

UPDATED:

11:08 GMT, 13 October 2012

Germany's Tony Martin defended his Tour of Beijing title as Britain's Steven Cummings won a sprint finish to take the final stage in the Pinggu District of Beijing.

Cummins, of the BMC Racing Team, beat Garmin-Sharp's Ryder Hesjedal to the line with the peloton following home 18 seconds later.

Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider Martin was not troubled on the final day of the five-stage event, having taken the start boasting a 40-second lead over Francesco Gavazzi, who held on to second place.

Just champion: Germany's Tony Martin defended his Tour of Beijing title

Edvald Boasson Hagen finished third on the day, enough to move him above Dan Martin for third overall.

Early in the stage, RadioShack-Nissan's Andy Schleck pulled out, leaving the 2010 Tour de France winner without a race victory this year.

Johan Bruyneel leaves RadioShack after Lance Armstrong scandal

Posted on October 13, 2012 by adminsports

Disgraced former mentor of Armstrong leaves RadioShack after drug revelations

UPDATED:

18:52 GMT, 12 October 2012

Johan Bruyneel, Lance Armstrong's team manager on the American's seven Tour de France wins, is quitting as RadioShack Nissan general manager by mutual agreement.

Bruyneel was named in the United States Anti-Doping Agency report released this week which said he was one of the people who had helped Armstrong organise doping within the US Postal Team.

'In light of these testimonies, both
parties feel it is necessary to make this decision since Johan Bruyneel
can no longer direct the team in an efficient and comfortable way,'
RadioShack Nissan said in a statement.

Disgraced: Armstrong (left) with Bruyneel in 2004

Belgian Bruyneel was Armstrong's team manager when the Texan won his seven Tours from 1999-2005 as well as during his two Tour rides in 2009 and 2010 after his comeback from a three-and-a-half year retirement.

Meanwhile, former world road race champion Mark Cavendish believes cycling is one of the cleanest sports because the cheats get found out, and says it is unfair to judge today's riders on past events.

The 27-year-old told Sky Sports News: 'The same question I always get is, “how can cycling move forward”

'Well, it is moving forward and it has been – but people won't let it.

Disgraced: Armstrong (left) with Bruyneel in 2004

'There's going to be cynics, there's going to be people with closed minds, and there's going to be stuff that comes up from the past.

'That's not fair to tarnish the riders who are doing it now with the brush they don't deserve to be tarnished with. It's a stupid, closed-minded view on it.

'Cheating happens everywhere – in every sport, in every country, in every aspect of life.'

He added: 'In my mind, I think cycling is one of the cleanest sports because it catches the cheats and throws them away.'

Chris Froome still second in Tour of Spain

Posted on August 22, 2012 by adminsports

Froome remains in contention in Spain as Degenkolb sprints to stage five win

UPDATED:

16:44 GMT, 22 August 2012

Team Sky's Chris Froome remains one second off the lead as Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez finished safely in the bunch on the fifth stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

John Degenkolb of Argos-Shimano clinched the stage win on a photo finish as he powered through the final kilometre of a 168km ride around Logrono.

Sprint: John Degenkolb crosses the finish line to win the fifth stage

Daniele Bennati (Radioshack-Nissan) and Gianna Meersman (Lotto Belisol Team) were left stunned as the German emerged from the bunch sprint to claim a second stage win in five days.

Froome clung onto second place in the overall standings after navigating seven relatively flat laps of the 40km circuit through La Rioja province.

In contention: Chris Froome lies just a second off the lead in the Tour of Spain

Alberto Contador of Team Saxo Bank remains in the third place, five seconds shy of his countryman Rodriguez.

Thursday's stage covers the 175.4km between Tarazona and Jaca, over which riders must tackle two category three climbs in the mountains of Aragon.

Tour de France 2012: Frank Schleck claims poison

Posted on July 19, 2012 by adminsports

I'm positive it's poison! Schleck defends himself in face of drug claim

UPDATED:

22:48 GMT, 18 July 2012

As protestations of innocence go, Frank Schleck chose the abrupt approach in the face of Tuesday’s positive drug test.

‘I categorically deny taking any banned substance — I insist that the B sample be tested. If this analysis confirms the initial result, I will argue that I have been the victim of poisoning,’ he said in a statement.

There were plenty around the Tour who wanted to believe the Luxembourg rider yesterday but cycling’s problem is that virtually every rider protests his innocence after a positive test. So, innocent or not, Schleck will be presumed guilty by those outside the sport.

Trouble: Radioshack's Frank Schleck has failed a doping test on the Tour

In the hunt: Schleck is one of the elite group of riders, currently 12th

There were gestures of support for
the older brother of Andy Schleck, the sporting heroes of their tiny
principality, from Luxembourg fans on the road.

Schleck tested positive for the
banned diuretic xipamide but received unequivocal support from
RadioShack team-mate Jens Voigt, 40, who said: ‘I just hope this gets
cleared up.

'I can’t believe that Frank would do
something so stupid. I honestly don’t doubt him for a second, one
because he’s my friend and two because it would make no sense to take
anything to defend 12th place on a flat day.’

Tour de France 2012: Frank Schleck fails drug test

Posted on July 17, 2012 by adminsports

Tour de France rocked after high-flying Schleck fails drugs test

UPDATED:

19:03 GMT, 17 July 2012

Luxembourg rider Frank Schleck has failed a doping test, taken on July 14, for the diuretic Xipamide, cycling's governing body the UCI have said.

More to follow…

Failed: Radioshack rider Frank Schleck has failed a doping test on the Tour de France

In the hunt: Schleck is one of the elite group of riders, finishing third in 2011

Tour de France 2012: Bradley Wiggins retains lead after 10 stages

Posted on July 11, 2012 by adminsports

Great Briton Wiggins retains yellow jersey after 10 stages of Tour de France

UPDATED:

16:28 GMT, 11 July 2012

Briton Bradley Wiggins successfully defended the yellow jersey for a third day as the Tour de France headed towards the Alps and Thomas Voeckler won the 10th stage in the Jura Mountains.

The 194.5-kilometre route from Macon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine featured the first hors categorie (beyond category) ascent, the 17.4km climb of Col du Grand Colombier, and had the potential to shake up the general classification.

But Wiggins, with Team Sky colleague Richie Porte strong throughout the day, finished three minutes 16 seconds behind Voeckler to retain a 1min 53secs lead over second-placed Cadel Evans (BMC Racing). Chris Froome (Team Sky) stayed third, 2:07 behind.

Glamour game: Bradley Wiggins on the podium after stage 10 of the Tour de France

Defending champion Evans attempted to claw back some seconds in the finale but Wiggins was alert and stuck to the Australian's wheel to roll in one place behind him in 13th place.

Voeckler (Europcar), who wore the maillot jaune for 10 days of the 2011 Tour, finished ahead of Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), with Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) third. It was the Frenchman's third Tour stage success.

Wiggins will on Thursday become the first Briton to wear the maillot jaune for four days in one Tour, beating the previous best of three days set by Chris Boardman in 1994 and David Millar in 2000, but keeping it in Paris on July 22 is his main goal.

Fan-tastic: Wiggins and his fellow Brits are cheered on by a colourful character during stage 10

The 148km 11th stage from Albertville to La Toussuire features two hors categorie (beyond category) climbs and ends with an 18km category one ascent to the finish.

It is a day when his lead in the general classification could come under threat.

A 25-man break including Britons Steve Cummings, Millar (Garmin-Sharp) and points classification leader Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), a winner of three stages thus far, established an advantage of more than five minutes 70 kilometres into the stage.

All smiles: Bradley Wiggins (right) and team-mate Mark Cavendish at the start of the 10th stage of the Tour de France

Cummings is a BMC Racing team-mate of Evans and was joined by another colleague, Marcus Burghardt.

It was perhaps an indication as to Evans' tactics, with the duo in position to potentially support the Australian later in the day.

The escape group splintered as soon as
they began long ascent of the Col du Grand Colombier, at an average
gradient of 7.1 per cent.

Scenic route: The riders make their way from Macon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine

The summit came 43km from the finish, but the tempo set by Team Sky limited the prospect of attacks.

Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) was the first to attack from the escape group, 11km from the summit, and he was joined by Voeckler, Scarponi and Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) by the top.

Behind the quartet, Edvald Boasson Hagen was at the front of the Team Sky-led peloton, with Porte and Michael Rogers ahead of Wiggins, pedalling serenely in the maillot jaune, and Froome behind.

Catch me if you can: Wiggins holds on to the yellow jersey after 10 stages of the Tour de France

Evans was sticking to the wheel of Wiggins, who had yellow handlebar tape to accessorise with the maillot jaune, watching every revolution.

Porte took control and successfully snuffed out two attempted attacks by Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol).

The long descent saw Vincenzo Nibali forge forward and establish a lead over Wiggins of almost a minute, but it proved fruitless come the day's final climb.

Thirsty work: Wiggins takes a bottle from Cavendish during stage 10

With Porte looking strong, dragging his Team Sky colleagues along, Nibali was caught midway up the 7.2km category three Col de Richemond.

The summit of came 20.5km from the finish, but Nibali opted not to take the opportunity to seek to break clear.

Up ahead, Voigt joined the leading quartet before Devenyns attacked on his own with 2.5km to go.

The gap was bridged and Voeckler made his move with less than 1km to go solo to victory.

Evans made a number of bursts in the closing moments, but Wiggins played a watchful role to hold on to the overall lead.

Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) finished in the same group to stay fourth overall, 2:23 behind.

Still trailing: Cadel Evans remains in second place behind Wiggins

Tour de France 2012: Bradley Wiggins builds lead with stage nine win

Posted on July 9, 2012 by adminsports

Wiggins digs deep to build Le Tour lead over rival Evans with stunning win on stage nine

UPDATED:

16:07 GMT, 9 July 2012

Tour de France leader Bradley Wiggins enhanced his advantage in the yellow jersey with a stunning victory on stage nine's individual time-trial.

Wiggins (Team Sky) clocked 51 minutes 24 seconds to triumph on the 41.5-kilometre race against the clock from Arc-et-Senans to Besancon.

The triple Olympic champion, who on Saturday succeeded prologue winner Fabian Cancellara in the maillot jaune, began the day with a 10-second lead over defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and enters Tuesday's rest day with an advantage of 1min 53secs.

Yellow jersey: Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins crosses the finish line during the individual time trial

Evans placed sixth on the day in 53:07, as Team Sky celebrated a one-two on the stage, with Chris Froome second in 51:59. Olympic time-trial champion Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) was third in 52:21.

Froome, who won stage seven, climbed into third place overall, 2:07 behind his team-mate and 14 seconds behind Evans.

Gritted teeth: Great Britain's Christopher Froome at the end of the ninth stage

The time-trial, coming ahead of the rest day, could be significant in the race for the maillot jaune, with this year's Tour featuring more than 100km of racing against the clock before the finish in Paris on July 22.

Wiggins is now firmly in pole position to be the first British Tour winner – and Froome could join him on the podium.

The day's events were also a useful marker for the 44km August 1 Olympic time-trial at Hampton Court, when Wiggins hopes to add to his haul of three Olympic gold medals. Wiggins and Froome are Britain's Olympic time-trial selections.

Race against the clock: Fabian Cancellara of Radioshack-Nissan on the way to Besancon

As race leader, Wiggins started last, three minutes behind nearest rival Evans, who he was seeking to beat to Besancon, the watch-making centre of France.

At the first time check, after 16.5km, Wiggins led the field in 21:05 and was beating Evans by 1:02. Froome was five seconds behind his team-mate.

Wiggins again led through the second time check, at 31.5km, in 39:02, 16 seconds faster than Froome and 1:19 ahead of Evans.

Trailing: Wiggins now leads Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing team by just under two minutes

The 32-year-old maintained his scintillating pace in the final quarter of the race to triumph by 35 seconds from Froome, with Cancellara a further 22 seconds behind.

David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) was 36th in 55:38 and Steve Cummings (BMC Racing) 39th, nine seconds further adrift.

Mark Cavendish (Team Sky), the world road race champion, was 6:27 behind in 1:00.07.
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), who began the day in third overall, 16 seconds behind, finished in 53:31 to place eight on the stage and fall to fourth place, 16 seconds behind Froome.

Lion heart: British ace Wiggins celebrates his stage win on the podium in Besancon

Germany's Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), the world time-trial champion, clocked 53:40 to place 12th despite wearing a cast on his fractured wrist and later revealed he suffered a puncture.

Froome was nine seconds behind Wiggins after the opening prologue, but punctured on the opening road stage to Seraing, losing 1:25 on the stage.

Had the 27-year-old not suffered that misfortune he would be ahead of Evans in the standings.

Tour de France 2012: Thibaut Pinot wins stage eight

Posted on July 8, 2012 by adminsports

Wiggins keeps yellow jersey as Frenchman Pinot wins stage eight

UPDATED:

16:10 GMT, 8 July 2012

France's Thibaut Pinot won stage eight of the Tour de France in Porrentruy as Briton Bradley Wiggins retained the race leader's yellow jersey under attack from defending champion Cadel Evans.

The 157.5-kilometre route from Belfort saw the peloton make a brief sojourn to the finish in Switzerland and Pinot (FDJ-Bigmat) won by 26 seconds from Evans (BMC Racing), with Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) third and Wiggins (Team Sky) fourth.

Australian Evans attempted to gain vital seconds in the closing moments of the stage, but Wiggins had enough strength to follow every revolution and maintain his 10secs lead.

Winner: Thibaut Pinot celebrates as he crosses the finishing line

Wiggins became the fifth Briton to don
the maillot jaune on stage seven, won by Team Sky colleague Chris
Froome, and will enter Monday's 41.5km time-trial to Besancon seeking to
gain further time in his bid for victory in Paris on July 22.

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) stayed third, 16secs adrift, after placing fifth on the stage.

Wearing yellow was not unfamiliar to Wiggins – the triple Olympic
champion won the yellow jersey at the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and
Criterium du Dauphine stage races this season – but it was his first
time as leader of cycling's most prestigious race.

The 32-year-old Londoner was the fifth Briton to wear the fabled maillot
jaune at the Tour and first since David Millar in 2000, emulating the
Scot's achievement of leading all three Grand Tours.

Brit of all right: Bradley Wiggins keeps the yellow jersey

With the overall contenders conserving energy for the time-trial ahead
of Tuesday's rest day, a breakaway was anticipated to succeed on a route
featuring seven categorised climbs.

It took some time for a break to be established as Sylvain Chavanel
(Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Rui Costa (Movistar) were in the initial
11-man escape, which also included Millar (Garmin-Sharp) and Team Sky
were determined not to let them get away as they were threats to
Wiggins' lead.

It was a frantic opening which saw attack and counter-attack, with Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) to the fore.

Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), who began the day in 12th, 2mins
2secs behind, became the latest rider to abandon, crashing out with a
suspected fractured collarbone. The Spaniard will likely miss the
defence of his Olympic title on July 28.

Wheels in motion: The peloton ride out of Belfort at the start of stage eight

A gruppetto – a group of back-markers – began to form on the day's
second categorised climb, the category three Cote du Passage de la
Douleur, with world champion Mark Cavendish in it accompanied by Team
Sky colleague Bernhard Eisel.

The break was finally established on the day's fourth categorised climb,
the category two Cote de Saignelegier, when Team Sky reduced the pace.

Jeremy Roy (FDJ-Bigmat) took the initiative and a lead of two and a half minutes.

There was a large group of riders trying to bridge the gap and Fredrik
Kessiakoff (Astana) succeeded before forging on alone on the Cote de
Saulcy, cresting the summit of the category two climb 60.5km from the
finish alone.

Sky's the limit: Wiggins and his Team Sky team-mates lead the way

Roy fell back into a group of 14 riders bidding to hunt the Swede down.

Team Sky continued to occupy the front of the peloton, with BMC Racing
tucked in behind them and Liquigas-Cannondale also prominent.

Kessiakoff reached the summit of the penultimate climb, the category two
Cote de la Caquerelle, with Frenchmen Pinot and Gallopin one minute
behind and the peloton three minutes adrift.

The summit of the final climb came 16km from the finish and Pinot made
his move on the Col de la Croix, a brutal category one climb featuring
some of the steepest slopes in the race.

Horn blower: The pack pass through Porrentruy, Switzerland

Evans and Wiggins, with support from Froome, marked each other as
numbers were shorn from their group as up ahead Pinot closed in on
Kessiakoff before rounding his rival and taking a 10-second lead at the
summit.

Jurgen van den Broeck led a nine-man group containing Wiggins, Evans and Nibali over the summit, 1:35 behind.

Demon descender Nibali took the lead as the group began to plummet towards the finish.

With 4km to go, Pinot had a 40-second advantage as Kessiakoff was caught by the chase group.

Then Evans joined Van den Broeck in attacking in the final 2km as Pinot soloed to victory.

Wiggins was able to counter the Australian's attack, though, and finished in a group of eight, with Froome also present.

Froome moved from ninth to sixth overall.

Home favourite: Frenchman Pinot is the youngest rider in the Tour

Tour de France 2012: Bradley Wiggins relieved to keep yellow jersey

Posted on July 8, 2012 by adminsports

Wiggins relieved to keep yellow jersey after challenge from defending champion Evans

UPDATED:

16:25 GMT, 8 July 2012

Leader: Wiggins retains the yellow jersey

Bradley Wiggins admitted he was made to work hard to retain his Tour de France yellow jersey and overall 10-second lead over Cadel Evans.

Wiggins had to be alert after Evans tried gain vital seconds in the closing moments of the 157.5-kilometre stage eight from Belfort to Porrentruy in Switzerland, but the Briton had enough strength to finish level with the defending champion.

Frenchman Thibaut Pinot triumphed, 26 seconds from Evans (BMC Racing), with Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) third and Wiggins fourth.

'I think it was a lot harder than I expected it to be,' Wiggins told Eurosport.

'I was surprised at the size of the group over the last climb but we were there and we were present so it was good day for the team.

'The boys were incredible, they really marshalled the race fantastically and set us up to be able to go with them on the last climb.

'It was a tough day for a lot of people.'

Wiggins became the fifth Briton to don the maillot jaune on stage seven and will be hoping to extend his lead at Monday's 41.5km time-trial to Besancon.

But the three-time Olympic champion thinks he is already in a tremendous position heading into the next couple of days.

Keeping in touch: Wiggins stays with Cadel Evans (centre)

'It's a fantastic position to be in after the first week and two tough days down,' he added.

'The time-trial tomorrow and then a rest day so it's certainly some of the toughest ones ticked off, that's for sure.'

Chris Froome was delighted after helping team-mate Wiggins resist the challenge of Australian Evans.

Froome finished seventh on Sunday to move up to sixth in the overall standings.

'Cadel tried and a lot of people were trying today to put us under pressure but Bradley's in super form and we've all worked really, really hard for this so we're not just going to let this get away from us so easily,' Froome told Eurosport.

Winner: Pinot celebrates on the podium

Froome does not expect the relentless pressure of the Tour to let up and revealed he is not particularly relishing tomorrow's time-trial.

'Time-trials are one of the hardest disciplines in cycling, you've just got to brace yourself,' he said.

'Turn yourself inside out to get the best time possible. It's something Bradley excels in so hopefully it should be a good day for us.

'I'll give it my best shot and see where I end up at the end of the day.'

The only downside for Froome is that he lost the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey to Astana's Fredrik Kessiakoff.

'The jersey wasn't another objective for me coming to the Tour de France so it was a bonus,' he added.

Tour de France: Bradley Wiggins has yellow jersey in his sights

Posted on July 6, 2012 by adminsports

Wiggins has yellow jersey in his sights after rivals are caught in the carnage

UPDATED:

17:59 GMT, 6 July 2012

Bradley Wiggins successfully negotiated a crash-strewn first week of the Tour de France as some of his rivals for the Paris podium saw their hopes come to an end on stage six to Metz.

As Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) re-emphasised his stunning talent by claiming his third stage win of his maiden Tour, Team Sky leader Wiggins rolled in with the front group to remain seven seconds adrift in second place overall behind race leader Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan).

East rider: Bradley Wiggins stays at the front and out of trouble

The 32-year-old Londoner could take the yellow jersey as soon as Saturday.

Defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) remained 17 seconds adrift of the Swiss in sixth place, but Giro d'Italia champion Ryder Hesjedal lost 13 minutes 24 seconds on the day as a result of a crash 26km from the end to effectively end his hopes of a Grand Tour double.

World champion Mark Cavendish also endured a troublesome day.

Isolated by a puncture after narrowly avoiding the crash and with Team Sky riding for Wiggins, the Manxman was denied an opportunity to contest the finish.

Agony: Injured Ryder Hesjedal

His wait for a 22nd Tour stage success goes on, while Sagan holds a 80-point lead over Cavendish in the points classification standings.

Garmin-Sharp's David Millar described the moment his team-mate Hesjedal's Tour bid ended as the Canadian tumbled from ninth in the standings, 18 seconds adrift, to 108th place.

'It was the scariest crash I've ever been in,' said the 35-year-old Scot, riding in his 11th Tour and nursing bleeding cuts.

'We were doing 70 (kph) when it happened. God knows how it happened – some idiot.

Delight: Peter Sagan celebrates his third stage victory

'It shouldn't happen like that. Once it started happening we didn't even have a chance to really brake.

'We were banging into each other at 60, 70kph. I was lucky, I think, in that I was in the third wave.

'I started landing on guys, but bikes were hitting me, chain rings going up and over me and getting tangled up.'

Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan), third in 2011, also lost time, as did Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD).

Wiggins could so easily have done so too, but Team Sky employed the same front-riding tactics as on stage five to ensure the triple Olympic champion reached the Tour's second weekend, having crashed out with a broken collarbone last year.

The yellow jersey contenders are sure to be whittled down again on the 199km seventh stage to La Planches des Belles Filles tomorrow, which concludes atop a category one climb, and in Monday's time-trial.

Flying the flag: Fans get behind Wiggins

Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford said: 'In a split second everything changed and all hell was let loose.

'Five minutes before that crash happened Brad came right up to the front with Christian and it was one of the best moves he's made so far.

'The first phase of this race is now over and he's still upright on his bike, which was the main objective, and he hasn't lost any time.'

Richie Porte, one of Wiggins' key climbing domestiques, crashed three times today, but will continue nursing bumps and bruises as the race heads towards the Alps.

A young SKY Procycling fan

Cavendish will also ride on, with his quest to draw level with Lance Armstrong and Andre Darrigade in fourth place in the all-time rankings of stage winners continuing.

Brailsford admitted stage two winner Cavendish's morale might be low after another day when he missed the dash for the line, but praised sporting director Sean Yates for prioritising Wiggins.

'It's hard for Mark in those situations,' Brailsford added.

'Maybe in previous teams the whole team would've stopped immediately and taken him up.

'They were some tough calls for the sports directors, but ultimately Brad was in that front group and lost no time.

'When you saw Frank Schleck, Scarponi, (Robert) Gesink and Hesjedal all caught up in that crash, you've got to say it was a good day.'

Cavendish was not the only rider to miss out on a record.

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) avoided the day's major incident after two earlier, more minor falls, and was in contention as the front group swept up the remnants of the day's four-man breakaway, with David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp) caught with around 1.3km remaining.

Greipel, though, was unable to become the 12th rider to win three straight Tour stages as Sagan overpowered him in the finale, with the German second and Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) third.
Sagan has 209 points to remain in the green jersey, with Goss (178) second, Greipel (167) third and Cavendish (129) fourth.

The 22-year-old Slovakian's talents were evident to all and he will be a major rival for Cavendish at the Olympic road race on July 28 and in the coming years.

Twenty seven riders were listed in the day's medical bulletin.

Four of them abandoned, reducing the field to 190, with Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Davide Vigano (Lampre-ISD), Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) and Wouter Poels (Vaconsoleil-DCM) withdrawing.

Danielson and his Garmin-Sharp team-mate Johan van Summeren were taken to Metz military hospital for further assessment.

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Tag Archives: radioshack

Tony Martin wins Tour of Beijing as Steven Cummings wins final sprint stage

Johan Bruyneel leaves RadioShack after Lance Armstrong scandal

Chris Froome still second in Tour of Spain

Tour de France 2012: Bradley Wiggins retains lead after 10 stages

Tour de France 2012: Bradley Wiggins builds lead with stage nine win

Tour de France 2012: Thibaut Pinot wins stage eight

Tour de France 2012: Bradley Wiggins relieved to keep yellow jersey

Tour de France: Bradley Wiggins has yellow jersey in his sights