Round-up of 2011 Tour de France from Stage 1 to Stage 15: Part 6
Article continued from Round-up of 2011 Tour de France from Stage 1 to Stage 15: Part 5
Stage 8
Rui Costa of Movistar won the first mountain stage of the Tour with Philippe Gilbert at the second spot and Cadel Evans at the third place. The 190-kilometre stage started from Aigurande and ended at Super-Besse Sancy. Rui Costa was in a bunch of eight cyclists
and was attacking after a few kilometres as the race started.
It was Gautier who started to gather speed, but Costa started the chase right away and chased the French cyclist, Gautier. Costa was than cruising without any danger, Vinokourv on the other hand was giving his best effort for the yellow jersey.
Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa finished the stage in a total time of 4:36:46 hours with a lead of 12 seconds over Philippe Gilbert. Cadel Evans lost the second position by 3 seconds after a close finish.
Costa was over exited after the stage win as he said, “This is the most important victory I’ve ever had. I still can’t believe I’ve won a stage on the Tour de France.”
He further added that how he had always dreamt of winning at this level and it is absolutely unbelievable to win a stage at this level.
He also appreciated the efforts of Vinokourov as he mentioned, “To be honest, when I saw Vinokourov coming I thought he was going to catch me, but at the end I gave it everything that I possibly could. To win is great for me and it’s great for my team, who
have had some difficulties this year, and I know this victory is going to help us.”
Van Garderen showed a lot of aggression which could not earn him the stage win, but never the less he won the King of Mountains' classification at the end of stage 8.
Team Garmin- Carvelo was at number one spot with Team Leopard Trek at two, Team RadioShack at three, while HTC-Highroad and Katusha Team were at fourth and fifth positions respectively, in overall classification.
Top three cyclists at the end of stage 8 were Thor Hushovd, Cadel Evans, and Fränk Schleck at one, two and three positions, respectively.
Stage 9
Luis León Sánchez claimed the stage 9 victory after the 208 kilometres of cycling starting from Issoire till Saint-Flour with a five second lead over Thomas Voeckler while Sandy Casar finished at the third slot.
Thomas Voeckler of Europcar achieved the yellow jersey as he mentioned, “The last time I wore it, it was said they let me take the yellow jersey but this time I went out looking for it.”
A lot of riders were seen to boost in right from the start, but no one really succeeded. Crashes made the day even harder as the eFrench TV car, while avoiding a road-side tree, hit Juan Antonio Fletcha who dragged Johnny Hoogerland along as he ended up
on barbed wires.
Luckily both the cyclists continued the race despite of wounds and Johnny Hoogerland was relieved only after winning the King of Mountains classification.
Hoogerland and Juan Flecha were the most aggressive riders of the stage nine. Thomas Veockler, Luis Leon Sanchez, Cadel Evans, Frank Schleck and Andy Schleck were the top five riders after the stage nine in general classification, while Johnny Hoogerland,
Thomas Voeckler and Tejay Van topped the mountains classification.
Top five teams, after stage 9 classification starting from 1 to 5, were Team Europcar, Team Leopard Trek, Team RadioShack, Rabobank Cycling Team and Team Garmin- Carvelo.
Article continued from Round-up of 2011 Tour de France from Stage 1 to Stage 15: Part 7
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