Tour de France 2008: Stage 14
January 1 - July 27, Nîmes, France, Road - GT
Welcome to stage 14 of this year's Tour, a 194.5 kilometre run from N
Today's stage is more likely to see a large break go clear, due to that profile.
There are two intermediate sprints en route to the finish, at Saint R
These are:
The skies are blue and clear today, with air temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius. It's a beautiful day for a bike race. 158 riders lined out with no non-starters.
Twenty kilometres into the stage, the gap was 1'05".
41km remaining from 194km
The leaders recently fought it out for the first intermediate sprint. Devolder got it ahead of Frischkorn and Eisel.
With the peloton gradually closing in, Gutierrez, Bonnet, Tankink and Casar scooted away from the break. The others were caught.
Apologies, to clarify: some of those who were in the break have gone back to the bunch. Right now, Oroz, Quinziato, Riblon, Haussler, Lelay, Sprick and Voeckler persist, as well as the four leaders.
50km remaining from 194km
The four leaders have a lead of 40 seconds.
Gregor Brown spoke to two from the Barloworld team at the start, namely manager Claudio Corti and Robert Hunter.
Barloworld has announced that it will withdraw its sponsorship from the team as a result of what happened at the race. Moises Due
Oroz is an unusual classics man for an Euskaltel rider. Cyclingnews checked out Oroz to see what drives the man to do all the monuments in cycling.
At the 50 kilometre point, the leaders - Casar, Gutierrez, Bonnet and Tankink - had a 15 seconds lead over the seven chasers, and a further 15 seconds over the peloton.
Correction: the seven chasers were joined by another group, not the peloton. However the main bunch soon got up to them. At Cavaillon, 56 kilometres after the start, the front quartet were approximately 25 seconds clear.
70km remaining from 194km
Once those chasers were recaptured, the peloton sat up. Gutierrez, Bonnet, Tankink and Casar have pulled clear again, and are now 3'35 ahead.
75km remaining from 194km
The peloton is 3'40 back.
Robert Hunter has been doing an online diary on his website, www.robbiehunter.net. He wasn't too happy earlier this week, and is likely to use even stronger words when he learns that the team sponsors are pulling out.
81km remaining from 194km
Current gap for the break: four minutes and ten seconds. They are in the feed zone.
The fans are getting more creative here in southern France. They have built a tractor out of straw bales.
As a reward for not checking out the country side, which is what the peloton currently doing, the gap has gone up to almost six minutes.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Volta a Catalunya stage 7 Live - Primož Roglič goes solo with two laps to go
Peloton tackle 88.2km final in Barcelona -
Gent-Wevelgem Men - LIVE
The men's peloton tackles 250.3km from Ypres to Wevelgem -
'I'm very upset' - Volta a Catalunya organiser dismayed by riders' last-minute change of heart over altered stage 6 route
Volta peloton initially promised to ride two laps of altered stage, finally rode one
-
How to watch Gent-Wevelgem 2025 – Live streams, TV channels
All the broadcast information for one of the biggest cobbled Classics on March 30 -
Visma-Lease a Bike can bounce back at the Classics, but will Matteo Jorgenson or Wout van Aert be the saviour?
'It's about staying calm and confident' says Head of Racing Grischa Niermann -
'Like the last day of a Grand Tour' - radically changed Volta a Catalunya mountain stage leaves peloton perplexed and disappointed
Volta a Catalunya now looks to Montjuïc to resolve GC struggle between Ayuso and Roglič
-
Double Volta a Catalunya stage winner Matthew Brennan pulls out of race to avoid overexertion, team reports
19-year-old will return to racing at Limberg on April 16, likely to race Tour de Romandie -
'Riders need to learn to stand together' - Quinn Simmons claims first WorldTour win at Volta a Catalunya after team voted not to race in high winds
American outpowers pack on uphill finish after bizarre 25-kilometre race -
Volta a Catalunya: Quinn Simmons wins severely shortened stage 6
Ayuso heads into final stage with slim lead over Roglič