Nicki Sorensen won the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday by breaking away and finishing well ahead of Laurent Lefevre, and Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy kept the yellow jersey.

Sorensen was part of a small group of seven riders that finished several minutes ahead of the main pack after foraging ahead unchallenged during the 211.5-kilometer (131.4-mile) trek from Tonnerre to Vittel, which featured six small hills.

Stage 12 Results
1 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank - 4:52:24
2 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom - 0:00:48
3 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
4 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Team Milram
5 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
6 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Agritubel
7 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne - 0:01:33
8 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia - HTC - 0:05:58
9 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
10 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre - NGC

Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Cavendish strengthened his grip on the Tour de France sprints when he won the 11th stage on Wednesday to equal Barry Hoban’s British record of eight victories in the world’s greatest race.

The Isle of Man rider outsprinted American Tyler Farrar and Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus to win his fourth stage at this years tour.

Rinaldo Nocentini remains in yellow, 6 seconds ahead of Alberto Contador and 8 seconds ahead of Lance Armstrong.

Stage 11 Results
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia - HTC - 4:17:55
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Slipstream
3 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux
4 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
6 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
7 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
10 Nikolai Troussov (Rus) Team Katusha

Read the rest of this entry »

Team Columbia-HTC’s Mark Cavendish sprinted to his third stage win at this years Tour de France at the end of a technology free stage 10. Lead out by Mark Renshaw, Cavendish admitted even he thought he may have started the sprint too soon, but it didn’t matter, because green jersey holder Thor Hushovd could only follow Cavendish to the line.

Rinaldo Nocentini remains in the Maillot Jaune.

Stage 10 Results
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia - HTC - 4:46:43
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Slipstream
4 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
6 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Kenny Robert van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
8 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas
10 Saïd Haddou (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom

Read the rest of this entry »

Former French champion Pierrick Fedrigo won the 160.5-km ninth stage of the Tour de France, from St Gaudens to Tarbes on Sunday.

His breakaway companion Franco Pellizotti of Italy was second while Spaniard Oscar Freire outsprinted the main bunch to snatch third place.

Stage 9 Results
1 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom - 4:05:31
2 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
3 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank - 0:00:34
4 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha
5 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram
6 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto
8 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel
9 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - NGC
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale

Read the rest of this entry »

Caisse d’Epargne’s Luis Leon Sanchez outsprinted his breakaway companions to win Stage 8 of this year’s Tour de France, a 176.5-km stage from Andorra to St Girons, the tour’s second day in the Alps.

Sanchez’s team-mate Oscar Pereiro, the 2006 Tour winner, abandoned today as well. Rinaldo Nocentini remains in the Maillot Jaune.

Stage 8 Results
1 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne - 4:31:50
2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
3 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
4 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale - 0:00:03
5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne - 0:01:54
6 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram
8 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
9 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom

Read the rest of this entry »

Rinaldo Nocentini claimed the yellow jersey on a day race favorite Alberto Contador flexed his muscles in the Tour de France’s first mountain stage.

France’s Brice Feillu won stage seven, a 224km hike from Barcelona to Andorra, but it is what went on just behind the gutsy Agritubel rider that will grab the headlines as Contador asserted his authority as Astana team leader ahead of team-mate Lance Armstrong, the record seven-time Tour winner.

AG2R La Mondiale’s Nocentini, part of a nine-man breakaway group which included Feillu and led the field almost all stage, finished fourth and far enough clear of the big guns at the top of the general classification to take the maillot jaune.

Stage 7 Results
1 Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel - 6:11:31
2 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne - 0:00:05
3 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram - 0:00:25
4 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale - 0:00:26
5 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi - 0:00:45
6 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale - 0:01:05
7 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step - 0:02:32
8 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne - 0:03:14
9 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana - 0:03:26
10 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto - 0:03:47

Read the rest of this entry »

Thor Hushovd of Cervelo Test Team powered his way up a difficult uphill finishing sprint today to take his first stage win on stage 6 of this year’s Tour de France. Fabian Cancellara remains in the Maillot Jaune, with Lance Armstrong a close hundredths of a second behind.

Stage 6 Results
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team - 4:21:33
2 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
5 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
6 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha
7 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - NGC
8 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto
10 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank

Read the rest of this entry »

Making a move just 3 miles from the finish, Thomas Voeckler of BBOX Bouygues Telecom was able to solo to victory. This is Voeckler’s first tour stage win in five years, but it’s sure to be just as sweet.

Fabian Cancellara remains in the Maillot Jaune.

Stage 5 Results
1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom - 4:29:35
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Team Katusha - 0:00:07
3 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia - HTC
4 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Slipstream
5 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
6 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team Katusha
7 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
10 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team

Read the rest of this entry »

Be sure to check back everyday for the Oakley daily photo!

Astana displayed it’s team dominance with a powerful win in the the Team Time Trial at the Tour de France today. Besting Garmin-Slipstream by 18 seconds, but more interestingly, beating Saxo Bank by just 40 seconds. Putting Lance Armstrong in second, right behind tour leader Fabian Cancellara by fractions of a second.

Stage 4 Results
1 Astana - 0:46:29
2 Garmin - Slipstream - 0:00:18
3 Team Saxo Bank - 0:00:40
4 Liquigas - 0:00:58
5 Team Columbia-HTC - 0:00:59
6 Team Katusha - 0:01:23
7 Caisse d’Epargne - 0:01:29
8 Cervelo Test Team - 0:01:38
9 AG2R-La Mondiale - 0:01:49
10 Euskaltel - Euskadi - 0:02:10

Read the rest of this entry »