July 24th, 2008 by 
thien
Stage 18 from Bourg-d’Oisans to Saint-Etienne led the tour out of the Alps, and with the crucial time trial expected to decide the race, the leaders were content with letting Marcus Burghardt and Carlos Barredo get away. Both attacking each other at times in the final kilometers, Burghardt timed his last attack perfectly to take the stage win.
Carlos Sastre remains in the Maillot Jaune, all other jerseys remain the same as well…
Stage 18 Results
1 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia - 4.30.21
2 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step
3 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel - 3.33
4 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Crédit Agricole
5 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi - 3.35
6 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone - 6.39
7 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas
9 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto
10 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
General classification after stage 18
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank - 79.16.14
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank - 1.24
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner - 1.33
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto - 1.34
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank - 2.39
6 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 - 4.41
7 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne - 5.35
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi - 5.52
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale - 8.10
10 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale - 8.24
Jersey Standings:
Carlos Sastre
Oscar Freire
Bernhard Kohl
Andy Schleck
Links to news sites…
“Sastre still in yellow, Burghardt breaks duck
ST ETIENNE, France (AFP) — Spaniard Carlos Sastre of the CSC team retained the Tour de France yellow jersey here Thursday as German Marcus Burghardt handed his Columbia team their fifth victory of the race.
Burghardt dominated a short, two-man sprint with Spaniard Carlos Barredo of the Quick Step team at the end of the 196.5km stage from Bourg d’Oisans to here to claim his maiden win on the race.” Read more from AFP…
“Sastre keeps Tour lead, Burghardt wins 18th stage
SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) — Carlos Sastre of Spain retained the overall lead and Marcus Burghardt of Germany won the 18th stage of the Tour de France as the race left the Alps on Thursday.
Sastre leads CSC teammate Frank Schleck of Luxembourg by 1 minute, 24 seconds. Bernhard Kohl of Austria is third, 1:33 behind, and Cadel Evans of Australia is fourth, 1:34 back.” Read more from The Associated Press…
“Burghardt chalks up another Columbia win
By Laura Weislo and Bjorn Haake with reporting from Hedwig Kröner and Daniel Benson in Saint Étienne
Marcus Burghardt took home another Tour stage win for Team Columbia on the 196.5 kilometre trip away from the Alps from Bourg d’Oisans to Saint Étienne. Burghardt bested his breakaway companion, Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) in a hotly contested sprint. The Quick Step rider, desperate to salvage his team’s lackluster Tour, attacked repeatedly in the final kilometres, but just could not shake the big German. Romain Feillu led home a second group which had chased the two leaders throughout the stage.
“It’s a huge success for me and for our team.,” Burghardt said. His team already had four stage wins in this Tour thanks to sprinter Mark Cavendish, while Quick Step has had no luck at all. “I really wanted to win this stage. Even before the Tour, I had targeted this and tomorrow’s stage as perfect opportunities for a break, and it worked out!” Read more from CyclingNews.com…
“Burghardt wins St. Etienne
By VeloNews.com
After spending almost all of the day on the attack, Team Columbia’s Marcus Burghardt won the 18th stage of the Tour de France, beating Quick Step’s Carlos Barredo in a final kilometer chess match that bore more resemblance to a match-sprint on the velodrome than the end of a 196.5 mile road race.
The two joined forces early in the day and cooperated until the final ten kilometers. At that point the two could afford to risk the benefits of cooperation as they enjoyed a healthy 4:50 lead over a group of three chasers and nearly 10 minutes on the peloton.” Read more from VeloNews.com…
Photos by CorVos
