On a wet a rainy day, where the race was overshadowed by the previous day’s news of a positive doping test, Team Columbia’s Cavendish sprinted to another stage win. It was sweet victory for Team Columbia as they had to work hard today, protecting the Maillot Jaune, but also working to give Cavendish a shot at the win. With the mountains looming, there are only a limited amount of stages left for sprinters.
Oscar Freire come in 4th on the day and gains the Green jersey, all others remain the same.
Stage 8 Results
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – 4.02.54 (42.61km/h)
2 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Columbia
3 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Agritubel
4 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
5 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
6 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
7 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step
8 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux
9 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
10 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld
General classification after stage 8
1 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – 32.26.34
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto – 0.06
3 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner – 0.16
4 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 – 0.44
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank – 1.03
6 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne – 1.12
7 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 – 1.14
8 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step – 1.21
9 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
10 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia
Jersey Standings:
Kim Kirchen
Oscar Freire
David De La Fuente
Thomas Lövkvist
Tour de France / Pro Cycling Forum – Click Here
Links to news sites…
“Cavendish wins Tour’s eighth stage
TOULOUSE, France (AFP) — British sprint specialist Mark Cavendish of the Columbia team won the Tour de France eighth stage, a 172.5km ride from Figeac to Toulouse on Saturday.
Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen retained the race leader’s yellow jersey – six seconds ahead of Australian Cadel Evans – ahead of Sunday’s first day in the high mountains.
Ahead of two days of tough climbing in the Pyrenees, the yellow jersey battle took a virtual back seat on this rain-lashed stage leading the peloton gradually towards the foot of the mountains.” Read more from the AFP…
“Britain’s Cavendish wins Tour de France stage
TOULOUSE, France (AP) — Mark Cavendish of Britain won a Tour de France stage for the second time, cutting through the field Saturday in a sprint finish in the rain.
Team Columbia teammate Gerald Ciolek was second while team leader Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg kept the yellow jersey after the eighth stage in a race that was shaken a day earlier by the positive doping test of Spain’s Manuel Beltran.” Read more from the Associated Press…
“Cavendish repeats with Columbia double
In a rain-drenched finale, Mark Cavendish kept his cool and won his second Tour stage. Team Columbia rode so well that it also placed Gerald Ciolek in second while Frenchman Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) finished third. Oscar Freire clinched fourth and increased his lead in the points classification over ninth-placed Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole). There were no changes in the overall classification, which Kim Kirschen (Team Columbia) continues to lead.” Read more from CyclingNews.com…
