Bradley Wiggins
The peloton hit the mountain at the Tour de France on Saturday, changing the entire complexion of the bike race and showing us who’s in contention to win in Paris.
Team SKY proved they are the dominant team by ripping apart the peloton on La Plance des Belles, the 4-mile climb that concluded a 123-mile stage from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles.
After helping Michael Rogers set the grueling pace for team leader Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome took the stage win in a final burst of speed.
Wiggins finished third on the stage, giving him the yellow jersey after former leader Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack) lost contact on the climb. (He ended the day trailing by 1:43 in the overall.)
After losing his BMC teammates on the climb, defending champion Cadel Evans attached himself to Wiggins’ rear wheel. With less than 1k remaining, Evans attacked but couldn’t shake Froome. The Kenya native passed the Australian to take the win, with Evans 2nd and Wiggins 3rd.
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas), another contender for the final podium, finished in 4th place.
Among those losing ground included American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), who dropped from 4th to 18th overall (3:09 behind). He is still wearing the best young rider’s jersey. He lost the best young rider’s jersey to Estonian cyclist Rein Taaramae of Cofidis. The Washington state native remains the highest placed American in the race, followed by Chris Horner (RadioShack) at 3:39.
Top 10 overall
| 1. | GBR WIGGINS Bradley | 101 | SKY PROCYCLING | 34h 21′ 20” | |
| 2. | AUS EVANS Cadel | 1 | BMC RACING TEAM | 34h 21′ 30” | + 00′ 10” |
| 3. | ITA NIBALI Vincenzo | 51 | LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE | 34h 21′ 36” | + 00′ 16” |
| 4. | EST TAARAMAE Rein | 81 | COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE | 34h 21′ 52” | + 00′ 32” |
| 5. | RUS MENCHOV Denis | 131 | KATUSHA TEAM | 34h 22′ 14” | + 00′ 54” |
| 6. | ESP ZUBELDIA Haimar | 19 | RADIOSHACK-NISSAN | 34h 22′ 19” | + 00′ 59” |
| 7. | BEL MONFORT Maxime | 16 | RADIOSHACK-NISSAN | 34h 22′ 29” | + 01′ 09” |
| 8. | IRL ROCHE Nicolas | 79 | AG2R LA MONDIALE | 34h 22′ 42” | + 01′ 22” |
| 9. | GBR FROOME Christopher | 105 | SKY PROCYCLING | 34h 22′ 52” | + 01′ 32” |
| 10. | AUS ROGERS Michael | 108 | SKY PROCYCLING | 34h 23′ 00” | + 01′ 40” |
2 comments
Correction, but Tejay is not still wearing the white jersey.
Young rider classification
Result
1 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 34:21:52
2 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:37
See more white jersey details:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/taaramae-takes-a-bow-at-la-planche-des-belles-filles