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| July 2 - 24, 2005:
KIM KIRCHEN at the
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Results
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13.07.2005: 11th stage: Courchevel - Briançon (173 km)
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DNF (winner Alexander Vinokourov)
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Kim Kirchen has abandoned the Tour de France 2005 on the second stage in the Alps to Briançon. After 30 kms, he was one of the first to be dropped on the col de la Madeleine, a climb on which he even had difficulties to follow the grupetto. He has tried to continue but on the col de Telegraphe, it was over and he got off the bike. After his fine performance of yesterday, it seems that he had problems with his back today, which prevented him from continuing. Concerning the race of the other riders, we assisted to a big performance of the reborn Vinokourov and Botero. Both have attacked very early in the race and managed to make it to the finish line, even if their advantage never exceeded more than 2 or 3 minutes. Except those two, noone even dared trying to attack Lance Armstrong who had a very relax day after all.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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Lance Armstrong
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Tom Boonen
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Mickael Rasmussen
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Results
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12.07.2005: 10th stage: Grenoble - Courchevel (181 km)
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18th at 3'59" of Alejandro Valverde
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After the very fast beginning of the stage, it was clear that the final climb to Courchevel would make some victims. And after two accelerations of Lance Armstrong, only four riders remained in the lead: the Boss himself who didn't have to sleep too long without his yellow jersey, Rasmussen and the red dots as well as the two Iles Balears riders Mancebo and Valverdo who won the stage in the sprint against Armstrong. Exit the T-Mobile riders Ullrich and Klöden who lost 2 minutes and Vinokourov who loses five. Exit also Team CSC with Basso losing 1 minute, Julich five and maillot jaune Jens Voigt over half an hour. The latter had a very difficult time on the climb to Courchevel after having battled hard to hang on to the leaders on the Cormet de Roseland. This evening, the most dangerous rider for Armstrong in the overall classification could be "chicken" Rasmussen, who is now in second place only 38" late. Kim Kirchen did a very good job, finishing in 18th position less than 4 minutes down on the winner. He seemed very easy in the Cormet de Roseland where he was frequently among the first of the peloton. On the final climb, the Luxemburgish rider also had a good timing. He was dropped with 12 kilometers to go, after some real climbers like Heras, Beloki, Mayo or Moncoutié, but he still had some reserves because he caught many riders until the finish, among them Vinokourov, Popovych or Horner. Of course he also moves up some places in the overall classification where he enters the top 20.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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20th at 8'15" of Lance Armstrong
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19th at 92pts of Tom Boonen
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Michael Rasmussen
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Results
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10.07.2005: 9th stage: Gerardmer - Moulhouse (171 km)
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27th at 6'04" of Mickael Rasmussen
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The second stage in the Vosges-mountains benefited to the offensive riders like Mickael Rasmussen who has taken a second victory in two days for the Rabobank team, or like Jens Voigt who took away the yellow jersey from Lance Armstrong. Tiny Danish rider Rasmussen has made a fantastic solo effort by attacking at km 4, passing each mountain top in first position and most of all, resisting in the final flat 50 km without loosing any of his advantage. Of course, the former MTB world champion consolidates his polka-dot-jersey today. Behind him, two other riders marked the stage by attacking also on the first climb. Jens Voigt and Christophe Moreau never were able to catch flying Rasmussen, but they could keep all the other riders at distance and are now on places 1 and 2 in the overall classification before the rest day. Of course, they took advantage of the situation back in the peloton: the Discovery Channel riders were keen on avoiding a bad situation like yesterday and they rode a constant but not too high speed, T-Mobile stayed very calm after a crash of Jan Ullrich in the first descent, CSC had no reason to attack with Jens Voigt in a break and the Spanish riders didn't attack too. With this race-configuration, Kim Kirchen had no chance of dreaming of a stage victory, but he could finish the stage without too much efforts. Well protected in the wheels of the favourites, he could follow them without digging deep and he even didn't participate in the sprint for 4th place.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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30th at 6'22" of Jens Voigt
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20th at 92pts of Tom Boonen
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Michael Rasmussen
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Results
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09.07.2005: 8th stage: Pforzheim - Gerardmer (232 km)
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4th at 27" of Pieter Weening
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First real climb in the Tour de France 2005 and the T-Mobile riders have attacked Lance Armstrong. Vinokourov first: on a climb that suits him perfectly, he has attacked three times and each time, Armstrong has chased him down. But surprise, the American rider was without teammate at that moment, whereas there were still several men in pink in the lead group. Andreas Klöden was the next to attack and this time, Armstrong didn't react, so that the German rider could take 30 seconds of advantage and catch Pieter Weening, only rider left out of an early break. The two riders fougth out the stage victory with a very narrow win for Weening. Kim Kirchen did a very good race by being with the best on the col de la Schlucht and taking 4th place at the end, beaten in the sprint only by Valverde. This result could have been even better but the Fassa-Bortolo rider had no team-mate capable of riding behind Klöden and Weening with him in the final and he also was a stuck on the left side of the road at the beginning of the sprint.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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32nd at 4'04" of Lance Armstrong
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17th at 92pts of Tom Boonen
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Mickael Rasmussen
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Results
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08.07.2005: 7th stage: Lunéville - Karlsruhe (229 km)
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98th at 0" of Robbie McEwen
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A long stage awaited the riders today between Lunéville and Karlsruhe in Germany with 229 rainy kilometers. But Fabian Wegmann wasn't afraid of that because he attacked alone after 50 km. His goal: the two KOM classifications of the day which the he won so that he can wear the red-spotted jersey tomorrow. The German rider was also the first one to reach his home country but was swallowed shortly after by the peloton. Today was the last occasion before long for the sprinters and their teams controlled the bunch perfectly. In the end, Robbie McEwen was fastest whereas Tom Boonen, with blood on his legs after an early crash, finished only 7th. Kim Kirchen was feeling good today and he showed himself several times in front of the bunch. He even tried to participate in the final sprint, but after having been dropped out of his line by Jan Kirsipuu, he let it be. Maybe better so, because 100m later, a crash happened at the same position, where the Fassa Bortolo rider has been only shortly before.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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62nd at 4'04" of Lance Armstrong
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28th at 110pts of Tom Boonen
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Fabian Wegmann
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Results
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07.07.2005: 6th stage: Troyes - Nancy (199 km)
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6th at 7" of Lorenzo Bernucci
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A very dangerous final on wet roads and a massive crash with under 1 km to go, where the sprinters Boonen and McEwen as well as some La Française des Jeux riders were main victims. Christophe Mengin, who comes here from the Lorraine region, was great animator of the stage but also the one who caused the crash. He was the only rider left from an early break with Kroon, Kirsipuu, Gerosa and Augé and despite great resistance in the last 10 km, the Frenchman was about to be caught by the peloton. He took every risk and had to lay down on the road in front of all the others in a slippery corner. Most profitable was the incident for Fassa Botolo and Lorenzo Bernucci. The latter had just attacked with Vinokourov behind Mengin and was the only one to pass without being disturbed, which gave him enoug advance to win the stage. Behind him, Kim Kirchen had do brake down in the fatal corner, but could pass without loosing too much time, so that he was in the first group behind Bernucci. He couldn't attack behind his team-mate but participated in the sprint for 3rd place. He did his best result in this year's Tour so far in a stage, where the Luxemburgish flags waved hight near to the Grand-Duchy.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
Picture: acc contern
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62nd at 4'04" of Lance Armstrong
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22th at 83pts of Tom Boonen
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Karsten Kroon
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Results
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06.07.2005: 5th stage: Chamborg - Montargis (183 km)
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23rd at 0" of Robbie McEwen
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Juan-Antonio Flecha had decided to live a day at the front. He attacked after only 25 km and rode 70 km alone in the lead, before being caught by the 3 riders that chased him: Carlstöm, Bodrogi and Commesso. The 4 riders stayed together in front for another 80 kilometers, their maximal advantage being a little bit more than 3 minutes. But the classical script was unavoidable: first Quick-Step and Davitamon, later also La Français des Jeux brought up the speed in the peloton and with 10 km to go, Flecha and company's day out was over. Robbie McEwen had learnt from the last days because he positionned himself right in the wheel of green jersey Tom Boonen and managed to come around him in the last meters of the stage. Kim Kirchen has also participated in the final sprint of the stage covered at nearly 49 km/h. But after having been very well placed behind a team-mate with 5 km to go, he was handicaped by a crash and started the sprint too far back to have a chance for a top-ten classification.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
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72nd at 4'04" of Lance Armstrong
| the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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56th at 103pts of Tom Boonen
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Erik Dekker
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Results
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05.07.2005: 4th stage: Tours - Blois (68 km TTT)
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54th at 1'30" of Discovery Channel
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Like foreseen, the collective effort of this year's Tour de France turned out into a showdown between CSC and Discovery Channel. The first ones, led by the fantastic rouleurs like Voigt, Julich and Zabriskie seemed to be on the way to beat the Americans, but the winner of the first stage crashed in the narrow streets of Blois, with less than 2 km to go and by doing so, he lost his yellow jersey to Lance Armstrong. But with that incident, team CSC not only lost the yellow jersey, but also the stage victory, because they finally took the second place behind Discovery Channel with only 2 seconds of a gap. Among the other teams that performed well were T-Mobile (3rd at 35 seconds), Liberty Seguros (4th) and Phonak (5th), but also Fassa Bortolo who finished in the early middle of the field. After a carefull beginning, they had already lost one minute after 25 km, but Cancellara, Kirchen, Flecha and the others did a good final part of the stage and finished in 9th position, 2'19" down. Due to the new rules, Kim Kirchen only looses 1'30" in the overall classification to the Discovery channel riders.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
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72nd at 4'04" of Lance Armstrong
| the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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Tom Boonen
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Erik Dekker
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Results
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04.07.2005: 3rd stage: La Châtaigneraie - Tours (213 km)
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70th at 0" of Tom Boonen
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The stage was a long poursuit between the peloton and a group of 3 riders escaped after km 25: Erik Dekker, Nicolas Portal and Rubens Bertogliati have had up to 5 and a half minutes af advance at km 100, before the sprinter teams and notably Quick-Step and Davitamon began to organize the chase. The gap decreased but the break schowed great resistance: maybe Erik Dekker reminded himself of his victory in Paris-Tour last year in the same avenue de Grammont. But with 2 km to go, after nearly 200 km escape and a last solo attack from the rider of Rabobank, it was well over for them. Cancellara choosed to attack at that moment and got several meters of advance, but the riders of la Française des Jeux got everything together again. In the final sprint, Tom Boonen was as unbeatable as yesterday. Kim Kirchen finished the stage in the peloton.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
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107th at 2'36" of David Zabriskie
| the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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Tom Boonen
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Erik Dekker
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Results
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04.07.2005: 2nd stage: Challans - Les Essarts (182 km)
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41st at 9" of Tom Boonen
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The expected bunch sprint on the second stage was dominated by Tom Boonen, who passed McEwen in the last 100 m for a undoubtfull win. The flat stage with only one climb of 900m was animated by a break of 4 riders, Calzati, Canada, Voeckler and Bodrogi, with the Hungarian rider being virtually yellow jersey for a long time. Voeckler won the sprint on top of the only climb of the day and took the polka-dot jersey. Kim Kirchen has constantly been present among the 30 first riders of the peloton in the final and has finished the stage in the main bunch.
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
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114th at 2'36" of David Zabriskie
| the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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Tom Boonen
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Thomas Voeckler
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Results
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03.07.2005: 1st stage: Fromentine - Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile (19 km ITT)
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109th at 2'36" of David Zabriskie
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Two riders have dominated the opening stage of the 2005 Tour de France: David Zabriskie and Lance Armstrong. Both of them have been in the lead at one of the intermediate timings of the individual time trial. Zabriskie won the stage and the yellow jersey at the end, but Armstrong surely makes the most profitable operation today, gaining of a minute on the other main GC contenders: Basso, Ullrich, Vinokourov and the others. Kim Kirchen hasn't had a very good beginning of his second Tour de France. At the first intemediate point, after 9 km, he was only in 149th position and had already lost 1'17" on Zabriskie. On the second half of the entirely flat course, more difficult because more windy, Kirchen did a lot better and gained several positions to finish 109th, 2'36" down on the winner
| the stage on www.cyclingnews.com
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109th at 2'36" of David Zabriskie
| the stage on the official homepage of the Tour de France
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David Zabriskie
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| July 4-10, 2005:
Andy Schleck at the
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Tour of Austria
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Results
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10.07.2005: 7: Wien - Wien (130 km)
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19th at 0" of Jochen Summer
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The Tour of Austria finished without surprise in a bunch sprint after a criterium-like last stage in the streets of Vienna. On the entirely flat course, there were lots of attacks in the bunch, but the peloton kept each attempt inside view and caught the last break with just 1 km to go. The final bunch sprint ended with the surprise win for Austrian rider Jochen Summer in front of Erik Zabel. No changes of course in the overall classification with the victory of Juan Mercado who had built-up his lead on the Grossglockner stage. Andy Schleck finished the last stage in the peloton and should make a positive conclusion out of this stage race. He attacked on several occasions and was good in the mountains. Maybe he can regret the absence of some of the major climbs due to weather conditions that looked like March rather than July.
| report on www.cyclingnews.com
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26th at 9'12" of Juan Mercado
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Results
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09.07.2005: 6: Graz - Podersdorf (207 km)
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70th at 0" of Fabrizio Guidi
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Andy Schleck has been aggressive in today's stage and he was for several kilometers in a break. After 50 km, the CSC-rider followed an attack of Haselbacher and escaped together with the Austrian as well as Palumbo and Veneberg. The peloton kept the little group in sight for a long time but the gap increased finally, up to a maximum of 4'40". But at km 95, Schleck had bad luck and a mechanical problem eliminated him from the lead group. A few kilometers later, he was caught again by the bunch, as were the other riders of the break with 15 km to go. The first massive sprint of the Tour was announced and Fabrizio Guidi was fastest in front of Bonomi and favourite Erik Zabel.
| report on www.cyclingnews.com
Photo: Cor Vos www.hervis-tour.at
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26th at 9'12" of Juan Mercado
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Results
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08.07.2005: 5: Haus - Graz (202 km)
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67th at 16" of Michael Barry
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Bad day for the riders at the Tour of Austria. First of all the stage was shortened by the first climb because of the bad weather, later on, as it continued snowing, the other climb of the day was also cancelled. The riders had to do the first 160 km of the stage in their cars, but and earth move on the descent of the Gaberl caused supplementary trouble. Finally, the peloton set off for only 40 km of flat roads which ended in a massive crash just after the finish line. Team CSC was very active in the stage with Andy Schleck and Christian Muller in the first break which lasted for 20 km. Later on, Matti Breschel was in another group but finally, two riders managed to escape and sprint for the victory: Michael Berry was faster than Cyril Lemoine. Andy Schleck, who was third in the first intermediate sprint of the day, finished in the main field.
| report on www.cyclingnews.com
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26th at 9'13" of Juan Mercado
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Results
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07.07.2005: 4: Kitzbühel - Kitzbüheler Horn (10 km TTT)
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16th at 1'40" of Gerhard Trampusch
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Good performance of Andy Schleck at the difficult mountain time-trial around Kitzbühel. Very difficult because the climb to the Kitzbüheler Horn presents in 7,5 km a difference in altitude of more than 900m, that means an average gradient of nearly 12% with a maximum of 17%. At his arrival on top of the climb, Andy Schleck was third in the provisional rankings in 34'57" (average speed 17,1 km /h). Shortly after that, his team-mate Calvente and later on 12 other riders did better than him. Winner of the time-trial was Gerhard Trampusch, very motivated in his home race with a time of 33'17" (average 18 km/h) and leading Danielsson, Ortner, Tschopp and Mercado who retains his leader jersey.
| report on www.cyclingnews.com
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27th at 9'14" of Juan Mercado
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Results
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06.07.2005: 3: Lienz - Kitzbühel (179 km)
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20th at 2'32" of Marten Den Bakker
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A stage with a particular profile: a difficult climb at the beginning and then, after the descent, another 100 km of flat roads to the finish. Clear that the agressive riders would try something and there were attacks from the beginning. But 7 riders managed to get a small gap and the peloton then decided to let them go. After a mechanical problem of Oberwaller, the lead group reduced to 6 riders, but their advantage increased more and more, up to 7 minutes. Shortly before the finish line, the leading riders were guided the wrong way. Whereas 3 of them decided to continue, 3 others returned back to the official circuit. Guiseppe Palumbo was the first to cross the finish line after having climbed over the barriers, but Marten Den Bakker, 4th on the white line, was declared winner of the stage. Andy Schleck, who hasn't taken the wrong road, finished in the first part of the pack before the mountain time-trial of tomorrow.
| report on www.cyclingnews.com
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31st at 8'09" of Juan Mercado
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Results
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05.07.2005: 2: Salzburg - Nussdorf (175 km)
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28th at 8'04" of Juan Mercado
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The Grossglockner, one of the most terrible climbs in Austria, was on the program of the second day of the race. 22km of climbing with a difference of altitude of 1600m and a bad surprise for the riders: it was snowing at the summit on 2500m altitude. The organizers have decided to shorten the stage and place the finish on top of the Grossglockner in order to avoid the descent to the riders. With teams like T-Mobile or Quick-Step leading at the beginning of the climb, the speed was high and the peloton decreased more an more. After an attack of Bernhard Kohl with 10 km to go, only 6 riders remained in the lead: Kohl, Pecharroman, Mercado, Trampusch, Danilson and Tschopp. But Juan Mercado surely was the strongest rider in the group because a few km later, he flew away from the others to the stage victory and the overall lead. After Mercado and second-placed rider Tschopp, riders crossed the finish line one by one and the gaps were big. Andy Schleck finished among the 30 best riders in 28th place, but he was already over 8 minutes behind the leader.
| report on www.cyclingnews.com
Picture: Cor Vos www.hervis-tour.at
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30th at 8'09" of Juan Mercado
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Results
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04.07.2005: 1: Linz - Salzburg (187 km)
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23rd at 4'12" of Sergio Marinageli
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Very fast start to the Tour of Austria 2005 with lots of attacks on the first 50 km, but the peloton chased everything down. Then, after 60km, a small group of 6 riders managed to get a small gap and suddenly, the bunch changed its attitude and let this small gap increase, up to 12 minutes. Obwaller, Marinageli, Pronk, Pichler, Leblacher and Hungerbühler reached the final circuit around Salzburg, on which the 2006 World Championships should take place, still with a comfortable advantage. Marinageli and Leblacher where the strongest in the group and sprinted for the victory. Andy Schleck finished in the main peloton.
| report on www.cyclingnews.com
Picture: Cor Vos www.hervis-tour.at
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23rd at 4'27" of Sergio Marinageli
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Schleck
