Brave Thomas Voeckler is the new yellow jersey holder in the 2011 Tour de France. In a dramatic hilly stage, tailor made for a strong breakaway group, Voeckler’ quest for the yellow jersey was aided by a massive spill involving the peloton on the descent of the Col du Pas de Peyro.
The carnage was significant. Four riders saw their tour come to an end.
Astana’s leader, Alexandre Vinokourov, missed a bend, ended up in the forest and came out with a suspected fractured femur and broken hip.
Omega-Pharma’s leader, Jurgen van den Broeck, hit the road hard and suffered spinal injuries. Dave Zabriskie (fractured wrist) and Frederick Willems (fractured collarbone) were also forced to withdraw.
In the aftermath of the crash, an honourable momentary truce in the peloton saw the breakaway group extend their lead from 3 mins 40 secs to 7mins 40 secs.
Effectively, the peloton surrendered the stage to breakaway group.
But, disaster was to lie around the corner for two of the five riders in the breakaway.
The tour witnessed one of the most ridiculous crashes ever, when 36 kms from the finish a TV car, spectacularly, knocked over Johnny Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha.
Incomprehensibly, the driver of the car decided to steer into the riders rather than hit the brakes to avoid clipping a tree on the verge.
Bloody and battered, both riders climbed back on their bikes and completed the stage.
Let’s hope they will be in good enough shape to resume the tour after the rest day. The driver was punished for his recklessness – the TV car thrown off the Tour by officials.
The three remaining riders were then left to fight it out for the stage win. Frenchman Voeckler was the best placed of the group in the overall standings – his breakaway counterparts, Luis Leon Sanchez and Sandy Cassar, sat back and let him do the bulk of the work.
Voeckler was going for yellow, the other two just had stage victory on their minds. And, so, it proved as Sanchez, who had reserved his energy, won the stage comfortably at the finish.
The usual suspects in the peloton finished four minutes behind the winner.
Thor Hushovd finished 6 mins 42 secs behind the Voeckler and surrendered his yellow jersey.
So far, 17 out of the 198 rider that started riders have abandoned the tour and we have not even reached the difficult stages of the tour.
The Tour has a welcome a rest day to recover – and for quite a number of them to mend their wounds. Cadel Evans sits in third, still well placed for the yellow that he may have worn after today’s stage, should the carnage that has followed Le Tour kept away.
The sprinters will be in action, again, on Tuesday as the tour heads south towards the Pyrenees.
Stage 9 Results
POS No. Name Team Time Gap Moved
1 047 Luis-Leon SANCHEZ RAB 05:27:09 00:00:00
2 181 Thomas VOECKLER EUC 05:27:14 00:00:05
3 131 Sandy CASAR FDJ 05:27:22 00:00:13
4 032 Philippe GILBERT OLO 05:31:08 00:03:59
5 179 Peter VELITS THR 05:31:08 00:03:59
6 141 Cadel EVANS BMC 05:31:08 00:03:59
7 011 Andy SCHLECK LEO 05:31:08 00:03:59
8 175 Tony MARTIN THR 05:31:08 00:03:59
9 018 Frank SCHLECK LEO 05:31:08 00:03:59
10 161 Damiano CUNEGO LAM 05:31:08 00:03:59
12 001 Alberto CONTADOR SBS 05:31:08 00:03:59
136 112 Juan Antonio FLECHA SKY 05:43:47 00:16:38
139 204 Johnny HOOGERLAND VCD 05:43:53 00:16:44
Overall Standings
POS No. Name Team Time Gap
1 181 Thomas VOECKLER EUC 38:35:11 00:00:00
2 047 Luis-Leon SANCHEZ RAB 38:37:00 00:01:49
3 141 Cadel EVANS BMC 38:37:37 00:02:26
4 018 Frank SCHLECK LEO 38:37:40 00:02:29
5 011 Andy SCHLECK LEO 38:37:48 00:02:37
6 175 Tony MARTIN THR 38:37:49 00:02:38
7 179 Peter VELITS THR 38:37:49 00:02:38
8 074 Andréas KLÖDEN RSH 38:37:54 00:02:43
9 032 Philippe GILBERT OLO 38:38:06 00:02:55
10 013 Jakob FUGLSANG LEO 38:38:19 00:03:08
Overall Standings – Australians
POS No. Name Team Gap Time
3 141 Cadel EVANS BMC 00:00:00 38:37:37
76 005 Richie PORTE SBS 00:22:55 39:00:32
81 113 Simon GERRANS SKY 00:23:33 39:01:10
99 016 Stuart O’GRADY LEO 00:31:04 39:08:41
112 174 Matthew Harley GOSS THR 00:37:16 39:14:53
169 177 Mark RENSHAW THR 00:58:38 39:36:15
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