Paris - Nice, THE RETURN
Stage Two, Vatan - Limoges, 177km
Google Map of route
179 km over reasonably undulating terrain.
Mørk first choice in breakaway,
Malone to attempt to stir stuff at the finish.
A 4-man group formed immediately, with Bak (DAN, CSC), Hayman (AUS, Rabobank) and Riblon (FRA, AG2R) as well as
Mørk. Nicolas Jalabert (FRA, Agritubel) and Kreuziger (CZE, Liquigas) eventually joined the strong group. After a maximum lead of about eight minutes, Discovery again began working for leader Hincapie. Mørk pushed hard over the Grand-Ris, gaining a small lead over Hayman and Jalabert as well as the mountain points.
The group, however, was caught with 24km to go, and the race toward the sprint began.
Pickup struggled to hold on, as did
Davis, and fell towards the rear.
Malone attempted to spike things up on the final climb, but only got 30 seconds, and though he held that small lead before the sprint, he fell a bike short at the finish and came fourth.
Stage result:
1 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER 3h53'48
2 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
3 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
4 Bugs Malone TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
5 Stefan Schumacher GEROLSTEINER s.t.
6 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM s.t.
7 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Jens Voigt TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
9 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
10 Mauro Santambrogio LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
26 Steffen Wesemann TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
40 Jamee Gray TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
92 Neil Pickup TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
94 Heath Te-Ihi-O-Te-Rangi Davis TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 2'19
125 Håkon Mørk TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 3'26
155 Mathew Mitchell TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 10'12
Stage Three, Limoges - Maurs, 215.5km
Gray joined the first break at 7 km, along with Gerben Löwik (Rabobank), Patrice Halgand (C.A), Thorsten Hiekmann (Gerolsteiner) and Denis Robin (Agritubel). Robin, however, was not a good enough climber to stay with the group and quickly lost time. Hiekmann fell off after the first intermediate sprint, and by then the leaders had gained 9 minutes with 160 km to go.
Gray, however, took two mountain sprints on La Grande Renaud and Pouège for eight points, taking the mountain jersey back from
Mørk. Hiekmann came back in the downhills from Pouége, though.
Discovery Channel began working after the lead got up to 12 minutes, and when they tired, Caisse d'Epargne took over the work for Valverde before the 8.5-km climb Cõte de Fangas. At the bottom, the distance was 2'20". By the top, it had been reduced to 1'25", with Halgand ahead of Gray on the final peak.
That was not enough, and though
Davis had managed to get into the main bunch, his legs were too thick with exertion to do a decent sprint. Robbie McEwen shot out the group for an easy win, while
Mørk was the best for Casson Dairy in the sprint, taking 11th.
Stage result:
1 Robbie McEwen PREDICTOR - LOTTO 5h11'13
2 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
3 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Francisco Ventoso SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
5 Enrico Poitschke TEAM MILRAM s.t.
6 Mauro Santambrogio LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
8 Luca Paolini LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER s.t.
10 Jérôme Pineau BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t.
11 Håkon Mørk TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
17 Heath Te-Ihi-O-Te-Rangi Davis TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
27 Steffen Wesemann TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
33 Jens Voigt TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
46 Bugs Malone TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
109 Jamee Gray TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
126 Neil Pickup TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 3'20
139 Mathew Mitchell TEAM CASSON DAIRY s.t.
Overall standings before mountains:
1 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM 13h30'23
2 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC + 1
3 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3
4 Bradley McGee FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8
5 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
6 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
7 David Moncoutié COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
8 Sérgio Paulinho DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM + 9
9 Koos Moerenhout RABOBANK + 10
10 Stijn Devolder DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM s.t.
11 Jens Voigt TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 11
42 Steffen Wesemann TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 27
70 Bugs Malone TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 39
92 Heath Te-Ihi-O-Te-Rangi Davis TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 3'00
97 Håkon Mørk TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 3'40
107 Neil Pickup TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 4'03
126 Jamee Gray TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 8'05
148 Mathew Mitchell TEAM CASSON DAIRY + 13'44
Points:
1 Markus Zberg GEROLSTEINER 61
2 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE 56
3 Robbie McEwen PREDICTOR - LOTTO 53
13 Jens Voigt TEAM CASSON DAIRY 23
Mountains:
1 Jamee Gray TEAM CASSON DAIRY 16
2 Håkon Mørk TEAM CASSON DAIRY 12
3 Patrice Halgand CRÉDIT AGRICOLE 12