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Fast Facts
- Organized by: Amaury Sport Organisation
- Runs July 4, 2009, to July 26, 2009
- First race: 1903
- Starting point: Monaco
- End point: Paris, France
- 2009 Distance: 3,435 km (21 stages)
- Route mainly in France but passes through Monaco, Spain, Switzerland and Andorra
- Lance Armstrong won seven titles from 1999 to 2005
- Astana Racing Team was barred from the 2008 after involvement with previous doping scandals
- Tour director: Christian Prudhomme
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Glossary
GC ("General Classification"): This is the overall time of each rider. If a rider is a "GC contender," that means that by the end of the race, he is expected to finish near the top of the standings.
Maillot Jaune (translation: "yellow jersey"): The jersey worn by the overall race leader
Maillot Vert ("green jersey"): The jersey worn by winners of sprint points
King of the Mountains: Title given to the cyclist who perform the best on mountains or hills throughout the course. The king of the mountains wears a polka dot jersey
Maillot Blanc ("white jersey"): The jersey given to the person 25 years or younger who has the fastest time during the race
Lanterne Rouge ("red lantern"): Refers to the cyclist who comes in last place. It comes from the red lights that are on the back end of a train.
Voiture Balai: Refers to the car or other automobile that picks up cyclists who drop out of the race -
2009 Towns along Route
- Monaco
- Brignoles
- Marseille
- La Grande-Motte
- Montpellier
- Le Cap d'Agde
- Perpignan
- Girona
- Barcelona
- Andorre Arcalis
- Andorre-la-Vieille
- Saint-Girons
- Tarbes
- Limoges
- Issoudun
- Vatan
- Saint-Fargeau
- Tonnerre
- Vittel
- Colmar
- Besançon
- Pontarlier
- Verbier
- Martigny
- Bourg-Saint-Maurice
- Le Grand-Bornand
- Annecy
- Bourgoin-Jallieu
- Aubenas
- Montélimar
- Mont Ventoux
- Montereau-Fault-Yonne
- Paris
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Previous Winners
- 2008: Carlos Sastre
- 2007: Alberto Contador
- 2006: Oscar Pereiro
- 2005: Lance Armstrong
- 2004: Lance Armstrong
- 2003: Lance Armstrong
- 2002: Lance Armstrong
- 2001: Lance Armstrong
- 2000: Lance Armstrong
- 1999: Lance Armstrong
- 1998: Marco Pantari
- More...
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Mountains in 2009 Tour (20)
7th stage (Andorre Arcalis):
port d'Oliana, 7.7 km at 7.1% grade (1160 meters elevation at summit)
montée d'Arcalis, 10.6 km at 6.1% (2240 m)
8th stage (Saint-Girons):
port d'Envalira, 23.2 km at 5.1% (2407 m)
col de Port, 11.4 km at 5.5% (1249 m)
col d'Agnes, 12.4 km at 6.5% (1570 m)
9th stage (Tarbes):
col d'Aspin, 12 km at 6.6% (1490 m)
col du Tourmalet, 17 km at 7.5% (2115 m)
13th stage (Colmar):
col de la Schlucht, 8.9 km at 4.1% (1139 m)
col de Platzerwasel, 8.7 km at 7.6% (1193 m)
col du Firstplan, 8.4 km at 5.4 % (722 m)
15th stage (Verbier):
col des Mosses, 13.8 km at 4% (1445 m)
montée de Verbier, 8.8 km at 7.1% (1468 m)
16th stage (Bourg-Saint-Maurice):
col du Grand Saint-Bernard, 24.4 km at 6.2% (2473 m)
col de Petit Saint-Bernard, 22.6 km at 5.1% (2184 m)
17th stage (Le Grand-Bornand):
Cormet de Roselend, 18 km at 6.1% (1968 m)
col des Saisies, 15.1 km at 6% (1650 m)
côte d'Arâches, 6.3 km at 7% (964 m)
col de Romme, 8.8 km at 8.9% (1295 m)
col de la Colombière, 7.5 km at 8.5% (1618 m)
20th stage (Mont Ventoux):
col d'Ey (not categorized)
Mont Ventoux, 21.2 km at 7.6% (1912 m)
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Managed Since: 06/06/2009
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2009 Tour de France Stage 6 Recap
Expectations on this stage varied. It is a somewhat flat stage, with only a couple of small climbs. However, the last two kilometers are slightly uphill, which is not the strength of most sprinters. And some riders were even predicting that a breakaway would succeed. In addition, what was supposed to be a mild, warm day turned out to have extremely hard rains, which typically complicates the situation. As always, the road will give us the answer.The ride started with a few attacks, which were unsuccessful. But a four person breakaway occurred, with some strong riders. The highest positioned rider in the break was David Millar of Garmin-Slipstream. Millar began the stage only 1’07” behind the yellow jersey.
There was no solid organization behind the chase. Astana, Columbia, Rabobank, and other teams were taking turns at the front of the peleton. This allowed the gap to the leaders to seesaw between one and three minutes.
With about 20k to go, Millar attacked his companions to try to win the stage. He managed to stretch the gap out to 1’10”. Once it hit that time though, the peleton turned on the gas. They did not want Millar to get the yellow jersey, and the sprinters’ teams also wanted to give their men a chance to win the stage.
As an extremely strong time trialist, Miller was able to hold off the peleton until just over 1k to go, when the sprinters’ teams were just too strong. The peleton passed him and brought the sprinters to the front. With a few hundred meters to go, Oscar Freire of Rabobank attacked, but Cervelo Test Team’s Thor Hushovd was able to pass him with just a few meters left to take the stage win.
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The Mahalo Top 7
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tdfblog.com: Tour de France 2008
tdfblog.com -
Wikipedia: Tour de France Page
en.wikipedia.org -
ESPN: Cycling News
sports.espn.go.com -
Course Map
letour.fr -
Official Site: Le Tour de France
letour.fr -
Bicycling Magazine: Tour de France 2008
bicycling.com -
Yahoo! Sports: Cycling on Yahoo!
sports.yahoo.com
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tdfblog.com: Tour de France 2008
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2009 Tour de France Stage List
Current Leaders
: Fabian Cancellara (Saxobank)
: Stephane Auge (Cofidis, 14 points)
: Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC, 106 points)
: Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC)
                    1 Saturday, July 4 Start: Monaco
Time Trial
Winner: Fabian Cancellara15.5 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
2 Sunday, July 5 Start: Monaco
Finish: Brignoles
Winner: Mark Cavendish187 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
3 Monday, July 6 Start: Marseille
Finish: La Grande-Motte
Winner: Mark Cavendish (2)196 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
4 Tuesday, July 7 Start: Montepellier
Team Time Trial
Winner: Astana39 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
5 Wednesday, July 8 Start: Le Cap d'Agde
Finish: Perpignan
Winner: Thomas Voeckler196 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
6 Thursday, July 9 Start: Girona (ESP)
Finish: Barcelona (ESP)
Winner: Thor Hushovd187 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
7 Friday, July 10 Start: Barcelona (ESP)
Finish: Arcalis (AND)
Winner:224 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
8 Saturday, July 11 Start: Andorra-la-Vella (AND)
Finish: Saint-Girons
Winner:176 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
9 Sunday, July 12 Start: Saint-Gaudens
Finish: Tarbes
Winner:160 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
Rest Monday, July 13 Rest Day 10 Tuesday, July 14 Start: Limoges
Finish: Issoudun
Winner:194 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
11 Wednesday, July 15 Start: Vatan
Finish: Saint-Fargeau
Winner:192 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
                    12 Thursday, July 16 Start: Tonnerre
Finish: Vittel
Winner:211 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
13 Friday, July 17 Start: Vittel
Finish: Colmar
Winner:200 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
14 Saturday, July 18 Start: Colmar
Finish: Besancon
Winner:199 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
15 Sunday, July 19 Start: Pontarlier
Finish: Verbier (SUI)
Winner:207 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
Rest Monday, July 20 Rest Day 16 Tuesday, July 21 Start: Martigny (SUI)
Finish: Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Winner:159 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
17 Wednesday, July 22 Start: Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Finish: Le Grand-Bornand
Winner:169 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
18 Thursday, July 23 Start: Annecy
Individual Time Trial
Winner:40.5 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
19 Friday, July 24 Start: Bourgoin-Jallieu
Finish: Aubenas
Winner:178 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
20 Saturday, July 25 Start: Montelimar
Finish: Mont-Ventoux
Winner:167 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
21 Sunday, July 26 Start: Montereau-Fault-Yonne
Finish: Paris
Winner:164 km Course Preview       Course Map       Results
 
Total Distance: 3455 km  
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Tour de France History and Results | Add a Link
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2009 Tour de France Stage 1 Recap
Today got off to a quick start, as the 2009 Tour kicked off in the Principality of Monaco. The route was a difficult one, as the stage began almost immediately with an uphill climb, followed by a very technical descent and run into the finish.In a bit of gamesmanship, Astana team director Johann Bruyneel picked Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer to start early, due to worries about rain that was expected later in the day and could slow their times.
Lance did not disappoint, setting the fastest time of the day up until that point. That time did not last, however, as Tony Martin of Team Columbia bested him by a mere 7 seconds.
The day kept speeding up, as the top time got bested again and again. Top GC contenders Levi Leipheimer, Cadel Evans and Andreas Kloden all finished within half a minute of the final winner.
The big drama of the day was how 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador would finish. Stories have been flying for months about whether Contador or Armstrong would lead the Astana team, but as Armstrong said recently, "the race will sort it out." And it did--Contador set the fastest time at that point, 22 seconds faster than Armstrong.
But in the end, it was time trial specialist and former world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of team Saxo Bank earning the win, 18 seconds ahead of Contador.
Other GC contenders did not fare as well. This year's Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov finished 1:31 back, and last year's temporary yellow jersey holder Frank Schleck has a very bad day, 1:36 back and 1:18 behind Contador. 2008 Tour winner Carlos Sastre, not a time trial specialist, finished 1:06 back.
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2009 Tour de France Stage 2 Recap
Today was not expected to have many fireworks. With Fabian Cancellara solidly in yellow, the jersey was expected to stay on the Saxo Bank rider's shoulders.Beginning again in Monaco and continuing into France and finally finishing 187 km later in Brignoles. The course was fairly flat, with some rolling 3rd and 4th category climbs and some intermediate sprints throughout. An early breakaway extended about 5 minutes out, until Saxo Bank held the leash and stopped the breakaway from gaining any more time.
A small bit of trivia: Jussi Veikkanen of the Francais de Jeux team summitted all three mountains first, becoming the first rider from Finland to earn the King of the Mountains jersey.
Saxo Bank's Frank Schleck suffered a minor crash not far into the stage, but was able to bring himself back to the peleton without too much work.
With about 20 km to go, the breakaway was caught, leaving the sprinters' teams to do the work. Columbia-HTC took control with about 15k remaining to try to lead their sprinter Mark Cavendish to victory.
After a crash disrupted some of the action with only 1 or 2k remaining, Columbia and Cavendish stayed on the front, and though Garmin-Slipstream's Tyler Farrar got on Cav's wheel, he was not able to catch the Columbia sprinter, as Cav took his first Tour victory of the year.
Armstrong and the other GC contenders, as well as Cancellara finished in a large group. They all kept their same time, with Cancellara keeping his yellow jersey.
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2009 Tour de France Stage 3 Recap
The third stage was expected to be fairly uneventful. The stage is just about pancake flat, with a bunch sprint expected by everyone.The only possible kink in those plans is a strong crosswind in the roads down near La Grande Motte. In a crosswind, all bets are off and major time gaps can open.
The race started with an attack right when the flag dropped. The breakaway of four riders made it to a 12:30 gap before the peleton began reeling them in.
Over the final (category 4) mountain, the time gap had dropped quite a bit, down to 7 minutes.
With the breakaway only a minute or so ahead, all of a sudden, the exact thing that team directors warned about happened: the crosswind!
There was a slight crosswind at just over 20 km left, and Team Columbia-HTC drilled it. It was pedal to the metal and the race completely split into two groups. Columbia-HTC had all 8 riders in the front, and other teams just had one or two riders. In yellow, Fabian Cancellara was there, and Lance Armstrong was there, but none of the other major GC contenders were. Alberto Contador was left behind. So was Sastre, Evans, Menchov, Leipheimer, Vande Velde, and others.
At 5km left, the time gap had gone up to 35 seconds, putting Lance Armstrong into third in the virtual standings. And it was becoming clear that the leading group wasn't going to be pulled back.
With 1km left, sprint attacks started, and it looked like Mark Cavendish was in trouble. But he was patient, and found his leadout man, Mark Renshaw. Renshaw brought Cav to 250m to the line, and Cav catapulted himself to the finish for the victory.
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2009 Tour de France Stage 4 Recap
Before the beginning of this stage, Lance Armstrong predicted that it would be “absolute carnage.” That’s never something you want to hear before a critical team time trial. But there are so many twists and turns, narrow roads, and road furniture that it was going to be an extremely difficult and technical course.Right near the beginning of the stage, Lance turned out to be correct. The third team to start was Rabobank with leader Denis Menchov. In one of the first turns on the course, Menchov had a nasty crash which slowed the team down for the rest of the TTT, with Rabobank already losing 57 seconds to Katusha, with 17 teams yet to finish.
The team with perhaps the most disastrous ride was BBox. After one rider suffered a rear flat, and later another rider suffering a crash, half of the team went down in a crash off the road.
Katusha set the early fastest time. That time held for the next 12 teams, until Liquigas blew up the course and finished 25 seconds ahead. But the top 4 leading teams had yet to put in their time—Columbia HTC, Garmin-Slipstream, Saxobank, and obviously Astana are the big guns.
Garmin set a solid time at the first checkpoint—only 7 seconds behind the leaders. But the team disintegrated, quickly losing four riders, and they were only down to five: Vande Velde, Zabriskie, Wiggins, Millar, and Hesjedal. And at the second time check, they were able to set the fastest time with only those five people!
Sparks were flying, as Garmin kept heating up and finally set the fastest time on the course, still with only five riders. Saxobank had a disappointing run, although Cancellara dragged his team across the finish line 22 seconds behind Garmin.
The last team to finish would be Astana. At the second time check, Lance Armstrong was only one second out of yellow. At the third check, he was one second AHEAD of the yellow jersey. It was clear it would all come down to the finish.
With 1k to go, Astana was drilling it, with 1:15 remaining before Lance would be out of yellow again. They finished the last kilometer in…1:15! He started the race 40 seconds behind Cancellara, and finished 40 seconds ahead of Cancellara.
After calculating the time down to the hundredths of a second, Cancellara came out ahead, only a few hundredths of a second ahead of Armstrong.
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2009 Tour de France Stage 5 Recap
After the excitement of the past two days, stage 5 was expected to again be uneventful, unless the constant danger of crosswind kicked up.When the stage began, a quick attack made its way out of the field, with six riders leading the race. Nobody in the group was a GC contender, but it was notable because Thomas Voeckler of Bbox Bouygues Telecom was in the breakaway. Many Tour de France fans will remember Voeckler’s name from his herculean efforts during the 2004 tour, when he obtained the maillot jaune in a breakaway, and did not surrender the jersey until 10 days later, when Lance Armstrong won stage 15 in the Alps. Because of this history, the peleton was not willing to let the breakaway lead by much time.
And all of a sudden, we started to see a repeat of stage 3. A strong wind picked up, and teams at the front of the peleton put the hammer down and started pounding the pedals. This effort quickly splintered the field, and the peleton opened up a gap of a minute over the chasing groups. Eventually some of the chasers made it back, but not all.
With 10k to go, the wily breakaway, led by Tour veteran Voeckler was still over a minute ahead of the chasing peleton. Team Columbia-HTC was keeping the pressure on at the front of the peleton, but it was going to be a difficult task to drag the group up in only 10k.
With 5k to go, it started to become clear that the breakaway was going to succeed, and the attacks in the breakaway started. At 4k, Voeckler attacked, and created a gap of 10 seconds ahead of the breakaway. At 3k, Albert Timmer of the wild card Skil-Shimano team started chasing him. With 1k to go, Voeckler had a 10 second gap over Timmer. At 500 meters, Voeckler was looking over his shoulder again and again, until he realized that he was going to win. The peleton chased hard, but couldn’t catch. Voeckler ended up winning the stage by a few seconds, with Mark Cavendish beating the rest of the sprinters to come in at third place to add to his green jersey lead. All of the main GC contenders ended up with the same time, with no change in the standings.
