THE Dauphiné Libéré Thread: Hincapie wins prologue; Thor! the 1st stage

[HuckleB]

Americans take four of the top five spots in the prologue, with Armstrong 5th.

Hincapie wins Dauphiné prologue

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/8161.0.html

Discovery Channel's George Hincapie has won the prologue of the 57th edition of the Dauphiné Libéré, a 7.9-kilometer individual time trial in Aix-les-Bains.

Hincapie surprised prologue specialists with a winning time of 9:55 for the 7.9km individual time trial held in hot temperatures in the historic spa town.

Four Americans broke into the top five on Sunday, with Hincapie besting Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer by one second. Phonak's Floyd Landis took fourth, bettering Hincapie's teammate Lance Armstrong by one second.

Andrey Kashechkin, of Credit Agricole, upstaged his Kazakh compatriot Alexandre Vinokourov, of T-Mobile, by finishing in third to complete a podium in which all the riders were alone in finishing under the 10-minute mark.

Vinokourov, a possible challenger to Armstrong in the Tour de France this July, finished in 12th at 14secs behind Hincapie.

..."

[HuckleB]

1. (Thor!!!) Hushovd takes 1st stage at Dauphiné

Hushovd takes 1st stage at Dauphiné

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/8168.0.html

"Discovery's George Hincapie held on to the overall lead in the Dauphiné Libéré Monday after the 224km first stage finished in Givers, France, with a field sprint won by Norwegian champion Thor Hushovd.

Hushovd, who rides for Crédit Agricole, is widely considered to be a contender for the Tour de France's green points jersey next month. Hushovd dominated the bunch sprint on a slight descent after a six-man breakaway had been caught minutes earlier.

Hincapie, the national champion in the United States, finished moments later in the company of his Discovery Channel team leader Lance Armstrong - who is using the race as preparation for his bid to win a seventh consecutive yellow jersey.

Hincapie had dominated the opening prologue to take the race lead on Sunday, relegating Armstrong to fifth at six seconds after 7.9km of an individual time trial.


..."


THOR!!!

Note: Armstrong showed some legs today. He may, indeed, be ready to defend TDF after a sketchy Spring. Was there really any doubt?

[atomic-fly]

2. Go George!

Nice to see some bike news on this site. We will see how Lance is doing when the time trial arrives....and the big mountains.
Ullrich looks pretty healthy this year, maybe it will be a good
tour.

[Village Idiot]

3. TOO FUNNY!!!

I had to read the entire article to understand this is about a BICYCLE RACE!!!

The only way I knew it was a bike race was the reference to the Tour de France...

[HuckleB]

4. Armstrong plays domestique in Dauphiné

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun07news

[PST]

5. ah! some cycling fans on here..

tell me Huck is there any way that I can watch the Tour de France on TV here in the US?

[HuckleB]

6. It's on OLN (Outdoor Life Network).

http://www.olntv.com/htmlpage.asp?htmlid=24

If you don't have cable (like I don't have cable), check with your local bike shops. Here in Portland, at least, a number of them open up early, setting up a mini theatre for folks to watch daily.

Salud.

On edit: They offered web-streaming of coverage of the Giro, and I'm hoping they do the same for the Tour. I haven't been able to figure out how to sign up for it yet, however.

[PST]

7. damn

I do have cable but I don't think it includes OLN..
thanks anyway for the info!

[HuckleB]

8. Dumoulin moves into lead after Dauphiné stage win (Time Trial Tomorrow!)

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/8172.0.html

"Ag2R's Samuel Dumoulin moved into the overall leader's jersey after winning the second stage of the Dauphiné Libéré, a 187-kilometer race from Givors to Chauffailles, on Tuesday.

The AG2R rider prevailed in a sprint on what was the final, relatively flat stage ahead of Wednesday's 47km time trial - a stage in which Lance Armstrong is favored to win and thus claim his first victory of the season. Dumoulin takes over the race lead from Discovery's George Hincapie.

Dumoulin - whose international fame has largely been confined to the distinction being the smallest rider at the Tour de France each year - rose high above three of his fellow breakaway companions on the tricky 187km stage from Givors to here to claim his first victory in more than a year having spent half of last season injured.

His efforts left him with the stage win and the race leader's jersey and he now has a 20-second lead over compatriot Frederic Finot (La Francaise des Jeux) going into Wednesday's 47km time trial in nearby Roanne.

..."

[HuckleB]

9. (American) Leipheimer moves into lead as Botero wins Dauphiné TT

Leipheimer moves into lead as Botero wins Dauphiné TT

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/8176.0.html

"Former world time trial champion Santiago Botero (Phonak) won a 47-kilometer individual time trial, the third stage of the Dauphiné Libéré in Roanne, France, Wednesday.

Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer finished one second back in the race against the clock, a performance strong enough to move him into the overall lead. Discovery's Lance Armstrong completed what he considered his first real test for the upcoming Tour de France by finishing third.

Leipheimer took over from Frenchman Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2R) who had assumed the leader's jersey after a successful breakaway effort in Tuesday's stage.

In what was considered a pre-Tour de France battle between some of the possible contenders for the yellow jersey, Floyd Landis - Botero's teammate at Phonak - took fourth place ahead of T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov.

..."

Four Americans in the top five? Wow! And no one is talking about it, anywhere except in the cycling community. Damn.

[HuckleB]

10. An aside from The Guardian: Armstrong starts his last push at pain barrier

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cycling/story/0,10482,1500100,00.html

Tomorrow should be awesome: Mont Ventoux awaits!