Australian Robbie McEwen dominated another bunch sprint to claim victory in the 189km sixth stage of the Tour de France on Friday, his 11th career win in the race. Belgian rival Tom Boonen, who finished a distant third, retained the race leader’s yellow jersey ahead of Saturday’s 52km time trial around Rennes.
American George Hincapie grabbed the first Tour de France yellow jersey of his career as Frenchman Jimmy Casper caused an upset on the race’s first big sprint rendezvous on Sunday. Hincapie, who lost out on the race lead by 0,73sec after he finished second in the prologue behind Thor Hushovd, found himself benefiting from the big Norwegian’s misfortune.
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Perennial under-achievers Spain kick-started their bid to top Group H with a blast on Wednesday with a resounding 4-0 win over World Cup debutants Ukraine. With Spanish icon Raul starting on the bench, Valencia marksman David Villa took centre stage for Luis Aragones’s side with a goal in each half.
American Lance Armstrong waved goodbye to what has been a remarkable cycling career after securing his seventh consecutive yellow jersey following the 21st and final stage of the Tour de France on Sunday. The 33-year-old finished the race with a 4min 40sec lead on Italian Ivan Basso with Germany’s Jan Ullrich, the 1997 winner, finishing third on the podium at 6:21.
Lance Armstrong could afford to show his charitable side after the fifth stage of the Tour de France in Montargis on Wednesday, where Australian Robbie McEwen finally got to show his sprinting prowess ahead of Belgian Tom Boonen. However, he will be hard pushed to be as calm when the race goes over some tricky terrain this weekend.
Australian Robbie McEwen has hit out at what he called an unfair disqualification from the third stage of the Tour de France, held over 212,5km from La Chataigneraie to Tours on Monday. McEwen, of the Davitamon team, finished third in the sprint but was soon disqualified to the back of the peloton.
An air of change is pervading the European peloton ahead of this year’s big rendez-vous, when Lance Armstrong puts his yellow jersey up for grabs in his last ever race. The Tour de France is set to provide drama of epic proportions when the 33-year-old American puts his champion’s credentials on the line in July.