Tour de France 2012 – Stage 16 [FULL STAGE]

July 18, 2012

Tour de France 2012 – Stage 16 – Pau – Bagnères-de-Luchon : 197 km

The 2012 Tour de France is set to get underway in Liège on June 30 with a prologue and then two stages in Belgium before the race crosses into French territory for the remainder of the race. The route favors the time trialists over the pure climbers this year, with more than 100km of racing against the clock on tap. This puts Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins and defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC) at the top of the favorites’ list, but there are still a few opportunities for the featherweights to put in a challenge.

French favourite Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) added a second stage win to his 2012 Tour de France account with a masterful performance in stage 16, 197km from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon. The 33-year-old Frenchman emerged from a massive 38-rider early break to solo to victory on a legendary Pyrenean parcours, taking in the Col d’Aubisque, Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aspin and Col de Peyresourde, and arrived at the finish with a 1:40 lead over former breakaway companion Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank).

Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) outsprinted Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) for third, 3:22 behind Voeckler.

In addition to the stage victory, Voeckler swept up top honours at each of the day’s four summits to unseat Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) as mountains classification leader, 107 points to 103 at the stage conclusion.

“I can’t really figure out what I’ve done,” said Voeckler. “It’s the kind of thing I watched on television as a kid, and today it was me who did it.

“For me I had four races in my head today, each climb was a separate race. I know every metre of the climbs from training here in this region. There were 197 kilometers of racing here, and I knew all 197 kilometres by heart.”

The top three riders on general classification, maillot jaune Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Chris Froome (Sky) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) finished together, leaving the top of the overall standings unchanged. Nibali led Wiggins and Froome across the finish line in 11th place, 7:09 behind Voeckler and the first riders not part of the early break to arrive at the finish. As a result, Wiggins continues to lead Froome by 2:05 and Nibali by 2:23 overall.

“I’m just glad that one’s out of the way, the team were incredible today,” said Wiggins. “It was hot out there, and everyone reacts differently to it. Everyone’s going through different things with their body. The day after a rest day is always difficult, and I’m just pleased we passed the test as a team. I’m glad we got through it ok, it was tough going out there.”

Less than a minute later Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) led the next group on the road across the finish line for 14th place, ahead of white jersey holder Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol), Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan), Alejandro Valverde and Juan Jose Cobo (Movistar), plus Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan).

Cadel Evans (BMC) was the big general classification loser on the day as was dropped on the final climb and conceded four minutes to the maillot jaune group. Van den Broeck now holds fourth overall (@5:46) followed by Zubeldia (@7:13) and Van Garderen (@7:55). Evans dropped from fourth to seventh overall, 8:06 back.

“I think now it’s sort of a co-leadership, he’s only one place behind me,” said Van Garderen, in reference to his teammate Evans. “He could easily bounce back the next day, or I could crack.”

Mass exodus on classic Pyrenean parcours

The legendary “Circle of Death”, comprised of the Col d’Aubisque, Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aspin and Col de Peyresourde ascents, awaited the peloton today as the Tour de France kicked back into gear after its second rest day. With the knowledge that the general classification contenders would likely keep their powder dry until the latter portion of the stage, seemingly every rider with an inkling of early aggression was given the freedom to form the early break in advance of the stage’s first climb, the 16.4km, HC-rated Aubisque.

When the early break finally consolidated 25 kilometres into the stage, 38 riders formed the massive escape group: Steven Cummings and George Hincapie (both BMC Racing Team), Yaroslav Popovych and Jens Voigt (both RadioShack-Nissan), Thomas Voeckler and Yukiya Arashiro (both Europcar), Jorge Azanza, Egoi Martinez and Gorka Izaguirre (all Euskaltel-Euskadi), Danilo Hondo, Marco Marzano and Simone Stortoni (all Lampre-ISD), Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) Maxime Bouet and Sebastien Minard (both AG2R La Mondiale), Rein Taaramae and Samuel Dumoulin (both Cofidis), Brice Feillu, Guillaume Levarlet and Jean Marc Marino (all Saur-Sojasun), Johnny Hoogerland and Rafael Valls Ferri (both Vacansoleil-DCM), Gianpaolo Caruso, Yury Trofimov and Eduard Vorganov (all Katusha), Sandy Casar, Pierrick Fedrigo and Matthiew Ladagnous (all FDJ-Big Mat), Steven Kruiswijk and Laurens Ten Dam (both Rabobank), Rui Costa, Vladimir Karpets, and Vasili Kiryienka (all Movistar), Sergio Paulinho and Chris Anker Sorensen (both Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Fredrik Kessiakoff and Alexandre Vinokourov (both Astana) and Matthieu Sprick (Argos-Shimano).

Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was the best-placed rider on general classification, 18th overall at 18:04, but perhaps the most intriguing contest, in addition to vying for stage honours on the Pyrenean parcours, was the battle for the polka-dot jersey, held by Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) at the start of the day. Kessiakoff had amassed 69 points thus far, but the riders in third and fourth on the mountains classification also made the initial selection: Sorensen (39 pts) and Voeckler (37 pts).

The first two climbs of the day, the HC-rated Col d’Aubisque and Col du Tourmalet, each offered 25 points for the first rider across the summit. The latter two climbs of the stage, the Col d’Aspin and Col de Peyresourde, are each category 1-rated and would reward the first rider across with 10 points. Totalled together, a maximum of 70 points were up for grabs, very much a potential game changer for the mountains classification.

The breakaway group knocked out a steady tempo up the Aubisque with the only ripple in the proceedings occurring at the summit with the day’s first KOM points up for grabs. Arashiro played the perfect teammate for Voeckler as he led-out the Frenchman in the climb’s finale. Voeckler crested the summit first with Kessiakoff on his wheel for second place. Arashiro took third at the summit, followed by Sorensen for fourth.

Tourmalet takes its toll

While there was a slight splintering of the break on the Aubisque, the 38-rider group re-formed in advance of the Tourmalet and hit the base of the monstrous ascent more than five minutes up on the Sky-led peloton. Unlike the day’s first ascent, negotiated at a steady tempo, the climbers in the break opted to flex their muscles and attacks soon splintered the group for good.

Irishman Dan Martin turned the screw and was joined by Kessiakoff and Ten Dam. Not wanting to let the mountains classification leader escape up the road, Voeckler led a chase containing Hincapie, Feillu and Sorensen which soon made contact with the lead trio. Approximately 7km from the Tourmalet summit Feillu launched an attack of his own and was joined by Martin and Voeckler. Kessiakoff briefly made contact but was dropped, as Martin, Voeckler and Feillu climbed to the 2,115m Tourmalet summit together.

Soon Martin, too, could no longer keep the pace leaving Voeckler and Feillu to press onwards to the day’s second straight hors catégorie summit.

Voeckler would claim top honours on the Tourmalet summit, 25 points plus the Souvenir Jacques Goddet prize of 5,000 Euros for the first rider over the top, with Feillu in tow. Martin arrived third at the Tourmalet summit, more than one minute behind Voeckler and Feillu. Kessiakoff, fighting to defend his polka-dot jersey, nabbed fourth and conceded a further 11 points to Voeckler on the mountains classification. Kessiakoff now had 103 points to Voeckler’s 87 on the virtual mountains classification standing.

On the high-speed descent of the Tourmalet a chasing group containing Martin, Hincapie, Ten Dam, Voigt, Kiryienka, Sorensen and Vinokourov formed behind Voeckler and Feillu. Hincapie suffered a crash on the initial portion of the Tourmalet descent, but seemed relatively unharmed as he regained contact with his fellow chasers.

Meanwhile, the maillot jaune group crested the Tourmalet summit 10:10 behind Voeckler, with Sky firmly in command at the head of the peloton.

Two summits to go…

With the pair of HC-rated climbs behind them, the lead duo of Voeckler and Feillu “only” had two category 1 climbs left to negotiate, the first being the 12.4km long Col d’Aspin, whose summit was situated 46.5km from the finish.

The French duo led their seven chasers by 1:33 at the base of the climb while the peloton was still nearly 10 minutes back. As Voeckler and Feillu were sharing the pace-making duties on the ascent, the seven-man chase group splintered with Sorensen and Vinokourov dropping their five companions. The evergreen Jens Voigt, however, rallied and rode across to the Dane and Kazakh and the three would crest the Aspin summit together approximately one minute behind Voeckler and Feillu. Once again Voeckler earned top honours on the KOM, and this time Kessiakoff earned none, having blown on the previous ascent, and the Swede’s virtual KOM lead now stood at 103 to Voeckler’s 97.

Meanwhile, back in the peloton, there was a change in guard at the front as Liquigas-Cannondale took over the pace-making. Super domestique Ivan Basso ramped up the tempo with team leader Vincenzo Nibali glued to his wheel. Wiggins and his helpers slotted in behind the Italians, seemingly unaffected by the tempo, but defending Tour champion Cadel Evans (BMC) cracked and began to lose time. BMC’s Tejay van Garderen remained with the yellow jersey group while Amaël Moinard stayed with Evans to pace the Australian to the summit.

Evans would concede nearly a minute to the Wiggins group at the top of the Aspin, but the BMC captain would make up time on the descent and eventually rejoin his general classification rivals…just in time for the day’s final ascent: the 9.5km Col de Peyresourde.

Voeckler and Feillu continued to share the workload at the head of the race on the Peyresourde’s lower slopes, followed by a now four-man chase group as Gorka Izaguirre made his way across to Voigt, Vinokourov and Sorensen.

Sorensen and Vinokourov soon dispatched of Voigt and Izaguirre and faced a 45-second gap to the two Frenchman leading the race.

6.5km from the Peyresourde summit, not wanting to allow Sorensen and Vinokourov to get any closer, Voeckler upped the pace and dropped Feillu. Amidst a huge cheering throng of Basque fans, Voeckler charged alone to the Peyresourde summit and a clean sweep of the day’s KOMs. Sorensen dropped Vinokourov and passed Feillu to cross the summit in second, while Vinokourov and Izaguirre, too, would pass the Frenchman as they began the descent to the finish third and fourth respectively on the road.

Back in the maillot jaune group, once again Basso and Nibali moved to the front to set tempo on the Peyresourde climb with the same initial result: Evans being dropped. However, on this climb the yellow jersey group would continue to shrink precipitously until only a handful of GC contenders remained.

Nibali started the day 2:23 behind Wiggins, but just 18 seconds behind Froome, and if the Italian wanted to make any move on general classification it would have to happen soon. As expected, Nibali did launch an attack which momentarily distanced Wiggins and Froome. Such was the ferocity of the tempo being set in the maillot jaune group to that point that only Wiggins and Froome were able to respond to Nibali and the British duo, with Froome setting tempo for Wiggins, methodically chipped into the Italian’s advantage.

Nibali would step on the gas once again as the Sky duo neared, but this time Wiggins would lead Froome in pursuit and Nibali’s escape attempt would be neutralised near the Peyresourde summit. The top three riders on general classification crossed the Peyresourde together, and would remain together through to the finish in Bagnères-de-Luchon

After crossing the Peyresourde summit, a lightning-fast, 15.5km descent to Bagnères-de-Luchon is all that remained in the stage. Voeckler dutifully negotiated the switchbacks at the head of the race and had plenty of time to celebrate a well-earned stage win that also netted the Frenchman the polka-dot jersey. All-in-all 10 of the original 38 members of the break finished ahead of the Wiggins, Froome, Nibali trio, who themselves put more time into their general classification rivals on a day to remember in the Pyrenees.

Results :
1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 5:35:02
2 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:01:40
3 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:03:22
4 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
5 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:03:58
6 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:04:18
7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Sharp 0:06:08
8 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre – ISD
9 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team
10 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:06:11
11 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:07:09
12 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
13 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
14 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:07
15 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
16 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
17 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
18 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
19 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team
20 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
21 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:08:48
22 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
23 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:10:01
24 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:10:46
25 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
26 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar
27 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:10:54
28 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
29 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team
30 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
31 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
32 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
33 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
34 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
35 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:11:56
36 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
37 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
38 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
39 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
40 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
41 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
42 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
43 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
44 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:14:07
45 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team 0:14:17
46 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:15:17
47 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team
48 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale
49 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
50 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:15:54
51 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
52 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos-Shimano
53 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:16:38
54 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:18:01
55 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
56 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 0:20:25
57 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
58 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
59 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team 0:21:17
60 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team
61 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 0:21:31
62 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:22:14
63 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:22:15
64 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
65 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
66 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Sharp
67 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team
68 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
69 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
70 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
71 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
72 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
73 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
74 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
75 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
76 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team
77 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos-Shimano
78 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:24:57
79 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD 0:26:20
80 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:27:33
81 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
82 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
83 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
84 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan
85 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
86 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
87 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
88 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
89 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
90 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
91 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
92 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
93 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
94 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
95 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
96 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
97 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
98 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
99 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
100 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
101 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
102 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
103 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin – Sharp
104 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
105 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos-Shimano
106 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
107 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
108 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
109 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team
110 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
111 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
112 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team 0:27:54
113 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
114 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:30:11
115 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
116 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Sharp
117 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 0:30:38
118 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
119 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
120 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
121 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
122 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
123 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 0:33:04
124 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale
125 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
126 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
127 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
128 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
129 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
130 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
131 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
132 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Sharp
133 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Sharp
134 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
135 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
136 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
137 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
138 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano
139 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
140 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
141 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
142 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team
143 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
144 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
145 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
146 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team
147 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team
148 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling
149 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
150 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
151 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:33:52
152 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
DNS Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan
DNF Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD
DNF Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team

General Classification after Stage 16 :
1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 74:15:32
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:02:05
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:23
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:05:46
5 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 0:07:13
6 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:07:55
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:08:06
8 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:09:09
9 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:10:10
10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:11:43
11 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:47
12 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:13:14
13 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:13:39
14 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:14:43
15 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:20:12
16 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:21:06
17 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:21:26
18 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:21:41
19 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:22:47
20 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:24:20
21 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:33:57
22 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:35:11
23 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:37:19
24 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:42:43
25 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:44:37
26 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:46:27
27 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:46:29
28 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:48:22
29 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:51:02
30 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:52:11
31 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:53:21
32 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:53:41
33 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:55:38
34 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team 0:59:38
35 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 1:00:44
36 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:02:38
37 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 1:09:11
38 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:09:42
39 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:09:51
40 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:11:27
41 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 1:11:36
42 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 1:16:43
43 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 1:18:26
44 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:18:49
45 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 1:19:09
46 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Sharp 1:19:38
47 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:20:14
48 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team 1:21:57
49 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 1:23:13
50 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Sharp 1:24:22
51 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 1:25:18
52 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 1:26:52
53 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:27:05
54 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:28:30
55 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:29:52
56 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team 1:30:31
57 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:31:16
58 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:31:32
59 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:32:52
60 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:33:03
61 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 1:33:53
62 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 1:33:57
63 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 1:35:21
64 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:35:25
65 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:36:42
66 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team 1:36:46
67 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:37:35
68 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:38:47
69 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:39:43
70 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:40:39
71 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD 1:42:19
72 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre – ISD 1:44:38
73 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:46:31
74 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team 1:47:18
75 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:48:29
76 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan 1:49:39
77 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 1:53:11
78 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 1:53:44
79 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:56:19
80 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:56:33
81 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 1:57:00
82 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:57:43
83 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling 1:58:29
84 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:59:57
85 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 2:00:13
86 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD 2:00:34
87 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar 2:02:42
88 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 2:03:30
89 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:07:12
90 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:07:35
91 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:07:57
92 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 2:08:19
93 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Sharp 2:09:05
94 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:10:45
95 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:11:32
96 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:12:24
97 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team 2:12:47
98 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:14:02
99 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 2:14:05
100 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:14:56
101 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:15:19
102 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:15:36
103 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:16:08
104 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 2:16:24
105 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Sharp 2:16:45
106 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 2:16:47
107 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano 2:17:13
108 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:19:07
109 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team 2:20:27
110 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:20:47
111 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:21:34
112 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:22:15
113 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos-Shimano 2:23:13
114 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:23:41
115 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:24:17
116 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:26:48
117 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:27:33
118 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 2:27:54
119 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team 2:28:04
120 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:29:26
121 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 2:29:33
122 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:30:59
123 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:32:21
124 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team 2:32:35
125 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 2:33:56
126 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team 2:34:12
127 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:35:02
128 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:35:08
129 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:36:55
130 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:37:21
131 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:37:59
132 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano 2:39:28
133 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 2:40:58
134 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:41:36
135 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:41:42
136 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 2:43:25
137 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 2:43:48
138 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos-Shimano 2:44:46
139 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 2:45:41
140 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:46:10
141 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:48:01
142 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano 2:49:30
143 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling 2:50:33
144 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling 2:50:38
145 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 2:50:53
146 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:56:19
147 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:57:50
148 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos-Shimano 2:58:28
149 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team 3:00:40
150 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin – Sharp 3:01:11
151 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 3:09:41
152 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Sharp 3:13:24