2008 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21

Cycling race stages thumb|350px|Stages in 2008 These are the profiles for the individual stages in the 2008 Tour de France, with Stage 12 on 17 July, and Stage 21 on 27 July. Stages Stage 12 thumb|right|Stage 12 profile 17 July 2008 — Lavelanet to Narbonne, 168 km This stage featured one fourth category climb over the Col du Camperié east of Axat after 111 km, before a long rapid descent to Narbonne, which was expected to give the sprinters the chance to demonstrate their skills. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1200/etape_par_etape.html Stage 12 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20080714122021/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1200/etape_par_etape.html 14 July 2008 dead dmy-all The day began with news of the withdrawal from the Tour of the Saunier Duval–Scott team after their leader Riccardo Riccò, who was top of both the King of the Mountains and Young Riders' categories, had failed a blood test taken at the end of Stage 4. At the 40 kilometer mark, Samuel Dumoulin and Arnaud Gérard broke away, and attained a maximum advantage of 4 minutes. Juan José Oroz joined them at the 113 kilometer mark. The peloton didn't let them get very much of a lead, keeping the time gap at around a minute and a half for most of the race, until the catch occurred with about 9 kilometers to go. A bunched sprint saw Mark Cavendish win his third stage this tour. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1200/journal_etape.html Cavendish: The King of the Sprint www.letour.fr 2008-07-17 2008-07-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20080718030719/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1200/journal_etape.html 18 July 2008 dead dmy-all Stage 12 result RankRiderTeamTime1Mark Cavendish GBRTHR 2008b 3 h 40 min 52 s 2Sébastien Chavanel FRAFDJ 2008 s.t. 3Gert Steegmans BELQST 2008 s.t. 4Erik Zabel GERMRM 2008 s.t. 5Óscar Freire ESP 20px|Freire wore the green jersey as points classification leader during this stageRAB 2008 s.t. 6Francesco Chicchi ITALIQ 2008 s.t. 7Thor Hushovd NORC.A 2008 s.t. 8Leonardo Duque COLCOF 2008 s.t. 9Julian Dean NZLGRM 2008b s.t. 10Heinrich Haussler GERGST 2008 s.t.General classification after stage 12 RankRiderTeamTime1Cadel Evans AUS20px|Evans was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSIL 2008 50 h 23 min 05 s 2Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 1 s 3Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 38 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUTGST 2008 + 46 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 57 s 6Carlos Sastre ESPSAX 2008b + 1 min 28 s 7Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 1 min 56 s 8Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 2 min 32 s 9Mikel Astarloza ESPEUS 2008 + 3 min 51 s 10ITA Vincenzo Nibali 20px|Nibali was awarded the white jersey as youth classification leader after this stageLIQ 2008 + 4 min 18 s Stage 13 thumb|right|Stage 13 profile 18 July 2008 — Narbonne to Nîmes, 182 km A series of fourth category climbs took the riders through Languedoc, before the run into Nîmes on this transitional stage before the riders move into the Alps. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1300/etape_par_etape.html Stage 13 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20080714122026/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1300/etape_par_etape.html 14 July 2008 dead dmy-all This stage was remarkably similar to the one from the day before. An early breakaway, by Niki Terpstra and Florent Brard led almost the entire day until being caught in the final 10 kilometers. Another bunched sprint saw Mark Cavendish win yet again, but beyond that, eight of the top ten placed riders were the same both days, with three (including Cavendish) in the same exact position. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1300/journal_etape.html Mark Cavendish – "I didn't die..." www.letour.fr 2008-07-18 2008-07-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20080719075548/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1300/journal_etape.html 19 July 2008 dead dmy-all Cavendish became the first sprinter to win four stages at a single Tour de France since Alessandro Petacchi did so in 2003,http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18072008/58/tour-de-france-cavendish-hits-four.html Tour de France – Back-to-back Cavendish hits four eurosport 2008-07-18 2008-07-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20080729012203/http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18072008/58/tour-de-france-cavendish-hits-four.html 2008-07-29 live although Lance Armstrong won five of the last eight stages in the 2004 Tour de France including two individual time trials and three mountain stages. Stage 13 result RankRiderTeamTime1Mark Cavendish GBRTHR 2008b 4 h 25 min 42 s 2Robbie McEwen AUSSIL 2008 s.t. 3Romain Feillu FRAAGR 2008 s.t. 4Heinrich Haussler GERGST 2008 s.t. 5Óscar Freire ESP 20px|Freire wore the green jersey as points classification leader during this stageRAB 2008 s.t. 6Thor Hushovd NORC.A 2008 s.t. 7Leonardo Duque COLCOF 2008 s.t. 8Erik Zabel GERMRM 2008 s.t. 9Julian Dean NZLGRM 2008b s.t. 10Sébastien Chavanel FRAFDJ 2008 s.t.General classification after stage 13 RankRiderTeamTime1Cadel Evans AUS20px|Evans was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSIL 2008 54 h 48 min 47 s 2Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 1 s 3Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 38 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUTGST 2008 + 46 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 57 s 6Carlos Sastre ESPSAX 2008b + 1 min 28 s 7Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 1 min 56 s 8Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 2 min 32 s 9Mikel Astarloza ESPEUS 2008 + 3 min 51 s 10Vincenzo Nibali ITA 20px|Nibali was awarded the white jersey as youth classification leader after this stageLIQ 2008 + 4 min 18 s Stage 14 19 July 2008 — Nîmes to Digne-les-Bains, 194.5 km thumb|right|Stage 14 profile The race approached the Alps through the Vaucluse department crossing two fourth category climbs before dropping down to Digne-les-Bains. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/etape_par_etape.html Stage 14 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20080714122036/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/etape_par_etape.html 14 July 2008 dead dmy-all A break of 21 riders, with representatives from all but three of the teams, moved away after 5 km. Only four riders remained clear by the 41st kilometer; Bram Tankink, Sandy Casar, William Bonnet and José Iván Gutiérrez. They were eventually caught on the last climb, and on the descent there were many splits in the field. Of many attempted breaks on the descent towards the finish, Sylvain Chavanel came closest to success, but the stage again finished in a sprint. Cavendish had been dropped from the peloton on the climb, and points classification leader Óscar Freire won the sprint. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/journal_etape.html Freire Gets There In First! www.letour.fr 2008-07-19 2008-07-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20080720153104/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/journal_etape.html 20 July 2008 dead dmy-all Stage 14 result RankRiderTeamTime1Óscar Freire ESP20px|Freire wore the green jersey as points classification leader during this stageRAB 2008 4 h 13 min 08 s 2Leonardo Duque COLCOF 2008 s.t. 3Erik Zabel GERMRM 2008 s.t. 4Julian Dean NZLGRM 2008b s.t. 5Steven de Jongh NEDQST 2008 s.t. 6Alessandro Ballan ITALAM 2008 s.t. 7Rubén Pérez ESPEUS 2008 s.t. 8Jérôme Pineau FRABBO 2008 s.t. 9Matteo Tosatto ITAQST 2008 s.t. 10Thor Hushovd NORC.A 2008 s.t.General classification after stage 14 RankRiderTeamTime1Cadel Evans AUS20px|Evans was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSIL 2008 59 h 01 min 55 s 2Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 1 s 3Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 38 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUTGST 2008 + 46 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 57 s 6Carlos Sastre ESPSAX 2008b + 1 min 28 s 7Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 1 min 56 s 8Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 2 min 32 s 9Mikel Astarloza ESPEUS 2008 + 3 min 51 s 10Vincenzo Nibali ITA 20px|Nibali was awarded the white jersey as youth classification leader after this stageLIQ 2008 + 4 min 18 s Stage 15 20 July 2008 — Embrun to Prato Nevoso (Italy), 183 km thumb|right|Stage 15 profile The 15th stage was due to start at Digne-les-Bains but due to the risk of rock falls in the climb up the Col de Larche, the organisers decided to modify the itinerary. The stage started instead from Embrun and headed to Prato Nevoso, crossing into Italy via the climb over the hors catégorie Col Agnel (2,744 m). The finish at Prato Nevoso is rated First Category with an 11.4 km climb at an average of 6.9%. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1500/etape_par_etape.html Stage 15 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20080714121529/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1500/etape_par_etape.html 14 July 2008 dead dmy-all The road conditions at the start in Embrun were terrible, with consistent rain soaking the road. After several attempts earlier, Egoi Martínez, José Luis Arrieta, Danny Pate, and Simon Gerrans broke away from the peloton at the 12 kilometer mark, just before the first intermediate sprint. The peloton was content to let them go up the Col Agnel well ahead, as their maximum advantage was almost fourteen minutes before the summit. When the peloton's relatively lax pace finally quickened, the autobus formed in back of it on the way up the Col Agnel. Martinez was the first over the top. The peloton consolidated on the descent, but for an unusual reason – Robert Hunter and Óscar Pereiro clipped wheels and crashed, with Pereiro dramatically tumbling through a barricade from one section of the road down to a lower section. This happened at the front of the main group, and afterwards for several kilometers the peloton slowed nearly to the pace they'd had in the rain-soaked neutral zone. The time gap to the four leaders rose from eleven and a half to over seventeen minutes in this time. Pereiro broke his arm in the crash, and had to abandon. The field similarly slowed, affording more time to the breakaway, after a crash (which involved Christian Vande Velde, Damiano Cunego, Vincenzo Nibali, Sebastian Lang, and others) on both sides of a roundabout at the 60 kilometers to go mark. At that point, it was calculated that the peloton had no chance to catch the break, so the peloton stayed together, with the contenders poising to attack on the climb up to Prato Nevoso. Team CSC Saxo Bank set a blistering pace on the way up the Colle del Morte and again up to Prato Nevoso, splitting the field and trying to isolate Cadel Evans. The yellow jersey group thinned to ten riders, including the top six in the GC, as the CSC domestiques dropped off. On the way up to Prato Nevoso, Martinez attacked the other leaders and Arrieta was dropped. The favorites traded attacks and split as well on the way up. Gerrans won the sprint to the line. Bernhard Kohl, Carlos Sastre, Denis Menchov and Alejandro Valverde came clear of Evans' group on the way to the finish. Fränk Schleck came clear of Evans in the last 100m to claim the yellow jersey, with Kohl narrowly failing to have taken enough time out of them both. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1500/journal_etape.html Gerrans & Schleck the Winners of Dramatic Day! www.letour.fr 2008-07-20 2008-07-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20080720010842/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1500/journal_etape.html 20 July 2008 dead dmy-all Stage 15 result RankRiderTeamTime1Simon Gerrans AUSC.A 2008 4 h 50 min 44 s 2Egoi Martínez ESPEUS 2008 + 3 s 3Danny Pate USAGRM 2008b + 10 s 4José Luis Arrieta ESPALM 2008 + 55 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUTGST 2008 + 4 min 03 s 6Carlos Sastre ESPSAX 2008b + 4 min 03 s 7Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 4 min 12 s 8Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 4 min 23 s 9Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 4 min 41 s 10Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 4 min 43 sGeneral classification after stage 15 RankRiderTeamTime1Fränk Schleck LUX20px|Schleck was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSAX 2008b 63 h 57 min 21 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl was awarded the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader after this stageGST 2008 + 7 s 3Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 8 s 4Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 38 s 5Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 39 s 6Carlos Sastre ESPSAX 2008b + 49 s 7Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 2 min 48 s 8Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 3 min 36 s 9Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 4 min 11 s 10Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 4 min 34 s Rest Day 2 21 July 2008 Stage 16 22 July 2008 — Cuneo (Italy) to Jausiers, 157 km thumb|right|Stage 16 profile The race returned to France on this short stage, via the hors catégorie Col de la Lombarde and Col de la Bonette (the highest pass in Europe at over 2,800 m altitude), before a descent of more than 20 km. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1600/etape_par_etape.html Stage 16 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20080714084552/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1600/etape_par_etape.html 14 July 2008 dead dmy-all Five riders, Samuel Dumoulin, Christophe Le Mével, Sébastien Rosseler, and former classification leaders Stefan Schumacher and Thomas Voeckler came clear of the peloton after 42 kilometers. Twenty-four riders also came clear as a chase shortly thereafter, splitting the field well before the climb up the Col de la Lombarde began. Riders were dropped and attacked from the various groups and the field split into numerous fragments, until Schumacher was the only leader left. He stayed well clear of the trailing groups and actually gained time to be the first over the Lombarde. The others from the breakaway, aside from Schumacher, were eventually absorbed by the chases. The field split even more on the way up the Col de la Bonette, to the point where it was difficult to call any particular group the peloton. Christian Vande Velde was the first GC contender to be dropped from the yellow jersey group, cracked by the pacemaking being done by Andy Schleck. A chase group paced by Cyril Dessel and Yaroslav Popovych caught Schumacher some 3 kilometers before the summit of the Bonette. John-Lee Augustyn, attacked from this group shortly before the summit and was the first to reach the top. He later skidded off the road and tumbled down a steep decline on the dirt beside it, losing his bike. He had no choice but to wait for a service car with a spare machine, and thus lost the chance to rejoin the leading group. The leading group was whittled to four on the descent – Popovych, Dessel, David Arroyo and Sandy Casar. Denis Menchov was dropped from the yellow jersey group early on in the descent, and lost time. This brought Cadel Evans forward to make the pace in the yellow jersey group, to put as much time as possible between them and Menchov, since Menchov was likely Evans' biggest threat in the individual time trial that was to come and thus in all likelihood, for the Tour title itself. Popovych tried to open the sprint at just over 1 kilometer to go, but the others got him back. Dessel eventually took down the run to the line. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1600/journal_etape.html Dessel's Day After Dramatic Descent! www.letour.fr 2008-07-22 2008-07-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20080722115504/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1600/journal_etape.html 22 July 2008 dead dmy-all Stage 16 result RankRiderTeamTime1Cyril Dessel FRAALM 2008 4 h 31 min 27 s 2Sandy Casar FRAFDJ 2008 s.t. 3David Arroyo ESPGCE 2008 s.t. 4Yaroslav Popovych UKRSIL 2008 + 3 s 5George Hincapie USATHR 2008b + 24 s 6Nicolas Portal FRAGCE 2008 + 24 s 7Tadej Valjavec SLOALM 2008 + 24 s DSQStefan Schumacher GERGST 2008 + 1 min 03 s 9Andy Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 1 min 28 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl wore the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader during this stageGST 2008 + 1 min 28 sGeneral classification after stage 16 RankRiderTeamTime1Fränk Schleck LUX20px|Schleck was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSAX 2008b 68 h 30 min 16 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl was awarded the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader after this stageGerolsteiner + 7 s 3Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 8 s 4Carlos Sastre ESPSAX 2008b + 49 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 1 min 13 s 6Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 3 min 15 s 7Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 3 min 23 s 8Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 4 min 11 s 9Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 4 min 38 s 10Tadej Valjavec SLOALM 2008 + 5 min 23 s Stage 17 23 July 2008 — Embrun to Alpe d'Huez, 210 km thumb|right|Stage 17 profile This was the last stage before the race left the Alps, with three hors catégorie climbs of the Col du Galibier (2,645 m.), the Col de la Croix de Fer (2,067 m.) and the final climb up the Alpe d'Huez (1,850 m.). http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/etape_par_etape.html Stage 17 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20080713170055/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/etape_par_etape.html 13 July 2008 dead dmy-all At the very beginning of the day's racing a breakaway started, with Rémy Di Gregorio, Rubén Pérez and Peter Velits, joined later by Stefan Schumacher. With three major cols, the field inevitably became very fractured, but this group stayed clear of the main contenders for much of the day, with Schumacher first over the Galibier, and Velits taking the Croix de Fer. By the base of the Alpe d'Huez, only Velits and Jérôme Pineau were in front of the elite riders, whose group then numbered about 12. At the bottom of this final ascent of the day Carlos Sastre attacked twice, tagged by Menchov on the 1st go before eventually breaking clear. His fellow Team CSC Saxo Bank members in the group, Andy and Fränk Schleck worked to interrupt any counterattacks on the way up to Alpe d'Huez, and Sastre finished two minutes clear to claim yellow from the older Schleck brother, and establish a lead that he might be able to sustain in the time trial to follow. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/journal_etape.html Sastre the Seventh Leader After Commanding Performance! www.letour.fr 2008-07-23 2008-07-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20080724150329/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/journal_etape.html 24 July 2008 dead dmy-all Stage 17 result RankRiderTeamTime1Carlos Sastre ESPSAX 2008b 6 h 07 min 58 s 2Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 2 min 03 s 3Andy Schleck LUX 20px|Schleck wore the white jersey as youth classification leader during this stageSAX 2008b + 2 min 03 s 4Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 2 min 13 s 5Fränk Schleck LUX 20px|Schleck wore the yellow jersey as general classification leader during this stageSAX 2008b + 2 min 13 s 6Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 2 min 15 s 7Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 2 min 15 s 8Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 2 min 15 s 9Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 2 min 15 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl wore the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader during this stageGST 2008 + 2 min 15 sGeneral classification after stage 17 RankRiderTeamTime1Carlos Sastre ESP20px|Sastre was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSAX 2008b 74 h 39 min 03 s 2Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 1 min 24 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl was awarded the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader after this stageGST 2008 + 1 min 33 s 4Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 1 min 34 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 2 min 39 s 6Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 4 min 41 s 7Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 5 min 35 s 8Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 5 min 52 s 9Tadej Valjavec SLOALM 2008 + 8 min 10 s 10Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 8 min 24 s Stage 18 24 July 2008 — Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Étienne, 197 km thumb|right|Stage 18 profile The race left the Alps and headed towards central France, with three rated climbs, including the second category Croix de Montvieux (811 m.) at 33 km from the finish. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1800/etape_par_etape.html Stage 18 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20080722082227/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1800/etape_par_etape.html 22 July 2008 dead dmy-all At 30 kilometers in, Alexander Bocharov and Damiano Cunego crashed, with Cunego falling face-first into a road obstruction. He lay on the road for seven minutes before remounting his bike, falling ten minutes behind the peloton, with four teammates remaining with him for the rest of the stage. After 68 km, Carlos Barredo made a break, prompting a reaction from Marcus Burghardt and Christophe Le Mével. After 81 km, Burghardt caught up with Barredo, meanwhile, Mikel Astarloza and Romain Feillu joined Le Mével, about four minutes behind the leaders. These time gaps held up to the start of the Croix de Montvieux, at which point the breakaway appeared uncatchable. The four main groups on the road continued up the final climb with time gaps remaining relatively unchanged. Barredo and Burghardt traded several attacks to the top of this climb and after it but Burghardt won a late, tense dash to the line. Feillu lead the next group home for third place, while an attack by Roman Kreuziger, an attempt to gain time on young rider classification leader Andy Schleck, resulted in a group of five riders including both Schleck and Kreuziger finishing some 20 seconds in front of the peloton. Cunego and his team-mates finished last, with Cunego dropping six places to twentieth in the general classification. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1800/journal_etape.html Burghardt vs Barredo: A Bout Between Two www.letour.fr 2008-07-24 2008-07-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20080724183533/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1800/journal_etape.html 24 July 2008 dead dmy-all Stage 18 result RankRiderTeamTime1Marcus Burghardt GERTHR 2008b 4 h 30 min 21 s DSQCarlos Barredo ESPQST 2008 s.t. 3Romain Feillu FRAAGR 2008 + 3 min 33 s 4Christophe Le Mével FRAC.A 2008 + 3 min 33 s 5Mikel Astarloza ESPEUS 2008 + 3 min 35 s 6Samuel Dumoulin FRACOF 2008 + 6 min 39 s 7Cyril Dessel FRAALM 2008 + 6 min 39 s 8Roman Kreuziger CZELIQ 2008 + 6 min 39 s 9Leif Hoste BELSIL 2008 + 6 min 39 s 10Andy Schleck LUX 20px|Schleck wore the white jersey as youth classification leader during this stageSAX 2008b + 6 min 39 sGeneral classification after stage 18 RankRiderTeamTime1Carlos Sastre ESP20px|Sastre was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSAX 2008b 79 h 16 min 14 s 2Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 1 min 24 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl was awarded the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader after this stageGST 2008 + 1 min 33 s 4Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 1 min 34 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 2 min 39 s 6Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 4 min 41 s 7Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 5 min 35 s 8Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 5 min 52 s 9Tadej Valjavec SLOALM 2008 + 8 min 10 s 10Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 8 min 24 s Stage 19 25 July 2008 — Roanne to Montluçon, 165.5 km thumb|right|Stage 19 profile After two rated climbs in the first 42 km, this was an undulating route through the Allier department. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1900/etape_par_etape.html Stage 19 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20080722002519/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1900/etape_par_etape.html 22 July 2008 dead dmy-all A four-man group, made up of Stefan Schumacher, Egoi Martínez, Alessandro Ballan and Pierrick Fédrigo, moved away from the peloton after 16 km and led over the climbs, but never got more than 1 min 5 s clear, and by 69 km the group had been caught. Nine kilometers later, Sylvain Chavanel made an attack, and Jérémy Roy bridged the gap to join him. This pair stayed clear for the rest of the stage, with Chavanel thereby becoming the rider to have spent the greatest distance in this tour as part of a breakaway. The group's maximum advantage of over five minutes was reduced to a little over one by the end of the stage, in which Chavanel held off Roy's sprint to win. The bunched sprint for the minor positions was won by the tour's youngest rider, Gerald Ciolek, but green jersey leader Óscar Freire gained enough points to all but ensure victory in that competition. All the main contenders for Tour victory remained in the peloton all day. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1900/journal_etape.html Sylvain Chavanel... Finally First! www.letour.fr 2008-07-25 2008-07-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20080724183557/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/1900/journal_etape.html 24 July 2008 dead dmy-all Stage 19 result RankRiderTeamTime1Sylvain Chavanel FRACOF 2008 3 h 37 min 09 s 2Jérémy Roy FRAFDJ 2008 s.t. 3Gerald Ciolek GERTHR 2008b + 1 min 13 s 4Erik Zabel GERMRM 2008 + 1 min 13 s 5Heinrich Haussler GERGST 2008 + 1 min 13 s 6Leonardo Duque COLCOF 2008 + 1 min 13 s 7Filippo Pozzato ITALIQ 2008 + 1 min 13 s 8Thor Hushovd NORC.A 2008 + 1 min 13 s 9Robert Förster GERGST 2008 + 1 min 13 s 10Julian Dean NZLGRM 2008b + 1 min 13 sGeneral classification after stage 19 RankRiderTeamTime1ESP Carlos Sastre20px|Sastre was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSAX 2008b 82 h 54 min 36 s 2Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 1 min 24 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl was awarded the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader after this stageGST 2008 + 1 min 33 s 4Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 1 min 34 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 2 min 39 s 6Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 4 min 41 s 7Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 5 min 35 s 8Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 5 min 52 s 9Tadej Valjavec SLOALM 2008 + 8 min 10 s 10Vladimir Efimkin RUSALM 2008 + 8 min 24 s Stage 20 26 July 2008 — Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, 53 km (ITT) thumb|right|Stage 20 profile The second and final individual time trial followed rolling roads in the Allier and Cher departments. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/2000/etape_par_etape.html Stage 20 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20080722082232/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/2000/etape_par_etape.html 22 July 2008 dead dmy-all Despite the work he had done for his team in the Alps, two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara had the legs to set the first true time to beat, nearly two minutes clear of early leader Sebastian Lang at the intermediate time checks and the finish. Stefan Schumacher, winner of the first time trial in the Tour, exactly tied Cancellara at the first time check and caught Sylwester Szmyd, who started two minutes before him, after only 18 kilometers. He came 14 seconds clear of Cancellara at the third time check and finished 21 seconds better than the world champion at the line. Roman Kreuziger took back over a minute from Andy Schleck in the race for the white jersey over the first two time checks, but missed winning the jersey at the end. Fränk Schleck seemed to be in poor form, losing considerable time as well as four places. Cadel Evans was unable to gain the time he needed on Carlos Sastre to regain yellow. Bernhard Kohl rode an unexpectedly good time trial, gaining slightly on Sastre and riding almost identically to Evans at the first two time checks, despite having fallen off the starthouse ramp before his ride began. Sastre was consistent and strong, riding one of his best ever time trials, catching Fränk Schleck and riding well enough to keep his yellow jersey for the ride to Paris. Stage 20 result RankRiderTeamTime DSQStefan Schumacher GERGST 2008 1 h 03 min 50 s1Fabian Cancellara SUISAX 2008b 1h 04 min 11 s 2Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 40 s 3Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 44 s 4David Millar GBRGRM 2008b + 1 min 16 s 5Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 1 min 34 s 6Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 1 min 44 s 7Sebastian Lang GERGST 2008 + 1 min 58 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl wore the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader during this stageGST 2008 + 2 min 00 s 9George Hincapie USATHR 2008b + 2 min 07 sGeneral classification after stage 20 RankRiderTeamTime1Carlos Sastre ESP20px|Sastre was awarded the yellow jersey as general classification leader after this stageSAX 2008b 84 h 01 min 00 s 2Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 1 min 05 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl was awarded the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader after this stageGST 2008 + 1 min 20 s 4Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 2 min 00 s 5Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 3 min 12 s 6Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 4 min 28 s 7Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 6 min 32 s 8Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 7 min 02 s 9Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 7 min 26 s 10Tadej Valjavec SLOALM 2008 + 9 min 12 s Stage 21 27 July 2008 — Étampes to Paris Champs-Élysées, 143 km thumb|right|Stage 21 profile Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France This was a hilly course to Paris winding through the Chevreuse Valley before the traditional loop on the Champs-Élysées, Place de la Concorde and the Rue de Rivoli. Once again, the remaining sprinters completed the stage. http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/2100/etape_par_etape.html Stage 21 route map and profile www.letour.fr 2008-07-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20080722010311/http://www.letour.fr/2008/TDF/LIVE/us/2100/etape_par_etape.html 22 July 2008 dead dmy-all In keeping with tradition, the peloton took it easy on the way to the Champs-Élysées, with many riders taking time to smile for the cameras and enjoy some champagne courtesy of the team car of the victorious Team CSC Saxo Bank. Atop bicycles with new yellow handlebars, Team CSC led the field onto Champs-Élysées for the eight circuits over the famous cobblestone way. Beginning at the end of the first circuit, numerous riders tried to break away from the field, but none succeeded, and a classic bunched sprint saw Gert Steegmans win the race to the line. The field split in this final sprint, resulting in shifts of a few seconds in the final general classification. Stage 21 result RankRiderTeamTime1Gert Steegmans BELQST 2008 3 h 51 min 38 s 2Gerald Ciolek GERTHR 2008b s.t. 3Óscar Freire ESP 20px|Freire wore the green jersey as points classification leader during this stageRAB 2008 s.t. 4Robbie McEwen AUSSIL 2008 s.t. 5Thor Hushovd NORC.A 2008 s.t. 6Julian Dean NZLGRM 2008b s.t. DSQStefan Schumacher GERGST 2008 s.t. 8Robert Förster GERGST 2008 s.t. 9Leonardo Duque COLCOF 2008 s.t. 10Robert Hunter RSABAR 2008 s.t.Final General Classification RankRiderTeamTime1Carlos Sastre ESP20px|Sastre was awarded the final yellow jersey as general classification winner after this stageSAX 2008b 87 h 52 min 52 s 2Cadel Evans AUSSIL 2008 + 58 s DSQBernhard Kohl AUT 20px|Kohl was awarded the final polka dot jersey as mountains classification winner after this stageGST 2008 + 1 min 13 s 3Denis Menchov RUSRAB 2008 + 2 min 10 s 4Christian Vande Velde USAGRM 2008b + 3 min 05 s 5Fränk Schleck LUXSAX 2008b + 4 min 28 s 6Samuel Sánchez ESPEUS 2008 + 6 min 25 s 7Kim Kirchen LUXTHR 2008b + 6 min 55 s 8Alejandro Valverde ESPGCE 2008 + 7 min 12 s 9Tadej Valjavec SLOALM 2008 + 9 min 05 s References 30em 2008 Tour de France 1 11 12 21 Stage 12 To Stage 21 Category:Tour de France stages