No reward for Barredo after strong ride in Pyrenees
After a fantastic stage in the Pyrenees Carlos Barredo just missed the stage win in stage 16. Barredo and Jurgen van de Walle were in a breakaway of 10 riders. On the Col d`Aubisque Barredo attacked several times, but the other escapees didn`t let him go. Aftert the descent Barredo attacked again with 44 kilometres to go. The Spaniard immediately took a 20 seconds lead, but the chasers didn`t give up and tried to close the gap. Barredo hang on for a long time, but with 1 kilometre to go he was reeled in after a fantastic ride. Fedrigo took the stage win, Van de Walle finished 7th. Barredo got the prize of most combative rider.
War from the start
From the start it immediately went uphill to the summit of the Peyresourde (1st category). Several riders tried to launch an early breakaway, in the back the riders were dropping from the peloton. Sylvain Chavanel was one of the victims who had to let go early in the stage, but Kevin de Weert was also in trouble. After the Peyresourde was beaten the Col d`Aspin was there right away. This first category climb was used for another serie of attacks. Carlos Barredo was involved in some of the attempts, but it wasn`t possible to make a decisive gap. With the Col d`Aspin left behind and the Tourmalet in sight an escape group managed to get away. Amongst the escapees was Jurgen van de Walle, but also Lance Armstrong, Christophe Moreau and Damiano Cunego. Barredo definitely wanted to do well in the stage while he chased the front group. On the slopes of the Tourmalet he bridged the gap with Horner and Plaza in his wheel. There were 10 riders in the front then.
Peloton lets them go
The peloton with the main contenders and Kevin de Weert let the 10 escapees go. On the summit of the Tourmalet the gap was 4 minutes, in the descent to the foot of the Col d`Aubisque the gap was increased till 7 minutes. On the slopes of the d`Aubisque Barredo attacked several times to splinter the lead group. His attempts didn`t succeed, but the gap with the peloton grew till 10 minutes. In the descent the leaders stayed together, but when the descent was over it was Barredo who attacked again.
Very strong Barredo
With 44 kilometres to go Barredo went on solo. The other escapees didn`t react, so Barredo established a lead of 45 seconds quickly. Then his former companions start chasing, while Barredo was hanging on in the front. With 15 kilometres Barredo`s adventure seemed to be over, the escapees were only 11 seconds behind. However Barredo didn`t gave up and managed to increase his gap again. In the final kilometres things seem to work out for our Spaniard, but still the chasers were closing by. Just before he reached the final kilometre Barredo`s attempt was over when the chasers reeled him in. Van de Walle immediately reacted with an surprise attack in the final kilometre, but his attempt was countered by Moreau. So the stage ended in a sprint of 8 riders. Fedrigo was the fastest in the sprint and took the stage win in front of Casar and Plaza. Van de Walle finished 7th, Barredo 9th at 28 seconds. After the finish there was a little prize left for Barredo, he was crowned most combative rider of this stage. The peloton with Kevin de Weert and Jerome Pineau finished 7 minutes back. Tomorrow the riders will enjoy a rest day, Thursday the final stage in the Pyrenees will be on schedule.
Result stage 16
1. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra)
2. Sandy Casar (Fra)
3. Ruben Plaza (Esp)
7. Jurgen van de Walle (Bel)
9. Carlos Barredo (Esp) 0.28
33. Kevin de Weert (Bel) 6.45
54. Jerome Pineau (Fra)
64. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) 23.42
105. Maarten Wynants (Bel) 34.48
106. Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel)
160. Dries Devenyns (Bel)
161. Francesco Reda (Ita)
Overall classification after stage 16
1. Alberto Contador (Esp)
2. Andy Schleck (Lux) 0.08
3. Samuel Sanchez (Esp) 2.00
19. Kevin de Weert (Bel) 14.07
32. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) 47.06
46. Carlos Barredo (Esp) 1:15.50
54. Jurgen van de Walle (Bel) 1:26.26
57. Jerome Pineau (Fra) 1:29.47
125. Maarten Wynants (Bel) 2:54.05
130. Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) 2:57.02
145. Dries Devenyns (Bel) 3:08.45
149. Francesco Reda (Ita) 3:12.02
Points classification after stage 16
1. Thor Hushovd (Noo) 191 points
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) 187
3. Mark Cavendish (GB) 162
16. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) 73
41. Carlos Barredo (Esp) 34
61. Jurgen van de Walle (Bel) 23
64. Dries Devenyns (Bel) 22
65. Kevin de Weert (Bel) 19
89. Maarten Wynants (Bel) 12
93. Francesco Reda (Ita) 12
112. Jerome Pineau (Fra) 4
Mountain classification after stage 16
1. Anthony Charteau (Fra) 143 points
2. Christophe Moreau (Fra) 128
3. Damiano Cunego (Ita) 99
5. Jerome Pineau (Fra) 92
15. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) 47
18. Jurgen van de Walle (Bel) 42
25. Carlos Barredo (Esp) 38
34. Dries Devenyns (Bel) 29
67. Francesco Reda (Ita) 5
Youth classification after stage 16
1. Andy Schleck (Lux)
2. Robert Gesink (Ned) 4.53
3. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) 7.50
25. Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) 2:56.54
Team classification after stage 16
1. Radioshack
2. Caisse d`Epargne 4.27
3. Rabobank 30.53
7. Team Quick Step 53.06