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STAGE 6: GIRONA (SPAIN) - BARCELONA (SPAIN), 181.5 KM: TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 6: THOR STRIKES IN SPAIN
By Chris Henry in Barcelona
July 9, 2009
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Hushovd takes his seventh Tour de France stage win
(Photo; Roberto Bettini)
The
Tour de France has visited Spain on numerous occasions, but never
before has an entire stage been held on Spanish roads. Today the Tour
tackled 181-kilometers from Girona to Barcelona, the final stage before
the race heads inland to the Pyrenees mountains. This was also the
first day that the rain made an appearance on the route du Tour
following an opening week of blazing sun and tough winds in the
Camargue region the past two days. Taking advantage of a technical,
uphill finish, tough Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) powered
to his seventh career Tour stage victory, out muscling Oscar Freire
(Rabobank) and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) in the shadow of
the 1992 Olympic stadium.
"I knew I could do something in this sprint and I said that a long
time ago," Hushovd explained after his victory. "It's true that it was
a nervous finish because it was raining and the roads were very
slippery. I was in front and I was afraid of Oscar Freire, but luckily
I was able to win today."
Indeed, Freire was strong in the finale but found himself at the
front before a final kick up to the line, neither prepared to launch
his full sprint nor take the right wheel for a leadout. Hushoved
stormed up the right side of the road and held off the three-time world
champion Freire by more than a bike length.
 Hushovd celebrates his first stage win of the 2009 Tour de France (Photo: Roberto Bettini)
"For me it's important to win races because that's what we train
for and why I come to the Tour de France," Hushovd said. "This is a new
team and it's our first Tour de France so it's also important to show
that we have something to do here. It's also important for me to show
the team why they have a couple guys here for me. Of course I also need
to support Carlos. Obviously I can never pull up the final climbs but
earlier on I can give him a hand."
Tackling several moderate climbs and dangerous descents in the rain
that set in halfway through the stage, the peloton cruised south from
the American outpost of Girona, where the majority of American European-based
pros make their second home. Some twenty riders from the
Garmin-Slipstream squad call Girona home, which no doubt explained why
the team was active from the early kilometers. David Zabriskie was the
first man to gain any real advantage although his escape was
short-lived. David Millar tried next, taking with him Sylvain Chavanel
(Quick Step) and Stéphane Augé (Cofidis). The trio quickly built up an
advantage, but it was modest and they had their work cut out for them.
Euskaltel-Euskadi's Amets Txurruka made a smart move to bridge from
the peloton to the leaders, but it wasn't long before the group of four
was back down to three. Sensing that he was the strongest of the three,
Millar eventually took off on his own with 29km remaining. Txurruka made
a late bid to chase but only the Scot could count himself as a
contender for victory at this point.
 Millar missed out on the stage win, but was awarded the most combative rider prize
(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
"I thought I had a chance, but when I got into the big boulevards
in the last 10km I knew that the peloton had a chance to get
organized," Millar commented on his adventure. "On the small roads I
had a chance but at 5km to go when the roads were wide and completely
flat, I knew I was done."
Millar both took risks on the slick descents and used his skills as
a time trial rider to great advantage, but in the end there was nothing
he could do to fend off the charging field. "I rode more with my
heart than with my head," he admitted, surprisingly content with his
unsuccessful bid for the stage glory. "This is really the heart and
home of the Garmin team so it was funny to start in our hometown. When
you race near your home you want to show yourselves, I think that's
normal."
 The wet roads caused several crashes in the final kilometers (Photo: Roberto Bettini)
On the slick Spanish roads, chaos reigned in the closing kilometers
as multiple crashes ended the chances of riders like Tom Boonen and
Heinrich Haussler. While most riders were able to remount and finish
the race, the field was diminished by the time it the slopes on the
Montjuich in Barcelona.
Rabobank's Denis Menchov once more failed to keep himself out of
trouble, caught behind a split in the peloton. The rest of the
contenders for the overall Tour title stayed largely up front and safe
from the crashes, prompting no notable change at the head of the
standings. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) enters into what he expects to
be his final day in yellow on Friday's ascent to Andorra.
"It was a beautiful week in the yellow jersey and I had some really
wonderful moments, so I'm ready to work," he said. Now it will be the
turn of his teammates Andy and Frank Schleck to crack the grip that
Team Astana holds on the top ten placings.
"Up until now the team has given me support so beginning tomorrow I will think about the team," Cancellara said graciously.
Stage 6: July 9, Girona to Barcelona
1. Thor Hushovd (NOR/CTT) 4hr 21min 33sec
2. Oscar Freire (SPA/RAB) @ s.t.
3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (SPA/GCE)
4. Gerald Ciolek (GER/MIL)
5. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/LIQ)
6. Filippo Pozatto (ITA/KAT)
7. Alessandro Ballan (ITA/LAM)
8. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM)
9. Cadel Evans (AUS/SIL)
10. Fabian Cancellara (SWI/SAX)
Overall Classification After Stage 6
1. Fabian Cancellara (SWI/SAX) 19hr 29min 22sec
2. Lance Armstrong (USA/AST) @ 0:00
3. Alberto Contador (ESP/AST) @ 0:19
4. Andreas Kloden (GER/AST) @ 0:23
5. Levi Leipheimer (USA/AST) @ 0:31
6. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/GRM) @ 0:38
7. Tony Martin (GER/THR) @ 0:52
8. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) @ 1:16
9. Gustav Larsson (SWE/SAX) @ 1:22
10. Maxime Monfort (BEL/THR) @ 1:29
Other Classifications
Green Jersey: Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC)
Polka Dot Jersey: Stéphane Augé (Cofidis)
White Jersey: Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC)
Teams: Astana
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