A bunch of thunder and lightening rolled in this evening just as I was about to head out on a ride. I can't muster the determination to hop on the trainer at this point so blowing off the day's training.
News Item of the Day: Alexandre Vinokourov won Thursday's fourth stage, breaking clear of Jose Angel Gomez Marchante 300 metres from the summit of Mont Ventoux to land the treasured prize. Levi Leipheimer maintained his overall lead, arriving 46' off the Kazakh's pace, nine seconds behind compatriot Lance Armstrong.
The T-Mobile pocket Hercules, along with Saunier's Gomez, broke clear of a select group riders - including big name favourites Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis and race leader Levi Leipheimer - with five kilometres until the finish. Having caught Davitamon's Wim Van Huffel - the sole remanding rider from an initial seven-man break away on the flat before the uphill finale - the two riders rode clear with a couple of kilometres to go. But the solid man from Kazakhstan proved his condition three weeks ahead of the Tour de France by sprinting ahead with 300 metres left and record a superb victory. Vinoukorov finished six seconds ahead of the Spaniard, with Belgium's Van Huffel coming home a further ten seconds back.
The victory was all the more sweet for Vinokourov seeing that he narrowly missed out on the prize back in 1999 to American rider Jonathan Vaughters. The win was a further relief for Vinokourov who finished a disappointing fifth in Wednesday's individual time-trial, losing one minute to winner Santiago Botero (Phonak). Despite pre-stage claims of mountain strength, the Colombian, second after his fine performance against the clock, found the barren, windswept slopes of the Ventoux a tad demanding and finished 16th, almost three minutes off the pace.
Armstrong, who tipped compatriot Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) for victory prior to the stage, finished fourth, leading a trio including Credit Agricole's Andrey Kashechkin and Phonak's Floyd Landis over the line, 37 seconds in arrears. It was a solid performance for the American who, warming up for his attempt to win a seventh consecutive Tour de France, managed to fight his way back into the group after dropping behind on two separate occasions. Armstrong's showing confirmed that physically he is improving after he took third in Wednesday's individual time trial. Leipheimer finished in seventh, nine seconds behind compatriot Armstrong, to retain the leader's yellow and blue jersey. The Texan is now second overall, trailing Leipheimer by 21 seconds.
After a rather less demanding 219-km fifth stage from Vaison-la-Romaine to Grenoble on Friday, Armstrong will face a last real test in Saturday's gruelling sixth stage between Albertville and Morzine. The penultimate stage of the Dauphine Libere includes three first category climbs and finishes in Joux Plane, a mountain pass on which the American suffered one of his worst days on the Tour in 2001.
Viewpoint: Just as I predicted a couple days ago. Vino would win the Ventoux stage. :)
News Item of the Day: Alexandre Vinokourov won Thursday's fourth stage, breaking clear of Jose Angel Gomez Marchante 300 metres from the summit of Mont Ventoux to land the treasured prize. Levi Leipheimer maintained his overall lead, arriving 46' off the Kazakh's pace, nine seconds behind compatriot Lance Armstrong.
The T-Mobile pocket Hercules, along with Saunier's Gomez, broke clear of a select group riders - including big name favourites Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis and race leader Levi Leipheimer - with five kilometres until the finish. Having caught Davitamon's Wim Van Huffel - the sole remanding rider from an initial seven-man break away on the flat before the uphill finale - the two riders rode clear with a couple of kilometres to go. But the solid man from Kazakhstan proved his condition three weeks ahead of the Tour de France by sprinting ahead with 300 metres left and record a superb victory. Vinoukorov finished six seconds ahead of the Spaniard, with Belgium's Van Huffel coming home a further ten seconds back.
The victory was all the more sweet for Vinokourov seeing that he narrowly missed out on the prize back in 1999 to American rider Jonathan Vaughters. The win was a further relief for Vinokourov who finished a disappointing fifth in Wednesday's individual time-trial, losing one minute to winner Santiago Botero (Phonak). Despite pre-stage claims of mountain strength, the Colombian, second after his fine performance against the clock, found the barren, windswept slopes of the Ventoux a tad demanding and finished 16th, almost three minutes off the pace.
Armstrong, who tipped compatriot Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) for victory prior to the stage, finished fourth, leading a trio including Credit Agricole's Andrey Kashechkin and Phonak's Floyd Landis over the line, 37 seconds in arrears. It was a solid performance for the American who, warming up for his attempt to win a seventh consecutive Tour de France, managed to fight his way back into the group after dropping behind on two separate occasions. Armstrong's showing confirmed that physically he is improving after he took third in Wednesday's individual time trial. Leipheimer finished in seventh, nine seconds behind compatriot Armstrong, to retain the leader's yellow and blue jersey. The Texan is now second overall, trailing Leipheimer by 21 seconds.
After a rather less demanding 219-km fifth stage from Vaison-la-Romaine to Grenoble on Friday, Armstrong will face a last real test in Saturday's gruelling sixth stage between Albertville and Morzine. The penultimate stage of the Dauphine Libere includes three first category climbs and finishes in Joux Plane, a mountain pass on which the American suffered one of his worst days on the Tour in 2001.
Viewpoint: Just as I predicted a couple days ago. Vino would win the Ventoux stage. :)
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