Tour de France 2008/18. stage

00000 Result of the 18th stage 00000
		Marcus Burghardt (THR)	4:30:21 h
2.		Carlos Barredo (EQS)	equal time
3.		Romain Feillu (AGR)	+ 3:33 min
4th		Christophe Le Mevel (CA)	equal time
5.		Mikel Astarloza (EUS)	+ 3:35 min
6th		Samuel Dumoulin (COF)	+ 6:39 min
7th		Cyril Dessel (ALM)	equal time
8th.		Roman Kreuziger (CAN)	equal time
9.		Leif Hoste (OLO)	equal time
10.		Andy Schleck (TNK)	equal time
		Marcus Burghardt (THR)
Intermediate results after the 18th stage
		Carlos Sastre (TNK)	79:16:14 h
2.		Frank Schleck (TNK)	+ 1:24 min
3.		Bernhard Kohl (GST)	+ 1:33 min
		Óscar Freire Gomez (TLJ)	229 pts.
2.		Thor Hushovd (CA)	180 pts.
3.		Erik Zabel (MRM)	176 pts.
		Bernhard Kohl (GST)	125 pts.
2.		Carlos Sastre (TNK)	80 pts.
3.		Frank Schleck (TNK)	80 pts.
		Andy Schleck (TNK)	79:26:18 h
2.		Roman Kreuziger (CAN)	+ 1:58 min
3.		Vincenzo Nibali (CAN)	+ 15:35 min
		Team CSC-Saxo Bank	237: 42: 06 h
2.		Ag2r	+ 9:27 min
3.		Rabobank	+ 1:01:17 h

C.Barredo and M.Burghardt

M.Astarloza , C.Le Mevel and R.Feillu

Manuel Quinziato in front of the peloton

The 18th stage of the Tour de France 2008 on July 24th was 196.5 kilometers long and ran from Le Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Étienne . There were two sprint ratings as well as a third category mountain rating, a second category mountain rating and a fourth category mountain rating.

After two kilometers, a seven-person breakaway group formed, which included Marcus Burghardt , Sebastian Lang , Björn Schröder , Filippo Pozzato , Freddy Bichot , Stéphane Augé and Maxime Monfort . However , she did not leave the field led by the CSC-Saxo Bank team again . Bichot, Schröder and Augé reached the first sprint ranking before the field, while the others had already been overtaken before that. After 48.5 km these were also caught by the field, which was now led by Liquigas . The 54.5 km / h that the riders achieved in the first hour was a new record for this tour. Damiano Cunego , who had crashed, was following the field. After several more unsuccessful breakaway attempts, Carlos Barredo was able to pull away in the first mountain classification, pursued by Burghardt and Romain Feillu . Barredo won this mountain classification ahead of his two pursuers. In the descent, Burghardt reached Barredo, while Feillu was overtaken by the next two pursuers Christophe Le Mével and Mikel Astarloza . The two leaders were able to pull out more than 10 minutes ahead of the field at times. Barredo and Burghardt also reached the second mountain classification first, over four minutes ahead of their three pursuers and ten minutes ahead of the field. Burghardt secured the second sprint classification. Barredo, who attacked in the meantime, also won the last mountain classification. Meanwhile, there were further attacks in the main field in which Samuel Dumoulin , Cyril Dessel , Roman Kreuziger , Leif Hoste and Andy Schleck were able to pull themselves away . After several more attacks and counter-attacks by the leading duo, Burghart was the first to cross the finish line in Saint-Étienne, which was reached on a 290-meter-long and 8-meter-wide home straight. Feillu was third. Dumoulin won the sprint of the small breakaway group in front of the field, whose sprint in turn won Óscar Freire . However, this did not result in any changes to the ratings.

Sprint ratings

• 1st intermediate sprint in Grenoble (43 km) (196 m above sea level)

First	Freddy Bichot	6 pts.
Second	Björn Schröder	4 pts.
Third	Stéphane Augé	2 pts.

• 2nd intermediate sprint in Saint-Chamond (km 181.5) (356 m above sea level)

First	Marcus Burghardt	6 pts.
Second	Carlos Barredo	4 pts.
Third	Mikel Astarloza	2 pts.

• Finish sprint in Saint-Étienne (km 196.5) (493 m above sea level)

First	Marcus Burghardt	25 pts.
Second	Carlos Barredo	22 pts.
Third	Romain Feillu	20 pts.
Fourth	Christophe Le Mével	18 pts.
fifth	Mikel Astarloza	16 pts.
Sixth	Samuel Dumoulin	15 pts.
seventh	Cyril Dessel	14 pts.
Eighth	Roman Kreuziger	13 pts.
Ninth	Leif Hoste	12 pts.
Tenth	Andy Schleck	11 pts.
11.	Óscar Freire	10 pts.
12.	Erik Zabel	9 pts.
13.	Thor Hushovd	8 pts.
14th	Leonardo Duque	7 pts.
15th	Filippo Pozzato	6 pts.
16.	Robert Hunter	5 pts.
17th	Steven De Jongh	4 pts.
18th	Alessandro Ballan	3 pts.
19th	Christophe Riblon	2 pts.
20th	Sven Krauss	1 point

Mountain ratings

• Col de Parménie, category 3 (km 78) (571 m above sea level; 5.3 km at 7.0%)

First	Carlos Barredo	4 pts.
Second	Marcus Burghardt	3 pts.
Third	Romain Feillu	2 pts.
Fourth	Christophe Le Mével	1 point

• La Croix de Montvieux, category 2 (kilometer 163) (811 m above sea level; 13.7 km at 4.7%)

First	Carlos Barredo	10 pts.
Second	Marcus Burghardt	9 pts.
Third	Mikel Astarloza	8 pts.
Fourth	Christophe Le Mével	7 pts.
fifth	Romain Feillu	6 pts.
Sixth	Cyril Dessel	5 pts.

• Côte de Sorbiers, category 4 (kilometer 188) (503 m above sea level; 4.3 km at 3.2%)

First	Carlos Barredo	3 pts.
Second	Marcus Burghardt	2 pts.
Third	Christophe Le Mével	1 point