Tour de France 2010/18. stage

00000 Result of the 18th stage 00000
		Mark Cavendish (THR)	4:37:09 h
2.		Julian Dean (CPT)	equal time
3.		Alessandro Petacchi (LAM)	equal time
4th		Robbie McEwen (KAT)	equal time
5.		Óscar Freire Gomez (TLJ)	equal time
6th		Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY)	equal time
7th		Jürgen Roelandts (OLO)	equal time
8th.		José Joaquín Rojas Gil (MOV)	equal time
9.		Grega Bole (LAM)	equal time
10.		Rubén Pérez (EUS)	equal time
		Daniel Oss (CAN)
Intermediate results after the 18th stage
		Alberto Contador (AST)	88:09:48 h
2.		Andy Schleck (TNK)	+ 0:08 min
3.		Samuel Sánchez (EUS)	+ 3:32 min
		Alessandro Petacchi (LAM)	213 pts.
2.		Thor Hushovd (CTT)	203 pts.
3.		Mark Cavendish (THR)	197 pts.
		Anthony Charteau (DEN)	143 pts.
2.		Christophe Moreau (MOV)	128 pts.
3.		Andy Schleck (TNK)	116 pts.
		Andy Schleck (TNK)	88:09:56 h
2.		Robert Gesink (TLJ)	+ 6:33 min
3.		Roman Kreuziger (CAN)	+ 10:04 min
		Team RadioShack	264: 36: 07 h
2.		Caisse d'Epargne	+ 8:30 min
3.		Rabobank	+ 33:39 min

The 18th stage of the Tour de France 2010 on July 23rd led over 198 km from Salies-de-Béarn to Bordeaux . There were two sprint classifications on this flat stage. After Simon Špilak gave up , 171 of the 198 registered participants started.

Race course

After 2.1 kilometers of neutralized driving, the drivers reached the zero kilometer mark at 13:02. Immediately a septet broke away from the field, which consisted of Matti Breschel , Jaroslaw Popowytsch , Rémy Di Gregorio , Marcus Burghardt , Carlos Barredo , Linus Gerdemann and Mathieu Perget . However, after nine kilometers it was caught again. Then a quartet of Daniel Oss , Jérôme Pineau , Benoît Vaugrenard and Matti Breschel was able to break away. The BMC -Fahrer Marcus Burghardt and Ballan tried to follow them, but did not move from the left field.

In the top group, Breschel won the first intermediate sprint. Then their lead stabilized at a good three minutes while the HTC-Columbia team controlled the field. In the first hour of the race, the outliers covered 45.4 kilometers. Later, their lead fell slightly again and when drivers from Team Lampre got involved in the pace work of the field, their lead was briefly reduced to less than two minutes. Oss was the first to cross the second sprint classification. When the teams Milram , Lampre and Columbia increased the pace again in the further course, the lead shrank again. Meanwhile , Francesco Reda gave up the race. While the lead of the breakaway was only half a minute 15 kilometers from the finish, Pineau tried to break away at the front and Oss countered. His three companions did not follow him and shortly afterwards let themselves be caught again by the field, while Oss continued to bit his teeth. This was set only 3.5 kilometers from the finish.

Now the sprinter trains were formed for the finish sprint. Gerdemann nevertheless tried to pull away, but broke off his attempt a few hundred meters later. The Team Sky has now led to the field. Thor Hushovd opened the sprint, then Mark Cavendish pulled by and won his fourth stage win in the 2010 Tour de France. Julian Dean and Alessandro Petacchi crossed the finish line in second and third place, some way behind . Hushovd fell back to 14th place and had to hand over the green jersey to Petacchi again.

Sprint ratings

• 1st intermediate sprint in Castelnau-Chalosse (kilometer 29.5) ( 60  m )

First	Matti Breschel	6 pts.
Second	Daniel Oss	4 pts.
Third	Jérôme Pineau	2 pts.

• 2nd intermediate sprint in Hostens (150.5 km) ( 68  m )

First	Daniel Oss	6 pts.
Second	Jérôme Pineau	4 pts.
Third	Matti Breschel	2 pts.

• Destination in Bordeaux (kilometer 198) ( 5  m )

First	Mark Cavendish	35 pts.
Second	Julian Dean	30 pts.
Third	Alessandro Petacchi	26 pts.
Fourth	Robbie McEwen	24 pts.
fifth	Óscar Freire	22 pts.
Sixth	Edvald Boasson Hagen	20 pts.
seventh	Jürgen Roelandts	19 pts.
Eighth	José Joaquín Rojas Gil	18 pts.
Ninth	Grega Bole	17 pts.
Tenth	Rubén Pérez	16 pts.
11.	Sébastien Turgot	15 pts.
12.	Anthony Roux	14 pts.
13.	Lloyd Mondory	13 pts.
14th	Thor Hushovd	12 pts.
15th	Alessandro Ballan	11 pts.
16.	Yukiya Arashiro	10 pts.
17th	Martijn Maaskant	9 pts.
18th	Nicolas Roche	8 pts.
19th	Alyaksandr Kuschynski	7 pts.
20th	Alan Perez	6 pts.
21st	Cyril Gautier	5 pts.
22nd	Bernhard Eisel	4 pts.
23.	Christopher Horner	3 pts.
24.	Gerald Ciolek	2 pts.
25th	Kevin De Weert	1 point

tasks

• 136 - Francesco Reda ( Quick Step ): task during the stage

Web links

• Results and ratings