Interesting day in the Tour, Astana suffered with multiple crashes resulting in Vinokourov losing 1m 21s to stage winner Filippo Pozzato. Denis finished 27th on the stage and sits 23rd overall, 1 minute down.
Anotehr dull day in the Tour, except for the final sprint where the speeds were incredibly high.
Thor Hushovd of Credit Agricole took the sprint. Denis finished 119th and is 35th on GC at 1 minute.
Menchov in the peloton as it approaches the village of Talouan
Photo courtesy of jldhcf @ Flickr
A very slow day in the Tour de France on the road to Compiègne. Denis finished 89th on the day’s stage between fellow Rabobank riders’ Thomas Dekker and Grischa Niermann. The entire Rabobank team is doing a great job of looking after Denis for the upcoming Alpine stages this weekend.
Denis lies 33rd overall, 1 minute behind yellow jersey wearer Fabian Cancellara of Team CSC.
Menchov managed to stay out of the mayhem caused by a big crash in the final 3km of today’s stage which was won by Belgian Gert Steegmans of Quickstep-Innergetic. The crash brought down some 20-30 riders near the front of the peloton.
Denis finished the stage in 63rd place, shadowed by teammate Michael Boogerd. He is 31st overall at 40s to leader Fabian Cancellara.
A quiet day for the main contenders saw Menchov cross the line in Canterbury in 106th place alongside teammate Thomas Dekker. The peloton was brought back together for a final sprint won by Predictor-Lotto’s Robbie McEwen.
Menchov (No.51) taking it easy through Greenwich
Photo courtesy of Simon-K @ Flickr
Denis finished 27th in today’s 7.9km Prologue Time Trial around the streets of London. He finished 40s down on stage winner Fabian Cancellara of Team CSC who blasted aorund the course in 8m 50s, 13s clear of 2nd placed Andreas Klöden of Astana.
The Tour Caravane
Menchov warms up on the Prologue course
Photo courtesy of ling_japan @ Flickr
Menchov takes it easy in the Prologue
Photo courtesy of Dave Reinhardt @ Flickr
Video of Denis in the Prologue in London
Rabobank appeared on stage today for the 2007 Tour de France Team Presentation in Trafalgar Square, London.
Menchov was positive about his ambitions for the Tour when questioned on-stage
Looking ready to take on 21 stages of the Tour de France
Denis was selected in Rabobank’s final selection of 9 riders for the Tour de France today. The team has six former stage winners in its ranks and relies heavily on experienced riders. The team will be looking at Menchov for the overall General Classification and Rasmussen for the King of the Mountains jersey.
Rabobank Pro Cycling Team - 2007 Tour de France
Denis today finished an encouraging 4th overall at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in Annecy. A tough final stage saw Ag2r rider Christophe Moreau take the overall victory on General Classification ahead of Cadel Evans of Predictor-Lotto and Andrey Kashechkin of Astana. Despite attacking on the final run-in to the finish in Annecy, Denis could not grab a stage win in a race in which he has increasingly shown good form in preparation for the Tour de France. He looked comfortable in the high mountains on the roads to Mont Ventoux and Valloire which should see him challenge for a podium place in July.
Stage
1 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 2.55.33 (44.09 km/h)
2 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.37
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
5 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
General Classification
1 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance 29.50.35
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 0.14
3 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 1.27
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 1.52
5 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 2.16
Denis finished in 5th place on the 4th stage of the Dauphiné Libéré at the summit on Mont Ventoux, where he has previously enjoyed victory in 2002 and 2005. Finishing 1′51″ down on stage winner Christophe Moreau, Menchov now stands 25s adrift of Andrey Kascheskin in 3rd place.
Stage
1 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance 5.51.52 (33.592 km/h)
2 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 1.08
3 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.21
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 1.51
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank .st
General Classification
1 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 16.17.21
2 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance 0.14
3 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.25
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 0.26
5 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC .st
