Stage 19: Roanne - Montluçon, 165.5 km
Damiano Cunego (Lampre) did not start today, he had crashed yesterday and finished behind the field.
Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), and Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) went in an early break today on the first cat. 3 climb. They were caught a little later in the stage, and didn’t manage to stay out for even half the stage. Liquigas took on the chase to catch them.
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) and Francaise des Jeux’s Jeremy Roy attack the main group and get a gap. At 33km to go the break had over four minutes.
The break sticks today and Chavenel is the winner of stage 19. No changes in jerseys or GC today. Tune in tomorrow to see if CSC can defend its leads in the team, young rider, and GC classifications. Tomorrow’s stage is the ITT, and the last chance for Cadel Evans to take the lead. CSC truely has been dominate this Tour.