The stage profile begged for a sprint but at the end of three weeks of racing there were plenty of ambitions yet to be fulfilled. There were 14 teams without a stage win and all of them worked hard to make amends in the race from Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde but ultimately their hopes were destroyed by a magnificent sprint by Mark Cavendish who only blasted into contention in the final kilometer. And it was none other than Bradley Wiggins who started the lead-out, then an early escapee - Edvald Boasson Hagen - who dragged Mark Cavendish up to the last of the breakaways. And then it happened: a stunning piece of sprinting that started 300 meters from the finish line that utterly destroyed the hopes of all others as the world champion blitzed into the lead to give his team a fourth stage win in 2012 and his second for the 99th edition. The escapees could see him take the win, beating Matt Goss and Peter Sagan, and yet Luis Sanchez and Nicolas Roche could do nothing to change the fact that they were beaten men on a day that an escape was just as likely to succeed. Ordinarily the break might have won... but Cavendish is no ordinary rider. He now has 22 Tour stage wins to his name and, going on what we saw today, he'll get another in Paris as well.
Wiggins finished 19th in the stage and will wear the yellow jersey in stage 19. Should he win the yellow jersey in Paris he will be the second track pursuit world champion to win at the Tour de France. The first? Fausto Coppi.
Fränk Schleck announced today that the counter-analysis of his control B-sample has confirmed the presence of Xipamide, a diuretic banned under the World Anti-Doping Agency code. He has said that he will argue that he was poisoned.
Tomorrow: Stage 19, an individual time trial of 53 km, Bonneval-Chartres.
GC:
1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 83:22:18
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:02:05
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:41
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:05:53
5 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:08:30
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:09:57
7 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 0:10:11
8 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:10:17
9 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:11:00
10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:11:46
11 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:12:54
12 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:14:05
13 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:14:22
14 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:18:46
15 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:22:54
16 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:24:24
17 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:25:32
18 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:29:51
19 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:33:07
20 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:33:50
21 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:36:11
22 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:41:59
23 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:48:57
24 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:52:48
25 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:54:29
26 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:55:08
27 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:57:38
28 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:59:38
29 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 1:02:17
30 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:03:08
31 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:06:48
32 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:08:24
33 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:09:20
34 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 1:18:24
35 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 1:20:42
36 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team 1:21:47
37 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1:22:58
38 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:24:46
39 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:25:41
40 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team 1:28:45
41 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:29:17
42 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 1:32:42
43 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:33:12
44 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 1:34:04
45 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:34:06
46 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 1:34:42
47 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 1:34:48
48 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:37:48
49 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:37:58
50 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team 1:39:56
51 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 1:40:13
52 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 1:43:06
53 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 1:44:46
54 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team 1:46:26
55 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 1:46:52
56 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:47:58
57 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:49:02
58 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 1:49:52
59 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 1:49:56
60 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:50:42
61 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 1:51:16
62 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Sharp 1:55:00
63 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:55:42
64 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:56:38
65 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:01:54
66 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 2:03:18
67 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre - ISD 2:03:59
68 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:06:37
69 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:08:16
70 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:08:25
71 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:08:47
72 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:09:29
73 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 2:09:43
74 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2:11:01
75 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:11:02
76 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - ISD 2:13:26
77 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan 2:16:32
78 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 2:17:11
79 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:18:22
80 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 2:19:17
81 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team 2:19:21
82 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling 2:20:07
83 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 2:22:01
84 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar 2:23:07
85 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:25:47
86 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2:29:52
87 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre - ISD 2:31:12
88 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:31:40
89 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:31:49
90 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:32:07
91 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 2:32:12
92 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 2:35:47
93 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:36:28
94 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 2:37:21
95 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 2:38:37
96 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:40:11
97 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team 2:43:25
98 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:44:54
99 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:45:34
100 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 2:45:44
101 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:45:53
102 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 2:47:02
103 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano 2:47:51
104 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Sharp 2:48:33
105 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:49:09
106 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Sharp 2:49:26
107 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:49:41
108 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:49:56
109 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team 2:50:11
110 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:50:48
111 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team 2:51:05
112 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:51:37
113 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 2:52:03
114 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:54:05
115 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:54:19
116 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos-Shimano 2:54:20
117 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:57:31
118 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 2:57:37
119 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team 2:58:04
120 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:58:07
121 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2:58:48
122 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 3:00:00
123 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 3:00:07
124 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team 3:06:14
125 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 3:06:46
126 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 3:07:43
127 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 3:08:11
128 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 3:08:57
129 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 3:09:23
130 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 3:11:36
131 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 3:11:41
132 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 3:11:49
133 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 3:12:11
134 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3:13:24
135 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano 3:14:44
136 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 3:16:07
137 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 3:16:58
138 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 3:17:31
139 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 3:18:35
140 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 3:18:41
141 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos-Shimano 3:20:02
142 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling 3:21:47
143 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 3:24:05
144 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano 3:24:46
145 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling 3:30:36
146 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team 3:33:21
147 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos-Shimano 3:33:44
148 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin - Sharp 3:34:50
149 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 3:36:14
150 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 3:39:25
151 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Sharp 3:43:58
152 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 3:48:24
153 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 3:49:09
Photo: Bettini
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