Tejay Van Garderen was 9:39 back and 64th in the tenth stage of the Tour de France but he didn’t drop any time on leader Christopher Froome of Great Britain. Van Garderen remains 11th overall and trails by 1:01. Lawson Craddock, Brent Bookwalter, and Alex Howes all finished at the same time and bunched together in 95th, 99th, and 100th. Peter Stetina slipped to 49th overall and is 42:05 back while Craddock is now 70th overall.
Wednesday is a 101-mile flat as the Tour de France features seven straight days of racing. After a day of rest the race ends with five final days of racing. There are two time trials, one in stage 13 for 23 miles and one in the mountains in stage 18 for 11 miles.
In the Tour de Pologne on Tuesday Larry Warbasse finished in a large group nine seconds behind the winner in 96th. Alexey Vermeulen finished in the same time in 116th. Wednesday will be an 80 mile flat stage in the week long race that ends Monday.
Tejay Van Garderen was 7:13 back in 21st in the ninth stage of the Tour de France but dropped less than a minute on race leader Christopher Froome of Great Britain. Van Garderen now trails by 1:01 and is 11th as the first day off is on Monday. Peter Stetina and Lawson Craddock also posted top 100 finishes with Stetina in 62nd and Craddock in 74th. Stetina dropped four spots overall to 47th, now 42:05 back, while Craddock slipped a spot to 69th.
After Monday’s off day Tuesday is a 122-mile medium-mountain stage as the Tour de France begins seven more straight days of racing. After a second day of rest the races ends with five final days of racing. There are two time trials, one in stage 13 for 23 miles and one in the mountains in stage 18 for 11 miles.
Tomorrow is also the beginning of the seven day Tour de Pologne. With most of the top riders participating in the Tour de France this event attracts some of the secondary riders. For the US only two riders are entered, Alexey Vermeulen and Larry Warbasse. Warbase was 38th in the Volta a Catalunya while Vermeulen’s best finish came in the Tour de Romandie where he was 65th.
Megan Guarnier wasn’t particularly close to the top finisher on Sunday but it wasn’t a big problem. Guarnier finished in ninth, 1:57 back, but none of the riders ahead of her were able to make up enough ground as she won the event by 34 seconds over fellow American Evelyn Stevens who finished 12th in the same time as Guarnier. Mara Abbott who led the event just a few days ago, finished 17th in this stage, 2:28 back, and ended up in fifth overall, 2:38 back. Abbott’s fifth place finish was her best of the year. Kristabel Doebel-Hickok was the final American to finish the day in the top 50, 4:22 back in 38th. She wrapped up the competition in 31st overall. Alexis Ryan in 54th was the fifth American to find a top 100 spot. Ryan wrapped up the competition in 65th place.
The next UCI Women’s WorldTour event is two weeks away, La Course by Le Tour de France. It’s a one day race, as are the final six races on the schedule, and will take place on July 24th.
Tejay Van Garderen was able to rebound up the standings at the Tour de France on Saturday as a 12th place finish, just 13 seconds behind the stage winner, allowed him to move up four spots into eighth in the overall standings. Christopher Froome of Great Britain took the stage and the lead though Van Garderen only trails him by 23 seconds, far less than the 5:57 he trailed the previous leader by. Peter Stetina had his first top 50 finish of the event as he was 44th, but 13:25 back. Stetina moved up 15 spots to 43rd and now trails the leader by 27:26. Lawson Craddock fell outside the top 50 overall and is now 68th while Alex Howes slipped to 95th.
Sunday is a 115-mile mountain stage as the Tour de France closes nine straight days of racing to start. Monday will be a day off before seven more days of racing. After a second day of rest the races ends with five final days of racing. There are two time trials, one in stage 13 for 23 miles and one in the mountains in stage 18 for 11 miles.
The chances to catch Megan Guarnier may be gone as a large peloton on Saturday prevented anyone from making up any ground on the leader. Guarnier and the other five Americans competing all finished in the large group. Evelyn Stevens was 26th, Alexis Ryan was 28th, Liza Rachetto was 38th, Mara Abbott was 44th, and Kristabel Doebel-Hickok was 88th. Going into the final stage Guarnier leads Stevens by 34 seconds while Abbott is 2:07 back in fourth. Doebel-Hickok moved up to 32nd, 43:09 back, with Ryan up to 66th overall.
Sunday will wrap up the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile with a 65.1 mile stage.
Two straight days now Evelyn Stevens has won the stage at the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile though it hasn’t been enough for her to jump into first place. Her problem has been the ever-present challenge of Megan Guarnier who held onto her lead by finishing fourth, 29 seconds back. The lead is down to 34 seconds for Guarnier, so another day or two of wins might bring her the title. Mara Abbott had been second but finished 12th on the day, 1:50 back, and slipped to fourth overall and quickly has fallen 2:07 behind Guarnier overall. It was a good day as well for Alexis Ryan who finished 2:52 back in 23rd and Amber Neben who finished 2:56 back in 27th. Neben is now 53rd overall with Ryan in 70th. Kristabel Doebel-Hickok finished 55th on the day and is still 34th overall, 43:09 back.
Saturday will be a 61.7 mile stage, the second to last as the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile wraps up on Sunday.
Tejay Van Garderen was 24th on Friday as the Tour de France hit the week mark and finished 3:37 behind stage winner Stephen Cummings of Great Britain. Van Garderen slid a spot overall to 12th and dropped 40 seconds on the leader, now 5:57 back. Van Garderen was joined in the top 50 by Alex Howes who finished 41st and 4:09 back, his best finish of the race. Howes jumped up from 129th to 82nd in the overall standings with the good finish.
Lawson Craddock was outside the top 50 for the third straight stage as he finished 67th. Craddock moved up a spot to 49th overall and now trails the leader by 17:56. Peter Stetina made it four Americans in the top 100 as he finished 72nd and is now 58th overall.
Saturday is a 114-mile mountain stage as the Tour de France opens with nine straight days of racing followed by a day off and seven more days of racing. It is the first mountain stage of the race. After a second day of rest the races ends with five final days of racing. There are two time trials, one in stage 13 for 23 miles and one in the mountains in stage 18 for 11 miles.
It’s a game of musical chairs at the top of the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile as the third American in three days has the lead. Passing Evelyn Stevens on Wednesday and Mara Abbott on Megan Guarnier regained the lead for the first time since Saturday with a second place finish in the sixth stage. Guarnier actually lost the stage to Stevens by six seconds but still maintained her advantage. Abbott fell behind by 53 seconds and finished fifth which allowed Guarnier to get back into first overall with a 46 second lead. Stevens is 1:03 back in third as part of the American trio at the top.
Kristabel Doebel-Hickok was 22:44 back in 41st while three other Americans finished in the top 100, Amber Neben (51st), Alexis Ryan (78th), and Liza Rachetto (97th). Doebel-Hickok slipped to 34th, 39:33 back, while Neben (56th) and Ryan (75th) continue to sit in the top 100 overall.
Friday will be the 13.6 mile individual time trial. The rest of the stages will be regular until the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile wraps up on Sunday.
Most of the field finished within five seconds of the winner in the sixth stage of the Tour de France including American Tejay Van Garderen who was four seconds back in 39th. Van Garderen was actually able to move up a spot to 11th overall and didn’t lose any time on the leader, still 5:17 back. Lawson Craddock was the only other American in the top 100 and he just barely got there in 99th. Craddock did move up a spot to 50th overall and trails the leader by 14:13. Peter Stetina is 57th overall.
Friday is the 101-mile medium-mountain seventh stage as the Tour de France opens with nine straight days of racing followed by a day off and seven more days of racing. After a second day of rest the races ends with five final days of racing. There are two time trials, one in stage 13 for 23 miles and one in the mountains in stage 18 for 11 miles.
Americans have led the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile after all but the prologue as Mara Abbott became the third American to sit in that position after she posted the biggest win of the week on Wednesday. Abbott was 37 seconds clear at the front of the pack to overcome her deficit to both Evelyn Stevens and Megan Guarnier and shoot from eight, 50 seconds back, to first. Guarnier was in a group of four that finished 37 seconds back, Guarnier in fourth. Stevens was only ninth on the day but gave up 2:02 to Abbott. Guarnier trails Abbott by just 10 seconds and is in second while Stevens is now 1:22 back in sixth.
No other Americans managed a top-50 finish on the day though Kristabel Doebel-Hickok (51st), Alexis Ryan (65th), Amber Neben (83rd), and Scotti Lechuga (92nd) all had top 100 days. Doebel-Hickok is still 32nd overall but now 16:56 back while Ryan (72nd) and Neben (73rd) both remain in the top 100.
Thursday will be a 73.7 mile stage. There will be regular stages all of the remaining days except for an individual time trial Friday. The Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile wraps up on Sunday.