2009 Tour de France – Pre Stage 4 News & video

July 7th, 2009 by Al Fresco 827 views No Comment

Here’s a little bit of 2009 Tour de France news to whet your appetite before the start of today’s racing. Lance Armstrong talks about the attack, Thor Hushovd still gunning for stage wins and more…

Pre Stage 4 News:

Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said after Monday’s stage that he did not expect the final breakaway with Lance Armstrong to stick, so he did not direct anyone to help Contador close the gap.
Some say that Armstrong was deliberately attacking Alberto Contador, but he said, “That was not my objective. But you turned around, I was surprised that there was a gap,” he said. “I was just trying to stay out of trouble and stay up front and then it happened. It wasn’t an attack.”
Lance Armstrong blamed the team’s lateness for signing in to a visit from his pal Ben Stiller.
Cervelo’s Thor Hushovd has been close to Cavendish for the last two stages, and still hopes to beat him once or twice. “I am currently in a good shape, but Mark is now slightly faster… he is not unbeatable,” he said.
Astana will be the final team to go in Tuesday’s team time trial.
Samuel Dumoulin, who led for much of yesterday’s race, was not told by his manager to go solo. His breakaway companion Maxime Bouet had family in the area of the stage and wanted to put on a good show for them.

Team Garmin-Slipstream, Tour de France, stage 3 highlights from Team Garmin-Slipstream on Vimeo.

Other News:

The Nürnberger Versicherungen group is terminating their sponsorship of women’s cycling. They have been in the sport for ten years, but now want to go a different direction, possibly motorsports.
UCI president Pat McQuaid welcomes Lance Armstrong’s comeback and hopes that he sticks around for at least another year. “This would mean 18 months more interest by the media,” he said.
Bissell’s Tom Zirbel has moved into the lead of the National Racing Calendar, thanks to recent top performances in stage races. Zirbel recently led the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic for three stages, eventually finishing third on the GC.
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is to be the subject of a disciplinary procedure by the Swiss anti-doping commission, according to Tuesday’s edition of the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). Gerhard Walter, president of the Swiss Olympic Committee’s disciplinary anti-doping commission, told the paper that they had been asked to open an inquiry. “I can confirm that we have received a request from the Swiss Antidoping Foundation (ADS) and for that reason we have launched a disciplinary procedure,” said Walter.

Results: