Tour de France Team Talk Stage 17

Team CSC/Saxo Bank played the Carlos Sastre card on L'Alpe d'Huez as he wins the stage and climbs into first spot overall. The race now remains open and could rest on the final time trial stage where Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto) can still win this Tour. - report

Carlos Sastre said of his win and the yellow jersey - “I was suffering a lot, man. That climb was hard! They say that when you’re suffering it’s hard to enjoy the moment but when you are gaining time on your rivals, there’s a lot of satisfaction that comes from that."

“I’m happy that Frank took the pressure off me before. I just hope that everyone appreciates what the CSC-Saxo Bank team has been able to do" - more

Bernard Kohl was put under pressure on L'Alpe d'Huez - "Today was definitely the toughest day in my cycling career. I'm happy about the end result ."

Sporting Manager Christian Henn - "Bernhard fought superbly and was justly rewarded."

Kohl also extended his lead in the King of the Mountain competition - "I really wanted a place on the podium in Paris. And I've made use of the chance to achieve that target"

For the second day Stefan Schumacher broke away and he was rewarded by winning the "Souvenir Henri Degrange" by being the first to cross over the Col du Galibier (2645 meters altitude/Hors Category). He also grabbed important points away from Kohl's competition in the fight for the mountain jersey.

Damiano Cunego's bad Tour continued on Alpe d’Huez and there was no repeat of his 2006 second place.

“I knew that today attacking would have been very difficult. I suffered the pace on Croix de Fer, but I could recover with Szmyd. On Alpe d’Huez the battle started immediately, so I could not compete”.

Peter Velits spent most of the day in one break or other.

"That was the best day of my cycling life, yesterday I tried at least five times to get away, and today it worked out with the very first attack. I went up the next-to-last mountain alone, and it went well. I rode up the last climb with Erik. He could help me a little. It is an absolute dream that I could even get the red number." (Most aggressive rider)

It went quiet in the team car when Denis Menchov lost touch with the leaders on L'Alpe d'Huez.

Team director Harold Knebel said - "This is the Tour of the comebacks for Denis. Things go wrong for him four times and he shows character every time and comes back. It grew quiet in the car when he had to let go after that fast attack, but our morale was boosted when we saw that the gap did not widen."

Menchov was able to regain the GC contenders group and eventually finished with Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto).

Team manager Erik Breukink - "The gap is wide, but the Tour was long and heavy and it is a long time trial. We shall see."

Denis Menchov - "That is cycling. Anything is possible. I knew it would start early on the Alpe d'Huez. When Sastre went, I knew that that was the right attack. But he went too fast. I had to let go immediately, but I was able to pull myself together quickly. The time trial? It is long. Anything is possible in cycling. You could see that today. Nothing has been permanently lost."

Breukink said of Menchov - "He shows tremendous character. That is the most positive thing I can get out of this day.. it turned out that Denis did not have it in legs in regard to Sastre, who really went incredibly fast on that steep part." "When you drop off on that point, ninety percent of the time you lose maybe ten minutes. But we soon saw that he regained his rhythm. The rest was also hanging by a thread. He got back piece by piece. Denis shortly tried after that, but that was more hope than realism."

Scott Bicycles have shown faith in the Saunier Duval team by announcing the continuation of their support - more

Herve Duclos Lassalle, Cofidis - stage 1 - crash
Angel Gomez, Saunier Duval - stage 3 - crash
Maurico Soler, Barloworld - stage 5 - injuries from an earlier crash
Aurelien Passeron, Saunier Duval - stage 6 - failed to start (Hit a spectator the previous day)
Magnus Backstedt, Garmin Chipotle - stage 7 - outside time limit
Lilian Jegou, FD Jeux - stage 7 - crash
Christophe Moreau, Agritubel - stage 7, bad back
John Gadret, AG2R - stage 7
Mauro Facci, Quickstep, - stage 7
Manuel Beltran, Liquigas - stage 7 - failed dope test and thrown off race
Yury Trofimov Bouyges Telecom - stage 10 - withdrawn before start
Paulo Longo Borghini, Barloworld - stage 11 - crash
Felix Cardenas, Barloworld - stage 11 - crash
Moises Duenas Nevado, Barloworld - stage 11 - failed dope test and thrown off race
Leonardo Piepoli, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Josep Jufre, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Jesus Del Nero, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
David De La Fuente, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Juan Jose Cobo Acebo, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Rubens Bertogliati, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - failed dope test and thrown off race
Baden Cooke, Barloworld - stage 12 - crash
Nicholas Jalabert, Agritubel - stage 14 - abandoned
Stijn Devolder, Quickstep - stage 15 - abandoned
Mark Renshaw, Credit Agricole - stage 15 - abandoned
Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia - stage 15 - didn't start and went home
Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne - stage 15 - crash
Sebastien Chavanel, FD Jeux - stage 16 - abandoned
Francesco Chicchi, Liquigas - stage 16 - outside the time limit
Jimmy Caspre, Agritubel - stage 17 - abandoned

Jersey's explained
Stages
Race Teams
Who will win? and more below