Tour De France 2008 Winners

Safin

A truly great Tour De France 2008.

A lot of bad publicity leading up to the great event and thanks to guys like Ricardo Ricco in the middle of the tour. But we have not had that much doping and i sure hope its a trend that will continue.

Jersey Winners

Yellow Jersey
Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) 87hours 52minutes and 52seconds
Cadel Evans (Team Silence Lotto) +58
Bernard Kohl (Team CSC) +1 min 13 seconds

Green Jersey
Oscar Freire (Team rabobank) 270 points
Thor Hushovd (Team Credit Agricole) 220 points
Erik Zabel (Team Milram) 217 points

Polka Dot Jersey
Bernard Kohl 120 (Team CSC) points
Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) 80 points
Frank Schleck (Team CSC) 80 points

White Jersey
Andy Schleck (Team CSC) 88h 04' 24
Roman Kreuzigar (Team liquigas) + 01' 27"
Vincenzo Nibali (Team liquigas) + 17' 01"

Most Combative Rider
Sylvain Chavanel

Best Team
TEAM CSC SAXO BANK
AG2R-LA MONDIALE
RABOBANK

patch01

Sastre, what a star, what a magnificent event the Tour is.......... Can't wait for the next one..........

medpal

my

to the brave champion.

A long wait for the coveted crown is fertilised.

While cadel evans may regret the poor backup of strong teammates as probably this was the last chance he could have.

I am happy that evans "the wheel sucker" did not win.

Sastre run the timetrial of his lifetime.

patch01

Evans needs to dial back on criticising his team-mates.... whining was never the Australian way, (until recently), now there always seems to be some reason why they lost.......

Man up Evans, take your loss on the chin, lest you wind up on the outer like that other chronic whiner, Jana Rawlinson.............

Safin

Well this wasn't reported, but you here is what happened before the time trial.
Poor guy was under too much pressure.

Pressure begins to test Evans - tourdefrance - Sport - theage.com.au
Evans punches through to second - tourdefrance - Sport - theage.com.au

The problem then became how to thread their way through the long and winding tail of support vehicles and police escorts who were blocking the road.

Evans was baulked momentarily by one of the French motorcyle gendarmes, who usually are assigned to guard the French President.

Once the gendarme realised Evans was there, he moved quickly aside, but as Evans drew alongside, he gave him a big backhander across the chest with his left arm.

Next Evans pointed vociferously at his eyes -as if he was saying to the gendarme: "Use your eyes, mate."

Commentator Phil Liggett was quick to upbraid Evans, saying the gendarmes usually did a very good job.

Evans eventually made his way to finish the stage close to the lead, and is second overall, only six seconds from the yellow jersey.

But since then, as the demands of his public profile have increased, Evans has starred in a string of flare-ups that are making some step back.

Add to that his turn of phrase in public situations or answers to questions that can range from being engaging to dismissive or even curt, and there is an undercurrent of worry among tour followers that Evans may be a tad too touchy to love just yet.

There was the public slap and two stinging fingers in his eyes rebuke of a member of the elite Garde Republicaine motorcycle squadron whose proximity to Evans (caused by a logjam of photographers' bikes) made the Australian fear that he would crash.

And on Sunday after stage 15 to Prato Nevoso where Australian Simon Gerrans won and Evans lost his overall leader's yellow jersey to Luxembourg's Frank Schleck came Evans' blunt warning to anyone who got too close to his dog Molly outside the doping control.

"Don't stand on my dog or I'll cut you head off," Evans said as he answered questions on the stage with Molly in tow on a lead.

After a strained relationship with seven-times winner Lance Armstrong and the ongoing issues with doping, the tour needs a champion who shows humility and calm under stress.

It needs a champion who connects with the people — a champion with a heart.