Other Sport News

Burghardt wins Tour stage as Sastre retains race lead (Roundup)

Jul 24, 2008, 15:49 GMT

Saint-Etienne, France - German Marcus Burghardt won the 18th stage of the 2008 Tour de France on Thursday as the outcome of the title race remained undecided. The 25-year-old Burghardt was part of every escape group from the beginning of the 196.5-kilometre course from Le Bourg-d'Oisans to the city of Saint-Etienne, eager to score a stage win. Burghardt said that he had worked hard from the beginning of the Tour and 'wanted from the start to be part of an escape group, and to win a stage for my team.' He finally hooked up with Carlos Barredo at the 65-km mark, and then outsprinted the Spaniard to the finish line. The two riders played a cat-and-mouse game with each other over the final 5 kilometres, with the final sprint taking place almost from a standing start. Burghardt said that his training on the bicycle track was of great help on Thursday, and 'in the end I just gave it everything I had.' It was Burghardt's first-ever Tour de France victory, and the fifth win for his Team Columbia on this year's Tour. Frenchman Romain Feillu finished third, 3 minutes 33 seconds behind the winner. The winner's time for the stage was 4 hours 30 minutes 21 seconds, an average speed of 43.61 kph. Most of the leaders finished with the main bunch of riders, 6 minutes 50 seconds behind Burghardt. As a result, Spain's Carlos Sastre retained the lead in the standings, 1 minute 24 seconds ahead of his Team CSC teammate, Frank Schleck of Luxembourg, with Austrian Bernhard Kohl third, 1 minute 33 seconds adrift. Sastre's most formidable rival for the Tour championship, Australia's Cadel Evans, is in fourth place, 1 minute 34 seconds behind. With Friday's course ideal for sprinters, the Tour championship will almost certainly be decided in Saturday's 53-km individual time trial, with Evans - an excellent time trial rider - favoured to make up the time on Sastre and take back the lead. Sunday's final stage, which ends in Paris, is traditionally used as a parade of honour for the winners, with a mass sprint to the finish on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

View blog reactions

Latest Headlines in Other Sport

Talkback

There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)

Latest from M&C Blogs

Musharraf exits the Pakistani stage as storm clouds gather - Global Eye on August 20, 2008 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

A new cold war? Missile defence deal draws Russian reaction - Global Eye on August 18, 2008 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBacks (0)

South Ossetia: Winners, losers, hypocrites and incompetents - Global Eye on August 13, 2008 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBacks (0)

Upside-down House - The World in Pictures on August 4, 2008 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Church of our Lady in Dresden, Germany - The World in Pictures on August 4, 2008 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Giant Orange - The World in Pictures on July 15, 2008 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Other Sport

Other Sport News

Burghardt wins Tour stage as Sastre retains race lead (Roundup)

Latest Headlines in Other Sport

Talkback

Latest from M&C Blogs

Similar articles

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print