Nocentini takes yellow jersey as Feillu wins first mountain stage

Published on Friday 10 July 2009 22:54

RINALDO Nocentini claimed the yellow jersey on a day race favourite Alberto Contador flexed his muscles in the Tour de France's first mountain stage.

France's Brice Feillu won stage seven, a 224-kilometre climb from Barcelona to Andorra, but it is what went on just behind the gutsy Agritubel rider that will grab the headlines.

AG2R La Mondiale's Nocentini, part of a nine-man breakaway group which included Feillu and led the field almost all stage, finished fourth and far enough clear of the big guns at the top of the general classification to take the 'maillot jaune'.

The Italian started the day in 32nd position in the overall standings, but ended it six seconds clear of second-placed Contador, who broke away from a stretched-out peloton in a punishing stage-ending, hors-categorie climb up to Arcalis to finish ninth.

The Spaniard's late show of strength pulled him clear of Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong, who came home 22 seconds later.

Armstrong, firmly put in his place by Contador yesterday, will head into stage eight today third in the standings, two seconds behind Contador.

Fabian Cancellara lost his grip on the yellow jersey after being dropped by the peloton 5.5 kilometres from the end, midway through the final climb. He plummets down the standings after finishing more than eight and a half minutes behind the leaders.

Feillu, a winner in six hours, 11 minutes and 31 seconds, was followed home by second-placed Christophe Kern (Cofidis) and Milram's Johannes Frohlinger, who was third.

But the little-known Nocentini – riding in his first Tour – stole the limelight. He is the first Italian in nine years to lead the Tour.

"I am very happy," he told France 2. "I came here to win a stage, but I finish today with the maillot jaune."

This first mountain stage was expected to shake up the general classification. It did just that and it was during the closing stages of the climb up the slopes of Arcalis to the 2,240m summit finish that the real action came.

Prior to that, the breakaway group of nine riders – Nocentini, Feillu, Kern, Frohlinger, Jose Ivan Gutierrez, Egoi Martinez, Christophe Riblon, Aleksandr Kuschynski and Jerome Pineau – had hogged the lead.

They combined to go clear within the first 50 minutes of the stage and quickly established a huge cushion that extended to more than 14 minutes at one point. It settled at 11 minutes.

After the descent from the third-category Port del Comte – during which Cancellara suffered two punctures – it was uphill all the way to the finish, an initial gentle incline into Andorra turning into a hellishly steep hors-categorie climb to Arcalis. It was the third-highest mountain-top finish ever in the Tour.

The peloton, led by Astana, set about cutting into the lead. But it became clear the stage winner would come from the leading bunch, which started to drop riders like flies.

Kuschynski, Gutierrez then Pineau fell off before Feillu decided to go solo 6km from the finish. His rivals could not live with him and the 23-year-old powered his way to the line.

Heads suddenly turned to what was going on behind him and Nocentini. Cancellara was dropped as Astana turned up the heat – and with the peloton thinning out, Contador broke from the likes of Armstrong, Cadel Evans, Andreas Kloden and Britain's Bradley Wiggins.

The Spaniard, a winner of the Tour in 2007, showed who is the team leader at Astana – with seven-time champion Armstrong unable to live with Contador's pace. Armstrong did not give in, though, losing just 22 seconds to his team-mate and he remained in upbeat mood afterwards.

"Overall, I feel pretty good. I'm not as knackered as I thought I'd be," said Armstrong. "Things didn't quite go according to plan that we set up earlier, but it didn't matter. It was a fine day overall."

In the final ascent, Armstrong found himself hugging the wheel of Australia's Cadel Evans, who briefly attacked Contador. "When you've got a rider away, my obligation is to the team," Armstrong said.

"I had to stay on his wheel. You just got to stay on his wheel. That's not my speciality, but it's not bad at all – all things considered," he added.

Astana's Levi Leipheimer, who fell earlier in the day, is fourth in the overall standings and Wiggins fifth – just 46 seconds behind Nocentini.

Feillu will wear the polka dot jersey as the riders stay in the Pyrenees for today's roller-coaster like jaunt over the 176.5-kilometre route from Andorra La Vella to St Girons.

RESULTS: STAGE SEVEN

1. Brice Feillu, (Fra), Agritubel, 6 hours, 11 minutes, 31 seconds.

2. Christophe Kern, (Fra), Cofidis, 5 seconds behind.

3. Johannes Froehlinger, (Ger), Team Milram, :25.

4. Rinaldo Nocentini, (Italy), AG2R-La Mondiale, :26.

5. Egoi Martinez, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, :45.

6. Christophe Riblon, (Fra), AG2R-La Mondiale, 1:05.

7. Jerome Pineau, (Fra), Quick Step, 2:32.

8. Jose Ivan Gutierrez, (Spn), Caisse d'Epargne, 3:14.

9. Alberto Contador, (Spn), Astana, 3:26.

10. Cadel Evans, (Aus), Silence-Lotto, 3:47.

Overall Standings

1. Rinaldo Nocentini, (Ita), AG2R-La Mondiale, 25:44:32.

2. Alberto Contador, (Spn), Astana, :06.

3. Lance Armstrong, (US), Astana, :08.

4. Levi Leipheimer, (US), Astana, :39.

5. Bradley Wiggins, (UK), Garmin-Slipstream, :46.

6. Andreas Kloeden, (Ger), Astana, :54.

7. Tony Martin, (Ger), Team Columbia-High Road, 1:00.

8. Christian Vande Velde, (US), Garmin-Slipstream, 1:24.

9. Andy Schleck, (Lux), Team Saxo Bank, 1:49.

10. Vincenzo Nibali, (Ita), Liquigas, 1:54.