Into the race

July 16, 2008

Here we go with some info, now that we’ve got the housekeeping out of the way.

Ten stages are done. Eleven to go and we’re in stage 11.

The situation so far today:

It’s Miguel Indurain’s 44th birthday.

Barloworld lost another rider today – this one was Longo Borghini and he left the race because of a broken collarbone.

Teams get money for winning stages and the top three teams in money at this year’s race are Saunier Duval-Scott, Team Columbia and Ciasse d’Espargne. Stage wins by racers on these three squads has led to them each having more than 30,000Euros in prize money so far.

12 riders were clear at the 60KM mark of the 11th stage. They had a lead of just over eight minutes at that point but it grew rapidly.

Stage 11 passes through St-Girons today at 84KM. More on that in a second.

The peloton is now about to arrive in St-Girons and the 12 breakaway riders have a 12:45 lead on them.