GreenEDGE blue after photo finish

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 14 Juli 2013 | 23.08

Orica-GreenEDGE have been denied a third Tour de France stage victory. Michael Albasini was beaten in a photo finish by Italian Matteo Trentin in stage 14.

MICHAEL Albasini was left to rue a sprint miscalculation after being heartbreakingly denied Tour de France stage victory.

The Orica-GreenEDGE opportunist was pipped in a photo finish after a pulsating 14th stage, won by Italian Matteo Trentin.

Albasini was cut down in the final few metres by Trentin., who edged out the Swiss by half a wheel  after a 191km war from Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule.

"The only mistake was the last sprint, I start a little bit too early," Albasini said. "I was going full gas, I had no reserves to go any faster.

"Just happens in the Tour to lose a sprint like this.

"It hurts but that's the Tour."

American Andrew Talansky was third as the overall standings remained unchanged, leaving Sky's Chris Froome with a 2min,28sec lead over Dutchman Bauke Mollema.

Matteo Trentin of Italy (left) , crosses the finish line ahead of Michael Albasini of Switzerland, right, to win the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France.

Cadel Evans remains Australia's best placed entrant in 12th, 6.54 behind Froome, ahead of tonight's assault on Mont Ventoux.

Albasini was chasing his second stage victory of the centenary Tour and came desperately close to landing it.

Part of the history-making team trial time unit that prevailed in Nice on stage 4, Albasini looked the rider most likely to win over the closing 2km.

He caught Frenchman Julien Simon 1km from the finish and then kicked clear inside the last 400m.

Albasini led until the last 10m before Trentin gave Omega Pharma Quickstep its second win in as many days.

With tonight's monster climb to Mont Ventoux looming, the overall contenders were content to save their legs.

English fans cheer as the breakaway group passes during the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France.

After the general classification shake-up on Friday, there was an expectation the race would settle ahead of seven categorised climbs south from Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule.

And there was no reaction from Froome and Alberto Contador as German veteran Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Leopard), Lars Bak (Lotto Belisol) and Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale) tore out of the start zone in the day's first breakaway.

Averaging more than 50kmh, the trio was joined by Frenchmen Christophe Le Mevel (Cofidis) and Arthur Vichot (FDJr).

But the early flurry was merely a cue for a powerful group to bridge across.

Included in the 18-rider cluster were Albasini, Trentin, Garmin's David Millar and Andrew Talansky and BMC's Tejay van Garderen.

Building a lead of 1min, the escapees were led over category 4 Cote de Marcignby by Simon Geschke (Argos-Shimano).

Matteo Trentin (left) edges out GreenEDGE rider Michael Albasini to win stage 14.

By the time the leaders reached the second limb at Cote de la Croix Couverte, after almost 100km, the gap had grown to 3min.

The deficit prompted Sky to take control of the peloton as Jan Bakelants (RadioShack) crested Couverte.

With five stage winners among the escapees -  Albasini, Bakelants, Voigt, Millar and Marcus Burghardt (BMC) - Spaniard Jose Rojas (Movistar) won the intermediate sprint at Thirzy-les-Bourgs.

The group continued to share the spoils as Frenchman Blel Kadri took the king of the mountain point at Cote de Thirzy-les-Bourgs.

The growing time gap prompted Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre) jump from the peloton.

Hoogerland soon dropped Cunego as Kadri crossed Col du Pilon before Burghardt attacked on the steepest descent of the day.

Italy's Matteo Trentin celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 14 of the Tour de France.

The German's short-lived surge ended Hoogerland's hopes of bridging and the Dutchman slowed to wait for Cunego.
With 30km to go, it was obvious the peloton had decided not to chase down the breakaway.

The remarkable Voigt won the ascent to Cote de Lozanne as the gap blew towards 6min. It was the German stalwart's last stand.

The breakaway split on the climb to Cote de la Duchere, where Voigt and Millar both lost touch.

With 15km to go from the summit, Julien Simon pinched a handy advantage over the final climb of the day at Cote de la Croix-Rousse.

He led by 24sec but he was systematically reeled as the counter-attacks came in the heart of Lyon.
Albasini stalked the remnants of the break until making his move.

Desperate to add to Simon Gerrans' stage 3 triumph on Corsica, the Swiss almost succeeded.

Overall leader's yellow jersey Britain's Christopher Froome (R) rides ahead of his teammate Australia's Richie Porte (3rd R) during the 191 km fourteenth stage.

Froome was content to roll through a hot, lumpy stage ahead of tonight's crucial climb to Mont Ventoux - the Giant of Provence.

"We head over to Mont Ventoux tomorrow which is going to be a really big test," Froome said. "It's an extremely historical climb in terms of cycling so there'll be a lot of guys going for it to try and win.

"Then we've got a rest day (Monday) and the last week in the Alps.

"The thing I'm most looking forward to in the Alps is getting them behind me – that's got to be what everyone in this position would be thinking.

"There is still everything to race for at this point; two-and-a-half minutes is nothing when you have a bad day in the mountains. I just hope to get through the Alps without any bad days and get a bit closer to Paris.

"Tomorrow's stage is a really interesting one because obviously there'll be an early breakaway that's going to go.

"We wouldn't necessarily be that interested in bringing that breakaway back; we're looking at general classification not the stage win, but other teams will want to bring it back so that they can race for the stage.

"It's going to be quite a tactical game tomorrow in the early parts of the race but once we hit the mountain it's all about who has got the legs and that part of the race is quite straight forward.

"We've still got seven really capable guys and from the outside it might look as if we've had a rough couple of days but I think, in comparison to what the other teams have had, we're doing pretty well at the moment."

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